Harry entered Dumbledore's rooms after a morning spent in the forest with Hagrid and looked around.

"Where's Severus?" he asked.

"With Aberforth," the Headmaster replied with a smile, "Abe was looking forward to being an uncle and Severus seemed eager to spend the day there. I'm going down there end of the afternoon, we'll have dinner with Abe and then come back here to tuck my boy into bed."

Harry nodded and lowered himself into a chair. "How pissed off do you think he's going to be when he grows up again?"

The Headmaster actually gulped. "Well, he's not likely to be very happy. I hope he retains some of his memories of these weeks – if he returns to adulthood with the feeling his time as a child was positive and enjoyable, perhaps he will be less…irate."

"If he remembers the first two weeks…"

"I am afraid of that, yes," Dumbledore admitted softly, "he has plenty of reason to be angry. That is part of the reason I want him to get to know Aberforth – Abe is more of a neutral party. I wanted to give him someone he could more easily talk to. Abe isn't the type of person to excuse or deny my flaws…"

Harry smiled brightly. "I imagine he isn't. At any rate – come what may. Personally I wouldn't mind if he stayed four for just a little bit longer, he's such a nice kid. I don't think I'll ever look at the adult Snape the same again."

It was the Headmasters turn to smirk. "I was rather hoping you would…"

Harry glared, but only briefly. "I'll come with you to Hogsmeade and then Apparate to Diagon Alley. I'm meeting Fred and George for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron."

sssssssssss

As they entered the Hogs Head, Harry bumped into the older wizard as he stopped short just over the threshold.

"Wha…?"

Peering over the ancient man's shoulder, Harry gaped. Behind the bar, or rather on the bar, sat Severus on his knees, holding a mug in one hand while pulling the lever on a barrel with the other. Aberforth looked on in approval.

"That's right, nice and slow. Never rush with a good pint."

"Grandpa! Uncle Harry!" Severus yelled excitedly, "Look what Uncle Abe taught me!" and he held the now finished pint out to Harry, who took a tentative sip.

"A good head on that one," Abe nodded in approval.

"A perfectly poured pint," Harry consented, while the Headmaster was still standing with his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"You…taught him to pour beer?" he finally managed.

"I can make a Ma-teensy too," Severus said proudly.

"Martini," Aberforth corrected, as Harry valiantly tried, and failed, to hold back laughter at the Headmasters indignant look.

"'s not like I let him drink any," Abe shrugged, "go mix yourself a lemonade, Sev."

He lifted the boy from the bar. The child went to the back, to the kitchen, to get himself something age-appropriate to drink.

"But…" the Headmaster started, only to stop and glare when Harry chuckled.

"Oh come on, it's not like he's even underage," the youngest wizard said with a grin, "it's technically perfectly legal."

Albus gave up, and shook his head in exasperation. "Very well. Just don't let him drink any, not even a sip to try, Abe. Not only is his body too young, but alcohol isn't known to mix well with most potions."

"Am well aware of that, Albus," his brother retorted sarcastically, "did have the same education as you, after all. And possibly more experience when it comes to drink and potions."

Harry snorted, breaking up the tension between the two brothers. "You have NO idea what Hogwarts staff gets up to, Abe," he winked at the bartender and grabbed the sloshing glass little Severus had come out with. "Sit, Sev, and drink a bit from it first."

He bit back another grin when Albus asked the boy, "Why did you pour so much lemonade in your glass?"at the same time Aberforth said "Use a bigger glass next time, kid."

This, he decided, would be a very good time to leave for the Twins' store and share some of Sev's accomplishments with two people who would thoroughly appreciate the little one's newly acquired skills.

sssssssss

"We have set up pranks"

"against the Headmaster and your relatives, Harry"

"but do you think that Snape"

"will even want anything to do with us?"

The twins looked at their surrogate brother expectantly.

"I hope he does, would be perfectly good gags gone to waste otherwise," Harry shrugged.

"Well, not exactly gone to waste…" Fred demurred.

"There are several other uses we can think of for them," George nodded.

"Still, it would be nice"

"if they got used on the intended recipients."

sssssssssssss

Severus slid his hand into Albus' as they walked back towards the castle.

"Are you angry with me, grandpa?" he asked, a little insecure.

Dumbledore came to an abrupt stop and turned to the small boy in surprise. "Child, why in the world would I be angry with you?"

The small Potions Master shuffled his feet. "I liked Uncle Abe teaching me things…" he muttered.

The Headmaster felt a flash of guilt. He reached down and lifted the child into his arms.

"I'm not angry with you at all," he stated firmly, giving Severus a quick cuddle, "I was a bit surprised that Uncle Abe taught you those things, and you must promise me never to disobey us and try the drinks yourself, but I'm not angry."

"You said I can't have any because drinks can't be mixed with potions, but I didn't drink any potions," Severus said.

The old wizard sighed. "Yes, Severus, you did drink a potion. I'm not surprised you don't remember, as it happened during an accident that left you unconscious for a while. It hasn't worn off yet, and while it hasn't, we must be careful with what potions or alcohol you imbibe. That means drink," he added quickly.

"I knew that!" the little boy exclaimed indignantly, "but how do you know it hasn't worn off yet? And when it has, can I have a sip of Uncle Abe's beer then?"

"When it has worn off, I promise you can try Uncle Abe's beer," Dumbledore couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of an adult Snape's face should he try and forbid him from making his own choice in beverages. How the adult Potions Master would react to suddenly possessing all sorts of bartending skills was anybody's guess.

"How do I know it has worn off?" Severus asked.

Dumbledore stroked the soft dark hair and settled for a half-truth. "You'll suddenly grow taller," he answered.

"As tall as you?" the child asked, excited.

"Almost," the Headmaster allowed, trudging towards the castle with the child still in his arms, "but now it's time for bed, my boy. Uncle Harry, Uncle Abe and I are taking you to the zoo tomorrow."

Severus looked puzzled. "Zoo?"

With another pang of guilt Dumbledore realized that Severus had never enjoyed any outings as a child, and since he'd not reached the age of interaction with other children at school, had no idea that such places as amusement parks and zoos existed.

"It'll be fun," he promised, as he walked through the halls of the castle and into his own rooms, "Uncle Harry can even translate the snakes for you."

Though this cryptic statement did not lessen Severus' confusion any, it did make him curious enough to start looking forward to this unexpected outing.