Chapter Two
"Slug Crunchies."
The gargoyle moved. Remus sighed as he pulled the two now-clothed children along with him to the entrance of the headmaster's office. Clothes had been a difficult task to execute. Severus was alright, really. The 5-year-old had mainly dressed himself and been quiet about it. His only problem had been getting the shirt on the right way. Sirius, however, had been a royal pain in the arse. He howled and screamed and kicked and cried. More of a 3- year-old, really. Remus wondered if it were a possibility that Sirius's mental age had suffered more than his physical, but shook the thought. Sirius acted like 10-year-old at the age of 35, so it must have been normal.
"Albus?"
The old headmaster was sitting at his sparsely-littered desk, looking pensively out the window where the sun was setting in a brilliance of pinks and oranges. His wrinkled hand moved its way thoughtfully through his long, white beard. The soft glow of a dying candle reflected in his half-moon spectacles beneath which his normally twinkling blue eyes had grown serious.
"Yes, Remus?" Albus looked too deep in thought to actually glance in the younger wizard's direction, so Remus shuffled his feet a little, unsure of how to tell the old headmaster that his Potions Master and an ex-convict had been changed into 5-year-olds most likely due to a childish scuffle.
"Er...well, sir, some incidents took place," Remus said. "Some people were harmed in the process."
"Harmed, Remus?"
"Well, sir, you see...by harmed I mean de-aged." Remus cleared his throat. "And these people were Severus Snape and Sirius Black."
Albus Dumbledore choked.
"Headmaster, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yes, yes, Remus, I'm fine. Now what was that about Severus and Sirius again?"
"They're 5 years old, sir."
Another choke.
"5 years old, you say?"
"Yes, sir." Albus Dumbledore wheezed. "Are you sure-?"
"Positive, Remus. I am just fine." Refreshed twinkling eyes searched the werewolf. "Where are they?"
"They're right he-" Remus stopped abruptly, dread creeping up his spine and raising hairs on the back of his neck. The two little boys had disappeared right under his nose! "Uh oh."
***
"Shhh..." Sirius placed a finger to his lips. "C'mon. I bet this place has lots an' lots of great hiding spots!"
Severus looked around nervously. The hallways were vacant and old. The portraits kept their eyes on the two small intruders. Every once and a while, a ghost would even come across them, leaving him feeling like he'd just swallowed a million ice cubes. He knew they weren't supposed to be here.
"I don't think we're s'posed to be out here. We could get into trouble." Severus whispered. "We were s'posed to stay with Remie."
"Don't be such a git, Sevie," Sirius elbowed his companion. "Moony won't care. He's *Moony*. He *wants* us to do this."
"How do you know?"
"Because he's *Moony*," Sirius repeated, as if that explained everything.
Severus followed the other boy, although he was thoroughly disconcerted by the reason they were allowed to do this was because Remie was Moony and that's the only reasoning they had.
Because he's Moony, he inwardly mocked Sirius. Idiot...
They journeyed through the halls until their little legs got tired and their little eyes began to droop. Just as they sat down to rest, the most terrifying thing happened.
Hundreds of feet must have poured into the once abandoned halls at that moment. Hundred of feet that belonged to other children. Bigger children. Children that could EAT them.
"Sirius! Let's get out of here! They're going to eat us!" Severus hissed, pulling his comrade to his feet and attempting to dodge the legs that threatened to knock them over.
"What? Are you loony? They're not going to eat us, you prat!" Sirius exclaimed. "They're just big kids, that's all. Big kids don't eat little kids. They just boss them around and knock them off the bars at the playground, that's all. Sometimes, they also have a pee on the slides."
"What do you mean they have a pee on the slides!?" Severus yelped. "On the slides? I slide down those slides!"
Sirius shrugged. "It's not that big a deal. It makes it stickier, sure. Sometimes it makes it smell bad. But the rain washes all that away. What you really have to watch out for is the fort."
"The fort?"
"Yeah," Sirius said, pulling Severus into an empty classroom. "This one time, James Potter and I walked into a fort and we found something absolutely foul."
Severus prompted him with wide, curious eyes. When Sirius didn't continue, he demanded, "What was it?"
"It was this slimy balloon filled with watery cream," Sirius confided. "We're not sure what exactly they were doing, but we think they were having a war and decided to throw cream-filled balloons at eachother as weapons. That's way more foul than just water. If that stuff got in *my* hair, I'd scream until my Mummy's ears bled."
"There you are!"
Severus and Sirius practically jumped out of their skins. A strict-looking woman had entered the room, a relieved of expression on her face. The two boys were horrified.
"Remus has been looking all over for you!" she said.
"Moony?" Sirius asked.
"Remie?" Severus piped in.
"Indeed," the woman nodded sagely, extending her hands. "I'm Minerva. If you'll come with me, I'll take you to Remus."
"Minnie!" Sirius chirped happily, taking the woman's hand. Severus looked at the other outstretched hand doubtfully.
"Oh, honestly, Severus. Even when you're a child. Come on now," she said, taking the boy's hand irritably. They found Remus in trophy, searching behind and in each of the gleaming trophies. Minerva noted that Fred and George Weasely must have recently had a detention.
"Moony!" Sirius exclaimed, dashing forward and lunging into the man's arms.
"Sirius?" Remus sighed in relief. "Where'd you go?"
"Around! Lots of big kids came out of the rooms and Sevie was afraid they'd eat us!" the boy giggled. "It was funny. You should have been there."
"Oh?" Remus raised an eyebrow, then picked the boy up. "Sirius, we don't go running off through the castle without supervision."
"Shut up, Moony. You know how this town works."
"Sirius, I'm *serious*. No running through the castle. I was very worried and I don't want you to it again. Severus, that goes for you, too."
Severus had stepped forward and was now tightly clinging to Remus's leg. "Remie?"
"Yes?"
"Do you hate us now?"
"No, Severus, I don't hate you."
"Okay, good." Severus paused. "Remie?"
"Yes?"
"Do big kids really pee on the slides?"
Behind them, Albus Dumbledore choked.
********
Hey. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are AWESOME.
Lily C: it's gonna work out that way...kinda. =) hope yeh like it.
And everyone else, wow....you guys rock this hizzy. I 3 you. Review more, cause I like you.
"Slug Crunchies."
The gargoyle moved. Remus sighed as he pulled the two now-clothed children along with him to the entrance of the headmaster's office. Clothes had been a difficult task to execute. Severus was alright, really. The 5-year-old had mainly dressed himself and been quiet about it. His only problem had been getting the shirt on the right way. Sirius, however, had been a royal pain in the arse. He howled and screamed and kicked and cried. More of a 3- year-old, really. Remus wondered if it were a possibility that Sirius's mental age had suffered more than his physical, but shook the thought. Sirius acted like 10-year-old at the age of 35, so it must have been normal.
"Albus?"
The old headmaster was sitting at his sparsely-littered desk, looking pensively out the window where the sun was setting in a brilliance of pinks and oranges. His wrinkled hand moved its way thoughtfully through his long, white beard. The soft glow of a dying candle reflected in his half-moon spectacles beneath which his normally twinkling blue eyes had grown serious.
"Yes, Remus?" Albus looked too deep in thought to actually glance in the younger wizard's direction, so Remus shuffled his feet a little, unsure of how to tell the old headmaster that his Potions Master and an ex-convict had been changed into 5-year-olds most likely due to a childish scuffle.
"Er...well, sir, some incidents took place," Remus said. "Some people were harmed in the process."
"Harmed, Remus?"
"Well, sir, you see...by harmed I mean de-aged." Remus cleared his throat. "And these people were Severus Snape and Sirius Black."
Albus Dumbledore choked.
"Headmaster, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yes, yes, Remus, I'm fine. Now what was that about Severus and Sirius again?"
"They're 5 years old, sir."
Another choke.
"5 years old, you say?"
"Yes, sir." Albus Dumbledore wheezed. "Are you sure-?"
"Positive, Remus. I am just fine." Refreshed twinkling eyes searched the werewolf. "Where are they?"
"They're right he-" Remus stopped abruptly, dread creeping up his spine and raising hairs on the back of his neck. The two little boys had disappeared right under his nose! "Uh oh."
***
"Shhh..." Sirius placed a finger to his lips. "C'mon. I bet this place has lots an' lots of great hiding spots!"
Severus looked around nervously. The hallways were vacant and old. The portraits kept their eyes on the two small intruders. Every once and a while, a ghost would even come across them, leaving him feeling like he'd just swallowed a million ice cubes. He knew they weren't supposed to be here.
"I don't think we're s'posed to be out here. We could get into trouble." Severus whispered. "We were s'posed to stay with Remie."
"Don't be such a git, Sevie," Sirius elbowed his companion. "Moony won't care. He's *Moony*. He *wants* us to do this."
"How do you know?"
"Because he's *Moony*," Sirius repeated, as if that explained everything.
Severus followed the other boy, although he was thoroughly disconcerted by the reason they were allowed to do this was because Remie was Moony and that's the only reasoning they had.
Because he's Moony, he inwardly mocked Sirius. Idiot...
They journeyed through the halls until their little legs got tired and their little eyes began to droop. Just as they sat down to rest, the most terrifying thing happened.
Hundreds of feet must have poured into the once abandoned halls at that moment. Hundred of feet that belonged to other children. Bigger children. Children that could EAT them.
"Sirius! Let's get out of here! They're going to eat us!" Severus hissed, pulling his comrade to his feet and attempting to dodge the legs that threatened to knock them over.
"What? Are you loony? They're not going to eat us, you prat!" Sirius exclaimed. "They're just big kids, that's all. Big kids don't eat little kids. They just boss them around and knock them off the bars at the playground, that's all. Sometimes, they also have a pee on the slides."
"What do you mean they have a pee on the slides!?" Severus yelped. "On the slides? I slide down those slides!"
Sirius shrugged. "It's not that big a deal. It makes it stickier, sure. Sometimes it makes it smell bad. But the rain washes all that away. What you really have to watch out for is the fort."
"The fort?"
"Yeah," Sirius said, pulling Severus into an empty classroom. "This one time, James Potter and I walked into a fort and we found something absolutely foul."
Severus prompted him with wide, curious eyes. When Sirius didn't continue, he demanded, "What was it?"
"It was this slimy balloon filled with watery cream," Sirius confided. "We're not sure what exactly they were doing, but we think they were having a war and decided to throw cream-filled balloons at eachother as weapons. That's way more foul than just water. If that stuff got in *my* hair, I'd scream until my Mummy's ears bled."
"There you are!"
Severus and Sirius practically jumped out of their skins. A strict-looking woman had entered the room, a relieved of expression on her face. The two boys were horrified.
"Remus has been looking all over for you!" she said.
"Moony?" Sirius asked.
"Remie?" Severus piped in.
"Indeed," the woman nodded sagely, extending her hands. "I'm Minerva. If you'll come with me, I'll take you to Remus."
"Minnie!" Sirius chirped happily, taking the woman's hand. Severus looked at the other outstretched hand doubtfully.
"Oh, honestly, Severus. Even when you're a child. Come on now," she said, taking the boy's hand irritably. They found Remus in trophy, searching behind and in each of the gleaming trophies. Minerva noted that Fred and George Weasely must have recently had a detention.
"Moony!" Sirius exclaimed, dashing forward and lunging into the man's arms.
"Sirius?" Remus sighed in relief. "Where'd you go?"
"Around! Lots of big kids came out of the rooms and Sevie was afraid they'd eat us!" the boy giggled. "It was funny. You should have been there."
"Oh?" Remus raised an eyebrow, then picked the boy up. "Sirius, we don't go running off through the castle without supervision."
"Shut up, Moony. You know how this town works."
"Sirius, I'm *serious*. No running through the castle. I was very worried and I don't want you to it again. Severus, that goes for you, too."
Severus had stepped forward and was now tightly clinging to Remus's leg. "Remie?"
"Yes?"
"Do you hate us now?"
"No, Severus, I don't hate you."
"Okay, good." Severus paused. "Remie?"
"Yes?"
"Do big kids really pee on the slides?"
Behind them, Albus Dumbledore choked.
********
Hey. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are AWESOME.
Lily C: it's gonna work out that way...kinda. =) hope yeh like it.
And everyone else, wow....you guys rock this hizzy. I 3 you. Review more, cause I like you.