by Melissa Jooty (email me at cosmic_quest@yahoo.com)
CHAPTER FIVE- Severus Then And Now
"Okay, Steven is in bed sleeping," Jessica announced, as she marched into the main lounge area where the three instigators sat, "Alison and Chance wanted to stay with him and I've had my staff take the other kids out for a long walk. Now I want some answers."
She had obviously interrupted whatever plots they were whispering to each other in a little huddle. To her vexation, none of the them seemed in the least perturbed at her quizzing, in fact the younger man- the one apparently named Sirius- seemed more impatient with her attitude while his older companions appeared more world weary as if they had played this game before.
And perhaps they had. As a child welfare worker, she was more than aware the child trafficking trade was forever thriving albeit people with such insidious intentions usually interested in infants and toddlers than lively six and seven-year-olds.
While every intelligent thought she possessed warned her to call the police and have these people carted as far away from her kids as possible, all Jessica's instincts told her to listen to what they had to say. Somehow she just knew these strangers meant not harm. And she could not discount Allie and Chance's over-excited ramblings of animals who turned into men, how that man Sirius had tried to protect them from some psycho and how, ultimately, it was Steven who disabled this mysterious assailant using psychic powers.
Oh, Jessica had no illusions she should entirely believe the story conjured up by two frightened seven-year-olds yet nevertheless she could not dismiss them so easily. Allie and Chance was bright children not prone to lying and fiercely loyal to those close to them, there was no logical reason she saw why they would make up such a preposterous tale when it was their own friend who was hurt. No, something had happened today, she just wasn't sure what.
What she did know beyond a doubt was the answer lay with the two (three, if she included the newcomer Sirius) odd British visitors to the Centre who she should never have entrusted with her children's well-being.
Dumbledore sighed wearily from where he sat sandwiched between McGonagall and Sirius on the sofa. "Miss Roscoe, I am aware you have very little reason to trust us but we must take leave with Steven immediately. It is the only way he will be safe for you see, he is a child very much sought after by an evil I pray you never have to understand."
Discounting almost everything the elderly man said, Jessica focused on one shocking aspect of his spiel. "You *know* him, don't you? You know where Steven came from..."
Jessica wasn't sure what sort of response she was expecting but complete, open admittance was not it.
"Yes, yes, we do," murmured Dumbledore, his vivid blue eyes dulled in sadness.
"You self-righteous son-of-a-bitch! You stood there and allowed that child to think he was worthless, that his own parents don't give a damn about him and you could have helped him."
Instantly, while Sirius sneered at her obviously ready to voice an insult of his own, McGonagall jumped in first to defend her friend. "Now, dear, do not pass verdict until you hear the circumstances. I am sure you would agree we could hardly barge into the boy's life without preparing him in some way for the truths he is about to face."
"Yeah, preparing him by sending him catatonic must be some new fangled English thing," Jessica mumbled. Still, she could not help but relent somewhat. The older woman had the ability to make her feel like a naughty schoolgirl. "Okay, okay, enlighten me with these 'truths' then including who our new friend is." The last words were coupled with a scowl towards Sirius.
"First of all," began Dumbledore, "the boy you call Steven is in fact a dear friend of mine named Severus Snape."
Severus? Okay, it was almost as awful as Sirius but it could be worse. It would explain why the man who found Steven that night in the desert stated the boy's name sounded like 'Seven'.
"No offence, but isn't he a little young to be hanging out with you?"
The old man rummaged for something in his jacket pocket then handed what looked like a sheet of paper out to her. "Please would you look at this, Miss Roscoe."
Puzzled, she reached for it and turning it over she found it to be a photograph. Only it was no ordinary picture as the person depicted in it actually moved. Wow, 'Sony' really was churning out some awesome technology these days. Jessica stared at contents of the rather fetching photograph of a dark-haired man in his mid-thirties caught unaware and unguarded, completely immersed in what looked like a complex chemistry set. The man's hair looked a little lank but he was not bad on the eyes, in fact he seemed almost familiar.
She shrugged. "Not bad.
Looks a little on the depressed side but I wouldn't mind meeting him on a
dark night. What has he got to do with Steven, or Severus as you call him?
Is this his father?"
"That's Severus."
"Severus senior?"
"*Severus* Severus..." This time it was McGonagall who spoke up.
"Miss Roscoe, we aren't who you think we are. Surely you yourself have noticed
Severus is no ordinary child. In fact, he would have celebrated his thirty-sixth
birthday last February and he is no closer in chronological age to his young
friends than yourself or Mr Black here."
Jessica just raised her eyebrow incredulously. She was reminded of the time two years ago when a chocolate-smeared Allie told her a purple cat had sneaked in to eat all the missing chocolate brownies made for desert. She just expected a story a little more convincing from a man around ten times the little girl's age.
"You're telling me Steven is a grown man." The boredom and disappointment could not have been more apparent in her tone. "You'll need to pass the recipe onto Oil of Olay. Pray tell, how did he managed to turn himself into a little boy?"
The three exchanged uncertain glances before Dumbledore replied, "My dear, I know this will be hard for you to accept but there is a world which exists parallel to all that you know, a world where people like us live. People who are blessed with the ability to wield magic."
There was a hush before Jessica managed to delve into secure her waning patience. "Yes, magic, why did I not see it before?" There was no way people even as mad as these three would not hear the complete scorn in her tone. Magic- that was a new one, next they'd be telling her it was an evil dark lord stalking Steven. Someone had been reading too much 'Lord of the Rings'. "Next you'll be telling me that Allie was right and Snuffles the dog is a man too."
"I see this is going to be more difficult than I first thought." Dumbledore sighed. "Muggles *are* a sceptical breed." He turned to his colleagues. "Sirius, Minerva, if would you be so kind as to give Miss Roscoe a small demonstration."
"Of course, Albus," replied McGonagall.
The younger woman wasn't sure what she was expecting, perhaps an attempt to pull a rabbit from a hat or a card trick. Instead, her eyes widened to the extent she thought they would pop out as she watched in stunned silence when who she assumed to be perfectly a human man and woman began to shorten, fur growing over skin and fingers merging into one until there on the sofa sat, respectively in the place of Sirius and McGonagall, the big black dog Snuffles and the scrawny tabby cat Steven had found. They remained stared back at her for a few minutes before there was another flash and they began to elongate, animal features transmuting into human once more.
For a long moment, Jessica said nothing, her face drained of blood and her jaw hanging down as she tried to reconcile what she had seen with every rule of reality she held to be true. She had to fight every impulse to run, to faint like some weakling and pretend this had never happened.
It was Sirius who pressed for a response, gruffly asking, "You still with us?"
"You...Snuffles...cat..." She forced herself to breathe deeply staving off an attack of hyperventilation. "You're magicians? It's...it's all true what you said..."
"We prefer the terms witches
and wizards," Dumbledore corrected politely, "but, yes, we did speak the
truth."
Since he had first placed at the Centre eight months ago, she had always
sensed from the very beginning that there was something inherently different
about Steven, something which set him apart from all the other children in
her care. Something fantastical that went far beyond why his parents would
travel thousands of miles to dump him alone in the desert, why his intellect
far surpassed even his own teachers, why he often seemed wise beyond his
years for a child who had barely started elementary school.
Then there was the odd 'incidents' that occurred around the boy, events that could be written off unless one chose to look deeper. Like the time when she had checked there was only strawberry ice-cream left in the freezer for desert, a flavour Steven loathed and sulked about when he found out, yet when she came back to serve it at supper-time she was surprised to find it replaced by chocolate ice-cream. Or last Easter when that little bully Braydon Gray had snatched Steven's eggs in until suddenly every stitch on the older boy's clothes unthreaded leaving Braydon running off naked as even his underwear fell from his body.
And a few months ago when one of the Centre's puppies escaped Chance's arms and ran in front a delivery van. All she remembered herself was hearing Steven's terrified yell and in the mere milliseconds that she instinctively blinked away from watching the pup being killed, miraculously the dog made it over the road. She had joined all the children in running over to check on the puppy but she did see Chance excitedly telling Allie that the dog had magicked over the road and, in the sidelines, Steven smiling in what could only be described as self-satisfaction.
Occasionally, when she looked at Steven, scenes from that old horror movie 'Carrie' sprang to her mind against her will. As someone who held a psychology major and had worked with children for over a decade, Jessica knew children could be very intuitive creatures, and children who had been abused or deeply hurt in some way were more so capable of seeing their environment through knowing eyes.
But this...this was taking it a step further than she ever imagined possible. Only how could she deny what she had seen, two people turning into a dog and cat before her very eyes, and the various unexplained disturbances she had witnessed around Steven. There were so many ways she could try to explain away why a little English boy with a vocabulary that could put a college professor to shame ended up branded and abandoned in the desert so why did this ludicrous tale make so much sense?
"And Steven is like you?" she asked, needing to hear them confirm it.
Dumbledore smiled kindly at her, obviously taking pity on her shocked mind. "Yes, *Severus* is a wizard too. He, in fact, teaches at a school where children come to hone their ability in magic."
"He's only a little boy, just a baby. And now you're saying he's this...this wizard? I need to know, what happened? Why is he little again? Why all *this*?" Jessica couldn't believe she was actually able to voice that question for it meant she was accepting their ridiculous story of a world of magic and men who became boys again.
"It isn't a pretty story," Sirius remarked, "you sure you want to hear everything." He seemed to be looking forward to seeing her reaction.
Well, in for the pound, in for the penny. Now she had been told so much, she had to know everything. Jessica nodded.
And so, with the assistance of McGonagall and Sirius, Dumbledore began to tell her of their world and his boarding school of magic. He told her of how the children were divided into houses, each with different characteristics. How one wizard grew twisted and sought to create a world devoid of non-magic people, recruiting others to help do his genocide deeds of murder and destruction. And it was a baby who ended the life of this dark lord...until he rose again ten years later, his power growing once more.
Sirius was oddly quiet when Dumbledore spoke of the Severus Snape whose miserable childhood led him right into the arms of the Dark Lord until he found the strength to turn his back and return to surrender to the Headmaster who once taught him. The old man seemed to lose his sparkle as he told Jessica of a nineteen-year-old boy ready to die for his sins, sins he was pushed towards in thanks largely due to the negligence of the adults who could have saved him in childhood. And how this boy was given the chance to redeem himself by spying for the Light, a duty he resumed when it became apparent the Dark Lord had returned.
While Severus was ready to die for the Light if his true loyalties were ever discovered, he never considered losing thirty years of his life and being reverted into the body and mind of his child self. And now he was a child hunted by the forces of darkness as they endeavoured to raise him once more, this time completely immersed by the Dark.
When he was finished, Dumbledore and his subordinates gazed at her for a reaction. Jessica dearly wanted to force up a sarcastic response or to say something meaningful in light of this marvellous tale. All she could do was bow her head as she fully comprehended what they were asked of her. They wanted her to allow them to take this sweet, innocent child- a child who they admitted they had in many ways failed the first time- and lead him to this turbulent world of danger and war.
A world she had no right to deny him of...
"So, he really is one of yours?" she said, managing to keep her voice steady.
"He is," McGonagall replied, her stare softening as she saw Jessica was giving in, letting go of Steven.
Jessica wondered if, as a woman, McGonagall felt the same sharp pain at letting go of each of the children in her care to fight this treacherous monster and his army. Were witches even capable of feeling the same maternal bonds to their charges as normal women? Jessica certainly hoped so; she had to, she was in essence trusting them to provide Steven with the same unyielding love she lavished on the boy and every other child in the Centre.
"And now you must help him to accept his destiny. He may be a grown man, but in body and man he is no more than a child. He must see you show trust in us before he will follow in kind."
Quiet for a long moment, Jessica nodded curtly. "Fine, for Steven's sake, I'll help you. But listen," the young woman said, her voice cold and stern, and completely disregarding the fact she was dealing with three powerful wizards, "if I find out you've hurt him, put him in some kind of danger in an attempt to stop your little war, I will hunt you all down and tear you to pieces, wizards or not. Not before signing all necessary paperwork to give full custody to Lucius Malfoy. In my eyes, Steven is just a six-year-old and I will ensure his rights as a child living in my care are protected."
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Some hours later, Severus awoke to find himself surrounded by Albus, Minerva and Sirius with Miss Roscoe's arms encircling him and hoisting him up against her. The other two children Chance and Allie had been sent off to eat something and catch some rest after this afternoon's horrors. Albus could plainly see the boy had yet to regain a healthy colour, and sitting there in pale blue pyjamas with his hair matted to his head and his dark eyes wide in fear the Headmaster was reminded of the sixteen-year-old boy he was once sitting in the Hospital Wing injured and shocky after being attacked by a werewolf.
He only prayed he would not fail the boy this time. He would embraced this second chance and support Severus with everything he had.
"My dog turns into a man 'cause he's magic," the awestruck child asked in wonderment, continuously glancing upwards to Miss Roscoe to judge her responses.
"It's actually the other way around," Sirius said with a faint smile, "but yes, that's the general gist of it, kid."
"And my real name is Severus Snape?" He wasn't very impressed, being raised by Muggles he was bound to see traditional wizarding names as peculiar. "And I can do all these things 'cause I'm a wizard...I'm not a freak or an alien?"
"Good Lord, of course not," Minerva assured, "you're as human as anybody else. We all are."
After witnessing firsthand from dealing with Harry Potter that concealing the truth with even the best intentions only resulted in pain on both sides, Albus decided to walk a more honest, open path when it came to Severus. Taking the boy's age into account, he gave Severus a more sanitised version of what he told Miss Roscoe mainly leaving out details of Snape's own involvement with the Death Eaters and the full account of Voldemort's brutal crimes. And, with the trusting nature of a child, Severus whole-heartedly accepted it all, in part largely because Miss Roscoe did not contest anything.
Yet, there was still something bothering Severus deeply.
"Is there anything you wish to know?" Dumbledore inquired gently, knowing Severus well enough to recall pushing him only resulted in the boy closing himself off.
"Well..." Severus bowed his head, unwilling to meet their eyes, and picked at the fluff on the blanket covering him. "Is...is rat-man dead?"
Albus shot a puzzled glance over at Sirius, who shrugged in equal bemusement. "No, why ever would you think such a thing, my boy?"
The boy jerked his head up quickly, scrutinizing the elderly man carefully. "Really? He isn't dead, I never killed him?!"
Aah, so that was it. Albus had to smile inwardly; for all their supposed differences and mutual loathing, Severus and Harry had so much in common, the first being they were not willing to end a life unless it was the only option. Perhaps, they would be treated to seeing Severus' caring nature more openly now that he was too young to hide behind his usual brooding.
"Oh, Steven," Miss Roscoe murmured, holding the relieved child closer to her, "no wonder you look so sick."
"Don't worry, kid, you just petrified him," Sirius said, placing Severus' need for an explanation above his own obvious disappointment that Peter was still alive. When Severus frowned uncertainly at the term, the older man continued, "You froze him so he couldn't move. It was a good move."
The boy grinned in delight at the praise, driving home the fact of while he knew his real name, he was still more Steven Cordell than Severus Snape. He didn't remember his life-long feud with Sirius nor that Sirius was the last person he would accept praise from.
A weight taken off his slender shoulders, a little colour began blooming in Severus' cheeks and he regained his equilibrium.
"So, if I'm this teacher
then I'm really all growned up?"
"Yes, that's right, Severus." Albus could see the calculating thoughts reflecting
in the boy's dark eyes. After teaching children like the Marauders and the
Weasley twins, he was familiar with that look and knew it meant trouble.
"Then I can do whatever I want 'cause I'm an adult."
"No, no, you certainly may not," Minerva scolded. "You're coming back to
the school with us where you'll be a good boy until we look into this more."
"Okay, just asking."
Albus laughed, resisting the urge to ruffle the boy's hair. If only Severus
could be allowed to enjoy this second chance, to grow up free from the abuse
and loneliness that plagued his young life the first time around. Alas, this
was a mistake and it was their job to rectify it and return Severus to his
rightful age regardless of what their hearts told them.
"What would you prefer us to call you- Steven or Severus?" the Headmaster asked.
Severus mulled it over than shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I suppose Severus is okay. I mean, here I'm Steven because I'm normal and do normal things but if I'm with you I suppose I'll be doing magic things so I'll be more like a Severus."
A complex thought from one who seemed so young. Another reminder of the adult lurking within the child and why they had to return him to his true state. It wasn't fair to force this man-child to spend the next ten or eleven years going to school and attempting to fit in with peers he intellectually surpassed by miles.
There was a lull until Miss Roscoe squeezed Severus gently to gain his attention. When the boy up-turned his head so they were eye-to-eye, she started hesitantly, "Steven, you do know that you'll have to go with them to Britain if you want to learn more about yourself and being a wizard." She laughed though it sounded like she was trying to disguise a sob. "I know I can work miracles with some of the messes you kids make but I don't know anything about magic."
Now Severus grew visibly alarmed. Shaking his head, his face crumpling in the realization he would have to leave the only home he remembered. "Leave? But what about Chance and Allie? I'd never see them, I'd never see you." His lower lip trembled and his eyes filled with impending tears. "No, I don't wanna go, Jessica, don't make me."
He would never forcibly drag the boy back to Hogwarts, if he resisted the move Albus would simply arrange for some trust members of the Order to guard Severus. Nevertheless, the Headmaster would have preferred him to be under the further protection provided by the many ancient wards of the Hogwarts grounds.
"No, you don't have to go," Miss Roscoe quickly assured, holding the boy tighter and kissing his head. "I would never force you to leave, *never*. You're my babe."
Kneeling by the bed, Albus took Severus' tiny hands in one of his own and with his other hand, tenderly reached to smooth the boy's cheeks. "Severus, and we would never seek to cut you off from those who love you here, we know they mean so much to you and we will always be grateful for the way they cared for you these past months. But you will be safer at Hogwarts with us, no harm can come to you there like it did today. And you will be able to learn more about who you are, what you can do. There's so much you have to remember, so many gifts you have."
Severus pulled away, scowling. He drew his knees up to his chest, hiding his face for a moment before solemnly gazing up. "If I'm at this school, the bad man would only be after me. Allie and Chance would be safer, right?"
Albus saw Miss Roscoe blink back tears at the boy's words and heard Minerva gasp behind him. Yet, he himself was not surprise at Severus' thinking; the other Houses often forgot loyalty to one's friends was one of Slytherin House's most enduring quality.
And he couldn't lie to Severus. Just as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley would have had a far safer school career if they hadn't befriended Harry, Allie and Chance faced considerably more potent risks due to their friendship with Severus simply because the seven-year-olds completely lacked the ability to defend themselves compared with older Gryffindor students.
"Yes...yes, they would not be in the line of fire, child."
Severus tilted his head to regard Sirius, "Are you going to be there, Snuffles?"
Sirius didn't bother correcting the boy, he seemed to be more preoccupied with the sacrifice Severus was making for his friends. Albus wondered how Sirius was coping with the idea there was more to the boy he bullied through school. "Yes, I'll be there too."
Biting his lip as he gathered his courage, Severus nodded slowly. "Okay then, I'll come with you. So long as I can write to Jessica and the others."
"Of course you can," Albus said with a wide smile. He would personally Apparate over with the letters if that was what was needed.
They began planning Severus' escape. Albus knew enough of Muggle legal systems to realize they couldn't just pretend to be Severus' family and expect to walk out with him the next day. According to Miss Roscoe, it would be easier if the Muggles thought the boy had ran away, there would be less focus on him then than if he seemed to be the victim of an abduction. If they publically left that day in front of witnesses then return for Severus around dawn before anyone was up leaving behind a note written by Severus, Jessica would then report the missing boy to have ran off.
Plans in place, Dumbledore moved to put the first phase into action when Miss Roscoe quietly caught up with him, pulling him to one side out of earshot from Severus.
She studied him, her eyes betraying the turmoil within her. "If you don't find a cure," she said softly, "bring him back to me, bring him home...Steven, Severus, whatever you want to call him, he deserves to lead a normal life, not one of stuck in the middle of a war with a psychopath."
End of CHAPTER
FIVE- Severus Then And Now
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So what do you think? I
know this chapter was a bit boring but I had to write it since I couldn't
just have Dumbledore et al just spirit Sev away without explanation. Anyway,
that will probably be the last time we'll see Jessica for a while since we'll
be at Hogwarts next chapter. I was going to have her come but I didn't think
it would work and I also wanted to have Sirius being the parental figure
to Sev (a father/son relationship between them, that has to be a first!).
Thank you all so much for the reviews you have left me and please do continue
to tell me what you all think.
There may be some spoilers for 'The Order of the Phoenix' over the course
of this fiction. I've just finished reading the book last night and I think
wee Sev would be very interested to know what his new friend Sirius was really
like in his previous childhood. Also, we'll be seeing Harry's reaction to
Sirius' new kid and Draco and Lucius' responses to seeing Sev at Hogwarts