Author's Note: Updates will be monthly for now on. I need to finish a few more stories that I'm currently working on at the same time as this one.
A Memory Found
by: Mystical Dragon
Waking, Dumbledore grimaced. His body was sore from sleeping in a rather hard chair instead of his bed. He had been able to sleep in chairs when he was younger but that wasn't something he could do anymore! He should have conjured up a bed but Dumbledore had come in to check on Severus and Draco and had fallen asleep.
Remembering, Dumbledore looked over at the bed and frowned as he failed to see the black haired boy. Where was Severus?
"Daddy, are you sure you're not mad at me?" Severus' voice asked shyly.
Dumbledore's eyes flew around the room until he spotted Severus; Nathan was holding him and standing by the window that looked out at the sea. Dumbledore tried to get up but he couldn't; he couldn't even talk. Either Nathan or Ivan had done this. Dumbledore was guessing Ivan. Nathan wasn't that strong.
"Of course I'm not angry," Nathan said, his voice soft. "I am proud of you, like I told you. I'm going to miss you but you made the right choice."
"You could make the right choice and come stay here," Severus said, his voice coaxing.
Nathan laughed, but it was devoid of the mocking tone that Dumbledore had always heard in the Dark Wizard's laughter.
"I don't think so, Severus. I'm not sorry for anything I've done."
"You should be sorry," Severus said, his voice low. "You've done some bad things."
Nathan shrugged. "Maybe one day I'll be sorry but I doubt it. You listen to Dumbledore, now. I can't stand my father but he will be a good grandpa for you."
Dumbledore's eyes flew open. Nathan wasn't his son. Dumbledore had no children. Why was Nathan telling Severus that?
"I've never had a grandpa before," Severus said, his voice quite excited. "Little Wizard Owen had a grandpa. How come you didn't tell us that Dumbledore was your daddy?"
"I don't like him, that's why," Nathan said. "He's good and I'm evil. We don't get along. But I figured you needed to know since you're staying with him. He'll be a wonderful grandpa."
"I'm glad," Severus said, leaning against Nathan and resting his head on his shoulder. "I was a little worried about staying here. But if he's my grandpa than he will like me. Right?"
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. So that was why Nathan was lying about their relationship; he was trying to help Severus. Well, if it helped Severus adjust then Dumbledore would go along with it.
"Of course, he'll love you. You're his grandson."
Severus smiled at that and hugged Nathan tightly. "Will he mind if I call him grandfather?"
"I'll think he'd prefer grandpa," Nathan suggested.
Severus nodded his head and leaned back in Nathan's arms so he could play with the front of Nathan's robes. "Okay. Does he play games?"
"I bet he'd loved to play games with you. Just ask him. And he keeps lemon drops in his pockets. Pickpocket him and you get them."
"Daddy!" Severus said, putting his hands on his hips and scowling up at Nathan. "I'm not supposed to do that anymore. Only if I have to. And getting lemon drops is not an emergency. I can live without lemon drops."
"At least that is what you think," Nathan said, his face serious. Dumbledore realized he was teasing Severus.
Severus turned his head, his mouth pursed and crooked, and shook his head; exasperated. "I can live without lemon drops."
"Really," Nathan said, his voice still serious. "Is this the same little boy who collapsed and declared he couldn't make it to the house without some chocolate in his system?"
Severus turned red. "I was.. uh.. playing."
"You were!" Nathan gasped. "You don't need chocolate to survive?"
"You're teasing me!" Severus suddenly realized, glaring at Nathan; or at least he was trying to glare.
Nathan gently smiled. "I know," he said, hugging Severus to him. "I like teasing you. Severus, I'm going to give you the sphere Ivan made, okay? I want you to have it. Your farm still needs tending and I'm sure Draco wants to keep working on his projects."
Severus leaned back and Dumbledore watched as Nathan withdrew a small, glowing, blue sphere from his pocket and handed it to Severus. Severus took it and held onto it as he looked up at Nathan's face.
"Thank you, Daddy. Is all Mommy's stuff gone?" he asked softly.
Nathan shook his head. "Just our Dark Arts things and our bedroom is stripped of all our furniture. She left most of her creations for you and plenty of clay for you to experiment with. She did take some of the clay, though, and some of her equipment. Ivan made another kiln and potter's wheel for you to use if you want."
Severus smiled. "Good. I like playing around with clay even if I'm not that good at it. It's fun. I'm going to miss you," Severus said, ducking his head a bit.
Nathan jostled him. "You don't need to; if you want either me or your mom just get Ivan to bring us to you. We won't mention anything about what we've been doing so you don't have to worry about us corrupting you."
"Okay," Severus said, relaxing a bit. "And try not to make the one ring of power, again. Last time, you almost got yourself killed with all those spells you tried to force into that ring."
"Hey," Nathan defended himself, "I'm not the one who made a ring to make me invisible."
"That was different!" Severus hurriedly said. "And Ivan let me so it was okay."
Nathan shook his head. "Ah, yes. The many things Ivan lets you do. Like that pig you have."
"She's cute!" Severus said indignity.
"She's insane and she's not an oracular pig."
"Is too!" Severus said heatedly, going over an argument that the two of them must of had before.
Nathan suddenly dipped Severus so he was upside down and carried him over to the bed.
"Let me go!" Severus yelled and Dumbledore smiled. He was acting just like a child, something Dumbledore had never seen Severus act like, even when he was first year. He had always been so serious and never had any fun. Of course, Dumbledore wasn't sure if making an invisibility ring and raising pigs was fun but Severus seemed to enjoy it.
Nathan dumped Severus on the bed and bent down over him.
"I love you, Severus."
"Love you too, daddy," Severus said, hugging him around the neck. "Is Piggy okay?"
"Yeah, I fed her before I came."
"How about my bees?"
"Severus," Nathan said, smiling down at him. "You just left this morning. They will all be fine until tomorrow morning when you have to collect the eggs and milk the cows. And I've taken care of your farm many times when you and Draco went camping for days and weeks on end so trust me."
Dumbledore's eyebrows raised; Severus had a real farm? Dumbledore had just assumed he had one or two plants and called it a farm.
"Do you think grandpa will like to see my farm? And Draco's workshop? And our hobbit house?" Severus asked, his arms still around Nathan's neck.
"I bet he'll love it. Why don't you do that tomorrow? And give this letter to Draco," Nathan said, pulling a letter out from his pocket, careful not to dislodge Severus' arms, and placed it on the night stand next to the bed. "Now go to sleep," he said and Severus' arms slipped from around his neck, asleep already. "Thanks, Ivan," Nathan said, brushing Severus' hair from off his forehead.
Nathan straightened up and turned, looking at Dumbledore.
"Sorry about the lie but Severus will get closer to you if he thinks you're his grandpa and not just some old man who's taken them in. The sphere is now on regular time. A day will pass in it for everyday in the real world."
Dumbledore didn't mind that Severus thought he was his grandfather. "That's fine," he said, trying to move but still unable to. Ivan must not trust Dumbledore not to arrest Nathan. "What sort of farm does he have?"
"You'll see," Nathan said fondly. "He's very good at it. And he has four pets. You'll meet them tomorrow too. I'll be staying with them tonight until Ivan tells me I can leave," and with that Nathan was gone and Dumbledore could move.
Odd, Nathan hadn't said one angry word to Dumbledore or even looked askance at him. But Dumbledore doubted Nathan had changed much. He had just been more concerned with Severus than with Dumbledore.
Getting up, Dumbledore went to the letter and opened it. He knew he was violating Draco's privacy, but he didn't trust Nathan.
Dear Draco,
I've informed your father that you are back and have told him to leave you alone. You don't need to contact him. He's not too happy but there's nothing he can do and he knows it. Your summers are your own now. Voldemort has been told that you wanted to go back to Hogwarts and have taken Severus with you. Since neither of you are the right age to serve him he won't be bothering you. Yet. I'll warn you when Voldemort starts to take an interest. Be careful and don't let anyone sympathetic to Voldemort know you are against him. You have got to be watchful for your and Severus' sake.
Nathan
Dumbledore replaced the letter, feeling slightly more at ease. At least he didn't have to worry about Voldemort trying to get either Draco or Severus for quite some time.
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The morning came and Dumbledore got up from his bed couch (Ivan had converted the chair for him) and went to check on Severus and Draco. They were gone.
"In the sphere," Ivan said, seeing panic on Dumbledore's face. "Nathan is gone and Severus is attending to his farm while Draco is finishing up a wooden puzzle he's making for Severus."
Dumbledore rubbed his eyes. "Why didn't they eat?"
Ivan grinned. "They did. They made their breakfast in the sphere over an hour ago."
Dumbledore check his watch. It was seven. "They get up at six! On their own."
Ivan shook his head. "Five thirty. They both take rests during the day, though."
Dumbledore shook his head in amazement and found himself in a living room with two clocks over the television set. One was for Draco, the other Severus. Much like the Weasley's clock that Dumbledore had seen once. The clocks showed where the owners were. Draco was in his workshop while Severus was brushing his dog.
"Get back here!" came Severus's voice.
A large black dog bounded into the living room, spotted Dumbledore, and started to bark. It was deep, booming, and Dumbledore slowly took his wand out.
Severus tried to stop behind the dog, couldn't do it, and plowed over the dog. The little boy was wearing blue overalls today with an unknown animal embroidered on them, a red shirt, and rubber boots that went to his knees.
"Argh!" he muttered as he extracted himself from the dog. "Alphabet," he growled. "You're driving me crazy!" he said, righting his glasses, with one hand holding a dog brush. He saw Dumbledore and shyly smiled. "Hi, grandpa," he said softly.
"Hello, grandson," Dumbledore encouraged, having to raise his voice above the dog's barking.
Severus beamed at being called grandson, and turned to the dog. "Behave! This is grandpa! Behave!" Reaching into his pocket, Severus got out a dog treat and commanded the dog to sit. It did so, grabbed the treat and started to bark again.
This went on for several minutes until the dog shook its body and lumbered over to Dumbledore, sniffed him, and started to paw him.
"Ouch!" Dumbledore exclaimed, his leg hurting.
Severus patted his pocket. "You have lemon drops?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"She can smell them and she wants them. She is trying to shake your hand."
Dumbledore extended his hand down, the dog shook it, and he gave her a treat.
"Never teach a dog to shake," Draco warned as he came into the room. "That dog has decided that the shaking command gives her the right to whatever she wants. She'll paw you until she gets it and then start barking at you if you take too long."
"You're the one that did it," Severus said, looking at Draco, his hands on his hips.
Draco stuck his tongue out at Severus. "If I had known how crazy your dog was I wouldn't have dared do it."
Severus smiled widely. "Alphabet is great! Want to see my other pets and my farm?" he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"I'd love to," Dumbledore said, holding out his hand.
Severus grabbed it and hauled Dumbledore outside to show him his farm. Alphabet followed, pawing at Dumbledore until she had consumed all his lemon drops. He was going to have to remember not to bring them into the sphere next time.
Severus had three other pets. A tiny blue frog named Joshua, a black and white pig the size of Alphabet named Lucky Piggy (or Piggy for short), and a large turtle that Severus could ride on named Hurricane (Dumbledore was sure why Severus had called such a slow animal Hurricane). Because there were no predators in the sphere and a fence to keep the animals out of the dangerous parts of the landscape the animals were left to roam free.
Severus had a large chicken coop and a few chickens. They had plenty of space to run around in. They couldn't be let out since they would lay their eggs everywhere and Severus wouldn't be able to find them. He had three cows that were allowed to roam around. They came to the house when they wanted to be milked. He had about three beehives that were kept quite a distance away from the house; each one next to a meadow of flowers for them to use.
Dumbledore was impressed with the number of things Severus grew: grapes, all sorts of berries, cherries, a variety of apples (some that were hot, some that tasted like cinnamon, and some that weren't even edible), nectarines and other fruits; tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, and many other things, even some plants that were edible that Dumbledore hadn't realized were, like dandelions and other weeds. The plants weren't so numerous that Severus couldn't care for them all himself.
"And," Severus said, "it is a good idea not to plant things together in rows. It looks much neater that way but if one plant gets infected with insects or a disease the other plants will succumb very quickly since they are all right together. I plants things far apart from each other, with other plants in between, and I always try to have two or three varieties of the same kind of fruit or vegetable in case one doesn't do well that year."
"How many crop failures have you had?" Dumbledore asked.
"None," Severus said. "I plant so many different things that at least half of them always grow if not more."
"You have a wonderful farm!" Dumbledore said, after his tour, impressed.
Severus smiled up at him and petted Alphabet's head. "Thank you. I like farming. I like drawing and painting too but farming is the first thing that I did when I came here. Daddy, your son, helped me plant my first crop. It was beans. He helped me build a trellis to support the beans and prepare the soil and plant the seeds. Do you like to plant things?" he asked.
Dumbledore had never planted anything. "I would love to try."
"I'll help you," Severus said.
Dumbledore smiled. "That would be great. What's on your shirt and overalls?" Dumbledore asked, having just noticed that his shirt, too, had a design on it.
Severus patted his stomach where the largest animal was. "Earthworms on the overalls and menbugs on the shirt."
"Menbugs?" Dumbledore repeated and then understood. "Oh, ladybugs."
Severus shook his head. "No. I'm a boy so the bugs are menbugs."
"Of course," Dumbledore replied, as serious as Severus was.
Severus selected a package of pea seeds for Dumbledore to plant.
"You can start them indoors if you want," Severus told him knowledgeably as he got a small tray filled with pots. "These pots are special and will decay away when put in the ground and even give the roots more nourishment as they do that. Now, first," Severus said, poking a hole with his finger in one of the pots. "You make a hole and put the seed in it and then you fill the hole in and water them. It's easy."
After an hour, Dumbledore had several trays filled with seeded pots and the hope that Severus never got turned back into an adult. He was so sweet and trusting and deserved to have a real childhood. Dumbledore hoped Ivan could be convinced not to change him back.