-Summer house-
"Hey Harry, where's Sevvy? I want to show him some new Quidditch tricks later for our match with the twins."
Harry looked up from his book on Advanced Defense and smiled. Ron had taken the presence of the little potions master much better then he could have hoped for. At least Severus had turned into a Quidditch maniac under Ron's tutelage.
"He's in the garden with Dumbledore. They're painting."
Ron scowled. "The garden is for Quidditch, not painting!"
Harry waited until his horrified friend was out of the room before collapsing in a heap of laughter.
It was two weeks since their reunion with Dumbledore, and the teens had thought it safe to allow the Headmaster to come in and out whenever he wanted. Severus, after his initial fears from the memories of the headmaster's treatment of him had faded, was drawn towards the man. And Dumbledore to the boy, Harry thought, smiling fondly.
Dumbledore had asked Harry two days after their reconciliation if it was alright if he came over to paint in his gardens, so Severus could get used to him without being forced into actual interaction. Harry agreed.
The boy had taken a few hours, but then his curiosity got the better of him, and he had walked over to Dumbledore to see what he was doing.
The teens had been surprised to see that Severus LOVED painting. Dumbledore had given him paper, watercolors and some old brushes, and together they painted for the entire afternoon. When Harry strolled over some time later to call them in for dinner, Severus had proudly shown him the results of his labors. He was very good, Harry discovered.
Since that day, Dumbledore came over nearly every day to play or paint with Severus, and to get Harry and the others some advanced books. He was proving to be a patient teacher.
"Harry!" Severus came running in, paint still on his fingers and cheeks, "Harry, did you know Muggles had museums full of paintings? Did you, Harry? Can we go to one sometime, Harry? Please, please, please?"
The boy was dancing around excitedly and Harry couldn't help laughing. Dumbledore walked in, looking guilty.
"I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't know that when I mentioned museums, he would sprint inside to ask you to go to one," the headmaster apologised.
The twins, who had just entered, scowled at the mention of a museum.
Harry snorted. "Ron and the twins won't be interested in going, but I bet Hermione is. Maybe the four of us can go tomorrow?" he looked at the headmaster.
"Excellent idea," Hermione said, when they had called her in and proposed the plan, "But I doubt a museum will occupy Sevvy for long. I mean, he is only six. But, we need to get out of the house a bit and we definitely could use some fun. How about we go to a museum in the morning, and a Muggle amusement park in the afternoon?"
Severus's eyes widened. "Oh, can we, Harry? Please, sir?" he looked at Harry and Dumbledore imploringly.
Harry nodded. "I'm all for it," he said.
"Me too," Dumbledore said, "but only if you stop calling me sir, Sevvy."
Severus sucked in his lower lip. "But I have to call you sir. If I don't, I will slip up and call you Daddy like I used to."
He clasped his hands over his mouth in horror.
Harry looked at Dumbledore.
"He called me 'father' when he was an adult," the headmaster smiled, patting the boy on the head to show him he wasn't at all offended, "I guess it lingers. How about you all call me Albus?"
Harry pulled Severus on his lap.
"Sevvy, you can call Albus Daddy if you like. Are you afraid I will be mad at you if you do?"
Severus nodded shyly. "You are mad at…at Daddy," he said.
Harry sighed. "Sevvy, Albus and I have to talk about a lot of things that we disagree on, but I won't be mad at you for starting to love him again and wanting to call him Daddy again. He is better, so I know he will be very nice to you. Now…tomorrow we're going on an outing," he smiled, "so you have to go to bed early, or you'll be tired. Maybe if you ask nicely, Albus will tuck you in after dinner."
The boy smiled brightly at the headmaster, who nodded, and sent Harry a grateful look.
-The Burrow-
Molly Weasley let the small snake slither up her arm while she fed it.
"There you go," she patted it softly, "I wish we knew what name they gave you," she said as she let it slide from her arm to the box they had made for her.
"Her name is Circe," she suddenly heard the voice of her youngest son.
She whipped around. "RON!" she yelled.
"Here, mum, in the fireplace," the voice said.
Molly knelt in front of the fire.
"Ron! How are you? Where are you? Are your brothers ok? And Harry and Severus? We found blood…"
"MUM! Slow down!" Ron said forcefully.
Arthur Weasley, alerted by his wife's scream, came bolting in.
"Ronald!" he exclaimed, his face brightening.
"Hi Dad."
"Where are you? Are you coming home? Oh, Ronnie…" Molly said, wringing her apron.
"We're not coming back yet," her son said, "but we got your letter. We want to talk to you too. Can you meet us tomorrow? At the Twins's shop?"
"Of course," his father said, his face bright, "Of course we'll be there. Are..are all of you coming?"
Ron shook his head, sending sparks all over.
"Fred, George and me," he replied.
"We'll be there at 10," his father promised, "but Ron…the blood…"
"Harry was injured by Death Eaters on his way over here," Ron said, a flash of anger in his eyes, "but the twins took care of him and he has recovered quickly. In fact, he's training at the moment."
"Oh, the poor boy," Molly said, "but he would never have been injured if he hadn't run off," she said disapprovingly, "and with that child, too!"
Ron's voice grew cold. "He would never have been injured if you hadn't forced him to flee in the first place, and it was sheer dumb bad luck, because they took as many precautions as they could, considering the…circumstances…in which they left."
He didn't mention outright that the two hadn't had much time to prepare with the Order working their way through the wards that protected them, but his parents got the message.
Both blushed fiercely.
"We'll see you tomorrow then, Mum, Dad," Ron said, "Fred and George say hi."
-A more or less decent Art museum-
The four people walking through the rather empty museum didn't, by some miracle, attract much attention. Harry and Hermione were dressed as Muggles, of course, as they had done most of their lives.
Severus was dressed in some of the Muggle clothes Harry had bought him. Dumbledore…well. Hermione had groaned and was nearly in tears when the old wizard had appeared that morning.
It had taken some rather vicious wandwork from Harry as well as from Dumbledore himself to transfigure his…clothes…into something unobtrusive.
Right now, he was carrying an awed Severus – who was a bit too short to properly see the exhibits, most of which were on a comfortable hight for adults, not six year olds – and they quietly discussed the painting techniques and compositions that Dumbledore had been teaching the boy.
Harry and Hermione followed quietly along, taking in the impressive collection.
"You know, Sevvy really loves Dumbledore," Hermione said.
"I know."
"Are you ever going to talk things through with him?"
Harry sighed. "I should, shouldn't I? But I'm still so angry. It's not something that I can forgive and forget just like that."
"Severus did. Even as an adult."
"Severus as an adult had years to do that, and he owed Dumbledore for his second chance."
"I know, Harry. Why don't you just tell him? Yell and rage at him if you want. I'm sure he won't mind."
"I don't want to yell and rage at him where Sevvy might hear."
"Then go somewhere he won't. We will ultimately have to return to Hogwarts, Harry."
Harry nodded. "I know. I just…they hurt me so much, 'Mione…" the strong, brave Chosen One of the Wizarding world suddenly sounded frail and timid.
Hermione put her arm around his shoulders. Harry looked at her gratefully before they joined the other two.
-Hogwarts-
Filius Flitwick entered the headmaster's office, where Minerva McGonagall was busy sending off the letters to the students.
"How are things going, Minerva?"
"Fine, Filius, although we still need another DADA professor, and perhaps a sub for Potions. I really need to talk to Albus about that later this week."
"We may not need a substitute for Potions," the tiny professor squeeked, "I've found a possible countercurse. That's what I came up here for; I need your opinion."
He handed her a book and several sheets of notes. Then he waited patiently while the witch read.
"Oh yes, this looks good, Filius! You and I can do the spellwork…Poppy can monitor…yes, this will probably work."
"Let's prepare, then, and as soon as the boys come out of hiding, we can perform the countercurse and change Severus back to his adult self."
-Amusement park-
Albus Dumbledore watched in delight as his three young companions rushed around, eager to see and try every ride in the park.
Severus ran to the line for a rollercoaster and stood in front of the measuring stick.
"Am I big enough to go, yet? Harry, am I big enough?"
The people around smiled at the eager little boy. Harry checked.
"Yes, you are big enough. By about half an inch."
"Can I go? Are you coming with me?"
He looked at Hermione, who shook her head. "Not me, Sevvy."
Then he sent Dumbledore a look that could melt the coldest heart, but the headmaster just chuckled.
"Too old, Sevvy. My heart may not be up to this."
Harry shook his head. "Don't you people know fun when you see it? Come on, Sevvy, we're going!"
Dumbledore and Hermione found a bench near the exit, where they could also see the carts.
The line was rather long, and they figured it might be half an hour or so before the two would be back.
Hermione strolled to an icecream van and bought Dumbledore a lemon icecream and chocolate for herself.
"Thank you, my dear," Dumbledore said, enjoying his icecream.
"Do you think they will survive?" he asked, slightly nervous as a cart came overhead.
"Oh, they will undoubtedly survive. These rides are much safer then they look. In what STATE they're going to be is a different matter…"
A little while later they could hear the excited screams of a six year old above their head, and they both looked up in time to catch the look of pure unadulterated happiness on Severus's face as he cheered. Harry looked just as thrilled.
"They have a photo booth," Hermione said, "they take pictures during the ride of all passengers. Let's go have a look."
Soon the pictures of Harry and Sevvy appeared on the screen. The camera had caught the excited expressions just at the right moment.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"I'd like that one, please," he said to the girl behind the counter. She printed the picture for him and he payed gladly, handing her nearly twice the amount she asked for.
"I'm going to enchant it and put it up in my office," Dumbledore decided.
Hermione laughed. "Your visitors would be shocked if they entered to the screams of those two," she pointed out.
"Ah, a well-placed silencing charm every now and then…" the headmaster muttered, carefully storing the picture in Hermione's bag.
Soon Severus came dancing towards them.
"I got to ride, Daddy, did you see? Did you see?" he nearly jumped into Dumbledore's arms.
"We went up and down really fast, and around corners! Harry is so cool, he let me sit in front!"
Harry blushed and grinned at the other two. Dumbledore gave the excited boy a cuddle before putting him on the ground, where he immediately grabbed Hermione's hand to drag her off to the next thing he wanted to see.
The other two followed at a more normal pace.
"Harry…"
"Headmaster…"
They both started at the same time, then looked at each other a bit embarrassed. Finally Harry broke the silence.
"We do need to talk, don't we? But I want it to be out of Sevvy's hearing range."
Dumbledore winced slightly, as he considered the reasons why Harry would want that.
"We can simply Silence a room, Harry."
Blushing a bit for not having thought of it, Harry nodded.
"Tonight, then," he said, "after we put Sevvy to bed. Together."
"HARRY! DADDY! You have to come see!" they heard Sevvy's excited voice, and they broke into a run to catch up with them.
A/N Next on Six Years: Harry and Dumbledore talk, as do the Weasleys. Two conversations with Jerry Springer-potential, no doubt.