Chapter Three; The Black Woods

Lily held her son on top of her lap while she sat on top of Hagrid's hut. "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout," they sang together while curled her finger and slowly raised them up into the air. "Down came the rain, and washed the spider out!" they sang while she wiggled her fingers and brought them back down before waving her hands towards her right shoulder. "Out came the sun and dried up all the rain." They sang while she made a big circle with both of her hands.

"And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again." They finished singing together as Lily curled her fingers again but this time she used them to tickle his belly making him squeal with laughter and giggles while Hagrid grinned watched them from afar.

"He is such a cute little tike." He said when all of a sudden there came a knock on his door. "Don't worry Lily, I'll get it." He said as he stood up from his chair and answered it. Snape and Mrs. Weasley were standing there.

"Oh hullo Severus, hullo Molly." He greeted them with a welcoming smile.

"Hullo Hagrid," Molly began. "Severus was just telling me that he wanted to spend the afternoon with his wife, and I was wondering if Harry would like to spend some time with me and play with my son Ron." She explained.

"I'd love to!" Harry cried as he slid off his mother's lap. "Where is he?" he wondered.

"He's playing out in the woods with his older twin brothers." She replied.

"Oh." Harry began sadly before he took a step backwards. "I'm not allowed to go in the woods. My father told me not too." He explained with a shake of his head.

"Just the Black Woods, there are a lot of woods around Hogwarts that is perfectly safe for you to play in." Snape told him. "Follow Mrs. Weasley and she'll show you the way." He explained.

"Alright, thank you Daddy." Harry told him as they exchanged grins and then he nodded slightly at him.

"Be good and have fun." He told his son before he turned to watch him take off after Molly with a grin.

"Don't get me wrong Severus," Lily began as she got up off the couch and walked over to him. "I'm glad that Harry has found a friend, but what is so terrible about the Black Woods?" she asked him. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand. Why can't Harry play there? I mean after all, they're only spiders aren't they?"

"I'm afraid that it's not the spiders that I'm worried about." He began with a shake of his head. "It is said that whoever goes into those woods never returns." He explained.

"Why not?" Lily asked him.

"Well, you see the thing is Lily that nobody has been known to return because nobody can ever find their way out again. The path is constantly changing, it's like a never ending maze." Hagrid told her. "Many witches and wizards went in there and none of them were seen or heard from again. I bet that there are probably hundreds if not thousands of human bones scattered inside of there."

"But what if Harry decides to disobey you, what will happen to him then?" Lily asked her husband anxiously. "I mean after all, five year olds don't always follow the rules."

"I don't know, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But I don't think that we have anything to worry about, Harry is a very obedient child unlike his biological father. And besides that he knows that he's going to get a smacked bottom if he doesn't." he told her. "Come on Lily, let's go to Hogsmeade, Molly will watch the boys. And I trust her more than the Weasley twins." He said as he took her hand and they left Hagrid's hut together.

….

Harry sprinted through the woods as fast as he could go with Ron and his little sister Ginny. Fred and George howled like werewolves as they chased them. "Come on Harry we have to run faster or they'll catch us!" Ron cried.

"Too late!" Fred yelled as he wrapped his arms around him tightly and held him captive. "I caught you Ron, now you're the werewolf!" he exclaimed when all of a sudden their mother walked into the woods behind them.

"Alright come on Ginny, it's time for your nap sweetheart." She told her daughter.

"But Mummy, I'm not tired!" she protested with a stomp of her foot. "I want to continue playing the werewolf game with them!" she cried.

"Too bad sis." Fred said.

"Yeah, you don't always get what you want in life. We want a dragon but there's no way that we can get that either." George told her.

"A dragon sounds nice," Harry began while Mrs. Weasley bent down and picked Ginny up. "but I'd rather have a puppy. I used to have a cat before he ran away but it was when I was a baby and I don't even remember him." He told them while Mrs. Weasley carried Ginny away.

"Ginny loves animals, especially cats. I'm surprised we haven't gotten one by now. Well, we have this old rat and a few owls, and a bunch of chickens and pigs, but that's about it." He explained.

"Wow, that seems like an awful lot to me." Harry said while widening his eyes.

"Now that Ginny's gone, do you guys want to go into the Black Woods?" Fred asked them with a sly grin.

"Sorry, but my father told me that I wasn't allowed." Harry told him with a shake of his head.

"Come on Fred, leave Harry alone. He's only a little kid." George told him.

"I am not!" Harry cried while placing his hands upon his hips clearly seeming offended. "I'm five years old now! I know how to tie my shoes and ride a bicycle with no hands! I don't even need naps anymore because Mummy called me a big boy and I am completely potty trained!" he yelled.

"Alright, alright, don't have a cow! Jeesh!" George told him with a roll of his eyes. "If you're really not scared and you're sure you can handle it you can come with us then." He said.

"Of course I can! I'm not afraid of anything!" Harry spat.

"But I thought you said that your father told you that you weren't allowed?" Ron questioned.

"Well, yes but, he probably only told me that because he thought that I was too little and I'd get scared of the spiders. This my chance to prove to him that I'm not a baby anymore!" he said.

"Whatever you say Harry." Ron told him as they followed the other two boys further into the woods.