Harry fell on his butt as the portkey transported them into a large foyer. He had gotten the hang of traveling by portkey a few years ago but it seemed his six year old body wasn't quite as balanced as his normal sixteen year old one and so he ended up on the floor.
Harry took in his surroundings; they were different than what he expected them to be. Harry would have thought that Snape would live in a place that resembled the dungeons in Hogwarts but this place was nice and had a certain charm to it. The colours, warm gold and tans brightened up the room. It had an older look about it that Harry liked; he thought it added to the charm.
Harry looked to his right where Ron had fallen beside him; however it seemed Hermione had somehow managed to stay upright because she held out her hand to help Harry up.
Harry gladly took her outstretched hand and got to his feet, he whispered a quiet "Thank you" once he was standing. Hermione smiled to acknowledge she had heard him.
Only when he was standing did he notice the cold glare Professor Snape was giving them.
Once Ron was back on his feet as well the three students intently looked up at their Professor for instruction.
Snape's glare only seemed to become more intense. "I don't like this arrangement any more than you three do but it was necessary for the war effort. We need to keep you three safe if we have any chance of winning the war against the Dark Lord." Snape began in a tone that clearly stated he was in charge. "Now I know following the rules has never been a strong suit for any of you but while you are in my home I expect a little respect when it comes to following my rules. There will be no running, yelling or acting foolish inside the manor, if you must release your pent up energy somewhere you may go outside to the back yard as long as you tell me first. You are not to touch my person possessions unless you have my permission. You are to treat me with the respect I deserve and most importantly you are to listen and do as I say at all times. Do you understand?"
"Yes Professor" all three answered at the same time.
Snape frowned at that and Harry wondered if they had done something wrong.
After a minute Snape slowly said "I think it would be best if you refrain from calling me Professor from now on, lest you accidently call me it in public and then all our hard work would be for nothing. From now on you should practice calling me dad." Snape looked almost pained at the idea but continued on "You should also start calling each other by the names I have given you."
It was silent for a few seconds but then Hermione hesitantly said "Yes...Dad" and Ron nodded his head beside her. Harry however just stared at his feet.
"Better" Snape said though he glared at Harry.
They all stood awkwardly for a moment before Snape cleared his throat "It's late" he said "I'll show you to your room."
Snape nodded towards a grand staircase "Your room is upstairs" he said and then began making his way up the stairs with Harry, Ron and Hermione following quickly behind him.
As they made their way up the stairs Snape told them that he had put them all in one room because he thought that they would want to stay together but if they had any reservations about sharing one room to tell him and he would work something out in the morning because the manor had plenty of space.
When Harry finally reached the top of the stairs he was panting, he couldn't remember the last time he had had trouble climbing stairs but his small frame just couldn't go as fast as he wanted it too. Both Ron and Hermione looked to be tiring as well.
Snape walked to the first room on the left and opened the door. He walked in with Harry, Ron and Hermione stepping in after him. The room was big, the walls were painted a royal blue and it had a bathroom off to the side. There was one bed on the left that had pink girly sheets while on the right there was a bunk bed with blue boyish sheets. Beside each of the beds was a large wooden dresser and their trunks were lying at the end of the beds. There was also one desk, a fireplace, a table with a chess board on it and two comfortable looking armchairs.
Snape ran a hand through his hair, a gesture Harry had never seen his Professor do before. "You can thank the house elves for the design" Snape said in a bored voice "They were rather ecstatic to find out there would be 'children' staying at the manor again, a sight I'm sure they haven't seen for a very long time. They also made sure that your wardrobes were well stocked."
Snape turned so that he was facing the door they had just come from "That" he said pointing outside the room and down the hall "Is my room, if you need me you may knock on my door. However I'm not someone who is much into being woken up in the middle of the night so I expect if you do need me there better be a very good reason."
"Okay..." Hermione said and then added "Dad" at the last second.
Snape nodded "Well we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow; I would suggest you three get some sleep. Goodnight." Snape said walking out the door and closing it behind him barely giving the three students time to offer him a goodnight back.
Once he was gone Ron, Hermione and Harry all looked at each other for a moment, then without a warning Ron practically shouted "Top bunk called it."
"Shh" was Hermione's answer and Ron looked a little sheepish.
Harry took a minute and let everything set in. Only a few hours ago he had been sitting on his bed at number 4 Private Drive thinking about the next school year and now he was in a six year olds body playing the part of Snape's child.
This situation could not get any weirder.
Well at least he had Ron and Hermione, who weirdly were taking this rather well.
"I can't believe it" Harry finally said looking at Hermione who had gone over to her dresser and was looking through the clothes.
"Me neither" she said and she sounded annoyed "My clothes are all pink!"
Harry rolled his eyes "That's not what I meant and you know it."
Hermione laughed "Well yes I know what you actually meant" then she scrunched up her nose "but pink really? I hate pink."
"Hermione be serious" Harry grumbled.
"Riley" Hermione stated.
"What?" Harry said with a scowl.
"Riley" Hermione said again "Riley be serious. Profes...uh Dad said we should call each other by the names he gave us."
"You can't be serious" Harry snapped.
It was Hermione's turn to scowl "I am being serious Har...Gabe, I'm being very serious because this is a serious situation. Professor Dumbledore and...Dad went to a lot of trouble to put this all together for us. To keep us safe. The least we can do is put an effort into this plan to make sure it doesn't fall apart."
Harry rubbed his face with his hands, Hermione was right but he hated to admit it. However the tense moment was broken when Ron walked over to them and smiled "Check it out, rocket pyjamas."
Hermione smiled and Harry could help but let a grin slide onto his face too as Ron held out a T-shirt and matching shorts that were blue with rockets on them. Ron had a goofy smile on his face and all three of them laughed.
Deciding that it would be no good if he started arguing with his friends Harry turned to Hermione and said in a way of apology "Why don't you use the bathroom to get ready first...Riley?"
Hermione smiled and replied "Thanks Gabe" then she grabbed some pink pyjamas from her dresser and walked into the bathroom.
Harry walked over to his own dresser, which was to be shared by Ron and him and looked for some pyjamas for himself. He decided on a green pair that had frogs on them.
When Hermione came out of the washroom she was wearing pink pyjamas with unicorns on them. Both Harry and Ron looked at her like they were going to start laughing but Hermione glared "Don't even think about it" she said.
Holding their snickers in both boys hurried towards the bathroom to get ready for bed.
When Harry was finally ready for bed and had climbed into the bottom bunk of the bed he sighed. He didn't know where it came from but a feeling of security hit him just as he was closing his eyes.
For the first time in a very long time Harry had a peaceful night's rest.