A/N: Here's a new, short chapter I wrote with baby Severus. I just can't help it, he's too cute.

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CHAPTER EIGHT – Playing with Potions

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"Nebille!" Sevvie held up a box of sliding puzzle pieces. Nebille turned his way. Sev got the impression that Nebille was scanning the room for an exit.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure. We can do that."

He led Sevvie to 'Mione's table. She peered over her T'ansfig'ration book to see who was moving all the papers around. She grinned at Sev and put the book back up. Nebille shucked all the pieces out of the box instead of dumping them. He picked up two and held them together, but no luck, as he asked Hermione how she was 'getting along.'

She sighed. "It's a bit difficult without Professor McGonagall's help."

Severus swished the pieces around, searching for edge pieces. He put them in the lid when he found them.

"Maybe a two-hundred piece puzzle is too complicated," Nebille said. "Whoa." He leaned over the table to find Sev with a chain of four edge pieces put together. "Just a kid and still showing me up," Nebille grumped.

Sev looked up at him, unblinking. Nebille shifted in his chair then resumed checking pieces against one another.

"Do it like this," Sev urged, shoving the lid to Nebille. He rooted in the box a while and Sev wondered if he was taking this puzzle seriously. It was a unicorn in a sparkly forest puzzle, but that was no cause to be lazy about the process. He scoffed at the older boy and proceeded to do the puzzle properly on his own; if Nebille wanted to help, he could.

Nearby, Ron asked Lavender, "How can you do homework in front of our professors?"

Sev looked around. The only p'ofessor in the room was Fweur. Ron lay on the couch, his head in Lavender's lap.

Ron had a tattered Chudley Cannons book open on his belly. "They might pop up over your shoulder, see a mistake, and bam, they turn back."

"Well, we want that, don't we?" Lavender replied.

Ron tilted his eyes up. "Do we? Right when you finish your Potions homework?"

You may benefit from that, Mr Weasley. Severus shook that new, deep voice out of his head. Who was that? he wondered.

"Of course I'm not going to do Potions," Lavender said. "But Astronomy and Divination are totally safe." The two chuckled.

I wanna do potions, Sev thought. He looked down at the barely-done puzzle. "Drat," he muttered.

Ginny and Luna peered down at the table. The redhead said, "Sev put this together practically by himself." Sev stood next to the table, barely able to see over the edge.

"That is wicked," Ginny added.

"I wonder what else we don't know he's good at," Luna said.

"Potions?" Sev asked.

The two girls jolted in surprise.

"You wanna do Potions stuff?" Ginny asked, looking at Sev like he was a talking frog. Luna put her hands on her cheeks and giggled. Sev didn't like it. Ginny turned to call for 'Mione.

Sev stood on the tippiest tip of his toes to see 'Mione's tabletop in her bedroom. She had spread a whole bunch of twigs and bottles and stirring rods and two goblets of water next to her tiny cauldron.

She clapped her hands after tying her apron behind her back. "Alright, something simple."

"I can do somet'ing harder," he said.

"Baby steps," 'Mione told him. "Let's try the Pepper-Up Potion."

Sev nodded and bounced a bit.

"So I'll get the water boiling, and you can tell me how many mililitres of pepper septum we need." She handed him the book open to the directions.

"Twen'y-seven," he read. He raised his head in time to see a thin jet of fire spring from Hermione's wand to the little bundle of twigs and kindling under her cauldron.

"Okay, now we need the trout bile." She poured the clear pepper-stuffs into a spoon and set it on the table.

Sevvie read her the instructions. Before he reached the end, Hermione dragged a chair over. He clambered on top. She told him to pour all the ingredients in. Sev's hand shook even though the spoon of trout-stuffs wasn't heavy. The ingredients were all set out in order for him. A cloud puffed up when he tipped in the slug eyeballs.

"Now how many times do we stir it?" 'Mione had her hands on her knees to monitor Sev's work.

He didn't even need to look at the book. "Thirteen!" He picked up a glass stirring rod.

"You have to go kind of fast," she said.

"Fast enough to break up the pieces of pepper."

"Er, yes."

He smiled at her as he stirred, thinking he had impressed her with his knowledge, though he didn't remember how he remembered about the pepper-stuffs needing to dissolve.

'Mione snapped her fingers and the fire snuffed out.

"Are we gonna try it?" Sev asked, clutching the stirring rod to his chest. He ignored the warm liquid trickling onto his hands and shirt.

Hermione "mmhmm"-ed as she decanted Sev's very first potion. He scratched his neck. At least, he was pretty sure it was his first potion.

'Mione kept a little glass for herself and handed Sev his portion.

"Why don't we get more to drink?" Sev asked. The little glass tried to slip through his sticky fingers.

"We would drink more if we had a cold. We can save the rest."

Sev tossed the potion back. 'Mione quickly followed, caught off guard. Sev sputtered, his nose and throat enflamed. 'Mione's eyes watered and she waved her hand like a fan in front of her pinkening face. Smoke plumed from Sev's ears. He plopped into his chair in surprise, tears streaming down his face.

Hermione thrust one of the goblets at him, already downing her glass of water. He gulped down the cool water until his ears stopped whistling.

"You shouldn't just down a potion like that," she warned, flexing her tongue to get out the cinnamon burn.

Sev huffed, face red more out of embarrassment about the smoke than the heat from the potion. Then he felt the burn in his sticky hands. He flapped them but the potion was soaked into his skin already. The spots on his shirt began to steam.

"Don't panic," 'Mione said as she rushed over to the bureau. She fished for a new shirt. "We'll wash your hands."

Sev hopped from the chair and over to the washroom. He reached for the taps but was too small. Hermione stood behind him to turn the faucets. He stuck his hands under the water and Hermione poured a liberal amount of soap into his palms. She scrubbed each hand until Sev couldn't tell if she or the potion caused the itchies.

She turned off the water and Sev dried his hands on his soiled shirt. She made him lift his arms.

"I can do it myself," he grumbled.

"I don't want the Pepper-Up to get in your eyes." She pulled the shirt off him, careful to keep the stained cotton from touching his face.

She paused even though Sev kept his arms up so she could put the new shirt on him. Her reflection in the mirror was staring at his back. "'Mione?"

"What?" she jolted. "Oh, yes, shirt." She pulled a foofy red jumper over his head, catching on his ears. "Go tell Luna you made yourself a potion."

Sev spun around, swinging his arms. "Don't you wan' me to help clean up? A good Potions Master does not leave a mess," he recited. "Er, I think."

"Yeah, that's right." She was talking all fidgety. "Sure. Let's clean it up really quickly."

.

Little Sev bounded over to the table, as eager to help 'Mione clean up as he was to make the potion.

"I think I know where all this goes," he said, big smile on his face.

'Mione nodded. "I bet you do." Sev looked snug in Ron's shrunk Weasley sweater and a pair of shrunk Weasley socks. He used his diminutive body weight to shove each cork securely into each vial. He carefully strapped the glass bottles into their proper places in her leather case. Hermione scrubbed down their work area with a rag.

"You wanna do anuver potion?" he asked.

Hermione rubbed her left arm and laughed. "No, I think that's enough for the day."

"I go tell Luna now." He jumped off his chair like he had a parachute.

"Don't run so fast," she called after, quieting before the end. She looked at him and remembered the scars striping his back like a broken ladder. Every time he was a cute little boy, something reminded Hermione just how old he was, and how roughened.