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Professor Slughorn entered the Headmaster's office and said, "Albus, you called?"
Albus Dumbledore nodded and motioned for Slughorn to enter. "Yes, I wanted to talk to you about Severus' condition. Have you found any potion that could reverse the effects yet?"
"I have tried administering the usual Ageing Potion on him, but for some reason, the potion doesn't work on him. It is most curious, Albus, but I believe the amount of Ghast Tears young Mr Finnegan added to the Ageing Potion has had a profound effect on the potion's composition," Slughorn said, scratching his stubble. "I will keep working on it, of course, but I make no promises."
"That may be for the best," Dumbledore said, nodding his head. "Severus seems to be enjoying himself immensely these days…"
"He's already a child prodigy," Slughorn exclaimed, laughing softly. "Just the other day, he was in my class with Miss Granger, and he kept on asking her questions about the properties of each potion ingredient. I was impressed with Miss Granger as she answered all his questions patiently; she truly cares about him."
"Yes, she does. And so does Mr Malfoy," Albus commented thoughtfully. "Maybe you should ask the Head Students to collaborate on helping Severus return to his former age."
Slughorn thought for a few moments and said, "I might have to do that, Albus. After all, their young minds might see something I might have missed."
Severus Snape grinned as he ran through the flock of pigeons resting on the dewy grass outside Hagrid's hut. As the birds flew up in a haste, he whooped with delight and ran to grab one.
"Don't get pecked!" Draco yelled at him from his spot near the treeline. "Granger will kill me if you get hurt by a stupid bird."
"Mine-ee won't hurt you," Sev said, giggling as a plump pigeon flew towards Draco, who scowled and batted it away with his hand. "She wuvs you."
"W-what?" Draco choked out with disbelief, his eyes widening at the almost-four-year-old's comment. "Did she say something to you? What did she say? Tell me."
Severus looked at Draco, who looked uncharacteristically nervous, with confusion over his shoulder. "Mine-ee wuvs everyone, so she wuvs you too." He shrugged, and Draco scowled, disappointed all of a sudden.
"Of course," he muttered, burying his face in his Arithmancy book. "What was I expecting?"
Severus went back to playing with the pigeons, oblivious to Draco's disappointment. He grinned, happy to spend time out in nature with Draco. He missed Hermione, of course, but she had promised him she would take him to do something exciting later.
It had been three months since Seamus had accidentally De-Aged him in their Potions class, and Severus had reverted to his three-year-old self. Professor Dumbledore had requested the Head Students — Draco and Hermione — to look after the child.
When the two of them had figured out that their Potions Professor had had a terrible childhood, Hermione had decided they would shower him with as much love and affection as possible. It wasn't hard as Severus was an adorable child with glossy black hair and dark eyes. He'd gained a bit of much-needed weight over the past two months, and his skin had developed a healthy pink sheen.
To everyone's amusement, Severus worshipped Hermione and could often be found trailing after her, his dark eyes wide with awe and adoration for the brunette witch. Harry had teasingly asked Hermione how Severus would react when he inevitably aged to his former self. Ron had laughed and told them to imagine 'the greasy old bat' trailing after Hermione and docking points from the other Houses for her.
Hermione didn't think much of it; she enjoyed caring for Severus and dreaded to think of him growing up soon. She had come to care for him like a mother and didn't want to lose that feeling any time soon.
Draco, too, was surprised to realize that he liked children, or more importantly, he liked taking care of Severus with Hermione. He had never imagined himself taking on a fatherly role; Lucius Malfoy wasn't a very affectionate man, and Draco had assumed he would be the same with his future progeny. But now, he knew he would never be able to be detached from his emotions when dealing with his children; the Potions Professor's acrimonious behaviour was the result of his neglectful childhood, and Draco would rather Avada himself than let his children turn into the former Severus.
"Mine-ee! Look what I found!" Sev squealed, hurrying over to Hermione, who was working on a potion in the Heads' common room. Severus' nose and cheeks were red due to the cold wind, and his black hair was buried under a ridiculous red-and-green beanie Hermione had knitted for him. He shoved the Gillyweed into her open hands and beamed up at her. "Th' mermaids gave it to me!"
Hermione smiled down at him and, lowering the flames under the cauldron, said, "That's wonderful, Sev! Do you know what this is?"
Severus nodded his head fervently. "Giwwyweed! You said I can bweathe underwater with it!"
Hermione grinned and said, "Yes, you can breathe underwater with this, but first, you'll have to learn how to swim. It's too cold to learn that now, but you can learn after the Christmas holidays are over, okay?"
Severus pouted at her and said, "Pwease, Mine-ee! Teach me now?"
Hermione's lips twitched with amusement at the puppy dog eyes he was giving her, but she shook her head. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but it's freezing out there. Tell you what… If you help me wrap the presents I got for the others, I'll teach you how to swim — in the Prefects' Bathroom. Deal?"
"Deal!" Severus knew a good thing when he saw one. He could never refuse his Mine-ee; if she wanted him to help her, he would. He'd do anything for her. "Um, Mine-ee, what's pwesents?"
Hermione's heart lurched at the confusion in his voice and felt like going back in time to hex Severus' father. She couldn't believe how terrible his father had been and was thankful that Harry's relatives hadn't been as bad as Mr Snape.
She gently tugged off Severus' beanie and ran her fingers through his hair to straighten it out. Despite her attempts to tame it, his hair crackled with static electricity, standing on its ends. "Presents are things given to others as gifts. Those Chocolate Frogs Harry sneaks in for you when he thinks I'm not looking? Those are presents. And the sweater Mrs Weasley sent you last week? You know… the one Draco said was ugly?"
Severus giggled and said, "It is ugly, Mine-ee, but I wuv it! Was that a pwesent too?"
"Yes, that's a present too," Hermione said, dropping a kiss onto his hair. "You give presents to people you like or love. It shows them how much you appreciate their presence in your life."
"Like this beanie?" Severus plucked it from her hands. "You made it for me… Does this mean you wuv me?"
"Of course, sweetie, I love you very much." Hermione smiled down at him, pleased that he was beginning to understand emotions and feelings.
"Oh… okay," Severus said, nodding his head. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but the words got stuck in his throat. He swallowed and changed the topic. "What're you making?"
Hermione said, "It's just a Cough Potion; Madam Pomfrey's supplies are low, so I offered to brew some for her."
"Can I help?" Severus looked at her hopefully, and she smiled. Nodding her head, she motioned for him to follow her.
"Now, I can't give you anything to chop or grind, but you can separate these plants. I want the flowers, leaves and stems separate, okay?"
"Okay," Severus said, happy with his job. He asked her questions about the Celandine plant, sniffing at the flowers curiously. Hermione answered them patiently, proud to be sharing her knowledge with him.
"Now, drop the leaves and stems into the water," she instructed, picking him up off the ground. Severus did as she said, carefully adding the ingredients.
When it was time for the flowers to be added, Hermione accidentally tilted Severus a bit more than necessary. Neither of them noticed the Gillyweed slipping from Severus' pocket and sliding into the boiling potion. When Severus started to stir the potion clockwise as Hermione had instructed, it exploded with a loud bang.
Hermione cried out and tried to yank Severus away, but the cauldron exploded and showered its contents upon the two of them.
"Mine-ee!" Severus cried, clutching onto Hermione for dear life. The smell of the potion was overwhelming him, and they soon fell to the ground in a daze.
A few seconds later, they tumbled onto the floor of the classroom, unconscious to the world.
Draco frowned as he looked at his wristwatch. It wasn't like Hermione to be late, and he began to grow worried. When enough time had passed for him to begin panicking, he stormed through the corridors, searching for Hermione and Severus.
When he entered the Potions classroom, his eyes widened with shock when he saw the sight in front of him. The two occupants were unconscious on the floor, and Draco realized something was wrong.
Severus had returned to his former age, which confused Draco as to how that had occurred. But it was the brunette woman on the ground who really caught Draco's attention.
His mouth dropped when he immediately recognized her as Hermione, but she was now older. Her hair was longer, yet smoother, and her face had matured, the slight bit of baby fat disappearing. The slight wrinkles under her eyes were a dead giveaway that she was around Severus' age.
"Merlin, what happened here?" Draco blurted out, rushing over to them. He poked Severus' arm with a finger, fearing the man to be dead, but he was relieved when the older man slowly opened his eyes. "Are you okay… sir?"
Severus blinked at Draco once, twice, and then, he snapped his head towards Hermione, who was still unconscious beside him. "Mine— Miss Granger," he said, clearing his throat loudly, his cheeks slightly reddening at accidentally using his nickname for her. "Wake up."
Draco pulled out his wand and cast a Rennervate on her. Hermione gasped as she shot upright. "Oh, Merlin, my head…" she groaned, rubbing her temples with her fingers. "What happened?"
"You tell me," Draco said pointedly. "What do you remember?"
"Last I remember…" Hermione trailed off as she squinted at Draco. "Sev and I were making a Cough Potion, and it exploded… then, nothing."
Severus cleared his throat again and admonished her, "Miss Granger, I can not believe you allowed a child near a potion."
Hermione's eyes widened when she heard Severus' voice. "You're back to normal! How? And don't blame me for letting you near the cauldron! Malfoy taught you how to get everyone to say yes to you."
"Guilty as charged," Draco said sarcastically. "Now, he's back to normal, and you're… old."
"Thank you for that compliment, Mr Malfoy," Severus said, annoyed. He had no idea how to act around the two of them, having spent three months in their care. He remembered everything that had happened, in both his childhoods, and he didn't feel as bitter as he used to.
"Come on, Sev — sorry, Professor — you being old is normal, but Granger…"
"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione grumbled under her breath, slowly rising to her feet. "We need to figure out what happened to the Cough Potion for it to affect us like this."
Severus opened his mouth to say something inconsiderate, but to his confusion, he didn't have it in him anymore. He couldn't insult Hermione; it seemed impossible now.
"Sev— I'm sorry, Professor, do you remember what happened?" Hermione asked him carefully, nibbling on her lip with worry.
Severus frowned as he thought it over. He faintly remembered Hermione picking him up, how he'd dropped the flowers into the potion and how it had exploded in their faces. "I… remember what occurred, but I'm not sure I remember the cause of the explosion."
"I think I found it," Draco said, crouching near the obliterated cauldron. He used his wand to levitate the wet lump of Gillyweed and called out over his shoulder, "There's Gillyweed in this."
"Gillyweed? But that was in your pocket, wasn't it, Sev?" Hermione asked, frowning at Severus.
"It was… It must have fallen out," Severus admitted in a low tone.
"Wow, never thought you'd do something so careless, Severus," Draco said, grinning at the annoyed expression on the man's face.
"I was distracted," Severus said defensively.
"Alright, you two, stop fighting," Hermione said quickly, raising her hands. "This can't be that bad… We'll try a De-Aging Potion on me; it's sure to work."
"Like the Ageing Potion that didn't work on Sev?" Draco pointed out.
"Don't jinx it, Malfoy," Hermione grumbled, having a terrible feeling he was right.
Now that Severus was back to normal, it was her turn to experience life from the other side. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad.
It was bad, no, it was terrible. Hermione hadn't known her muscles could hurt this bad after standing for longer than necessary. She hadn't known how bad her shoulders could ache after carrying her bag all day, or how much she could pant after climbing up and down the stairs of Hogwarts.
"Merlin, everything hurts," Hermione groaned as she rubbed her lower back, plopping down onto the couch in the Heads' common room.
"It can't be that bad, Granger; stop complaining," Draco grumbled, tossing a cushion at her.
"Oh, really? When you get to my age, you'll understand! Now I know why people look for ways to become immortal," Hermione whined, closing her eyes.
"You're seventeen, Granger, not a hundred and twenty! We're the same age," Draco said, rolling his eyes.
"No, we're not! You're seventeen — a child — and I'm in my thirties! I'm old!"
"You're definitely losing it," Draco muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?"
"Oh, yeah, you're definitely losing your hearing, too," Draco said, sniggering at the affronted expression on her face. "Stop scowling at me, Granger, it makes your wrinkles more prominent."
Hermione gasped with outrage and cried, "Haven't your parents taught you to respect your elders?"
"They taught me to treat people the way they act. And, Granger, you're acting worse than Sev."
Hermione pouted, annoyed at his behaviour, and mumbled, "I'm sorry… I just didn't expect things to be this hard…"
Draco looked at her curiously and said, "It'll be fine, Granger. You'll soon get back your bushy hair and cute arse."
"Did you just…"
"Ignore me." Draco shot out of his seat and was about to sprint out of the room, but Hermione lunged forward and grabbed his leg. He squawked as he stumbled and fell onto his front. "Merlin, Granger, what is wrong with you?"
"You called my arse cute! What's wrong with you?"
"It was an accident! I told you to ignore me!" Draco tried to get up, but Hermione was still hanging onto his leg. "Let go of me, Granger. I don't want to hurt an old lady."
"Old lady, my foot!" Hermione tackled him to the ground, rolling them over until she was on top of him. "Why did you call my arse cute?"
Draco gaped at her with disbelief and said, "You can't honestly expect me to answer that."
"There's no logical explanation to what you claim was an accidental remark," Hermione said pointedly, her hands fisted in his shirt.
"You're barmy!" he barked at her, reaching his hands up to push her off. But the moment he touched her shoulders, his expression softened. "You're smarter than anyone I've ever met, but you're so oblivious, too…"
"What?"
"I fancy you, you idiot," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Why else would I call your arse cute?"
"Wait, what?" Hermione hadn't expected Draco to admit he liked her; it was the furthest thing from her mind.
"I. Fancy. You. Merlin, you're going deaf, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not deaf…" Hermione trailed off when she realized what he had just said. "Hang on… you fancy me? Really? Well, that's surprising…"
"What's so surprising about that? You're intelligent, fiery, gorgeous, caring, and you handle everything so well. Sure, you study too much, think too much, even eat too much… but you're imperfectly perfect to me." There were splotches of red on Draco's cheeks, which amazed Hermione as she had rarely seen him blush; he was always so put-together.
"Couldn't you have told me this when I was younger? I'm not going to kiss you when I'm so old," she grumbled, pouting down at him.
Draco's eyes were soft, filled with affection, as he pushed her strands behind her ear and said, "Would you freak out if I told you I still want to kiss you? Not that I have a thing for older women, it's just that… I want to see how I'll feel when I kiss you twenty years from now."
Hermione's heart melted at his words. She blushed as she leaned down. "We're not making this a habit," she warned against his lips, and Draco chuckled before he closed the distance between them.
Maybe being old wasn't so bad, Hermione thought, smiling into the sweet kiss. Or maybe it was Draco whose presence made everything better for her.