Aftermaths, Part 12

by Geri ([email protected])

Rating: Mostly PG-13, but NC-17 for overall story

Pairing: Snape/Lupin, Theodore/Blaise

Warning: AU; events that occurred at the end of Order of the Phoenix were significantly altered from the book.

Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, and Phoenix Rising.

Summary: The various characters deal with the aftermath of the war, and Snape and Lupin try to build a family together with Theodore and Dylan. However, some people are unable to let go of the past...

Author's note: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except Hob, who belongs to William Mayne; no money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
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The day after Blaise's visit, Snape received a letter from Branwen saying that she would take him up on his "kind offer" to help restore Blackmore Manor, and that Lupin and the boys were welcome to come along as well. A day of housecleaning did not sound all that appealing to Theodore and Dylan, but they agreed to go out of curiosity. They were a little frightened as well as curious, but they figured that Snape and Lupin would protect them, and a chance to see inside the ancestral home of the mysterious and possibly demonic Blackmore clan was too tempting to pass up.

The Blackmore estate was located out in the countryside. The mansion was a huge, sprawling building, and its many spiraling turrets made it resemble a small castle. It looked oddly mismatched, though, as if constructed by several different architects who had built separate parts of it without paying any attention to each other's plans. The grounds were surrounded by a crumbling stone wall which was being repaired by a number of small, vaguely man-shaped creatures that appeared to be made out of mud.

"Earth elementals?" Dylan asked, remembering his Incantations and Summonings lessons.

"Five points to Slytherin," Lupin joked, although of course the House Points system did not function outside of the school. "Branwen is a Master-class Summoner, after all. And the elementals seem to be genuinely fond of her; she has enough power to compel them to do her bidding by force, but from what I have observed, they come willingly when she calls."

"The Blackmores have always had odd magical gifts," Snape muttered. It was not surprising, considering that one of her ancestors was a demon, but he kept that piece of information to himself since the boys weren't supposed to know about it. Although he sincerely doubted it would come as all that much of a surprise to any of the Slytherins, whose parents had fed them rumors about the Blackmores having demon blood.

They passed unchallenged through the open gates, and walked up the path that led to the mansion. As if to prove Lupin's point, they passed by a couple of air elementals that seemed to be blowing dust and debris out of the house and piling it up in a rapidly-growing mound on the front lawn. And a few more air elementals seemed to be working in tandem with water elementals to wash the windows.

"Remus, Severus, thank you for coming," Branwen said, greeting them each with a kiss on the cheek, much to the boys' surprise. She already seemed to be in the process of cleaning house: her long hair was neatly braided instead of hanging loose as it usually was, and she was wearing a faded black robe that was covered with dust. Bane was perched on her shoulder as usual, although he looked a little disgruntled, perhaps because his feathers were dusty as well. "How nice to see you, Theodore, Dylan," she added, smiling warmly at them and shocking them further. "It's kind of you to help us out today."

"No problem," Dylan said, looking a little dazed.

Sirius was in the living room casting cleaning spells with much more vigor and enthusiasm than he had shown during the cleanup of his own mansion. "Hey Moony," he said cheerfully, then nodded at Snape in an almost friendly manner. "Snape."

"Black," Snape acknowledged, nodding back at him.

"I see they've drafted you into helping as well," Lupin said with a grin to Harry, who was sweeping up a pile of large splinters that might once have been a desk or a chair.

"Hi Professor!" Harry said, grinning back at him. He gave Snape a polite but more cautious smile.

"You know Theodore and Dylan, of course," Lupin said pleasantly.

"Uh...yeah, hi," Harry said, a little awkwardly.

"Hi," Theodore mumbled, just as awkwardly; Gryffindors and Slytherins just did not socialize outside of school. Well, they didn't socialize IN school, either. Except that wasn't really true anymore; Pansy and Millicent had become friends with Parvati and Lavender, and of course there was Lupin and Snape...

"Hi," Dylan said, easily falling back on his carefully cultivated air of politeness and charm. "Are Weasley and Granger here with you, then?" he asked casually.

A little too casually, perhaps, at least to Harry's ears, but maybe that was because he was thinking of the bracelet Dylan had secretly given to Hermione last Christmas, and of how Ron and Hermione had fought over Dylan on Valentine's Day. Dylan's friend Nott didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"No," Harry replied, watching Dylan carefully. "Hermione is on vacation with her parents; they're traveling in Europe for a couple of weeks."

"Oh," Dylan said; was it Harry's imagination or did he sound a little disappointed?

"As for Ron, well..."

"Molly wouldn't let him come," Branwen said, rolling her eyes a little. "You know how she is about Dark Magic and my family's reputation...although, quite frankly, I'm relieved to have her out of my hair for a few days."

Snape grinned wickedly. "Ah yes, we heard that she was 'helping' you with your wedding plans..."

"She means well, but she's driving me crazy, Severus!" Branwen said crossly. "We decided to hold the wedding here on the estate, partly because I'd like to think that my parents would be watching over me, but also, I must admit, because I hoped it would scare her off, but it hasn't--although she won't let any of the children come over here until it's 'safe'. She kept bothering me about my wedding dress and showing me pictures of these hideous white gowns with ruffles and puffy sleeves--can you imagine me in ruffles?! I told her I was planning to wear my grandmother's gown, so she offered to work on the decorations, but she wants to use pink flowers and ribbons! Can you imagine Blackmore Manor, home to generations of Dark Wizards, festooned with pink ribbons?! My ancestors would roll over in their graves!"

Meanwhile, Sirius pulled Lupin over to the other side of the room and groaned, "Moony, they're driving me nuts! They're in my kitchen almost every day fighting over wedding plans--with Branwen glowering at Molly, and Molly stubbornly determined to be cheerful and helpful. I try to stay out of it, but then they turn to me and ask, 'Sirius, what do you think?' Even Hob makes himself scarce when they're around! I'd go hide under the stairs with him, but I'm afraid Branwen might turn Molly into a toad one day if I'm not around to stop her."

Lupin chuckled and patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Well, I hear Percy's getting married, too, so perhaps she'll be so busy with his wedding that she won't have time to meddle with yours."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Sirius said gloomily, "but I don't think Penelope wants Molly taking over her wedding, either. I suspect she's trying to push her future mother-in-law off on us." Lupin laughed, and Sirius gave him a wounded look. "Some friend you are," he said sulkily.

"Just be glad that Branwen's in-laws aren't interfering with your wedding," Lupin said slyly, and Sirius turned a little pale, thinking of his fiancee's demonic ancestor.

"You've been spending too much time around Snape," he said sourly, and Lupin laughed again.

Just then, Tonks entered the room carrying a large cage full of squirming, squeaking rats. "Hi Severus, hi Remus! I don't suppose your pet rat would like a friend?"

"One is enough for me, thank you, Tonks," Lupin said firmly.

"Tonks, get those out of the house, will you?" Sirius said, still sounding a little grumpy.

"I'm just on my way out," she replied. "I was going to take them into the woods and let them go."

"You should just kill them," Snape said, eyeing the vermin-filled cage distastefully. "Typical softhearted Gryffindor."

"And who was it that rescued Kiseki from a Dark Magic experiment and gave him to me?" Lupin teased.

Theodore and Dylan looked startled. "You mean you gave Professor Lupin his pet rat?" Dylan asked, staring at Snape incredulously. "He said he rescued it from the Owlery!"

Snape flushed and glared at Lupin. "I only did that to get Serafina to trust me," he growled. "I was trying to convince her that I wasn't like the other Death Eaters."

"What does Sera have to do with it?" Theodore asked in confusion.

"It's a long story," Snape sighed. "It was after the Dark Lord ordered me to give you all lessons in the Dark Arts. I had Miss Avery practice some anti-healing spells on the rat, and--"

Before Snape could finish his story, a commotion arose outside the room, and Theodore cried out in fear and reached for his wand as he saw Thaddeus Nott run into the room--followed by a round little man, less than three feet high, brandishing a broom like a weapon? Fear turned to bewilderment.

Thaddeus ran past Dylan, who also let out a shout of fear and surprise when it suddenly changed and took the form of Lord Voldemort, and then a Dementor as Harry turned towards it. The Dementor, still being chased around the room by a broom-wielding Hob, ran towards Tonks and suddenly transformed into a large, shapeless, translucent red blob.

At the exact same instant, all three boys realized that the creature must be a boggart, pointed their wands at the blob, and shouted, "Riddikulus!" The blob exploded in a cloud of smoke and vanished.

"Well done!" Lupin said, applauding, and the three boys looked pleased.

"Good work," Branwen said approvingly. "Too bad school isn't in session; I'd give you twenty points apiece for that."

Snape raised his eyebrows and asked Tonks, "Your greatest fear is a lump of red gelatin?"

Tonks blushed and said defensively, "It's all my dad's fault! When I was a little girl, he let me stay up late one night and watch TV with him; there just happened to be a horror movie on--'The Blob'. My mum was furious; I had nightmares for a week."

"Nightmares about an oversized dessert?" Snape asked with a touch of condescending amusement.

"It ate people in the movie!"

Snape turned to Lupin and said triumphantly, "I told you those Muggle devices were bad for you!" They had once spent a summer in Japan with Professor Kamiyama, and Lupin had been fascinated by all the Muggle devices--computer, television, video games--that the family owned.

"Oh, stop teasing Tonks," Lupin laughed, and to make sure that he did so, Lupin slipped his arms around Snape and nuzzled his cheek.

"Cut that out, Lupin!" Snape snapped, forgetting about Tonks and the boggart. Lupin laughed again; this time it came out sounding surprisingly wicked.

"Definitely been spending too much time around Snape," Sirius muttered, but he looked amused.

The little man bowed to the three boys and said, "Hob thanks you for getting rid of the boggart. Now Hob must get back to getting the house ready for Lady Blackmore's and the Mister's wedding." Then he ran out of the room without waiting for a reply.

"What on earth was that?" Theodore asked. "If it's a house-elf, it's the fattest one I've ever seen!"

"It's a hob," Dylan said. "It works for Mr. Black."

"Call me Sirius," Sirius told Dylan and Theodore cheerfully.

"I've never seen one before," Theodore said, looking puzzled. "I thought they only served Muggles." A hob traditionally served a non-magical family as an unseen "good spirit" that kept the household running smoothly so long as the family left it a gift--usually food--beside the fireplace every night. Wizards preferred house-elves as servants, because they were magically bound to obey their masters, while a hob could leave if it was mistreated.

"Not many Muggles believe in such things as hobs these days," Sirius told him. "I suppose that's partly our fault, since we wizards we have worked so hard to make sure they don't believe in magic. Anyway, Hob needed a home, and I needed some help around the house, so he ended up with me."

Kingsley Shacklebolt walked into the room, a large bag slung over one shoulder. "What should I do with all this trash, Branwen?"

"Thank you, Kingsley; just add it to the pile on the front lawn. I'll have one of the fire elementals burn it when we're done. Oh, and perhaps you could help Tonks get rid of those rats."

"What was all the commotion I heard a minute ago?" Shacklebolt asked as he and Tonks left together.

"A boggart. Have you ever heard of a movie called 'The Blob'...?"

"Well, I know you're dying to get a look at the library, Severus," Branwen said with a mischievous smile.

"I'm hurt that you think I have ulterior motives," Snape said, pretending to be offended. "Is it so hard to believe that I just want to help out a friend?"

"You're a Slytherin," Branwen said dryly, although she was still smiling. "Of course you have ulterior motives. However, if you're not interested in seeing the library..."

"I didn't say that!" Snape said hastily.

"Follow me, then," Branwen said, grinning at him. Sirius and Harry joined them, and Branwen led them down a long hallway and added, "It's in the east wing, which is actually a later addition to the main building. Lady Regan, the founder of my clan, built the original mansion, and her descendants have added on to it over the years, rather haphazardly, I'm afraid." There were a number of portraits hanging on the wall, many of which appeared to have been damaged in her battle with the Death Eaters more than fifteen years ago: some were singed or had cracked frames, and others had been totally obliterated. She paused in front of one portrait and smiled fondly. It was a painting of a young couple--a handsome man with shoulder-length black hair and dark eyes, and a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and green eyes. "These are my parents," she said. "Lord Meredith Blackmore and his wife, Fiona."

"Ah yes," Lupin said, "I can see the family resemblance. You look very much like your father, but you have your mother's eyes."

"The green color of her eyes might come from her mother's side of the family," Snape said, a bit sourly, "but that steely gaze is definitely from the Blackmore side." The woman in the portrait was lovely, but her eyes were kind and gentle--not the sort of stare that could cow an entire House of spoiled, cynical Slytherins into submission. The man, on the other hand, although he was smiling pleasantly, had a sort of intensity in his eyes that reminded Snape of Branwen.

"Indeed," Branwen said, sounding amused.

"These pictures don't talk, do they?" Harry asked nervously, thinking of the portraits in the Black house.

"No, dear," Branwen said. "My family did not believe in such things. They thought it was something of a sacrilege, to put a piece of oneself into a painting that would live on as a sort of ghostly echo of one's former glory. Besides, quite frankly, it can be very annoying to have several generations worth of ancestors giving you unwanted advice all the time."

"Tell me about it!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes as he thought of the portrait of his mother that harangued everyone who was unfortunate enough to cross her path.

Theodore nodded in agreement, thinking of the portraits of his grandparents. He wondered what would happen to them, and to the portraits of some equally unsavory relatives, after he sold Nott Manor; presumably the new owner wouldn't want them. {Well, it's not my problem,} he decided. The thought of them winding up in the fireplace or on a rubbish heap did not distress him in the slightest. In fact, when he finally did get around to selling the mansion after he came of age, he would tell Morrigan De Lacy to put some sort of clause in the contract stating that the buyer bought the place "as is"--then it would be their problem, not his.

"Uncle Math said that your mother was my grandmother's friend," Dylan said hesitantly to Branwen; he was still a bit intimidated by Professor Blackmore. "And that they had a falling out when your mother married Lord Blackmore."

"Yes, that is true," Branwen said. "It's a sad story; if Deirdre and my mother had remained close friends, perhaps our families would have grown close as well, and I might have been like an aunt or older cousin to your mother and uncles. And perhaps if she could have seen that not all Slytherins are evil, your grandmother would not have opposed Evan's and Ariane's marriage." She sighed, and Dylan bit his lip and blinked back tears as he pictured a life that was entirely different from the one he had; he loved his foster family, but what would it have been like to grow up with both a mother and a father, to have a happy, normal family life like Damien or Hermione or the Weasleys...?

Snape put an arm around his shoulders, and Dylan leaned into the embrace, drawing comfort from it. "Branwen," Snape said, in a soft but accusing voice.

"It's okay, Professor," Dylan said, running the back of his hand across his eyes to wipe away the tears. "It makes me a little sad, but I want to learn more about my family."

To his surprise, Professor Blackmore gave him a surprisingly sad and tender look, and gently stroked his cheek in an almost motherly gesture. "I'm sorry, dear. Dwelling on what-ifs is rarely a good idea, but we are all guilty of it at times, I suppose. Your father was one of my favorite students, and I loved him despite his faults. He had so much potential...not just as a mage, but as a person. If he had lived, I believe in time he would eventually have realized the mistake he made by joining the Death Eaters. I believe he would be proud of you if he could see you today."

That made Dylan start weeping again, and he turned away, pressing his face against Snape's shoulder to hide his tears. Branwen and the others continued walking down the hall to give them some privacy as Snape awkwardly but gently tried to comfort the boy. Lupin paused to pat Dylan on the shoulder and give Snape a tender, encouraging smile before following the others. Theodore glanced back at his foster brother, a worried look on his face, and Lupin put an arm around him and said, "Don't worry, Theo; he'll be all right. He needs to mourn his family, both his mother and his father. I'd be more worried if he didn't weep for them occasionally."

"But Evan Rosier has been dead for years," Theodore protested in a subdued voice.

"Yes, but Ariane's death has opened old wounds," Lupin replied. "And sometimes we mourn most what we never had." Theodore nodded solemnly, remembering how he had wept for his parents, not so much for what there were, but what they had not been. There were so many parents who had sacrificed themselves to save their children: James and Lily Potter, of course, and Dylan's mother, and even Delia Avery and Narcissa Malfoy, who had turned against the Death Eaters and their husbands for Sera's and Draco's sakes. It hurt to know that his parents were not among them, that they would have sacrificed him to save their own lives.

"When I was a student at Hogwarts," Lupin said, "I sometimes mourned the normal life I knew I would never have, the life that the other students took for granted. A life in which I did not have to fear the approach of the full moon every month, a life without the pain and illness that accompanied every transformation, and most of all, a life in which people would not fear and despise me because I was a werewolf."

That made Theodore feel a little better, to know that Lupin understood how he felt. "But people don't hate you anymore, Prof...Remus. Nobody worth knowing, anyway." Lupin chuckled and gave him a little hug.

Harry felt a little uncomfortable. He had spent so many years regarding the Slytherins as his enemies, that it was hard for him to see them as people with both good and bad points, even though that realization was what had enabled him to defeat Voldemort. It made him feel strange and a little guilty, to see Draco and his cronies not just as the arrogant bullies who had snubbed and taunted him, but as children who loved their parents, even though those parents had been Death Eaters. He had hated the Death Eaters so much that it had never occurred to him that they might have parents or wives or sons who loved them, and the sight of Dylan weeping on Snape's shoulder drove that point home. By all accounts, Evan Rosier had been a loyal Death Eater who had murdered innocent people in the Dark Lord's service, but he had also been the charming boy that Professor Blackmore still felt affection for, and the father that Dylan mourned. Uneasily, he wondered if the other slain Death Eaters also had people who loved and mourned them.

Sirius seemed to guess what he was thinking, because he placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and leaned down and whispered, "You did what had to be done, Harry. But Branwen's right when she says the world isn't black and white. Sometimes I wish it were."

Meanwhile, Branwen continued identifying the portraits on the wall, as if to distract them, and occasionally stopped to cast a Reparo spell on a damaged painting. "This is my great-great-great-great grandmother, Lady Bronwen, after whom I was named. And this is Lady Sybil, who was a Seer." She paused in front of a painting that was little more than splinters. "I'm afraid this one is too far gone to repair." She glanced at the nameplate that was still visible on what remained of the frame. "Not much of a loss, though, to tell you the truth. This was Lady Morag, one of my more...er...disagreeable relatives, one of the ancestors who gave my family a bad name." By this time, Severus and Dylan had caught up with them. "In fact, you might be interested to know, Severus, that she was a Potions Mistress. Unfortunately, she was suspected of poisoning several of her enemies...her son Alastair was said to be a kind and gentle man, though. He was one of the few Blackmore Lords; according to the family histories, Morag was very disappointed that she never had a daughter."

"She must have made his life miserable," Sirius said sympathetically, picturing a harridan much like his own mother. "I'm surprised she didn't poison him; actually, I'm surprised that MY mother didn't poison me..."

"Oh, no doubt she would have--Lady Morag, I mean, not your mother, Sirius--except that he was her only heir, and killing him would have meant ending the Blackmore bloodline. Fortunately for Alastair, his mother died when he was twenty-five--a mishap when she was trying out a new potion; a bit too much hemlock, it seems..."

"Are you sure it was an accident?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"It was officially ruled as one," Branwen replied, "but as Morag was feared and disliked by most of the wizarding community, no one really looked too closely into her death." She grinned slyly, with the sort of gleam in her eyes that did nothing to discourage the rumors about her demon blood. "Perhaps Alastair wasn't quite as gentle as he seemed..."

Sirius shuddered a little as they continued down the corridor, suddenly glad that Branwen had no living relatives...except of course for Araqiel and Regan in the Demon Realm. He hoped that they didn't intend to pay a visit at the wedding, and reassured himself with the thought that a demon could not cross over into the human world without an invitation. And then he resolved to check over the guest list very carefully and send out the wedding invitations himself, just to be on the safe side...

"And this is Lady Gweneth," Branwen said, motioning to another painting, this one of a dark-haired woman standing next to a handsome blond man with gray eyes.

"That man," Dylan said, staring at the portrait in shock. "He looks like..."

"Much like Gwydion, doesn't he?" Branwen finished, smiling. "That is Gweneth's husband, Emlyn. He was a younger son of the Donner family, with no inheritance of his own, since the title and the estate went to his sister, so their marriage was an advantageous one for him even if it meant that his children would bear his wife's name. But according to Lady Gweneth's diaries, it was a love match, not a political one, and they were very happy together."

"But...but," Dylan stammered, "if the Donners and the Blackmores are related, then why did my grandmother hate them so much?"

"I'm not sure that Deirdre was aware of it," Branwen replied, "since this happened about three hundred years ago. If she did know of it, no doubt it was a part of the family history that she preferred to ignore. But all the pureblood families are related to some degree or another; there is only so much pure blood to go around, after all."

"Yes," Dylan murmured, "I remember Professor Snape told us the same thing at the Nott mansion." He smiled, remembering what they had discovered from the Nott family tree. "Theo and I are related; one of his ancestors married a woman from my paternal grandmother's family. And Theo and Professor Snape are related, too."

"There was also a Black in Theodore's family tree," Lupin told Sirius with a smile.

"Let's see," Blackmore said thoughtfully, "if I recall my family history correctly, one of the Blackmore Lords married a Black. Another married a woman from the Snape family, but that was several hundred years ago."

"So perhaps the ability to terrorize students is hereditary, Severus," Lupin joked.

Snape just glowered at him. "Too bad I didn't also inherit the ability to terrorize werewolves," he said sarcastically.

Branwen ignored them and continued, "I think there may be a Nott in there somewhere, but I'd have to check our records to be sure. It gets a little hard to keep track of the family tree when it goes back for a thousand years."

"What about a Potter?" Harry asked curiously.

"No, that is one line that never mixed with ours," Branwen said, smiling ruefully. "I'm afraid that your father's distrust of Slytherin was a family tradition. The Potters were nearly all Gryffindors, and they regarded the Slytherins families with suspicion--the feud probably goes as far back as the time of the Founders." She hesitated, then continued; her eyes went blank and expressionless, but they watched Harry very closely. "One of the early Potter lords was a friend and staunch supporter of Godric Gryffindor, and he sided with Godric during his quarrel with Salazar Slytherin over admitting Muggle-born students to the school."

Dylan and Theodore stared at Harry curiously as a look of dismay spread across his face. Voldemort had told him that he was the descendant of the result of an adulterous affair between Godric Gryffindor and Lord Potter's wife, and that there was not really any Potter blood in his veins. That knowledge was bad enough, but it was even worse to learn that this Potter, his supposed ancestor, had been doubly betrayed, not just by his wife, but by his friend, who was the great hero and founder of Gryffindor House.

"Branwen!" Sirius snapped, glaring at her accusingly. "Do we really have to dig up all that ancient history? After a thousand years, we should just let bygones be bygones!" Theodore and Dylan looked even more bewildered by that outburst, but Sirius ignored them and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "People are human, Harry," he said kindly. "No one's perfect; we all make mistakes, even people we love and admire. Merlin knows I've made more than my share of them!"

"What are they talking about, Professor?" Dylan whispered to Snape. "Why should Potter be upset that his ancestor was a friend of Gryffindor and an enemy of Slytherin?"

Snape hesitated as Lupin shot him a stern look and shook his head slightly. "It's Gryffindor business, Rosier," Snape whispered back. "It doesn't concern us. Suffice it to say that Mr. Potter's simplistic and Gryffindor-ish view of the world was shaken up a little during the battle with Voldemort."

Theodore and Dylan still looked confused, and Lupin added with a smile, "I think the Slytherins' view of the world was also shaken up; in fact, the entire school was shaken up, but I believe that was a good thing." He leaned over and kissed Snape on the cheek.

"Cut that out, Lupin!" Snape growled, and the boys laughed.

Branwen smiled and continued leading them down the corridor. "Is there a Rosier in your family tree, Professor?" Dylan asked. "What about a Malfoy?"

"I believe there is a Rosier somewhere in the distant past, but there are no Malfoys," Branwen replied, then smiled wryly. "The men were too proud to give up their names, and they didn't want their women to get the notion that they could be independent and rule in their own name rather than their husband's, so they never married into the Blackmore line. Most the Blackmore Lords married women from prominent pureblood families, but most of the Ladies married men from lesser families, because the men of the pureblood elite would have lost face if they took their wife's name. In fact, a few of the Blackmore women never married at all, though they did bear children to carry on the family name, which was regarded as quite scandalous at the time. But the Blackmores have never really cared what other people thought of us."

Something suddenly occurred to Lupin, and he changed the subject, saying, "I saw Kingsley and Tonks, but I haven't seen Moody. Didn't he offer to help out as well?" Although they were occasionally at odds with each other, Branwen was of one of the few people that Mad-Eye Moody respected, while he was one of the few people who didn't fear her, and they regarded each other as friends.

"Yes, he did," Branwen said, sighing a little, "but the aura of Dark Magic in the house was making him twitchy, so I sent him home. The Death Eaters did enough damage to this house without a paranoid Auror adding to it by firing off spells every time the floorboards squeak or the wind causes a curtain to rustle."

"You'd think old Mad-Eye would relax a little now that Voldemort and the Death Eaters have been defeated," Sirius chuckled.

"Constant vigilance," Branwen said, quoting Moody. "Years of paranoia are hard to shake, and he thinks that some of the Death Eater sympathizers might still carry a grudge against him."

"But surely none of them would be hiding out in your family home," Sirius protested.

"No, but there is my family's reputation, which is not entirely undeserved," Branwen pointed out. "He fears there may be some hidden trap spells or magical items that I don't know about, which is possible. It's probably just as well that he left, since I would rather not have any priceless family heirlooms destroyed by him."

They passed through a door that had been blown off its hinges, and entered a large room whose walls were lined with shelves that were filled with books from floor to ceiling--or had been, at one time. Some of the shelves had been damaged by spell blasts, spilling their contents onto the floor. A table in the center of the room had been blasted into kindling.

Snape, Dylan, and Theodore stared at the library with looks of awe on their faces. "Wow," Dylan breathed; he and Snape in particular looked like children who had just been set loose in a candy store.

Branwen smiled at them indulgently. "If you would help to repair the shelves and organize the books, I would be much obliged." The trio nodded enthusiastically. "But be careful," she warned Theodore and Dylan. "Some of the books have protective enchantments on them. Use an Aperio spell to check them first, and don't touch any enspelled books without consulting Remus, Severus, or myself first, understand?"

"Yes, Professor," the boys chorused.

"And be especially careful with the books in that corner of the room," she added.

They cautiously approached the section of shelving she was pointing to, and saw that it was filled with books on the Dark Arts, Summoning, and Demonology. Snape was eyeing the books just as eagerly as his foster sons were, but he cleared his throat and said gruffly, "Let's start over here, Nott, Rosier." The boys sighed regretfully and backed off. An Aperio spell on the pile of books nearest the door revealed no enchantments, and they began repairing the shelves and sorting through the books.

Meanwhile, Sirius and Harry lifted up the door, propping it up in the doorway. "It's mostly intact," Sirius said. "I think it can be salvaged with a couple of Reparo spells." Under his breath, he asked Branwen, "Is it really safe to turn those boys loose in your library?"

"I think so," she replied quietly, so that only Harry and Sirius could hear her. "All Slytherins are drawn to the Dark Arts, but after what they've gone through, I don't think they will be tempted to misuse their powers. And Severus and Remus will keep them in line. You will notice that I didn't invite Narcissa and Draco to our little cleanup party; they've been doing very well, but I didn't think it wise to put too much temptation in front of them."

The three Slytherins spent more time leafing through the books than they did shelving them, but Branwen didn't seem to mind. Theodore was absorbed in a book called "Runes of Power," and Snape and Dylan were carefully examining a thick, ancient tome on potions.

"It's a crime to damage such a rare and valuable book!" Snape exclaimed indignantly. It had been damaged by spellfire, although the thick leather binding of the book had absorbed the brunt of the damage. The edges of some of the pages were singed and burned away, though.

"Will a Reparo spell fix it?" Dylan asked dubiously.

"We can try..."

Even Lupin got distracted when he discovered a entire section devoted solely to fiction, and sat on the floor, happily flipping through the pages of a copy of "Le Morte D'Arthur" that looked old enough to be an original edition.

Sirius chuckled. "Shall we leave the bookworms alone, then--?" he started to say, then broke off as he looked up and noticed a large painting hanging on the wall between two rows of shelves. It was undamaged and it portrayed a couple: a beautiful young woman who looked much like Branwen except that her eyes were brown, and an even more beautiful young man, who also looked like Branwen. His hair was long and black, and his skin perfectly smooth and porcelain-pale, which might be artistic license on the part of the painter, but somehow Sirius didn't think so. There was a sly, knowing smile on his lips, and there seemed to be just a hint of red tint in the black paint that had been used on his eyes. The unknown painter of the portrait must have been a master of his art, because he had managed to capture the look of ancient wisdom in the young man's eyes with a bit of oil paint and a few strokes of his brush. "These are your ancestors, aren't they, Branwen?" Sirius asked in a hushed tone of mingled fear and awe. "The founders of your clan, Regan and Araqiel."

Branwen's eyes flickered over to Dylan and Theodore, who had overheard and were looking up at the portrait curiously. "Yes, Sirius," she replied calmly, "although Regan's husband went by the name Lord Raven in public. His people believed that names hold power, and he did not care to reveal his real name to outsiders."

"Oh," Sirius said in consternation. He was not an expert on the Dark Arts, but he had a vague recollection that a wizard could summon a demon by calling on the demon's true name.

"No harm done," Branwen said cheerfully. "After all, Lady Regan and Lord Raven have long ago departed this world." Sirius noted, with some amusement, that strictly speaking, this was not a lie, since she had not said that they were dead. "Well, I'm afraid this table is beyond help," she said, looking down at its splintered remains. "Sirius, Harry, why don't you two help me levitate it out of here, and then I'll check on the furniture stored in the attic for a suitable replacement? Severus, Remus, if you and the boys see anything you'd like to borrow, just let me know. So long as it's nothing dangerous, I don't mind, and I believe there are some Potions texts that you might be interested in."

"Thank you, Branwen!" Snape said, startling Harry by grinning from ear to ear, an avid gleam in his black eyes. "I have noticed a few texts in your collection that are extremely difficult to find these days..."

"Help yourself," Branwen told him, and she left with Harry and Sirius.

"You might regret that offer," Sirius warned her. "Are you sure you won't come back to find half of your shelves bare?"

Branwen just laughed. "I trust Remus to keep them from getting carried away, and besides, I don't have time to read all those books myself, and they ought to be used by someone who will appreciate them."

 

Part 13