Growing Up Snape

By Teacherbev

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, I am not a multinational bookselling company, nor am I a multi-million dollar movie company, so I don't own anything that you recognize. I am a retired former teacher with a bizarre sense of humor, who likes to twist plots and play with characters' minds, so enjoy.

AN: I will answer questions if you will leave them in a review for me, and I thank all of you who have read and reviewed all of my stories. I appreciate each and every one of you (well maybe not the flamers).

AN: I am excited, my very first story, Harry Potter and the Guardians of Power, has been nominated for a Quills Harry Potter Fan Fiction contest under the action/adventure heading at http/ www. geocities. com /dragonhidequills/main.html (Just remove the spaces, for some reason ff will not download a link here). Please read it and vote for it. And thanks for all of those who have added my stories and my author name to their favorites and their c2 groups! Makes writing much more meaningful and fun when I know people like it.

'italics' is mental speech between Remus and Sirius or Shaun and Fawkes.

Chapter 7: Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Severus had awoken the three boys in time to wash up before taking the three down to the Great Hall to eat with the Headmaster, Poppy, Remus, and Professor McGonagall. As they entered the room, Severus had to wave Poppy away before she could snatch onto his son for a check-up. That blasted woman was always trying to get a Snape into the hospital wing, first him and now his son. Severus thought she was never as happy as when she had both Snapes as patients; but she should just leave the poor boy alone in front of his friends!

The three children were eating something called 'chicken nuggets' and some kind of thin fried potato strips, dipping them both in some bizarre red liquid. Severus thought idly to himself, 'Just what part of a chicken is a nugget actually?' as he enjoyed his own delicately broiled salmon with a savory lemon dill sauce and a perfectly chilled glass of white wine. Ah, the meals in the summer were just exquisite!

Albus was trying to get Severus to try the lemon tart instead of the fresh strawberry pie when Remus dragged himself in to eat. He looked even more worn out and bedraggled than he usually did the day before a full moon, but taking care of Sirius and then the stressful events surrounding Shaun's recent injury followed by the intense training in Occlumency for Shaun, had taken a toll on the man's usual fragile health. Werewolves were incredibly strong creatures, but the monthly transformations combined with the higher than normal body temperature made them all remarkably skinny people the rest of the month, and added to that the normal self-injuries the beasts inflicted upon themselves when no other human was available made them unusually unhealthy for most of their statistically short lives. Albus and Poppy both pushed food on him at any opportunity. The last six months of regular meals, combined with Severus' remarkable nutrient potions had made Remus gain some much needed weight; but he had, once again, lost it with the events of the last month.

Remus glanced at the boys peacefully eating their lunch, too engrossed in their own excited conversations to pay any attention to the adults observing them from their own table. "Did you have any problems this morning with watching them, Severus? How did they interact today? Did Shaun have any problems blocking them?"

Severus smirked at the werewolf as he leaned back, sipping at his wine in satisfaction. "Absolutely none, Remus, we walked down to Hagrid's, fed the squid and then came inside where we brewed a very simple potion; then the boys played hide and seek until lunchtime."

At Albus raised eyebrow, Severus dipped his head, not wanting the Headmaster to see his smirking face, "And they all hid so well, I couldn't find them for over an hour until lunchtime!"

"You didn't!" McGonagall was outraged as she spluttered at him. "They could have gotten into trouble being left like that!"

Severus just smirked even more and exclaimed in triumph, "No, they couldn't, they were all sleeping soundly!" The corners of his mouth twitched in repressed laughter.

Remus shook his head in disbelief and dropped his forehead into one hand, "Tell me you didn't give them a sleeping potion or…stun…them?"

Severus sat up straighter in mock offense, "Of course not! They were just hiding so quietly and still that they all fell asleep on their own. I just chose not to wake them up!"

Albus' eyes were twinkling madly as he hesitantly asked, "And just how long did they hide for, Severus?"

"Not more than half an hour!" was the indignant response, "Well, no more than forty-five minutes at the most."

Severus looked at his colleagues with a smug expression as they all tried not to laugh until finally, Albus chuckled, and then almost snorted and the rest of the table lost their battle with merriment.

Albus and Remus had ganged up on Sirius and made him watch their memories of the last year in Albus' pensieve before they would allow him to even ask about Shaun again. Poppy had reluctantly agreed to allow the former Marauder to shift to his dog animagus form to stay with Moony during the full moon the next day, more for Remus' benefit than because she had forgiven the former prisoner.

The ministry no longer required Remus to be locked in a cell in the dungeon during a full moon as long as he had taken the Wolfsbane potion the night before, the night of, and the night following a full moon, so the plan was for Remus and Sirius to be magically and physically locked into Remus' living room during the actual full moon and hopefully the combination of potion and old friend would keep the wolf so under control that Remus would be able to curl up in front of the fire and sleep the night away. At least that was the plan.

Remus had drunk the obligatory goblet of steaming foul grayish glop the night before and now he was standing in his quarters after drinking the second portion of the stuff. He noticed it didn't seem quite as thick and dark grey as he remembered, but Severus was, after all, still trying to perfect it by tweaking the ingredients, so with a shrug, he gulped it down as quickly as possible. Giving an involuntary shudder at the disgusting taste, he managed to chug it down in three or four giant swallows before handing the empty goblet back to the potions master with a quiet, "Thank you Severus, I don't know what I would do without this potion each month. If I haven't made it clear, this gives me hope that I never had before. Your genius allows me to keep my humanity and if there is any way I can ever even begin to repay you, you have only to ask. I will be forever in your debt, as will all of the others you help each month."

Severus' ears turned bright red, unaccustomed to praise and very uncomfortable with receiving any; he brushed the man's gratitude aside, "Just don't forget to drink it. I want my son safe and there is only a single door between you and him."

Severus pointedly ignored the presence of Sirius Black on Lupin's couch as he turned with a billow of his robes, and stalked in long, determined strides out the connecting door, closing it firmly and sealing it with a Colloportus spell followed by the loud click of metal on metal as the massive padlock was engaged as well. Remus took his wand and placed in into the magically locking safe that Dumbledore had made for him to use each month. It would only open for Remus' touch and then only when he was in his human form. Remus walked back over to the couch and sat down beside his old friend, gratefully accepting the sturdy mug of hot tea the man held out to him.

"Thanks, Padfoot, the Wolfsbane potion is remarkable, but it does leave a foul taste in my mouth. I have missed having your company during the full moons, my friend."

Sirius patted Remus on the leg and asked, "How long until moonrise, Moony? I want to be sure to transform into Padfoot before that occurs!"

Remus glanced at the heavy ornately carved oak and brass mantel clock that sat above the oversized white marble fireplace, "Perhaps you had better transform now, Paddy, it's just eleven minutes until moonrise and I can already feel the pull of the moon."

An instant later, Remus was sitting running an idle hand through the long black hair of a giant dog, whose mouth was open in a huge doggy grin, long pink tongue lolling out and seemingly laughing. Remus chuckled at the sight, "You always did make a happy dog, Sirius!" He finished up his tea and banished the tea things to the Hogwarts kitchens with the same command that Dumbledore used to clear the dishes in the Great Hall. The house elves had charmed the dishes to answer to several different distinct words to appear and disappear on command.

Remus stood up and removed his clothing, no use tearing up another set of robes while he was safely contained within his own quarters. As he turned around to look out the window on the far wall, the first pale stream of moonlight hit him and he screamed in agony. 'What was happening? My transformations are terribly painful but I usually didn't feel like I am being torn into shreds and my insides were scrambling into even more unusual shapes.' He fell to the floor, narrowly missing the low table with his head as he fell unconscious, the big black dog, licking his face in a frantic attempt to wake his friend and only 'family'.

Padfoot the dog watched in horrid fascination and fear as first the body of Remus transformed into the familiar shape of Moony, the werewolf that he had spent so many full moons with during their last years at school and then the few years after graduation before James had been murdered and he had been sent to Azkaban. Moony seemed to be flashing back and forth between werewolf and man and something else that looked very familiar, but he couldn't quite recognize as Remus changed too quickly.

Finally after an agonizingly long time, the werewolf disappeared and Remus was fully human for a few brief moments before a large silver wolf appeared on the floor between the couch and the table that Padfoot had managed to push aside to give his friend room to transform and then go through violent, thrashing convulsions without hurting himself further. Padfoot sniffed the wolf apprehensively but could smell nothing of the werewolf in the animal now unconscious on the floor in front of him. He sat back on his haunches and contemplated his friend. Remus was now a very large wolf; a perfectly normal wolf, about a meter tall at the shoulders, and covered in the most incredibly soft pale silver fur that almost glowed brightly in the light of the full moon. His ears and tail were a beautiful darker grey, almost black as were all four feet, gradually shading lighter and lighter until they matched the rest of his fur by knee height.

Padfoot whined at the wolf, nuzzling it to get it to wake up. He cowered down; being as non-threatening as possible, as he hesitantly licked the wolf's face again and again. The wolf twitched, let out a low growl and eventually opened the most shockingly glowing blue grey eyes in bewilderment and confusion. The wolf lifted his head and looked around, spotting Padfoot cowering beside him, he jumped to his feet, swaying with dizziness before leaning his magnificent head down to sniff at the dog lying at his feet in submission.

'I recognize his scent. He is a dog, but he is also 'pack'; we belong together.' The wolf licked the dog's muzzle in recognition and acceptance before moving gracefully and lithely around the oddly familiar room. 'I am not a wolf, I am a man, a wizard…I am… Remus… Lupin!' It had taken several minutes, but Remus' mind had conquered the animal and he was in control of the animal at last. 'But why am I a wolf instead of a werewolf? Not that I'm complaining!' His thoughts were jumbled in confusion as he looked out in child-like wonder at the full moon bathing the landscape in light as bright as day to his enhanced eyesight.

Padfoot had stood and came to stand silently beside his friend; he tried to communicate with him as they had between werewolf and dog for all those years, 'Moony, do you know what happened? This isn't how you explained the potion works, is it?'

'I don't know what happened, Padfoot, it has never worked like this before. I was always still a werewolf, I just kept my human mind, but this is just…different, I can't even feel the wolf inside me anymore. It's like he is totally gone for the first time since I was bitten, I can't explain it any other way.'

'Can you transform back to a human, Moony? I mean are you still a werewolf that just looks like a real wolf now? Or are you an animagus like me now?'

'I don't know if I can transform, Paddy, I never learned how, remember? I don't even know the incantations, let alone the process! I never had any control over the wolf.'

The two pondered this new occurrence for almost an hour before Paddy suggested, 'Let me transform back to human, wait just listen to me! I'll transform back just for a minute and then back into my dog form. You go way over there on the other side of the room and just see if the werewolf's instinct to attack anything human comes out or not.'

It took a good half an hour of arguing on Sirius' behalf, but Remus finally agreed to the quick test to see if he would still turn into an uncontrollably wild beast at the scent of a human in the room. Paddy quickly turned human, waited only a minute, and then back into a dog. 'Anything, Moony?'

'No, nothing. And I could definitely smell you, very clearly. I still recognize your scent and knew who you were and felt no different. Try again for a longer period.'

Padfoot complied and the results were the same. It was almost four in the morning before Sirius no longer transformed back into Padfoot and just sat, running his hands through the wonderfully soft pelt of the wolf that was lying beside him on the couch, his long muzzle on his leg as he enjoyed the peaceful stroking of his best friends hands, in exactly the reverse of their postures from earlier.

"So, Moony, we need to let the others know so we can figure out what has happened to you. I hate to say this, but you're going to have to move so I can go knock on the door for Snape!"

The wolf just whined in disappointment, but moved and stood up just the same, before going over to lie down on the thick woolen rug in front of the cold fireplace. Sirius walked over to the connecting door and banged his fist loudly on the oak panel. He kept repeating the pounding until he could hear a snarling voice hissing menacingly through the door.

"This had better be important, it's four bloody thirty in the morning and you woke up Shaun and scared him with your pounding. He's hiding in my bed with Nippy right now!" Severus scraped the large padlock off of the clasp in frustration, then pulled his wand and said, 'Alohomora!' louder than it needed to be said. He kept his wand on Black as he growled at him, "What do you want; and where's the werewolf?" Severus was looking around the room cautiously, wand ready and a spell ready on his lips just in case.

Black just pointed behind him and a huge silver wolf walked calmly out from behind the man and sat peacefully down on its haunches; grinning at the stunned and speechless potion's master. Severus went to sit down, only remembering there was no chair behind him when he hit the hard stone floor, bruising his bum. "What? How? Who? But that's not possible!"

Black barked a harsh laugh, "Never though I'd see the day! Snape is speechless!"

"Shut it, you mongrel and tell me what I want to know! What happened and why isn't Remus a werewolf?" Severus snarled and glared at the still laughing man.

"Remus doesn't know why the werewolf became a regular wolf. He can't transform into a human because he doesn't know how and I don't have a wand so I can't help him. He went through the worst transformation I've ever witnessed him having, and then he went into convulsions for a long time before he became human and then finally transformed into the wolf you see before you." Sirius had managed to stop laughing long enough to explain to Severus.

The two men and the wolf looked in astonishment as, with a loud cry, a small form ran between them and launched itself at the wolf's neck in glee. "Uncle Moony! Uncle Moony! Can I have a ride, can I, please?" Shaun didn't wait for an answer but swung one leg up and over the wolf, grabbing thick handfuls of fur to climb the beast until he was firmly settled on the huge wolf, both hands firmly snagged into the fur as he kicked both heels into the animals side yelling, "Go Uncle Moony, go!" The wolf looked back at the two men who were now laughing at it, and giving a wolf shrug started slinking around the room in resignation.

As Severus went back into his quarters, throwing on a robe over his pajamas, he floo called the Headmaster and Madame Pomfrey to come to his room immediately. Albus showed up almost immediately, wearing purple pajamas with moons and stars that whirled madly around them and a brilliantly clashing red dressing gown thrown hastily over it. Poppy showed up right behind him, wearing her usual professional manner over a sensible dressing gown and carrying an emergency medical bag strapped over one shoulder. She had her wand out and ready as she asked, even before completely clearing the fireplace, "Where is he and how badly is he hurt?"

Severus actually goggled at the woman as he silently motioned towards the open connecting door towards Remus' room. Poppy stalked towards the door, muttering just loud enough to be clearly heard, "Stupid idea, leaving a sick man in dog form in a room with a werewolf! I knew someone would get hurt." She had only taken one step over the threshold when she froze so suddenly that Albus walked into her back and almost tripped them both onto the floor. Poppy grabbed the doorframe and steadied them both, "What in the name of the seven hells is this? Where's Remus and who let a fully grown wolf into the castle. And why are you letting a four year old ride it?"

Sirius came forward and led the woman to the couch where he pushed gently on her shoulders until she sat down. Albus entered behind her and also took a seat, looking expectantly between Sirius, Severus and the wolf with a gleefully giggling boy bouncing on its back as he rode around the room.

Sirius told his story once more and then shrugged his shoulders at their astonished looks. Poppy pulled out her wand again, and cast a diagnostic spell towards the wolf where he now sprawled in exhaustion on the floor with Shaun still delightedly climbing all over him like a particularly large and living pillow. Everyone turned to look expectantly at Severus where he still stood, one shoulder leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest, one ankle over the other as he stood poised on one foot. He raised one eyebrow and then uncharacteristically shrugged, finally admitting, "I don't know. I haven't changed anything in the formula this month. I was too busy with Shaun and the mutt to have time to experiment."

Albus looked pointedly at Poppy and raised his eyebrow in his own unspoken question. "He's not a werewolf; he is a very healthy wizard who is transformed into a wolf. Can you understand me, Remus?" She answered, perplexed at the readings from her diagnostic spells.

The wolf simply picked up his head and nodded once before dropping it again in exhaustion. Shaun was now sitting on top of his head, playing with his ears, up, down, around, and then up again before reaching for his long pink tongue and pulling it out to see how long it was. Remus let out a long suffering whine of complaint, so Severus took pity on the poor man and went over to scoop his son up in his arms and turned the boy over to Nippy to give him a bath and then breakfast.

"Severus, if you will assist me?" Albus had pulled out his own well worn wand and was pointing it at the wolf. Severus strode up beside the couch and aimed. Black quickly grabbed Remus' robes from where they were folded on the end of the couch and draped them over the still form on the floor.

The two wizards aimed at the wolf and in tandem, incanted the animagus transformation spell, causing the wolf to glow with a bright white light before morphing into the form of Remus, slumped to the floor, his robe covering his naked form. Black and Poppy rushed to his side as Severus sank down beside Albus, his thoughts so focused on the Wolfsbane potion and how it could have managed to transform a werewolf into a wolf animagus without killing him. He was totally oblivious to the efforts of both Albus and Poppy to ask him questions and failed to even take note of Black helping Remus to stand up and then dress, before Sirius grabbed Remus under an arm and led him into his own bedroom. A few moments later, Black returned, telling those waiting in the room, "He's already asleep, I think the dual transformations, combined with the convulsions, and then being ridden by the boy just made him exhausted, but if you could look him over later I'd appreciate it Poppy." He pulled around an overstuffed armchair and sat down, facing the two wizards and one witch now sitting on Remus' couch across from him.

Severus was muttering under his breath, but not loud enough or clear enough for anyone to recognize much besides the occasional name of a potion ingredient in the rant. The other three let him continue on his mental exercises until he finally just slumped back against the couch in defeat.

"Any conclusions, Severus?" The Headmaster's voice was soft but compelling.

Severus dragged a hand through his uncombed and still sleep rumpled hair in frustration. "It is impossible, it should not have happened, but it did! I have no explanation, the ingredients as combined should only have allowed Remus to maintain his human mind, not transform a werewolf into an animagus! How did he do it?" Severus still had his head leaned tiredly over the back of the couch, his eyes closed, and a thin long-fingered hand pinching the bridge of his large, hooked nose in consternation.

Albus chucked, "Well, that is a problem then; isn't it? I am assuming that you have more of the potion left to analyze it to see what happened and that you will want us to watch Shaun for you while you are working?"

Severus nodded once in acknowledgement and waved one hand dismissively as he stood, absentmindedly talking to himself; as he walked through the luckily still open door and headed for his private lab.

Poppy shook her head and looked knowingly at the chuckling old man, "We will be lucky to see him for days, if I know Severus Snape! I will have a difficult job getting him to stop long enough to eat and sleep until he solves this puzzle you know!"

Albus put a warm hand on her leg and just patted it as he turned to look at Sirius, his expression turning hard and calculating. "I trust I can count on you, Sirius, to not take advantage of his distraction, and you will, at all times, act appropriately and acceptably toward both Severus and his son, Shaun while he is working on this problem?"

Sirius looked down at his shoes, feeling as if he was once again eleven years old and standing in front of his headmaster for putting sticking charms on the toilet seats in the girl's bathrooms. "Yes, sir. Remus and you have convinced me that Severus and …Shaun…love each other. I will try my best to be civil and act accordingly. I never want to cause such distress to …Shaun…ever again. Remus' memories were quite enough to open my eyes!" Sirius was still having a difficult time calling the boy 'Shaun' but he was trying, and it was getting easier to remember, the more times that he actually managed to remember to do it.

Remus had threatened to obliviate his memory of who Shaun actually was and send him away from the castle if he didn't grow up and let go of his schoolboy grudges. Sirius still had bad times, after all, the memories of all the bad times in his life was all he had lived every day at Azkaban for the last three and a half years, but each day that he was away from the dementors influence, he was regaining more and more of his happy or even just neutral memories to help make the bad ones fade.

They had locked Remus and Sirius up again for the last night of the full moon, but he had not transformed at all, either into a werewolf or even into a wolf, so the two men had slept uneventfully all night, and were much better prepared for the invasion of a small excited small boy the next morning. He was very disappointed to find a totally human Remus instead of a wolf to ride, but he was quickly diverted when a big, black dog came running into the living room and allowed him to climb all over it and ride it around the room until they left for breakfast.

Severus hadn't left his lab until Albus literally dragged him out to eat a late supper and then forced him into bed at almost midnight the night before. He had arisen when Shaun woke him at seven; made sure the boy was dressed, hugged him once distractedly and pushed him into Remus' quarters before turning to his lab once more. He was taking the last of the leftover potion and separating it into its different components. So far he had not found anything different from what he expected, but he was almost done with the initial separations and then he could begin to analyze each individual ingredient.

Shaun was screaming in glee as Remus dipped toward the ground, speeding through the air as he held tightly onto the broomstick between his knees, his Uncle's hand firmly grasped around his small waist as his other hand firmly clutched the broomstick to control it. Shaun loved to fly and although Remus never flew as high or as fast as his Daddy did, it was still his favorite way to spend an afternoon. Shaun wasn't paying much attention as a bludger sped toward them, but catching the movement out of the corner of his eye, he let go with both hands and grabbed the large ball, yelling in excitement as his Uncle grabbed at him as centrifugal force threatened to tear them both off the now tumbling broom. Sirius managed to grab Moony from behind, stabilizing them on the wildly gyrating broom, and allowing Moony to grab Shaun with both hands, clutching the wiggling boy, who was still holding tightly to the struggling bludger with both small arms, refusing to let it go.

Remus and Sirius made their way still shaking to the ground as Shaun clutched the large ball; that was still shaking as it tried to escape, to his chest. As soon as Remus had both feet steady on the ground, he turned toward Sirius and began to berate the man directly behind him. "Grow up Sirius; you could have killed us both with that idiotic stunt. Whatever possessed you to throw a bludger at us? Of all the stupid, juvenile stunts…"

Sirius put his hand over Remus' mouth, cutting off his tirade, "I didn't send it, Moony, I never had a bludger, and as far as I know none of them were released on the pitch today."

Remus stopped in mid rant and looking around quickly, he pulled his wand from its holder and motioned Sirius to take Shaun back to the castle while he covered their retreat. Not a word was said as Sirius scooped up the protesting boy, dropped the bludger on the ground and took off at a loping run towards the entrance steps. Remus followed, turning from side to side, keeping careful watch as his 'cub' and his 'pack mate' escaped into the shelter of the stone edifice behind them.

The two men didn't stop until they stood at the gargoyle guarding the staircase up to the Headmaster's office. Remus was panting as he looked at Sirius, who was bent over, Shaun still in his arms, trying to catch his own breath. "I don't know the password for this week, do you?"

Sirius shook his head, too out of breath to answer. Shaun looked from one to the other and then simply put both hands onto the gargoyle that obligingly moved, the staircases beginning to turn in invitation upwards. Remus shrugged once and stepped onto the first step, Sirius holding Shaun right behind him.

"Albus, someone shot a bludger at Shaun while I had him riding on the front of my broom just now. If Shaun hadn't managed to catch it and hold onto it, and Sirius hadn't managed to grab us and stabilize my broom so that we could land safely, we might have been killed!" Remus was speaking loudly and in great distress.

Sirius had collapsed into the couch, Shaun still clutched tightly to his heaving chest as he fought to catch his gasping breath. He was unable to speak and had managed the long run inside and then up the stairs to the headmaster's office purely on adrenaline. Neither of them had noticed the fourth man, standing in the shadows, looking out on the grounds in shock.

"Severus, did you see anyone?" Albus had stood up and come over to the window, putting an arm around the visibly shuddering man. Shaun fought free from Sirius' tight grasp and ran to his Daddy, clutching him on the legs as if he never intended to let him go again. Severus quickly dropped to his knees and pulled his son into a frantic embrace, kissing the soft cheek to reassure himself that the boy was still all right as he stood up, his son still in his arms.

"No, I might have seen a shadow move over behind Hagrid's hut but it was deep in the forest and I never saw anything clearly. But I did see the bludger come from that direction." He was burying his face in the boy's hair, inhaling the unique baby scent that belonged only to his son.

Albus used the arm he still had around Severus' shoulders to lead the two to an upholstered chair situated across from the sofa the two men sat on, finally recovering their breaths from their strenuous panicked run.

Albus sat in the matching chair and steepled his hands in thought, "Severus was up here, telling me the results of his analysis of the new Wolfsbane potion. He heard Shaun yelling in glee from the front of Remus' broom and stepped over to watch from the window when he saw the bludger coming from the forest right at the two of you. We were both too far away to do anything, but witnessed your remarkable and thankfully safe landing. Thank you both gentlemen for your diligence."

Severus nodded at the two wizards sitting across from him and added, "I almost died, watching you without being able to do anything to help. Thank you, both of you!"

Severus pulled a calming potion out of his pocket for Shaun, who had become upset at feeling the turmoil of emotions from the four men, he drank it down and finally went to sleep, safe and secure in his Daddy's arms, the silky baritone rumbling from the man's chest almost as soothing to the frayed nerves of the small boy as the potion had been.

The four had talked for over an hour but come to no conclusions, there were several groups that would want harm to come to Severus, either directly or indirectly through harming his son. The only conclusion that they came to was the need to have at least one person on the ground watching for intruders while Shaun was up in the air but other than that, there was not much they could do with the little information that they had.

Life settled into a routine for the next few days as Severus continued to try to identify the one incredibly unique ingredient he had separated out from the Wolfsbane. Every other ingredient was recognized, though it appeared to be too little of the salamander ash in the potion, but perhaps it had destabilized and been destroyed in the process used to separate the individual ingredients. Salamander ash was notorious for being unstable and was the main reason the Wolfsbane could not be stored for very long before it became not only useless but downright toxic.

Remus was working with Professor McGonagall and Sirius to become an animagus, while Poppy and Albus took turns babysitting Shaun. McGonagall said that since he already knew his form and had actually managed to transform into it once before, it should only take him a month or so to be able to transform by himself. Poppy had performed three separate diagnostic spells used to identify anyone afflicted with Lycanthropy but his tests were all remarkably negative. He was no longer cursed, but no one knew why, and they hadn't informed the ministry yet because they obviously couldn't duplicate the effect.

Sirius was slowly recovering from the ill advised exertion of flying followed by sheer panic driven flight and then running up four flights of stairs, but there had been no lasting damage done. He enjoyed being Padfoot for Shaun and had begrudgingly acknowledged that Severus and Shaun belonged together and had it forcibly pounded into his head that if he wanted to have any part of James and Lily's son's life, he would call the boy 'Shaun' and act civilly to his father at the very least. And he was trying very hard.

Albus had invited his old friend Mafalda Hopkirk from the Underage Magic Office to tea and had Remus bring young Shaun up to introduce him to the ancient witch. Shaun sensed only curiosity and kindness so he was more than willing to show the elderly lady some of his 'games' like his grandpa wanted.

He sat on the chair, his legs straight out in front of him as he was too short to put his knees over the edge, with his tongue sticking out and his brow furled in concentration. He had both hands lying flat on his legs, his eyes shut, as a large ball of pure energy appeared over his left hand. He blinked several times and each time he blinked, the ball split, much as a cell divided under a muggle microscope.

When he had a total of five balls, one shrunk and turned purple, one grew almost to the size of a quaffle ball and turned bright red, the remaining three stayed the same size, but one turned green, one blue and the last one a canary yellow with a wide orange stripe around it. Shaun opened his eyes to look at his grandfather's beaming face, the proud smile on his teacher's and the gobsmacked stare on the elderly witch's face as she unknowingly poured the tea in her cup out onto her lap.

"My goodness! That's remarkable, Albus! How old is he? And how is he doing that wandless but in such control?" the witch was asking questions too rapidly to wait for an answer so Albus just laughed and said, "Slow down, Mafalda and I will be happy to explain and tell you why I asked you here today."

He waved his wand and Scourgified the tea off of her robes while he refilled her now empty tea cup. "This is Shaun Snape and he will be five years old in just three more weeks. He had been conjuring balls since he was three years old and he has shown other unique capabilities. Shaun would you show this nice witch how you can hide?"

Shaun looked at Remus for confirmation and at his teacher's nod, he twisted his magic and with a shimmer of light he disappeared from where he was sitting. He climbed down and walked over to the lady and touched her on the arm, making her jump in surprise. He shimmered into view and touched her again. "Now, Shaun, would you go over near to Fawkes without walking, son?" Shaun 'popped' and with a very soft whoosh of air, he reappeared under Fawkes' perch, reaching up to pet his friend. 'Hi, Fawkes, how are you today?' Shaun trilled softly to the phoenix under his breath.

'Very fine, hatchling, and how are you?' Fawkes trilled back. He bent his head into the boy's soft caress and continued, 'Soon, you will be my fledgling and I will teach you how to really fly. Ah, the joys of wings and fire, hatchling! A little while longer, you are not yet strong enough to manage the transformation, but soon you will be. Work hard and listen to your teachers and your father, and the time will be soon.'

Shaun gave a final stroke to the magnificent bird and walked over to climb up on his grandfather's lap and patted down his robe pockets. Albus chuckled and pulled out a slightly squashed chocolate frog package. He leaned down and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't tell your father, child, he will be upset with me giving you sweets on top of the lovely tea." Shaun nodded and hid the frog in his own pocket for later, pulling a small plate with a chocolate éclair and a scone with clotted cream and raspberry jelly toward him in delight.

Shaun leaned back against his grandfather's tickly beard and listened to the adults interesting conversation as it flowed over his head, daintily eating his tea as his Grandma had taught him. Albus was explaining the situation to the old witch and she was nodding her head as she sipped her tea. "So you can see why we need to have permission for Shaun to receive his wand early, and to exempt him from the normal underage magic restrictions. We need to train him early and well beyond the magic normally taught to young children. I suspect you can agree that he doesn't use 'accidental' magic at all, but is very much aware and in full control even at his young age."

Mafalda was very shrewd, she had to be to have survived so many bungling and inept administrations, though she had to admit, Cornelius Fudge took the cake as the biggest idiot to be Minister in a long time. She would have to carefully couch her language, but she was sure that Albus would understand her completely. "Yes, I quite agree the boy needs to be trained, by 'competent and caring' instructors. It's a shame so many 'competent' young people chose not to work for the 'ministry' these days." She thought for a few more moments before continuing, "Minister Fudge tends to surround himself with the 'right people' you know, those who believe exactly as he does. I'm sure we can handle this without 'bothering' the Minister, his time is just so valuable to 'waste' with one small boy."

Albus leaned back into his chair, his blue eyes twinkling merrily across the top of the boy's black hair as he nodded in agreement with Mafalda's unspoken message. She pulled a quill out of her pocket and borrowing a piece of parchment from the headmaster's desk, she scrawled out a permit for underage magic and a waiver to purchase a wand for an underage wizard named, Shaun Snape. Remus picked up Shaun off of Albus' lap and throwing the now squealing boy over one shoulder; he trudged down the staircase to take him down to meet with Sirius to play, 'Ride the Doggy', one of Shaun's favorite indoor games. Remus couldn't wait to be able to transform and play as a wolf with the both of them.

Shaun was feeling bored and full of mischief; Daddy had been busy and wouldn't let him into his lab, Remus had been busy with Grandma learning to become a wolf and no one would let him go outside to ride on brooms since someone had sent that strange ball at them that almost made his Uncle Moony and him fall off of his broom. He hadn't been really scared until he 'felt' the fear of all those around him and then he could 'sense' his Daddy's panic and rage from Grandpa's office. The exercises in blocking his empathy had worked really well, he had known what they were feeling but it hadn't overwhelmed him like before.

He was bored, and all of the adults at the dinner table were talking over his head again. The students were all gone, the castle was mostly empty and he missed Blaise and Neville. He looked around, trying to find something to do; he had a naughty thought and giggled. He thought really hard and made his Daddy's glass dribble down his chin when he took a sip. Daddy continued to talk with just a small frown as he wiped the small spill with his napkin. Well, that worked, but it wasn't very exciting. He looked at Grandma and thought really hard as she dished a piece of lamb on her plate. It turned a bright, sickening green. But she just cut it up and ate a piece while continuing to talk to Madame Pomfrey without even looking down at her plate.

Hum; he really didn't like her very much, she always wanted him to drink foul tasting potions. Maybe she should taste some of her own medicines. He concentrated, ignoring Grandma's squeak of surprise as she noticed that she was eating lime green meat. Unsuspecting of anything, Poppy brought her pumpkin juice to her lips and took a big gulp…and gagged, spitting the now foul tasting brownish glop out and down the front of her robes.

Shaun giggled softly as two very irate witches turned toward Mr. Black and started yelling at him about pulling pranks and how he needed to grow up. Grandma rolled her eyes and said he needed to practice looking innocent more and that she didn't believe anything he said, after all he had always tried to protest his innocence at school and she hadn't believed him then either!

Daddy, Uncle Moony and Grandpa were all laughing at Mr. Black getting yelled at so Shaun decided he would stop, it was very entertaining after all and he wasn't as bored now.

AN: Next, Shopping in Diagon Alley and the Trials Begin I hope to have a web page up in the next week that will have links to download copies of Guardians of Power and the Invisible Snape series. Keep checking my author page and I will get that up and running as soon as I can. Thanks for your contiuing reviews, they keep me typing.