4

Gavin watched as his father stormed up the stairs mumbling about a 'No good mutt' and 'Should mind his own business'. Gavin had learned a long time ago that when his father would get into one of his moods, as Gavin would call it, knew to let him cool down.

Gavin walked back into the kitchen silently but stood by the door holding on to his sleeping brother. He had planned on heading back up to his room when Molly Weasley had seen him.

"Gavin dear? Why don't you come and sit down. We were just about to have supper." Molly said trying not to scare the boy away.

Gavin turned around slowly and contemplated for a minute or two.

"If that's alright with you? I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble." Gavin replied watching his surroundings carefully

"Such a polite young man. It's not a problem at all dear. I assure you."

Gavin just replied with a nod and went to sit next to a girl with somewhat bushy hair. Once he sat down he moved his brother so that he was sitting on his lap. The room was in silence until the Weasley twins popped (I mean legit) into the kitchen.

"Hey guys!" they said in unison. They all replied with a 'Hey Fred' and Hi George'. Gavin jumped a little when they came out of nowhere but was able to keep himself from falling out of his chair.

"Fred, where is your sister?" Arthur asked son

"I'm George Dad. And she's coming now."

"Oh sorry George." Just then Ginny came bouncing into the kitchen. She walked over and sat right next to Gavin. Hermione was the first to speak.

"So Gavin," she started awkwardly. "Where are you from?"

"Florida." He said He couldn't help it but these girls eyes made him feel like he was swimming in chocolate.

"You're from America then?" Asked Tonks joining in on the conversation.

"Yep."

"Is this your brother?" Ginny asked then waited for his nod. "He is sooo cute!"

"He is." Hermione agreed. "What's his name?"

"Jack."

"How old is he?" Tonks asked

"Four."

"So Gavin what part of Florida are you from?" Harry asked carefully

"Miami. Right on the beach."

"Aw man. That's awesome." Harry said just picturing a beautiful vista right on the beach.

"Do you play any sports?" Ron asked starting to feel left out.

"Um wrestling, soccer, basketball, swimming, and hockey."

"Wow." Harry said breathlessly

"Oh yea I almost forgot, and Football."

"You just said the same sport." Harry said

"No. I forgot I'm in the UK. Sorry football and soccer are totally different in the US. Football, you have a bunch of pads on and you run around a big field and try and not get tackled and try and get touch downs."

"That sounds dangerous." Remus said thinking of a bunch of teenage boys running into each other.

"Can be. But that's why you have the pads and helmet. But I have gotten two concussions. Pops almost took me out."

"Are you serious?" asked Harry amazed

"Yea."

"Well what is wrestling, basketball, and hockey?" Ron asked perplexed by all of the muggle sports. "And why would swimming be a-" Ron was cut off by a phone dinging.

"Sorry that's me." Gavin said with a sheepish grin on his face. He fished around in his pocket for his phone.

"Dude is that an iPhone?" Harry asked amazed

"Yep. 4s." He replied his eyes glued to the screen.

"What does that do?" Dumbledore asked ever so politely

"It's a phone. You can talk to people from anywhere. But mine is special because it's a touch screen. I have games, movies, and TV shows on it." Gavin explained

"You can do all of that on that little thing?" Tonks asked amazed by the muggle technology

"Yep."

"How are you getting Wi-Fi?" Hermione asked very confused as to why a muggle invention would even work in a house that was so full of magic. "I couldn't even get a signal on my phone let alone get onto 'YouTube'."

"Oh my dad fixed it for me. But only because I asked him to. He did it to his phone that way he could get calls."

"Suppers ready!" Molly chimed bringing over soup and bread to the table.

Gavin looked at the food in front of him. Never in his life had he smelled something so delicious. He gently nudged his brother so he would wake up.

"Jack wake up buddy." He said gently. The little boys eyes opened slowly as he looked up to see the face of his older brother. "Hey buddy."

"Gavin where's Daddy?" the little boy asked in a small quiet and scared voice.

"He's in the room." Gavin said trying to think quickly on his feet. He thought sometimes that his four year old brother knew how to outsmart him. Sometimes. "Are you hungry?" Gavin already knew the answer yet he still asked. Jack shook his head no. Gavin sighed. And began to eat the delicious food in front of him trying to coax his brother to at least eat a bite of bread. When he had finished his dinner he thanked Mrs. Weasley and said goodnight to the others but sent a glare in Sirius' direction. He walked upstairs to find his father sitting on the bed looking rather disheveled. He had loosened his tie, discarded his jacket, and was constantly running his hand through his hair like he always did when he was nervous or worried about something. But he realized that he was on the phone and then it made sense as to why his father was looking so haggard.

Gavin just walked over to the bed and set his once more sleeping brother onto the bed and patted his dad on the shoulder. Severus looked up at his son and gave him a small half-smile. Gavin just returned the smile walked over to the couch and put on his headphones and fell asleep listening to his music but his mind was on the slightly bushy haired girl named Hermione.

Severus sighed as he ended the call. This was the last thing he needed. His soon to be ex-wife had her lawyer keep calling him about money. Didn't the woman understand that he had none at the moment because of her own selfishness he had to look after both sons. A small tugging on his sleeve brought him out of his musings.

"Daddy?" He heard his youngest son whispered

"Yes Jacky?"

"I don't feel good. Can I get a glass of water?" his heart was breaking as he looked at the face of his little boy.

"Of course. But let daddy get out of his suit. Then we can go down and get you that glass of water." The small boy nodded and laid back down. Severus made his way over to the wardrobe that was in the room. After five minutes he was in a pair of dark grey sweatpants and a black T-shirt. He slipped on his slippers and picked up his son and walked down stairs. Hey walked into the kitchen to see Molly Weasley sitting by herself at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea in her dressing gown.

"Oh Molly sorry." Severus stumbled

"Oh Severus!" she didn't even notice that he was there. "No come on in. I didn't see you at dinner. Would you like some soup?"

"That would be lovely but I don't want you to have to go through any trouble."

"Nonsense." She said standing up to go over to the icebox.

She came back a couple of minutes later with a bowl of hot soup and set it down in front of Severus.

"Thank Molly."

"You're Welcome. I take it the two of you couldn't sleep either." She said motioning to Jack before taking a sip of her tea.

"Well he couldn't sleep." Severus said motioning to Jack who had fallen back asleep. "But I was just getting off of the phone."

"At this hour?" Molly asked shocked that anyone would contact somebody that late at night.

"Well they were calling from America, so they're six hours behind us." Severus took a spoonful of soup and he felt like he was in heaven. Then he remembered why he had come down here in the first place. "Jacky." He said nudging the boy so he would wake up.

"Daddy." The boy groaned

"Do you still want that glass of water?" Severus asked gently. The boy nodded and rubbed his eyes. He took the boy from his lap and sat him in a chair and walked over to the icebox to get water.

"Molly this is Jack. Jacky this is Mrs. Weasley." Severus said as he handed the glass to his frail looking son.

"Hello Jack." Molly said as she smiled sweetly at the small child

"Hi." Was his only reply

"Such a quiet child." Molly said more to herself than to Severus.

"You don't know the half of it." Severus muttered under his breath.

"I'm finished Daddy." Jack said quietly while tugging on his father's sleeve.

"Okay bud. Are you going back to bed or do you want to stay with Daddy?" Severus said taking the glass from the child's small hands. While Molly stared at the scene before her with an incredulous look on her face. How could he ask a four year old whether he wanted to go to bed or not, Molly thought to herself.

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment or two before looking at his father with his big blue eyes.

"Can I stay with you?" he asked in a scared whisper. Severus, who couldn't resist those eyes, told him yes.

Jack crawled back into his father's lap and got himself comfortable again.

"Night Jacky." Severus said while placing a gentle kiss on the boys forehead.

"Night Daddy. Is Mommy coming with us tomorrow?" the boy asked hopefully. Severus looked down at the boy wishing he could give a honest 'yes'. But he couldn't.

"I don't know." Was his truthful answer. The boy looked crestfallen when he had said that. "But maybe if you ask her tomorrow she just might come."

"Okay." He said. Any glimmer of hope that was in those big blue eyes had vanished. It was breaking Severus' heart.

"Severus," Molly started carefully. "I don't want to pry but, is Jack sick with something. Because you know that I could whip up something for him in a heartbeat." Severus knew that was true but she couldn't cure this. No one had a cure for this yet. Not even in the magical world.

"I would have asked you already and I thank you for the offer but…" Severus stopped and sighed.

"Severus what is it. You we used to be great friends back when we were in school. You can tell me anything." Molly said taking her hand and placing it over his.

Severus was conflicted. He knew that they used to be good friends back in school, but what was he supposed to tell her about this.

'Just tell her the truth and you'll feel better after talking with someone other than yourself.' He thought to himself.

"Molly you are right about him being ill but…" he stopped and sighed. "You couldn't cure this. This isn't something that is curable at the moment." He knew he was skating around it.

"Severus what are you talking about?" Molly asked seriously concerned now. She had never seen Severus like this before. She looked at him although she could not see his eyes for he had his head down. She thought she heard him sniffle.

He finally looked up at her with a tear stained face and his eyes were threatening to produce more of them.

"Jack has cancer."

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update but I was in Miami. I hope this is what you wanted. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!