"Dad, why do I have to go to bed now? Evewyone else gets to stay up?"
"The word is eveRyone and that's because they are bigger than you. Now say the word correctly."
"I did." he pouted.
"Harry."
"E-Ve-Rrrry-One." Harry spat at his father. "When will I be biggew?" Severus just stared at him and he sighed. "Biggerrrrrrrr."
"First of all you can stop with the attitude. As for when you will be back to your normal state, I have told you every night for the past three weeks that I am still trying to figure out what you did wrong. Now I need you to go to sleep so that I can go and work on it."
"Can't I go with you. I prromise to behave myself."
"No you cannot. Ms. Lightpaws will be here shortly to keep an eye on you."
"But what if I have anotherr nightmarre?"
"You will be fine. Now quit stalling and get into bed. If by chance you have another nightmare I'll have her bring you to my office. Is that sufficient for you?"
Harry thought for a few moments. "I suppose." He replied although he really didn't want to be stuck in his room so early and he couldn't quite understand what was taking the man so long on rectifying the situation he was in.
"I don't want to hear of you pulling any of your stunts this evening either. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes siw."
"What was that?"
"Yes sirr." Harry stated as he turned and went into his room.
Severus started gathering up the notes he had taken of the different variations of the potion when there was a knock on the door. "Enter."
"Evening Severus. Where's the little one?"
"He's in bed. Keep your eyes open tonight. He was trying to argue with me about going to sleep."
"Don't worry, he's at that age."
"Just don't let him hear you say that. He is so convinced that because of his actual age he should get all the privileges that the others have."
"Don't worry you go on and get working on the cure."
Severus sighed. "One last thing. He's been having some bad dreams. If by chance he does tonight go ahead and bring him to my office."
"I know I know. We go through this every time, don't worry. He will be fine I do know what to do." She replied as she shoved him out the door then sat down to grade papers.
As the night passed she was finally done with that day's work so she leaned back to stretch looking at her watch. 'Only 9 PM she thought, knowing Severus it will be at least another three hours. Remus and Sirius should be returning shortly.' Her thoughts were then interrupted. "Aren't you suppose to be in bed?" She said without looking up.
"How did you know I was up? I didn't make any noise."
"You don't think you made any noise. Remember I have better hearing that most people." She smiled at him. "Come along now, let's get you back into bed." She said, as he followed him into the room then watched from the doorway as he climbed back into bed mumbling how it wasn't fair. Then leaving the door ajar she went back into the front room to find something to pass the time.
While Severus was testing the potion he had completed on a rat, Albus entered the lab. "Still trying to find what he did?"
"Yes, I've tried just about every possible error he may have made but with no success. I'm afraid I am at a loss here."
"Have you though about the possibilities that he may not have even finished the potion on top of making the error?"
"From everything I've tried, I would have to say that the possibility is quite strong. Unfortunately the combination of what he incorrectly added along with where he stopped is endless." He said as he noticed there wasn't any similar change in the rat. He then started preparing another cauldron to start over again. "Is there a reason you came down here at this hour Albus?"
"I was wondering if you had heard anything from Harry's aunt regarding their ancestry that could point to a link in his powers?"
"I've sent her a few owls but the have all returned with the letters untouched. Other than that I have been preoccupied with this and him. I take it that you have been unable to learn anything through your connections."
"What little information I have been able to obtain has been very vague and doesn't give all that many facts. Sine Lily was considered a Muggleborn they do not have any information in her ancestry." Albus sighed and continued "However, my unofficial sources have discovered that in the mid to late 1940's there was a rash of attacks on the wives of military personal."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Lily's grandmother was the wife of a naval officer during that time. Unfortunately while her husband was out to sea she was one of ten women who were attacked. Of these women that were attacked she also happened to be one of two women that had produced children approximately nine months later."
"Albus that doesn't prove anything at all. Even back then attacks on women were a common fear. What kind of information did the Muggle authorities have on this attacker?"
"The authorities didn't keep very much information on the attacks back then mainly because there was no signs of force. Although each lady stated that it was as if they were bound and unable to fight back there were no such markings on them for proof. The authorities then dismissed each case figuring that the women were all fatithful to their spouses and then claimed they were attacked in fear of their husbands finding out the truth."
"Were any of these women ever able to provide a description of the attacker?"
"Although he was never found all the ladies had the same description, a young man in his late teens or early twenties, slender build, brown hair, long black hooded cloak and....." Albus was then interrupted by a knock at the door.
Meanwhile back in the teacher's wing.~
"AAAAAGGGGGGHHHH"
"Little one?" Dannie asked as she put the book she was reading down and headed back towards the bedrooms.
"NNNNOOOOO"
She then entered the room and as she sat on the edge of his bed she brushed the hair from his face and quietly said "It's only a bad dream, come on Little one your safe, everything will be fine."
Harry then sat up and hugged his knees as he looked around the room shaking. "Where's dad?"
"He's in the lab still."
"I need to see him."
"He will be back here shortly don't worry."
"No, please I need to see him." he cried
"Ok, ok. I will take you to see him, go ahead and get your slippers on."
As Harry put on his slippers and bathrobe Dannie grabbed her papers and put the book away. "Come on lets go." the boy, said as he stood by the door.
"Alright I'm coming." As soon as she opened the door Harry grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the Potions lab. As they emerged from the teacher's wing the just about ran over Remus and Sirius as they came back from making their rounds.
"Where are you two off to in such a hurry." Remus asked.
"He's looking for Severus, he just woke up screaming from another nightmare."
"Harry, your dad is down in the lab. In fact we just saw him there a few moments ago." Sirius stated.
"Show me please. I need to see him."
"Harry he's very busy with work."
Harry didn't stay to hear anything else, instead he took off running towards the lab. "I'll go get him. You two stay here." Sirius stated.
Sirius finally caught up with the boy just outside the door to Severus' office when they heard talking coming from inside the lab.
"Although he was never found all the ladies had the same description, a young man in his late teens or early twenties, slender build, brown hair, long black hooded cloak and....."
* knock knock *
Albus turned around as Severus looked up from the second experiment he had started on and sighed. "Enter"
"See Harry I told you he was alright." Sirius said, as Harry looked relived.
"What happened?"
"Remus and I were almost run over by Harry as he was dragging Dannie down here. He was quite determined to see you for some reason."
"Harry what is the meaning of this?"
"I thought that you...I err had another nightmare."
Severus sighed. "Fine then. Why don't you go ahead and lie down in the office. I still have quite a-lot of work to do tonight." He then turned his attention to the Headmaster ?"Albus that description could fit any number of people in our world."
"Think about it my boy. It doesn't fit as many as you would like to thing. Especially back then. I will see you in the morning and we shall talk again soon."he said as he turned to leave the office.
"May I ask what that was all about?" Sirius inquired
"Albus has been looking into anything he can that would help explain some of the extraordinary powers that Harry has been showing lately."
"Couldn't it be just another side effect from the potion? I mean look at him. He's a 15-year-old Wizard stuck in the body of a 6 year old. The energy he has doesn't have the room in there so it does need to escape every once in awhile."
"I thought about that already but, if that were the cast then as he grew his strength would deplinish instead of remaining the same. I have already checked into my own ancestry and unfortunatly there is nothing to show of these skills."
"So Albus is checking into Lily's ancestry."
"Exactly." Severus replied
"I still say that it's nothing to worry about and he will outgrow it as soon as he's back to normal."
"I should expect that from you. Is there anything that you do worry about?"
Sirius sat for a moment and thought. "Yes, matter of fact there is. The idea that my daughter is dating the son of a goat farmer."
"It could be worse. She could be dating the son of an ex-convitct." Severus smirked.
"Touch' Sev. With that I think I'll leave you to your rats."
Sirius left while Severus continued to work without replying. In stretching he decided that this would be the last test of the evening. Of coarse it didn't help that his personal stores were beginning to run low. He was so engrossed in what he was doing and taking notes as he progressed he didn't hear the intruder until he heard a chair hit the ground causing him to jump. "Didn't I tell you to lie down on the couch and go back to sleep?" He said as Harry climbed onto the table.
"Yes but the dream won't go away. Can't I watch you work instead?"
"Fine but be careful not to knock anything over. So now do you want to tell me about your nightmare?" Harry replied by shaking his head. "Was it as bad as the others?"
"Kind of."
"Was it another meeting?"
"I think so. Draco's dad was there too."
"Lucius? What were they talking about?" Severus stated as he added the white willow bark to the potion.
"It looked like he was being punished." Harry said with a smile.
Severus then stopped what he was doing and looked at the boy. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes."
"Stay here and do not touch anything." he replied as he went into his office and threw some powder into the fireplace. "Remus, are you there?"
"Yes Sev, what's wrong? Is it Harry?"
"While I stop the potion and gather Harry, I need you and Sirius to go to the boy's dorm. Harry said Lucius was punished tonight. We will meet you in the hospital wing as quickly as I can."
"On my way."
Severus then went back into the lab and saw Harry adding something into the cauldron. "Harold! What are you doing? I told you not to touch anything."
"You...you didn't..." the boy stammered.
"Nevermind. It would be ruined anyway. Come along we have to see to Draco." He said as he turned off the burner. He then helped Harry off the table and they left the room locking the door behind them.
When Remus and Sirius arrived at the boy's dorm room it was just as Severus feared. Draco was in severe convolutions as Jamie was trying to comfort his friend. "Dad, thank goodness you're here. Draco he..."
"We know, dot worry we'll get him to Poppy." Sirius said then he turned his attention towards Crabbe and Goyle. "Why didn't either one of you get him some help?"
"Why should we? He's a traitor just like his father. He is getting exactly what he deserves." Crabbe replied
"And whom would you say he's betrayed? Certainly not anyone in this school." Remus asked hoping that the boys would slip.
"The..." Crabbe started to say when Goyle cut him off.
"He betrayed the house code by hanging out with mudbloods and Mugglelovers."
"For your information, there is nothing in the house codes stating that you cannot befriend Muggle born students. After almost five full years here one would think even you would know that by now. Would you care to tell me a more convincing story on why you refused to help your dorm-mate or would you rather explain your actions to your head-of-house? I can assure you that since Professor Snape has become Mr. Malfoy's temporary guardian I am quite sure that he would be even more interested in your response than I." Neither one of the boys responded. "So be it. I will inform him of your actions as soon as I see him and we will see what he has to say about this."
"Remus, we have to go." Sirius stated.
Remus turned around and saw his friend standing they're with a now unconscious boy in his arms then he followed them to the infirmary.
"Harry did you at least learn why Voldemort was punishing Mr. Malfoy?"
"No but he was smiling as he did it."
"Why didn't you tell me about it sooner?"
"At first I didn't see who it was, his hood was covering him. Besides he deserved it."
Severus then heard a commotion and saw Sirius carrying Draco with Jamie and Remus following close behind. He then immediately followed Sirius itto the hospital room while Remus stayed in the hallway with the boys.
"Uncle Remus, is Draco going to be alright?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure. How long was this going on tonight?"
"It seemed like forever before you got there." Jamie replied. "Harry you saw it happen, why didn't you tell anyone sooner?"
"I told dad almost as soon as I learned who it was. Besides he deserved it."
"How could you say he deserved it? You knew what it was doing to Draco and you know the pain it causes. I cannot believe you didn't say anything when it first happened." Remus asked
"I said he was covered. I didn't know. I'm sorry about Draco but Mr. Malfoy did deserve it for what he did to Bria."
"Jamie, what a second here. I can see Harry's point of view on why he didn't speak up sooner. If it had been Hermione that was injured by Lucius and not Bria then wouldn't you want to see him punished as well?" Sirius questioned
"Yes but...."
"But nothing. Harry had a hard decision to make, I believe that he didn't know it was Draco's father at first but if I was in his position I don't know if I could have said anything. Mr. Malfoy knew what he was doing and I am quite sure he knew the consiquences as well."
Nobody said another word for a long time then as the night went on Jamie left the area and made his way back to the dungeons to go to sleep while Harry curled up in the chair and passed out from exhaustion. Finally at daybreak Severus and Sirius entered the hallway. "Remus wake up."
"What?"
"Go on back to your quarters, there are still a few hours before classes start." Severus stated
"How is he?"
"He's still unconcious. Voldemort must have been extreamly angry with Lucious, I haven't seen anyone this bad in a long time."
"Do you want me to take Harry?" Remus asked
"No, he'll be alirght in the office. I have some cleaning up to do in the lab before classes start." He then gently shook Harry's shoulder and said "Come along now. We are all done here."
Harry sat up rubbing his eyes, looked around and sleeply followed Severus back to the dungeons. Once they got back to his office Harry curled up on the couch and went back to sleep while Severus went into the lab to clean up. When he opened the door he noticed the room was filled with a thick fog so he murmered a quick cleaning charm to clear the air. Looking at the dried mess the cauldron was in he decided to hold off on cleaning it thinking Most likely someone is going to wind up in detention tonight, I'll just have them clean this as well. then he put his supplies away and headed back into the office. Still having over an hour before his first class he decided to sit down and rest awhile since he had no sleep the night before.
Harry woke up hearing noises coming from the lab so he went to see what was going on since his father's class was never that loud unless the noise was coming from the man himself. When he opened the door the students all ran to their seats and it was instantly quiet until they looked and noticed that it was only Harry.
"Harry, where is Professor Snape?" one of the girls who sat by the rat cage asked.
"In there still." pointing into the office. "What's in the cage?"
"Some baby rats your dad is probably going to use for his potions." she said.
"No he doesn't put them in potions. He just tests the potions on them." he said as he climbed onto a chair to reach ito the cage and pull one out.
"Are you going to keep that one?"
"No, just play with it for awhile." Harry replied
Severus was startled awake when he realized what time it was. He immediatly composed himself and entered the classroom. He then noticed Harry he cleared his throat causing the boy to turn and leave the room still holding onto the rat as his father started the day's classes.
As the morning passed on Severus noticed Harry was unusually quiet other then a few giggles here and there he was just thankful that the boy was content for once. Finally it was lunchtime, Severus then walked into his office and noticed Harry just sitting on the couch with something. "What do you have there?" he asked.
"A rat."
"May I ask where you aquired it from?"
"I got it out of the cage. I didn't want to see you use the potions on it, it's only a baby one and I'll put it back when I'm done."
Severus didn't remember purchasing any female rats but sometimes shop owners do make mistakes. "You shouldn't be taking the baby rats from their parents, do you realize you could have been bitten?"
"What parents? There were only babies in the cage. I'll show you." he said as he led Severus into the lab and over to the cage.
Severus looked at the cage then thought for a moment "Harry what did you add to the potion last night?"
"Just two more pieces of the white willow. You didn't put enough in."
He then walked over to his desk and picked up the text, "Harry, what does this list of ingredients state?"
Harry looked over the page the book was opened to "But mine said 8 pieces, not 6."
"Well since you covered the page with choclate causing the words to smear, we have no way of telling what it actually said but I do believe that we can now start working on an antidote for you. Now put the rat back into the cage so that I can use it as a test subject tonight."
"But it's just a baby."
"Harry that rat is no more an actual baby than you are an actual 6 year old child. Now if you want to remain in your condition then fine, keep it as a pet but if you want me to be able to finally fix this whole mess you made then you will put it back." Severus then watched him put the rat back almost immediatly. "Now you cannot tell anyone about this at all, we don't know how long it's going to take. And when I say anyone that especially means Mr. Weasley, do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
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