Chapter Thirteen: The Blood Red Petal

A/N: Hey thanks for all your fantastic reviews :]

~Severus Addicted

Severus stared at the sleeping child in the small bed. The child looked at peace as it's mind took him on a roller coaster of thoughts, dreaming of flying through the skies without a care in the world. Severus tentatively reached out and lightly stroked the black hair making Harry immediately lean into his hand as if begging for reassurance that he wasn't alone. Severus gently placed a kiss to Harry's forehead then whispered, "You are so innocent of what your future holds for you... I wish I could keep this innocence of yours and never allow you to see the pain in the world." With that said Severus slowly stood and made his way out of the room. Halfway through the door a small whimper came to his ears making him stop and turn to stare at the child.

Harry slowly opened his eyes to stare at the long haired man. He didn't know if he could trust him but he felt so safe in his arms...

Harry slowly reached out his hands to show he wanted picked up. When the man didn't move a muscle Harry became frustrated and squeezed his hands open and closed to show he wanted to be picked up now. The man still hadn't moved. Harry left his frustration show on his face as he stared at the black haired man, a few tears leaked out the corners of his eyes as he stared.

Severus sighed and quickly made his way to the little boy and gathered him in his arms, "What's wrong child?" Severus whispered as he slowly lowered himself onto the rocking chair beside the boy's bed.

Harry sniffled and rubbed his eyes with his fist. "I tired." Harry whispered as he leaned his face against the chest in front of him.

Severus sighed and stood to attempt putting Harry back to bed, "Then close your eyes and go to sleep, Harry." Severus tried putting Harry into the bed but the boy held on fast to his arms and refused to let go, "Harry if you are tired, child, you need to get to sleep. Now stop this nonsense and lay down!"

Harry shook his head and refused to let go.

Severus sighed... Maybe this is why he decided to never have children. "Harry why won't you let go?"

Sparkling emerald eyes met his black ones in a second. Harry blinked and whispered, "If I let go... Y-you won't come back." Suddenly a few tears leaked out of Harry's eyes as he lowered his gaze to the floor in shame.

Severus tilted his head to the side not sure what to say to that, "Harry... Child that is not true. When you wake up I will still be here. I'm not going to leave you. I promise!" Severus put his finger under the small chin to make Harry look at him.

Harry whimpered at the touch but realized he wasn't going to be hit so he slowly leaned into the hand. Severus blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall as he stared at the little boy who was scared of being cared for.

Severus gently held Harry closer to him and whispered, "I will never leave you."

Harry shook his head in Severus' shoulder and said, "Why not? I-I a Freak."

Severus felt his blood boil as he realized how quickly this child learned he was a "Freak", he would get pay back on the Dursleys if it was the last thing he did! "Because I care about you Harry. And you are not a Freak, dear child, you are a wonderful gift!"

Harry slowly looked up into the black eyes as if searching for something, "Promise?"

Tears slowly made their way down Severus' cheeks as he stared at Harry. He gently placed a kiss to his forehead and whispered, "I promise."

Later that day while Harry was being watched by Minerva, Severus sat in the Headmaster's office awaiting to see what information Albus had on Harry's accident.

Albus steepled his fingers and stared at the man before him, "Severus I was going through the books in The Headmaster Library and I came across a book filled with potion formulas, I found one that will turn Harry back to his real age. But it will take at least a week, every day Harry will grow a year older."

Severus nodded his head and said, "Where are the instructions? I will start right away."

Albus held up his hand to stop Severus, "But-"

Severus groaned and said, "But?!"

Albus sadly nodded his head and said, "The potion is very hard to make and if you mess up one tiny thing... Harry will die."

Severus slowly gulped as he thought of the sleeping child in Minerva's chambers. He didn't want to be the one to kill the boy, he didn't want Harry to get hurt at all... He was just a little child! But he was determined to fix this situation; no matter what. "Very well Headmaster, anything else?"

Albus gave him a concerned look then said, "You know how at your father's house there is that red plant?" At Severus' slow nod of a head he continued, "It turns out that the plant is the only one living lately and it's flower petal is part of this potion; you will have to go to your father's house to retrieve the petals. I'm sorry, Severus. I would get someone else to retrieve it for you but seeing how your house is hidden from eyes you must go and get it yourself."

Severus sighed as he thought back to the old house hidden in the woods. The house held so many bad memories... Not even a single good one. "I will do it."

Albus sighed but nodded his head, "Alright, Severus. I know this will be hard for you-"

"I will do it, Albus!" Severus snapped, he hated it when someone knew his weakness. Sure the house held horrifying memories but if it brought Harry back to his original age he'd do it. It's not that he didn't love Harry the way he is now but the child already has friends that are ten years older then him at the moment and is already in school, he can't stay being a four year old.

Albus knew this was going to be hard on Severus, he would go himself to get the flower petals just to save Severus the pain, but it needed to be done and he didn't have the identity to find the house. Tobius Snape was a Muggle but when he married Severus' mother she put up wards around the house that stops anyone from seeing the house if they did not have the Snape identity; so either way Albus could not do this for him.

Harry stared at the brown haired lady name Minerva and passed the brightly colored bouncy ball to her. When the ball reached her she gently rolled it back to him. They didn't speak, they just stared at each other.

Harry was trying to figure out why she was staring at him like that and Minerva was thinking about how the boy grew up, he looked perfectly fine... But not all scars are on the skin.

Harry got bored of rolling the ball back and forth so when the ball came back to him he threw it in the opposite direction of Minerva so they wouldn't play with it anymore.

Harry huffed in frustration when he saw her give him a nasty look then stand up to retrieve the ball. When she passed it back to him again he picked it up once again and threw it across the room.

Minerva glared at him and said in a stern tone, "Harry James stop that. Now you can go retrieve it."

Harry shook his head in denial, "I don't wanna play with the ball!"

Minerva sighed as she looked at the clock on the wall... This was going to be a long night. "Then what do you want to do, Harry?"

Severus closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. When he finally opened his eyes he felt his blood go cold as he stared at the red brick building with weeds and vines growing up the sides.

Severus knew he had to get the red petals and get out of there before memories came back but for some reason his feet wouldn't move, he stayed cemented on the ground just staring at the window on the third floor; his "bedroom", or so it was called. It was more like a storage room filled with things that were no longer useful for his father; including him.

Severus stared at his father in fear; he wouldn't show weakness... He wouldn't show weakness!

Tobius snarled at the pale, skinny boy before him in disgust, "How did I make a child such as yourself?! You're not fit for my genes! Get out of my sight you filth!" He then pulled back his fist and punched Severus in the nose. A sickening crack sounded around the room as Tobius' fist met Severus' nose, blood began to pour down Severus' face as a great pain overcame him.

Tobius grabbed his son by the scruff of the neck and pushed him down the stairs, "I said: GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" he then turned his back and entered his bedroom where he turned on the tv so he wouldn't hear the body tumbling down the stairs, he didn't hear the smash as Severus' body slammed against the floor, or the scream that followed.

Severus quickly whiped away the tears that were gently rolling down his cheeks and looked away from the evil building. 'Get the red petals and get out. Get the red petals and get out. Get the red petals and get out. Get the red petals and get out." His mind kept repeating this sentence as he slowly began the journey to the side of the house where a huge plant was growing up the side of the house. Severus quickly pulled out a vile and a pair of scissors then quickly began cutting off the red petals.

Severus held the vile up to the light to stare at the flower petals inside- The petals were as dark as blood. Blood. There was blood everywhere he looked! Where was his mother? Why wasn't she coming when he begged her to help him?! Nothing made sense at the moment.

Severus cautiously entered the living room and felt his heart stop at the sight before him; there laying on the floor in a pile of blood was his mother, standing above her was Tobius holding a bloody hammer. Severus whimpered in fright as he saw his father turn to him with a maniac smile on his face.

"Welcome home, son." Tobius said happily and he slowly stepped towards his child. "This won't hurt a bit..." He began to raise the hammer above Severus' head but Severus wasn't stupid, he knew it would hurt; he knew! Severus quickly dodged his father's swing and ran to the other side of the room. Tobius followed in a drunken sway, "Where are you going? Don't you want to be with your mother?" Tobius asked softly as he cornered Severus.

Severus screamed as he watched the hammer come closer to his face. Suddenly the hammer was thrown out of his father's grasp and Tobius was thrown against the wall on the other side of the room.

Petrified Severus did the only thing he knew; he ran for his life. He quickly jumped out the window and ran into the dark woods where his father wouldn't find him. When he got tired of running he crawled into a fox hole in a tree and layed down.

Tears poured down his face as he stared out the hole to the black sky, "Mommy I need you!" Severus whispered desperately.

Severus shook his head and closed his eyes to calm himself before he began to cry again. He didn't know why but for some reason his feet were moving him toward the front door. He wanted to stop, he didn't want to enter the house! Why was his body making him move? But another thought overcame those thoughts, 'Just one glance, that's all.' Severus entered the house and closed the old door making squeaking sounds come from it. Severus looked at the big picture frame of his "family," they looked so happy...What happened?

Severus entered the living room to see everything exactly how he remembered it last; except this time there was no body in the middle of the blood stain; there was only a big red stain... Severus shook his head 'Why did I come in here?!' his brain shouted at him for his stupidity but his body ignored it... He slowly bent down to the stain and touched it, "Mom..." Severus whispered softly as his fingers brushed the area he last saw his mother. Severus sighed and stood, he needed to get back to the school, if he didn't leave now he wasn't sure if he would ever leave.

With that Severus spun on his heel and dis-apparated back to the gates of Hogwarts.

A/N: Hey thanks for reading and please don't forget to leave a review, it doesn't even take a long :( *puppy dog eyes* paweaze? lol

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

~Severus Addicted