A Stolen Child

[medea]

So I have been working on this story for a while and finally decided to post the first chapter of it and see what everyone thinks of it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except this storyline.

Summary: Almost eleven years ago, a baby boy was stolen from his parents, now the year is 1971 and Severus Snape has come to Hogwarts. Will the secrets and lies of the past be revealed?

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“Severus Snape.” Professor Minerva McGonagall read aloud from her list of names, as the previous child, James Potter, scrambled off the stool and over to the Gryffindor table. Watching the dark haired child, Minerva sighed. After over a decade of teaching, she had learnt to recognize many different traits in children, and as she watched James, she realized that she was going to be in for an interesting seven years with him. His entire being screamed mischievousness and seeing him sit down with a cheeky grin already in place, she knew without a doubt that her record of most detentions in seven years, was about to be beaten. She sighed again and resisted the temptation to groan, karma really was a bitch.

Meanwhile, another dark- haired child was now making his way slowly towards where she stood with the Sorting Hat. However, unlike James, this child drew her attention for the mere fact that he seemed to be trying to be invisible. His shoulders were hunched slightly, his eyes focused on his feet and his careful steps suggested that he was in pain. Narrowing her eyes, Minerva watched the child come closer, her mind screaming at her that this tiny child was the victim of abuse.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Minerva, who was now fighting the instinct to drag the boy to the Hospital Wing straightaway, Severus Snape stood before the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts.

Keeping his eyes carefully downcast, Severus moved to sit on the stool, as he had seen the children who had gone before him do, desperately resisting the impulse to jump when he felt the stern Professor step closer to him.

Gently placing the hat on the child’s head, Minerva stepped back, her gaze briefly meeting that of her husband’s before turning back to watch the boy. However, her quick glance had been enough, for now Minerva was no longer the only one observing Severus Snape, her husband’s keen eyes were now also focused on him.
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Severus’ point of view.

“Hmmm, now let’s have a look what we have here,” a quiet voice murmured into Severus’ ear as the brim of the hat slipped over his eyes. “An intelligent and ordered mind, rare for one so young,…oh I see, I see,” the voice said sadly, before Severus was able to respond to the voice’s comments. “You have impressive talents, young Snape, and a thirst to prove that you deserve to be here…but what’s this? Something locked away in your memories…hidden from you even…now that is very interesting…”

“What? What’s interesting? What are you talking about?” Severus thought to the hat nervously.

“Ah patience, young one, you will discover all for yourself in time. Now back to the reason we are both here, where shall I place you? I see you wish to be with your friend Lily Evans but I do not think that Gryffindor will be the right place for you. Hufflepuff would also be unsuitable. So Ravenclaw or Slytherin, hmmm, perhaps eeny meeny miny moe would be best used here?” The voice asked almost childishly, causing Severus to roll his eyes slightly in annoyance, his earlier nervousness momentarily banished by his irritation at the voice’s childlike antics. The voice simply chuckled at the boy’s response, “You are more like your mother than I previously thought, however even with that I believe that you would be best suited to SLYTHERIN.” The voice shouted the last word aloud and Severus soon felt the hat being pulled gently off his head. However just as the brim was lifted away from his eyes, he heard the voice murmur a few last words. “Forget the words of the person who told you that you didn’t deserve to be here, he will never again be able to speak to you in such a way.” And with those final cryptic yet decisive words, the hat was removed completely from Severus’ head, leaving him stunned but oddly reassured.

Climbing off the stool, he smiled weakly at the Professor, before turning and walking towards the Slytherin table, unaware of the shocked expression which had briefly flashed across the woman’s face.

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Later that same evening…

Minerva sighed heavily, tears falling steadily as she stared at the photograph in her hands. It was one of the few pictures that she had of him and she had cherished and kept all of them safe for over a decade.

Her perfect baby boy. Her angel.

So absorbed by the photo in her hands, Minerva failed to notice the quiet entrance of her husband and jumped slightly as he sat down beside her.

“It would have been his sorting today.” Minerva commented brokenly, as she leant into her husband’s embrace, desperately seeking the strength and comfort which his arms provided, the sound of her sobs soon filling the room again.

“I know, my darling, I know.” Albus muttered, stroking his wife’s raven head, his own heart aching at the memory of his lost child.

“When I saw Severus Snape’s eyes, they were so much like his, it just made it all the more painful. Did you see his eyes, Albus?” She asked; her head still buried in the warmth of Albus’ chest.

“I must confess that I did not,” Albus replied, his hand still running softly through Minerva’s hair.

“They were so dark, just like Patrick’s, they reminded me so much of him…” Minerva mumbled, the soothing motions of her husband’s hand quickly lulling her into a disjointed sleep.

Careful not to wake his now slumbering wife, Albus lifted her petite body into his arms and carried her into their bedroom, pausing only to pick up the photo, which had fallen onto the chair when Minerva’s grip had loosened on it in sleep.

Laying Minerva gently in the bed, Albus swiftly changed their robes into suitable sleep-ware with a flick of his wrist, before sliding into the bed next to her. Breathing in her scent, Albus pulled her closer, his own tears now sliding down his cheeks as he remembered their handsome child, whom fate had so cruelly stolen from them.

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So what do you think? Next chapter should be up soon. M xxxxxxx

[harmonydumbledore]

OMG I can't wait this is so new and interesting!

[Rosemary Dumbledore McGonagall]

I can't wait either! I wonder.................. NO WAY! Seriously! Ohhhhhhhhhhhh this could be extremely interesting!

[medea]

Thanks for the great reviews glad that you like my first chapter of this frankly odd storyline. Sorry about the delay, been dealing with the snow that we've had over here and then I caught a cold, which meant that my brain was just not functioning lol. Anyway it now seems to be willing to work so I could finally proof- read this chapter and post it. Hope you like it.

Earlier disclaimer still applies: I don't own anything except this storyline, so don't sue me. Not that you'd get much. I own this laptop and two cats, that's it.
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“James Potter! Sirius Black! Severus Snape! What in the name of Merlin do you think you are doing?” Minerva demanded, having turned a corner and found the three students standing in the corridor with their wands pointed at one another.

“Professor McGonagall, what a pleasant surprise and might I say, you look absolutely ravishing today?” Sirius complemented charmingly.

“Don’t start, Mr. Black, twenty points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin for fighting and a detention to be served with me.” Minerva stated firmly.

“Aww but Professor…” James began, stopping quickly as Minerva held up her hand.

“Would you like to try for a week’s worth of detentions, Mr. Potter?” She asked, raising a menacing eyebrow.

“No, Ma’am.”

“Very well. Run along you two. Mr. Snape, do you mind waiting for a moment?” Severus nodded and watched as the two other boys ran off. As soon as they had turned the corner, Minerva turned to face Severus again. “Are you alright?” She asked anxiously, worried about the small boy, who had quickly become a favourite of hers.

“I’m fine, Professor, you arrived before anything really happened.” Severus replied awkwardly, still a little uncomfortable with the attention which he received from the Transfiguration Professor, even after she had managed to gain his trust with her warm and caring gestures.

“Well if you’re sure, maybe you should head back to your common room via the Tapestry passageway.” She suggested, knowing that by taking this short cut, Severus would be unlikely to run into the two Gryffindor boys again. Smiling in response, Severus nodded politely to his teacher and then turned and walked off back towards his common room.

Minerva frowned slightly as she watched him leave before shifting silently into her Animagus form and quietly following him through the maze of hallways down towards the dungeons. Something about the child still distressed her but it made no sense. She had already instigated the steps that would ensure his removal from his abusive home and together with Madam Pomfrey, they had begun to draw the child out, gently tending his wounds, both the emotional and the physical, rejoicing as Severus began to trust them.

She had expected her feelings of unease to lessen now that she was sure that he would be safe when he left the walls of the castle during the holidays and could see his body and soul beginning to heal from the horrors that it had been put through.

And yet, she often found herself wondering about the child’s day, whether he had eaten enough at meals, had fun in his lessons; personal parts of his life, which she knew that she had no real right to know. She was not his mother after all, however much he might remind her of her own son.
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A week later…

“I’m fine, Sirius, jeese you’re worse than my mother; it was just a little fall, no biggie.” James remarked, teasing his friend as they walked to the Hospital Wing together, James cradling his arm to his chest in a protective manner. “Madam Pomfrey will have me fixed up in no time. Madam Pomp…Oi what was that for?” James asked, glaring at his friend, who having punched him on his good arm, was now pointing into the Hospital Wing.

“Check it out, Snivellus is in there.” Sirius said, pointing to where the dark-haired Slytherin was standing, his chest bared down to the waist. “What do you think…holy…” Sirius began, his sarcastic comment cut off as Severus turned around and he caught sight of the criss-crossing marks that were slashed across the pale skin of Severus’ back.

James meanwhile was struck dumb, he felt like he had been punched in the stomach as he realised what those marks meant. Gulping, he turned to Sirius and mumbled, “We should go. He obviously doesn’t want anyone to know; we’ll go back down the hall and make a lot of racket so that he knows that we’re coming.”

“Yeah, yeah, good idea.” Sirius muttered, his own feelings of guilt threatening to suffocate him, as he dumbly followed his best friend away from the Hospital Wing.
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Hearing the sounds of people approaching, Severus quickly pulled his robes back on, once again hiding his scars beneath the dark material, grimacing as he felt it sticking to his back where Madam Pomfrey had earlier applied the salve that was helping to remove his numerous scars.

Lifting his head, expecting to see Madam Pomfrey returning, Severus scowled as Potter and Black entered. Potter was clearly injured, gingerly holding his arm against his chest.

On the other hand, although Black appeared to be uninjured, he was unnaturally silent and seemed to be unsure of whether he should even be there. Surprised and wary of this curious attitude displayed by the usually brash and arrogant Black, Severus automatically stepped away as the two boys moved closer.

Seemingly unaware of Severus’ unease, James continued walking towards Madam Pomfrey’s office, forcing himself to be calm in the presence of the boy, whom he knew he had so cruelly tortured since the beginning of the school year. Reaching up to knock on the Nurse’s door, James was startled when a voice suddenly said,

“She’s not in. Madam Pomfrey, that is, she went down to see Professor Slughorn about some new potions.” Severus hastily explained, as James turned to look at him in surprise. Severus scowled again, as he waited for the usual sarcastic or cruel comment, he just had to open his mouth didn’t he, he thought to himself, but instead James simply nodded and walked over to the nearest bed.

“Thanks, Snape, guess I’ll just have to wait until she gets back, can’t exactly do much with a busted wand arm, can I?” He asked, directing his question to Severus who shook his head silently, shock overwhelming him for a moment as his mind processed the reality that Potter had actually been polite to him.

Before he could even begin to think of something to say in response though, Black, who had remained standing silently near the room’s main doors, suddenly shot forward. Instantly on the defensive because of the boy’s sudden movement, Severus stepped sideways, putting a bed between himself and Black. This manoeuvre seemed to catch Black’s attention though as he immediately stopped, ensuring that the bed remained between them.

Keeping his eyes fixed on Severus, Sirius suddenly lifted his jumper and shirt, allowing Severus to see the other boy’s chest and stomach. An angry looking red scar ran from just below Sirius’ left shoulder diagonally down his body ending just before his trouser line.

Astonished Severus lifted his gaze back up to meet the dark eyes of his tormenter. Sirius, however simply shrugged coolly and let his jumper and shirt fall back into place.

“My Mum, I pushed her too far one day, she healed me but left the scar as a reminder of how Blacks should behave,” He snarled disdainfully before continuing, “and what happened to those of us who didn’t live up to expectations. Guess it’s just lucky that Dad wanted the heir and the spare to remain alive.” Sirius finished, shrugging again as though unaware of the harsh reality of his words. The pain in his eyes though, shone through and Severus accustomed to seeing such pain in his own eyes instantly recognised it in another’s. All of a sudden, Severus’ head shot up as a thought occurred to him.

“Did they...my back, how did you…” He stammered nervously, a part of him wondering if Professor McGonagall or Madam Pomfrey had betrayed his trust.

“We saw.” James murmured sadly, a touch of guilt in his voice, “We didn’t mean to, guess we were actually quiet for once, since you didn’t even realise that we were there.”

Severus nodded, seeing the honesty in James and Sirius’ expressions.

“It was my Father. I was magic, a disgrace, in the way, any number of reasons…”

“You mean excuses!” James interrupted hotly, “They’re all excuses, no man or woman,” He added glancing at Sirius, “should ever attack a child, it’s just wrong.”

“Indeed it is child,” a calm voice uttered, “Unfortunately life isn’t always as perfect as we think it is.” Dumbledore explained sadly, as he pushed the doors open and stepped further into the room, eyeing the children with a scrutinising gaze.

Meanwhile Sirius glanced at Severus and nodded imperceptibly, a look of understanding flashing between the pair before Sirius held out his hand to Severus, who took it immediately, accepting the gesture of apology and friendship from the other boy.

Albus smiled at the pair, nothing more would be said about their previous hostilities, a common ground had been found, and children, as Albus knew, found it far easier to forgive and forget than adults.

James too had walked over to Severus and held out his good hand for the smaller boy to shake, laughing lightly and saying, “Sorry about the whole not giving you my right hand but it’s a little indisposed at the moment, may my mother forgive me for my rudeness.” The absurdity of the comment instantly caused smiles to appear on all their faces and soon all three children were laughing loudly, whilst Albus simply grinned at them, pleased that the three had solved their differences and begun moving towards friendship.

Eventually their laughter died down and Severus and Sirius helped James back to the bed, and although he protested loudly that he didn’t need to lie down when he had only hurt his arm, Sirius and Severus just ignored him.

Albus realising that he was no longer required, grabbed a tin that he had spotted on a table nearby and muttering something about Pomfrey stealing his lemon drops, he wandered away, leaving his students staring at him with baffled expressions on their faces.
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So voila chapter two. For anyone who wonders about the boys making friends so quickly, it's quite simple- have you ever watched kids fight? at eleven it's usually over by the end of the day if not sooner, they don't have an adult's cynicism and so can forgive far more easily. Also I figure that at this point although James and Sirius have been bullying Severus it probably hasn't gotten to cruelty that we see in the later books, and what with finding a common ground I think that becoming friends wouldn't be that difficult.

Oh and one more thing, if anyone wonders why I switch from calling James and Sirius, Potter and Black and visa-versa, it's because I was switching between chararcter's points of view. Hope it wasn't too confusing, it just seemed to work best this way.

Anyway if anyone has stuck through this loooooooooooooong author's note, wahey for you and I will simply add a last hint for reviews and constuctive criticism. ;D. toodles. M xxxxx

[harmonydumbledore]

I understand how kids work. This was a great chapter and maybe with this friendship things will change. Well done on this chapter.

[Lady of the Night]

I really enjoyed the first two chapters I will be looking forward to more.

[Rosemary Dumbledore McGonagall]

This is great! Keep it up!

[raven]

Interesting plot. Keep going, it's great.

[madditmcgranitt]

wow!!!
>I hope you will post another chapter very soon!!!!bravo

[tartanmin]

Jan 22, 2010 16:50:55 GMT -5 madditmcgranitt said:

wow!!!
>I hope you will post another chapter very soon!!!!bravo

You're so rigth we want more

[horcruxhorror]

i neeed more (crawling on floor)

[medea]

Soooooo sorry for the delay but have been decorating and so didn't have chance to finish up this chapter before that. Thankfully the room is now done and until my sister moves out, I can't do any more so I can write up a few more chapters instead, yay. Am sick to the back teeth with scraping off wallpaper, grrr. Anyway enough with the rambles about my life, since if I don't stop now I could probably go on for about a decade and there I go again, sorry. So where was I? Right, now I remember. Thanks for the amazing reviews, you guys rock and have made me feel especially guilty for making you wait so long but ah well. A bit of crazy chapter before we get down to the serious stuff. Hope you all enjoy.

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“Awwww come on Sev, it'll be way more fun than sitting in the library doing homework.” Sirius pleaded as he sat down next to Severus at one of the tables in the library.

“No way, Black, last time we did something you claimed would be fun, Remus and I ended up in the hospital wing, whilst you and James spent over an hour trying to explain to McGonagall why we just had to take a dip in the Black Lake in the middle of November.” Severus remarked, smirking as Sirius pouted at being interrupted. ‘Although,’ he thought to himself ‘the memory of Professor McGonagall’s expression as James and Sirius had stood before her, still damp from their swim, explaining why it had been absolutely necessary that they visit the Giant Squid before the Lake froze, had almost been worth the Pneumonia that he and Remus had developed later.’

“Ok, I’ll admit that the last time didn’t end well,” Sirius conceded, ignoring Severus’ incredulous expression, “But trust me, this one is definitely going to be fun.”

“No.” Severus stated decisively.

“No, what?” A quiet voice asked, and Severus grinned as he saw Remus Lupin sitting down at their table.

“Black wants us to go on another ‘adventure’.” Severus reported, smirking at Sirius, who had folded his arms at Severus’ sarcastic utterance of the word ‘adventure’.

“Ok, before you believe this boring old man over here and sit and work here like good little Hogwarts students, hear me out.” Sirius paused and then leant forward, indicating to
his friends that they do the same.

Rolling their eyes at their friend’s antics, Severus and Remus leant forward to listen to what Sirius had to say.

“I have found the entrance to the Hogwarts Kitchens.” He whispered dramatically.

Severus and Remus shrugged and looked at each other, their faces' mirroring each others disappointment.

“Seriously, that’s it?” Remus said eventually.

As much as they would deny it Severus and Remus both enjoyed the odd ‘adventure’, no matter how much trouble they might get into afterwards. Each had been loners before they came to Hogwarts and being able to just have fun with their friends was still a bit of a novelty for them. Plus some of Sirius and James’ ideas did end up being great fun, even swimming with the Squid had been fun until they fell ill afterwards.

Sirius gaped at his friends in disbelief, had they really just dismissed this holy grail of information, as nothing of interest? Not to mention they hadn’t even heard the best part yet.

Still stunned by Severus and Remus’ reactions, Sirius failed to notice that James had sat down until he felt a sharp swack across the back of his head.

“Oi.” He whined childishly, rubbing the back of his head, momentarily distracted from his previous train of thought. James’ question, however, instantly brought his focus back to their plan.

“So did you tell them about our discovery?”

“Yeah, they,” He said disdainfully, indicating Severus and Remus, who both remained unmoved by Sirius’ supposed disdain, “Were not impressed by our discovery.”

“What? But this is one of our most important finds so far!” James exclaimed, blushing red as Madam Pince shushed him. “Don’t you guys, get it?” He asked, now whispering to his friends. Severus and Remus merely shrugged. James rolled his eyes in exasperation, and proceeded to explain further. “House-elves work in the Kitchens and they’ll give you any food or drink whenever you want it, cakes, sweets, butterbeer, you name it, they’ll get it for you. And now we know how to get there.” James smiled triumphantly as comprehension dawned on his friends’ faces. Finally they got it.

Severus grinned as he imagined all the junk food he could get from the house elves and glancing at Remus, his grin widened as he saw a similar expression of wonder appear on the boy’s face. No doubt his friend was thinking of how much chocolate he could now get his hands on. Remus had a serious chocolate addiction.

“Plus having access to the kitchens will make the execution of our newest prank that much easier.” Sirius whispered gleefully to the others, rubbing his hands together, a mischievous expression on his face.

“What are we waiting for then?” Severus asked, suddenly standing up, and before anyone could say Quidditch the foursome had run out of the library, oblivious to the scolding’s of Madam Pince, as they listened to Sirius’ newest idea for a prank.

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Minerva smiled warmly as she listened to her husband animatedly describe the Marauders’ latest stunt.

It had been her day off and she arrived back from her trip to Hogsmeade to find her husband still chuckling about the effects of a prank, which the boys had managed to pull on the entire school.

The boys had utilized Severus’ potion skills and had created a potion which not only changed skin colour but also made the unfortunate recipients extremely giddy until it wore off. Severus had also made four different versions, one for each house and then having added the potion to the drinks that would be sent up to the tables, the four troublemakers had sat back and watched the fun.

Halfway through dinner, all hell had broken loose. The children sat at the Slytherin table had turned yellow, those at the Ravenclaw table had turned green, the Hufflepuffs red and finally those at Gryffindor's table had turned blue. Immediately the Great Hall had been filled with hysterical laughter, as the children caught sight of one another and helped along by the potion, had burst out laughing.

Minerva chuckled, she had to admit the Marauders’ pranks were imaginative, and in this instance they had been especially ingenious when it came to the colour choices, most would probably have put the Slytherins and Gryffindors in each other’s colours.

“It was definitely an imaginative prank, and of course their timing was impeccable, fancy picking the only day I was out of the school all day.” Minerva commented lightly.

“Indeed,” Albus murmured, eyeing his wife suspiciously, suddenly remembering a seemingly innocent comment that Minerva had made a few weeks ago regarding the Marauders’ discovery of the entrance to the Hogwarts’ kitchens and then this morning her slight reluctance to leave, even though she had been looking forward to her day off all week.

Seemingly unaware of her husband’s suspicious look, Minerva stood and headed over to where she had placed the bags full of her day’s purchases and began to carefully unpack them, searching for a specific item. Sifting through the last bag, she finally found what she had been looking for and picking it up, she turned to face her husband, smiling innocently.

“Here Albus, I picked you up some more lemon drops, I know that you said that you were running low.”

Taking the bag full of yellow sweets, Albus stared at the serene features of his mischievous wife before calmly placing them down and stepping closer to her. “Minerva, you wouldn’t have had some, er... previous knowledge of this prank, would you?” He asked, raising a questioning eyebrow and slipping his arms round her waist to stop her from escaping.

“Albus, do you really think that if I had known about it, I would have left the school today?” Minerva replied, “Although to suggest that I, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and one of the top pranksters of all time, if I do say so myself, was unaware of the plans of my Gryffindors and my little snake, does seem a little far-fetched, doesn’t it?” She finished, smiling slightly as she saw comprehension beginning to dawn on her husband’s handsome face, before quickly spinning out of his grasp and heading quickly for the portrait hole leading out of their quarters, laughing gaily as she saw Albus darting after her.
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At the same time as Albus began his pursuit of his impish wife, Severus Snape was re-reading a note that had been sent to him a week earlier. It was written in an elegant script which Severus found familiar but had yet to work out whose it was. The note simply said,

A dash of lime juice and a few more crushed elæ fruit will help with the colour change and disguise the flavour of the potion better. P.S Professor McGonagall will be absent from school on the 6th.

[harmonydumbledore]

Hmmmm interesting....very interesting. I can't wait for more!

[Junora]

So wonderful I hope you update the next chapter faster then the last one. ;D
I so love this Story.
Hugs Lottie

[Rosemary Dumbledore McGonagall]

Ohhh Hooo! Minerva a prankster! Who would have imagined! Please update!!!!

[horcruxhorror]

OOOHHHHHHHHHH was it albus or minerva that sent the note?

[medea]

Severus sighed heavily, as he listened to the children around him chattering happily about the upcoming Christmas holidays.

Christmas had always been more of a trial than a reward for him and he was dreading these holidays more than usual as he imagined the temper that his father was probably in after being investigated by the child protection services.

Dragging himself up from his seat at his house table, Severus walked sadly from the Great Hall and out of the castle, unaware of the eyes which followed his defeated movements.

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Minerva had been watching Severus for several minutes from the Staff Table, worried about the obvious misery that seemed to once more surround the child. Seeing that Severus was now moving away from his table and leaving the Great Hall alone, Minerva immediately stood and silently followed his footsteps out of the castle.

When she finally caught up with him, she found him sat under a tree, his legs curled up to his chest and his head buried in his knees. Quietly she moved closer to the child, sitting down beside him and leaning back against the tree, content to wait until Severus was ready to talk to her.

Becoming aware of the presence next to him, Severus lifted his head from his knees and looked up to see Minerva serenely gazing out across the grounds of the school. As always Minerva’s mere presence helped to soothe Severus, and since Minerva never seemed to press him for details but instead simply offered him her time and an ear when he needed to talk, Severus was more comfortable with her than any other teacher.

The pair sat in silence for a while, until a particularly arctic gust of wind suddenly whipped around them, for although it still hadn’t snowed, the weather was bitterly cold with the promise of snow and ice to come.

Shivering slightly, Minerva turned to face Severus, noticing for the first time how thin the child’s outer cloak was.

“How about going up to my office for a cup of hot chocolate?” She suggested, pulling herself up off the ground and holding out a hand to help Severus up, who, smiling slightly, accepted the gesture and heaved himself upwards before following the woman back up to the castle.
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Later as the pair sipped hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire, Minerva finally decided to ask Severus what had upset him so much at breakfast, smiling to herself as he opened up to her regarding his worries about the upcoming holidays. Slightly annoyed that his head of house had failed to inform the child about his holiday arrangements and resolving to check that the Slytherin first years were aware of the option to remain at the school during the holidays, Minerva acted quickly to reassure the boy.

“Forgive me child, I had thought that you would have been told by Professor Slughorn. You will be remaining at Hogwarts until the investigation has been completed and a new guardian has been appointed for you. Even if you weren’t already staying, did you not know that Hogwarts allows you to remain at the school during the Christmas and Easter holidays?” Seeing Severus shaking his head, Minerva growled slightly, oblivious to how much she sounded like her Animagus form. “Well I will be sure to remind Professor Slughorn of his duties.” She muttered quietly, a wicked smile appearing on her face which caused Severus to smile slightly in return.

Needless to say a few days later an extremely apologetic Slughorn caught Severus after his potions class and apologised profusely for not telling the boy that he would be remaining at the school for the duration of the holidays, before announcing the following evening that a sheet had been placed on the notice board for all those wishing to remain at the school over the Christmas holidays.
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Armed with the knowledge that he would be remaining at Hogwarts for Christmas and that it would be highly unlikely that he would ever have to return to Spinner’s End, Severus quickly found himself looking forward to the holidays as much as his friends, who were all thrilled to see Severus back to his normal self.

This return to normality was not good news for all though, for four happy Marauders meant that trouble was always looming, and this time was no different.

A new prank was in the works.
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“So this spell should remove all the basic glamors and vanity potions?” Sirius asked, one afternoon as the group sat round one of the small tables in the Hogwarts’ Kitchens, looking at the pages covered in Severus’ neat scrawl.

Severus grinned mischievously and nodded. “It still needs a little refinement, maybe a little re-wording because when I tried it on a mouse the other day it removed the potion induced glamors but not the spell induced.”

“Fair enough, there’s no rush to get it done, you and Remus will have plenty of time to practice it over the holidays but no pulling this prank without us,” James threatened laughingly, waggling a finger in a manner reminiscent of Madam Pomfrey.

“Like we would dare try this without you two,” Severus began before smiling cheekily and continuing, “Who else can we blame if it goes wrong, if you guys aren’t here?” He finished, laughing as he dodged both James and Sirius who had aimed a playful swat at his head.

Severus sat back contentedly as his friends continued to discuss the details of their new prank. He had been absolutely thrilled when he had found out that Remus would also be remaining at the school over the holidays, anticipating a far more enjoyable Christmas than he had ever experienced in his short life.
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“Merry Christmas, my love,” Albus murmured to his beautiful wife, who lay cocooned in his warm embrace.

“Mmmm Merry Christmas,” Minerva replied sleepily, snuggling deeper into the haven of her husband’s arms, hoping, however uselessly that hope might be, that her over-enthusiastic husband might allow her to remain in bed for a while longer.

Albus, remaining true to form soon began shifting restlessly and Minerva knowing that it would be fruitless to try and encourage him to sleep, slipped from his arms and gracefully rose from the bed.

“Go on through Albus, I’ll be there in a moment, but god help you if you’ve opened any of those presents before I get there.” Minerva stated firmly, before turning and heading for the bathroom. “And don’t pout like that Albus!” She commented without turning, smiling to herself as she imagined the look of surprise on her husband’s face.
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Minerva gasped in delighted surprise as she opened her final present from her husband. Removing the delicate fabric which her husband always wrapped his gifts in; Minerva was confronted with a beautifully bound, leather photo album. Slipping her fingers under the front cover, she gently opened the album, smiling as she recognised the first picture that had bee placed there.

It was a picture of the pair of them on the day that she graduated from Hogwarts, both smiling properly at the camera before breaking down into hysterical laughter. Minerva smiled at the memory; neither of them had been able to contain their joy on such a happy day. Even though they had not been a couple then, they had been friends. Albus had been her guide throughout her attempts at the Animagus transformation, which she had finally achieved a month before she graduated and so it had only seemed natural that they have a picture of them together.

The next picture was unfamiliar to Minerva and had clearly been taken without either of the pair’s knowledge, though after gazing at the photo for a while, a memory began to slowly unfurl within her mind's eye.

It had been a few days after she had first begun to teach at Hogwarts and Albus had invited her to take a walk around the lake. They had spent an enjoyable few hours wandering about the grounds of Hogwarts, sharing stories and laughing at shared memories. Minerva smiled briefly at the memory, she had always believed that it had been on that day, when they had simply spent time walking together as friends, that she had first begun to fall in love with the incredible man who was now her husband.

The photo, which she was now looking at must have been taken towards the end of their walk, as in the background the sun was setting but the smiles on their faces, were still obvious even in the fading light.

Continuing through the album, Minerva smiled at the memories which the photos provoked, until finally she came to the final few images.

The last couple of photos all featured their darling child, Patrick. The first was of Minerva holding her newborn child, still wrinkly from being born, his eyes clamped shut, hiding his beautiful dark eyes from the camera. As she continued to gaze at the photo, Minerva suddenly felt her husband settle himself down next to her, his arm slipping around her shoulders and pulling her towards him. Smiling softly, she leaned into him, her eyes still locked on the photos of their son.

When they came to the last photo, which was of the three of them and had been taken a few days before Patrick had disappeared, a few tears slipped silently down Albus’ worn features and he sighed sadly. Minerva however smiled softly as she looked at the picture of her family, grateful for even the short amount of time that they had had together.

“Thank you, my darling,” she whispered after a while, “This is a wonderful gift.”
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So there we go, I hope you like it, the next chapter is when it all gets going, ooh I'm so excited. ;D

[medea]

Oh and as to the question asked by horcruxhorror, who do you think sent the note? I will tell you who I think sent it but want to see what you think first. Thanks to everyone so far who has commented on this story don't forget to read the new chapter and review please. ;->. toodles xxxx

[Rosemary Dumbledore McGonagall]

I can't wait for the next part! I'm still going for Minerva sending that note!

[horcruxhorror]

it seems like something albus would do but i cant be sure!! that is so sad!!!1!

[Marie Mcdore]

Ohhh please post the next chapter soon, I'm really enjoying it

I think Minerva sent the note to Severus

I look forward to the next chappy!

[greenlover2]

pls update..this is a very beautiful story

[mercifulheavens]

Oh such a lovely story... I'm dying to read the next chapter =)

~Merci

[medea]

My apologies for the excessive delay on this chapter however real life, a severe case of writer's block on this bit and then a volcano which separated me from my notes for over a month, all conspired to against the posting of this chapter.

However finally I am back on track (and back in England too). This chapter is incredibly short however this only because I really wanted to post something and I haven't managed to get the next bit typed up yet. However it is written so hopefully should be up by Monday.

As always I own nothing.

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“Sev, Sev, come on, wake up its Christmas.”

“Mmph, go away, sleeping.” Severus grumbled from underneath his duvet, hoping that the owner of the voice would take the hint and leave him to return to his dreams.

“No can do, Sev, now move it or I won’t be responsible for my actions.” The voice threatened, however when Severus merely rolled over and buried his head back into his pillows, Remus grinned wickedly and raised his wand.

A moment later, a thoroughly soaked Severus leapt out of his now sodden bed, and glaring at Remus, headed towards the bathroom.

“Remind me again why I gave you guys the password to get in here?” He asked as he disappeared into the bathroom.

Rather than answer his grumpy friend, Remus instead wandered over to Severus’ sodden bed and having muttered a quick drying charm, threw himself down onto it. Humming carols idly to himself, Remus lifted the book that lay on Severus' bedside table and chuckling slightly at the seemingly innocent title, 'Etiquette for the Young Wizard' he began flipping through the pages until he reached the section he was looking for. Unlike what you would have expected to find in the original text, Remus was not reading about how not to offend your host by taking the wrong fork, but was instead engrossed in the chapter named 'The True Appearance Spell', an indication that this book was not as innocent and dull as it first appeared.

When Severus eventually walked back into the room, Remus returned the book to its original position and rolling over, he smiled at his friend.

“Merry Christmas Sev.”

“Merry Christmas Remus.”
________________________________________

“Are you sure this is going to work Severus?” Remus asked nervously, scrunching up his face, which was currently blue and puce and covered with misshapen boils, as Severus pointed his wand at him preparing to test his new spell on him.

“Of course Remus, don’t you trust me?” Severus asked candidly, laughing lightly as Remus raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “Ok, I’ll admit that last test went a bit... wrong...”

“A bit wrong? You took my nose off, good thing Madam Pomfrey decided to re-attach it rather than ask questions, though I’m still not sure she put it back right.” Remus muttered, touching his nose self-consciously.

“It looks fine, Remus, jeese sometimes you can be more vain that Black. Anyway that wasn’t a problem with the spell, I just mispronounced one of the words.”

“Wow thanks for that reassuring comment. I feel so much better now.” Remus commented sarcastically.

Seeing that continuing to try and reassure Remus was a waste of their valuable practice time, and knowing that a teacher could walk into the empty classroom at any moment, Severus rolled his eyes at his friend, lifted his wand again, and pointing it directly at Remus’ blue and puce face, calmly said,

“ostendo verus statua.”

Immediately Remus’ face began to return to its normal colour and the boils began to fade away, until finally Remus stood before him looking perfectly normal once more.

“Brilliant” Severus exclaimed. “It worked perfectly.”

Running his hand across his face, Remus smiled as his fingers encountered smooth, boil-free skin.

“You know what this means though, don’t you?” Remus commented laughingly, his hazel eyes sparkling with mischief as Severus sighed dramatically, although the smile of triumph on his face mirrored Remus' own.

Taking a deep breath, Remus covered Severus’ face with boils, pox marks and other surface disfigurements similar to the ones which his own face had held only moments earlier, before he carefully uttered the spell himself. For a moment, Remus smiled as he saw the boils and marks begin to fade away, however that smile quickly faded into a expression of complete bewilderment as he saw unfamiliar features begin to appear on his friend’s face.

Seeing the shock written on his friend’s face, Severus lifted his hand to examine his face, asking,

“What’s wrong? You didn’t curse my nose off, did you? Or my...” He trailed off as his searching fingers encountered something different, and his dark eyes widened in surprise.

“What...?”

Remus continued to stare at his friend for a while until suddenly he pointed his wand at Severus’ face and chanted confidently,

“Ostendo verus statua.”

However when nothing happened, Remus grabbed Severus’ arm, and dragged him towards the door, saying,

“I think we need to get you the Hospital Wing, Sev.”

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Oooh this next bit is where all the fun begins, I can't wait, so excited, see this is my problem I get so impatient about the endings of my own stories that I struggle with the bits in the middle, but I can't help it and...I'm rambling again, in an author's note, sorry about that.

Anywho if I have any readers left after this appalling delay I hope you enjoyed this update. More to come. Let me know what you think.





Oh and by the way it was Minerva who sent the note, just a little throw back to her own prankster days.

toodles M xxx

[Rosemary Dumbledore McGonagall]

Tehe! Thought it was Minerva! Great chapter by the way!
Quick question: What do you do if you have writer's block? I'm kinda stuck on a story!

[medea]

Thanks I'm glad that you liked it. When it comes to writer's block, for me, I step away from the story and stop thinking about it, just let the ideas flow or stop for a while if that's what they need to do until it's easy to write again. I find that forcing the story to come out doesn't help solve my writer's block so I always step away. I don't know whether this helps but I will say that for me it usually does work and I find my mind is a lot clearer too when I take time away from the story. Hopes this helps a little and I'm really glad that you're still enjoying this story. Toodles M xxxxxx

[harmonydumbledore]

AGGH evil cliffy please I hope you get the time to update soon!

[kelbel21]

ooh, very evil cliff hanger, please update soon!

[medea]

Woohoo a quick update, go me! *does little dance* Anyway thanks everyone for the fantastic reviews as always they make me feel good and definitely help me update faster (hint hint lol. was that too obvious a beg for reviews? ah well I can live with the obvious lol)

oh and would you believe me that I honestly didn't realise that it was a cliffie until you guys pointed it out? My bad.

Anyway hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Madam Pomfrey hummed cheerfully to herself, as she wandered around the empty hospital wing. Without two of the more mischievous Marauders present, she was enjoying a very peaceful Christmas holiday, she might even be able to...that thought was suddenly cut off though, as two familiar figures slammed open the double doors leading into the hospital wing and ran towards her.

“Severus Snape and Remus Lupin! What do you think you are doing running in here like a pair of hooligans?!” She demanded, although her practised eye was also quickly scanning them for any obvious injury.

Skidding to a halt in front of her, the young boys glanced at each other, however before they could say anything, they were startled by the entrance of another person.
________________________________________

Minerva smiled happily, as she watched her husband dancing lightly through the snow that covered the grounds surrounding the castle. Even now, he still had the joy and innocence of a child whenever it came to Christmas and snow, and loved to drag her out with him to ‘play.’ She chuckled; more often than not he simply ended up having a snowball fight with some of the students whilst she looked on from a safe distance. She smirked as she saw him toss a snowball at a fifth year Hufflepuff, who having remained at the castle the previous year, did not look at all surprised that his headmaster had thrown a snowball at him, but instead began gathering snow himself for his own snowball.

Minerva laughed as she remembered the snowball fights that they had had when she had been a student at Hogwarts, back when he had been her Transfiguration Professor and Mentor. She remembered her shock, the first time that he had thrown a snowball at her, her reluctance to throw one back, until of course he had charmed several snowballs to attack her all at once, at which point all her fears about attacking a teacher had disappeared and she had quickly retaliated. The tale of their ‘Snowball War’ had quickly spread throughout the school with many people unable to believe that the prim, scholarly fifth year had actually had the nerve to have a snowball fight with her professor. She snickered to herself, what would they have thought if they had known that she had been behind numerous pranks that had been pulled during her tenure as a student?

Seeing that the snowball fight was quickly evolving into an all out war between several different groups of students, one of which included her husband, Minerva cast a new warming charm on herself, transformed into her Animagus form and leapt up into a nearby tree to watch the ‘war’ progress.

Absentmindedly watching the fight progress, Minerva allowed her thoughts to drift back to the first time she had seen her husband.
________________________________________

“Minnie!” An overly cheerful voice screamed over the noise of the bustling crowds at Platform 9 and ¾’s.

Minerva rolled her eyes at the nickname. Five years, it had been five years and Liz still would not call her by her full name. Shaking her head lightly, she turned to embrace her best friend, before holding her at arm’s length and saying very slowly,

“Mi-ne-r-va. Say it with me, Mi-ne-r-va.”

Smiling mischievously, Liz placed her hands on Minerva’s shoulders and said just as slowly,

“Mi-nn-ie,” before breaking out into peals of happy laughter and after a while, unable to maintain her annoyed look any longer, Minerva joined her.

“So anyway, how was your summer?” Liz asked, once the pair had calmed down enough to clamber onto the train and find an empty compartment.

“Pretty good although Mum kept trying to drag me to tea parties with her friends, apparently even though I got top grades in all my O.W.L’s, that’s still not good enough for my mother since I’m not lady-like enough for her. So she spent most of the holidays trying to ‘train me up’.” Minerva said sarcastically, “Thank god Da decided that as a reward for getting such good grades I could go with him on his trip to Italy. That at least got me out of the house for two weeks.” She sighed. “So how was your summer?”

“Great, not nearly as stressful as yours, since as you know I am already the epitome of a perfect lady.” Liz said, preening in an exaggerated manner, clearly trying not to laugh at her own actions.

Minerva chuckled, Liz was the most tomboy-ish girl that Minerva had ever met. Having grown up with three older brothers, she had never really had the chance to be 'girly' and after trying for several years to instill some femininity into her youngest child, Mrs Simm had simply given up. As Liz continued to describe her summer and the pranks that she had pulled with her brother Michael, who was the only one still living at home and was currently in his last year at Hogwarts, Minerva leaned back in her seat and felt herself relax for the first time since she had left Hogwarts at the beginning of the summer holidays. ‘This year was going to be perfect, she could just feel it.’
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“I can’t believe it! How could they do this?” Minerva ranted as she and Liz entered their dormitory.

“Min, what’s the big deal, we’ve had new professors before, why does this new guy bother you so much?” Liz asked, genuinely confused by her friend’s actions. “It’s not like you need help in Transfiguration anyway, I mean you got the highest score in over forty years didn’t you?”

“Well yes... wait how do you know that?” Minerva asked, her face scrunching up in confusion. She hadn’t told any of friends her actual scores since she didn’t need to be teased anymore than usual for being a 'study-holic' as they had deemed her early on in her first year.

“Your Da was so proud of you that he told everyone at the Ministry.” Liz explained briefly, “But that’s beside the point, what is bugging you so much about this guy?”

“It’s just I’ve seen teachers like him before, the fun-loving guys who don’t truly care about their subject. How am I supposed to start studying for my NEWT’s and become an Animagus, with a teacher like that?” Minerva muttered, having shared her desire to become an Animagus before she turned twenty with Liz before.

“Hey it’ll be alright, Minerva,” Liz soothed, coming to sit beside her friend, “We haven’t even had a lesson with him yet, you never know, he may be stricter than old Williams was.”

Leaning into her friend, Minerva chuckled half-heartedly.

“Maybe you’re right, guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
________________________________________

A loud scream suddenly broke through her daydreams and Minerva, grasping desperately at the tree branch she was lying on to prevent herself from falling, was instantly alert to any kind of danger or injury. As she scanned the crowd though she saw that a third year girl had simply had snow put down her back by a daring second year and placing a paw on her chest to try and calm her racing heart, she lay back down on the branch.

Before she could slip back into her memories though, she felt a wave of magic flow through her and before she could even think about what it had been, she felt the warmth of her bond with Patrick re-ignite.

Jumping down from the tree, she instantly transformed back into her human form and spotting Albus nearby, she strode over to him, being sure to cast a shield charm as she went.

“My dear, casting a shield charm is hardly fair during a snowball fight.” Albus commented, in a reprimanding tone.

Ignoring him completely, Minerva grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the privacy of the trees.

Originally planning to tease her about such a public place for a moment alone, Albus immediately changed his mind when he saw the expression on his wife’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

“The bond, Albus, I felt Patrick, he’s here, Albus, our baby, he’s here.”

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Woohoo! We are finally getting somewhere. Ok this time I am sorry for the cliffie but I needed to stop it here otherwise I would be typing till it's time to get up and since I do still need some sleep I shall stop here.

Hope you enjoy it and aren't too angry about yet another cliff-hanger.

Anyways toodles M xxxxxxxx

[harmonydumbledore]

AGGGHHHH ANother cliffie!? *sighs* fine I shall endeavor not to fall.

Loved teh memory though cute. Mi-nn-ie (laughs)