Minerva sat on the couch in Dumbledore's rooms. She stoically endured Severus's clumsy fingers tangling in her hair a bit – he meant well. She reached out and touched his little nose with her own, making him giggle. When he pulled her tail, however, she gave him a soft swat on his hand with a velveted paw. Seeing his lower lip tremble, she turned into her human form and picked him up.
"I'm not angry with you, sweetheart," she soothed him, "but you mustn't pull a cat's tail."
Severus stuck his finger in his mouth and rested his head against her shoulder. She smiled, and then sniffed.
"Albus!"
"Yes, Minerva?" the Headmaster replied from his study.
"Your grandson needs a clean diaper."
"In his room, top shelf of the closet, with the wipes."
"But…ALBUS!"
"Yes, Minerva?"
"Surely you do not suggest that I change him?"
"Why ever not?"
The Deputy Headmistress blushed. "I've never changed a baby before, Albus. And – well. It's just, just strange."
Dumbledore emerged, his eyes twinkling. "About time you learn, then. Come with me."
He took the child in his arms and wrinkled his nose. "Yuck. You need a bath, young one."
Minerva watched with a smile as Albus ran a babybath. The bath levitated at a convenient height. He then undressed the infant, discarded the dirty clothes and nappy with a flick of his wand, and after cleaning the child up he lowered him into the water.
"Dadadaaaaa mummmbrrrrrr," Severus babbled happily, splashing his yellow duck on the water.
Albus devoted all his attention to the boy, washing him gently and talking to him in a playful, soft voice. It was obvious that the old man loved the child dearly, and the little boy from time to time looked up at his grandfather with a wide smile and happy eyes, completely content and secure in Dumbledore's affectionate care.
After he was lifted from the bath, Minerva no longer watched with a smile. Instead she sported a huge grin as Albus tried to wrestle a quick and agile baby into his clothes. At long last Severus was deposited, clean and smelling of babypowder, into her arms.
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The Easter holidays were a welcome break in the normal schedule.
"Weird," Harry commented to Albus and Phoebe, "Nearly the end of the year, and no one attempting to kill me. That's a first."
Albus couldn't help but blush a bit at that statement. "I could've kept you safer," he confessed.
"You were preparing me," Harry sneered goodnaturedly, "by not removing every obstacle from my path."
"Yes, that was my reasoning at the time," Albus admitted, "but if anyone would allow Severus to be subjected to that at eleven years of age, I'd send them so many Howlers that they would permanently lose their hearing."
Harry grinned. "If Severus did the things I got up to in my time here…"
"He'd be grounded until he was old and grey," Albus nodded.
Phoebe smiled, cuddling the little boy who was sitting on her lap, playing with a magical children's book. It showed a cauldron and pictures of ingredients. Each time a finger was pressed to an ingredient, it was added to the cauldron. Reactions occured like they would in real life.
"BOOOOMMMMM!!!" Severus bounced up and down on his bottom when the cauldron in the picture exploded after he had pressed his finger to the wrong ingredient to be added next.
"I swear, I must take a picture of this and take it to Neville," Harry muttered.
Albus grinned. "Oh yes, you are going to visit him, aren't you?"
"Yes, that was our plan," Phoebe said, "I'd love to meet him. And I'm looking forward to a few days where I don't have to share Harry with adoring students," she teased, kissing him lightly over Severus's head.
The sound of their kiss was drowned in the sound of a bubbling cauldron melting.
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"Albus?" Green flames lighted in the fireplace.
"Yes, Arthur?" Dumbledore answered his Floo call. It was mid- morning and while there was the usual pile of paperwork on his desk, he didn't feel like working at all.
"Molly and I would like to invite you and little Severus to spend the day with us, if you are not otherwise engaged, of course."
The Headmaster's eyes twinkled. "I would love to, Arthur, and I think Severus will enjoy himself too. Let me get his diaper bag, and we'll step through."
Fifteen minutes later, Arthur took a happy pre-toddler from Dumbledore.
"Thank you for your invitation, Molly," Albus said, kissing her on the cheek.
"You're welcome, Albus," she blushed a bit, "anyway, I always enjoy feeding up the little ones. Hello, sweetheart."
Severus, who had been standing up, holding on to Arthur's robes, wobbled over to her, holding Arthur's robes with one hand until he got a good grasp on Molly's.
"Oh, he's walking already! Wait, I have just the thing for him…"
The witch rushed upstairs and came back with a colored wooden device.
"It's a magical walker," she explained, "it's designed to remain stable, has cushioning charms and all sorts of playthings, and a simple tap of a wand limits how far he can go. Here, darling, try it."
Severus looked up at Albus.
"Go ahead, sweetheart, try it," the old man encouraged him.
Emboldened by his Granddad's permission, Severus put his hands on the walker and took a careful step. The walker began to play a children's song and a path of little footsteps formed in front of Severus. He giggled and took another step, trying to follow the footsteps.
The adults stood watching him for a while until they were sure he would be fine by himself.
"He can't go far," Molly assured the Headmaster, "that's the beauty of it. I also put up an ageline that he can only cross with an adult. It worked like – well, like a charm when our boys were little."
"I'm glad you are reacting so well to him," Dumbledore admitted.
The two shared a glance. "Albus, Harry told us that he is Severus's son, but something tells us that is not quite right. It's none of our business, of course…"
Albus sighed. "Promise me you'll keep it quiet."
"Of course," Arthur said, "nothing you say will leave this kitchen."
"I'm glad. See – Most of the staff knows, but no one else. It's better that way. It will be hard enough to explain to Severus later. See, Severus didn't die. He came to me nearly a year ago, begging for help. He wanted to be de-aged so he could start over again. He actually told me to put him in an orphanage somewhere…"
Molly gasped in shock. Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "Of course I wouldn't allow that. I finally agreed to help him if he would let me raise him. That is, in short, the story of how I got a grandson. That boy – he's not Severus's son. He IS Severus."
Arthur looked at Severus, who had toddled back and was now sitting on the floor, playing with the toys on the walker.
"I had a suspicion it might be something like that," he frowned a bit, "Severus never gave any indication of a wife and child. I know he was a very private person, but someone should have known. I can see why he wanted this way out."
Molly picked up the small boy with tears in her eyes and held him, covering his face with kisses. Severus appreciated it, but after a short while he got a bit impatient. First she gave him a great toy to play with and then she wanted to cuddle? How could she expect him to like that? He wriggled and protested, wanting to return to his playing. Arthur took him from his wife's arms and gave him a quick kiss on his head before returning him to the floor.
"He was never happy, was he?" Molly asked, her voice trembling a bit, "was there any period in his life when he was loved and cared for? Before now?"
Bowing his head in shame, Dumbledore had no choice but to deny that. "No, he wasn't. He had a very unhappy childhood, and I am ashamed to say I added to his burden. I'm determined to make it up to him now. To love him and protect him as I should have done all along. Anyone messing with my child now had better run!"
The old man suddenly looked so imposing and powerful that Arthur and Molly stepped back in awe and Severus gave a small whimper. Immediately Dumbledore lifted his grandson in his arms, not losing one ounce of power.
"Granddad will protect you, Severus," he assured the little boy, "no one will hurt you and get away with it anymore, I promise."
Severus leaned his dark head against Dumbledore's shoulder for a moment. The Headmaster calmed down.
"Would you like a drink and a biscuit, Severus?" he asked the toddler, putting him back on the floor.
After giving Severus his snack, they returned to their talk.
"Harry and Phoebe are so happy," Molly gushed, "They will make such a lovely couple. Mr and Mrs Potter, doesn't that sound good?"
The men laughed. "They're young yet, Molly, give them time."
"Hmph," Molly corrected Arthur, "When we were their age, we were married, Bill was almost a year old and Charlie was on his way."
"Harry has gone through enough," Dumbledore stared in the distance, "I think he and Phoebe are right to take things slowly and enjoy their youth before taking on the responsibility of a family. There's plenty of time for that."
After a while, Molly prepared some lunch for them while the men played a game of chess. Severus pulled himself up on her robes again to watch what she was doing. With a well-practiced motion, she settled him on her hip while continuing her work with one hand. Having never seen cooking with magic, the boy watched wide-eyed as bread sliced itself, soup was stirred by a self-stirring spoon, and fruit was cut up automatically.
"DA!" he called to Dumbledore.
"Yes, I see it, darling. Molly does some great cooking doesn't she?"
Severus turned back and watched as sandwiches started to assemble themselves. A chair from the kitchen table was transformed into a high chair and Severus settled into it. He got a plate with a sandwich cut up in small pieces which he happily started to devour. Dumbledore fed him some soup.
"He loves soup, but it's so messy," the Headmaster lamented as the broth dribbled down the child's chin and unto his clothes.
Molly Scourgified the baby, the chair and the floor without so much as looking up. Arthur took over feeding Severus so Dumbledore could eat his own lunch.
"He needs to sleep," Albus said hesitatingly.
"I put up a cot in Percy's old room," Molly informed him, "you can put him for a nap there. Arthur Transfigured a teddybear for him – said a boy his age needs one."
The Weasley patriarch blushed a bit.
"Thank you," the Headmaster waited until lunch was over and Molly had cleared the table with a few deft flicks of her wand. Then he changed Severus into his pyjamas.
"Say bye to Uncle Arthur and Aunt Molly, my boy. You'll see them when you wake up."
Severus lifted his little hand and clumsily wiggled his fingers.
"Baah," he said, nestling against Dumbledore.
"Oh, the little darling," Molly looked ready to cuddle the baby, Headmaster and all. Albus thought it prudent to relocate Severus to his crib.
The soft teddybear that Arthur transfigured immediately caught Severus's attention and he hugged it while Albus tucked him under the blankets.
"Sleep well, child," Dumbledore whispered. He stayed for a little while to make sure the baby went to sleep before going back to the kitchen.
They spent a pleasant afternoon reminiscing, and trying to figure out the Muggle World Wide Web, something Harry had alerted them to.
After a few hours, Dumbledore went upstairs to get Severus. Entering the room, he thought his heart stopped.
The crib was empty.