Aftermaths, Part 41

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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Most of the teachers were gossiping over tea in the staff room, and not surprisingly, the topic of conversation was Tristan Ames-Diggory.

"Most talented first-year I've seen since...well...since Potter," Hooch was saying.

"He takes after Cedric, then?" Flitwick asked.

"Oh, hello, Severus," Lupin said with a smile. "Tristan's detention is over, then?"

"Good," said Sprout. "Then he can get over to the Pitch and get some practice in. They'll need time to get him into shape." She set her cup down. "Maybe I'll head over to the Pitch and watch."

"It is against the rules for first years to join the Quidditch team!" Snape said indignantly.

"I gave him permission as Head of House to join the team," Sprout said, frowning. "Or are we only allowed to bend the rules for Harry Potter?"

Now McGonagall was frowning as well. "There were special circumstances--"

"I have complained on numerous occasions about Mr. Potter being allowed to break the rules!" Snape interrupted. "If it had been up to me, he would have been expelled years ago--"

"Then we'd likely all be dead, Snape," Sprout snapped. "So it's a good thing it wasn't up to you, isn't it?"

Lukas had been sitting in the corner of the room, drinking his tea in silence but now he stood and slammed his cup down on the table with a loud clatter. "Quidditch! House Cup! You all argue about the most trivial things, and it's beginning to give me a headache! I thought we here to teach the students, not play games! I've only been here for three days, and sometimes it seems as if who wins the Quidditch Cup or the House Cup is more important than the lessons they're supposed to be learning!"

Dumbledore chuckled as he walked into the room. He patted Lukas on the shoulder and said, "You sound like a true teacher already, my boy! And here you were concerned that you weren't up to the job!"

"I haven't been a boy for quite some time, Headmaster!" Lukas snapped, but Dumbledore didn't appear to be offended.

"I apologize, Master Bleddri," he said with a smile. "No disrespect was intended." Lukas just growled irritably.

"Well, maybe we do get a bit carried away sometimes," Flitwick said with a sheepish grin. "But the students need a little fun interspersed with their studies; a sort of valve to let off steam, if you will. It's good for morale and promotes school spirit."

"If you say so," Lukas said dubiously. "Isn't it part of the reason why the Gryffindors and Slytherins have been at each other's throats all these years?"

"It exacerbated the situation," Dumbledore said, "but it didn't create it. The rivalry and the antipathy go back to the time of the Founders and the argument between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin that caused Slytherin to leave Hogwarts."

"If we could get back to discussing Mr. Ames-Diggory," Sprout said impatiently. "Surely, Albus, you can't forbid Tristan to join the team when Minerva was allowed to bend the rules for Mr. Potter."

"You see what your indulgence of the boy has led to?" Snape told Dumbledore. "Now all the students think that they can flout the rules! What's the point in having rules if no one's going to follow them?"

"I too have concerns about Tristan being allowed to join the team," Lupin said quietly.

"Of course you'd take his side," Sprout said accusingly.

Lupin shook his head. "My concerns are different from Severus's. I am worried about the pressure that is being placed on the shoulders of so young a boy. He is Cedric Diggory's cousin--"

"And he has his cousin's talent," Sprout said proudly.

"And filling the shoes of a dead hero is not an easy task," Lupin said gently. "He'll be under a great deal of pressure to live up to Cedric's reputation. I worry that he might not hold up under the strain of it. I worry about the disappointment he'll feel if he fails."

Professor Sprout and the other teachers began to look uneasy. "I never thought of it that way," she admitted. "But...he was so proud and happy when I placed him on the team. Won't he feel like he's failed if I remove him?"

"You can always blame it on me," Snape said with a wry smile. "All the students hate me, anyway."

"That's not true, Severus," Lupin said tenderly.

"Oh, shut up, Lupin," Snape growled, blushing a little.

Flitwick shook his head and muttered under his breath, "I don't know what those two see in each other."

"Professor Lupin has a valid point," Hooch said. "But Mr. Ames-Diggory truly is a talented player. It's clear that he's already practiced flying and Quidditch at home. There's no doubt in my mind that he has the ability to play on the team. Whether he can handle the emotional pressures..." She shrugged. "That's not really my area of expertise. But he does show great desire and enthusiasm for the sport. I'm sure he looked up to his cousin, but I don't think he's doing this just because of Cedric; he seems to take an honest pleasure in flying. If it were up to me, I would allow him to play."

"Every first-year would play if we let them," Snape grumbled. "What's so special about this one? Aren't there any older students who could be Seeker?"

"Our last Seeker, Summerby, just graduated," Sprout said. "And to be honest, the team just hasn't been the same without Cedric. We haven't found anyone who could match his talent--until now. My Hufflepuffs are all very protective and solicitous of Tristan. I think they'll look after him, and I don't think they'll place undue pressure on him."

"They're already placing pressure on him if they're giving him special treatment because he's related to Cedric," Snape pointed out.

"Perhaps you're just afraid we'll beat Slytherin this year," Sprout snapped.

"Hah!" Snape snorted. "If that's what I was concerned about, I'd be thrilled that an inexperienced, untried first-year was being allowed to join the team!"

"If we want the students to end their inter-House rivalries, you will need to set a good example for them as their Heads of House," Dumbledore said sternly, and Sprout and Snape subsided. "As for Tristan, I'll allow Professor Sprout to decide whether he is ready to join the Quidditch team or not."

"I think he is," she said, after giving it some thought. "But I will watch him closely to see that the pressure is not getting to be too much for him."

Snape and Lupin left the staff room together and headed for their quarters. "I still think that Diggory boy is going to be trouble," Snape complained.

"I hope not," Lupin said, "but we'll have to watch over him. And speaking of the Diggorys...have you had a chance to contact your mother yet?"

"I contacted her by mirror earlier today," Snape said. "I asked her not to say anything about what we discussed last night."

"And she agreed?" Lupin asked.

"Well, sort of," Snape said uncomfortably. "I implied that I was still investigating the matter, and that the Diggorys might try to cover things up if word got out about it..."

Lupin smiled and shook his head. "That will do for now, but you can't stall her forever, Severus."

"How was I to know that Anya Diggory was her friend?" Snape grumbled. "Or that the Diggorys might be involved in a secret murder conspiracy?"

"That may be a problem," Lupin said. "If Selima is determined to get justice for her friend, she won't just let the matter drop. I thought you said that your mother wasn't the sentimental type."

"She's not," Snape said. "But she has a certain sense of honor, even if I don't always agree with it. Mind you, that sense of honor is tempered with expediency. You'll recall that she once told us that she suspected that Lucius Malfoy killed his father and his mother, who was also her friend, but you'll note that she never tried to take revenge on him, no doubt because she knew it would have been suicidal to take on someone as powerful and influential as he was. Friendship only goes so far among the Slytherin purebloods, Lupin; self-preservation is always foremost in their minds."

"So what are we going to do about your mother?"

Snape sighed. "I don't know. I'll put her off as long as I can, then perhaps we can come up with something to distract her."

Lupin grinned. "Maybe we could arrange for Rita Skeeter to write a juicy article about us; nothing like a good scandal to take your mother's mind off of things."

Snape groaned, "Please, Lupin, only as a last resort!"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

That same afternoon, Allegra went to the library with Chloe and Emma, and found Portia browsing through the section on Potions. "Hi, Portia," she said cheerfully. "Are you doing the research for Professor Snape's homework assignment?"

"Why else would I be in the Potions section?" Portia replied curtly.

Emma and Chloe frowned, but Allegra just smiled and cheerfully said, "So are me and Chloe and Emma. Why don't you come study with us?"

"You and I should not be hanging around together," Portia told her firmly.

"Why not?" Allegra asked, looking puzzled.

Portia sighed impatiently. "Because you're a Slytherin--"

"I'm a Gryffindor!" Allegra protested.

"Because your family are Slytherins," Portia corrected herself, "and because my stupid uncle was a traitor and a Death Eater, it wouldn't be a good idea for us to be friends. People already look at us suspiciously as it is; if we hang around together, people will be convinced that we're secretly conspiring to be Death Eaters or something."

"That's dumb!" Allegra protested. "My family lost our fortune because we WOULDN'T ally with the Death Eaters!"

"Really?" asked Portia, looking surprised. "Well, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. People still think all Slytherins are Dark Wizards, and everyone in Gryffindor seems to think I'm one just because my uncle was." She sniffled a little. "I never even knew him, and he's making my life miserable! I wish he'd stayed dead instead of coming back and showing everyone what a rotten person he really was!"

Emma began to regard Portia with more sympathy. "You're wrong, you know," she said gently. "About everyone thinking that Slytherins are Dark Wizards. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown are the most popular girls in the school, and they're good friends with those two Slytherin girls, Pansy and Millicent. And my brothers have gotten to be friendly with some of the Slytherins, too. And people like Allegra--I mean, a few of the Gryffindors have made nasty comments about Slytherins when she's around, but she's friends with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and the Weasleys." Emma's voice filled with awe. "And they're heroes of the war! Harry killed You-Know-Who and saved the wizarding world!"

"He's really nice," Allegra said happily. "He shared a Chocolate Frog with me on the train ride to Hogwarts." She giggled. "And Hermione's boyfriend is Dylan Rosier, and he's a Slytherin. So Slytherins and Gryffindors can get along. And Dylan's father was a Death Eater, and people still like Dylan, so I don't think they hold it against him."

"Uncle Peter was even worse than a regular Death Eater," Portia said glumly, "because he was a traitor. He betrayed his best friends to You-Know-Who."

"Well, it's not your fault," Emma said kindly. "You weren't even born when that happened."

Chloe bit her lip, looking thoughtful; she seemed a little more wary of Portia than Emma and Allegra did. But finally she said, "My father says that we need to keep an open mind about things. When he found out Professor Lupin was a werewolf, he was really surprised, but he said it didn't matter to him, that he still thought of him as a friend. He said it's important to get to know someone before you judge them."

"So can't we be friends?" Allegra asked earnestly. "Will you come study with us?"

Portia hesitated; she still thought that it wouldn't do either of their reputations any good, but on the other hand, it wasn't like she had any friends to lose. Even if Allegra, Emma, and Chloe were the only friends she made at Hogwarts, that was still three more than she had right now. "Okay," she said shyly.

They took their books to a table and started working on their homework. "So your dad is a friend of Professor Lupin's?" Allegra asked Chloe curiously.

Chloe nodded. "Dad was a year ahead of Professor Lupin in school, so they were friendly, but they weren't real close. They didn't see each other much after graduation, but they kept in touch, sending each other letters and Christmas cards, and they got together for lunch every now and then. Dad was a little worried that Professor Lupin seemed to be...well...down on his luck before he got the job at Hogwarts, but Dad was just as broke, so there was nothing he could really do to help. But then after Sirius Black escaped and the Professor was exposed as a werewolf, Dad wrote to Lupin to let him know that he still had at least one friend. Lupin wrote back later that summer, and he happened to mention a few Muggle devices that a friend had given him; one of them was a compact disc player. And that gave Dad the idea for his magical music boxes."

The other three girls' eyes widened. "Your dad invented those?" Portia exclaimed.

Chloe nodded, looking proud. "Yes. Professor Lupin gave him the idea, so he gave Lupin the prototype music box that he built. He tried to give Lupin some of the money he earned, but the Professor refused to take it. Dad felt kind of bad, because he might never have invented the music boxes if it wasn't for Lupin, so when Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Weasley were looking for sponsors for the Wolfsbane Potion Distribution Program, he was happy to sign up, because he felt like he could kind of pay Professor Lupin back that way."

"Wow, that's neat!" Allegra said. "Professor Lupin never said that he helped come up with the idea for the music boxes!"

"Dad says that he's modest to a fault," Chloe said.

"I've always wanted one," Allegra sighed wistfully, "but Mummy says they're too expensive."

Chloe smiled. "I'm sure my dad could give you a discount."

"Really?" Allegra asked, her face lighting up. "Thanks! I'll save up my allowance, or maybe I can ask Mum and Dad to buy me one for Christmas."

"I...I have one," Portia said hesitantly. "You can borrow it anytime you like. It plays all the Weird Sisters songs."

"Really? I love the Weird Sisters! Thanks, Portia!"

Allegra beamed at Portia, and Emma and Chloe smiled as well, and Portia breathed a small sigh of relief. Maybe being in Gryffindor wasn't going to be so bad, after all. She had begged the Sorting Hat not to put her into Gryffindor; she was sure that everyone there would hate her for the way her uncle had betrayed his House and his friends. "Gryffindors are supposed to be brave," she had argued. "And I'm not brave at all!"

"You are braver than you think," the Hat had insisted.

"What about my uncle?" Portia had argued. "You made a mistake putting him into Gryffindor, didn't you? He wasn't brave; he was a coward and a traitor!"

The Hat had fallen silent for a moment. "Being chosen for Gryffindor doesn't automatically make one good, just as being chosen for Slytherin doesn't automatically make one evil, child," it had finally said in an almost gentle voice. "All I am able to see is one's inner potential; it is up to the individual what they do with that potential. I did almost put Peter into another House, but he begged to be put into Gryffindor because two boys who had befriended him on the train and defended him from some older boys who were bullying him were also being Sorted into Gryffindor."

"Sirius Black and James Potter," Portia had whispered.

"Yes," the Hat had replied.

"Please don't put me in Gryffindor," Portia had pleaded. "Everyone there will hate me!"

"Some of them will," the Hat had said calmly. "But some of them will not. It won't be easy; you will have to earn their friendship and respect, but you are strong enough to do it."

Portia didn't believe that; she wasn't even strong enough to argue further with the Hat, who had taken silence for assent and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Ginny and Hermione had been kind to her, but many of the other children had given her suspicious or outright hostile looks; she had heard a few of them mutter "Death Eater" and "rat" when Ginny and Hermione weren't around. Harry Potter had been polite to her, but she had seen the worried look in his eyes, as if he were wondering if she was going to turn out like her uncle. But for the first time, as she talked and joked casually with the other three girls, Portia actually felt happy to be in Gryffindor House.
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After dinner, Aric reported to Lupin's office. "Hello, Aric," Lupin said brightly. "Please have a seat. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Excuse me?" Aric asked, wondering if he'd heard right.

"I said, would you like a cup of tea?" Lupin repeated. When Aric just stared at him, dumbfounded, he went ahead and poured out two cups. "Sugar? Milk?"

"Ah...two sugars, no milk, please," Aric said weakly, sinking into the chair in front of Lupin's desk. Lupin stirred in two sugar cubes and handed the cup of tea to Aric, who eyed it suspiciously, then took a sip. "Do you serve tea to all the students who serve detention with you?"

"Funny," Lupin said with a mischievous smile. "Dylan once asked me the same thing."

Aric supposed that meant "yes"; he wondered if the werewolf was altogether right in the head. After all, the word "lunacy" originated from the belief that insanity was related to the phases of the moon. Maybe the werewolf went a little loopy when the full moon was drawing near.

"Actually," Lupin continued, "this is not really your detention. I just wanted to have a little chat with you today."

"About what?" Aric asked with a scowl, although he could guess the answer.

"About you and Theo," Lupin replied quietly, taking a sip of his tea. "And Rafe." Aric went rigid in his seat, his entire body tensing up. "It isn't Theo's fault, you know," Lupin said gently.

"He was there!" Aric shouted, losing control of his temper. "He watched his father kill Rafe, and he didn't try to stop him!"

"What do you suggest that he have done?" Lupin asked in a reasonable tone of voice. "What would you have done in his place?"

"Well...I...I..." Aric stammered. "I'd have done something! Try to hex him, or maybe grab his arm to disrupt the spell--"

Lupin shook his head. "Then Thaddeus would have killed you. Do you really think that's what Rafe would want?"

"What the hell would you know about what Rafe would want?" Aric snarled.

"He was my friend," Lupin said quietly, taking another sip of tea as Aric stared at him in shock. "We were both Gryffindors, remember? Of course, Rafe was a few years younger than me, so I wasn't as close to him as I was to my best friends James and Sirius, but I liked him very much." He smiled nostalgically. "Just about everyone liked him, really; he had an irresistible sort of charm. He was one of the few people to ever become popular across House lines; the only people I've ever seen who came close to that kind of popularity are Dylan and his father, but their popularity was mainly among the female students. The girls adored Rafe, of course, but the boys also sought out his friendship. I know he was a kind person who never wished harm on anyone, and I know that he loved his family very much because he talked about them a great deal. I remember that your sister was born during my seventh year, because Rafe was so proud to be a new uncle that he was showing baby pictures to everyone in Gryffindor." Lupin took another sip of tea. "He was the Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and I heard that a number of professional teams were interested in recruiting him after he graduated, but he decided to take a job at St. Mungo's instead."

Aric had heard those stories as a child, too, and he had once asked his uncle why he hadn't wanted to become a Quidditch star, which had seemed much more glamorous to Aric than working as a mediwizard. "He told me once that helping people was more important than chasing a ball around a field."

Lupin smiled. "That sounds like Rafe."

Aric didn't like to hear Lupin speaking of Rafe with affection; he didn't like to hear the werewolf--Theo's foster father and the lover of a former Death Eater--claiming friendship with his favorite uncle. He felt as if Lupin were somehow encroaching on his territory, trying to steal from Aric some of his precious memories of his uncle. He knew that these feelings weren't really logical, but that didn't stop him from resenting Lupin. "My father said Rafe was too soft," Aric snapped. "He says that's probably what got him killed."

Lupin's gentle face hardened a little. "You can blame Theo if you like, Aric, but your family also bears some responsibility for Rafe's death."

"What?!" Aric shouted indignantly.

"Another thing I remember from school is Rafe talking about Marta's wedding to Thaddeus," Lupin said. "Rafe was worried about it because he didn't like Thaddeus and thought he hung around with a bad crowd. Rafe was upset that his parents seemed more concerned about the financial and political benefits they would reap from an alliance with the Nott family than they did about his sister's welfare." Lupin looked directly into Aric's eyes, that hard expression still on his face. "Your family knew that Thaddeus was abusing Marta and Theodore, didn't they? And they did nothing to stop it." Aric flushed and looked away, unable to meet Lupin's gaze, and felt angry at the werewolf for making him feel somehow guilty and ashamed. "Rafe stepped in to protect his sister and nephew because his family would not, and that is what got him killed. But if he had not had to confront Thaddeus alone--"

"It wasn't abuse!" Aric protested. "My grandfather says you Gryffindors are always soft on your children and don't know how to discipline them! If Theo hadn't gone whining to Rafe about--"

"Tell me something, Aric," Lupin interrupted in a quiet voice, "have your parents ever 'disciplined' you with a Cruciatus Curse?" When Aric fell silent and did not respond, Lupin said, "I thought not. You speak with the self-assurance of someone who has always been loved and protected by his family, Aric. Theo was not as fortunate."

Aric's hands clenched tightly around his tea cup. He did not want to feel sorry for Theo; he refused to feel sorry for Theo, damn it! But he felt uneasy as he remembered all the times he had seen Theo and Marta cringe when Thaddeus raised his voice or even simply cast a threatening glance their way. Thaddeus had never hexed or struck his wife and son in public, but sometimes he would let his hand subtly slide down and pat the pocket where he kept his wand, and Theo's eyes would always fill with terror. Aric had known, his parents and grandparents had known, that Thaddeus probably hexed Marta and Theo at home. But they had never spoken of it, because one did not interfere in another family's personal business, and Marta now belonged to the Nott family, not the Dietrich family, and besides, it was prudent not to pry too closely into the affairs of a former Death Eater. Rafe was probably the only one in the family who had not known, thanks to his Gryffindor idealism, but he had never liked Thaddeus, and had been growing increasingly suspicious of him over the years. He must finally have witnessed something, or Theodore had told him something that changed suspicion to certainty, for him to have directly confronted Thaddeus...

"Do you really think that your uncle would want the two nephews that he loved to hate each other?" Lupin asked quietly.

Aric's hands squeezed the tea cup so tightly that it shattered, spraying pottery shards and tea all over his lap and the floor around him.

"Aric!" Lupin cried, jumping to his feet. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Aric said gruffly, the pieces of the broken cup falling to the floor as he rose to his feet.

Lupin grasped his hands and lifted them up to examine them. "You're bleeding," he said, looking worried.

Aric jerked his hands away. "It's just a scratch."

"Well, report to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey take a look at it."

"Fine," Aric growled, heading for the door.

"Oh, and report to my office Saturday morning at ten for your detention," Lupin called after him.

"What?" Aric asked indignantly. "I thought this was my detention!"

Lupin smiled, in that infuriatingly cheery manner that made Aric want to smack him. "No, as I told you earlier, this is not your detention. This is just a little chat between you and me."

"Then what is my detention?" Aric snapped.

"To volunteer for two hours at the charity clinic on Diagon Alley," Lupin replied.

"What?!" Aric exclaimed again, even more indignantly than before. "The one for werewolves?!"

"Well, if offers free or discounted health care to any wizard who could not otherwise afford it, but yes, it participates in the Wolfsbane Potion Distribution Program."

"I thought all detentions had to take place on the school grounds!" Aric protested.

"They usually do, but there is nothing in the rules strictly prohibiting it," Lupin said with a pleasant smile. "It is a little unusual, but I am sure I can persuade your Head of House to go along with it."

Aric clenched his fists, ignoring the pain of the cuts on his palms. "It's not volunteering if I'm being forced to do it," he said through gritted teeth.

"You're right," Lupin agreed, showing no sign of being offended. "I misspoke. Well, actually, I was just trying to be polite about it, but if you prefer, your detention is being forced to work at the charity clinic on Saturday for two hours."

"My parents will have your hide nailed to a wall if I get bitten by a werewolf," Aric snarled.

"The whole point of the Wolfsbane Potion Distribution Program is to prevent werewolves from biting people," Lupin said mildly. "And the bite of a werewolf is not contagious while he or she is in human form. However, you might want to watch what you say to them, Aric; some of them have very short tempers. So try not to go out of your way to insult anyone, but just in case, Master Bleddri and I will be there to protect you."

"Master Bleddri is coming?" Aric asked, not quite sure how he felt about that. He did feel a sort of grudging respect for the Physical Defense teacher, even if he was a werewolf.

"Yes," Lupin replied. "At least, I hope he will, once I ask him to." Aric gave Lupin a puzzled look, and Lupin said, "Well, run along now, and have Madam Pomfrey take care of those cuts."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It's a stupid idea, Remus," Lukas grumbled. "That kid is going to mouth off to the wrong person, and then some poor werewolf is going to be sent to Azkaban for giving that pampered pureblood brat a well-deserved thrashing."

"That's why I want you along," Lupin said coaxingly. "The werewolves respect you, and Aric respects you as well, I think. Severus told me how you won him over with that fencing bout."

"I'm not sure I'd call it respect, exactly," Lukas said. "What is the point of this exercise, anyway?"

"I want him to get a look outside the very narrow and rigid world he's been raised in," Lupin explained. "I want to broaden his horizons a bit. And perhaps he might surprise himself and take some pleasure in helping other people."

"If that happens, no one will be more surprised than me," Lukas said cynically. "You're expecting a lot from a couple hours of detention, Lupin. I think Snape is right about your Gryffindor idealism."

"I don't expect him to change overnight," Lupin said patiently. "This is just a first step. So will you help me?"

Lukas sighed. "I can see you have your mind set on this, so I suppose I'll have to come along just to make sure no one gets killed."

"Thank you, Lukas," Lupin said, giving him a cheerful smile. "By the way, I meant to talk to you about Martin Parry earlier, but I didn't think I should discuss it in front of the other teachers."

Lupin repeated what Martin had told him, and Lukas clapped his hand to his forehead. "Damn it, I'm so stupid! Why didn't I see it before? No wonder he looked so familiar!"

"I didn't notice the resemblance, either," Lupin pointed out, "and Brian never told us that he had a nephew. At least, he never told me."

"He never talked about his family," Lukas said. "Most of my wolves don't like to talk about their past."

"I've noticed," Lupin said; the werewolf leader was certainly taciturn about his own past.

Lukas scowled, as if he could guess what Lupin was thinking. "Why open old wounds?" he growled.

"To allow them to heal properly," Lupin said quietly.

"We all have scars we have to live with, Remus," Lukas said, then changed the subject. "Brian's nephew, hmm? So he's decided that he doesn't hate us, after all?"

"He was just hurt and scared and confused," Lupin said. "But I think he's all right now." Lupin shook his head. "What a terrible thing his family did, to both him and to Brian. It was bad enough to blame Brian for being attacked and disown him, but to force Martin to carry around this secret, unable to tell anyone what was bothering him..."

Lukas smiled. "I notice it didn't take you long to get him to spill his secrets to you."

Lupin laughed gently. "He's a Gryffindor; we're not very good at keeping secrets. It was much harder to get the Slytherins to open up to me."

"You don't seem to have done too badly in that department, either," Lukas said with a grin. "Well, perhaps you will be able to win Mr. Dietrich over after all; Merlin knows stranger things have happened."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

After talking to Lukas, Lupin headed back to his and Severus's dungeon quarters, and they spent a quiet hour doing nothing much but grading papers and simply enjoying being in each other's company. Lupin had just finished grading the last paper when he thought he heard noises coming from out in the hall. He got up and pressed his ear to the door, and heard his foster sons arguing in hushed voices.

"But what if they're...well...busy?" Theodore was saying. "I don't want to interrupt them if they're in the middle of something, if you know what I mean."

"It can't hurt to knock," Dylan said. "If they say they're busy, we go back to the dorm; no harm done."

"But--"

Lupin opened the door and the boys jumped in surprise. "Hello, Theo, Dylan," Lupin said with a cheerful smile. "Did you need something?"

The two of them smiled at him sheepishly; Lupin noticed that Theo was carrying the chess set Lupin had given them under one arm. Theodore stammered, "Well...um...you see..." Then he turned to Dylan and said, "This was your idea; you explain it."

Dylan grinned and obliged. "We've kind of gotten used to spending the evenings with you and Professor Snape--you know, playing chess or just reading and hanging out together. And, well...we kind of miss it. So we just thought that maybe if you weren't too busy..."

Snape appeared in the doorway behind Lupin. "What's going on, Lupin?" he asked, then looked concerned when he saw the boys. "Is everything all right?" he asked anxiously.

"Everything's fine, Severus," Lupin reassured him, a huge smile spreading across his face although he had to blink back a few tears. In truth, he also missed their evening "family time" even though school had just started, and he was deeply moved to find out that it seemed to mean just as much to the boys. "Dylan and Theo just thought they would come over and spend some time with us, maybe have a game of chess?"

Snape relaxed and gave them a startled smile in a rare unguarded moment. Well, less rare these days, Lupin supposed, but he still liked to keep up the appearance of the bad-tempered Potions Master even at home, although they all knew it was a sham. Lupin kissed him on the cheek, and true to form, Snape said, "Cut that out, Lupin," in a tone of voice that said he didn't really mean it. "Have you two finished your homework?" he asked sternly.

"Yes, sir," Theodore said.

"Of course, sir," Dylan said with a grin.

So Theodore and Snape wound up playing a game of chess with Dylan cheering on and offering advice to Theo while Lupin did the same for Snape--although Snape didn't seem to find his advice very helpful.

"Why don't you move the horsie over there, Severus?" Lupin asked in a bright, chirpy voice.

"Because if I moved the 'horsie' there, it would open my queen up to attack," Snape said sourly. "And you know damn well that it's called a 'knight' not a 'horsie'. Why don't you go help Theodore?"

"But three against one wouldn't be fair," Lupin protested.

"It would be eminently fair," Snape replied, "because you're more of a handicap than an asset, and you and Dylan would pretty much cancel each other out."

Lupin just laughed. "But you have the advantage of your years of experience as a devious Slytherin and former Death Eater."

"Mr. No...I mean, Theodore has proven that he can hold his own against me," Snape pointed out. "He's beaten me before without any help." Then he gave his lover a suspicious look. "Are you trying to help Theodore win by deliberately giving me bad advice?"

"Who me?" Lupin asked, with his very best look of wide-eyed innocence. Snape snorted derisively.

They played for about an hour, then Snape looked up at the clock and said, "It's getting late, and we all have class tomorrow; you two had better head back to the dorm and get some sleep." There were still a number of pieces left on the board, and neither side was close to a checkmate yet, because they had spent more time laughing and talking than they had concentrating on the game. "Why don't you leave the chess set here, and we'll finish up tomorrow night?" Snape suggested.

Dylan and Theodore grinned at each other, since that would obviously give them an excuse to come back the next night. "Yes, sir," they chorused happily.

"Off to bed with you, then," Snape said, making a shooing gesture with his hand, and the boys left.

As soon as they were gone, Lupin flung his arms around Snape and said fiercely, "I love you so much, Severus!"

For a moment Snape looked startled, then he grinned and said, "I love you, too, Remus, even if you are an annoying little Gryffindor werewolf." Lupin pressed his face against Snape's chest and sniffled a little. "Remus, are you crying?" Snape asked in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lupin said, his voice muffled since his face was still pressed close against Snape's chest. "It's just...I'm so happy. I have everything I ever wanted...you, most of all, and of course the boys...I never dreamed I'd be able to have a family of my own, and now I do...every now and then I get hit by the full impact of how incredibly lucky I am."

"Silly werewolf," Snape said tenderly, cradling Lupin's face between his hands and lifting it up so that he could gently kiss away Lupin's tears. Lupin shivered a little as he felt the soft pressure of Severus's lips against his face, and then the warm wetness of his tongue as it darted out to lap up the tears.

"You know," Lupin said in a husky voice, "one good thing about being back at school is that we don't have to worry about the boys walking in on us unexpectedly."

"That's right," Snape said, with a sly grin that made Lupin shiver again. "Then shall we have wild, passionate sex right here on the couch? No, wait, we don't want to knock over the chess set..."

Lupin laughed and rose to his feet, grabbing Snape's hands and pulling his lover up with him. "Then let's continue this in the bedroom, as conventional as that may be."

Snape followed willingly enough. "Ah well, the couch isn't really that comfortable, anyway..."

 

Part 42