Hey you all! :) I wanted to update this story again before January is over ;)

My goal for February is to finish writing this story and upload all the remaining chapters!

Thank you guest for your review! :) Owls are pretty badass hahaha. Salazar will hopefully get some cuddles in the end ;)

WARNING: Some angst and humiliation.

Tom groaned, the sun shining right into his face, and he tossed around, opening his eyes.

Something's weird.

Something was weird- and when he realized what it was, he wanted to die in mortification. He was diapered. He was wearing a fucking diaper! And that was not even the worst part- the worst part was, the diaper was…full. It was soaking wet.

Tom stifled a sob, he was not going to cry over this, or anything Gryffindor had done to him- he was an adult, he was stronger than this, he would…

"Tom? May I come in?"

Shit.

"No! Go away! I am sleeping!", he yelled at the door, and Salazar chuckled, "it does not really sound like you are sleeping, Tom. I'm coming in now."

"No!"

Salazar chuckled again, and then he opened the door and walked in- and Tom's whole face turned dark red, while he was holding onto his sheet covering his body like a lifeline, "stay…stay away! Don't come any closer!"

A sad smile formed on Salazar's lips, "Tommy…there's nothing you need to be ashamed about, you were regressing yesterday, and…"

"I'm not regressing. I'm not! I am an adult! I am eighteen!"

The Slytherin sighed, "Tommy, you know that is not true- if you look in the mirror, you would…"

"I hate the mirror! And I hate you! I hate all of you!", he forced back the tears, "just…go! I want to be alone!"

"I just wanted to see if you needed any help, Tom", Salazar's voice was still kind, it always was, "would you like me to take that diaper off you?"

The boy hung his head, tears of shame welling up in his eyes, "you'll tell him- and then he's gonna laugh at me", his voice cracked, and then he hid his face in his hands.

"Tell…him?"

"Gryf…Gryffindor", the boy sounded miserable, "and then he'll make fun of me- and he'll never take me serious."

"Godric is not going to laugh at you, Tommy- you are a little boy now, and sometimes little boys need diapers. There's nothing wrong with that."

Tom let out a bitter laugh, "you don't understand- I…I used them. I'm…I'm freakin wet. Everything's wet, and cold, and…just…don't tell him, don't tell him, please!", he sobbed, the shame almost too much to bear.

He's gonna think I'm ridiculous- Lord Voldemort, pissing himself like a little boy. No wonder he hates me.

Salazar came closer, his heart hurting for the boy, "there's nothing to be ashamed about", he repeated, "come on, let's get you clean, Tom", he held out his hand, and the boy really did get out of his bed, and he even let him help him in the bathroom- but he did not say another word, he was just staring into space, crying silently, and Salazar had a feeling the anger inside him would boil over soon.

And he was right.

They had barely made it to breakfast when Tom did what he usually did- being rude.

"Where's my bacon and eggs? I don't want fucking oatmeal!", he was looking straight at Aurelius when he said that, needing the older boy to know that he would still fucking curse whenever he felt like it- and to remind him that whatever had happened the day before had been nothing but a delirium on his part.

Owly, Relius!

God, this was fucked up- and screw Aurelius for playing along with his bullshit, he had probably been laughing his ass off later.

"You only get bacon and eggs on the weekends for breakfast- and today is Wednesday, Tom", Aurelius responded, his voice completely calm, but there was a flicker of something else in his eyes, something Tom could not decipher.

Whatever. Doesn't matter.

"I don't care what day it is! I want bacon!", he was screaming now, the anger and shame inside him making him act out even more, "I'll eat nothing else!"

Aurelius wordlessly dragged him into the corner, "ten minutes- you know the drill", and was it his imagination, or did Aurelius actually sound…tired?

Won't be much longer now- and then they'll get rid of me.

With that in mind, Tom spend the rest of the day being as obnoxious as he could.

"Why would I want to play with you and Black? I'm not a kid!"

"I am not gonna feed the owls with you! I hate owls!"

"I don't want to take a nap!"

"What's wrong with my shirt? It's not even that cold!"

Gryffindor just snorted, "it is snowing, Thomas", he pointed at the window showing the snow falling down outside, "and if you want to go in the park, you have to wear a warm sweater and a jacket. You know the rules."

"I don't care for any of your stupid rules!", Tom hissed back, his eyes sparkling with anger, "I'll stay inside then! I am gonna go to bed, actually!"

"At four in the afternoon?"

"What's it to you?", he was yelling now, enjoying getting all his anger out, "better that than spending another second around you! I hate you!"

"You better watch your tone, Thomas!"

"Or what?", he sneered, "gonna beat me again? Wouldn't that be something new!", and then he turned around, and stormed out of the room, his eyes still red with fury.

I hate him! I hate all of this!

He ran up the stairs, rudely pushing a house elf out of the way who squeaked in surprise, and then he ran down the hallway to his- the- room he slept in.

He slammed the door as hard as he could, the loud noise giving him some satisfaction, and then he went over to his bed, but before he could look for Brownie, the door behind him opened.

Shit.

"Did you really think I am letting you talk to me like that, Thomas?", Gryffindor sounded angry, very angry, "you know very well that I do not beat you- I spank you, and I should spank you again for that attitude of yours!"

Tom did not bother to respond, he just pushed his head under a pillow, ignoring Gryffindor.

"Look at me when I am talking to you, Thomas!"

Now he sounded livid- and Tom was too scared of him to disobey him again, so he slowly turned around, looking Gryffindor straight in the eyes.

"You, Thomas, are grounded", Gryffindor told him coldly, "maybe some time to think will help you with your insolence- you have been acting horribly all day."

Grounded? What's that mean?

He did not dare to ask though, so he simply nodded, swallowing hard.

"I'll see you tonight, Thomas- for bedtime."

Tom blinked, not understanding. Was Gryffindor going somewhere? He was going to see him for tea time in an hour, right?

Makes no sense.

He waited until Gryffindor had left the room to look for Brownie, and then he silently snuggled with the teddy, feeling confused, lost, and miserable. He was getting hungry, and the tea was always delicious- it was probably the only good thing about living here- and when he decided it was five o'clock, he left his room to go have some biscuits and cake.

He had even put a warm sweater on, because truth was, it was cold, and he badly wanted to go outside and get some fresh air, he needed to clear his head.

Maybe he lets me go out now. I am sick of being stuck inside this house.

He heard some noise coming from the living room, and quickly marched in that direction. Someone, it sounded like Black, was laughing, and he balled his hands into fists.

Spoiled brat. This is all his fault!

He entered the room, looking forward to some chocolate cake, but as soon as they all saw him, they stopped talking, looking at him with a weird expression on their faces.

Why are they staring at me like that?

Black actually gasped, his eyes wide, and Aurelius frowned at him.

What the fuck is wrong with them?

"What are you doing here, Thomas?", Gryffindor's voice was as sharp as a knife's, and his expression had darkened, "making more trouble for yourself?"

He immediately got angry, "just came to get some cake- but I guess you don't want me to have tea with you!"

"Of course we don't want you here- go back to your room, and don't you dare to come out again until tomorrow morning", every word Gryffindor's felt like a punch in the gut, "the house elves will bring you something to eat- and now get out. I've had enough of your disrespect for today. You are grou…"

Tom did not listen to the rest of his sentence, not wanting to hear what awful name Gryffindor would call him- he stormed out of the room, forcing back the tears.

Of course we don't want you here.

Go back to your room, don't you dare to come out again!

I've had enough of you for today.

He barely made it back to the room before he burst into tears.

"I hate you! I hate you!", he was sobbing, desperately clutching onto Brownie, "I hate all of this!", he was crying, he was crying so hard his whole body was shaking, "don't…want…this!"

He hid under the sheets, determined not to come out ever again- he would just stay here, screw Gryffindor and his fucked up family, he did not need them or their stupid cake!

He held Brownie close, quietly sobbing into his soft fur, angry at himself for being so damn emotional about this.

Why are you so surprised? Course he would get rid of you- you are nothing but rude to him. That's what you wanted, right?

He could not stop sobbing though, even though it had been what he wanted- angering Gryffindor to the point he would send him somewhere else, to be someone else's problem…And why did that thought had to hurt so much?

And while Tom was silently crying into his teddy, Godric and Salazar were at a loss for words- something that did not happen very often.

"I am starting to think we made a huge mistake here", Godric said quietly, "he disobeys every rule, he does not even stay in his room when I grounded him, he…he just hates us", he covered his face with his hands, "why…why does he not see that I was trying to help him?"

"He is too full of hatred to see anything right now", Salazar replied, his voice just as quiet, "I knew he would be angry after what happened yesterday and after he woke up in a…diaper, but to cheek you like this, after you grounded him, to come out here and demand cake- that's really something else", he sighed.

"He is definitely getting worse- and I don't know how much longer I can handle him screaming and cursing at me all five minutes", Aurelius mumbled, "I mean- I knew this would be difficult, but…I try to play with him, to have fun with him, I tuck him in every night, and I know he loves that, but…this is just…hard."

No one had been touching their cake, not even Sirius, who had been listening quietly to the conversation. He hated Voldemort for the fact alone that he made his family so unhappy- but unlike his parents and big brother, he had seen something else when Tom had come down to demand cake and his Daddy had told him that he did not want him here- hurt.

He had looked hurt, and for a second, confused- just like he did not even know…

"I…I think I know why he came down", Sirius blurted out, and his face flushed when everyone turned their heads to stare at him in surprise, "maybe he did not mean to be disrespectful then, maybe he…does not know what it means to be…grounded?"

There was a silence.

Eventually, Godric groaned, "of course- why did I never think about that? He left his room because he did not know he was supposed to stay there- you are one smart boy, Sirius", and then he went over to his middle son, and pulled him into a hug, "I need to go talk to Tom."

Salazar nodded, "you should- we will wait with tea time for the two of you."

"Thank you", Godric leaned over to give his partner a kiss, "I'll be right back", he gently put Sirius down, and then he left the room, making his way up to the bedroom of his youngest son. He could not deny he was worried- what if Tom refused to even talk to him now?

I hope I did not mess this up completely…

He knocked on the door, and then he slowly entered Tom's room. His boy was hiding under the sheets, cuddling with Brownie. He did not move when he came closer.

"Tommy?"

No answer.

Godric sat down next to his youngest, "Tommy…I need to talk to you."

"Nothin' to say to you", the boy's voice sounded like he had been crying, and Gryffindor cursed himself for being so careless in not explaining his punishment to the boy. It also sounded like the boy was regressing again, so he had to choose his words carefully.

"Well, I have something to say to you, baby bear."

"Go 'way!", the boy shouted from under the blanket, his voice muffled, "I hate you!"

Gryffindor sighed, he knew this was going to be hard. He thought about what to do for a moment, and then his glance fell over to Brownie- the teddy he had given Tom.

And then, he got an idea.

"May I talk to you for a second, Brownie?", he asked the teddy, and then, in a disguised voice he let Brownie answer, "I'm mad at you, I don't want to talk!"

"I am sorry that you are mad, Brownie. Could you tell me why you are mad at me?"

"I am mad because you sent me to my room when I just wanted to eat some cake! I love chocolate cake and I was so excited for it!", he let Brownie say.

"I am sorry, Brownie. You see, I thought you were being disobedient, and that's why I sent you to your room. I grounded you, and when you are grounded, you need to stay in your room like a good boy."

"I did not know what grounded means! I thought you just did not want me to be there to eat cake with you!", Brownie now said, and Gryffindor watched his youngest slowly peek up from under the sheets, but he still did not say anything.

"I always want you to there to eat with us, Brownie- except when you are grounded. When you are grounded, you need to stay in your room. Do you think you can do that next time?"

"Yes, I can! I can be good!", he made Brownie say, and he stifled a smile when he saw his youngest nodding earnestly to what his teddy had said.

My sweet boy.

"I know you can- you are my good little boy", he slowly started to pet the teddy, "I hurt you when I told you to leave, right? That made you sad, hmm?"

This time, he did not need Brownie to answer for his boy, because Tom nodded again, "ye…yes", he finally choked out, "thought you did not want me. Thought you would send me away now cause I'm so bad."

"Oh Tommy…this was all my fault. I should have told you what it means to be grounded, and I am never going to send you away, even if you are being naughty. You're my son, Tommy, and I love you."

Tom forced back the tears, taking a deep breath, "I…but…why…I…", he stifled a sob, confusion in his eyes.

"You want to know why I love you?"

"Yah."

"Because you are my son, Tommy."

The boy blinked, "but…I'm always rude to you. And I am not good like…your sons. And I hurt Black."

"Hmm…have you been rude because you actually wanted to be rude, or because you thought I would send you away then?"

The boy hung his head, "thought…you'd send me away anyways, so…", he shrugged, clearly uncomfortable in talking about the subject.

"Do you remember our deal, Tommy?"

The boy swallowed, hugging Brownie tight, obviously needing the comfort, "you mean…the apology? To Black?"

"Not only an apology, baby bear- I need you to tell him why you treated him so bad."

Tom bit his lips, avoiding to look at him, "I…already told you."

"I need the truth from you, Tommy- and if you tell Sirius the truth, I'll transform you back, if that is really what you want."

"And let me go?"

His heart clenched, "yes, and let you go."

"But…how do you know I'm telling the truth or not?"

"I put a small spell on you- and if you apologize and tell Sirius truthfully why you treated him the way you did, there will be a reaction- the air around you will glow, and will get very bright for several minutes."

Tom stayed silent for a couple of minutes, but eventually, he nodded, "fine, I'll apologize to Black. Am I still grounded?"

Gryffindor stifled another smile, "no, Tommy- not for right now at least. For now, I would like you to come downstairs with me to have some cake."

The boys' face immediately lit up, "chocolate cake!"

"Yes, that as well", Gryffindor was smiling now, "come on, let's go", he held out a hand, but Tom hesitated, "gotta do something first", he eventually said, and then he carefully picked up Brownie and walked him to a corner of the room, "you, Brownie, are grounded", he told the teddy in a serious voice, "you cannot leave this corner, you need to say here and be good. You need to be a good bear, so that you can have cake, too. Stay here and wait til I'm back, okay?"

Gryffindor was watching him, realizing that this was how Tom processed what he had told him- and it was one of the reasons he had given him a teddy bear. It was also becoming very clear that the regression episode had wiped out more of his adult brain- and he was glad that the teddy was an outlet for Tom to deal with the changes in his mind.

Tom turned around to face him, a worried expression on his face, "you think he's gonna stay there and be good?"

Godric nodded in earnest, "I think so- Brownie wants to make you proud, hmm? He won't move, Tommy, so you can have some cake in the meantime", he carefully held out his hand again, and this time, the boy took it.

"Good boy, Tommy", he told him in a low voice, "come on, cake's waiting."

They went downstairs, and Gryffindor could tell that Tom really tried this time- he tried not to pull, and he tried to be quiet, and walk right next to him, but the obedience was not easy for him.

It will get easier once he actually wants to make me proud.

He kept praising the boy, and when they made it to the hallway, Aurelius came running towards them, smiling, "good thing you are here, baby bear- we could really need your help. The chocolate frogs escaped again. They are all over the place."

"The chocolate frogs escaped?", Tom repeated, sounding utterly fascinated, "where did they go?"

Gryffindor had to smile. This was a game Aurelius played with Sirius quite often- he let some chocolate frogs run wild in one of the living rooms- one without a fireplace, so the frogs wouldn't melt right away- and then Sirius got the task of catching them, allowed to eat as many as he caught.

"They are over there- I managed to lock them up in a room, but they are still refusing to go back into their boxes. It's a mess. I'll show you."

"Maybe they just don't want to get eaten", Gryffindor heard his youngest say as they disappeared into the room, and that made him laugh.

My sweet, funny boy.

He decided to go find Salazar, proud of Aurelius for easily allowing to Tom join their game, and for not bringing up what had happened before.

He'll have fun- hopefully.

Tom did have fun- the most fun he ever had, probably. When Aurelius took him to the living room, it was full of chocolate frogs jumping and croaking everywhere, and in the middle of it was Sirius, swinging a net, "I caught three, still too many on the loose, though!", de declared, his mouth covered with chocolate, "one of them is hiding under the lamp, pretending to be a light bulb. You wanna help?", he looked at Tom, the invitation clear.

And even though part of his brain knew that this was silly and childish, the other, bigger part wanted nothing more than catching chocolate frogs pretending to be parts of the furniture, so he nodded, "got another net?"

Sirius grinned, "of course", he handed him one, "ready?"

"Ready!"

It was surprisingly easy to forget that he disliked Black, and that he was still mad at Aurelius for what happened when he had been regressing- because the catching and capturing of the frogs took all of his attention.

"There's one! By the curtains!"

"He's gonna jump, he's gonna jump!"

"Watch out, there's one trying to get under the couch!"

"I got him!"

"In the bookshelf! He's pretending to be a bookend!"

"Got him!", Tom grinned while he took a huge bite of the protesting frog, "how many more?"

"Only five more!"

"Four more", Aurelius corrected, holding a wiggly frog, "I just found this one by the window", he smiled at his younger brothers, "you are going to get a tummy ache if you really eat them all."

"Not true, I can eat a lot more!"

"My tummy never gets hurt from chocolate!"

Aurelius laughed, "alright then- go get the last four, and then we'll have some tea. You boys must be thirsty."

He had enjoyed watching his brothers play, especially seeing Tom so happy- and he knew that he needed more of it. He always wanted Tom to be like this. Happy, carefree, and playful.

One day you will be, Tommy.

They eventually caught all of the frogs and went over to the parlor where they usually had their tea, and the boys' faces were sweaty, their mouths covered in chocolate smear, and their hair a wild mess.

They were both so engrossed in a conversation about the best catching techniques that Tom did not even realize that this was the first time he did not spend a meal in the corner or being punished.

After they had tea, Aurelius took them to one of the bathrooms to clean their faces, and Tom just let it happen, not thinking much about it. He spent the rest of the afternoon discussing chocolate frog traps with Sirius, both immensely enjoying imagining the best trap for them, and soon it was time for dinner.

They did not give him the chance to misbehave again, since Salazar immediately pulled everyone in a debate about if pumpkin pastries were more delicious than apple pie- and it got quite heated, and Tom forgot all about being rude. He had to go to bed immediately after dinner, and when he was finally in bed, Aurelius tucking him in, he realized how tired he was.

"You are going to sleep well tonight, baby bear", Aurelius promised him, smiling, "you made me so proud today, being such a good boy...behaving so well", and he ruffled his hair affectionally, "I love you, Tommy."

Tom blinked sleepily, snuggling into Brownie who had gotten out of the corner by now, "didn't…mean what I said", he eventually whispered.

Aurelius raised an eyebrow, "about what, baby?"

"About…the owls. I do wanna feed them again", he blushed, not looking at the older boy, and Aurelius felt the happiness radiating in his chest, "how about we go and feed them tomorrow?", he suggested, "just you and me?"

"Okay", Tom's response was quiet, but it was a response- a first step.

"Goodnight, sleepy bear", he got his goodnight kiss, and then Aurelius left the room, smiling at him.

And Tom snuggled under the warm covers, listening to the snowstorm outside, and he was surprised to notice that he did not feel angry right now. He just felt…tired. In a good way.

Maybe…I can stay a little longer…just after I fed the owls, and then…I apologize.

And with that thought, he fell asleep.

things are slowly getting better- before they get bad again of course :D

see you all in February! ;)

I'd love some feedback!

Antonie