Marauder's Mistake

Chapter 4: Bathing a Slytherin

It had taken the boys about twenty minutes and a lot of talking to convince the boy to wash up and change his clothing but eventually Remus had won out by telling him that they would only go outside to play if Severus changed and let them get rid of the various sticky substances covering him. James picked out a pair of black jeans and a green turtleneck for him, and upon seeing the old gray underpants that the boy had been wearing, exchanged them for a new dark blue pair with stars on them. He promptly threw away the worn out pair, wondering why Severus had bothered wearing them as a teenager since they were so badly worn.

"What we do outside Mooney? We play tag?" Sev asked as he was skipping ahead of his three guardians. All three of said guardians were trying to fight the feeling of surrealism at seeing Severus Snape skipping.

"I'm sure we could if you'd like." Remus offered.

"Or I could take you up on my broom if you like." James offered, enjoying the look of pure glee on the four year olds face as he spun around.

"Really really? You mean it Prongs?" he asked, running over and tugging on James's robe.

"Sure. I'm always happy to fly."

"Yaaaay!" he squealed and ran off ahead of them, making Sirius walk faster to catch up.

"Severus! There are steps around that corner don't run!" he called out, but he was too late. The little boy rounded the corner and there was a thump followed by a screech.

"OOOWIEEEE!Waaaaahhhhhh!"

Sirius spun around the corner with Remus and James on his heels as the boy started vocalizing his boo-boo. Sirius let out a sigh of relief to see that Severus was only sitting two steps down and clutching a skinned knee. Sirius had been picturing a broken leg or neck. He was the first to rush down the steps and scoop up the toddler, sitting on the hard stone with a wince and patting his narrow little back.

"Easy there, its okay it's just skinned not the end of the world." He said gently, prying away chubby little hands and getting a better look at the abraded and bleeding knee.

"It huuuuurrrrts Padfoot!" he sobbed, rubbing hard at his eyes.

"Yes well… next time listen when one of us tells you not to do something okay?" he said, feeling crumby for having to scold him when he'd already gotten hurt.

James knelt beside the two and took out his wand, casting a quick healing charm he'd learned from Madame Pomfry. Severus looked at his now clean and not hurting knee and look up at James in awe.

"You have a magic stick like my mommy!"

All three teens looked around at each other and Remus got a very stern look and took one of Severus's hands, tapping it firmly as he spoke.

"Severus Snape, you are not allowed to touch our magic- uh- our wands. Ever. Understand?"

Severus looked surprised that his Mooney was talking to him in such a serious voice. "O-otay Mooney."

"I mean it, if you ever touch our wands or anyone else's we'll have to…" Remus took a deep breath, "give you a spanking."

Little Sev opened his eyes wider than a house elf's; his Mooney had just threatened to spank him! That was completely outrageous to the little boy. Only his mommy had ever spanked him and only because he had used her magic stick to blow up a cauldron. He hadn't intended to blow it up; he'd just wanted to make it float like his mommy had to get it in the fireplace to boil in the first place. He looked sadly up at Sirius and pouted.

"You spank me now for running when you tell me not to?" he asked him sullenly.

"Um, no. Not this time, but next time you need to listen okay Severus?"

"Otay Padfoot, I be good now. Oh! And thank you Prongs for making my boo-boo go 'way." He added with a charming smile. All three boys felt themselves fighting the urge to tickle the little bundle, and James ruffled his overlong hair. "No problem Sev. Now let's go out and play tag."

The boys successfully managed to spend the rest of the afternoon playing chase and tag with the little boy; which eventually devolved into a snowball fight in the freshly fallen snow that coated the grounds. Even when little Severus ran bodily into a snowdrift in an ill-fated attempt to escape getting tagged by James. He landed with a whumph sound and a shower of powder, stuck face first with his arms splayed. James laughed and extricated the little boy; he came away from the offending drift completely white in the front, face and all, with all the snow that had stuck to him. He stomped and shook like a puppy till he'd cleared off all the snow, falling onto his bum in the process and hopping up with a yelp at the cold he'd seated himself in.

Finally, Remus decided they needed to go in. After all, Sev had been completely soaked and his pale skin was looking decidedly bluish. Fortunately the little boy had decided that he was tired enough to agree without any argument. They had barely settled themselves in the common room with steaming hot chocolate when Lily came in from the last class of the day.

"Lily!!! We played in the snow!" Severus said, hopping off of James lap with his hot chocolate and running to her.

"Severus what did I say about running inside?" Lily and Remus were impressed that it was Sirius who warned the little boy. Severus stopped and looked back at his Padfoot warily. "Not to?"

"Right, so walk to Lily. Especially with a hot drink, you don't want to scald yourself."

"Yes Padfoot." He said, although he had a small pout in place as he did as he was told.

Lily giggled and picked him up when he got to her, suddenly frowning as she did so. "Guys, he's completely soaked through!!" she said accusingly, holding the sodden little wizard to her hip.

"We just got in!" James said angrily.

"Yeah he'll be fine for a hot chocolate and we can change him before dinner." Sirius reasoned. Even to Remus this sounded logical and he smiled up at the irate red head. Until of course she fixed them all with a withering look.

"No… you can get your buns in gear and give this little boy a nice warm bath to keep him from catching a cold; unless of course you'd all like to deal with a sick and fussy Severus Snape?"

The thought of a fussy four year old had Sirius James and Remus on their feet instantly. Although none of them were happy at the thought of bathing Severus, he was after all going to be returned to normal and Merlin only knew what he'd remember. So with this in mind Sirius looked at Lily questioningly.

"Hey Lily, would you want to give him a bath?" he asked, as soon as the words left his mouth the other two boys began to look hopeful as well.

Lily on the other hand remembered what Dumbledore had said to her and turned pink. "Absolutely not! You are his guardians and you're not shirking your responsibilities on me!"

Her flush confirmed the boys worst fears, Severus Snape was very likely to remember this bath… and all of the others he was sure to need over the next four weeks of vacation.

Remus was the one to break the tense silence with a sigh and reached out to take the boy from Lily. Severus however, did not like where this was going at all.

"NO! No bath!" he demanded loudly. The teens all stared in shock, until now the little boy hadn't really yelled at all; except when he'd kicked Sirius.

"Now Severus…" Lily said softly, trying to be as convincing as possible, she did not want to see her friend get in trouble. "Don't you want to warm up and play in the tub?"

"NO!" he said, just as stubbornly as before.

Remus could see the look on the toddlers face; he recognized it as the one the teenage version of Snape wore whenever he plowed headfirst into a fight with the Marauders despite all common sense. He was sure that the only thing keeping the Slytherin from hitting Lily was the fact that she was Lily.

"Severus Snape, you are getting a bath and that is the end of this discussion." He said firmly, he was not going to argue with a toddler. No way.

"NO!" was the defiant answer. Severus glowered at him from under his curtain of hair. Lily by now was thoroughly shocked at his behavior; she'd never have pictured Sev as being so naughty.

"Severus that is enough! You shouldn't talk to your daddies like that!" she scolded and, before thinking, tightened the arm around his shoulders before bringing the hand supporting his bottom away and returning it with a sound thwap!She was rewarded with a yelp and a pair of large obsidian eyes looking at her in horror.

"Lily! That hurt my… my bum." He whispered the last bit, his face turning pink. His Lily had swatted him, and hard!

Lily herself couldn't believe what she had done and hurriedly passed him off to Remus, "Yes well, you were very naughty. Now go with the boys and take your bath, and if you act up more and they punish you don't cry to me. I can't believe you behaved like that."

Sirius and James followed Remus up to their dorm, Sirius himself feeling caught between feeling bad for the little guy and feeling glad at seeing even Evans not take his lip.

Severus pouted the whole way up to the dorm room and adjoining bathroom, but he remained quiet while Remus started filling the tub. James and Sirius sat on the spare bed that was going to be Severus's and stood the grumpy child between the two of them. Sirius was worried, a screaming child, in his opinion, would be better than the scowling and teary eyes little boy they had in front of them. James sighed and tried to get ahold of his sodden and chilly sweater.

"C'mon Sev, let's get you undressed."

"No!" the little boy whined and sat on the floor heavily, wrapping his arms around himself. Both boys heard a distinct sniffle. They shared a look and Sirius sat on the floor beside him.

"Lily mad at me…" he mumbled to him, sniffling again.

"Yes well you were very naughty in front of her, she wasn't happy to see that."

"But I hate baths." He said sadly, twiddling his fingers so he wouldn't have to look at his Padfoot.

Ha! I knew it, Snivellus-uh… Severus doesn't bathe He thought triumphantly, he had been trying to prove this to the other Marauders for years, insisting that the only way the Slytherin could be that greasy was if he rarely bathed. Although this confirmation didn't cheer him as much as he thought it would.

"Why Sevvy?" he asked, ignoring that James eyebrows scaled up when he used the cutsie nickname.

"The soap gets in my eyes and the water gets cold and… I just don't like it!" the little boy shook his head and made his inky hair fly.

"What if I promise to be careful with the soap and keep the water warm?" Sirius offered.

"Promise?" the little boys pleading tone made him wince.

"Yep, now let Prongs undress you. I think Mooney's got the water ready." He said, having heard the water stop running.

He looked at his Padfoot and then at his Prongs, he really really really wanted to believe his new friends; but he'd been lied to so much… Severus wrapped his arms tight to himself to protect his wet clothing and ran from them as fast as he could. He heard the two older boys shout in surprise when he dashed from them. He was being very very naughty and he knew it, but he didn't want that horrible bath. He was just about to reach the door when he was scooped off his feet by two powerful arms. "Nooo! Prongs put me down!"

James was absolutely shocked when the little boy turned and ran for the door across the room. He immediately spun on the bed and made to grab the toddler. Thank Merlin for being a seeker! Godric's underwear ablaze how does he run so fast?!

Success!! He snatched the boy and tucked him under his arm so that the boy's bottom was facing forward. He scowled, James could only tolerate so much misbehavior and he was at his limit.

"Severus I have had it, now we promised to be nice and you just keep talking back or trying to run off. Now do you think that was good?"

"N-no, but I'm sorry Prongs! I really am!" he said, wiggling and trying to sound repentant even though he was still trying to escape.

"Yes well let's just ensure you remember, young man." He said grimly, he now understood how Remus felt when he had to scold them. Remus himself was standing in the doorway of the bathroom watching; he nodded when James gave him a questioning look. James bit back a sigh and took down the little jeans, pulling them right over the trainers and tossing them into a hamper, then he hooked a finger into the waistband of the star covered blue underpants and tugged them down. He revealed a chubby round little bottom that was slightly damp from the wetness of his clothes.

Biting his lower lip he raised his palm and gave the bum a firm spank, right in the middle over the crack and causing a light pink hand print to appear. Severus yelped and tucked his legs up, managing to only poke the target area out more. James allowed his hand to fall six more times, lowering where his hand landed on the bottom each time, the final three coming down on the plump curve of Severus's sit-spot. As soon as he was done he tipped the child a bit more, who was bawling by this point, to make sure he hadn't somehow inflicted more damage than he thought.

Nope, the rounded little tushie was just a dusty pink, a bit darker on the sit-spots which meant that Sev would likely be sleeping on his tummy that night. Sev himself however was crying hopelessly and didn't seem aware that James wasn't spanking him anymore. So James went over to the foot of Severus's bed and sat the boy on his lap facing him, letting his warm bottom hang between his slightly spread legs so he wouldn't have to sit on it. He shushed and patted firmly between the narrow shoulder blades while Severus babbled incoherently.

"I sorry Prongs! Sorry I been bad, sorry I yell at Padfoot an Mooney and Lil- hic – Lily! You gonna put me away now?" he asked the last bit with a definite tremble in his little voice.

"Put you away?" Remus asked, crossing the room to sit in front of James and add his own hand on top of the inky mop of hair. Sirius sat on James's right side, they all had the same look of confusion and concern, although little Severus was too busy hiding his face in James's chest to notice.

"Uh huh, when I be bad at home and Daddy's there I get put away…" he sniffled.

"Where?" they all asked at once.

Severus only mumbled. James stopped patting and leaned Severus away from him to look at the boy, "Where do you get put away when you're bad?"

"In the trunk…" he whispered. "You put me away now Prongs?" he asked, he knew that Prongs would say yes, but the look of… love? Yes that was it, loving concern and shock, gave him the faint hope that maybe he wouldn't have to be put away after all.

"NO! Absolutely… no never!" James held the boy tightly and looked him in the eyes carefully. "You will never ever be put in a trunk by us Severus. That is not an appropriate punishment, understand? Mooney Padfoot and I will never do that to you; neither will Lily or anyone else okay?"

Sev had jumped at the vehemenant tone in his Prongs voice. His voice was too loud but… never get put away ever again? That sounded so good to the child's ears that he wouldn't have cared if Prongs Mooney and Padfoot put on tutus and danced while singing "I'm a little teapot". He looked up at Prongs eagerly.

"Never ever again? No trunk not never ever?" he asked, as though the teen may be promising to introduce him to a crumple horned snorkack.

James and the others all said at the same time "Never Sev."

None of them could believe what they had just heard, who could have been so cruel to put a four year old in a trunk when they misbehaved! Even Sirius found himself completely disgusted at the idea of the Slytherin being treated that way, and who knew what happened when he got older? Therefore it was Sirius who scooped up the boy and, holding him tightly he went into the bathroom with him. Severus had actually brightened quite a bit with the news he wouldn't be put in the trunk, despite the fact that his bottom was still dark pink.

Sirius sat on the edge of the tub, carefully settling the boy's bottom like he'd seen James do he took the bottom of the boys shirt gently. "Okay Sevvy, can you hold up your arms high for me? We need to get you in the tub before the water gets cold and we have to refill it." He grinned at him.

Sev immediately put his arms up as high as he could. "Like this Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded and pulled the damp sweater off the tiny frame before picking him up and depositing him in the still steaming bathwater. "There we go!" he said.

Severus squirmed as his sore bum landed on the bottom of the tub, but he was determined not to complain since his Prongs and Mooney and Padfoot had told him he would never be put away by them. Remus stood in the doorway and made sure that Sirius found the bubble bath he'd managed to scrounge up and a baby shampoo that wouldn't hurt Severus's eyes. He had to smile at the sight of Sirius trying to wash Sev's hair while the little boy had decided that walking the length of the tub was far more comfortable than sitting in it. Sirius, for his part, was having trouble keeping up with the child's pacing.

"Severus, I need to wash that mop you call your hair; now stay still a moment." Sirius said in a helpless tone.

"But Paaaaadfooooot!! It hurts to sit on my bum." The tot said with a slight pout, tipping his head down and looking up at the Gryffindor reproachfully.

Remus decided to take pity on his friend and strolled over to the bath, "Well it wouldn't have to hurt if you hadn't misbehaved. Now c'mon and let Padfoot finish your bath so we can pop you out and have some supper okay?"

Severus hung his head and sighed loudly, but turned his back to both of them and then sat himself down, squirming around as he did. Sirius chuckled and promised the little boy he'd be very quick with his hair so he could stand again. Once he finished he caught the boy up under his armpits and swung him out of the tub. Severus giggled as he landed on the soft bathmat and was enveloped in a plush white towel and scrubbed vigorously.

"All right you little towel monster, dash out there and let Prongs dress you okay?"

"Otay Padfoot!" and with that the mini Slytherin scampered out of the bathroom where Remus and Sirius heard him pounce on James with a "rawr"!

Remus grinned at his friend as he emptied the tub. "So, Severus is not only Sevvy now but also a 'towel monster' aye?" he teased.

Sirius flushed, "Well it hard to make fun of him as a tot, all it would do is make him cry you know."

"Funny, that crying didn't bother you when he was older…" Remus mused, his expression unreadable.

"Oh come on Mooney!!"

"Come on what? I'm merely commenting on the fact that turning on the waterworks never worked for Snape before when it came to you and James. And considering what we just learned… well, I'm impressed that you both acted like you cared."

"It wasn't an act!" Sirius growled, he was offended that Mooney thought he could be that mean. "I happen to care very much about that! To think that anyone could treat their baby-; I mean even my mum was never that bad! And that's saying something Remus that really is! Merlin only knows what he must go through now…"

"Oh, I think Severus has improved in his abilities to avoid confrontations by now. Actually, he really just solves the problem by avoiding people altogether don't you think?"

Sirius looked at the werewolf carefully; his tone was irritated but not directed at Sirius. Actually it seemed directed at the older Severus. "What are you getting at Mooney?" he asked tentatively.

"Hm? Oh, nothing we need to worry about now Sirius. We can think about it later." He said with a crooked smile.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and then shook his head, "Okay Mooney, but I know that look, you are planning something."

Remus just rolled his eyes. "Oh I'm planning huh? Planning and plotting, that's me!" he barked and leapt after Sirius who yelped and ran ahead to get away. Both boys bounded onto the bed already occupied by James and Severus, who had managed to be wiggled into a pair of underwear, and all of them wound up in an untidy heap.

James, holding Severus, finally managed to extricate them from the wrestling pair of Marauders. "C'mon guys, if we don't dress Sev and get downstairs soon Evans is gonna think we drowned the kid. Or possibly ourselves." He said, swatting at an available bottom and receiving a yelp from Remus.

"Hey! I'm the dominant one here!" he teased, giving James a fake glare.

"Oh yeah?" Sirius challenged, bowling him over easily. "Who's the alpha wolf now?" he grinned.

"Prongs, what does domnimant mean?" a little voice piped.

All three teens looked at the little boy in surprise, then broke out laughing.

"What's so FUNNY!!?" Severus shouted in frustration, his new friends weren't making sense at all and it wasn't fair!

Suddenly a hand swatted his little bum firmly. "Ouch! Mooney!" he whimpered and put a chubby hand over his offended posterior, glaring at the Marauder who was looking at him upside down from the bed under Padfoot.

"There is no need to be yelling Sev. It's naughty to yell inside, or else just to get attention." Remus said simply, struggling up to pet between the narrow shoulders.

"Yes Mooney." He pouted.

"Okay little guy, let's finish getting you ready for supper shall we? You can even pick what to wear." James said, in an effort to cheer the boy up. It worked, large obsidian eyes glowed up at him.

"Really!?"

"Yep."

James regretted telling Severus this as soon as the boy settled upon a bright orange shirt and dark green corduroy pants. He opened his mouth to try to convince him to wear something different, but Remus reminded him that he had said Severus could pick what he wanted, and they certainly didn't want the boy thinking that they lied to him. James sighed and looked helplessly at the ceiling; he didn't want to think about what Lily would say to him about the boy's state of dress when she saw him.

Sure enough, Lily's eyes went wide when the clashingly dressed little boy got to the bottom of the stairs. "Wow Sev, that's a… different look for you." She said, looking questioningly up at the Marauders as they came downstairs behind him.

"I promised he could pick. We're only going to dinner anyhow." James explained.

Lily nodded, she noticed how hesitant Severus was to come near her and how his attention was on his trainers.

"Did you have a nice bath Severus?" she asked him. He nodded, still eying his little shoes with deep interest.

"Did you behave then?"

At first he nodded and then shook his head, casting a pleading look at the three older boys. Surely they wouldn't make him confess to his Lily himself? But Remus raised his eyebrows in an unmistakable questioning gesture. Severus heaved a heavy sigh and looked sadly up at Lily.

"No… I yelled and ran away and-and…" he took another breath "and Prongs spanked me!" he spilled it out in one rush and started forward but then halted about halfway from Lily's legs, hands over his eyes and whimpering again.

"Oh, why are you standing there Sevvy?" she asked, worried that he was afraid of approaching her.

"Y-you to-told me not to come crying if I got in trouble and punished again." he said sadly, clearly wanting her to forgive him but trying to obey what she'd said.

"Oh dear." She said, angry at herself for forgetting how she'd snapped at him. Then she went over and kneeled down to hug him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that Sev."

He nodded his inky head, and that was when she noticed… "You guys washed his hair!! It looks wonderful!" she exclaimed, petting the soft hair.

Sirius grinned broadly, "That would be my doing." He said proudly.

Severus looked up at Lily with a slight blush. "I helped! I sat still even though it hurt my bum."

Lily laughed and petted his head. "Well, that was very good of you Sevvy."

Severus smiled up at her, his Lily had forgiven him for being bad and that in his mind was all that mattered. Suddenly his belly gave a humongous growl. "My tummy talked Lily!" he said excitedly, poking it to see if it would make an even funnier sound for his amusement.

Remus chuckled and scooped him up under his arm, "And that is our cue to get to dinner I think." He grinned.

"Mooney! I wanna walk, I have legs and I'm a big boy!" Severus protested.

"If you're so big how can I carry you?"

"Moooooooooooneeeeeeeeeeey!!!" he whined, drawing out the nickname. James and Sirius laughed behind the pair, and even Lily couldn't hide her amusement.

"Just this time short stuff okay? It would make me feel better." He said in a pleading tone.

"It would?" the little boy said doubtfully.

"Yep. It would indeed." He asserted.

"Otay, but only for right now; I wanna walk back by myself."

"Alright alright, if you must." He teased.

When they got to the Great Hall there was an instant silence that spread throughout the hall. Every eye was on the three Marauders and the brightly colored bundle in Remus's arms. Severus began squirming uncomfortably, and James stepped in front of the group and gave the room an intimidating look that took care of most of the oglers. The four teens and toddler sat down to dinner, which Sirius was horrified to see was spaghetti and meatballs. Oh crap… he's gonna need another bath! Lily however, saw the look that Sirius was wearing and took pity on the boys.

"Here Sev, let's put a big napkin on and keep that cool shirt from being stained okay?" she offered.

"Otay Lily! You really like my shirt?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it's really colorful." She smiled at him affectionately and he began blushing.

"Colorful! Try blinding Evans!" said a scornful voice from the Slytherin table.

All of them turned to see Bellatrix Black sitting and looking at Severus with cruel pleasure glinting in her eyes.

"I'm blinding? Is that a good thing lady?" he asked Bellatrix, oblivious to fact that she was clearly not being friendly to him.

"No, it means that shirt is as hideous as you are." She sniped.

Severus's eyes went wide. "Huh?"

Before Bellatrix could say anything else however, Sirius had stood in front of him protectively.

"Why don't you just skive off Bella?" he growled.

She grinned sardonically at him and flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Oh Sirius, cousin dear! You're defending a Slytherin; and Snape at that! How adorable." She said in a mocking baby voice.

"He's a baby! You just bugger off!" he barked back.

"Ah Sirius… your comebacks are as thoughtful as usual." She rolled her eyes, making a show of being unimpressed with her cousin.

Sev looked at the girl with her wavy Black hair and pale, fine-featured face and decided he didn't like the way she looked, or the way she was talking to his Padfoot. "You're a mean lady, leave my Padfoot alone." He snapped, glaring as Lily tried to make him turn around.

"Severus let Sirius deal with it and eat your supper." She said softly.

"At least I'm not an ickle baby boy Sev-Sev." Bellatrix remarked, goading the boy.

Severus was off the bench in a moment and stomped off. "I'm not a little baby!" he yelled as he made his way towards her. Thankfully he didn't make it past Sirius, who scooped the furious boy up.

"TAKE IT BACK!" he hollered at her, his tiny fists balled up, eyes filled with tears.

"What a naughty boy! I think you need to punish him cousin." She said gleefully.

"You made him lose his temper and you know it you-"

"That's quite enough!" Lily spoke firmly over them both. By now they had gained the attention of the entire Great Hall, including the staff table. "Let's just go up to the common room and have supper there. I'll go speak to the house elves about it and you go on ahead."

Sirius looked back at the other two Marauders. "Don't worry Padfoot, we'll stay here. You go on with Lily and we'll meet you later."

Sirius nodded and carried a red-faced and sobbing boy out with him.

Severus was whimpering as his Padfoot carried him out. He wasn't just upset about the mean lady calling him names, but because he had screamed and lost his temper just like his new friends had told him not to. He just knew he was in big trouble.

"Severus, I just want to tell you that you aren't in trouble this time. Bellatrix was doing that on purpose to make you upset and she was the one who was wrong."

"Really?" Severus could hardly believe his luck.

"Yes really. Sorry your first supper here didn't work out so well, but don't worry, Bellatrix will be going home tonight and we won't have to see her all vacation."

"Good, 'cause I don't like her at all." Sev said softly in Sirius's ear, as though someone may overhear.

That fact alone kept Sirius chuckling right until they reached the common room. Who'd have thought that I would be laughing with Severus?! Still, he's a cute little booger, and if he doesn't like Bellatrix I guess he can't be all bad.

Dinner was a fare of grilled cheese for all three of them, Severus insisted on sitting in Lily's lap, and she agreed even though she blushed a little. He squirmed around on her lap, grinning cheerfully at being able to sit on with his Lily. His bum was still sore but he wasn't going to complain since she was being so nice to him. Even petting his hair!

"Hey there squirt, what are you doing flirting with Lily?" James said as he came in the portrait hole. Lily Sirius and Sev had finished their supper awhile ago and had just been waiting for the others so they could put the little Slytherin in bed. He had insisted on good nights for everyone, and he wanted to apologize for yelling even though Padfoot told him he didn't have to.

"I-I'm not flirting! She is! She's playing with my hair!" Severus said, turning red with embarrassment. He didn't want his friends to know he like liked Lily Evans. Lily turned pink at his statement and then smirked, turning him around in her lap.

"That's not flirting Sevvy, this is!" she giggled and began showering his face and head with kisses as he went into what appeared to be an epileptic fit on her knees.

"Liiiiiiiiillllllyyyyyyy!" he squealed, making a show of squirming but not really trying to get away. Lily is kissing me!!! His heart was singing.

She laughed and released him, whereupon he ran and hid in Mooney's legs, feigning humiliation at being so thoroughly kissed by a girl. "Now Severus, remember why we let you wait." She said with a laugh still in her voice.

"Oh yeah!" he stood on his tip-toes and reached for Mooney, who obligingly leaned down so the little boy could get his arms around his shoulders. Sev gave him a good hug.

"G'night Mooney; and I'm sorry I was bad and yelled at supper, even though Padfoot says it wasn't my fault." Then he scuttled around a pleasantly surprised looking Remus to reach for James as well, who by now had already squatted down for his hug and goodnight. He ruffled the still clean mop, "Yeah, goodnight to you to Sev. Sleep tight."

"Otay!" he grinned and skipped to Sirius. "Bedtime now Padfoot?"

"Yup, bedtime." Said Sirius, promising himself that it would be more like eight-o-clock than eight-forty next time.

Sirius picked out a green silk nightshirt and black fuzzy socks for the tiny Severus to wear to bed and carefully laid him on his tummy, tucking the covers tight around him.

"Okay Sevvy, all set?" he asked, he was actually happy to see the tot ready to sleep, the first day with him had been more tiring than the Marauder would like to admit.

"Yup Padfoot; all set. Oh Padfoot!" the child called as Sirius was about to head out and shut the dorm door.

"What's the matter Sev?"

"Um, could I have a nightlight…please?" he asked in a tiny voice. He hated having to show he was still afraid of the dark, but he was sure his Padfoot wouldn't laugh at him.

"Of course." Sirius smiled gently, he remembered being afraid of the dark as a little kid too. He got an unused jar out of his trunk and performed a flame charm, sticking the little flame in the jar and capping it with a vented lid. He then held it up for Severus to see, and placed it in a corner thoughtfully so it would light near the bathroom door in case the boy needed to find it for… business.

"That good?"

"Yes Padfoot, thank you and goodnight." Severus said softly, snuggling into his nice warm bed.

"Goodnight Sev." He said with a smile. He waited until the boys breathing became even and relaxed and then went down to join the others. And so ends our first day. Merlin, what have we gotten into?

To be continued…

A/N: Okay, here's chapter four and sorry it took so long! Anyway I hope you enjoy it and please remember to feed the author lots of yummy reviews!