Aftermaths, Part 99

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 school was filled with excitement over the upcoming Quidditch match, but soon that excitement changed into something more fearful and ominous. On Monday of the week of the match, Harry received a letter at breakfast, one of the flying origami crane notes that Professor Chizuru had taught them to make last year. When he unfolded the piece of paper, he saw that it was a crude drawing of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. Below the drawing, in letters that seemed to have been cut out from a newspaper and pasted together, was the message "Beware, Potter: the Dark Lord will be avenged!" Harry gasped, dropping the paper as if it contained a live snake instead of a drawing, and it burst into flames. There was nothing left but ashes by the time the teachers came down from the head table to investigate. They all turned pale when Harry explained what the note had said.

"It must be a Slytherin!" Jack immediately said. "Who else would want to avenge You-Know-Who?"

"That's ridiculous!" Hermione scoffed. "Why would the Slytherins want to avenge Voldemort after he tried to kill them?"

"But who else would send a note like this to Harry?" Dean objected. "It must have come from within the school; the charm isn't strong enough for it to have traveled farther."

"Someone's obviously trying to make the Slytherins look bad, you moron," Dylan snapped, coming over from the Slytherin table.

"Who are you calling a moron?!" Dean demanded, glaring at him.

"Mr. Rosier, Mr. Thomas, that's enough!" McGonagall said sharply.

"Look at it logically," Dylan said in a cool but level voice. "Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Millicent, Brad, Serafina, Damien, Theo, and I all fought against the Death Eaters during the final battle. If the Dark Lord were still alive, he'd regard us as traitors, and we'd be running from him instead of trying to avenge him."

"You were there, Dean!" Lavender argued. "You saw Pansy and Millicent help us defend the field hospital from the Death Eaters!"

Dean began to look a little unsure of himself. "But maybe some of the others..."

"The Death Eaters killed my mother," Dylan said coldly. "They tried to kill Serafina, and Draco and Theo, too. I don't think that the Dark Lord intended to induct us into the Death Eaters that night. I think he brought us there to use as sacrifices in case he needed more power." Dylan smiled bitterly. "We were his reserve supply. We have no reason to feel any loyalty to the Dark Lord or the Death Eaters."

Some students nodded thoughtfully, but others still looked suspicious, and muttered that many of the Death Eaters had pretended to switch sides after the first war ended.

"SILENCE!" shouted Dumbledore, and all the muttering instantly ceased; the students weren't used to the kindly Headmaster raising his voice. His gaze swept around the Great Hall, and he spoke in a quiet voice that somehow still seemed to carry to every corner of the room. "I am very disappointed in you--not just the perpetrator of this cruel and thoughtless prank, but in those of you who are so quick to believe in malicious gossip and unfounded rumors. We stood together and supported each other during the final days of the war. Will you let an anonymous prankster who does not have the courage to openly voice his or her convictions do what even Voldemort could not--divide this school and destroy our unity?" The gossiping students flushed and hung their heads, looking ashamed of themselves.

"What shall we do about the note, Albus?" McGonagall asked softly.

The old wizard sighed wearily. "I'm not sure what we can do, Minerva. We can't even examine it, to try and track down the sender, since it destroyed itself."

"Be careful, Potter," Snape said grimly. "Report any further threats or pranks, no matter how seemingly insignificant or harmless, to one of us immediately. And it would be prudent not to go anywhere alone--that means no roaming the halls or sneaking out of the castle after hours; is that clear, Potter?"

Snape looked more worried than angry, so Harry just nodded meekly, ignoring the Potions Master's high-handed words and tone of voice. Besides, he was still a bit shaken by the note. Surely it was a prank; surely it could not really be from a Death Eater--right?

Blackmore laid a hand on his shoulder and said in a quiet voice, "Be careful, Harry." She looked as worried as Snape, which didn't do anything to help ease his fears.

"You won't tell Sirius, will you?" Harry pleaded with her. "I don't want him to worry."

Blackmore smiled at him tenderly. "Of course I must tell him, Harry; he would be angry, and rightly so, if I didn't. It is a parent's prerogative to worry about his or her child." She kissed him on the cheek and returned to the head table with the other teachers. Harry felt bad about worrying Sirius, but at the same time, it made him feel good to hear her call Sirius his "parent".
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After breakfast, Dumbledore called an emergency meeting in the staff room before classes started.

"I'm not sure this can still be considered a 'harmless prank,'" Snape said sourly. "It's stirring up animosity against my Slytherins, and if this keeps up, the students might move beyond angry words and insults to hexes or physical violence." He grimaced, remembering the tense and hostile atmosphere in the school last year. "I haven't forgotten that someone tried to push Theodore down a flight of stairs last year."

Lupin frowned. "We went from direct attacks against Slytherin students to a threatening note against Harry, a Gryffindor hero. Since the direct attacks failed, do you think that the perpetrator is trying a more indirect approach?"

"We can't take it for granted that the threat against Mr. Potter is a bluff or ruse," McGonagall objected. "It might truly be from someone who has a grudge against him." Snape bristled, and McGonagall added, "And I'm not accusing one of your students, Severus. Even if this is a roundabout way to stir up resentment against the Slytherins, we have to consider the possibility that the writer of the note might resort to violence against Mr. Potter to make their case even stronger."

"But what can we do?" Flitwick asked helplessly. "We don't know who is behind these pranks, or even if the same person is responsible for all of them."

"That's the problem," Lukas growled. "We've been totally ineffective at apprehending these so-called pranksters, so there's no incentive for them to stop. And I think Snape is right. I don't think that we can call these incidents 'pranks' anymore; they've taken on a decidedly nasty tone with this current threat. I think it's very possible that this could escalate into violence, whether against Mr. Potter or the Slytherins, I can't say for sure, but most likely the Slytherins." He smiled bitterly. "It's always easier to attack outcasts than heroes. My pack lived in fear of vigilante attacks at times, particularly during the years that Umbridge was pushing her anti-werewolf legislation."

"It's a bit of a stretch to call the Slytherins 'outcasts,'" McGonagall said. "Most of their families still have wealth and influence, but I do take your point, Master Bleddri--excuse me, I mean, Master Diggory." Lukas was now going by his real name, although with a certain amount of discomfort. But Morrigan wanted people to become accustomed to thinking of him as a Diggory, and besides, there was no point in wasting his court victory.

"How many people would mourn, and how many would gloat if the son or daughter of a Death Eater should be hurt or even killed?" Snape asked harshly. "How closely would any of the Aurors, save for Tonks and Shacklebolt, investigate such a crime?"

"Arthur wouldn't let them cover up something like that," Lupin argued, but he looked deeply disturbed.

"If it were up to me, I would question every student in the school under Truth Potion," Snape said fiercely.

"Unfortunately, the law does not permit that, Severus," Dumbledore said.

"The law didn't have any problem with overlooking the rights of suspected Death Eaters sixteen or seventeen years ago," Snape muttered. "But Merlin forbid we trample on the rights of the precious little brats."

"If we don't know which child is the culprit, perhaps we should punish them all," Lukas suggested. "That's how I used to keep my pack in line when the younger wolves got up to mischief. The others would resent it when they suffered because of one troublemaker, and work together to keep him or her in line."

"Amazing, how similar that sounds to Molly Weasley's parenting techniques!" Lupin said with a mischievous smile, his worry temporarily abating. "She could never tell which twin was Fred and which was George, so she always used to punish them both when they misbehaved; they were usually in on it together, anyway."

Lukas glared at the other werewolf, looking offended at being compared to Molly Weasley, and Snape snorted in derision. "Her parenting techniques weren't particularly effective. The twins couldn't stay out of trouble for longer than five minutes at a time. You can't believe how happy I was to see them drop out of school two years ago!"

"They turned out well enough," Lupin said in the twins' defense. "They are running a successful business now, after all."

"Your idea has some merit," Branwen told Lukas, but Sprout protested, "It seems a bit extreme to punish the entire school for the actions of one--or at most, a few--wrongdoers! We don't even know what House they're in!" Some of the other teachers nodded in agreement.

"What sort of punishment did you have in mind?" Branwen asked curiously, ignoring the objections. Bane, sitting on his usual perch on her shoulder, perked up eagerly at the word "punishment".

Lukas shrugged and made a vague motion with his hand. "Oh, curtail their privileges, I suppose. Enforce a curfew, suspend the trips to Hogsmeade, cancel the Quidditch matches--"

"CANCEL THE QUIDDITCH MATCHES?!" most of the teachers cried in horror, Flitwick among them, which was not surprising, since Ravenclaw was playing on Saturday. "My players have been practicing hard for this match!" he protested. "It's not fair to take that opportunity away from them!"

Once, Snape would have been as outraged as the rest of them, particularly since Slytherin had a decent chance of winning the Cup this year. But he still remembered the terror and despair he had felt when he had seen Dylan falling through the sky at Slytherin's last match, and he remained silent, a brooding expression on his face.

"Maybe it would be safer to cancel the match, considering what happened before?" Satoshi asked in a quiet voice, looking much more serious than was his wont.

"Great tragedy shall befall someone at the coming match," Trelawney predicted ominously, and Flitwick and Snape glared at her.

"The threat was against Harry," Flitwick pointed out, "and Gryffindor isn't playing this weekend."

"No, but Slytherin is, and it was a Slytherin who was the target of the hex during the first game," Branwen reminded them gravely.

"Nothing happened at the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match," Lukas said, frowning. "The previous attacks seemed to be directed mainly at Slytherin, and this current threat is against Mr. Potter, a Gryffindor."

Everyone turned to look at Snape. "Well, I'd hate to cancel the match, of course," Flitwick said with a mournful expression on his face. "But of course the students' safety comes first. I think it will be all right if we take the proper precautions, but that's easy for me to say, as none of my Ravenclaws have been threatened. If you really feel that your players might be in danger, Severus, then I won't object to canceling the game. It's your call."

As Snape hesitated, Lukas said thoughtfully, "Perhaps we could use this as an opportunity to try and catch our mysterious note-writer. If this is actually an attack on Slytherin, as Snape seems to think, then he or she might try to pull something at the match, and we can be on the lookout for it."

"Are you suggesting using my students as bait?" Snape asked angrily.

"Yes," Lukas said bluntly, meeting Snape's gaze without flinching. "It's a calculated risk, yes, but isn't it more dangerous to let the so-called prankster continue to go free? What if the next 'prank' is something more serious than a threatening note? I'm not suggesting throwing your students to the wolves, if you'll pardon the pun, Severus. We'll check the players' equipment for hexes, and patrol the stands..."

"The prankster will be suspicious if the teachers are patrolling the stands instead of watching the game," Satoshi objected. "If he knows he's being watched, he might back off." The tanuki smiled. "Speaking from the viewpoint of someone who has, er, run afoul of the law before--although it was all a big misunderstanding, of course."

"Of course," Snape said dryly.

Branwen petted her familiar and said, "Bane could fly over the Pitch and report to me if he sees anything suspicious."

"And I could shapeshift and watch from below," Satoshi offered. "No one will notice a cat or a rat prowling below the stands, and even if they do, they'll assume it's just a familiar that wandered away from its owner."

"You just said that the students will notice if the teachers aren't watching the game," Snape reminded him.

Satoshi grinned. "I'll leave an illusion of myself in the teachers' stand so no one will notice that I'm gone."

"Sirius can keep an eye on things in the Gryffindor section," Lupin said. "No one will think it unusual for him to come watch the game with his godson. And I could ask Tonks to help. She's a Metamorphmagus, so she could change her face and wander through the different sections of the stands without drawing attention to herself."

"All right," Snape said reluctantly. "But I want us to be better prepared this time." He paused to think. "Broomsticks in the teachers' stand, so that we can immediately go to a student's aid if something happens."

Dumbledore nodded. "Good thinking, Severus. I'll see to it."

"And a plan," Snape continued, "so that we don't stand there stunned, or run around like chickens with our heads cut off." More than a few of the teachers flushed at Snape's sharp, sarcastic tone, remembering that they hadn't been very helpful during the first incident.

"I'll have a levitation spell ready," Lupin said fervently.

"I'll have my medical kit with me, and be prepared for injuries," Pomfrey added.

"I'll keep a couple of Thestrals on hand," Hagrid said, "ter transport any badly injured students ter the castle quickly."

"Ah...good," Snape said, looking surprised to hear a practical suggestion from Hagrid. "If a player should be attacked during the game, I will fly out to help them, along with Madam Hooch and..." He hesitated. "How are you on a broomstick, Bleddri?"

Lukas shrugged. "I can ride one without falling off, but I'm no Quidditch player. I was confined to the house for most of my childhood." Most of the other teachers were middle-aged or older, and had not ridden a broom in years.

"It's a young person's sport," Vector said ruefully. "And a broomstick isn't very comfortable, even with a Cushioning Charm."

"I'm a little rusty," Branwen said, "but I can manage, I think."

"I still fly regularly," Sinistra said. "I like to get as close to the stars as I can."

"Then Branwen, Madam Hooch, Professor Sinistra, and I shall attempt to render aid from the air," Snape said, "while the rest of you do what you can from the ground. It might be easier to cast a levitation spell from below than from above, anyway."

"A good plan, Severus," Dumbledore said approvingly. "Very well, then. Let us hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst."

Snape was glad of the Headmaster's support, but he wished that Dumbledore hadn't phrased it quite that way. He didn't want to contemplate what "the worst" might be; the thought of something happening to his sons made him go cold with fear, and he was tempted to call off the match right then and there. He remembered Lupin telling him how Molly Weasley had encountered a boggart while cleaning Black's house, and how it taken the forms of the corpses of her children. Although he had never really liked Molly, he felt a sudden pang of sympathy for her; he wondered if every parent's worst fear was the death of their children. Not every parent, he reminded himself cynically. Thaddeus Nott and Lucius Malfoy had been willing to let their sons die to save their own skins, and Andreas Avery had tried to kill his daughter when she defied him and turned against the Death Eaters. And Snape's own father had always been more concerned about his family's reputation than his son's welfare. Severin's worst fear had probably been that the Snape line would die out, disgraced by its last living heir--at least until Snape finally returned home and adopted Theodore. He suddenly wondered what Selima's worst fear was, but wasn't sure that he really wanted to know the answer.
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Lukas went to court on Wednesday, and it was, in his opinion, a complete waste of time. It was what Morrigan called the "character witness" phase of the trial: Lamont Whitby called on friends and coworkers who testified as to what a fine, upstanding citizen Amos Diggory was. Helen Diggory took the stand to talk about what a proud and loving father Amos had been, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Then Morrigan called witnesses of her own, members of the Order who testified as to how Lukas and his werewolves had provided vital help during the final battle against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. She didn't call on Lupin and Snape, not wanting Lamont to distract the Wizengamot by bringing up insinuations about their relationship, but Dumbledore, Tonks, and Shacklebolt all testified as to how the werewolves had risked their lives during the battle. Dumbledore also talked about what a good teacher Lukas was, and how much his students enjoyed his classes. Sirius Black also testified as to Lukas's heroism in the final battle, and his role as a peacetime leader to the werewolves who volunteered his time at the charity clinic in Diagon Alley and made sure that the werewolves availed themselves of the services offered by Werewolf Support--including the Wolfsbane Potion that kept them sane and safe during the full moon. And finally, Selima Snape testified again, talking not about Lukas, but about his father Cynric, reminiscing about how handsome and charming he had been, and how much he had loved his wife and son, sadly expressing regret that both his life and his promising career at the Ministry had been cut short. Some of the Wizengamot members nodded sympathetically; Cynric had been well-liked, and many of them remembered him fondly.

Morrigan claimed that the day had been a success, that they had reminded the Wizengamot of the fact that Lukas's father had been the rightful heir to the Diggory title, and that Lukas himself was a war hero. Lukas wasn't sure that was enough to outweigh his lycanthropy, but he hoped she was right. And maybe the day wasn't a waste of time after all, because Narcissa Malfoy showed up to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron, and they had another bout of incredible sex, even better than the last time. Narcissa departed much as she had before, in haste, looking angry and confused--but she did agree to meet him again next week. Lukas wondered how something so wrong could feel so right.
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Meanwhile, the atmosphere at school was tense, as everyone waited for another note to arrive or another "prank" to be played, but when nothing had happened by Friday, the students--although not the teachers--began to relax a little. The only thing out of the ordinary that happened was that Neville misplaced his wand--and that wasn't really enough out of the ordinary to cause his housemates to become concerned.

"What are you doing, Neville?" Allegra asked curiously as she watched the older boy peer under the couch in the Gryffindor common room. "Are you looking for Trevor?"

"No, my wand," he replied in a hushed voice. "I can't remember where I left it."

"I don't think you would have left it under the couch," Allegra said helpfully.

Neville sighed and looked up. "No, but it could have rolled under there if I dropped it without realizing it."

"When's the last time you remember seeing it?" Allegra asked.

"During Transfiguration class," Neville replied. He sighed again. "We were practicing Vanishing Spells, but I'm afraid I didn't get mine completely right." He lifted his pet toad out of his pocket. "I was supposed to make Trevor vanish, but I couldn't quite do it. And he still looks a bit transparent in spots, even after I reversed the spell."

"I'm sure it will wear off," Allegra assured him. "Did you check the Transfiguration classroom, then?"

Neville shook his head. "By the time I realized it was missing, McGonagall had already left and locked up the room."

"Well, I'm sure if you ask her, she'll let you back in to look for your wand."

"I don't want to do that," Neville said unhappily. "I'm always getting scolded for being so forgetful. I really got in trouble in third year, when I left the password to the common room lying around, and Sirius Black found it."

"Yes, but Sirius wasn't a murderer after all, so everything turned out all right," Allegra said brightly.

"I can tell that she's already worried I won't pass my N.E.W.T.," Neville said. "I don't want her to think I'm a complete moron."

"But if the wand is in the classroom, there's no point looking for it somewhere else," Allegra said practically.

"Well, I don't know for sure that it's there," Neville said. "I'll look everywhere else first. If I still can't find it, then I'll ask McGonagall to let me in the room."

"I'll help you look for it," Allegra volunteered.

"We'll help, too," Emma said, and Chloe and Portia nodded.

Neville smiled at them gratefully. "Thanks, that would be a big help."

"So where did you go after Transfiguration?" Allegra asked. "Let's retrace your steps."

"Let's see...I had Herbology after that; we didn't need to use our wands for that class. Then I went to the library to study, and came back to the dorm. I was just thinking that I should practice that Vanishing Spell some more, and that's when I noticed my wand was gone."

"Okay, so we should check the library and the greenhouse," Allegra said. "Dinner starts in half an hour, so maybe we should split up." Neville, Allegra, and Portia went to check the library, while Chloe and Emma searched the greenhouse, but they still had not found it by dinnertime. The students were not allowed out of the castle at night, so after dinner, they went back to search the library further, and then checked the corridors between the library and the dorm until Filch came by and scolded them for loitering. So they went back to Gryffindor Tower and searched the common room again.

"What about your Remembrall?" Ron asked, when he saw them looking under tables and chairs.

"It only tells me that I've forgotten something," Neville said glumly. "It doesn't tell me where that something might be, or even what it is that I forgot."

Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione helped him search the dorm, but the wand was nowhere to be found. "Guess I'll have to talk to McGonagall after all," Neville groaned.

"It's too late now," Hermione said. "You'll have to ask her tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's the Quidditch match," Neville said. "She'll be in a bad mood if I make her late for the game. I'll ask her afterwards, I guess."

"If you can't find your wand, I can get you a used one cheap from my dad's shop," Allegra said cheerfully.

Neville groaned, and Harry patted him sympathetically on the back. "Don't worry, it's bound to turn up. It can't have disappeared, after all."

"Maybe you made the wand vanish instead of Trevor!" Ron joked, and Hermione shot a glare at him as Neville groaned again, burying his head in his hands.

Chapter 100