The Lupin Childe

Cheers for my wonderful Beta: butterfly83

Chapter 3

Severus glanced back over his shoulder to insure that the boy was keeping up with him and found that he was, though just barely. Maybe he should slow down… No! Why in Merlin's name had he agreed to watch over the little whelp to begin with? A memory of a laughing girl with long auburn hair and eyes the color of emeralds flashed in front of his eyes.

Oh, right. Her. And she probably wouldn't be too happy if he lost her son in the winding corridors of the school.

With something that could have resembled a huff, had it not been so below him, he spun on his heals and waited for the boy to catch up with him. The little one was not panting per se, but he definitely wasn't breathing easily either. For a moment a grim look crossed Severus' face as the child looked up at him with not very happy eyes but he pushed that aside. "Do you need me to carry you or will you manage to keep up."

The boy blinked up at him momentarily and, softly speaking around his thumb, he said "No, I'm fine sir." Severus watched him for a moment and it was obvious the child was not indeed fine, in fact he looked thoroughly winded. Without so much as a word of warning, he stooped down slightly and dragged the boy into his arms before standing strait again. Startled arms quickly encircled his neck and he grimaced at the thought that one of those thumbs grabbing at him had to be thoroughly coated with saliva. Maybe he should have just let the brat get lost…

No, that would not do in the least. Severus sighed as he proceeded to the dungeons. He would have to work on that. Not everything he thought had to be negatively directed towards the child. It was just… he didn't have the forbearance for this sort of thing. He could teach school-age children easily enough he supposed, but this child was only three and that was much too young an age for a child to properly obey him… or fear him. Besides, if what he had heard was to be believed, the boy was lucky that Lupin was able to take him away from his mother's relatives.

He had never liked Petunia but he had also never considered her horrible enough to abuse her deceased sisters only child. Then again, Pet had always been jealous of Lily and that must have extended to her son who looked more like his mother at the moment then he did his father. While Lily's emerald eyes more than made up for the slight father/son resemblance, he didn't think he could handle it if the brat was a spitting image of James.

"Mis'ser Snape?" a small voice called in his ear causing him to lose his train of thought.

"What?" He tried not to sound to biting and considering the fact the child only tensed slightly in his arms, assumed he succeeded.

"Whe…where are we goin'?"

Severus grimaced and answered without actually looking at the child. Just what he needed; an inquisitive brat. "To my chambers in the dungeons."

He ignored the boy's hum of understanding- or was it confusion? He couldn't really tell without looking at the whelp and the less he did that the better- and continued on.

The rest of the trip was made in silence and they reached his rooms in minutes. He snapped out the password (golden beetle) to the guardian portrait and proceeded inside. He set the brat down almost as soon as the door closed. "These are my chambers," he started as he walked forward hoping the child had the sense to follow him. "There will be a few rules down here while you are my… guest." he sneered as he said the last word and finally looked down at the raven-haired boy with distaste.

Emerald orbs gazed up at him with more trepidation than he thought a child should be capable of. He turned away again. " First and fore most, you are not to go in my lab." he said pointing towards a metal door towards the left of them on the back wall. "I will not be explaining to the wol- Lupin, how you got yourself blown up. Do not go in there." he emphasized. He saw the boy nod out of the corner of his eyes and so continued. "Secondly, you are not permitted to touch anything of mine without my express permission, it that understood?"

He waited for confirmation but when he received none he turned to glare at the boy who only blinked up at him owlishly. He sighed. "Don't touch anything without asking me first if you may and I say that it is okay." he simplified and this time the boy bobbed his head in agreement.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes he pointed down the hall to the right. "Down there are four rooms. The first to the left is mine, you may only enter if the door is open and even then only in the case of a dire emergency. The first to the right is my storage closet. Rule number three, don't enter the storage closet. Farther down the down the hall are two more rooms. The one to the left is the guest room; your room for the time being. The one to the right is the bathroom. Do you understand all that?"

He glanced briefly at the boy to see his brows furrow but he answered just the same. "Yes sir."

He sneered slightly and set down the bag full of things for the boy Lupin had handed to him. "You will take these to your room, I trust you have something to entertain yourself with. If you feel the need you may look around while abiding to rule number two. Now, I am going to my room and I am closing the door which means you won't be bothering me, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." the boy answered again as his thumb wandered back towards his mouth. Severus quickly pushed it down.

"That will be rule number four, no sucking your thumb. It's a filthy habit and I won't have you contaminating my rooms with your germs. Behave." With that he turned on his heel and walked determinedly to his room, snapping the door closed behind him. Finally, he was away from the child.

-x-

Harry stared after the man open mouthed. He couldn't help be feel a bit shocked. He couldn't muster up the energy to be scared of this man because he was so confused by him. With a frown he placed his thumb firmly in his mouth; it wasn't like the dark man was paying him any attention at the moment anyway.

He looked around at the place he'd be staying the next few days and though it was nice it didn't like home. It was cold and didn't look lived in. It was almost like Private Drive except aunt Petunia had always decorated her home with bright blues and off whites. She would have never allowed the dark greens and shining blacks.

Off to one side, closer to the metal door, was what looked like a kitchen and dining area though it looked like no kitchen Harry had ever seen. It had cabinets and a sink and a small table built for four, but other than that it lacked basic things such as a stove or a refrigerator. Wizards sure were weird sometimes.

Off to the other side was a sitting place with a sofa, two armchairs and a coffee table. They were placed around the fire-place, which made Harry's frown deepen. It didn't have a gate in front of it like the one back home. Remus wouldn't like that. He didn't like Harry close to the fire place but when he (Harry) was playing he sometimes forgot and Remus had put the gate up just in case. Here, he would have to stay far away from it on his own.

On the far wall were shelves covered with books, just like the living room back home but Mr. Snape had said he wasn't to touch anything so there was no reason to get excited about it…

Not quite sure what to do now that he was alone, Remus never left him alone, he grabbed his bag with his free hand and tugged on it until it followed him to the hall way opening. There were four doors indeed and now he was confused. The man said not to go into the first two rooms as they were his (Mr. Snape's) and the supply closet, so he didn't have to worry about that. But he said that his room was on the left and the bathroom was on the right.

Now, which was right and which was left again?

Harry frowned in thought before remembering Mooney's trick. With a small smile he held out both hands in front of him and concentrated. Mooney said that the left was the side that looked like an 'L' with his thumb and pointer finger. That meant… this hand! That side was the left! Happy with that conclusion Harry dragged him bag behind him towards the door he determined to be his and pushed it open with a bit of effort. This room was nice too but again did not look lived in.

Harry gently bit his lip and looked down from his bag to the room in front of him. Well, he was just going to have to fix that, wasn't he?

-x-

Severus exited his room several hours later when his stomach growled, telling him it was time for lunch. He'd really just sat there and thought about what he was going to do with the boy for the next several days. He couldn't exactly ignore him the whole time, from what he understood, children constantly craved attention, especially children Harry's age. 'The brat. No thinking of him as Harry, that creates familiarity which is something I'd rather go without.' But it was true, the child would need some sort of companionship and since he was the only one here… Blast! He would have to think more about it later.

"Boy! Get out here!" he called wondering absently if the child had bothered to obey his rules. He was rather proud of coming up with them on the spot. He turned when he heard the click of the door behind him and saw the messy head poke out. With a disgruntled look at the thumb hanging from the child's mouth he gestured for the boy to come. "It's lunch time. Do you have a potion to take now?"

The boy nodded and disappeared back into the room for a moment before coming back to the door and leaving it with a potions vile clutched in his left hand. Severus eyed it and determined it to be the nutrition supplement Lupin was talking about before turning away and leading towards the kitchenette. At least the boy knew what he had to take. Maybe he wouldn't have to monitor the whelp so he wouldn't poison himself. No, that wasn't a good idea. Children were forgetful. The school age children he had to teach were without a doubt, dunderheads. How bright could a three-year-old be?

Severus sat down at the table and motioned for the boy to do the same, which he did with a bit of difficulty getting up on the seat. Severus sighed when, as the boy sat, his head barely surpassed the top of the table.

"Where do you sit at home?" he asked. "Surely Lupin doesn't have you eat like this." He watched with very slight amusement as the tiny child tried to crane his neck to see over the table top.

"I sit in my special chair at home. The one with my booster seat."

"Booster seat?" Severus questioned doubtfully. He had never heard of such a thing.

"It's a smaller chair that goes in the normal chair to make me taller. Like a car seat but little." Ah, now he understood. He had seen a muggle automobile before and he supposed he could transfigure something like that.

"Well get up then so I can make one." he snapped at the boy who (he was pleased to see) slid immediately off the chair. Taking a napkin from the table he proceeded to transfigure it into what he remembered a car seat to look like. Satisfied with his work but unsure of the similarity to whatever the brat had been talking about he glanced at the boy who looked from him to the seat biting his lip now that his thumb seemed to have fallen from play. "Well?" he questioned, irritated with the silence. With some satisfaction he saw the child jump.

"C-can you m-make the back shorter and the seat, um, padded more?"

Doing as requested Severus looked back at the boy who smiled slightly and nodded. With a scoff and a flick of his wand he merely secured the seat to the chair and then went back to take his spot at the table. He didn't actually get the chance to sit down when the brat spoke again. "Er, Mis'sur Snape?"

"What?" he drawled. The chewing of the lip became more pronounced.

"I, um, can't get up there." Severus stared at him for several moments before sneering and with a much more gentle hand then he felt the child was worth, picked him up and put him in the car seat/table seat (so called booster seat) thing.

"Is that all you highness?" he bit out and though he thought the sarcasm was lost to the child, his tone was unmistakable and the boy blushed with a murmured 'yes'. Finally regaining his seat he snapped his fingers and called for one of the more competent and less sniveling house elves. "Tipper!"

With a 'pop' the little creature appeared and he noticed absently out of the corner of his eye that the child recoiled from it. He had probably never seen one before, maybe he should have warned him… Oh well. He was much too old to become considerate now. "Yes Master Snape?" the little creature squeaked, always happy to help which was a fine trait of his species.

"Yes, Tipper, I'd like you to bring lunch to myself and my… guest. Whatever your serving the head table in the great hall will be fine. Boy!" he snapped at the child who's gazed turned to him in a flash before glancing back at Tipper just as quickly. "Is there anything you are allergic to?"

"Huh?"

"Anything you can't eat?" he asked impatiently.

The green eyes blinked rapidly at him before he seemed to consider the question. "Bananas and shell fish- Remus says they will give me a rash."

Severus nodded and turned his attention back to Tipper. "Take a note of that." The house elf bobbed its head before disappearing with another pop. Almost at once two goblets of water appeared on the table, Harry's significantly smaller than his. Picking it up and taking a sip he waited for the boy to question him about Tipper. Even growing up familiar with the wizarding world he had to admit that house elves were strange little creatures; but the boy didn't ask. He wearily and silently eyed the floor where Tipper had been for quite a few moments before shaking his head slightly and turning his thoughts to the vile still clutched tightly in his hand. He wrestled with the stopper for a few seconds until he got it out and then with a frown, chugged it down.

Severus watched him in interest when he didn't grimace at the taste but instead just held that frown when he finished, put the cork back in and sat the glass on the table. He then promptly went back to watching the floor that held Tipper before his departure. Severus rolled his eyes. Strange child.