Severus didn't understand what happened. His arm didn't hurt anymore but he wasn't home with Albus either. He was shaken roughly and began to cry. The men in black were shocked by that apparently because they let go abruptly. Then one of them, someone with long white hair, took his sleeve and pulled him in the middle of a circle. He looked up and screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. The man on the chair was scary! He had weird red eyes and very pale skin. And he was looking like he saw a disgusting insect.
"SNAPE!" the man roared.
Severus started. Snape. That belonged with his name. People sometimes used it. Albus didn't. Albus called him Sevvy.
"Let's see if you still cry like a baby after this," the scary man said, "Crucio!" Severus cringed. "Nooo, no bad spell" he cried as pain racked his body.
The headmaster was frightening when he was worried, Harry and Hermione decided. The worst was, they couldn't do a thing.
"We need to go get him," the headmaster said.
"Albus, you know we can't do that. Even if we knew where to go, what are the chances of getting him out alive? Or all of us getting out alive?" Minerva said, sobbing.
Albus rounded on her. "I don't CARE!" he roared, "I want MY SON!" The other three stared at him. He sank down on the couch, head in his hands. "Severus, my boy," he whispered.
HURT HURT HURT HURT HURT
Hurt like Mothers bad spell. Severus screamed and writhed when he couldn't keep quiet anymore. Suddenly the pain was gone. He remained on the floor, sobbing.
"No, no bad spell, I be good, pwomise, pwomise!"
The evil man was now looking at him like he had suddenly realised his chocolate pudding wasn't chocolate at all but something the dog produced.
"Horace," the man said in a sickly sweet voice, "Would you mind explaining this?"
One of the men in the circle stepped forward. "My lord, I…I forced Snape to drink one of my potions before I joined you…"
The bad man on the chair nodded and smiled. "And pray tell me, Horace, am I right in suspecting that it was some kind of de aging potion?"
The man nodded proudly. "Yes, my lord. His mind is now that of a three year old."
Severus didn't understand what they were talking about. He just wanted to go home. He whimpered. "Home, Sev wants to go home…"
The bad man stood up and grabbed his collar, examining his large tearfilled eyes. He was nearly frozen with fear. Then the man let him go.
"Antidote, Horace?" The other bad man was still looking proud.
"There is none, my lord."
Severus dove to the ground as the wand flicked again but now the bad man in black fell, screaming.
"You idiot," the snakelike man hissed, "You have reduced my very talented potions master to a wailing toddler! Just when I needed some potions only he can make!"
Horace panted as the spell was lifted. "I will serve you, lord," he began.
"You fool! You aren't even half as good as Snape."
Hearing his name, he addressed the snakeman carefully. "I wanna go to Hogwash." T
he man looked at him. Then he waved a hand. "Oh very well, he's no use or danger to me now. Let the old fool try to find the antidote, as I'm sure he is doing right now. Daniels, Rancad, take him back to Hogwash…" the dark lord laughed as he deliberately mispronounced the name. Severus was dragged to his feet by two of the black figures and taken away. The last thing he heard was "Now Horace, let's go over this again, shall we?"
It was cold. Cold and wet. He got up. Oh he knew where he was now, he was nearly home. He was on the end of the grounds, where he wasn't allowed to go on his own. Albus would be mad. He was wet, too. The bad spell must have done that. Made him wet himself sometimes. Shivering, he slowly walked towards the castle through the snow. Albus would be mad but he had said he wouldn't use the bad spell.
A huge figure suddenly blocked his way. "Laddie, what are ye doin' 'ere?" a voice rumbled. He knew the voice, too. It was the nice giant who lived in the hut.
He began to shake and cry. "B-b-bad man, bad spell, Ablus…wanna go to Ablus." He was scooped up in two huge arms.
"Bit wet, are we?" the giant asked.
Severus looked up to the face, frightened. But the face was kind, not angry at all.
"I'll take ye to me hut, that's close, and we'll get you out of those cold wet clothes and into a nice blanket, and then I'll take ye to Albus," the giant said.
Within minutes, they had reached the hut and he was changed into a huge warm fuzzy blanket. The giant picked him up again after calling a house elf for the dirty clothes and to tell the headmaster they were on their way. He wasn't cold anymore but he still shivered. The bad spell did that. Made him shake for days.
The four in the tower were just about to throttle each other out of pure fear for Severus, when a house elf appeared. Dobby.
"Professor Dumbledore, Sir! Professor Hagrid says to tell Headmaster he has found professor Snape and is taking him up here, Sir."
With that, the elf was gone. Dumbledore stared, not believing what he had heard. Then he collapsed on the couch and sobbed.
Hagrid arrived only a few minutes later, carrying Severus in his arms. Dumbledore rushed towards them. Severus clung to Hagrid and gave the headmaster a frightened look.
"You mad at me?" he asked timidly.
Dumbledore took him from Hagrid and held him close. "Oh no, child, I'm so happy to have you back." He felt the body shaking.
"Hermione, there should be a muscle relaxant in my potions cupboard. Can you give it to me?"
Hermione ran for the potion. Gently, Dumbledore coaxed Severus into taking it. Then he sat on the couch, holding the potions master in his lap while Minerva ran her hands over his arms and legs, to calm the twitching muscles.
Hermione sighed. "Well, that means the potion's out."
Dumbledore felt like a bludger hit him in the stomach. "What?"
Hermione, seeing his shock, waved her hand reassuringly. "Oh, not for good. But first of all, this potion doesn't mix well with either the muscle relaxant or the curse. His nerves are fried. They need rest before his brain is forced into picking up the adult neural pathways again. He needs rest and lots of care, and then maybe, and I repeat maybe, he is ready for his potion the Thursday before the other students return."
Severus whimpered softly, body not relaxing against the headmaster as it usually did. Minerva realized there were too many people in the room. She shooed out the teens, asking them how they had brewed the antidote, and if it could be turned into a general antidote for de aging potions. Hagrid had already left earlier.
That left Severus alone with the headmaster. The headmaster just sat, holding the stiff body in his arms and talking gently to him until the shivering stopped.
"I sowwy Ablus," he heared a tensed, tired voice say, "I took wand."
Severus was clearly afraid. Just plain afraid. Of him. It tore at Dumbledores heart. "You used my wand, Severus? Why?"
Seeing the headmaster wasn't about to punish him yet, he plucked up the courage to tell. "Arm huwt. Nuwse use wand to make Sev betta."
Dumbledore understood, "so you took the wand to stop your arm hurting." Severus nodded. "Where is the wand now, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
Severus went even paler and nearly disappeared in the blankets. Dumbledore dug him up again. "You lost it, didn't you, Severus?" A
sob escaped. "I was bad," Severus whispered, "You will huwt me now?"
Dumbledore turned him slightly so Severus' chest rested on his own, head on his shoulder. "No, my sweet boy. I'm not mad at you." Dumbledore wrapped his arms around him as tight as he could, one hand on the back of the dark head, rocking slightly.
"Bad snakeman," Severus whispered, feeling a little safer. "Used bad spell."
Dumbledore continued to rock, not pressing him with questions. "Howace," Severus said suddenly.
Dumbledore didn't halt but softly asked "Was Horace there, Sevvy?"
Severus nodded, encouraged by the familiar pet name. "Howace. He gives me poshion?" Dumbledore, his suspicions now confirmed, admitted, "Yes, Sevvy. He was very bad to give you the potion. Harry and Hermione are working on a potion to make it better."
Finally Severus' body relaxed, and he curled against his protector, burying his head in the headmasters' robes and crying softly. Dumbledore encouraged him, allowing him all the time he needed. He fell asleep in Dumbledores arms, still jerking slightly from the sobs his dreams produced.
The next few days were hard. Severus clung to the headmaster constantly and didn't want to be left alone. Tired, Dumbledore had contacted Molly Weasley, who flooed over immediately. Severus was very glad to see her.
"Miss Wheezy!" he said, delighted, but still holding on to the headmaster's arm.
Molly smiled widely and stroked his cheek. "Hello Sevvy, I thought I'd come over and see how my favorite potions brewer is doing." Severus blushed.
"Would you like some tea, Molly?" Dumbledore asked, conjuring a tea tray wandlessly. Severus' fear of being without him had prevented him going to Diagon Alley to buy a new one. Molly looked impressed. She reached for her bag and pulled out a package.
"Here, Severus, I have brought you something. When my children were little, they liked to play with this too."
Curious, Severus let go of Albus' robes and let Molly help him unwrap it. A wooden horse emerged. Molly set it on the ground. When Severus touched it, it trodded a feet or two away. Severus chuckled and tried again. He was soon concentrating on following the horse around the room.
Dumbledore sighed. "Thanks. I know he needs to be near me now, but this constant clinging is very tiring."
Molly nodded. "Charlie and Ron both did that when something had happened to frighten them when they were very small. Charlie got on a broom once when he was three and had a very terrifying flight around the yard before he fell off; close to the ground, fortunately. Since then we locked the brooms safely away. He was shocked, though, he didn't leave my side for the rest of the day. Arthur took two days off then and went flying with him to help him overcome his fear of brooms. I always say he overdid it; it was hard to get Charlie OFF a broom after that."
Dumbledore grinned. Molly looked fondly at Severus, who was crawling around the desk, still following the horse.
"Of course he clings to you now, he has had an awful shock. You can do a few things, though, set aside periods of time in which he has your undivided attention, like reading him stories, or just being together, and don't let anything interrupt it. He'll be more likely to play on his own the rest of the time. Some children need a few days to process their thoughts and feelings before they are able to voice them."
Dumbledore sighed. "I don't want to leave him alone, but I really need to go to Diagon Alley for a new wand, and that's something I need to do myself. It's too dangerous to be walking around without one, even though I can manage with wandless magic for now."
Molly nodded. "I need to go there too this afternoon, how about Harry and Hermione look after him for the afternoon? They've been doing some advanced work on that potion, but they aren't as busy anymore."
The headmaster thought about it, then called Severus. "Sevvy, I need to go to Diagon Alley to buy a new wand. Molly will go with me to help me pick one," Molly noticed the look of shame that appeared on the younger wizards face.
The headmaster pulled him in a hug. "No, Sevvy, I already told you I'm not mad at you for loosing my wand and you don't have to feel guilty. It wasn't your fault. But I do have to go buy one. How about you play with Harry and Hermione in the potions lab while I do that? They would love to have you come visit."
Lower lip started to tremble. "I wanna go with Ablus" Severus said.
Molly took his hand. "I know, Severus, but I need your help. See, if you went with Albus, who would help Harry and Hermione? I'm not as good at making potions as you are. And I would take very good care of Albus and bring him back before dinner."
Severus looked thoughtful, then nodded. "I will help Hawwy and Hemenee."