The Burdens of Childhood
by Mel (email me at cosmic_quest@yahoo.com)

CHAPTER TEN- Home Truths

"Are you out of your mind?! Do you *like* people to think you've got a screw loose?!"

"Now, young man," Minerva scolded as if talking to one of her First Years, "there is no need for a tantrum."

"Oh, I think there is."

Apparently, Darien Storm- the American Auror assigned by his Council to Severus' case- was not impressed by whom they had placed the little Potions Master with until the stiuation could be rectified. Too loyal to Albus to oppose him openly, Minerva did have to silently agree with Storm's stance. Sirius Black was hardly one's ideal vision of a foster parent although she had to admit the man had coped rather well with Severus over the past fortnight.

Storm had abandoned his chair in the Headmaster's office to pace, his face more than clearly expressing his sheer disbelief at the situation. "I permitted you to take the boy from our country assuring Montliskeard and the Council you'd have him placed with a decent foster family or someone who at least didn't have a term in Azkaban on their resume. Nobody in their right mind places one of the most powerful wizards this century in the hands of a nut. You might as well gift-wrap the boy and send him off to Voldemort for Christmas."

"Sirius was acquitted of all murder charges!" Remus immediatly exclaimed when it apparent Sirius was too hurt by the American's attack on him to defend himself.

"I'm not denying that," Storm replied, unperturbed by the other's near violent retort, "but twelve years in Azkaban does not make for the sanest mind, does it? That's the way the lawyers will see it. You need to be careful how you proceed now if you wish to maintain contact with the boy. If this condition is to be permanant and Snape is grow up once more there will be issues raised as to where he will be located."

"You Yanks are going to try and get him back?" Sirius sneered.

It did not escape Minerva's attention the way Albus, Sirius and Remus simultaneously bristled at the very thought of Severus being spirited back to America. She knew better than to expect any other reaction from the former two; the Headmaster was very enarmoured with the concept of this second chance of 'saving' Severus from himself before he could be stained by the Dark Mark and Sirius was too stubborn to give in, to realize there was no shame in letting go for the boy's sake.

However, she had hoped Remus would see the logic in perhaps sending Severus to a place which could provide him shelter from Voldemort's grasp. While it was too late to salvage Harry's innocence, it did not mean they had to comdemn another young boy to a life of fear and turmoil. At least in America, where Voldemort's influence had yet to properly stretch, Severus would be safe.

Yet Minerva could not muster any sense of disappointment that Remus didn't see this, he was only human. She had seen how close he had grown to young Severus, surprisingly settling back into the role of uncle and leaving the disciplining and general parenting to Sirius. It wasn't hard to enjoy Severus, of course, he was an adorable child and she too had to force herself to remember he was not a grandchild but her colleague.

She could only hope that when push came to shove, she would have the strength- where Albus might not have- to put Severus' needs first even if it meant sending him to another continenant.

"Not 'try', the Council will persue this and if the Ministry refuses they'll take this to the International Committee of Magic and they'll win." Storm sighed. "I don't mean to be on your case about this, I don't think you're good people and the kid is obviously happy here. I just want you to know how it is, that you're being watched."

"Wait," Black said, "why is everyone so interested in Snape? He was just a Potions Master. I mean, I know about the wandless magic and how bright he is now as a six-year-old but he won't seem to remarkable once he's an adult once more."

That was one of Sirius' main flaws; he always viewed matters in black and white, as one or another. It probably had never occured to him that while Harry was important to the Wizarding World, at least within the Europe, he was not the only one with great power. Why, even confining to Harry's year group, Minerva could easily see that if it had not been for the boy's connection to Voldemort, it would have been Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy who would have garnered the most interest as magically gifted.

Just as in Sirius' year, while the school fawned over James Potter and Lily Evans, the teachers knew it was in *Severus Snape* and Lily Evans where the true power lay. Like Hermione, Lily was a fluke as a Muggleborn child born with such potent magic whereas Severus' maternal lineage was notable for yielding formidable mages. It pained Minerva to think, however, that no member of staff chose to question why Severus always seemed to be holding back with his abilities and instead were happy to hail James as the gifted child in his place. It was little wonder they eventually lost the boy to Voldemort, albeit temporarily; House prejudice, which both she and Albus were themselves guilty of on occasion, had so much to account for.


"Read your history, Black," scorned the American Auror. "It took me all of an hour to see Snape's mother descended from one of the oldest mage families of the Ancient Wizarding World. I know Potter is your godson and all but surely even you see that his flare of powers are directly linked to Voldemort. Snape, on the other hand, is powerful on his own merit with the abilities to become a great Auror...or a most trecherous Dark Lord."

Both Sirius and Remus turned startled eyes to the Headmaster. As usual, it was the former who voiced, "Is this true?"

They could all hear what he was really asking was, 'Did the boy I once tormented have the potential to wipe out half the school on a whim of a thought?'

Albus sighed. "Yes, Severus is indeed one of the most accomplished wizards Hogwarts had ever produced. If we were to actively rank our children, he would fall into the same banding as myself, Voldemort, Grindenwald, Harry and Merlin."

"Then why the hell did you not...I don't know, do something with him?! God, you and he could have taken Voldemort out years ago then we wouldn't be in this bloody mess in the first place!"

"Cassius Snape was firmly entrenched in the Dark Arts, Mr Black," Minerva pointed out. She felt compelled to defend Albus even despite her own misgivings of how they failed Severus the first time. The whole situation was not entirely the Headmaster's fault; they all placed him on a pedestal he was but a man who did the best he could in a school where nearly three hundred children and fifteen staff looked to him for guidance. "Would you have the Headmaster show him just how powerful his son was so he could groom a second Dark Lord for us?"

And there would be no little baby to destroy if he had chosen such a devestating path.

"But you are right, Sirius," Albus admitted with a heavy-heart, "I *should* have done more for him. In a bid to make him blend in with the other children so no-one would realize his true potential, I went too far in that direction and alienated him from me and from most of the staff. We ended up losing him as a student because I thought I knew best."

There was awkward silence at the damning confession, Sirius and Remus no doubt astonished to hear their vaunted Headmaster was falliable after all. Minerva glanced sideways to see Storm smirking, enjoying the show. What an impudent young urchin!

Before Minerva could rebuke him, Remus scowled darkly at him. "How do you know all this about Snape and Harry? I thought it was confidential."

Storm laughed sardonically. "You have your Order of the Phoenix but don't think we're not prepared either. If you fall, if you fail to contain Voldmort, it's likely his following will spread and so we will step up to finish what you began. That was the terms of agreement our two organisations made, in return for information we be ready to assist you if things went seriously wrong with the Voldemort situation...And now this young Severus Snape has significantly made things stickier for you people. A second Dark Lord all ripe for the picking if you don't do right by him."

"And you Americans are willing to take him from our hands out of the goodness of your heart?" Minerva asked, tartly.

"Hell, no! Politicians are the same worldwide- always on the look out what's in it for them. The way they figure it a happy, well-adjusted baby Sev raised back in Cal will grow into happy, well-adjusted Auror at the Council's disposal."

"Be that as it may," Albus said, curtly, "there will be no attempts to contest custody while there is still a chance Severus can be restored to his rightful age."

"How is that going, Headmaster?" Remus queried. "Have St Mungo's made any progress?"

Albus shook his head. "So far, the Healers and curse-breakers are quite at a loss. Apparently, as it was not just Severus' body affect but his mind also, they anticipate major problems aligning his six-year-old consciousness with his adult mind. If they act too hastily, Severus may experience episodes where he vacillates between thinking like a child and thinking like an adult."

It was a sobering thought. It was hard for six-year-old Severus to be lumbered with so much knowledge when he was still so immature but Minerva couldn't imagine a worse fate for the adult Severus, always so quick-witted and sharp, to be reduced to the mental age of a small child.

"Well, they had better work quicker," Storm interjected, "Lucius Malfoy has been making so inquiries about custodial rights to Severus and he presents a very good case."

Sirius jerked up in his chair. "You have to be kidding? Who in their right mind would give a kid to a slimy Death Eater like Malfoy?"

"Maybe the same people who have a kid to a sanctimonious ex-convict like you," Storm muttered, under his breath.

Eyes flashing dangerously, Sirius made to strike against the American until his actions were stalled by a stern warning. "Sirius, sit back down," the Headmaster ordered in a tone not be disobeyed. Once the reluctant younger man dropped back in his seat, Albus turned a cool glare to Storm. "Why would the Council allow Lucius Malfoy to have access to Severus?"

"There is no evidence to say Malfoy is remains a Death Eater, only hearsay. He's a pillar of the community, affluent with a wife and son."

Difficult as it was, Minerva had to see the Council's point of view. To them, Malfoy seemed like an ideal foster parent in comparison to the errant Sirius Black who remained a pariah of the general wizarding world since the Ministry only grudgingly admitted the case against him was a miscarriage of justice. However, whatever Malfoy fashioned himself to appear, he was a thoroughly evil man and she would whole-heartedly do anything to prevent Severus from leaving the safety of Hogwarts.

"The boy is happy here at Hogwarts, with many positive role models surrounding him," Minerva said. "Why take him from all that he has here?"

"The boy is a Slytherin and Hogwarts has a disturbing trend for producing Slytherin dark wizards," Storm replied soberly, all traces of humour gone. "This century alone, Europe has seen two Dark Lords both hailing from a Slytherin background at this school."

"You can't blame Hogwarts for people turning bloody barmy in the head," Sirius sneered.

"You need to treat carefully in this, see the big picture. To you, Voldemort is evil personified. But some see him differently; Tom Riddle was not some spoilt little pureblood acting out Daddy's dreams. He was an abused Muggleborn orphan not unlike Harry Potter and little Snape. And now he's responsible from turning three generations of Slytherin students to his cause."

"You don't seem to be catching on here- Slytherins are evil," came the unasked for commentary from the usual cuprit, Sirius Black. "It's simple as that."

"Malfoy said it was this high-and-mighty Gryffindor attitude which led Snape and kids like him to Voldemort in the first place. In fact, he has actually presented some evidence to the Council to. In Snape's case, Malfoy personally attested that as a schoolboy, Snape was the victim of severe bullying by a group of Gryffindor boys and you, Principal, did nothing."

Sirius and Remus fidgeted in their chairs, Albus' blue eyes losing their characteristic twinkle. Minerva herself felt could not pretrend she wasn't perturbed by the accusations. She might have been Head of Gryffindor House but that didn't mean she had no duty to students of the other Houses. And if there ever was a child who needed the extra attention, it was Severus. She would never truly forget the tiny Slytherin boy, thin as a rake with dulled dark eyes. It was frightening to think what- or who- was responsible for turning the happy six-year-old they were meeting now to the dispirited eleven-year-old they met twenty-odd years ago.

She did know who, in part, was responsible for turning that First Year to the Death Eaters, quite simply the blame rested not only on the teachers but the Maruaders and the children who encouraged them. It was a lesson in the dreadful consquences of placing four adolescent boys on pedestals and allowed them to continue the delusion they were above rules; she was just thankful that Harry, a boy who could so easily have grown equally as cocky as young James and his friends, carried himself with more humility and was grounded by his friendship with the sensible Hermione Granger.

"One story stuck out most," Storm commented, unaware, or perhaps, ignoring the discomfiture of his hosts, "Malfoy had no direct proof of this so I can't bring myself to believe such a thing could happen in a school like this, but something about werewolves and a murder attempt."

An unnatural silence descended in the office and Storm shook his head, stunned, as he correctly read the thick guilt atmosphere suffocating them.

"It wasn't attempted murder," Sirius protested immediatly, for once almost remorseful, "it was meant to be a joke."

"I can't believe it..." Storm trailed off. "I can't say I'm surprised to hear *you* were the one responsible." He eyed Remus. "And I suppose you were the werewolf in question?"

When Remus nodded with a touch of self-loathing, Albus jumped in to explain everything. Minerva was proud he made no attempts this time to colour the appalling Shrieking Shack event of two decades ago with excuses of Sirius' age or lack of real intent to harm.

"I can't believe it," Storm repeated in disgusted wonder, "I can't believe this sort of thing happened in Hogwarts, the 'model' school of the Western Wizarding World. And I can't believe teachers were actually in on it. If it had been me, I would have reported Black and Lupin to the Ministry that very night then petitioned the governors to remove you," he glared at Albus, "from a position you're obviously not fit to hold if you can't even punish someone from nearly killing a kid."

It was difficult hearing the cold, harsh truth from the mouth of an outsider who made no effort to sugar-coat the story. It was particularly gratifying to see Sirius pale as he realized that Severus could easily have destroyed not only his life but also Remus and Albus'. That another person, a strong person with more self-confidence and self-esteem, would have pressed the matter right to the heart of the Ministry almost certainly resulting in Remus' imprisonment, if not execution.

"We cannot change the past," Albus replied, sorrow deadening his voice.

"No," Storm conceded, "but because of your actions in the past, you may find you have no say in this boy's future."

"It was me, okay? It was me. I didn't want to kill Snape, I just wanted to scare him but I did it, I sent him to Remus that night and I knew exactly what I was doing. I never thought how much it would haunt us all- me, Remy...Severus."

Minerva had never once heard Sirius ever admit full cupability for his so-called prank, not once in all these years. Everyone was taken aback by the forceful confession. Even Remus seemed to be experiencing a mix of pride and anger.

"Just..." Sirius inhaled deeply, "just don't let Malfoy get away with hurting the kid because of something I did. Please..."

There was silence for a moment and Storm nodded. "I'll see what I can do in pressing your case. But you do need to accept that Malfoy may yet get a chance to at least see the boy."

"But until we have one hundred percent proof that there is no counter-curse to Severus' condition, he remains in our custody," Albus pointed out in relief. "He is, after all, being cared for by Sirius Black and he is safe here at Hogwarts. There are plenty of responsible and caring people like Sirius here to look after the boy."

Sirius' preening was cut short by Storm's amused snort. "Responsible, you say? Then why the hell is there a six-year-old out there on a broom stick?!"

As one, everyone's eyes darted to the window where sure enough little Severus was merrily bobbing around on one of the school's broomsticks, waving to the stunned on-lookers on the ground below him.

"I'm going to kill him slowly and painfully," Sirius muttered, dashing out the door.

*************************

Sirius found making Severus stand in the corner for ten minutes was a far suitably punishment that killing the errant child outright, especially when McGongall reminded him of his own dangerous adventures in youth and inquired how old (or rather how young) he was when *he* hijacked a broomstick. For Harry's part, while a part of him was almost proud of Severus' control on the broomstick given his age, he was still amazed by the chill that enveloped him when he saw the kid alone and unaided high in the sky. He looked so tiny and how easily he could have fell, killing him instantly.

Harry never would have imagined the day would come when he would be so worried over his Potions Master. His heart had been in his mouth as he had watched, with half of the equally worried school, Sirius and Madam Hooch soar to the air to bring Severus down. And he'd felt an intense mix of anger and relief at the fact Hooch had left a broom stick so easily accessable to Severus and that the boy had ridiculousy decided he was 'nearly' eleven and therefore perfectly able to fly.

"That was scary today, wasn't it?" Harry murmured, unable to pry his eyes away from an oblivious Severus, who was happily playing in the corner with his chess pieces.

Sirius gazed up from his nightly task of preparing the three of them hot chocolate. "It was terrifying, I didn't think being a parent was such hard work. I was ready for the whole 'getting ready for bed and disciplining' thing but seeing him up on that broomstick," he shook his head, "Merlin, the last time I felt like that was when that bitch of a cousin of mine was trying to kill you."

The boy shivered at the memory, forcing it to the back of his mind where it could only haunt him in his nightmares.

"I never thought that flying could be so dangerous," Sirius mused. He cast a surveying glance to Harry. "In fact, I wonder if Quidditch is such a good thing after all."

"Sirius..." Harry pleaded, hoping his godfather was not going to cluck after him like a second mother. As he had pointed out previously, he already had Mrs Weasley to worry over him and that was enough. Besides, it was ludicrous to worry over a Quidditch accident befalling him when he had Voldemort stalking him since he turned eleven.

His godfather smiling, shrugging at Harry's complaint. "Just be grateful it's me and not your dad. He was a right worry wort, I don't think he would have let you see a broomstick let alone play Quidditch."

"Really? My dad?"

"You bet, I remember the day your mum brought you home from St Mungos when you were born. You were all of six days old and he wanted to rein you into your pram in case you tried to climb out."

Harry smiled at the story. He had heard so many tales of his father's schooldays, he ironically found it difficult to imagine James Potter as anything other than a mischievious schoolboy rather than, well, his father He found that as much as he liked hearing of his father's childhood, he much preferred to hear of the man he grew into and the husband and father he became.

"You want to keep him, don't you?"

Before Sirius seemed to be treating the whole situation like a game, out to prove to himself and others that Azkaban had not completely destroyed him and he was capable of fatherhood as any other. It was only when Harry had caught a glimpse of his godfather's face when Severus nearly slipped from the broomstick mid-flight that he realized the last time he had seen such fright was when Mrs Weasley had been reunited with her children after that terrifying night at the Ministry in June. The same frightened features only witnessed on a panic-striken parent.

Sirius tilted his head, his face unusually sober for such a mischievious man. "Yes, yes I do...Actually, I'm starting to wish they won't find a counter-curse re for him, I don't want to lose him, especially not to Snape." He snorted grimly. "Doesn't that sound so crazy and selfish?"

With the growing perception of impending adulthood, Harry had to admit that while it was selfish to force upon Snape this childhood without his consent, if no obvious cure then why put too much energy into searching for one? Many times Harry yearned for a second chance childhood, an opportunity to be raised by people who loved him without worrying about Voldemort or hateful relations. From what he heard of Snape's real childhood, he was willing to bet that although the man who never have admitted it openly, he too probably wanted a chance to escape the abuse of his parents and the mark of being a Death Eater.

Besides, didn't little Severus have a right to continue to live? If they found a way to change him back, this kid would be gone despite now evolving into being a person in his own right.

"I think if there was a cure, they would have found it by now," Harry said. "It's good to be preparing for his future."

This seemed to reasssure Sirius, who smiled. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Would you mind if I applied for adoption?"

Harry frowned. "Why would I mind? I think it'd be brilliant...We'd be a family."

"I'd probably have to move to the States, those bloody Yanks won't allow him to stay here until he is of age to go to a wizarding secondary school." Before Harry could panic, Sirius continued, "It would be a good move for all of us. You'd be able to spend the summer in a place Voldemort dare not enter yet and where no-one would know who we are."

Now that sounded like Heaven. He long since grown weary of his status as the Boy Who Lived; to live in a place without that burden, if only for a couple of months in the year, was a wonderful thought.

For the rest of the evening, as he and Sirius sprawled on the floor with Severus indulging in the boy's pleas to play with him, Harry's mind was working over-time on plans for the next summer and his new family. His odd, jumbled family made up of a boy hero, an ex-prisoner and the oldest child on the planet, but his family nonetheless.

Little did he realize, he would soon be learning the meaning of the old Muggle adage, 'never count one's chickens before they hatch'.

End of CHAPTER TEN- Home Truths

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I'm really sorry this took so long to get out, especially after all the wonderful reviews you have all sent me. I was nearly finished when my computer decided to have a 'serious error' and that was the one time I never saved (the moral is save your stuff every five minutes!). Anyway, this chapter is a bit crap, mainly because I needed to explain why Sev might so sought after yet if I was to add it to the next chapter, it would end up far too long. Chapter eleven promises to be much better as our favourite Death Eater pays a visit to the school and the news he has does not make Sirius and co smile!

As we are now about half-way through the whole story, I think I'll take the opportunity to ask what you guys would prefer- Sev to stay a child or for him to grow up? I've got scenerios in my mind which will take us in either direction, and at the moment I am leaning in one direction (I won't tell you which!) but I would appreciate to hear what you'd like.