Two days after their memorable visit to the Zoo, Harry sat in the living room while Severus was playing in the bathtub.
At Flourish and Blott's, he had discovered a wizard story book, and, curious, he had bought it.
Severus walked into the room, his hair damp, in his pyjamas, to see Harry reading a children's book.
"Harry?"
Harry guiltily closed the book and hid it, but Severus climbed onto the couch next to him, pulling out the book and looking at him with large, black eyes.
"Why were you reading this? Isn't this for little kids?"
Trying by an act of the will not to blush, Harry nodded.
"I…I bought it at the bookshop," he said, "I never had books when I was little. You weren't allowed children's books either, were you?"
Severus shook his head.
"Come here, then," Harry said, lifting the boy on his lap, "I'll read to you."
Severus allowed the cuddle, but looked indignant at the mention of being read to.
"I can read!" he protested.
"I know you can," Harry smiled, "But sometimes it's nice to have someone read to you. Just try it, ok? If you don't like it you won't have to do it again."
Half an hour later, Harry looked down from the book to see Severus asleep with his head against Harry's chest, one thumb in his mouth.
-The previous day, London-
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Growling in frustration, Arthur Weasley paced an office of the Ministry.
"We HAD his signature. Why can't we pinpoint it?"
Alastor Moody sighed. "Because it was very brief, and probably other people used magic after he did. It'd be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. We know the boy was in London yesterday. The question is, where is he now?"
Arthur nodded. "He might still be in London for all we know. If only he was considered a minor, we could trace him much better."
Moody looked up and grinned. "You know, Arthur, you're on to something there."
He took the man by the sleeve of his robe and dragged him to the Registration department.
"Hey, Darren. I need some help," he greeted the young man behind the desk.
"Hi Mad-Eye. How illegal is it?"
Moody growled in approval. "Not illegal, just…very secret. A lot of people could…"
"Be in danger if it were to leak out, yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before," the young wizard smiled, and waved at the archives.
"You know, I have the sudden need to go to the bathroom and have a butterbeer. I don't suppose you could mind the shop for a few minutes, could you?"
The large, blue, innocent eyes were almost believable. Almost.
"Here it is," Moody said, "Snape's file. We just put the Underage Magic tracker back on and install it to go back to…when did he disappear?"
"Nearly three weeks ago," Arthur said.
Moody set the date, and smiled, satisfied.
SEVERUS SNAPE
Spells performed:
Unknown, location unknown
Unknown, location unknown
Unknown…
"This list goes on for a bit, apparently he's somewhere they can't trace the spells or him. But this is the one we were looking for."
Evanesco, Reptile House, London Zoo.
"The ZOO?" Arthur asked, shocked.
"We are besides ourselves with worry whether or not he is alive, and he visits the ZOO?"
Moody smirked. "He doesn't know you are worried, does he? I'd check your in-tray if I were you, Arthur. I bet there's a complaint from the Zoo in there. If he did an Evanesco in the Reptile House, I fear the worst."
Darren returned, smiling.
"Thanks, Mad-Eye. I didn't ask you to do my job for me though! Here, let me file that for you…"
"Darren," Moody said, "Do you happen to know if there were any incidents in the London Zoo yesterday?"
Darren nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes, we hushed it up because there were Muggles involved, but it seems three of their snakes have escaped. Or rather, were helped to escape by an unknown wizard Vanishing the glass of their enclosures. Just an upset kid with a bout of accidental magic if you ask me, but hey…better safe then sorry."
Arthur and Moody groaned.
-Spinner's End, that evening-
"Sshhhh, Pomona, don't push me."
"That's not me, it's Filius."
"Quiet," Arthur Weasley urged, "Remember, Poppy and I through the front, the rest through the back, and lock the doors behind you so he can't slip out. Then search the house. Every nook and cranny."
Poppy shuffled upstairs as they entered the small, dirty hallway. Arthur locked the front door and entered the living room.
A quick search upstairs yielded no six-years-old.
As Poppy walked back down and towards the kitchen, she bumped into a small body and grabbed it.
"I've got him! I have him!" she yelled.
"Lemme go, put me down!" she heard, and the little arms and legs flailed so badly she had to grab hold of the beard.
Wait…the beard? Since when do small boys have beards?
Arthur and Pomona rushed in, lighting the room enough to see the nurse holding a protesting Charms professor in a tight hold.
Poppy dropped Flitwick to the floor and went red with embarrassment.
Arthur and Pomona bit their lips and tried hard not to laugh.
"Well," the tiny professor said, dusting off his robes, "The boy is not here. Can we GO now?"
-Hogwarts-
Minerva entered the Headmaster's outer office and waited for the Grey Lady to appear.
Which she promptly did, floating through a wall.
"Hello, Minerva. How can I help you?"
Minerva smiled. "How is Albus doing?"
The Grey Lady sat down…well, floated in a chair.
"He's having a relapse," she said, "It started yesterday when he realized that Severus might well have died after being gone for so long. His first defense mechanism is still to suppress all feelings towards the boy and replace them by indifference or hate. He'll get through it, though, he doesn't even really believe it himself anymore."
"So I can't see him? Because we have good news."
The Grey Lady looked up, excited.
"What news?"
"Severus is alive. We don't know where he is of yet; except that he was in London the day before yesterday. But we traced his magical signature when he tried a spell. He was at the Zoo."
"That IS good news. I will relay it to him. I'm sorry I can't let you see him now, but he is asleep. Oh, he did say something though. About Harry. He said Remus should know where to find him. Apparently it has to do with the houses James and Lily owned."
-Later, Order meeting-
"Do you know what he means, Remus?"
The werewolf sat in thought for a moment. "I think so. James told me about some properties he owned. He looked forward to living in one because it had a Quidditch pitch…the bungalow, he called it. It should be somewhere near the Scottish border and in a remote location. There is, of course, the house he built for Lily but didn't live there for very long."
"Well, this means we can track down Harry. Did he respond to the letter?"
"Yes; and made it clear he doesn't trust us. He said he is fine, but I'd feel better seeing him for myself."
Minerva nodded.
"And Severus?" she turned to Arthur Weasley.
"We tracked him to London, but then lost him. We did spell his record at the Ministry. If he does magic again, we're alerted and able to find him. The only problem seems to be that he is somewhere that the Underage Magic trackers can't pick up on. Like a house with some proper warding. We feared already that Lucius Malfoy has him, but he wouldn't take him to the Zoo; he would bring him to Voldemort."
-Bungalow-
"Circe?"
Severus searched the garden for the small snake he had named after a witch on a chocolate frog card.
"Circe?"
Not on her normal spot. Not in the rest of the garden. He contemplated asking Harry to call her, but shrugged. He was a big boy. No need to rely on Harry for everything.
He reached the low fence surrounding the yard, but there was still no trace of his snake. Then he saw something; a hawk had apparently spotted prey and was closing in. Severus, following its gaze, paled.
Circe was about to be bird lunch.
Without thinking, he climbed over the fence and ran towards the snake as the hawk swooped down.
"NO! GO AWAY!"
A fraction of a second before the bird landed, he shouted the first thing that came to mind.
"ACCIO CIRCE!"
He quickly climbed back over the fence and stood trembling, his snake in his hands.
"Don't go outside the fence," he said weakly, "Stay in the yard. It's not safe."
He held the head close to his face.
"We need to go back," he said, uneasy now that the first shock had worn off.
About fifteen minutes later, Alastor Moody got a Floo call from Darren that a certain spell on a certain file had gone off.