"Kitten! Prongslet, you made it!" Sirius beamed at them, sweat dripping down his face as he helped Dean repair a step that was quite clearly fighting them. "We could use a wand, Prongslet. Your less handsome father is in the library Kitten if you want to join him with the sprog?"

"Father?" Dean frowned, not taking his eyes off the step as the cracks slowly started to disappear under his wand.

"Didn't you hear?" Sirius teased, "Remus and I recently had a baby girl."

"You are ridiculous," Hermione muttered before turning to Severus, "Will we go and find Moony in the library?"

He pouted, "Uncle Ron said the car was in the forest!"

"And while it might be, he also told you there were spiders who would think you were a snack." she countered.

He pouted, "Spiders aren't bigger than me!" he held his thumb and pointer finger half a centimetre apart, peering through the gap comically. "They little!"

"These ones are much bigger than you," she retorted, biting back a shiver as she remembered them from the last battle. Despite not having had a spider phobia before, she was now firmly on Ron's side; the only acceptable spider was a dead one, regardless of size. "He told you they almost ate him and Harry didn't he?"

"Yes." he replied petulantly, "But he was just joking!"

"Severus Snape, he absolutely was not!" Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly with her hands on her hips. The pose was so reminiscent of Hermione scolding Ron that Harry snickered.

"He was!" he protested, mimicking her.

"He was not! We'll find a copy of Fantastic Beasts in the library and I'll show you." she retorted.

He frowned, his head tilting as he considered that, "They're in a book?"

"Yes. A book on all the magical creatures we know about."

He paused clearly thinking that through. "They really eat me?"

"Wouldn't even have to chew," Harry confirmed, "They could just pop you in their mouths and swallow. That's how big they are."

His eyes went wide and frightened, "They stay in the forest?"

"Yes," Hermione agreed with a smirk. "But only if little boys don't go wandering into the forest looking for flying cars.

"I stay with you! No forest!" he agreed slightly frantically, "We see Moony now?"

With a laugh, Hermione took his hand," Come in then Imp, let's go and see what he's up to."


She found Remus in the library with Percy Weasley and Blaise, her mind boggling slightly at the strange combination.

Remus' face lit up upon seeing her, "You're earlier than I expected."

"Yes well, Uncle Ron was filling his head with stories of flying cars. It seemed…prudent."

"Uncle Ron?" Blaise spluttered, "Merlin he's going to murder Weasley slowly when he's himself isn't he?"

"Probably," she shrugged carelessly, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Gods it's one thing to hear it but to see it…." Percy trailed off making her smile at the utterly stunned look on his face before she turned to Severus.

"You remember Blaise, don't you darling?"

Severus scowled, "I don't like him." he pouted.

"Severus, what did I say about manners?" she sighed.

"To use them and be polite," he recited.

"And was what you said polite?"

"No but it was true," he argued. "And you said lies were bad!"

"Oh my god!" She muttered, "Severus, you still cannot be rude, you'll hurt people's feelings."

His eyes narrowed before he deflated under her glare and he mumbled, "Sorry," at Blaise.

With a shake of her head, as she silently vowed to work on that, she looked back down at him, "Say hello to Percy please."

He spun to look at Percy, "You know Uncle Ron?" he checked.

"I'm his big brother," Percy smiled.

"Wow," his eyes went wide. "Have you flown a car?"

"Ah no." Percy shook his head before he got a mischievous look in his eye, "But I've flown a motorbike."

"You have!" Severus shouted. "Did you touch the clouds?"

"I was in them," he replied smugly.

"Wow." Severus breathed, immediately latching onto him. "Do you have stories like Uncle Ron?"

"Probably not stories that are as good as Uncle Ron's," Percy admitted, "But I have stories about Uncle Ron. Did he tell you that Fred and George once turned his teddy into a spider?"

"No!" Severus gasped.

Hermione snorted, "Babysitting sorted then. What was it you were doing?"

Remus laughed, watching Severus staring up at Percy with fascination. "Merlin, when in doubt, call a Weasley. Right, we were repairing the shelves and stacking the books, if you want to join us."

"Sure," she agreed, flicking her wand into her hand.

"How is it going with mini-Snape?" Blaise murmured some time later, helping her shelve the undamaged books on the newly restored shelves.

She shrugged, "He's been no trouble. Beyond being slightly stubborn."

"Snape stubborn?" he teased, "Never."

She rolled her eyes in response before admitting quietly, "I hope he doesn't hate me for this when he's him again."

"How could he hate you?" Blaise asked softly, frowning slightly at her tone, "You're giving him a childhood."

"Yes, but he wasn't always the most rational was he?"

"No," Blaise admitted with a grimace, "but look at him, he's so bloody happy."

"I know," she sighed, a faint smile appearing as she watched Percy very seriously play with Severus' dinosaurs. "Which is what makes me think he's going to murder us all."

Blaise gave a huff of laughter, "Maybe." he agreed. "Are you any further forward working out what happened?"

"Nope," Hermione shook her head, "We need Malfoy."

"Draco?" he queried, swivelling to look at her properly having not expected that.

"Yes, Severus willed his house to him so he should be able to access the wards and change them. Or so we hope."

"Sweet Salazar. That's…insane."

"Do you think he'll help?" she asked hesitantly, not bothering to hide how unsure she was.

"Yes," he replied automatically. "It won't even cross his mind not to."

"Are you sure?" she probed.

"Yes. He…he was a prejudiced arsehole for a pretty long time but by the time he wasn't, it was too late. That monster was living in his house threatening his mother. He doesn't hate you, Granger. He won't even consider not helping." She hummed, turning that over inside her head. "What will you do if you can't fix it?" he asked curiously.

"Keep him," she whispered, her eyes straying back to Severus and Percy, both of them engrossed in their game.

"Would you really?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes," she admitted. "I'm really going to miss him."

He looked momentarily flummoxed, "What about NEWTS?"

She shrugged, not noticing Remus listening for her answer, "I still intended to take them so I'll probably take them at the Ministry. "

"And after?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "I don't see myself working for the Ministry. I've had enough healing to last a lifetime and I don't see myself in a shop. I'd like a mastery, Charms or Transfiguration, maybe. Warding fascinates me. It saved our lives more than once. But Sirius mentioned setting up a charity. I might do that."

"For what?"

She shrugged, "Honestly? At this point, the issue will be narrowing it down. I'd like to help creatures and Beings. I think we need to do something for muggleborns and something to combat prejudice across the board. There are a number of war orphans that will need help. We need to reinforce the protection of magical homes but many can't afford it because most experts have to come from other countries and the ones here were all elitist arseholes who only accepted obscenely wealthy clients, so maybe a business alongside a charity?"

He laughed softly, "Merlin Granger, you'll be single-handedly running our world by thirty."

She scoffed, "Don't be absurd"

"Granger, don't tell me you don't have a step-by-step plan for each of those ideas you just threw at me."

She flushed, "Even if I did, I haven't done anything about them yet."

"Yet," he emphasised before he grinned, "Is this where I remind you that I have friends with very deep pockets and make myself indispensable?"

"Hilarious Zabini," she muttered.

"Who's joking?" he countered, as Remus edged closer. "My friends have more money than they can spend in ten lifetimes, it wouldn't harm them to funnel some of it your way so you can shape the wizarding world to your vision."

"But why would they?" she countered.

"Some for the optics. Some because I asked."

"And why would you ask?"

"Ah, my plan to become indispensable, remember?"

She snorted. "Oh of course."

"I'm so glad you're on board, Granger." he grinned.

"My Mya!" a small voice interrupted them excitedly, "Uncle Ron rode a stone horse!"

She laughed, looking over at him, "That he did."

"Uncle Percy says you were there!"

"I was," she agreed, trying not to think about how bloody terrified they'd all been at the time.

"Did you ride a stone horse?"

"Ah no. I was a very unexciting rook. So sad, no stone horse for me."

He giggled, "Maybe next time, my Mya!"

"God I hope not," she muttered, making Blaise laugh

"Uncle Percy says Uncle Charlie works with real dragons!" he continued with a bounce, his eyes shining with excitement. "They're like dinosaurs with wings!"

Hermione groaned, "Little bit." she agreed.

"We go and see Uncle Charlie, my Mya!"

She shot Percy a look but infuriatingly, he grinned smugly back, "I'm sure Charlie would be delighted to take you to meet the dragons but he's not there right now."

"Where is he?" Severus demanded turning back to Percy.

"He's coming to help with the castle in a little while. He was just helping our Mum for a bit this morning."

Severus frowned, "Your Mum," he repeated softly as if to himself before turning to glare at Percy accusingly, "You have a mum. Like Sophie, in tiger- tea."

"Ah, yes." Percy agreed, looking momentarily unsure, clearly having no idea who Sophie was.

"I don't have a mum," he muttered.

Hermione looked pained but Percy smiled, "You have your Mya though don't you? And Harry, and Sirius and Remus. And now you've got an Uncle Ron, and an Uncle Percy and soon an Uncle Charlie."

Severus tilted his head, looking thoughtful. "I do," he agreed.

"Well then," Percy nodded, seemingly satisfied.

Hermione bit back a sigh. "When is Charlie coming?"

Percy glanced down at his watch. "After lunch, so ah…two or so hours. Hopefully. You know what mums like."

"We have lunch now, my Mya?" Severus swivelled to look at her with begging eyes.

"Half an hour," she countered, "Let me finish these shelves and then we can go and get lunch."

"I'm hungry now my Mya!" he exclaimed with huge eyes.

She sighed, "You're always hungry." she muttered, "Winky!"

"Yes Mistress." the elf beamed, clearly pleased at being called.

"Could you bring Severus a snack so he doesn't waste away before lunch please?"

There were several amused smirks around the room as Severus' eyes lit up at the promise of food. Winky smiled indulgently, "Of course Mistress."

"That will never not be strange," Blaise muttered, staring at the spot the elf had vanished from. He was still staring when she reappeared with various vegetables cut into sticks with little dip options. He looked at it with genuine surprise. "That's…Salazar my elf bribed me with sweeties."

"Sweeties!" Severus shouted.

"You got enough sweeties from Fred and George," Hermione countered drily.

He pouted for several seconds before turning to smile sweetly at Winky, "I have cake?"

Winky actually snorted, Hermione didn't think she'd ever heard such a noise come from an elf. Maybe Harry was right and she was a terrible influence. "Little master will grow up to be a charming man, yes he will. But right now, the young Master needs to be listening to his mother or he won't grow up big and strong, no he won't. He'll be little and weak. Does the young master want that?" Severus frowned, seeming to contemplate that.

"I don't have a mother," he declared. "So I don't have to listen."

The elf's eyebrows rose, "Oh? And does the Mistress not look after you like a mother?" she demanded.

"Oh god." Hermione groaned as Severus froze. "For the love of Merlin, someone stop her."

Remus snorted, torn between amusement and fear of what would happen when Severus became Severus again. "I believe that's your job, cub," he murmured.

Hermione turned to stare at him in horror. "How am I meant to do that?" she hissed.

"You my Mummy, my Mya?" Severus breathed with wide-blown eyes before he barrelled into her, tiny arms reaching around her, cutting off whatever Remus had been about to say "You my Mummy," he murmured again, this time a statement, not a question.

Her eyes met Remus, a look of genuine horror painted on her face, even as her hands automatically wrapped around the boy.

"Did that just happen?" Percy mumbled, looking as stunned as the rest of them.

"I think it did," Remus replied, looking at Hermione contemplatively. "Perhaps it was always coming."

If anything she looked even more frightened at that statement; none of them noticed Winky leaving with a self-satisfied little smirk amid their confusion.


Lunch was tense, Harry, Sirius and Neville looking between them questioningly. They got their answers when Severus turned to Hermione, "Mummy, I have cake now?"

Harry and Dean dropped their forks, Hermione closed her eyes briefly before she plastered a smile onto her face, turning to look at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "Have you eaten the rest of your lunch?"

He looked sheepishly down at his half full plate. "No," he sighed.

"Well then do you think you can have cake?"

"No, Mummy," he sighed, turning dejectedly back towards his lunch.

Harry cast a quick muffliato, "Mummy?" he demanded.

"Fucking interfering elf," Hermione muttered in response, ignoring the way Blaise's jaw dropped at her phrasing and Dean's amused snort.

"Winky caused this?" Neville asked, suddenly looking much more amused.

"Yes." Hermione sighed.

He choked on a laugh at the same time Dean did. "Well…" he trailed off, working hard to keep the smile off his face.

Harry cancelled the spell as Severus started fidgeting, "Mummy my ears feel funny," he whined.

"It's alright, it should be away now." she soothed, a look of resignation flitting briefly across her face.

He paused, seeming to check. "It is!" he agreed.

She smiled sweetly at him, "Uncle Harry was just playing with magic." At Harry's splutter, she turned with a smirk, taking vicious pleasure from his shock. Turning back towards Severus, she smiled, a mischievous look on her face, "Now, Grandpa Sirius seems to have the best cake, why don't you sit with him?"

"You're evil." Sirius gasped, as Severus eyed the cake selections before darting under the table and appearing at Sirius' side.

"Can I have chocolate cake, Grandpa?"

Her smug smile widened as Dean and Neville howled at the look of impotent outrage on Sirius' face. "Mya…daughter…child of my heart, why do you hate me so?" he whined dramatically. "I'm not old enough to be a grandfather. Don't make me!"

She snorted, "Grandpa's silly, isn't he Severus? He's plenty old."

Sirius gave a dramatic gasp of horror. "No! Betrayed by my own daughter! Where did we go wrong, Moons?"

Several people were now openly laughing which only made him pout harder. Remus snorted, "It would appear our daughter inherited the Black sense of humour, darling. You've only yourself to blame."

Sirius' jaw dropped in betrayal; Harry grinned, clapping him on the back, "Well then, on that note Grandpa, shall we get back to work?"

Sirius scowled, looking down at Severus. "Mummy inherited Grandad's terrible sense of humour, you know. They're both cruel."

"Grandad?" he frowned, looking confused.

Sirius gestured to Remus. "He's older than I am.."

"But if you're Mummy's daddy," he cocked his head trailing off.

"Ah well, your mummy got very lucky and got two daddies this time."

"This time?"

"Well ah…" Sirius suddenly fidgeted, belatedly realising that Severus was often sharper than the average three year old.

"I had a mummy and a daddy before but they're not here now and Sirius and Remus decided they wanted to look after me instead." Hermione cut in reading his panic

"Like you look after me!" Severus exclaimed, beaming at her

A faint hint of a smile appeared on her face. "Yes I suppose so." she agreed.

He gave her a satisfied smile, turning back to his cake.


"Today's been really weird hasn't it?" Harry murmured, sitting next to Hermione once Severus was safely in bed.

"God yes." she muttered, "He's going to hate me, isn't he?"

He smiled sadly back at her. "He…I think eventually he'll understand."

"Really?" she snorted humourlessly.

"Maybe?" he hedged. "He…you can't…you don't." Harry blew out a breath. "He adores you. And that doesn't come from nowhere. He didn't hate you before. He isn't going to hate you after. Well…he might be a bit annoyed about making Sirius his Grandpa."

She gave a huff of laughter, "Merlin that's going to be so bloody hard to justify."

"Little bit," he grinned. "The only thing worse might be an Uncle Nev."

At that, she laughed properly. "I think Neville might be equally upset."

Harry inclined his head in agreement, almost able to see Neville's horrified look as a fully gown Snape called him Uncle. He fleetingly wondered what Snape could be bribed with so he got to see it before deciding he probably wasn't brave enough, despite how entertaining it would be. "How are you feeling about next week?" he asked instead, taking advantage of having her alone.

"Scared," she whispered.

He nodded, moving to wrap an arm around her. "I hear Sirius promised an island."

"Yes," she smiled sadly. "He did."

"Well then. A few months on an island will probably do us some good."

Hermione dropped her head onto his shoulder silently, allowing him to hug her, both of them trying to plan for whatever they were faced with following Kingsley's visit.


20th May 1998

"Right then," Sirius looked at her from over his coffee. "Where are we meeting our new minister?"

"Minerva's office," she whispered.

He paused, taking in the tight line of her shoulders and the fear she was trying to hide. "Oh love. It's going to be alright."

She nodded, not looking at him, attempting unsuccessfully to stop the tears before they fell

"Mummy?" Severus' voice interrupted them before he froze, "You're crying."

She quickly wiped at her face, attempting a smile. "I'm fine."

He frowned, moving to wrap his arms around her gently. "You sad mummy?"

"Little bit," she agreed, sounding choked, pulling him onto her lap. "I'll be fine. I just need a cuddle."

"I make it better," he announced, his arms winding around her neck.

"Always darling," she murmured, squeezing him tightly. Sirius' eyes met Remus' over her head, neither quite able to hide the sadness they felt.

"Right, love. Did Kings give you a time?"

"Nine," she murmured, into the crown of Severus' head.

"Then we need to go, Kitten." he pointed out gently.

"I know," she whispered, taking a deep breath. "Severus?"

He let her go slightly to look at her. "Mummy?"

Taking his face in her hands, both trying to memorise it and ensure she had his full attention, she forced herself to keep her voice even "Mummy needs to go with Grandpa to see Headmistress McGonagall. I need you to stay here with Grandad and Uncle Harry.

"No I go with you!" he protested immediately.

"No darling, not this time," she shook her head, smiling sadly, " I need you to stay here. I won't be long. Maybe Uncle Harry will see if Uncle Ron will visit?"

He seemed torn. "Or Uncle Charlie?"

"Or Uncle Charlie," she agreed, quickly shooting Remus a pleading look.

"Absolutely," Remus agreed. "Breakfast first then we'll see about meeting Uncle Charlie. He should have finished whatever his Mum wanted him to do by now."

"Will he bring a dragon mummy?" Severus asked excitedly, bouncing on her hip when she stood.

"Ah…they're ah..not exactly pet material." she grimaced. "But we'll see if Uncle Georgie can figure out how to make one like Uncle Harry had."

"Uncle Harry had a dragon?" he screeched, making them all wince.

"Yes," she agreed, smiling desperately at Harry. "He'll tell you about it, right, Uncle Harry?"

"I ah…of course," he stammered, still blinking sleepily as he wandered into the room.

"I'll go and contact Charlie," Remus murmured, as Hermione handed Severus over to Harry. She smiled sadly in acknowledgement, allowing him to wrap her in a hug, "It's going to be alright." he whispered into her hair.

She released a shaky breath, letting him go. "I hope so," she murmured before taking a deep breath, turning to Sirius, "Right. Let's go."


They were silent as they sat down in Minvera's office waiting for both the Headmistress and Kingsley to arrive.

"Those stairs are going to be the death of us all," Minerva muttered as she swept in several minutes later, making them jump. "How are you dear? And you brought Sirius Black. What exactly did I do to displease you?"

Hermione smiled wanly, "He offered to come."

"Can't stay away Minnie," Sirius grinned, "One day you'll give in to my begging and join Remus and I for a triad."

"You couldn't handle me, even with two of you," she replied dryly, making Hermione choke.

"Jesus, can we not?" she begged.

Minerva's eyebrows arched. "I'm not dead yet, dear. And Aberfrorth is a rather… adventurous man."

"Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed seeing Hermione rendered speechless. "I knew you were wicked. Throwing me over for Aberforth, surely a younger model would serve you better!"

"He serves me just fine." she retorted.

"Oh god please." Hermione groaned, feeling her cheeks heat.

"Perhaps you need a man Miss Granger-Black. To help with that embarrassment."

She turned piteously to Sirius, "Make her stop." she begged.

"Never," he grinned. "I like my women… uninhibited."

"You're married," she replied flatly, attempting to banish that sentence from her head.

"Ah but for the right woman, we'd be open to getting you a new mum, Kitten."

"Please, for the love of magic never, ever say that to me again."

He snorted but was stopped from commenting as Kingsley stepped through the floo and she immediately tensed.

"Minerva," he smiled, taking her hand before taking in the rest of the room with a confused frown. "Hermione and…Sirius. What's going on?"

"Have a seat," Minerva gestured towards the empty one waiting on him. "It came to our attention that there was a slight mishap with a potion."

"What?" Kingsley stared back at her, clearly baffled.

"Severus," she sighed, "It would appear he is alive."

Kingsley's eyebrows rose, "Where? He demanded.

"At home, with Harry and Remus." Hermione supplied, taking a breath. "Probably playing with Duplo dinosaurs or cuddling his teddy."

Kingsley swivelled to look at her, "Is this a joke?" he demanded.

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" she whispered. Finally taking her in properly, Kingsley could see the strain on her face and the white-knuckled grip she had on Sirius' hand.

"No." he exhaled slowly, fighting a look of disbelief. "Why don't you start at the beginning."

"Moxie brought him here a couple of days after the last battle," Minerva began. "Based on what little information we got from her and Severus himself, it would appear he had an accident with a potion. We're not sure what because we cannot get into his house. But currently, Severus Snape is three."

"Three?" he spluttered. "Sweet Salazar, are you sure?"

"Ah, yes." Hermione nodded. "We need Draco Malfoy. Severus left his house to him so we assume he can get through the wards. He really is our only hope, to be honest. Because without knowing what he was working on, we can't fix anything."

"Have you taken him to St Mungo's?"

"No," Hermione shook her head, willing him to understand her reasoning, "We both know that it's unlikely to be simple and I won't subject him to their prejudice or months of poking and prodding. He's three and happy and…"

"If he's happy, why exactly are we discussing changing him back?" Kingsley cut in, remembering all too well how miserable Snape had been as an adult.

"Because it's not our call to make?" Hermione offered sounding less sure than the last time she'd uttered those words.

"No," Kingsley agreed with a sigh, "I suppose it is not. I will…speak to Mr. Malfoy."

"Does he have a trial date yet?"

"Soon," Kingsley eyed her curiously. "Why?"

"Because I intend to speak. So does Harry."

"Oh?"

She shrugged, "He was sixteen and in an impossible position. Hateful little arse he might have been, he wasn't evil."

"We know," Kingsley sighed, running a hand over his face as the toll his weeks in office had wrought showed starkly on his face. " Or I know. I'm hoping to have his trial done before Hogwarts reopens. I was planning to have his attendance be a mandatory part of rehabilitation."

"What?" Minerva demanded.

"Mandatory muggle studies. Mixed groups, forcing him out of his comfort zone. I think it will help."

Hermione hummed, "You'll let me know when a date is set?"

"If you're sure." he nodded, "Now, I'll go and see if he'll help. Give me half an hour?"

"That soon?" she yelped

He eyed her speculatively, more than a little surprised by her reaction. "That soon."


"I'm going for a walk," she announced as Kingsley disappeared into the floo and then bolted from the office.

"Well that could have gone better," Sirius muttered.

"It's wrong to hope we can't reverse it isn't it?" Minerva murmured,

"Probably," he grimaced. "But Merlin knows I do. Which is insane. Severus Snape calls me Grandpa and I'm sat here bloody wishing for it to continue indefinitely.

"Grandpa?" she gaped. "What in the world have I missed?"

Sirius grinned before launching into a story of an incorrigible elf.