Childlike Innocence
Chapter 11: New Complications
The first thing that Remus became aware of was something damp draped across his right side. His eyes blinked open, and by the small amount of pre-dawn light that filtered through the grubby window, Remus recognized the interior of his bedroom at Grimmauld Place. He glanced down at Severus, who was curled up against him. Severus was damp. Oh dear lord, please do not let it be that he wet the bed… Remus thought as he reached out to turn on the lumos bulb next to the bed. The small boy's face was flushed and his eyelashes were stuck together as if he had been crying, his little brows were knitted and his face was pinched into an expression of deep distress. Remus gave the child a tentative sniff and let out a sigh of relief when he did not detect a scent of urine.
He gave the child a gentle shake, "Severus? Severus, wake up," Remus said softly. With a startled cry, the child's eyes flew open. "Shh, it's all right Severus; I didn't mean to scare you," Remus apologized as he pulled the disoriented boy into his lap, "Are you feeling okay?"
Severus shook his head and leaned against Remus' chest. "I had a bad dream." He said softly and started to cry.
"Oh kiddo, it's alright," Remus murmured comfortingly, "It's over now, and you're safe." The lycanthrope continued to comfort Severus with soft words and gentle back rubs until the boy calmed down. "Do you want to tell me about it?" Remus asked.
At first, it seemed as though Severus had not heard him, but then Severus shifted around until he was looking Remus in the eye. "A-a man pushed my mum…(sob)…sh-she fell and fell and….and when she got to the bottom (another sob) her h-head was going the wrong way." He dissolved into tears once more and a horrified Remus enfolded the small, quivering boy in strong arms.
"Oh Severus, it was just a dream…it's going to be fine." Remus murmured, maintaining an appearance of calm, but his mind was roiling. What in God's name was going on? Severus' mother had died falling down some stairs, but that had been an accident…hadn't it? And it had happened shortly after Severus had been born, so there was no way he could have seen it, let alone remembered any of it. It was just a dream, not real. However, Remus had a sense of foreboding, that it wasn't just a dream. He would have to speak with the Headmaster about it as soon as possible. In the meantime, he would calm Severus down and try to keep him sufficiently distracted from the horrors that had visited him in the night.
Remus decided that a nice, warm bath would probably be the best place to start. He had just started the running water when he remembered that Sirius usually kept bubble bath around, and unless someone had cleaned out the animageous' old room, there might still been some in the house.
After assuring Severus that he would return shortly, Remus slipped from the room and tiptoed down the hall to Sirius' old room. He managed to find it rather quickly, as it was setting out on the counter near the sink, and returned in time to add some to the warm water.
Severus was much calmer as Remus carefully dried the child off and dressed him in a clean pair of pajamas. The boy did not want to go back to sleep, despite the early hour, and so Remus selected one of the books he had brought along and settled himself against a pile of pillows with Severus on his lap.
This book was a muggle, children's story that Albus had sent. It was called Talking with Dragons and was about a princess who had trouble fitting in. Then one day, she ran away and volunteered to be a dragon's captive. Remus was just getting to the part where the princess met three other captive princesses when Mrs. Weasley stopped by to say breakfast was ready.
After getting dressed, Remus carried Severus down to the dining room. Harry, who had been sitting between Ron and Hermione, was talking quite animatedly, even smiling a bit. Ginny, who had been seated slightly away from the trio, gave Severus a smile in greeting, which he returned. Harry's demeanor changed from cheerful and open, to sullen and closed when he noticed the pair. Remus took everything in but chose not to comment, instead he bid everyone a good morning and sat directly across from Harry, with Severus seated beside him.
"So Harry, what are you planning to do today?" Remus asked as he started to spoon scrambled eggs onto Severus plate.
"I dunno." Harry muttered, staring at his hands.
"No plans then? Excellent! Then I hope you three would not mind watching Severus today," Remus said cheerfully, completely ignoring the stunned and horrified expressions the teens now wore, "I have some personal and some Order errands to run today, and everyone else will be busy," He continued.
"What about Ginny?" Ron blurted out, "Couldn't she watch him?" Missing the warning look Hermione sent him.
"I am going to the Burrow with Mum for the day." Ginny said primly.
"Sure Professor, we'll watch him," Hermione said with a tight smile. Harry didn't say anything.
ooO0Ooo
"Do you really have to go?" Severus whispered, as Remus got ready to leave.
"I'm afraid so kiddo, but don't worry, I'll be back tonight," he said, ruffling the child's hair.
"Can't I go with you?" Severus pleaded, clasping Remus' robes in his tiny hands, as if to physically keep him from leaving.
"No Severus, you need to stay here with Ron, Hermione and Harry. They are going to take good care of you; I will be back before bedtime." Remus said as he pried Severus' hands from his robes. "Be a good boy and don't touch any scissors," He added as he dropped a kiss on top of the boy's head.
"We'll take good care of him Mr. Lupin," Hermione said with forced cheerfulness.
Severus stood motionless in front of the door through which Remus had just exited. "So…Severus, what do you want to do?" Hermione asked. The boy shrugged. "We could play exploding snap…" She tried again.
"What's that?" Severus asked curiously.
"You don't know what exploding snap is?" Ron said, staring in disbelief.
"For heaven's sake Ron, he's four! He probably has not had the opportunity to learn it yet. Did you know how to play it when you where four?" Hermione enquired.
"Actually yes, I had five older brothers to teach me."
"Exactly, Severus hasn't had any siblings to teach him." Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"Oh…right…"
"Why don't you teach him Ron?" Hermione continued patiently.
Five minutes later, the four of them were sitting on the parlor floor, cross-legged in a circle.
"Okay then, everyone gets 13 cards," Ron said as he started to deal. Severus carefully picked up each of the cards dealt to him and with precision and grace belonging to a much older person, arranged them to his liking.
"Now, the oldest person goes first, so Hermione will lay down a card. She is going to want to lay down the lowest card." As soon as Hermione laid down an 8, all the cards started to count down from their present number.
Severus gasped in surprise, "They're changing!"
Ron laughed, "Of course, they are counting down and when they get to zero they explode, so you want to get rid of your lowest cards first." He laid down a 6, "Now it's your turn." Severus sat there, his tiny brows knit in concentration.
"Would you like some help?" Hermione asked.
"No." Severus said primly as he laid a 2 down. They continued to play for almost an hour. Severus was becoming quite good at the game, having won four of the nine games they played.
After that, things seemed to go much more smoothly. Harry managed to change his moodiness to a calm indifference, and Ron seemed to enjoy the opportunity to teach a younger boy something. The rest of the day went by quickly, Ron and Hermione becoming more and more attached to the child by the hour. There was a slight mishap at lunch where Severus mentioned that Remus was his honorary godfather and then asked Harry if he had a godfather. Ron barely had time to react as Harry lunged across the table. As Ron grabbed Harry by the belt, Hermione grabbed Severus and dragged him out of range.
"Harry, mate! You have to calm down. He didn't mean anything by it." Ron said as he held Harry in a body bind. Severus was now staring at Harry in terror.
"I'll take Severus upstairs," Hermione said softly as she carried Severus from the room. The moment the kitchen door closed behind them Harry threw Ron off him.
"How dare he! That insufferable little git!" Harry raged, slamming his fists onto the table. He continued ranting and calling Snape every name in the book, as Ron stood there silently, watching him and surreptitiously blocking the exit. When Harry finally ran out of steam, he collapsed tiredly on a stool and buried his head in his hands.
"Harry?" Ron asked tentatively as he approached. "Are you okay?"
"No." came the muffled reply, followed by a strangled sob. Ron laid a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. "I miss him so much."
"I know," Ron said softly, "But mate, you can't take it out on the kid."
"I…I know, I just…Snape kept taunting him! Telling him he was useless!" Harry started, getting angry.
"True, but things are a bit different now. You cannot take this out on a four year old." Ron said firmly. All the fight seemed to go out of Harry and he would have hit the floor if Ron hadn't caught him.
Up in Hermione's bedroom, Severus was sitting cross-legged on the bed as she explained that Severus hadn't done anything wrong, but that it would be best not to mention Godfathers around Harry because his had died recently.
"Do you think I should 'pologize?" Severus asked wide-eyed.
"That would be a very nice gesture." Hermione said with a smile, "You can give your condolences for his loss."
(End Chapter)
