The war against Voldemort had at last come to an end. Lucius Malfoy no longer cared. He had lost everything. Tears stung his eyes at the thought of his wife and son, Narcissa and Draco, both lost to him. Now, thanks to his defection in the end and the vouching of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, he was spared from Azkaban, but the Ministry had decided to de-age him and have him grow up again to avoid him returning to his ways as a Death Eater.

"It's almost time, Lucius," said his closest friend, Severus Snape.

Malfoy sighed. Contrary to popular belief, his childhood had not been pleasant, and though his father, Abraxas Malfoy, was long dead, he didn't relish going back to early childhood, despite Severus' promise to make sure he had a good life.

Soon, the Ministry officials came in, one holding the potion that would de-age him. Lucius swallowed, and Severus put a hand on his shoulder.

"I promise, Lucius, you will have a better life."

He took the potion and swallowed it. The room spun then all went black.

"I can't believe he would do this to his own son," said a woman's voice.

"I knew he didn't have a very good life at home, but I never imagined it was even worse than my own," said a man with a deep, silky voice.

Lucius opened his eyes and saw a tall man in black with long black hair talking to an older woman in white, a mediwitch he remembered. The man then saw he was awake.

"Lucius."

The boy sat up.

"How do you know my name?" he asked rather clearly for a child his age.

"I met you a while ago, but you were too young to remember me. My name is Severus Snape, and this is Poppy Pomfrey."

"Hello."

Poppy smiled.

"What a polite young man, and handsome, too."

He blushed. Though only four, Lucius still had looks... and long hair.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You're very welcome."

Lucius looked at Snape.

"Is my father coming to get me, sir?"

"No."

The boy swallowed.

"Does... does he not want me anymore?"

Severus felt his heart ache for the child who had once been his best friend.

"It's not that, little one. It's not safe for you to stay with him anymore," he half lied.

"What will happen to me now?"

Poppy felt her heart break. Lucius had no living relatives, and he had no idea that Severus had become his guardian.

"I'll take care of you," Severus said.

"You will?"

The potions master nodded.

"Well, you're free to go, young man."

Lucius hopped off the bed.

"Why don't we go get lunch while the Headmaster makes adjustments to my quarters for you?"

The boy perked up at the thought lunch.

"Yes, please, sir."

"You don't have to call me sir. I am your guardian now."

Silver eyes looked up at him.

"What should I call you?"

"You may call me Severus, Sev, or even Uncle Sev if you like."

The boy thought for a few moments.

"So I don't call you Father?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm only your guardian, not really your father."

"Oh, okay,... Severus."

From Severus' quarters they Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Afternoon, Professor," called Tom, the landlord.

"Good afternoon, Tom."

Severus took Lucius out back, where he opened the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Now, stay by me. You could easily get lost in crowds."

Lucius nodded then after a moment reached up and took the potions master's hand. They made their way through the crowd to a café and sat down. A waitress brought them menus, and Lucius' eyes all but bugged out of his head at the sight of all the choices, despite the fact that he couldn't read most of them.

"Order whatever you like, Lucius, so long as you think you can eat all or at least most of it," the professor told him.

He nodded and looked back at the menu, trying to find what choices he could actually read. Finally he gave up and looked at his guardian.

"Uh,... Severus?"

Snape looked at him.

"Yes?"

"I... I can't... read this."

Severus could have kicked himself. Lucius was only four, of course he couldn't read the menu. What had he been thinking just leaving it up to the boy?

"Well, bring your chair over here, and we can read the menu together."

The child pushed his chair over to his and sat back down. The potions master then began reading the choices out loud until Lucius decided that he wanted the beef and cheddar sandwich with pumpkin juice to drink.

"Are you ready to order?" asked the waitress who had brought them their menus a few minutes later.

"Yes. He'll have a beef and cheddar sandwich with pumpkin juice, and I'll have the Italian salad with Grey Earl tea, please."

"Coming right up."

She took their menus and left. A few minutes later she returned with their food. Lucius was surprised at how good his sandwich was and savored each bite.

After lunch they wandered around, looking at the shops, and buying a few new clothes for Lucius. Then the child spotted the ice cream shop, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Severus," he said, tugging at the professor's hand.

Severus bent down to hear him better.

"Yes?"

"Could we... get some ice cream, please?"

He smiled and nodded.

"I don't see why not."

They went into the parlor, and Severus began to read the ridiculously long list of choices to Lucius, who finally settled on Chocolate Mint. The potions master ordered a cone of Chocolate Mint for Lucius and a cup of Coconut Macaroon for himself. They sat at a table and began eating their dessert. By the time Severus had finished his he saw that Lucius had also finished. He was horrified, however, to see that child seemed to have ended up wearing more of his ice cream than he actually ate. It was all over his face, coated his fingers, and was on his shirt, though he appeared to have enjoyed what amount he actually had eaten.

"Merlin's beard, child, you're a mess!"

He Summoned a pile of napkins and began trying to wipe as much of the ice cream off as he could. Lucius squirmed as he did so.

"Lucius, hold still. I need to get as much of this off you as I can before we go back the school."

The boy reluctantly held still until he finished. Severus sighed for though he had managed to get a good portion of the ice cream off there was still quite a bit left on him.

"Well, looks like you're going to need a bath when we get back."

Lucius wrinkled his nose in disgust at that, making Severus smile and chuckle a little.

"Come on, little man, time to go."

They returned to the Leaky Cauldron and Flooed back to Hogwarts. Severus took Lucius to the staff bathroom, which had a large bathtub. He filled it with warm water then looked at the selection of bubble baths.

"Lucius, what scent of bubble bath would you like? There's strawberry, watermelon, lemon, cherry, pine, green apple, pineapple, coconut, citrus, lavender, lilac, and vanilla."

"Uh. Can I smell them first?"

"Of course. Come here."

Lucius smelled each one then picked the vanilla. Severus soon had the bath full of cream colored bubbles.

"Time to get in."

He undressed the boy, carefully laying down his shirt, which still had ice cream on it, cast a floating charm on him, and put him in the tub. The potions master let him paddle around for a couple minutes then picked up a washcloth and lathered it with soap.

"All right. Time to wash up."

"No!"

"Yes, Lucius. Now come here."

The boy paddled out of reach.

"No!"

It went on for a couple minutes before Severus finally gave up, stripped to his boxers, transfigured them into swim trunks, and got into the tub. He quickly caught Lucius and began to scrub him clean. The child fought him, kicking and splashing.

"Lucius, stop it. You need to be cleaned."

"No!" he cried, still struggling.

The potions master had enough.

"Lucius Malfoy, stop that this instant!" he snapped.

Lucius stopped, knowing better than to disobey that tone of voice.

"You need to be clean. You're all sticky and messy. Do you like being a mess?"

"No," he said meekly.

"Then let me clean you."

The boy didn't fight him anymore as he washed him.

"There. See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Severus asked once he finished.

"No."

Severus got them out and dried them both off with a towel, draining the water. He dressed Lucius in the clean outfit he had picked out then dressed himself. Once he had finished dressing, he knelt in front of his ward, putting his hands on his shoulders.

"Now, Lucius, it would have been a lot quicker and easier if you had just obeyed the first time and let me wash you. Are you going to cause me trouble again at bath time?"

"No, Severus."

"Good. Now lets go see your new room, imp."

They went down to the dungeons to Snape's quarters, which Dumbledore had expanded, adding an extra room for Lucius.