Severus happily sat in the livingroom of his father's quarters while Dumbledore and Harry were busy levitating the huge tree into place.
"Bit more to the left, Harry…just a bit."
"ARGHH! No, Albus, don't push it any more, it'll fall!"
"A foot or so to the wall, and it's done."
Finally the tree stood. Reaching almost up to the ceiling.
Severus clapped his hands in delight. "It's BIG!"
Dumbledore smiled, and gave Sevvy a large star. "Come, my boy, I'll levitate you to the top and you can put on the star."
Sevvy giggled as he was flying through the air on his way to the top of the tree. He leaned forward, and with some effort managed to get the star on top.
"Well done," Dumbledore praised him, and then gave him a box of ornaments to levitate into the tree.
Harry smiled at the boy, who was taking his job very seriously, carefully levitating each ornament, his tongue between his teeth.
"Do you think Santa will bring me a present this year?" Sevvy asked, "he never brought me one before. Mother and Father said that was because I'm such a bad boy."
Dumbledore picked up the child and sat him on his lap.
"It's not true, Sevvy, you aren't a bad boy at all! You are a very good, sweet boy, and I am sure Santa will bring you something this year."
The headmaster glanced up at Harry's face. The teen had a closed off expression, clearly hiding his own pain underneath a mask of indifference.
"I'm sure Santa will bring us all a nice present," Dumbledore said softly, catching Harry's eye.
Harry smiled, a bit strained, but a real smile none the less. Severus hugged his Dad, and went back to decorating.
Dumbledore put an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, it just hit a bit close to home, you know? The Dursleys always told me the exact same thing. I'm going to make sure Sevvy gets lots of presents this year," he said firmly.
"We both are," Dumbledore chuckled, "are we still on for this afternoon?"
"Absolutely," Harry agreed, "we will meet you at the Three Broomsticks."
Harry escorted Sevvy to Quidditch practice that afternoon. When they reached the pit, Sevvy gave an exited scream.
"Fred! George!" He rushed over to them and was swept up and thrown into the air. He giggled.
"Are you coming to see our practice?" he asked.
"More than that, little brother," Fred began,
"Harry here thought you needed to see…"
"Some decent Beaters in action."
"So we're your guest coaches for the day," George finished.
The Little League cheered. They had heard lots of stories about the Twins from the Gryffindor Quidditch team – who had gotten over their embarrassment of losing to the kids in a mere month, and after a prank or two on Harry – and were excited that the two (in)famous Beaters would be training with them that afternoon.
"Aren't you going to stay, Harry?" Sevvy asked.
"I have a lot to do today, kiddo," Harry answered, before he leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially in his ear, "Make sure you show them those new moves we practiced, ok? I didn't tell them anything about it. Make it slow and humiliating for them."
Both black-haired boys were sporting the same evil grin, making the twins suddenly feel a twinge of nerves.
-Hogsmeade-
Harry entered the Three Broomsticks and found Dumbledore sitting comfortably in a corner with Ron and Hermione, all three sipping butterbeer. Hermione was apparently sounding out the headmaster on a Transfiguration problem, and he happily explained away.
"No, the Gargoyles aren't Transfigured, they're Charmed, " he said, "a strong Charm is cast on them, tied to a password. When the password is spoken, the Charm activates and the Gargoyle jumps aside. Now, as you noticed, the suits of armor have similar charms, but they don't last very long. You need another Charm, known as a Locking spell, to prevent the enchantment from wearing off."
"But what is the difference between Charms and Transfiguration, sir?" Hermione persisted in her quest for knowledge.
"Sometimes very little. Fields of expertise overlap, as I'm sure you know, considering your parents are Muggle specialists. But in this case, the Gargoyle isn't changed into anything; that would be Transfiguration. Charms has more to do with making inanimate objects – or humans, in other cases – do things they normally would not be able to do. Like jumping aside when a certain word is spoken."
"But Hogwarts: A History says the Gargoyles are Transfigured!" Hermione's eyes were literally begging the Headmaster to agree with her favorite book.
"Well, they are. They are blocks of rock, Transfigured into Gargoyles. There haven't been many Transfigurational Artists, but one of the most gifted has created the Hogwarts Gargoyles. However, it is a Charm that makes them move."
Hermione nodded, satisfied for now. Or she had just caught the looks Ron gave her, that clearly asked her why she was discussing school things during their holidays.
They left, wandering through the village. Hermione, of course, decided on buying Sevvy books, whereas Ron gave him some really cool Quidditch gloves, and Harry got him a Broomstick Servicing Kit Deluxe. He also bought him a wonderfully soft, stuffed Teddy Bear.
"Don't you think he's too old for that?" Ron asked indignantly.
"He's not yet seven years old," Harry protested, "and he never had a toy before."
Ron looked at him, his eyes wide. "Never had a toy before?" he echoed.
Harry shook his head. "His parents abused him. He never got a present, let alone a toy. He needs a Teddy Bear."
"Bloody Hell," Ron said, his eyes flashing in anger, "no wonder Dad looks like he wants to kill someone whenever someone mentions Sevvy's parents."
"And no wonder he grew up to be such a git the first time," Harry said softly, "I doubt he was such an evil bat as we always thought he was."
Ron nodded, still not entirely able to reconcile the image of the nasty, snarky Potions Master with Sevvy.
"Are his parents…" he began.
"They're dead," Harry said, "Albus said they died in his fifth year. Apparently they got into a fight and cursed each other."
Ron's eyes bulged. "They…oh…but…that was just before…you know…the Shrieking Shack!"
Harry nodded, swallowing painfully. "He must have been relieved to finally be free from the abuse, only to have it start again at the hands of my father and godfather, as well as Albus…who was his guardian at that point."
"Dumbledore was his guardian but he did nothing to punish James and Sirius?" Ron asked, not believing what he was hearing.
"He regrets it now, deeply," Harry said, shrugging slightly, "but yes. It undoubtedly helped in driving Snape to Voldemort. He returned shortly afterwards, when he realized that the Headmaster was the less cruel being of the two."
They joined the others in Honeydukes, and bought many galleons' worth of sweets.
"I need to go do some shopping for my parents," Hermione said.
"Me too," Ron remembered.
Harry grinned. "I've got everything I need. I'm going to put it away so I can wrap it later."
Dumbledore waved merrily, and the two returned to the castle.
Sevvy had returned from Quidditch practice, his cheeks red and glowing, and his eyes sparkling with joy. Practice with Fred and George was always good, but today the moves Harry had taught them worked great! Fred and George had landed in the mud in a most undignified manner several times, and Sevvy was sure he heard them grumble and plan revenge on Harry, but he and his friends had laughed so hard their sides ached.
His father entered, and he jumped into the man's arms, chatting away about his afternoon.
Dumbledore smiled, and listened, before he finally settled the child on his lap and took out a shrunken packet.
"I brought you something," he said, "because you're such a sweet boy."
Sevvy studied the package with wide eyes, and tore away the painting. Then the expectant look on his face changed into one of horror, and he stiffened.
"You're due to start Potions after the holidays," Dumbledore continued, oblivious to the child's terror, "so I bought you a standard kit."
Sevvy felt as if a huge cold hand had grabbed his insides and SQUEEZED. Hard. He looked at the potions set. In his mind he felt the hexes again that his mother punished him with, and saw the horrible potions he had been forced to make, and suddenly disgusted, he threw the box away from him.
"SEVERUS!" Dumbledore shouted, appalled.
"No, I won't, I won't," the child yelled back at him, running to his room.
Dumbledore followed him, but found the door locked.
"Severus, open the door immediately. I will count to three. One…Two…Three."
No response. "Alohomora!"
The door didn't budge. Dumbledore felt that the boy was pouring in his magic to keep the door locked.
Contemplating his next move, Dumbledore pointed his wand at the door just as Harry walked in.
"Albus? Sevvy?" he asked, seeing the disaster area in the livingroom. Potions ingredients were scattered everywhere…wait. Potions ingredients?
"SEVVY!" he called frantically, running to his brothers bedroom.
"Harry!" Dumbledore looked at him. "He's in his bedroom, but he is locking the door with his magic. I can open it, but it would cause him pain. I just don't know what's gotten into him."
"You gave him Potions ingredients," Harry said, "Let me try."
He leaned to the door. "Sevvy, it's Harry, kiddo. Can you open the door for me?"
For a moment, it was silent. Then a small voice came, "Harry?"
"Yes, Sevvy, it's me. Come, open the door, kid."
Suddenly the door flung open and a small figure launched itself at Harry.
"Don't let him hurt me Harry, help me, help me!"
Dumbledore stared at the boy in shock. Did the child honestly think he would hurt him?
Harry carried his brother into the bedroom and motioned for Dumbledore to follow. He sat the child down next to him and put an arm around him.
The boy was still terrified. "I don't want to take Potions, please, don't let them make me, Harry!"
"Of course not, kiddo, you don't have to go to Potions, I promise," Harry reassured him, "but your Daddy doesn't understand, kiddo."
Severus looked up at him, his eyes wide. "Why not?"
Harry stroked the black hair. "Because when you were an adult, you loved Potions. He thought it would make you happy."
Severus shyly glanced at Dumbledore.
"Can I tell him, Sevvy?" Harry gently asked.
Sevvy nodded, and buried his head in Harry's shirt.
"Albus, Sevvy's mother forced him to make horrible potions, and used a whipping hex on his hands if he did anything wrong. He hates Potions, and is very afraid you will make him go."
Dumbledore dropped on his knees in front of the boy.
"Oh Sevvy, I'm so sorry, I didn't know! Of course you don't have to go to Potions if you don't want to."
Sevvy looked up carefully, studying Dumbledore's face to see if he was honest. Then he threw his arms around his father's neck.
"I'm sorry I made a mess, Daddy," he sniffed.
Dumbledore held him close and nuzzled the dark hair. "Shhh, child, it's ok. We'll clean it up for you in no time at all. In the meantime, would you like some chocolate frogs instead?"
Voldemort's Lair –
"Is everything ready?"
"Yes, my Lord," Draco said, "The werewolf will take the child, and give him to me. I'll be disguised as Crabbe. I'll use the Portkey you gave me back here."
"Excellent, Draco. Make sure nothing goes wrong this time, or else…"
Hogwarts –
The werewolfs eyes spied the castle, keeping careful note of the small boy, his minders, and a certain Slytherin.