Shaun Snape, Age 8

By Teacherbev

Summary: Part 3 in the Growing Up Snape series. Shaun is now 8 years old and dealing with his father Severus, loose Death Eaters, Merlin and magic.

AN: It is probably necessary to read the first two stories, Snape's Invisible Friend and Growing Up Snape in order to make any sense of this story. I appreciate all those who have read and enjoyed my stories, especially those who have taken the time to post a review.

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 who likes to twist plots and play with characters, so enjoy.

AN: I have decided to just complete this story first and then finish You Broke Him, You Fix Him, it is just too difficult to write a chapter of Daddy Snape followed by Snarky Snape so I ask those readers to be patient. This episode of the series is actually the shortest one and so is about half done. And for those who don't get my strange sense of humor, I was actually joking about blackmailing readers for reviews. I only got a couple of reviewers who bashed me for that tactic, of course I noticed they were both sent anonymously, so I assume the rest of you figured that out! So on with Shaun Snape, Age 8.

Chapter 5: Healing

Severus Snape clutched the barely breathing and much too still limp and form of his son against his chest as he ran for the edge of the anti-apparition wards around the perimeter of the Malfoy estate. His mind kept switching between praying to all the gods he knew to keep his boy safe and inventing ways to kill Narcissa Malfoy and her fellow kidnappers. He was keeping one eye on the slow rise and fall of the small chest and one eye on the terrain he was running across.

He felt the small shudder of the wards as they let him leave them, took a single deep breath and pictured the apparition point at the edge of the Forbidden Forest that was set up to allow only himself and Dumbledore that they had fabricated during the last war for him to leave and return without being seen by half the castle as he attended to his spying on the evil bastard that went by the name of Lord Voldemort. He felt the familiar squeezing through a small tube sensation of apparition and breathed a sigh of relief at the appearance of trees on three sides and a short expanse of green lawns before the welcoming presence of Hogwarts.

His feet barely touching the grass as he ran, he vaguely registered the shout of Hagrid, the half-giant groundskeeper as he hurried his precious treasure to Poppy Pomfrey in the castle's infirmary. He stopped to regain his breath, his lungs gasping for air as he bent over slightly, panting and gasping in deep breaths in the entrance hall. He waved one hand at the figure of Minerva McGonagall rushing down the great staircase towards them and then took off, taking the stairs two at a time in his rush to reach his destination as quickly as he could. He saw Minerva turn into her tabby cat as she tried futilely to keep up with the rapidly disappearing pair.

He skidded to a partial stop in front of the massive double doors to the hospital wing, pushed one open with his shoulder, yelling for Poppy as he carried his son over to the boy's favorite bed. He never noticed the single tear that escaped the corner of his eye as he realized just how much time his son had spent in the infirmary. He laid his precious cargo down, but refused to let go completely, grasping his son's small limp and unnaturally cold hand in his own long, elegant fingers. Holding on to give the boy his magical strength and to reassure himself that the boy still lived, he reached behind him and pulled a chair closer before slumping tiredly into it, still panting from his long run.

Poppy was using one wand in her left hand to Accio potions as the wand in her right hand made multiple sweeps up and down the small frame looking so tiny in the expanse of crisp white linens. Her lips were pursed; her eyes were growing darker and darker as her anger grew; directed at the beasts that had deliberately fed dangerous and potentially deadly potions to the small boy without regard for interactions or even correct dosages, it seemed.

She turned to the rapidly running tabby cat and yelled, her wands never stopping their work, "Minerva, call St. Mungo's for me. I need at least two more healers, one a pediatric specialist and one a poisoning specialist!" The cat swerved towards the fireplace in Poppy's office and just as the last paw disappeared into the room, it changed to the sensible shoe of the Deputy Headmistress and Shaun's honorary grandmother.

Severus had regained enough oxygen to begin searching through his robe pockets with his left hand, his right hand still grasped firmly around his son's. He pulled out handful after handful of empty potion vials, his face darkening with suppressed anger at the amount and variety of them. Poppy looked over and gasped, clearly shocked at the sheer volume. "Surely even they didn't feed all those to him in just three days?" Her voice had deepened in her own righteous anger.

He nodded, dropping his head into his hand and swiped a long strand of black hair that had escaped the ponytail at the nape of his neck, "I'm afraid they did, Poppy. And the last potion was Draught of Living Death! And who knows how much of the adult dose they forced down his throat even though he was already barely conscious!" His whole body was starting to shudder as he tried unsuccessfully to fight his own rising anger.

Minerva rushed out of the office, followed closely by a woman and a man, both dressed in the familiar healer's green robes of St. Mungo's. The two swept around the older witch and rushed to the bedside, asking questions even as they pulled their own wands to begin. Poppy motioned one hand toward the plethora of empty vials as she rattled off Shaun's vital signs and her own findings to the busy healers.

Severus had to drop Shaun's hand as he was asked to name the specific potions that the bottles had contained. He complied as he also wracked his brain for any potions he could brew that would help counteract the multitude of mismatched ingredients that were currently flowing through his son's bloodstream.

The woman, who hadn't even stopped long enough to introduce herself, nor had the others even noticed yet, pulled a large bottle of a sluggish purple liquid out of her bag that she had placed at the foot of Shaun's bed, she turned to Severus and asked, "How much does he weigh?"

Severus totally blanked out on the question, "Ah, I guess about 18 kg and 110 cm. Is that right, Poppy?"

"Yes, as of last month, he has a history of lung damage and multiple pneumonias, and sometimes has difficulty breathing. I have been treating him for childhood asthma as I waited for him to reach the 20 kg necessary before giving him the cure. He's also had multiple episodes of broken ribs, particularly on the left side." She said rather absentmindedly as she continued to help the two specialists.

The wizard turned toward Severus. "I recognize you Professor Snape; would you be able to brew a Medicor Salvio potion for me? I can send to St. Mungo's if you don't have the ingredients."

Severus blanched as the implication of that particular potion hit him. It was only used in the direst of circumstances to keep the patient alive until healing could begin. It was a very difficult potion to blend and took a huge amount of the brewer's own magic to even make it work. It meant his son's own magic wasn't helping the healers and so an external source of magic would have to be introduced through the potion. He dropped his head into both hands in a silent supplication to the gods, then sighed deeply and raised his head. "No, I will make it; I don't trust anyone else to make it for my son."

If the two healers were surprised to find out that their small, critical patient was the surly potion's master's son, they made no outward indication of it. The witch, who appeared to be the poisoning specialist, had carefully measured out a series of small doses of the purple potion and was having Poppy administer one dose every seven minutes. The wizard was performing a complicated wand motion while incanting a spell that everyone recognized as one intended to take over breathing for Shaun. It took the full attention of the caster and would be very draining to keep up for long, but it would keep Shaun breathing while giving the blood purging potion some much needed time to work.


Severus was madly gathering ingredients while calling for Nippy. When his house elf arrived he had him pop to Snape Manor to fetch the appropriate potion's manual and then set the determined to assist elf to checking his ingredients and his methods. He had brewed the potion before, but he was afraid he might become too distracted thinking about his son lying helpless in that huge white bed and unknowingly add something wrong or misread a critical direction, so he had Nippy watching his every move carefully.

It was a very difficult and complex potion, but luckily it was a fast brewing one, of course that was one of the factors in why it was so difficult to brew! There was no time to waste and a single hesitation could ruin the entire batch.

Severus cast a freezing charm on the rapidly bubbling blue potion, Accio-ed a large bottle from the stock room, and then carefully decanted the life giving magical boost potion. He left Nippy to clean up the lab and took off as quickly as he dared toward the hospital wing, dreading and yet hopeful about what he would find as he returned.


Albus, Sirius and Remus had arrived during the scant forty-five minutes he had been gone, he nodded absentmindedly toward them as they stood out of the way a bed over from the small boy, still lying limp and lifeless surrounded by the three madly working healers.

Severus handed the large bottle over to the witch and she popped the cork, sniffed it appreciatively and nodded, granting the worried father the first small smile he had seen in days. "Yes, Professor, very good, and I can feel it is very strong with magic. I believe this will help your son very much!"

She had Poppy lift up Shaun's shoulders while she measured out a large spoonful of the brilliant blue potion. Shaun's mouth slipped open when Poppy leaned his head back over her arm and the healer dribbled it down the inside of the pale cheek. Shaun reflexively swallowed it. Poppy turned to the four anxiously waiting men and gave a small smile of her own. "That's the first time he's swallowed on his own without assistance. It's a good sign. It means he's not as deeply unconscious as he has been." She returned to assisting anywhere she could.


Shaun was floating in a calm and peaceful place; he could feel no up, no down, no sense of anything but the peaceful feeling of contentment and safety. He couldn't remember ever feeling so carefree. He could feel a warm presence anchoring him and giving him strength through his left hand and registered a sense of mild disappointment when that comforting presence left him, but he couldn't rouse himself enough to really care overly much.

Time had no meaning as he floated in the white nothingness, he could vaguely hear voices talking around him, but they were as meaningless as a foreign language and they didn't disturb him at all.

He gradually became aware of a pulsing that began very slowly, almost too slow to be aware of exactly when the pulse began. Somehow he knew that this was a good thing and that he wanted the pulsing to get faster and stronger, he wasn't sure how he knew this but he was sure that he did know it. As the pulse increased in strength and rapidity, his surroundings changed and he recognized the small, cozy cabin in the meadow that meant Merlin was present.

He closed his eyes, not sure if he wanted to stand up and walk the short distance to enter the cabin or not. He felt rather than saw, two people kneel beside him and begin to comfort him. He felt a long, feminine hand stroking through his long black hair, while the second pair of hands, much stronger and masculine began to gently massage the feeling back into his arms and legs.

He opened his eyes and glanced around, taking in the almost white hair of the lady sitting by his head. She wasn't that old, at least he didn't think so, but her hair was so white it almost glistened like the snow on a sunny afternoon. He looked at the man who was busy rubbing the pins and needles feeling out of his left leg. He seemed to be older than the woman but his hair was shockingly red, with flashing golden highlights. He was smiling and almost laughing at the expression on Shaun's face. "Who are you and where's Merlin?" Shaun asked, confused at the presence of these two strangers.

The woman leaned over and kissed Shaun on the cheek, "Why you know us, Shaun. I am Niveus and that is Fawkes. We can take human form here with Merlin's help. He is waiting for you within the cabin but first we must help you. It is time hatchling!"

Shaun looked even more confused. "Time for what, Niveus?" Somehow he had accepted that these two beings were actually the two Phoenixes.

Fawkes had finished his massage. He reached down with both hands to pull Shaun up; first into a sitting position, and then all the way up and onto his feet. He held on while Shaun wavered a little and then managed to stand steady on his feet. He pulled the boy into a firm embrace and then said, weird black eyes twinkling as madly as Grandpa Albus'. "Why for you to become a fledgling!"

Shaun gasped, "You mean it's time for me to fly? I thought Merlin told me I had to be older to become a phoenix?"

Niveus placed one strong, gracefully long arm around Shaun's shoulders and nodded at him. "Yes, but the only way we can heal you from the poisons running through your body is for you to become a phoenix and so we decided that we must release your magic bond and show you how to do this. We must hurry, time is running out, the healer's are doing all they can to keep you alive, but it will not be enough if you do not master your form." As she had been talking, the two had been walking toward Merlin's cabin. Fawkes pushed open the door and they walked inside.

Merlin greeted the boy with a warm hug and a kiss on the top of his head. "I am so sorry child, but we must hurry. I had hoped we had a few more years, but your kidnappers have almost succeeded in killing you and we must hurry now." He kissed the boy once more as he sat him down on a couch and sat down in the chair that Fawkes had placed directly in front of it. Merlin nodded at the two Phoenixes and placed a hand on either side of Shaun's head. Niveus placed one hand on the top of the boy's head and her other on his shoulder. Fawkes mimicked her stance on his other side. The three beings fed magic into Shaun as Merlin chanted in a language so old, even the knowledge of its existence had long been forgotten. Shaun felt the deep pulse of his magic grow stronger and steadier as the chant seemed to awaken something buried deep inside him. He realized that the peaceful and still white substance he had been floating in had been his own magical core and that it was never supposed to be still. He swallowed as he realized how close he had been to dying if his magic had been so damaged.

Merlin finished his chant and the two phoenixes came around the end of the couch and sat down wearily on either side of Shaun as Merlin slumped back into the chair, rubbing his eyes with fatigue. He waved his hand and a table with food and drinks appeared next to him. He pushed himself back, chair and all and waved the table in front of him. All four ate the thick hot stew hungrily and washed it down with icy cold butter beer. There was no speech as the four assuaged their hunger and replenished their magic and physical energy.

Shaun shook his head. The stew was excellent but he kept getting flashes of the awful taste of potions mixed in with the meaty stew. He grimaced as the taste of one particularly vile concoction made itself known on his tongue and grabbing for the bottle of butter beer in front of him, he gulped it down gratefully, very glad the taste of the icy liquid masked the taste of the phantom potion. Merlin, Niveus and Fawkes chuckled at the grimace of disgust that had passed over their young friend's face as he grabbed for the cold bottle and swigged it. Merlin explained, "As your magical reserves are building up again, your connection to your body is growing and you are beginning to taste the potions they are feeding you and you will soon feel the spells being cast upon you. It is time to fly, child. Good luck, I know that you can do this even if you are younger than we would have liked." He vanished the table with a wave. Then he stood up and pulled his apprentice into a hug, patting his back and kissing the top of his head as he motioned the three to exit the cabin.

Fawkes held open the cabin's door as Niveus led Shaun out and into the meadow. She sat down and pulled Shaun into her lap as Fawkes sat cross legged in the grass in front of them, his knees touching Niveus'. They both placed their hands on Shaun's head, while Niveus explained what they were going to do. "Shaun, you must let Fawkes and me inside of your head. I know you have been taught to never let your mental shields drop but for this one time you must. You must trust us completely and allow us to make the first transformation for you. After this you must practice a least once per day, but always have either Fawkes or myself present when you do." Shaun nodded his understanding, the motion of his head making the pair of hands on his head bob with him. He concentrated on his mental shields and released them one by one. He hesitated at the last one and then took a deep sighing breath and let it fall. He immediately felt the almost overwhelming fear and helplessness of those huddled around his bed in the real world, but before he could withdraw behind his shields once more, he felt the otherworldly peace of the two phoenixes entering to shield him in their own song.

Time stopped as the two showed the young boy exactly how to transform himself into the magical form and then they slowly opened the pathways for the boy's own animagus abilities and with a final push, the two forced the transformation. Shaun felt a short, blinding pain as his bones reformed and he shrunk in size, his skeleton folding in upon itself. His joints screaming in agony as they reformed into positions a human shouldn't be able to make. He opened his mouth to scream but all that came out was phoenix song. A long trill full of agony and pain that slowly transformed into joy, gladness and hope as the two holding him both physically and mentally joined into the glorious melody.


Severus leaped over the bed separating him from his son as the boy opened his mouth and screamed, a heartrending sound that came from the very depths of his soul. Everyone froze at the despair and pain that washed through the room, echoing off the walls, filling the castle with agony.

For one long moment, Shaun's pain filled and glassy eyes were open, staring unseeingly into his father's agonized black ones. Severus scooped Shaun up, hugging him and willing his own strength into the fragile form. He dropped the boy back on the bed as his own screams joined in with his son's. His robes flashed into flame and his hands burned as he slumped to the floor. Albus waved his wand, removing the burning material as all three healers spelled numbing and healing at the slumped form on the floor. Everyone's eyes were upon Severus as he grasped the bed frame and forced himself up to be with his son. Poppy grabbed one arm and conjured bandages on his hand and forearms as the healer from St. Mungo's did the other one. They finished up and then stopped at the look of utter amazement on the formerly distraught father's face. Everyone turned as one to look at what he was gazing at and gasped almost simultaneously.

The small sickly form of the small boy had been replaced by the sight of two adult phoenixes gently cradling a small newborn phoenix. A featherless and much wrinkled phoenix, it's small round head was eagerly looking around with big, unnaturally green eyes. The three on the bed opened their mouths and the most glorious sound of hope, joy and love dispelled every doubt and fear amongst all those present.


AN: Thank you for all of those who have read and enjoy my writing. And an especially big thanks for all who have taken the time to leave a review. I know that I read hundreds of stories and very seldom leave a review so I appreciate everyone who does.