"Fred and George Weasley!" a young voice yelled throughout the Gryffindor common room. Everyone turned with confused faces to look at the small child that had entered the tower.
It was a small tan-skinned child with flaming red hair and flaming yellow eyes. His black-tipped ears were flat against his head as he stalked through the common room, searching for the Weasley twins. The child couldn't have been more than four-years-old, and he wore a tattered shirt.
"Where are they?" the little boy snapped.
Everyone just stared dumbfounded at the child glaring at them. Finally, one of the older students sniggered and it triggered a domino effect as everyone slowly began laughing.
The little boy's ears slowly dropped more to the sides as he sighed defeatedly.
That was when the common room portrait swung open once more, revealing second-years Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepping through. The three froze at the sight of the little boy.
"Harry Severus Evans Snape!" The child snapped, walking over to the boy with hands on his hips.
"Sam?" Harry asked, raising a brow at the little boy.
"Yes, Sam," Sam said, his ears flattening once more. "Where are the twins?"
"Err . . ." Harry looked at Ron, who shrugged unhelpfully.
Sam growled like a fox loudly, shocking some of the students still watching the show. Sam crossed his arms and pouted, deciding where to go from here.
"Umm, what happened?" Harry asked, trying not to smile at the little fox.
"I was heading to the Great Hall when a potion spilled on me from the ceiling. Those blasted boys took off while I was stuck transforming into this. Again!"
Sam held his arms out pointedly. Harry noticed that Sam was wearing a house-elf shirt and figured that the boy must have asked a house elf for assistance after changing into a kid again.
"Would you like some better clothes? I think I can shrink some of mine for you. We just learned the charm in Flitwick's class."
"I don't know how I feel about you pointing your wand at me," Sam said. He frowned and thought it over, deciding fitting clothes would be better than what he had on now. He sighed and nodded. "Fine, but you better not hex me into a toad. It's bad enough I'm a kid again."
Sam followed Ron and Harry up the stairs. Hermione went to her dorm to put things away so she could start studying and working on homework. Sam allowed Harry to pick out one of his robes and trousers, which Harry shrunk to what he figured was Sam's size. Sam took the clothes and marched into the bathroom, grumbling all the while. When he came back out, Harry had to shrink the clothes a little more for the small fox.
"There," Harry said, "at least you look a little better. I think I could shrink my socks and shoes for you."
"I don't need them," Sam said stubbornly.
"Never mind, then," Harry said, tossing a pair of shoes aside.
"Now, to find those twins," Sam said. "Come with me."
Harry motioned to Ron to follow as they left the dorm and tower.
"What do you plan on doing when you find them?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," Sam said, leading the way down the hall, his nose twitching and his ears pivoting in every direction. "Ideas are welcomed."
"I think I have some dung bombs in my pocket," Ron said, digging into his robe pockets. "Fred and George tried hiding them in my shoes, but I saw them before I put my foot in. They pulled that one before."
"That's a good start," Sam said, holding a fist up. The two boys had no clue what the signal meant, but they stopped behind Sam as he glanced down the halls, looking right then left. He waved the boys forward and continued. "But I need something as humiliating as what they've done to me."
Suddenly, glitter rained from above the boys. Harry and Ron choked on it while Sam glared up at the twins clinging to the ceiling with a sticky charm. The twins waved down at Sam with a smile.
"I'll get you two for this!" Sam snapped.
The twins ran along the ceiling away from their victims, laughing and chanting "Baby Sam, baby Sam."
Sam made a move to run after them, but instead of running, his feet lifted into the air and he flipped upside down as he rose toward the ceiling. Harry and Ron also started rising for the ceiling.
"It's Flitter Glitter!" Ron announced as he started to levitate sideways. "They invented it over Christmas break. Mum was so furious when her kitchen was all on the ceiling."
"How do we get out of it?" Harry asked, trying to cling to one of window ledges as his body rose above him.
"It has to wear off. It will in like ten or so minutes."
"We don't have time for that!" Sam said. He had floated up to the ceiling and as his feet and fingers graced the wall, the kitsune retracted his claws out of his nails and gripped the stone wall. He began to pull himself free of the flitter glitter, crawling along the ceiling.
"You go ahead of us," Harry said. "We'll catch up."
Sam pulled out of the glitter and dropped down to the ground, rolling to soften the impact. He shook himself off and ran down the hall in the direction he had seen the twins run. He paused at the end of the hall, looking down it and up at the ceiling to be safe. With his ears flattened on his head, he slowly tiptoed into the open, eyeing all the knights in this hall. He wasn't sure why today of all days the twins decided to start a prank war, but he knew that as a kit, he had no fox magic or fire, and that gave the twins an upper hand. He would have to outsmart those brats somehow.
Suddenly, a knight kicked at Sam, who narrowly avoided it by backing away.
Except he backed right into the arms of another knight, who grabbed him in a tight hold. Sam struggled to break free of the knight, only for another knight to stretch out it's spear at Sam, trapping the kitsune's legs. Sam tried to bite, but his sharp teeth only scratched at the metal armor.
"Is baby Sam stuck?" Fred said, jumping out from behind a knight, leaning against it.
"He sure looks it, doesn't he?" George said, stepping out from behind his knight.
"Let me go and change me back so I can burn your hides off you!" Sam demanded, kicking his feet against the spear.
"Aww, is baby Sam throwing a tantrum?" George asked, stepping next to the knight holding Sam. "Does he need a nappy nap?"
"And a bottle?"
Sam's ears dropped in annoyance at the baby talk. He growled softly at the twins.
"Hey, Fred."
"Yes, George?"
"What would happen if we charmed this knight with titillo?"
"Isn't that the charm that makes objects tickle people?"
"Why, yes, it is."
"Don't you dare," Sam snarled, baring his teeth, his higher voice and small canines very non-threatening.
George smirked and tapped the knight with his wand. The knight's fingers instantly started tickling Sam while also keeping a firm grip on the boy. Sam squirmed and squealed in laughter, trying his best to escape the knight when it adjusted its hands to get to Sam's most vulnerable sides.
"Enjoy," Fred winked at Sam before he and George ran off down the hall.
"Fred!" Sam yelled in between laughs. "George! Get back here!"
After what felt like an eternity of laughing, Harry and Ron finally appeared in the hallway, pausing at Sam's state.
"Get me . . . out of this," Sam demanded.
Harry and Ron pried at the knight's arms until they were able to loosen them enough for Sam to fall to the floor. Sam laughed out the last jitters from the attack before he could breathe again, calming down.
"Maybe you should wait until you're back to normal," Harry suggested.
"That won't be until midnight," Sam said. "I cannot wait that long to get them back for this. I have to make my displeasure known."
"I think it's known," Ron said, helping Sam to his feet. "But my brothers are going to be one step ahead of you now. They usually plan out their whole day by predicting your every move. And you're making it really easy for them by chasing after them."
Sam's ears perked and his eyes met Ron's.
"That's it," Sam said. "Change of plans. Follow me."
Harry and Ron frowned at each other but did as Sam said, following him down the hall they had come from. They walked to the Great Hall where Sam looked around, eyeing everything. He glanced back at Harry and Ron with a smile, his ears pivoted back.
"Let's catch us some pesky twins."
With some help from magic and old school labor, the three managed to set up an elaborate trap in the Great Hall. Dinner wasn't for another few hours, and Sam figured that the twins were bound to come looking for him soon to continue their prank war. Tying down the last rope to a stone post, Sam heard footsteps and jumped down, running to join Harry and Ron under the tables. They smothered their laughter as they waited for the show to begin.
However, when the Great Hall doors opened, they gasped as McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Hooch, and Remus Lupin stepped inside, only to be swept up in the boys' trap. The looped rope was triggered by the opening door and it pulled, catching all the professors in a net. They all shouted in surprise as they struggled in the net, everyone searching for their wands.
"Who did this?" McGonagall snapped angrily.
"Detention to whoever set this up!" Flitwick added.
Sam, Harry and Ron were staring wide eyes and jaws agape at the teachers when hands closed around their mouths and they were dragged out from under the table by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan.
"Here are your culprits!" Fred announced. He was restraining a struggling Sam.
"Caught red-handed!" George said, pinning Harry's arms behind him.
"And look," Lee smirked, picking up extra rope off the floor while he pinned Ron's arms behind his back. "Evidence!"
"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" McGonagall said.
Finally, the net was vanished, and the professors used levitating charms to lower themselves to the floor. They all glared at the students, though a smile threatened to wipe the stern look off Remus's face.
"What is the meaning of all this?" McGonagall said before she frowned at Sam. "Who is that?"
"Sam?" Remus raised his eyebrows at the little kitsune. "Again?"
"This is all their fault!" Sam said, flicking his ears back at Fred as he still tried to escape Fred's hold. "They started it!"
"But you three were the ones who set up the trap in the Great Hall, correct?" McGonagall said.
"Yes, ma'am," Sam said, Harry and Ron copying him.
"Very well. Twenty points have been removed from Gryffindor house. Now, I don't care if you children want to play, but you best not do it where it can interfere with adult business. The other professors will be arriving soon for a meeting, so I suggest you children take this little prank war elsewhere."
"Yes, ma'am," everyone said. Fred, George, and Lee dragged Harry, Ron, and Sam out of the Great Hall. Once they were out of adult sight, Sam bit down on Fred's arm.
"Ouch!" Fred complained, dropping the kitsune and looking at his wrist. "He actually bit me!"
"Better hope he doesn't have rabies," Lee joked.
"And there's plenty more where that came from," Sam said. "Undo me this instant!"
"No can do," Fred said. "We don't have the antidote. But this potion will give you your fox magic back at least temporarily." Fred held up a blue vial above Sam's head teasingly, swirling the dark liquid inside.
"What's the catch?" Sam narrowed his eyes at the twins and their friend.
"No catch," George said.
"We just thought it a bit—"
"Unfair that you have such a disadvantage against us—"
"We figured you'd like to at least gain some of your magic back." Fred shook the vial. "What do you say?"
"How do I know that's actually going to give me my fox magic back?" Sam asked.
"Lee, here, brewed it," George said, wrapping an arm around Lee's shoulders. "Isn't that right?"
"Sure is," Lee said, smiling down at Sam. "The twins told me of their prank war, and I thought—hey, I've got some extra ingredients and a private place to brew. I could at least even out the playing field. You know I like you, Sam, right?"
"I suppose." Sam narrowed his eyes at the vial before huffing and holding a hand out for it. "But why would you want me to have my fox magic? Then I would have the upper hand."
"Maybe," Fred said. "But you always make our prank wars so much better. Even if you win most of them."
Fred gave Sam the vial and Sam sniffed it hesitantly. He looked at Harry and held it up to the boy.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Harry took the vial and sniffed it. Years of helping his father in the lab paid off, and he frowned as he picked up hints of daffodils, lovage, and chrysanthemums, and the color reminded him of moonstones. He frowned, trying to decide what potion may require such ingredients. He shrugged and handed it back to Sam and looked at the twins and Lee.
"It smells earthy," Harry said. "Like flowers. Flowers in most potions are usually used as enhancements so I suppose it may be able to enhance your fox magic and bring it out."
The twins and Lee nodded at Harry's words and Sam sighed and threw all caution to the wind and drank down the vial. When he swallowed the last of it, the three older boys bolted down the hall laughing, leaving behind a confused Ron and Harry and a very frustrated Sam.
"I don't think this is enhancing my magic," Sam snarled, throwing the vial on the hard, stone floor, shattering it. "I'm going to burn those twins alive when I turn back!"
"Hey, take it easy," Harry said, jumping back when the glass broke.
"This is ridiculous!" Sam stomped his feet repeatedly. "This whole game is unfair and against the rules! I want to be normal again. I'm sick of being baby Sam! It's not fun anymore."
"Relax, Sam. The twins just think this is all a joke. You know that."
"And I bet you think it's hilarious!"
"I never said that . . . I mean, if you think about it, it is kind of funny. But you are really cool as a kid, too, you know. We're having fun, right?"
"I have no magic. I have no fire. I lost two tails. Do you know how much tails mean to a kitsune?"
"Why are you yelling? You'll turn back at midnight, won't you? It's all just a joke. You're in a prank war."
"It's a very stupid joke!"
Sam threw himself to the ground before doing something Harry had never seen adult Sam do. He started bawling loudly. The poor child looked very pathetic crying on the floor, his ears pivoted back, and his eyes closed, tears still managing to escape. Harry was starting to feel bad for Sam now, but it clicked in his head why the fox just exploded with anger and was now crying like it was the end of the world.
"I think I know what flowers enhance now," Harry said.
"Emotions?" Ron guessed, raising his brows at Harry, who nodded in agreement.
"Sam's going to be really embarrassed about this when he turns back," Harry said, unsure if he should be amused by little Sam's behavior or embarrassed for the fox.
"I got this," Ron said, squatting down in front of Sam. "Hey, Sam, it's going to be okay. I know my brothers are such big meanies, aren't they? I think I have a soother pop if you want one." Ron pulled a lollipop out of his pocket and offered it to Sam, who rubbed at his eyes and gladly accepted it, popping it into his mouth quickly.
"There," Ron said proudly.
"How did you do that?" Harry asked.
"My brothers did that to me when I was younger, and I had to use that trick on Ginny a few times growing up. Siblings help one another, you know."
"I don't mind it, really," Sam suddenly spoke around the lollipop. He pulled it from his mouth. "Being little Sam, I mean. I know it's only temporarily and I'll be myself again soon. But being little lets me relive my childhood a little. I never would have gotten away with half the things I pulled on Severus with my father."
"See, there's a bright side to all this," Harry said.
"But when I catch those twins when I'm back to normal . . ." Sam growled as his ears flattened against his head and his fist tightened around the stick of the lollipop.
Harry squatted in front of Sam and urged the lollipop back into Sam's mouth. "Think happy thoughts," Harry said, patting Sam's hair while the kit sucked on the lollipop.
When Sam finished with the candy, the potion seemed to wear off and he was ready to chase after the twins once more.
"We need a better plan than playing defense and waiting for the twins to come to us," Sam said as he led the way down the hall toward the Fat Lady portrait. "I'm catching their scent in the tower. I'm thinking we ambush them. You two go inside and lure them out here, and I attack. Ron, do you still have that dung bomb?"
"Yep," Ron said, handing over the device. Sam slid it into a pocket.
"Great." Sam looked around. "These portraits are magical right?"
"Yeah," Harry looked up as well, eyeing each portrait. "Why?"
"We'll need to trap them, then I will throw in the dungbomb!"
"That sounds great! But I don't know which portraits let you enter inside of them."
"Ooh!" a man shouted from high above them, waving down to them. It was a knight posing in an empty but smokey battlefield. "You are welcome to use my portrait. The older years defense classes use mine all the time when learning to escape enchanted objects. You are able to walk right into the painting and then the professor uses a charm to trap the student temporarily."
"I can't wait for that class," Ron said.
Harry levitated the portrait down and let Sam take it. The Knight had walked off to give the children some free time with his portrait. Sam tested the portrait on an unsuspecting Ron by pushing the portrait in the boy's face, making half of the child disappear inside before pulling off.
"Wow." Ron smiled as he wobbled on his feet slightly. "That was trippy."
"Now that we have a plan," Sam smirked, "let's put it into action."
Harry and Ron entered the common room, spotting the twins and Lee quickly. It looked like they were working on homework if the textbooks and parchments were anything to go by. The two boys trotted over to them.
"Well, well, well," George said.
"What do we have here?" Fred joined in. "Where's baby Sam?"
"Crying his eyes out in the hall," Harry said. "We couldn't take any more of it."
"You mean our magic enhancer was actually an emotion enhancer?" Fred raised his brows and looked at George. "How did we ever get the two mixed up, George?"
"I don't know, Fred. The vials looked so similar we must have grabbed the wrong one. Poor Sam. We send our sincerest apologies."
"He's going to be furious with you guys when he's full grown again," Harry said.
"We can take the heat," George said with a wink.
"Ha, ha," Harry said, resting his hands on his hips. "Can you guys at least give him the antidote to whatever you gave him earlier? He's really distraught. He goes from angry to sad to happy and back in a matter of seconds."
Fred and George frowned as they looked at each other.
"It should have worn off by now," Fred said.
"We did give him a baby dose," George said.
"After all, he is baby sized now."
"Maybe the potion is only formulated for humans. We didn't really consider the effects on magical creatures."
"Who knows how long this will last? I guess we can give him the cure and hit him with our next prank." Fred nodded his head at that and continued, "We'll give baby Sam the antidote. But he'll owe us a freebie."
"Whatever that may be, we'll let him know in the future."
Fred and George jumped up from their seats, leaving their homework with Lee while they dug through their robes looking for the right product. Harry and Ron shared a look at all the noise they heard coming from the twins' robe pockets. Finally, George produced a small red colored vial.
"Lead the way," Fred said to Harry, who nodded and turned toward the entrance.
At that moment, the floo in the common room flared and McGonagall walked through, demanding everyone's attention. She informed that the time for picking their next year's classes was near and to think hard about what they wanted to take. A schedule would be posted on her office door and she expected everyone to take it upon themselves to look at the schedule and attend at their appointed time. She told the students to inform whoever wasn't in the common room of the news.
When everyone nodded, McGonagall made her way to the entrance.
"Oh no," Ron and Harry whispered. They ran after their Head of House while Fred and George shared a look of understanding and smirked. "Professor, wait!"
But it was too late. McGonagall stepped out of the tower, only for a portrait to be dropped down on her and a dungbomb to closely follow and explode, the entire space within the portrait filling up with that awful smell and there being no way to attain fresh air.
Sam had realized a second too late that the twins had not been the ones who walked out when he had dropped the portrait and dungbomb at the same time. He dropped down from the Fat Lady's portrait frame and picked up the fallen painting, leaning it against the wall.
"Sam!" A small McGonagall shouted from within before she choked on the stench. "This is your doing?"
Sam's ears pivoted back, and he winced in sympathy for the professor. He respected the woman too much and twice now he had allowed her to fall into one of his traps. He was about to apologize when two red heads appeared behind him, leaning over Sam's shoulder to peer into the portrait.
"Hi, professor!"
"How ever did you get in there?"
"Enjoying the nice, cloudy day? I hear Hastings is quite lovely in the year ten sixty-six."
"Would you mind saying hello to William for us?"
"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall shouted. "That is enough. Back up, all three of you!"
Fred and George urged Sam back with a hand on each shoulder, and they watched as McGongall waved her wand in an elaborate manner before she seemed to grow out of the portrait, landing gracefully on her feet and glaring down at the boys. Harry and Ron observed everything from the tower entrance.
"I have had enough of this ridiculous prank war!" McGonagall snapped. "It ends now. I will not be a victim of any more jokes."
"Sorry, professor," the three boys said.
"Can you two turn Sam back?"
"No," Fred answer. "It's a potion that has to wear off on its own. It usually will after 12 hours, so by midnight for sure, he'll be back to normal."
"You used a potion that does not have an antidote on a magical creature?"
"Just one we know for sure will wear off," George defended.
"Unbelievable!" McGonagall glared down at the three boys before she seemed to make a decision. "Well, I am not putting up with any more shenanigans from any of you. Mister . . . Sam, I am restricting you from leaving your quarters for the rest of the day. As for you two, this nonsense is over."
"Yes, Professor."
McGonagall grabbed Sam by the arm and dragged him away. Harry followed after his irate head of house, leaving Ron and the twins behind. McGonagall dragged Sam down to Severus's quarters and banged on the door.
A minute later, Severus opened it.
His eyes spotted Sam, and they widened.
"Absolutely not!" he said before slamming the door.
Sam smirked, his ears perking, and Harry bit back his own laughter. McGonagall was stunned speechless for several long seconds before she pounded on the door again, more demandingly this time.
"Severus Snape, you open this door this second before I banish it from the castle entirely!"
"I don't want Sam anywhere near my quarters until he's back to normal," Severus said from inside.
"Open the door and talk to me like a grown man and not some moody teenager!"
Harry couldn't help the laugh that escaped from his lips at his head of house scolding his father. The door opened and they were all met with an affronted glare. Severus leaned against the doorframe, effectively blocking his entrance as he folded his arms.
"That little menace can stay with you," Severus said.
"This menace, as you put it, has been in a prank war between the Weasley twins all day and I have had quite enough. Sam is to stay in your quarters where he belongs until he is back to normal."
"What if I don't want him here?"
"That's too bad, he's your fox."
"Technically, he's my son's familiar, and my son is in your house which makes Sam your responsibility as well. I think its fair to say that Sam can be kept inside your tower until midnight."
"I am trying to put as much distance between this fox and the Weasley Twins as I can. He stays here. I don't need him causing any more havoc around the castle."
"I don't want him causing havoc around me. He's not coming in here."
Sam whined pitifully, his ears dropping, and he looked up sadly at McGonagall, his lower lip puckered out.
"Look at him, Severus, you've hurt his feelings." McGonagall gave Severus a pointed look.
"Oh, I'm sure he's so upset about not being able to terrorize me today. He's not coming in."
"Severus . . ."
"Minerva . . ."
"Dad," Harry stepped forward, deciding to say a few words.
"Harry," Severus growled at his son, giving him a look to stay out of it.
"Me!" Sam said with a big smile. His ears flicked as everyone turned their attention to him.
Severus sighed, muttering something under his breath, before he grabbed Sam and yanked the fox inside.
"Fine. But you owe me."
"I owe you?" McGonagall raised her brows. "I'll buy you all the firewhiskey you'll need after he turns back."
Severus grumbled irritably before shutting the door and turning on Sam. The kit was standing in front of him with his hands clasped together and a big, innocent smile on his face, his ears perked.
"You're not fooling anyone," Severus snapped. "Go stand in that corner."
"Why?" Sam asked.
'For being little again!" Severus snapped. "And it'll keep you busy until midnight.
Sam rolled his eyes before placing himself in the corner. "You know you can't keep me here all night."
"Watch me."
Severus sat back down in his armchair and picked up the stack of essays he had been working on. He lifted one leg to rest his ankle on the thigh of his other leg, using his raised knee as writing support when he needed to. After nearly ten minutes, Sam sighed dramatically. Severus wasn't really going to make him stand in a corner all night, was he?
Looking around, Sam spotted Harry's colored pencils and sharpies. The boy was still very much an artist in his free time, taking his time to sketch animals or people. Sam glanced at Severus before he managed to snatch a few sharpies and pencils. He had never really attempted drawing anything for fun before. He used the sharpie to draw an outline of what he thought was a decent side of a human's head on the wall. He gave this person a very large nose and long black hair. He made sure to draw a scowl on the man's face.
Very amused, Sam continued drawing around the man's head now, giving the man a pink crown and long eyelashes. He then tried to draw a smaller fox off to the side, wondering how Harry had gotten rather good at foxes. He was having a difficult time getting the face just right and with sharpies, there was no do-overs. He finally gave up on the fox and threw the pencils and sharpies down.
"May I leave the corner now?" Sam asked.
"No."
"This is getting old."
"It's keeping you out of trouble," Severus said.
"How do you know?"
Severus snapped his head up and looked at Sam. Not seeing anything immediate, he stood and walked over to the fox, moving the boy aside and revealing the drawings on the wall.
"Is that supposed to be me?" Severus glared down at Sam.
"Maybe," Sam answered, a smirk on his face.
"You, of course, know better than to draw on walls," Severus said, crossing his arms.
"No one ever told me I couldn't."
"No one should have to!" Severus grabbed Sam's arm and pulled the boy away from the wall. He pushed Sam down on the sofa and gave him a coloring book, summoning the pencils and sharpies.
"Here. Now you can color to your heart's content."
'I already did," Sam argued. "I want to do something else."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Entertain me."
"I am not entertaining you—I did that last time, unfortunately. Perhaps if you hadn't annoyed Minerva, you'd still be allowed to roam the castle, but instead you're stuck down here until you change back."
"I was trying to catch the twins. It's their fault I'm like this again. They started the prank war this morning. I was trying to retaliate to their ever-sticky peanut butter biscuit joke at breakfast when they hit me with this potion again."
"Do these pranks ever get old?"
"Not the way we play them."
"Humph." Severus sat back down in his armchair to finish grading. He tapped the coffee table and tea and biscuits appeared in front of him. Severus poured a cup of tea for them both and slid the cup over to Sam. "I suggest you try keeping these prank wars confined to Gryffindor tower. I certainly don't want to fall victim as Minerva has."
"Those boys are sneaky," Sam said. "Sneaky as a fox."
"You three make quite a trio when you work together."
"But how do I outsmart them? Two against one." Sam took sip of the tea before scaring down all the biscuits in sight, much to Severus's disgust. He managed to take a couple and set them aside before the fox could inhale everything. "I mean, I've had worse odds, but it's not like I actually want to hurt them."
"Perhaps you need to bring them down to your level," Severus said.
"You're not suggesting what I think you are, are you?" Sam smirked and flicked his ears at Severus. "You'd help me, right?"
"I am always one for a little payback. Especially after they left me to deal with little you the first time. How about this: I agree to help you prank the twins, and you'll remain on your best behavior for the rest of the evening."
"Deal," Sam said, holding out his hand.
Severus reached over to shake Sam's hand when he felt a shock jolt up his arm. He hissed in pain and yanked away, shaking out his hand as he stared at Sam in disbelief.
Sam took off a small silver band strapped around his palm, a smirk on his face. "Sorry. Snatched this from Fred when they were talking to Minerva in the portrait. Best behavior starting now."
Sam offered his hand once more, but Severus shook his head.
"Deal accepted," Severus picked up his essays to continue his work, ignoring Sam's foxy expression of mischief.
Later that evening, Harry and Ron were surprised to see Sam enter the Great Hall at dinner. Sam walked over to the two boys and jumped between them at the Gryffindor table.
"Dad let you out?" Harry asked as Sam piled food on his plate.
"Yeah, as long as I behave, as he put it. Hey, can you reach those meat pies?"
Harry helped Sam pile more food on the plate by reaching for what Sam could not. By the time Sam had everything he wanted, even Ron stared in shock.
"And I thought I was a big eater," Ron said, looking at his half-eaten plate.
"Lookie here," Fred's voice sounded from the end of the table.
Sam's ears flattened and he bared his teeth at the twins. Fred and George left their seats and walked down to Sam, smirking down at the kit.
"Someone must have made bail," George said.
"You two better sleep with one eye open for the next few weeks. I'm making a comeback even you won't see coming."
"We should be afraid, Fred," George said, elbowing his brother, "very afraid."
"I've got chills down my arms," Fred joked.
Sam looked down at his plate of food, then back at Fred and George. Grabbing on of the meat pies, he threw the food at Fred, who dodged it. The pie hit George instead, who lunged for a treacle tart to throw at Sam.
"Food fight!" Sam shouted, and with that, all of Gryffidnor table started throwing food at each other Sam focused on the twins, all three trying to get a hit at the other. Soon, the other three tables were in on it.
Albus smiled at the chaos before deciding he should intervene before it got out of hand. He slowly stood, saying, "Children, children, please settle—"
And then he was hit in the face by a dallop of whipped cream by McGonagall, who was avoiding a charmed attack of meatballs from Flitwick. Albus used his wand to send pies flying toward both professors.
"Very mature, Albus," Severus said standing himself. He didn't even need to yell, his stern voice alone caught everyone's attention as it usually did. "Enough."
Every student froze and looked up at the teacher's table.
"Sam," Severus turned annoyed eyes on the fox.
"What?" The kit shrugged. "This is my best behavior."
While Severus was staring down Sam, Draco had managed to tiptoe up to the professor's table and splash a cup of pumpkin juice on the Potions Professor. Severus jumped, caught by surprise. He narrowed his eyes at Draco while the whole student population held their breath.
"Oh, it is on," Severus said, waving his wand and dumping a bowl of pudding over Draco's head.
And he food fight commenced.
It lasted twenty minutes before Albus used his wand to vanish all the food and send everyone on their way to bed where an evening snack would await them. Harry followed after his father and Sam, laughing along with the kit about the crazy day they had shared. Severus just smiled down at his troublesome family. They shared a snack together before Severus sent Harry on his way to dress for bed. Sam had yawned all through dinner, blaming his small self for being so tired. While Severus washed their dishes, Sam decided to head to his dog bed to undress and shift.
A few minutes later, Harry tiptoed into the kitchen, whispering to his father, "Come look at Sam."
Severus followed Harry into the living room, where Sam, still in his human form, had collapsed on his dog bed, asleep. One ear gave a lazy flick before growing still again.
Severus smiled softly at the kit. The fox had been too tired to even remove his clothes to attempt shifting.
"He had a long day," Harry said, smiling up at his father.
"At least I didn't suffer for his transformation this time," Severus said. He kneeled next to the bed and gathered Sam in his arms, standing with the child. He motioned to the couch with a jerk of his head and Harry moved couch pillows to one end and pulled the afghan off the back while Severus laid Sam down. Harry covered the kit with the blanket.
"You're a naughty one," Severus whispered, ruffling Sam's hair, "but you are cute when you're little."
"He's cute when he's full grown," Harry said, leaning against the arm of the couch.
Severus snorted, "You tell him that. Come, let Sam rest. We'll have hot chocolate in my room."
Severus extinguished the lights in the room as he and his son retreated, leaving the exhausted kitsune to snuggle into the pillow and blanket, yawning once and sighing contently.
And this concludes Little Sam Take Two. To find out how Sam gets back at the twins, read the last chapter of Monster from the Chamber. Thanks for reading.