Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any of JK Rowling's wonderful creations. I just borrow them and torture them for awhile and return them in relatively good health.
A/N- Okay, before you all start going after me, I would just like to say in my defense that I had a really nasty case of Writer's Black that would not leave me! I ended up starting and re-starting this chapter nearly four times, that's how bad it was. And, I actually only finished it tonight, so I hope it's okay. I don't think I'd get it any better, but it looks alright as it is. I'll try to update again quickly.Criticisms are accepted, and I absolutely adore getter reviews! So, enjoy!
Chapter Eight
It's a Dog's World
For nearly a week the talking point of the students was Professor Snape's colour co-ordination… or lack there-of. To his embarrassment and annoyance the colour Harry had inflicted on him would not leave him, no matter how many times he sent his robes to be washed or scrubbed his skin so viciously that angry red mingled sickeningly with the bright green splotches. Unbeknownst to him, his annoyance was only fueling the young boy's desire to make the teacher happy.
When it seemed Snape was going to crack and make something explode any day now, Dumbledore called Harry and his guardians to his office.
"Harry," he said, looking sternly down at him, the effect ruined slightly by the small twitching of his lips. "I must ask that you remove the spells you put on Professor Snape before he has a nervous break-down."
"Nah-uh," Harry said, shaking his head. "I can'. Colour make Mr. Git happy. Colour make him no' Mr. Git. No colour and he unhappy."
Hermione groaned and put her face in her hands and Ron closed his eyes for a moment as Dumbledore's twinkle went into overdrive.
"I'm sorry professor," Hermione said. "But Harry's taken to calling Professor Snape Mr. Git and nothing we do will get him to stop!"
"But he a git!" Harry said earnestly, with all the innocence of a two-year-old child. "So he Mr. Git!"
"Now, I do not believe we can argue with that logic," chuckled Dumbledore. "However, please do not say that to Professor Snape's face Harry."
"'Kay," Harry said bright, happy to have the headmaster's support, even if it did come with restrictions.
"Now, do you know how you sometimes get angry Harry?" asked Dumbledore, and Harry shook his head. "Oh, well, Professor Snape is rather angry at the moment, because he doesn't like the colours."
"He no like colour?" Harry asked, startled. "Why?"
"He prefers black," said Dumbledore. "And I'm sure he would be happier in black."
"He won'," said Harry stubbornly. "He not happy b'fore."
"Professor Snape isn't a happy person," Dumbledore agreed. "But that is just the way he is. It is admirable that you want to try and help him Harry, but I don't think he really appreciates the help.
"Oh," said Harry.
Suddenly Dumbledore realised something that he had a sneaking suspicion Harry had to do with.
"Harry, do you know how Professor Snape was making a potion when you went down there?" he asked.
Harry suddenly looked incredibly guilty, confirming Dumbledore's suspicious. He laughed.
"I won't tell him Harry," said Dumbledore. "But I think you can make it up to him by taking the charms off of him."
Harry nodded and took off out the door, looking very red in the face.
"What did Harry do Professor?" asked Hermione, almost fearing the answer.
"He tried to make a potion Professor Snape has been working on for three months more colourful, making it blow up," he said with a straight face.
"Oh Harry!" moaned Hermione and she too dashed out the door with Ron on her heels.
Dumbledore sat back and chuckled. Having a two-year-old Harry Potter around was certainly interesting.
There was a surprise waiting for Harry in the common room when he got back from returning Snape to his usual black glory.
"Pafoot!" he yelled joyfully, running forward.
The large black dog barked and wagged his tail before bounding over. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but the large black dog knocked Harry to the floor and licked him.
"Yucky Pafoot!" Harry exclaimed, giggling.
"Padfoot!" Hermione scolded, narrowing her eyes at the dog and drawing herself up to her full height. "You should know better then that! You could have hurt Harry! You are much bigger then him right now!"
"Pafoot no hurt me 'Mione," Harry protested, standing up.
"He could have," Hermione said stubbornly.
For a moment the two-year-old boy and the sixteen-year-old girl stood facing each other, staring at each other, neither willing to back down from their argument, like they had done so many times when they were the same age. As though suddenly realising what she was doing Hermione started slightly and looked away.
"Just don't do it again Padfoot," she said.
The dog whined, but nodded its large head with all the enthusiasm it could muster. Harry giggled again.
"Pafoot!" Harry suddenly said in the one usually says things after being hit with a sudden thought. "You meet Black!"
Padfoot blinked at the little boy. Harry gave an exasperated sigh in the way he had heard Hermione do so at Ron many times.
"Is it just me, or is Harry picked up on your ways more then any others?" Ron murmured to Hermione.
"I think it's good that he has chosen me as his role model," said Hermione, lifting her head a bit. "Maybe when he turns back he will be more willing to listen when I tell him to do his homework on time and not at the last minute."
Ron shook his head and turned back to watch Harry trying to get the large black dog to move, who seemed to have no intention of doing so.
"Pafoot!" Harry finally snapped at him. "Move!"
And if that wasn't a Hermione-like trait, I don't know what is, Ron thought wryly.
However, seeing the look on Hermione's face killed the taunt trembling on Ron's lips. She was proud that Harry looked up to her, and it suddenly occurred to Ron that Hermione had no siblings that look up to her, or even down at her. With Harry she had gone into full 'big-sister' mode, just as Ron had been put in 'big-brother' mode. And, for the first time, Ron found that he didn't want to tease Hermione for her new status as 'role model'.
"Come on Padfoot, come and meet Harry's puppy," he said instead, ignoring the shocked look Hermione gave him. It wasn't usually like him to miss such an opportunity after all.
He grinned at her and she smiled back.
"It's a very special puppy, isn't it Harry?" said Hermione as they walked up to the dormitory, a curious dog beside them.
"I maded it Pafoot!" said Harry proudly.
"You made it Harry," Hermione corrected absently.
Now that one Ron could not miss.
"He's two Hermione," he said. "You can't expect him to be learning all the proper grammatical skills right now."
She just glared at him, but her attention was pulled away when Padfoot let out an inquisitive bark.
"He transfigured it from a mushroom," she told Padfoot, and his eyes widened in realisation. Obviously Harry's reputation had preceded him.
The happy yipping greeted them the moment they entered the dorm.
"Black!" Harry said, running over and hugging the small black puppy.
Surprisingly however Padfoot followed him. Ron and Hermione exchanged astonished looks when they saw that he was eyeing the other dog warily, as though it were a potential threat.
It was then that Black noticed the other, rather larger, dog, coming up behind Harry. Everything seemed to freeze for a moment, and then Black shattered the silence by growling warningly. His message was all too clear. Keep away from my human.
Padfoot gave the dog equivalent of an amused snort and barked back, looking satisfied. It turned to shock, however, when the small dog, not being intimidated in the least, barked back at him.
This was the started of a full-out barking match, which brought most of the Gryffindors upstairs to see what was going on. In the end Hermione had to put up a silencing charm and ask a first year to run and get Professor Lupin for them.
"I wonder what they're saying to each other," Ron said to her quietly as the dogs continued barking.
Hermione shrugged helplessly, at a loss to what to do.
Harry, on the other hand, was sitting silently, watching the 'argument' with wide eyes. But, if one looked closer, there was a mischievous glint in his eyes that had people running the other way for James Potter got it. It meant that he had an interesting idea, which wasn't altogether completely 'legal' in the terms of the adults that surrounded him.
Lupin burst through the door, startling the human occupants from their musings.
"What's going on?" he asked. "One of the first years came and told me that there was some sort of problem up here."
"As you can probably see, there is a problem," said Hermione dryly, turning to him. "They've been barking at each other for awhile now."
Lupin glanced at the two dogs and then did a classic double take, staring at Padfoot. A moment later a wide grin spread over his face.
"I'm not going to let him live this one down," he murmured.
"Padfoot!" he said loudly, striding over and getting both Padfoot's and Black's attention. "What on earth are you doing?"
Padfoot may have answered in his own dog speech, or he may have just ignored the man. However, they would never find out. For at that moment Black leapt at the larger dog and took a vicious swipe at him.
Padfoot looked shocked for a moment, holding a paw to his now throbbing nose. And then he barked ferociously, angry that the miniscule dog before him had caught him so unawares.
Black looked intimidated now and he raced through the door Lupin had left open, Padfoot on his heels. Laughing, before they could stop him, Harry ran after them.
"Damn it!" Lupin said, his eyes narrowing. "Why can't he ever be rational?"
They three ran down the stairs and saw the portrait hole starting to be opened.
"Don't open that door!" Ron bellowed, startling the people sitting around in the common room.
It was too late however. Whoever was on the other side of the hole had opened the portrait and had had to step back as first two dogs and then Harry dashed past them.
"Idiot!" Ron muttered as he, Lupin and Hermione gave chase.
"You two go and find help," Lupin directed at the two teenagers with a sigh.
"Do we really need help?" asked Hermione sceptically. "They are just two dogs after all, and one of them is really human!"
Lupin looked at Hermione with all the seriousness he could muster.
"But it so happens that Padfoot knows how to cause more havoc as a dog then he does a human, and from what I have gathered Black is not too calm a pet either," he pointed out.
Hermione grimaced, remembering that Black had gotten into her dormitory and she had gone up that afternoon to find all of her cosmetics and hair things strewn around the dorm.
"Point taken," she said. "Come on Ron."
Ron and Hermione ran off in one direction while Lupin headed the opposite way, following Harry's scent, which was the easiest to follow because he was still human. Suddenly he came across Harry sitting in the middle of a corridor, to doors shut tightly between him.
"Harry?" asked Lupin, stopping short.
"Hi Moony!" Harry said brightly, waving to him.
"Uh… where are Black and Padfoot Harry?" Lupin asked cautiously.
Harry's smile widened and he got a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
"Pafoot in tha' one," he said, pointing to the door on his right. Then he pointed to the door on his left. "And Black in tha' one."
Lupin blinked. There was no way Sirius Black could have been outsmarted by a two-year-old, no way at all…
But sure enough he could hear sounds of whining and barking coming from behind both doors. A grin slowly spread across his face. Padfoot was never going to live this one on.
"Let's check on Black first shall we," said Lupin casually, walking over and taking Harry's hand.
"'Kay!" said Harry.
If Lupin had looked closer he would have been able to see that the gleam in the young boy's eyes had not yet left and if he had seen it, it would have made him wonder what Harry was up to now.
However, he did not see it, so the two of them entered the room quickly, where Black was looking truly lonely and pitiful.
Harry ran over and gave Black a tight hug.
"Bad Black," he scolded, though he was smiling.
And then, for some totally unknown reason, he hugged Black tightly again and, though Lupin didn't see it, he said something quietly to the dog, and left the room. Lupin looked after him, bewildered.
Oh well, he thought. He's two years old. He can't cause too much trouble.
Meanwhile Harry was in the room across the corridor from Lupin hugging his godfather, half-scolding him, and half telling him, in his own way, how amusing the whole show was.
Which, of course, made Padfoot want to playfully after Black again so he could see Harry laugh again.
And Harry, realising this, grinned. He got up, left the room, and "accidentally" left the door open before going across the corridor and "accidentally" opening the door slightly so Padfoot could get into the room.
His work done, Harry walked around the corridor. Moments later Hermione found him just as Padfoot and Black started barking at each other again.
The two dogs went racing around the corner, followed by a haggard looking Lupin and stopped in front of the group of people that Ron and Hermione had gathered for help. Harry was laughing and this time Lupin realised something was up.
"Harry," he said slowly, causing Harry to look at him. "Did you have something to do with this?"
Harry just grinned again and Lupin groaned.
"Truly your father's son," he muttered, rubbing his head.
"Padfoot, Black, stop!" he continued sharply in a much louder voice and the two dogs fell silent. "I believe we have all been set up by a small marauder."
The only sound that was heard for a while was the sound of Harry's laughter.
"You certainly know how to cause trouble Harry," Ron commented that evening in the common room.
"Yeah!" Harry agreed cheerfully.
"That isn't a good think Harry," said Hermione, but the corners of her mouth were twitching as she fought to keep from laughter."
Harry giggled at her.
"You laugh," he said simply.
"I did not," she said indignantly.
However, at Harry's disbelieving look, she could help but look down in shame at the absolute lie she had just told.
"Okay, maybe I laughed a bit," she said.
Ron snorted, causing Hermione to glare at him.
"Don't say a word Ronald," she warned and Harry, delighted with the word, began chanting "Wonald! Wonald!"
"Thanks Hermione," Ron scowled.
"Don't mention it," grinned Hermione. "But for now, Harry, I think it is time you got to bed."
The chants stopped immediately. Harry looked at her for a moment and then his eyes narrowed.
And then he said the word Hermione had been dreading to hear ever since he had gotten more wilful.
"No."
Coming Soon- 'The Terrible Twos'. Poor Ron and Hermione have no idea how to handle a magicallyskilled child who refuses to listen to anything they tell him. Nothing works. And it seems that Harry isn't going to stop torturing them anytime soon...
Reviews-
athenakitty- I'm sure Dumbledore's pulled tricks like this many of times before :). And with the potion... well, I was thinking of writing a side-story about how he found out and what he actually does with the potion when he does. What do you think? If you, or anyone else of that matter, find another part in my story I could do a one-shot on to explain better, let me know. And I think Snape was a bit occupied with looking after his most-hated student in toddler form then trying to interest him in potions. Besides, he might have done, if not for the exploding potion!
bookaholic-of-au- I know what you mean. It's so cute though! I have a brother, and I got the idea from when he was so young. He's actually sixteen at the moment. I didn't want him doing this in the middle of his OWLs. I haven't really wanted to bring that out just yet. I'm not focusing too much on that side just right now, but you might remember when he was thinking about magic, in chapter seven? That was just a brief reminder. But I just want to focus on the Terrible Twos right now. After next chapter, I'm planning on the memories coming back. So it will be like he has three sets of lives. His previous life at the Dursleys, his life when he was older, and his present life. I'm saving that until he's not so difficult to deal with hint hint
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