Soul Phoenix
by Healer Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC. Rating M for multiple character deaths throughout this story.

It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse. Thank you very much for the kind feedback on the previous chapter!


Fawkes flashed Harry right in front of the hospital wing. #Look nestling, over there is a portrait of the four founders of Hogwarts. This portrait leads to the founders' quarters, and since you as the heir of the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw family and the Hufflepuff line, plus due to your victory over Voldemort also the heir of Slytherin, you're the owner of Hogwarts and as such allowed to use the founders' quarters. Just go inside. You'll also find a portrait of Ceridwen in one of the bedrooms.#

#Godric,# Fawkes addressed the founder in the portrait. #The nestling here wants to speak with the Teach-me-all.#

Godric chuckled and explained to the others that Harry apparently wished to speak with Ceridwen.

"Of course my dear, step inside. I'm sure Ceridwen will be very happy to see you," a very friendly witch, who Harry supposed was Helga Hufflepuff, invited him.

"Thank you Professor," Harry replied, smiling, as he observed how Helga leaned into Salazar's arm and Rowena into Godric's, thus making a corridor between the two couples for him to walk through.

Amazed, Harry followed Fawkes into the founders' quarters. Arriving in a huge living room, which had clearly been updated to a more modern time than that of the founders', even if the furniture and everything still looked as if from the medieval ages, he saw another life size portrait of all four founders, which occupied one of the walls.

"Excuse me, Professors, where can I find Ceridwen?" he addressed the founders.

"Don't you think you should introduce yourself first?" Salazar growled, causing Harry to apologize.

#Don't listen to the grumpy one,# Fawkes advised him. #He's very moody.#

"I'm sorry sir, I'm Harry Potter," Harry said, not sure what else he should explain.

"Ah, I've heard of you in the headmaster's office," Godric suddenly spoke up. "You're the heir of all of us, is that correct?"

"I think so, sir," Harry replied in a small voice, still feeling quite intimidated by Salazar's glare. "Fawkes told me that Ceridwen was a soul phoenix Animagus, and since I'd like to become one myself, I'd like to ask her for advice and information," he added, hesitantly.

"Harry, Ceridwen will be very happy to help you," Helga spoke up in a gentle voice. "The second room on the right hand side is hers, and there you'll find a portrait of her. By the way," she added, pointing to a door at the other side of the room, "if you go through that door, you'll be in the Parlour, the only room within this castle where you can speak with Hogwarts without having to touch her wall. Try it out sometime. I know that she'd be very happy if you spoke with her."

"I will. Thank you Professor," Harry said, gratefully and went to meet Ceridwen first.

He hesitantly stepped into the second room on the right side, glad that the door was open, so that he could just enter the room.

"Hello," he shyly addressed the middle-aged witch in the life size portrait, "are you Ceridwen Hufflepuff?"

"Yes, that I am, and oh, I know who you are. You must be Harry, my many times great great grandson," Ceridwen replied, smiling. Apparently noticing Harry's surprised expression, she added, "I've seen you from the portrait in the spy room."

"The spy room?" Harry asked, chuckling. "That sounds interesting."

"Oh yes, it is," Ceridwen confirmed. "You can listen in to all conversations that are taking place in the headmaster's office and in the staff room. So, what exactly brings you here today, my boy?"

"I'd like to become a soul phoenix Animagus, but I need some information about a soul phoenix, and Fawkes advised me to speak with you," Harry admitted, somehow feeling it very soothing to speak with his relative. 'She seems very nice,' he thought.

"Harry," Ceridwen asked in a sterner voice, "can you see auras?"

"Err.. you mean people's colours?" Harry confirmed, causing the witch in the portrait to smile.

"Yes, exactly," she replied, giving him a sharp look.

"Yes, I can see the colours, but I don't know what they mean," he said, frowning.

"Well, that I can tell you, although it doesn't really matter for the beginning," Ceridwen replied, pensively. "If you can see auras, you're predestined to become a soul phoenix Animagus though. Congratulations, Harry. It's a wonderful Animagus form. The soul phoenix is the purest of all phoenixes."

"Thank you." Harry smiled, happily.

Fawkes suddenly flashed into the room. "Nestling, your afternoon class is going to begin in a moment. Shall I take you back, quickly?"

"Oh no," Harry groaned. "Sorry Grandmother, may I come back to speak with you again?"

"Of course dear," Ceridwen confirmed. "I look forward to it. Just call me Ceridwen though. Oh by the way, bring a small frame, a mini portrait. Then I can supervise your practice and perhaps help you."

"All right, I will. Thank you so much, Ceridwen," Harry shouted, already grabbing Fawkes' tail feathers.

HP

In the evening, Harry told Remus about the founders' quarters with excitement. "Can we get a photo frame somewhere, so that Ceridwen can visit us here?" he then asked.

Remus chuckled at the excited boy and pointed to the empty portrait frame at the inside of their entrance door. "We really should get a portrait for this frame," he then said. "I don't know if Ceridwen would be willing to guard our rooms, but you could ask her. As your great grandmother…"

"Yeah, Remus, you're the best," Harry blurted out, eagerly. "May I quickly go and ask her?"

"No Harry, you can ask her tomorrow," Remus decided. "Now, it's time for you to go to bed."

HP

In the morning, Harry ate a very quick breakfast and then urged Dudley to accompany him.

"Where are we going?" his cousin asked in surprise.

"To the founders' quarters," Harry explained and told Dudley about his visit with their great grandmother.

"I'd love to see her, but between breakfast and the morning classes?" Dudley asked, incredulously. "I wasn't even finished eating."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Harry apologized. "I only want to ask her if she's willing to guard our rooms."

"I'd love to guard your rooms, Harry," Ceridwen replied in a soft voice, when he repeated the question. "Thank you for inviting me. My own, old room is much too quiet for my liking."

"I also brought a small frame, so that I can show you where the door is," Harry explained, and Ceridwen quickly hopped into the small frame, before he slid it back into his robe pocket.

HP

Harry could not wait for his class to end on that day. After a quick dinner, he hurried back home to talk with his great grandmother. 'If she still can do magic, even as a portrait, I'll ask her about my colours,' he thought, as he ran home through the still empty corridors.

Lowering himself onto the floor in the living room just in front of the entrance door, Harry addressed his grandmother. "Ceridwen, can you tell me more about the colours? Are you able to see my colours?" he asked in excitement.

Ceridwen chuckled. "What have you found out about the colours so far?" she returned the question.

Harry thought for a moment, before he replied, "I think that green must be magic, although it's different from the other colours. It's just like a ring around them. Then maybe pink could be a Squib and yellow an Animagus," he added, questioningly.

"Wonderful," Ceridwen commended him. "The colours are very important, as you can probably imagine, and as a soul phoenix we're not only able to see them but even to manipulate them to a certain extent."

"Manipulate them?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Ceridwen explained. "I'm not only a healer like my mother and sister, but I'm also a mind healer. For example, people who suffer from sadness have a dark purple aura, and by talking to them and directly wishing their purple aura to vanish, you can help them to become happier. A soul phoenix Animagus is predestined to be a mind healer. Now," she continued, and Harry looked at her in expectation, "your colours are green, brown and a twinkling white laced by a thin, golden line. Brown because you're a werewolf. White means purity and gold power. You're powerful even for your age, pure of course, and the twinkle means absoluteness. I suppose that the gold will expand as you grow up. You will definitely be able to become a soul phoenix, Harry."

"How?" Harry asked, eagerly.

"First of all, you must learn everything about soul phoenixes," Ceridwen instructed him. "I can tell you everything that I know, and I hope that Animogli will come and support you. He was my familiar, but ever since then he's been living in phoenix land. If he gets to know that you're a soul phoenix Animagus, I'm almost certain that he'll come and bond with you. He's the only known soul phoenix, just like I was the only soul phoenix Animagus so far. I'm very happy that you seem to be following in my footsteps."

"Animogli must be the one who gave the feather for my wand then," Harry blurted out in amazement.

"Sure," Ceridwen confirmed, smiling.

HP

By the time Harry entered the Potions Master's office first thing on Saturday morning, he was well prepared. He had spoken with Ceridwen about her Animagus form for hours, and he was carrying the small photo frame with his grandmother in her soul phoenix form in his robe pocket.

"All right Harry, first of all, you won't be able to manage the Animagus transformation in a few days or weeks," Severus began to explain. "It'll probably take years. Moreover, you must not practise alone. Only when I or one of my colleagues are with you. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Harry agreed. Ceridwen had already told him the same.

"Anyway, in order to be able to transform, you must keep the image of the soul phoenix clear in your mind and try to change your left hand into your left wing. That's the first and at the same time the most difficult step of the whole transformation. Only if you achieve that, you can try changing your complete left arm, then the right and so on."

"All right sir," Harry confirmed that he had understood and, looking at Ceridwen in her Animagus form concentrated on his left hand – however, to no avail. When Severus told him after ten minutes of trying that Harry should stop and they'd head into the potions lab, he had not achieved anything.

"Harry, don't be frustrated. Remember that I told you it would probably take years," Severus said in a soft voice.

"Yes sir. I know that," Harry replied, trying to push the upcoming disappointment to the back of his mind. "What are we going to brew today, sir?" he asked, smiling as he followed the Potions Master into the lab.

HP

During the following months, Harry practised every evening in Remus' company, once Dudley had returned to his room. Remus only allowed him to try changing his left hand for ten minutes, before he sent him to bed.

To Harry's chagrin, by the end of the school year, he had not managed to spike as much as one feather.

"This is really frustrating," he blurted out one evening, glancing at Ceridwen in her portrait.

Ceridwen chuckled. "Oh Harry, believe me, it took me ages to transform. I was about the same age as you when I tried first, and I only managed the transformation at eleven, shortly before becoming a first-year. So you still have much time and no reason to be frustrated," she explained in her usual soft voice.

"Yes granny, good night," Harry replied, sighing, as he went to ready himself for the night.

HP

Like during the previous summer, all teachers took turns making Harry, Dudley and Neville assist with their preparations for their own classes during the first half of the summer. During the second half, Harry spent the mornings in the potions lab, Dudley with Professor Babbling and Neville, who still came to Hogwarts on a daily basis in spite of not having classes, assisted Professor Sprout in the greenhouses.

In the afternoons, the teachers once more took turns taking them to interesting places. To the children's surprise, Severus and Petunia often spent the afternoons together with them, just like Professor Trelawney and Remus.

"I wonder if they like each other," Neville said to his friends, when the three seven-year-olds once spent an afternoon at Hogwarts, roaming the castle.

"That would be cool," Dudley replied, thoughtfully. "I think Mum seems much happier here now than when we first came here."

"Definitely," Harry agreed. "Maybe Severus helped her a lot. He once told me that he was good friends with Mum and Aunt Petunia before he and Mum came to Hogwarts. They've known each other since they were very small."

"Sybill is very nice, too," Dudley said, pensively.

"Although her classes seem to be complete rubbish," Neville added, grinning, as he reminded the others of a conversation about the Divination class that had taken place at the Slytherin table a few months ago.

"Oh well, making up a new dream every week doesn't seem very thrilling," Dudley spoke up, rolling his eyes. "I don't think I'm going to take Divination at all."

Harry and Neville immediately agreed, deciding that there were more interesting classes at Hogwarts.

HP

When their usual class began again in the morning of the first of September, Harry asked Remus, "May Dudley, Neville and I tomorrow morning accompany the first-years to their classrooms before coming here? I think they must be terrified having to search their classroom in this big castle."

"That's a good idea, Harry," Remus replied, warmly. "You'll have to accompany the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years to one classroom and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws to another though."

"That's fine," Harry said, smiling. "Dudley and Neville can take one group, and I'll do the other."

"We take the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws then," Dudley agreed.

HP

Harry and Dudley decided to sit at the Gryffindor table for the Welcoming feast. Neville had not been allowed to stay for the feast, however, the two seven-year-olds sat between Charlie, who was now a fourth-year, and the empty spots where the first-years would join them after the Sorting.

"Harry, keep the seat next to you for my brother Percy, will you," Charlie whispered to him. "He's going to be sorted tonight."

"All right," Harry whispered back, smiling in anticipation. 'I hope his brother is as nice as Charlie and Bill,' he thought, as he observed the Sorting with interest.

As Charlie had almost predicted, his younger brother Percy was sorted into Gryffindor and sat into the empty seat next to Harry.

Harry's first impression was that the boy had strange auras. It almost was as if there were two persons, one green and white and the other green, yellow and black. 'What?' he thought, incredulously. 'How's that possible?'

"Percy," he spoke up, hesitantly, "are you an Animagus?"

The older boy cast him a confused look. "No," he finally replied, "why would I?"

Not wanting to let anyone know that he could see auras, Harry merely shrugged. "I just thought so. I'm sorry."

"Is there a way to know if someone is an Animagus?" Charlie asked in apparent confusion.

"Harry knows," Dudley spoke up, causing Harry to frown.

"Shhh, I don't want everyone to know that," he whispered. "It's true though," he added in Charlie's direction.

HP

By the time Remus and Harry returned to their rooms, it was already late and Harry was sent to bed. As much as he begged to be allowed to quickly discuss something with Ceridwen, Remus remained firm and told him that tomorrow would be another day.

First thing in the morning, Harry was standing in front of Ceridwen's portrait and told her, "Last night, a boy with two auras was sitting next to me. One was green and white and the other green, yellow and black. How's that possible?"

"It's not possible," Ceridwen replied in clear surprise.

"But it was like it," Harry insisted, only now realising that Remus was standing next to him. "Good morning Remus," he quickly greeted his guardian. "Remus, it was Percy Weasley. He had two auras."

"The only reason that I can imagine would be that he was carrying his familiar with him, for example, in his robe pocket," Ceridwen said, pensively.

"But then his familiar had to be an Animagus, considering that he told me that he isn't one," Harry replied in confusion.

"Who would bring an Animagus with him to Hogwarts?" Remus asked, smirking at Harry. "Harry, I'm sorry, but I think that your mind just played a prank on you here. It's simply not possible."

HP

'But I know what I saw,'Harry thought, feeling very upset, as he trailed to the Great Hall behind Remus, taking a seat at the Slytherin table to be as far away as possible from the strange Gryffindor boy.

During the following months, Harry sometimes came close enough to Percy, either in the halls or at the Gryffindor table, to check the boy's aura again, but it always was solely green and white, without any second aura involving yellow and black. 'Strange. Must have been my imagination,' he thought against better knowledge.

HP

Very early one morning, Severus stepped out into the corridor with the entrances to the teachers' quarters. Stopping in front of Remus' and Harry's door, he cast a Silencing charm around himself and the portrait of Ceridwen Hufflepuff.

"Good morning, Professor Hufflepuff," he addressed the portrait.

"Good morning, Professor Snape, what can I do for you?" Ceridwen asked, gently.

"I just have a question," Severus said and asked, slightly hesitating, "If I understand correctly what Harry told me, I wonder if he might be able to cure werewolves and perhaps also people who are suffering from mental illnesses, once he manages the complete transformation into a soul phoenix."

Ceridwen smiled. "The soul phoenix is the most helpful of all kinds of phoenixes," she replied, pride swinging in her voice. "Eventually, Harry might be able to heal these persons, but he is very young and he first of all has to manage the transformation. Afterwards, he has to practise tampering with auras, which is especially difficult, as he can't simply practise on other students or teachers."

"Of course," Severus agreed, pensively.

"Unfortunately, I'm only able to cast magic within portraits," Ceridwen said, regrettably. "Therefore, I can only advise him what to do and how to do it. Well, he might be able to cure Remus and Dudley, provided that he decides to become a mind healer, but it will take many years."

"Thank you Professor," Severus acknowledged her response. "Is it correct to assume that he won't be able to heal himself the same way?"

"No, he might be able to find other ways for himself, but I'm not sure, as whilst being a soul phoenix Animagus, I am not a werewolf," Ceridwen informed him in a soft voice.

"Of course Professor. Thank you very much for your insight," Severus agreed and took his leave, cancelling the silencing charm as he went.

HP

It was shortly before the end of the school year, when Gryffindor won a Quidditch match and invited Harry and Dudley to their victory party, that Harry noticed a rat in the Gryffindor common room. It was stretched out in a corner of the room, right next to the sofa, where Harry and Dudley were sitting together with Charlie.

"Look, a rat," Harry whispered with bewilderment. 'I've heard of students having owls, cats or toads, but a rat?' he thought, feeling slightly appalled, as he observed the small animal devour some cheese.

"Ah yes, it's Percy's," Charlie explained. "I find it disgusting, but Percy is quite fond of it, so better say nothing," he added, smirking.

"True," Dudley agreed.

'Oh well,'Harry thought, however, his eyes widened in shock upon sensing the rat's aura. It was yellow, green and black.

"That's not a rat. It's an Animagus," he whispered, causing Charlie to laugh.

"It's just an ordinary garden rat," the older boy replied, chuckling.

'It's not,'Harry thought. 'It's magical, and I think it's an Animagus, not a real rat.' However, he knew better than to voice his thoughts, knowing that he wouldn't be believed anyway.

Suddenly, Charlie rose from the sofa and dragged the two seven-year-olds to the buffet that the house-elves had prepared. "Come and have a butterbeer. It doesn't have alcohol, so it's suited for children of your age as well."

HP

"Dudley," Harry hesitantly spoke up, when they returned to their rooms on time for their bedtime, "do you believe me that the rat is not only a magical rat but also an Animagus? I know that no one else will believe me, but…"

"I believe you," Dudley interrupted him. "But there's nothing that we can do about it, if the students don't believe you, let alone the adults. It's a strange rat anyway," he added. "Did you notice that it's missing a toe?"

"No, I didn't see that," Harry replied, surprised. "Apparently, I was too wrapped up with its aura to realise anything else."

"Oh well, I like the Hufflepuff common room better anyway," Dudley voiced what Harry was thinking, too.

"Yeah, most students are nice there, while some in Gryffindor are really strange, just like in Slytherin," Harry agreed. 'Although Percy and his rat are the strangest,' he thought just to himself and finally realised, 'That explains why Percy had two auras at the welcoming feast last year. He was probably carrying his rat in his robe pocket.'

HP

One evening, when the four younger teachers gathered in Remus' and Harry's living room, as they did every evening during the holidays, Remus suggested, "Why don't we take the three children to the beach once, maybe even overnight?"

"That's a brilliant idea," Petunia immediately agreed, and after a short discussion, they planned a trip to a magical beach resort in the North of Scotland for Neville's and Harry's birthday.

They politely invited Augusta Longbottom to join them, however, the old lady declined, stating that she was happy to know that Neville was in good hands with them.

During the days leading up to Neville's and Harry's eighth birthdays, the children were so excited that Severus groaned one day at breakfast, "Why exactly did we decide to do such a thing?"

"Because you love us so much and want to make us happy, Severus," Harry replied, causing the older teachers to laugh at the Potions Master.

"Severus has really changed for the better," Minerva whispered to Poppy, not realising that the children's hearing was extremely good.

However, Severus still managed to shock them all, when he appeared in the Great Hall for breakfast on Neville's birthday, wearing dark green robes instead of his constant black attire.

"Severus, are you ill?" Poppy blurted out, smirking.

However, Severus completely ignored her. Instead, he handed Neville a small present, which from the form looked like a book, and finally turned to Petunia. "I'm ready to leave right after breakfast."

"We're ready, too," Petunia confirmed, causing Remus and Sybill to follow.

'He looks great in his green robes,'Harry thought, as he glanced around taking in the other teachers' stunned expressions with amusement.

HP

The magical resort was amazing. First of all, it was charmed to be of an agreeable temperature, so that most people spent their time on the beach and in the sea that also held a most comfortable water temperature, the apartment was large with a living room and three bedrooms, one for the two male professors, one for the ladies and one for the children, and the meals were taken in a large dining room, half of which was outside and situated right on the shore. Behind the building was a Quidditch pitch that rivalled the one at Hogwarts, and the children were glad that they had brought their brooms, especially Neville, who had only received his own broom for his birthday this very morning.

"It's even better than the one at Hogwarts," Dudley said, pointing out that half of the Quidditch pitch was situated above the sea.

There were several students in the resort, and the children soon got two Quidditch teams together. To everyone's surprise, Martin, who was a seventh year and the Seeker of the Ravenclaw house team and played Seeker for the one team, while Harry played for the other team, did not manage even once to beat Harry to the Snitch.

"Congrats," Martin said to him, once they stopped playing to head to lunch. "You're an amazing Seeker, and I'm sure that you're going to end up on a house team." Turning to Dudley, who had played Keeper, he said, "The same goes for you. You're a brilliant Keeper."

Knowing that the older boy had been on the Quidditch team for several years, his words meant a lot to the two boys. They knew most of the students in the resort; there were only two girls, whom they had not met before.

"They're probably too young to be at Hogwarts," Neville whispered to Harry and Dudley.

"Yeah, they seem more like our age," Harry replied and headed over to the girls, closely followed by Dudley and Neville.

"Hi," he said, shyly, and introduced the three of them.

"Hello," one of the girls replied. "I'm Su. Su Li, and this is Lily Moon. We're both eight and not so good on brooms yet, but you're very good flyers."

Feeling excited and happy to have met girls of their own age, Harry, Dudley and Neville proceeded to spend the rest of the day with them and even invited them to come and eat Neville's birthday cake together.

'They're really nice,'Harry thought, unobtrusively observing the girls. While Su was relatively tall for her age and had black hair and black eyes, Lily was of about Harry's size and was blonde with an eye colour of a combination of silver and blue. 'She's very pretty,' he thought, noticing that both girls had a white aura with the usual green frame for magic.

During the rest of the two days, Harry, Neville, Dudley and the two girls stuck together and spent much time flying, swimming and building a miniature version of Hogwarts in the sand – with Remus' and Sybill's help.

After the boys had told the girls that they were living at Hogwarts, because their guardians were working there and that Neville was attending classes with them, Su introduced herself as a half-blood witch. She told them that while her father was a muggle and was teaching Chinese at a university in London, her mother and grandfather were magical and had a small Chinese restaurant in a side street to Diagon Alley.

"I've never seen a Chinese restaurant anywhere at Diagon Alley," Harry spoke up in surprise, causing Dudley and Neville to nod.

"If you pass in front of Gringotts and then turn left, it's on the right hand side," Su informed them and invited them to visit her if they had a chance to get to Diagon Alley.

Lily was a pureblood witch, and her father was working at the Ministry of Magic, while her mother stayed at home to watch her and her smaller sister Susan.

"I'd prefer to attend classes at Hogwarts to being home-schooled," she said, longingly. "It's boring to always have to study alone."

"Maybe you can attend classes together with us," Harry said, thoughtfully, and promised to ask Remus later on.

HP

It was much later on the same day, when the overexcited children had finally fallen asleep, that Severus went out for a long walk along the shore together with Petunia.

"You seem much happier than when you first came to Hogwarts," Severus stated the obvious in a soft voice.

Petunia smiled. "I am indeed much happier than I can recall having ever been before," she admitted only to add, "which is mainly thanks to you, Severus."

Severus quirked an eyebrow, before they walked on in silence for a few minutes. "I loved Lily," he suddenly spoke up, "and I couldn't imagine being capable of loving anyone else anymore. Things have changed though," he added and stopped walking, before he turned to Petunia. His face came to rest just in front of hers, and he carefully pulled her into a hesitant kiss, feeling as if he was flying without broom when she responded to it.

"Let's sit here for a moment," he said, once they parted, and they sat on a bench, from where they could watch the sunset. "I love you, Petunia," he told her in his soft, baritone voice. "Will you give me the honour to become my wife?"

Petunia looked up to meet his eyes, smiling. "I will," she promised. "I love you, too. More than I ever loved Vernon."

HP

It was beyond midnight, when Severus returned to the room that he shared with Remus.

"How was your date?" the werewolf enquired, smiling at his former classmate's genuinely happy expression.

"Petunia agreed to become my wife," Severus informed him, only to ask, "And how was yours?"

Remus let out a deep sigh. "It was wonderful. I think I'm completely in love with Sybill. But it's not possible."

"And why not?" Severus enquired, raising an eyebrow in clear surprise.

"Because of my furry problem," Remus said, darkly. "It's all right. Good night Severus."

"No Remus, wait," Severus replied, reaching for Remus' arm to stop him. "This is nonsense. If Sybill cared about your furry problem, the two of you wouldn't have come so close. Apparently, she doesn't mind at all, and there is no information if any children of yours would carry the lycanthropy. Moreover, if they did, you'd be able to deal with it. Use the magic of the resort to ask her first thing in the morning."

"No child should have to bother with that disease," Remus contradicted. "It's too horrible."

Severus scoffed. "Do you have the impression as if Harry and Dudley weren't outright happy with their lives?"

"They are," Remus had to admit. "What if she doesn't agree though? We still have to see each other at Hogwarts every day."

"No," Severus replied, smirking. "She wouldn't attend all the meals anymore. Only Christmas dinner and even that only on Albus' request. Ask her. I'll excuse you from breakfast."

Shaking his head in annoyance, Remus noxed the lights and went to bed, his thoughts revolving around the witch of his heart.