After the return of Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy defected. He was found outside Hogsmeade, babbling and sobbing. Severus Snape managed to get some sense out of his distraught friend.
“It appears the Dark Lord murdered Narcissa as punishment for Lucius fleeing from the signs of his return and not trying to find him,” he told Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore planned to protect the widowed man, but the Ministry stepped in. He managed to keep Lucius out of Azkaban, but the now former Death Eater was de-aged to a baby.
He woke up in someplace dark and chilly, wet and hungry. He couldn’t help it and began to cry. To his surprise, his cries brought a tall, dark haired man running to his crib. Rough but gentle hands picked him up and cradled him against a warm chest.
“There, there, little one,” the man said in a deep, silky voice.
Lucius felt safe around this new Tall One. This one hadn’t yelled at or hit him when he cried. Instead he had picked him up and spoke gently to him. He snuggled against the black-clad shoulder, with shuddering sobs of discomfort a strong hand rubbed his back.
“Oh, you’re rather wet. Come on, lets get you changed.”
Severus carried the child to the newly made changing-table. The changing went rather quickly, as Severus had been made to practice on a doll by Madam Pomfrey so much he was almost sure he could do it with his eyes closed. Once finished he picked the baby up once more, just as his stomach growled.
“Hungry, I see. Well, we’ll fix that, too.”
He dressed Lucius then headed for the Great Hall. All eyes turned to the potion master and de-aged Malfoy. There was a high-chair next to Severus’ chair, between his seat and Remus Lupin’s. Bill Weasley, a cursebreaker for Gringotts, had managed to break the curse of the Defense position, so the werewolf was back.
“Good morning, Severus. Hello there, little one.”
Big silver eyes stared at him curiously.
“Well, I know you can at least say ‘hi’,” he said.
“Hi,” came the shy response.
Remus smiled.
“My name is Remus, and my furry friend here is Snuffles.”
Lucius looked down at the big dog, who was wagging his tail in a friendly manner.
“Pet?”
“You want to pet him?”
The child nodded.
“Of course you may. He loves the attention, just don’t pull his fur.”
Severus put Lucius down, and watched as Sirius licked his new son. Lucius giggled and began petting the Animagus. Potions master and werewolf watched at Sirius was amazingly tolerant of the baby, who ruffled his fur, accidentally stepped on his paw, and hugged him rather tightly. All the while, he licked the boy whenever he could, sensing the child had never been shown enough love or had a pet. Finally, Severus picked up his ward, rescuing the Animagus, who was having his ear pulled.
“All right, little one. Time to eat.”
With a bit of help from Remus, he got the boy in the high-chair. Once the food appeared, Severus began feeding Lucius. After a few minutes Remus took over so the raven haired man could eat some of his own meal. Snuffles lay at the base of the high-chair, watching his tiny cousin.
“Lucius.”
The boy looked over at the old man that called his name.
“Have you enjoyed your time with your new daddy?”
Severus choked on his coffee, Remus snickered, Snuffles gave a canine laugh, and Lucius looked around as if searching for this ‘daddy’ person.
“Who Daddy?”
Dumbledore blinked then realized that Abraxas Malfoy would never have allowed himself to be called ‘daddy’, not even when Lucius was a baby.
“Severus is your new daddy,” he said, pointing to the potions master.
“What Daddy?”
“Daddy is another word for father,” Remus said, smiling even as his fellow teacher glared at him.
Silver eyes lit up with understanding.
“Oh.”
He grinned at Severus.
“Daddy!” he squeaked happily.
Severus said nothing, simply looked at the baby that had once been his best friend.
“Daddy! Daddy!”
He sighed.
“Yes, Lucius?”
“Daddy!”
Remus chuckled.
“I think he’s just enjoying being able to say ‘daddy’ instead of ‘father’, Severus. Come on, pup, open wide,” he said, feeding the little blond some oatmeal.
Once he was done eating, Lucius looked at Severus.
“Daddy.”
“Yes, little one?”
“Down.”
Severus gave the tyke a meaningful look.
“Down please,” he said.
Lucius considered what had been said to him.
“Down pwease.”
The potions master got him out of the high-chair and set him down. Snuffles jumped up and licked the boy, who giggled.
“Snuff’es!” he giggled.
The dog lay down and managed to nudge the child onto his back. He walked around the Head Table.
“Be careful with him, Snuffles,” Severus and Remus called.
Sirius barked and walked down the aisle way between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
“Hey there, Snuffles,” said Harry Potter.
He barked a hello.
“Hello, little one.”
Lucius stared at the black haired boy with wide eyes. Severus approached but stopped a couple feet away as Fred and George, who were next to Harry, turned, and smiled kindly at his son.
“Hi there. We’re Fred-”
“And George.”
“What’s your name?” they chorused.
Lucius looked at them and smiled, finding them funny.
“Lucius,” he said with amazing clarity.
He looked at Harry.
“Who you?”
“I’m Harry Potter.”
Harry gently lifted Lucius from Snuffles’ back and set him between him and Fred.
“So, how do you like the Professor?”
The boy gave him a curious look.
“Who P’fessor?”
“Him,” the Gryffindor said, pointing to Severus.
Lucius gave Harry a rather serious looked.
“He not P’fessor. He Daddy.”
Several Gryffindors snorted.
“Okay then. How do you like your... Daddy?”
“I yike him yots,” Lucius said, even though his time with Severus had been short.
Though Lucius could speak extremely well for a child his age, he still couldn’t tell Harry, or anyone for that matter, to have Severus be gentle and pick him up more than once in the span of an hour was wonderful.
“That’s good. You’ll make friends soon.”
“Hawwy be friend?”
He smiled at the tyke.
“Sure I’ll be your friend.”
“So will we,” said the twins.
They then conjured a brown teddy bear with a red bow around its neck.
“So will this little guy.”
Fred handed the bear to the wide-eyed Lucius.
“Mine?”
“He sure is, tyke.”
Harry smirked and made a small version of Severus’ outfit appear on the bear. Lucius squealed happily and hugged the toy.
“What are you going to call your new friend?” Severus asked.
“P’fessor Cuddwes.”
“Professor... Cuddles?”
His new son nodded.
“All right. Now what do you say to Fred, George, and Harry?”
“Tank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lucius inspected his toy and looked a Fred.
“Fwed?”
“What’s up, lil’ Luc?”
The boy smiled at the nickname.
“Why P’fessor Cuddwes bown?”
“Well he can be a different color if you like.”
“What color do you want him to be?” George asked.
Lucius thought for a few minutes.
“Bwue.”
Fred waved his wand, and Professor Cuddles became a royal blue. George turned the collar midnight blue. The baby giggled and clapped happily.
“Tank you, Fwed an’ Geowge.”
Severus finally decided it was enough.
“All right, littling, time to go back to the adult table,” he said, scooping him up.
“Noooo! I wanna tay,” Lucius whined.
“We don’t mind, Professor,” Harry said.
The potions master sighed.
“Very well. You may stay until I finish eating.”
He returned his son to the bench then headed back to finish his breakfast. Snuffles followed and begged a couple slices of bacon and sausage from him.
“Begging mutt,” he said as he tossed the Animagus the food.
Snuffles gobbled it up happily then lay at Remus’ feet with a contented sigh. Meanwhile, Dumbledore watched Lucius with Harry, Fred, and George, who were joined by Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Neville. He was glad that Draco was no longer as Hogwarts. The young Malfoy had been disguised and sent to Durmstang. He hadn’t even been told that Lucius was alive and had left believing both of his parents to be dead. The Headmaster hadn’t liked doing it, but he knew it would make it easier for Draco to leave. Even if the boy had stayed, he could never acknowledge Lucius as his father since he was now older.
Severus finally eating and went to retrieve his son.
“All right, littling, time to go. We have toys to go buy.”
At the mention of toys, Lucius went along happily. At the door, Severus whistled, and Snuffles raced after then, happy to be invited along on the trip to Hogsmeade. Severus dressed Lucius accordingly for the chilly fall air, and they set off, riding a carriage to the village. One there, Severus conjured a stroller and strapped Lucius in it.
“Come on, Snuffles.”
With a happy bark, the Animagus walked alongside the stroller, tail wagging. Many people smiled at the sight. Madam Rosemerta, owner of the Three Broomsticks, stopped for a moment to fawn on Lucius, who ate up the attention while his father watched, smiling.
“Okay, Rosemerta, time for us to go,” he said after a few minutes.
“Oh, all right.”
They left, heading to the baby shop first to buy clothes. Once Severus was satisfied with the amount of clothes they went to get toys. They bought several toys, including a yellow ball with snakes on it. Once they finished their shopping they went back to Hogwarts. Since it was Saturday there were no classes, so Severus and Remus broke into the toys for Lucius. The child went to his ball first.
Severus, who was a secret Parsel-mouth, smiled as the snakes said, ‘Hi, Luc,’ as the child held the ball.
“Daddy?”
“Hmm?”
“Why nakes hiss?”
He looked at the boy.
“They’re saying ‘hi’ to you,” he said truthfully.
“Are they really?” Remus asked quietly as Lucius returned to playing.
His friend nodded.
Monday brought the return of Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, who had been made Hogwarts High Inquisitor. She returned at dinner, and seeing Severus’ absence, demanded to know where he was.
“Madam Umbridge, please. I’m sure Severus is merely eating in his quarters. He, nor any other teachers, are not required to be here for every meal,” Dumbledore said calmly.
Severus was feeding Lucius some chicken soup when a knock was heard.
“Enter,” he called.
He regretted it moments later when Umbridge came in.
“Professor.”
“Madam,” was the cool response.
They eyed each other, until a hungry toddler interrupted the staring contest.
“Daddy!” Lucius whined.
He turned back to his son.
“All right. I’m sorry,” he said, feeding the boy more soup.
“You are not his father.”
Black eyes turned back the High Inquisitor.
“I believe his adoption papers will say differently.”
He moved the soup away and set a plate of banana pieces on the tray. Lucius began happily eating the fruit.
“He should be in Azkaban, not having a life of luxury.”
“I hardly call this luxury, Madam Umbridge,” Severus drawled.
She scowled at him.
“If he is indeed to grow up again, he should at least be raised by a respected family, not some Death Eater scum.”
Now Lucius wasn’t entirely sure what the woman in pink was saying, but he did know that something felt wrong around her. He also know she was somehow being mean to his daddy, so he did the first thing that came to his mind; he flung pieces of banana at her. Umbridge sputtered in shock and rage as the food managed to hit her in the face.
“You little heathen!”
Before Severus could move, she smack him. Lucius was stunned only for a second then began screaming. The potions master shot to his feet, his rage so strong it could be felt in the air.
“How dare you strike a baby?!” he bellowed, making Umbridge finally realize just why students respected and feared him.
“He threw food at me!”
His glared darkened.
“He’s a baby, for God’s sake! He doesn’t know any better! Now get out of my quarters!”
Umbridge decided that retreat was the wisest choice at the time and quickly left. Just as she left, Snuffles and Remus came running in. They had been on their way to dungeons, and Lucius’ screams had spurred them into a run.
“What happened?” Remus asked as Severus paced, cradling Lucius close, rubbing his back, and speaking gently to him.
“He threw some banana pieces at Umbridge, and she hit him.”
Sirius and Remus both growled.
“We’ll tell Albus.”
They left father and son alone.”
“Shh. Lucius, it’s okay. The mean lady’s gone. Daddy’s got you now. Daddy’s got you. You’re safe, littling,” Severus crooned to his son.
Slowly the wails became sobs, which became hiccups, which became tears, which finally stopped.
“There. See? You’re safe with Daddy.”
“Sa?”
Severus nodded.
“Yes. Safe. Daddy will keep you safe, always.”