Harry relaxed in the hammock on in the garden. He was feeling well, his wounds were closed up properly, but he still tired easily. Fred and George assured him that another day of rest would set him straight, and he had decided to take their advice.

Of course, they had not counted on him monopolizing the hammock for the day and refusing to do any work whatsoever.

Harry grinned and closed his eyes in the sun. The twins were showing Severus the finer points of being a Beater, though both Hermione and Harry had insisted they used bludgers with cushioning charms when playing with Sevvy.

Checking in with Circe to make sure everything was ok and they were not being tracked down, he thought back to their arrival.

They had found themselves in the livingroom of a large house. A house that clearly belonged to Albus Dumbledore; the coloring of the room was similar to his office. Harry looked at Sevvy to see if that would trouble the child, but Severus's adult memories seemed to be influencing his reaction; he looked relaxed and at ease.

Harry had explained to the others that Severus was apparently confused by their initial reactions to him. He was aware that he had not been well liked as an adult, but didn't understand why. It made him a bit insecure at times, and his friends had immediately vowed to make the boy feel very welcome and wanted. All of them had an inkling of what life had been like for Severus the first time he was this age, and they were determined to give him a happier life this time.

And the adult memories usually were dormant; as they had found out when they had done their first tour of the house.

"A Quidditch pitch!" Severus had yelled, looking out the window, "No Ferry tables!"

Fred and George had looked at each other. "Ferry tables?" they mouthed.

Suddenly Hermione had giggled. "Bridge. He means Bridge," she snorted.

Harry had snickered as well, but the three Weasleys were still clueless.

"Bridge. Remember when he said Dumbledore would probably be too old to fly, and was more likely to have Ferry tables? He meant Bridge. It's a Muggle card game, associated sometimes with people who are somewhat…advanced in age."

Harry laughed out loud at the memory.

Severus walked towards him. "What are you laughing about, Harry?"

"Oh, nothing really. I thought you were playing Quidditch?"

Severus pointed over his shoulder at the twins.

"They put on the wrong charm. It's not hard anymore, but it keeps biting them."

Harry shook his head, and scooted over to make room for Severus in the hammock.

"Harry?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are we going to write to the headmaster?"

"You really want to, don't you?"

Severus looked a bit dejected. "I'm scared, but he was ill, right? So it wasn't really his fault. Are you still mad at him?"

Harry hesitated. Yes, he was still mad at the headmaster. But if he said that, Severus wouldn't feel free to listen to Dumbledore's apologies either. And the boy needed a father figure. Harry knew perfectly well that he couldn't be that. A big brother, ok. A father to a six year old, that was out. From the others he had learned that Dumbledore did love Severus.

He smiled at the boy, who was looking at him imploringly, his eyes large in anticipation.

"Why don't you write him a letter, Sevvy, and I'll get Hedwig to deliver it."

-Hogwarts-

Dumbledore was painting – an old hobby he had recently taking up again - when Harry's snowy owl appeared.

"Hello Hedwig," he said, nervously relieving her of her load.

He recognized the handwriting as Harry's.

"Headmaster," it began,

We received your letters. While I am still wary, Severus seems willing to forgive you. The reason for that is mostly that his adult memories are…well, not accessible to him on a consciouss level, but they do influence him. Severus described the feelings he has towards you as a result of this as 'when I was big, he wasn't mean, because I feel like I loved him. Like a Daddy.' He has written you a letter.

I've talked to Hermione about it, and I agree to meeting between Sevvy, myself, and you. But let me warn you: you hurt him, you so much as make him LOOK sad, and you will regret the day you taught me how to use a wand.

We expect you tomorrow morning. My friends have agreed to allow us privacy, but they have ways to monitor us."

"Well," Dumbledore said to himself, a wry smile on his face, "the message is loud and clear, Harry, my boy. I am to watch myself or suffer consequences, especially if I hurt Severus. Sevvy."

He opened the child's letter.

"Hello headmaster,

Harry says I should write what I am really thinking.

I am a bit scared of you.You hurt me.

But I also think you must be nice when you are not ill.

Will you be mean to me agin? Are you angry that I ran away?

Why did you write my darling boy does that mean you liked me when I was big?

Greetings,

Severus."

Dumbledore stood in front of his floo the next morning, his stomach feeling like it had been stuffed full of rocks, his palms sweaty and his mouth dry. In short, he hadn't felt this nervous since he was a small boy going to Hogwarts for the first time.

Finally he sighed deeply, threw in the powder and exited in the fireplace in his living room.

He looked around; there were clear signs that there were currently six children living here. A pile of books on the table; undoubtedly Hermione's.

Toys – Severus's. Several Quidditch magazines, the Weasley boys must have discovered the pitch right away.

He looked around the house, but it appeared empty. The kitchen was empty as well and there were no sounds from upstairs.

Looking out a window, he finally saw two dark haired boys sitting in the hammock. He smiled slightly. From here, they could very easily be brothers, and the way Harry wrote about Severus, he thought the boys did feel like brothers. He only hoped it would last when Severus was returned to his proper age.

Slowly, tentatively, he approached them, stopping about 15 feet away from them.

Harry, who had been keeping watch, had seen him coming. The boy had his wand at the ready, Dumbledore saw, and he lowered his head. He undoubtedly deserved that lack of trust.

Severus hid behind Harry when he noticed the headmaster. An awkward silence later, Harry stood up, stiffly welcomed the headmaster and thanked him formally for letting them use the house.

"It is nothing, Harry. You needed a safe place to stay."

Harry nodded shortly.

Severus peeked around Harry's legs. Dumbledore sank to his knees.

"Severus," he said softly, "child, I was so happy with your letter. I am so happy I could come so I can tell you how sorry I am for being mean to you."

Slowly emerging from behind Harry, Severus stared intently at the man, trying to see if he was being honest.

"So you're not mad at me?"

"Oh, child, no, not at all. I have no right to be mad at you."

"But you said…you said…those people that died…that it was my fault…" the child wiped at a tear.

Dumbledore suddenly found himself crying as well. "No, Severus, that was very wrong of me to say. Of course it wasn't your fault."

The boy looked up, hopeful. "Really?"

Dumbledore held out his hand, and Severus slowly walked towards him. Harry looked wary, but didn't try to interfere.

When the child was close enough, Dumbledore took his hand.

"My dear boy," he said, his voice warm. It was not the patronizing tone Harry had learned to hate. It was real, honest warmth. Surprised, Harry lowered his wand.

"My darling child, you didn't do anything wrong. It was all my fault. I was mean and nasty. You are wonderful. Did you know that when you were big, you did your own job, and your job for the Order, and you helped me whenever you could? You did so much for me, I could never have kept going without you. You made me smile whenever I felt depressed. Sometimes you threw a tantrum over something ridiculous just so you could get me to laugh. You saved a lot of people's lives, child. What happened to those other people was never your fault, and I should never have said that it was."

Severus listened to the old man, his eyes wide with suprise, looking at the headmaster as if he was searching for something. Struggling to remember something.

In the end he gave up. He simply smiled at Dumbledore.

"I like helping," he said, "I help Harry too sometimes."

Harry cleared his throat. Not that there was a lump in it. The way Dumbledore talked to Sevvy was nice, but nothing to get emotional about, thank you very much. It was just a…just a cough.

"He saved my life," Harry said fondly, "He's my hero. And of course, he helps Hermione studying. And Ron and the Twins to improve their Quidditch skills."

Severus beamed happily at Harry. Dumbledore smiled.

"I'm glad you are not afraid of me anymore, Severus," he touched the soft cheek, "I missed you."

The boy held on to the headmasters hand.

"Are you still sick? Should you be laying in the hammock, like Harry?"

"No, thank you, child. I'm much better and don't need to sleep during the day anymore."

Harry suddenly realised he was hardly being a good host.

"Shall we go inside for some tea?" he suggested, walking towards the house.

"Wait, Harry, can I make it?" Severus ran inside.

Dumbledore and Harry crossed the lawn together, both smiling after the energetic child.

"And you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked softly, "Is there anything…anything at all…that I can do to make you think less ill of me? I won't ask for your forgiveness; I don't deserve that."

Harry smirked. "Such is the nature of forgiveness, headmaster, that it can never be deserved," mimicking the headmaster's style of speech as best he could.

Dumbledore bowed his head and sighed. "I understand," he muttered.

"No, I don't think you do," Harry said.

"I still don't trust you. I am not even certain that I don't want you to pay for what you did to Sevvy and me. But I'm willing to start over. You seem to have changed; you won't start with a clean slate, but Moody once said that you believe in second chances. You gave Sevvy one, so I guess you deserve the same."

Dumbledore watched the youth with wonder. "Thank you, Harry," he said, his heart lighter then it had been in many years.

A/N Well there you have it. An entire chapter devoted to reconciling with Dumbledore. More about those other idiot adults later on.