The Sweetest Taste

Harry James Potter dragged the red crayon over the wall. Some may call this defacement of property, others art. Harry simply called it boredom. He drew a picture of his godfather, Sirius Black. Another picture depicted his Uncle Remus, looking fearfully at the moon and sprouting a tail. The next picture, drawn with a blue crayon, was of Harry himself riding a broom.

Harry really wanted to ride a broom. He wasn't allowed to.

5 year olds were too little to ride brooms.

"HARRY!"

Harry spun around on his heel and faced his godfather. He tucked the offending crayon behind his back and out of sight. Sirius looked very angry. Harry knew the angry godfather expression very well by now. It consisted of narrowed eyebrows. Sirius's long, dark hair was usually covering the majority of his face. Lastly, the gritted teeth. Oh yeah, and the raised voice.

"I didn't do it!"

Sirius looked even angrier. "Don't you lie to me, young man. Give me the crayon." He held out his hand, waiting for the crayon to be dropped into it.

"No! I don't have it!"

Harry ran past his godfather and down the hallway. A moment later, he was aware of the footsteps following him. He knew he was in huge trouble. What did he do when he was in huge trouble? He went to Uncle Remus.

Harry ran all the way to the kitchen, and a little breathlessly, leapt into Remus's arms. The werewolf was sitting at the kitchen table with a man with greasy hair and a hooked nose that Harry did not recognize. "Uncle Remus, Uncle Remus!" he cried.

"Hiya, Harry," Remus grinned, hugging the little boy. "What's the matter?"

"Sirius is gonna kill me!"

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh, indeed," Sirius said.

Harry, Remus, and the man that Harry did not recognize looked up at him.

"That was cryptic," Remus acknowledged.

"Cryptic, indeed, Black," said the greasy-haired man. Harry didn't like his voice - it was really cold and smooth, like ice.

"Snape," Sirius nodded his head curtly. "I trust you are here on Dumbledore's wishes. What can we do for you?"

Harry looked at the dark-haired man and decided he looked like a Snape. He also decided that the man really didn't look all that bad. His voice may be scary, but he looked kind of fun. In a mean way, he looked fun. Harry wanted to play with him.

"Severus will be staying with us for quite a while, Sirius," Remus said calmly. "Some things have gone down. He must stay in a safe place." Remus looked down at the little boy on his lap. "Harry."

"Yes?" Harry asked.

"This is Mr. Snape," Remus said, nodding towards the man. "He'll be our guest for a while."

"Hello, Mr. Snape!" Harry grinned, holding out a little hand for the visitor to shake.

Snape arched an eyebrow, unsure of whether to give in to the friendliness of a child. Finally, he took it, a slight smile on his face. "Hello, Harry."

Sirius cleared his throat. "Now that introductions are over with, I believe there's a little boy here who colored on the walls after being told not to THREE TIMES." Harry winced, and snuggled his head into Remus's chest.

"I didn't," he looked up at Remus. "Uncle Remus..."

"No you don't, mister," Remus chided. "You know you're not to go try turning us against eachother. And lying, while you're at it."

Harry made a small noise and climbed down from Remus's lap. He looked up at Snape. "Mr. Snape, they're going to kill me." Snape had to bite back a laugh.

"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked.

"Tell them not to," the little boy pleaded.

"Harry," Sirius said, picking his godson up from the kitchen floor. "What do you think your punishment should be?"

"To eat chocolate frogs."

"Harry, what do you really think it should be?" Remus asked.

"Okay okay...lemon drops," Harry relented. "But that's a little mean."

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks. Harry gulped. Whenever they exchanged looks, it meant that they were deciding what his punishment should be...with their eyes. It was usually very bad.

"I think early bedtime," Remus said at last.

"I concur," Sirius agreed.

"NO!" Harry cried. He HATED early bedtimes. He hated normal bedtimes. If it were up to him, he would NEVER sleep. "I'll be good! I don't want an early bedtime! I won't do it again, I swear!"

"Harry...we're not changing our minds," Sirius said. "Calm down." He put Harry over his shoulder. Harry started to kick and scream., pounding his fists on Sirius's back. "Harry, stop it."

"Temper tantrum," Remus sighed. "Put him down for a nap, Sirius. It's the only way to get him to stop."

"NO! NO NAP!" Harry screamed. This wasn't fair. First early bedtime, then a nap? He'd never get to play. It felt like he just woke up and the day had just started.

"If you don't want a nap, then you're going to stop this," Sirius said firmly.

"NO!" Harry kicked his godfather's chest.

"Ow," Sirius said. "Harry, that hurt."

"NO NAP!"

"Oh honestly..." Sirius grumbled, lightly tapping his godson's posterior with his palm. "Harry, we don't want to get into this, do we?" Harry quieted down. "Yeah, that's right. Are you going to be good?" Harry nodded. Sirius set him down. "You can go play, but absolutely no coloring on the walls, understood?" Harry nodded and ran off, feeling triumphant. He'd won this battle.

***

Severus Snape didn't know if he was disgusted or amused. He'd come to this house expecting to be riddled with pure hatred...well, it was Sirius Black, after all. The werewolf was okay. He didn't mind Lupin nearly as much as he had in school. And the boy...well, he was Lily's son. As much as he despised Potter, the boy was endearing. Annoying, but endearing.

So, he wasn't safe. So he had to come here, which really wasn't any more safe. He and Black would probably kill eachother.

"Sorry about that, Severus," Remus smiled slightly. "Harry has his moments."

Severus nodded. "Yes, I expect he does." He paused. "Does he have them often?"

"As much as a normal 5-year-old. Maybe once every other day. He shouldn't be too much of an annoyance. Though, we're used to it, so I don't know."

"He has Lily's eyes," Severus said. Remus nodded.

"That he does."

"So, Snape..." Sirius said, sitting down next to Remus. "Why aren't you safe?"

"You know...the usual..." Severus trailed off, looking from one face to the other. "He knows I'm a spy."

There was a silence, not just a normal silence, or an awkward silence. Deathly silence.

"But he's...out of power," Remus finally croaked.

"Yes, but that doesn't stop his loyal followers from doing his dirty deeds for him," Severus growled.