A/N: So it's come to my attention that I'm a total fkin mug and I uploaded duplicates of chapters 4 & 5 as chapters 6 & 7. To the people who looked at them, sorry I'm such an idiot and here's the right chapter 6 this time! (And as I'm already writing an A/N - how's the canon characterisation in this chapter?)

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If there was one thing Lukas hadn't expected when waiting for the Hogwarts committee to show up at his door, it was for them to be late.

For the entire two months since his Durmstrang letter had come and gone, Lukas spent the daytime hours pacing the tiny flat, chain-smoking and drinking far too much coffee. On the rare occasions Jack pried him from his vigil, he spent the outing chewing on his pen and glaring around the room or street as if a wizard might pop up and accost him about magical schools, then sigh in despair when he took in Lukas's locale and company, assert that no magical boy could lurk this low and leave.

Every time he got home, he expected a little rabbit carrying a note or something, and that note would say 'sorry we missed you, maybe next year'. Or at the very least, something saying that he'd have to wait even longer.

Jack spent those same hours hurrying out of the room every time someone knocked, and Lukas had taken to keeping a note ready for the visitors. 'Sorry, Jack owes Rat Joe some money. He's hiding in his room in case the boys had come round. I'll fetch him now.'

Of course, when Rat Joe and his boys did come around, as Jack actually had owed them money, they were extremely courteous, and instead of knocking and getting Lukas's hopes up, they just knocked the door down and stormed the flat.

The boys knocked Jack around while Rat Joe looted the house for what he was owed and a little on the side. Lukas sat on the coffee table, giddy with amusement and playing a few scenarios through his head of the Hogwarts teacher showing up while Rat Joe kicked Jack in the gut and how funny that would be. Really, he had told Jack not to borrow the money, and he'd already hidden the most valuable things under the floor of Kev's van anyway, so nothing was really at risk. They did lose the new TV, but Jack would steal another one.

Once it was done, Rat Joe had given Lukas fifty quid and a brand-new cap – which was actually pretty cool – then left with a grin and a swagger once he'd ruffled Lukas's hair. And that was exactly why Lukas always liked the visits from Rat Joe and the boys.

Lukas and Jack had decided that it was too risky having anyone discover Harry living here. No, that wouldn't have done at all, and it had been an easy decision to send Harry back to the Dursleys until Lukas's letter arrived. Harry, as it'd turned out, was a year younger than Lukas, so his wouldn't come until next year.

Of course, Lukas hadn't just sent him back; he wasn't that callous. Or Jack wasn't, rather. Jack had threatened the Dursleys into treating Harry perfectly well during his stay.

They'd made a couple of late-night check-ups as well. Harry slept comfortably in Dudley's old toy room and reassured them that everything was fine, and perhaps could they ask the Dursleys not to give him bacon for breakfast every morning, because it was a little much after a whole month of it.

Jack was very good at threatening people into compliance.

Today, Jack had only just emerged from the bedroom when someone knocked.

His second mug of coffee sat half-empty on the table, and he stared at his tobacco with a zombie-eyes and a loose jaw. Last night had been a club night, so he'd gotten back at about seven in the morning. The comedown hell was etched into every sagging inch of his body. Lukas could have rolled the cigarette for him, but it was pretty amusing seeing Jack like this. The pure sorrow that slathered over his face when the knock sounded was just plain hilarious.

"Just tell them I'm not fucking here." Jack barely managed to heave himself out of the chair, stumbling heavily as he found his feet. "Might just hide behind the fucking sofa."

It wouldn't have surprised Lukas if he did just that, but he managed to make the trip to the bedroom (and trip he did, several times). Lukas balanced his cigarette on top of the open flip knife Jack used to scrape out his grinder. Leaving the two coffee cups forlorn and alone, Lukas answered the door.

It was still broken from Rat Joe's visit. Jack hadn't wanted to fix it with magic in case someone noticed, so instead, as the door still hung on at the lock, they'd used Harry's chair to wedge it shut. The fragmented wood by the lock made a good replacement for the busted hinges.

Of course, because it was so obviously another one of Jack's friends or someone for work – probably Kev asking about the blood that got on his van last time – Lukas almost dropped the notepad he was holding when it wasn't.

Lukas recognised the man. A year or two ago, Jack had found an old picture at the back of his cluttered drawers. A wizarding photo, but it wasn't the first of the kind Lukas had seen so he hadn't been surprised when the figures had all shifted around. Jack had been front and centre, grinning widely with his arm around a brunette's shoulder, but the grin had looked sliced from another face and pasted on Jack's without a care for how strange it looked there.

A sickly cast haunted his features, worse by far than when Lukas had first met him, with hollow cheeks echoed in the scrawny lines of his figure beneath shabby clothes. Something half-mad lurked behind his eyes, and his smile had a brittle edge. It only didn't rip Lukas's pitiful little heart out entirely because right then, at least, Jack did look happy, even if it seemed like the happiness of a man that didn't live in that skull.

The Dark Lord had been in the photo too, a man with a cruelly handsome face and exhaustion etched beneath his eyes and through his tight, unsmiling lips. So had Lukas's uncle, Mikael Valrssen, although in the sepia picture, his eyes – Lukas's eyes, Jack had said – were just another shade of beige.

Lined up at the back of the picture had been the man who stood in the doorway. Where time had been a blessing to Jack, to this man, it had weighed years upon him far beyond his share. His hair was greasy and lank where it had been thick and lustrous in the photo. His skin was sallow, and his expression was sour.

Severus Snape, that was the man at the door. He frowned at a spot about a foot above Lukas's head for a moment, as if he'd expected someone taller to answer. When Snape finally looked down, his eyes caught Lukas's and flew wide. Was that… Lukas's fingers twitched, pulled back from their instinct to brush beneath his eyes. Snape knew Mikael Valrssen, didn't he? He'd have to get coloured contacts when he went to Hogwarts at this rate.

If he went to Hogwarts.

Lukas gave the man a quick up and down – Snape played the muggle well, not even considering what Jack had told him about most wizards – and crooked a finger as he stepped aside, beckoning Snape in.

Once the chair was in place again, securing the door, Lukas gestured Snape over to the sofa while he wrote a quick note on his pad. The man hovered around centre of the room, at attempt at disdainful nonchalance in his posture while he looked around the flat with a distinct wrinkle to his nose and a sneer forming on his lips. After being pointed to the sofa, he gave Lukas a look of disbelief, but when he was offered no other seating, he perched primly on the edge of the cleaner cushion.

Lukas cleared his throat to get Snape's attention and held up the note. 'He's in the bedroom. I'll fetch him now.'

Snape only gave the note a quick once over, and Lukas felt his eye twitch when the man said, "Yes, if you'd tell him I'm here to see him."

Lukas had to clear his throat twice to get Snape's attention again. 'Yes, I did say I'd do that.'

"Thank you, boy."

Usually he'd write a tart note telling Snape his name was Lukas and not boy, but he'd probably have to wave the pad in front of the man's face to get his attention. Not to mention the tartness never actually came across when he wrote it. With irritation thick beneath his tongue, Lukas slipped into the bedroom.

Sunlight slashed brilliantly across the room, illuminating Jack's bare skin with a bright white glow. He was still in his boxers and the sheets, unneeded in the August heat, were piled up at the bottom of the bed. Two pillows sandwiched his head, and it looked as if he'd gone back to sleep.

Smiling faintly at Jack's sprawled position, Lukas rapped his knuckles against the wall. Not asleep then, as Jack groaned and curled up on his side, peering at Lukas through one bleary eye. "What's up, kid?" The pillow still half-covering his face muffled his voice. "Didn't I say don't tell them I'm here?"

Lukas sat on the edge of the bed. He wrote entirely in the strange enigmatic shorthand he'd been easing into over the past few years. Jack would never learn a new language if Lukas just told him to, so Lukas had acclimatised him to it. It worked, and right now, the note would be nothing but a mess of symbols to anyone but Jack, and somewhat Harry. Just how Lukas liked it.

'Severus Snape's at the door. I thought you might want to see him. I can tell him to fuck off and come back later if you like.'

"Wha—" Jack propped himself up on his elbow, the pillow flopping off his head, and rubbed at his eyes. "Sevs? What the fuck is he doing here?" Lukas shrugged. "Fuck me, I haven't seen him since the end of the war. Yeah, yeah, go on, I'll get up. Tell him I'll be out in a minute. And roll me a fag, would you?"

Lukas nodded and withdrew to the living room. Snape stood beside the bookshelf, finger tapping each of the spines in turn. Lukas crept across the room, his footsteps silent on the threadbare carpet, and he managed to squeeze into his chair at the table without scraping it backwards. Snape only turned around when Jack started knocking about in his room, getting ready. Dickhead actually jumped when he spotted Lukas at the kitchen table, rolling a cigarette.

"When—" Gritting his teeth, Snape gave a short shake of his head, light squirming across the greasy locks, and squared his shoulders. "Where is—"

Lukas held up a finger, cutting Snape off, and pointed at the bedroom. Snape's lips thinned.

"Will he be long?"

Lukas shrugged, sealing the roll with his tongue. He smirked as Snape clenched his jaw. That's what the asshole got for being inconsiderate. As Lukas tapped the cigarette on the table, Snape took another step forward.

"I'm on a tight schedule, boy. How long will he be?"

Lukas scribbled a note, and Snape walked over to the table when Lukas held it up. 'Who can say? He doesn't half mince when he's getting ready.'

Snape glanced briefly at it before something unpleasant drew his lips back from the crooked yellow tombstones of his teeth. 'Read' was definitely too strong a verb. "Answer me, boy!"

Lukas threw the pad on the table beside the knife and rubbed his hands over his face, squeezing his eyes shut. This guy might've been Jack's friend, but god-fucking-damn, he was frustrating. Lukas felt around on the table for the ashtray and snatched up his mostly unsmoked cigarette when he found it.

"Boy…" Snape's voice was a silky growl. "Speak. Answer me!"

Lukas didn't even bother to look up. A pinch of smoky char brushed his nose as he leant back and relit his cigarette. A cloud of smoke drifted across the table in a soft brush of grey.

Then Snape snatched it from between his fingers and ground it into the ashtray until it was little more than a crumpled mash of paper. The tips of his fingers came away smudged grey with old ash, and a little speckled the dull blade of the flipknife.

For fuck's sake.

"You aren't old enough to smoke, and I won't witness that filthy—What in Merlin's name are you doing, boy?" Lukas glanced up at him, the cigarette he'd rolled for Jack between his lips, and shrugged. While he sparked the lighter again, he took a moment to commit that look on Snape's face to a special place in his memory. It really was a thing of beauty that snarl, complete with crooked yellow teeth and a rutted landscape of wrinkles.

Lukas took a drag, and this time when Snape's hand shot out, Lukas was much quicker. He'd been practicing, and if he said so himself, by now he was least semi-deadly. Usually because he was quick enough to get the first move in, but like Jack always told him and never practiced himself – you gotta take pride in them things you're good at, kiddo.

The knife from the table glinted in the sunlight between Snape's hand and Lukas's cigarette, brightness oozing from the razor-edge. Snape, to his credit, didn't drive his hand straight into it while trying to grab the cigarette. A shame. Lukas bet he'd be hilarious bitching about that while his hand was stuck on the blade. Instead, his hand just … hovered there. Poised like a snake waiting to strike the moment Lukas's steady hold dipped. Lukas held Snape's malignant black eyes and shook his head slowly.

That, of course, was the sight Jack walked in on. Snape looked like every inch of his energy was focussed in a pinpoint torrent of silently fuming rage on the cigarette between Lukas's lips, so much that he didn't even react to the wink Lukas tipped Jack. For his part, Jack stood in the bedroom doorway looking utterly bewildered.

Lukas jabbed with his knife and Snape's hand jerked back a little further – not completely away, but far enough that Lukas could take another drag.

"Boy," Snape hissed.

"Oi, Sevs, leave him be." Snape whirled around as soon as the rough drawl of Jack's voice cut through the air, but when he saw Jack, he froze, all the sagging lines of his face going slack. Jack chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, the skull and serpent tattoo sickly on his bare forearm. "Lucky does what he likes. Ain't no way to stop him."

Snape's head snapped back around. "You're Lukas Black?" Lukas nodded. Was it that big a deal? "Do you know who this man is?" Snape whipped out his wand, the end spearing toward Jack. What the hell? Didn't he come to see Jack? "Well, boy? Are you stupid? Deaf? Answer—"

"Fucking hell!" The shout drew Snape's renewed aggression and Jack held up his hands. "Jeez, man, leave him be. He's not fucking stupid. He can hear you. Kid just doesn't talk. Now why the fuck are you pointing your wand at me?"

"Because, Malfoy, you are a dangerous fugitive living with a muggleborn student. I suggest you turn around so I can bind your hands and I'm not forced to curse you."

Oo-oh. Alright, that changed things. A smile crawled onto Lukas's lips while he glanced between Snape and Jack. The idle way Snape pinned Jack with the tip of his wand almost said bored, but no matter that, Jack just stood there anyway. That tortured expression on his face said doing his best to comprehend the situation, but Lukas didn't expect it was going very well. Idiot had about two brain cells to rub together right now.

Now what would be the best time to put his knife in Snape's back? Perhaps he could grab the huge kitchen knife without anyone noticing him, that would be a little more threatening. Well, his visit from Hogwarts was more interesting than he'd been expecting.

"You're a teacher?" Jack asked, eyebrows pulling further together.

And he finally gets it. Lukas might have clapped, but right now Snape had forgotten him, and that was a blessing he wouldn't throw away yet.

"Yes." Snape gave a flick of his wand. "Turn around, Malfoy."

At Malfoy, a cringe shivered through Jack. The amusement soured on Lukas's tongue. Time to intervene, and now, he had a much better idea. A tendril of his wandless curled out as Lukas slipped silent from the chair, the magic tugging open the cupboard under the sink and wrapping around the gun hidden at the back. Lukas kept it low to the ground, just clear of scraping across the lino, until it was right beside the chair. Then, quick and quiet as he could, he hopped up onto the chair and snatched the gun out of the air. It made a comforting weight in his hands as he squared it on Snape's head, and the click as he cocked it snapped through the taut air.

Snape's eyes went so wide Lukas thought they might pop out when he found himself face-to-face with the muzzle of the gun. "What in—"

"You know what that is, Sevs." Jack scratched his fingers through the side of his hair and ambled forward a few steps, beckoning loosely with his finger. "Lucky can use it. Put your wand on the floor and kick it over to me. Dunno what the fuck is going on here, but we need a little chat, I reckon."

"Boy." Snape's hiss had lost the edge of control, no matter if his posture was still stiff and square, and hey, finally, he talked to Lukas like he was slightly more than a stain on the hem of his shirt, even if it was that shitty babying tone people got when they didn't know better than to treat him like a kid. "Put the gun down. Whatever this man has been telling you, it is a lie and he is dangerous. I'm trying to help you."

Lukas snorted and glanced over at Jack, eyebrows raised. Jack chuckled and started edging towards the table.

"Kid knows who I am and what I've done, and I'm pretty sure he'd be telling you he doesn't give a shit about it if his hands were free." Lukas gave a decisive nod. That was exactly what he was thinking. "Yeah, he doesn't give a shit. Don't try the innocent kid schtick here, Sevs. Thought you could do better than that, huh?"

As he stepped onto the lino, Jack knocked his knuckles lightly against Lukas's hip. "Good stance there, kiddo." Lukas smiled, a little fuzzy warmth putting a little sweetness back into his mood. "Where's my fag then?" Lukas put on a dramatic pout and sighed, shaking his head. Jack laughed, rapping his knuckles against Lukas's hip again before he turned to Snape and beckoned with his hand. "Sevs, chuck me your fucking wand. Lucky can't talk when he's pointing a gun at you."

Snape's hand convulsed around his wand as his eyes darted around the room, searching for a way out of the situation that Lukas was near certain he wouldn't find. One last frantic search, twisting entirely away from his focus on Jack now, but there was nothing, and with a hiss between his teeth, he dropped his wand on the ground, nostrils flaring to twin black caverns, and kicked it over to Jack.

"There ya go." Jack picked up the wand and waggled it at Lukas. "Now you can tell me where my fag is."

Lukas released the trigger and set the gun on the table. He relit his cigarette while Jack leant his forearms on the back of Lukas's chair, leaning over his shoulder to read the note. 'Asshole over there nicked mine and mashed it up. Smoking yours.'

Jack scowled at Snape. "Tobacco's expensive, y'know."

"You have a good excuse to drop the dirty habit then, Malfoy."

That drew a flinch from Jack then. His hands, either side of Lukas's face, closed to fists. "Stop fucking calling me that. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I wonder the same thing of you, Malfoy. I wonder what depraved inclinations led you to—" Snape broke off, his teeth grinding— "to…"

Again, the words died, and Snape's eyes pressed closed, the wrinkles around them deepening to crevices. Lukas got pretty close to bursting with this supressed laughter when Snape smacked his thigh and let out a growl of frustration. "Damn you, Jack. I can't do it. If it had been any of the others…"

Jack's fists slackened, and like it was an instinct, one of them shifted closer to Lukas's head, a finger curling just a breath short of his ear. The warmth tingled. "Oh, great, so you were being an asshole on purpose?"

"At least conjure a chair for me if you insist on keeping my wand."

Jack looked like he wasn't going to for a minute, and the one he conjured was the most uncomfortable-looking chairs Lukas had ever seen. Jack dropped in the chair opposite Lukas and glowered at Snape while the man sat primly on the seat.

"No tea, I suppose?" All the vitriol and ill temper had disappeared from Snape's voice, leaving only an almost agreeably nasal tartness in his tone. Jack glared and Snape gave a dramatic sigh. "I apologise for my behaviour."

"Your apology can fuck off until I get a decent explanation."

Snape inclined his head. "Understandable. Do you want the short version or the long version? Make me a cup of tea while I talk to Jack, boy."

This guy… Lukas picked up the gun and pointed it at Snape's head again. A guffaw of laughter burst from Jack's throat, and Lukas's lips twitched, a grin fighting against the surly expression he wanted to keep. Thanks, Jack.

"Before we do anything," Jack said, "you gotta stop calling Lucky boy and ordering him around. Maybe he's a kid, but he don't half take after his uncle."

A frown dallied in the lines around Snape's brow. "His uncle? Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"'Course it is." Jack picked up his old cup of coffee, tipping it as he made the allowance of, "Well, great-uncle I suppose, but you know what Mik was like."

"I do, but Erebus wasn't this boy's great-uncle."

Jack snorted behind the rim of his mug. "You're here from Hogwarts, right?"

"Evidently."

"Take a look at that letter you've got for him. It'll have Mik's nephew's name on the front, middle names and all, I reckon. Then take a look at them eyes and tell me that ain't Mik looking back at ya."

Lukas's jaw tightened and he took a deeper drag on his cigarette, letting the smoke cloud around his face. Jack did that sometimes. A slip, saying not that Lukas looked like this great-uncle, but wording it as if Mikael lived behind Lukas's face.

If he kept it up, it was going to get annoying very, very quickly.

For a moment, Snape stared, those black eyes like knives cutting away Lukas's skin until all that existed was the ghost that stole the mismatched pops of colour of Lukas's eyes.

"Yes…" Snape said eventually. "I hadn't wanted to believe it... Do you have proof?

Jack snorted. His cup banged on the table as he set it down. A swirl of sunlight slid around the top rim, broken only by the deep chip opposite the handle. "Stop being such an idiot, Sevs."

"If that's Anthea's son then Albus has—"

"Albus?" The name spluttered from Jack's lips, and if he'd still been drinking that coffee, it would've spluttered right out with it. Jack put his elbows on the table, twisted to lean toward Snape, and with each word, his voice deepened to a growl. "You're on first name terms with that bastard? The cunt who killed Mik twice? What the fuck has happened to you? How could you even think about—"

Snape's voice made an icy blade slicing off the end of Jack's words. "And how do you still loyally bear the mark of the man who killed Lily?"

"Fuck Lily." Jack slapped the table and jabbed his finger at Snape. "She treated you like shit—"

"And Erebus treated you like royalty?" Snape hissed. Interesting. "At least Lily never pretended—"

Well, if there was no more on Jack and Erebus, Lukas didn't care. He banged his knuckles on the table, loud to cut through the brewing shouting match. The bruising knock smarted through his fingerbones. He pushed a note to Jack while they both stared at each other, unwilling anger bridling on their tongues.

'Don't get angry, he's trying to be a dick. Find out the full story before you flip out and fuck it.'

Lukas wrote another note in full longhand while Snape and Jack's attentions were on him. 'Now that that's all sorted, why doesn't Snape tell us why he's here visiting me today? The whole story. That should explain enough.'

"Yeah," Jack said, his voice just a little grudging, "that should cover it. Fucking strange enough that you're here to see Lucky – and y'know he is Anthea's kid, like I won't go into it and all, but it ain't just like … like y'know, me getting hung the fuck up on Mik. Just, like, trust me on that, yeah?

Like clockwork, Snape peered at Lukas's eyes again. At. And nothing but the goddamn eyes like Lukas didn't exist, apparently oblivious to him noticing like when every other fucking person who thought they had a free invite to stare at him did it. The heterochromia didn't warrant so many looks by itself. In fact, if it was just that, he'd probably get compliments about his 'exotic' eyes to go with it, but when people took a proper look at his right eye, they got uneasy.

It wasn't true white. If you looked closely, his iris was incredibly pale grey. Ash more than snow, but it was too close to white for people's comfort. And if these really were that much like Erebus's eyes, it'd be worse in the wizarding world. Lukas scribbled a quick note to Jack. No way he could put up with people staring like that.

'Need to buy coloured contacts before Hogwarts. Remind me.' He'd have weird eyes – it'd feel strange otherwise – but different weird eyes.

Jack grinned. "Sure thing, kiddo."

The words drew Snape's gaze, and something in that sour face seemed to soften a little when he caught Jack's expression. Compared to Jack's old smile – the one in the picture and probably last one Snape had seen – this one was positively radiant. Even compared to the first, stiff grimace he'd given Lukas, it made a striking difference. Lukas found himself smiling in return.

Snape cleared his throat. Jack jumped out of his dozy grin, and that just made Lukas smile even more.

"You wanted to know how I came to be here?" Snape directed the question to Jack, turned enough away from Lukas that it was clearly exclusion. Apparently he still wasn't worthy of attention. Did that mean Snape didn't fully believe Jack? Possibly. That was probably better. "It is because I am currently teaching Potions at Hogwarts, and as the Head of Slytherin House and one of the only teachers even vaguely competent enough to visit the muggle world, I was tasked with introducing muggleborns to the wizarding world. The—" A clench of his jaw, and then carefully, he pronounced, "Lukas was one of the students assigned to me by Albus."

Nothing about Jack's expression said he was pleased with that. The sneer curling his lip took no reservations in displaying that. "Uh huh, sure, but how did you wind up working for Old Man Greater-fucking-Bullshit anyway?"

Snape rolled his eyes at that nickname, but it remained good-natured. "You know the first part, Jack, I'm sure."

Jack frowned. "What part's that?"

"When I took the prophecy that I overheard to the Dark Lord and he deduced it referred to Lily's son."

Ah, Lukas knew about this. Jack had sat down at explained the whole lot of it to both of them once Harry had settled in properly, including the Dark Lord trying to kill Harry, and Jack made great job of painting it like neither side was at fault for Harry's parents getting killed.

The prophecy part, and how he'd heard it, he went into a lot more with Lukas later that evening. Jack and a friend named Conan Searle had been – as he put it – getting cussed out by His Almighty Evil Nutjobness when Snape brought him the prophecy.

Jack said it with a blasé air, but the tremble in Jack's hands as he'd kept scratching his fingers back through his hair, over and over and over, a repetitive motion verging on compulsion – that said to Lukas that 'getting cussed out' didn't quite cover it.

"Awh yeah, that thing." Jack pulled a face. "I don't like where this is going."

Lukas didn't much like it either.

"You're most likely right." Something close to a sigh breathed through Snape's nasal voice. "I was concerned that the Dark Lord wouldn't hold to his promise, frantic even, so I went to Albus and asked him to keep Lily safe in return for my loyalty." The tight press of Jack's lips said he was about to burst out with something venomous so Lukas tugged the baggy edge of his t-shirt and shook his head slightly to keep Jack silent. "When I was accused of being a Death Eater, Albus vouched for me, claiming I'd been a spy all along."

Jack leaned over the table, one arm stretched out and the other pillowing his chin, his chest flat to the sticky wood. A sneer curled Jack's lip, eyes dripping with the same venom that thickened his words. "So then, Sevs, how many are in Azkaban 'cause of you? How many did you sell out for your own fucking freedom? Did ya give my name too, huh? Am I stuck in this filthy fucking flat 'cause you gave them my name? Well? Did y—"

Snape slapped the table, the impact shuddering through the puddle of liquid at the bottom of Lukas's coffee cup. The malignance in his hiss put Jack's to shame. "I gave no one's name. None of our brothers and sisters languor in Azkaban because of me. It was those who would still claim to be loyal who gave their names. I warned whom I could. I warned you. Do not place that blame on me."

Watching the two old Death Eaters look lethal, burning daggers at each other across the table gave Lukas a better idea of the terror of the Dark Lord's reign than any history book could. Jack with his furious rage and Snape with his poisonous loathing – imagining them as the enemy, the threat in the night, put a shiver down his spine and a heat in a strange deep place in his gut. It was terrifying.

Lukas wanted more.

Unfortunately, it would be a bit of a pain if things came to a head. Jack wasn't supposed to be using much magic or he'd attract the ministry, so Lukas started a note to intervene, keeping half an eye on the pair as he wrote.

'I'm guessing there's still some story to go, if you're sitting down here with us.'

A moody pout turned the corners of Jack's lip down as he sunk back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest as he slumped there. "Yeah, that makes sense, kiddo." Jack jerked his chin to Snape. "Is he right?"

Snape narrowed eyes at Lukas – and god, he was getting fucking sick of that look – and nodded. "He is correct. It's been many years since the Dark Lord fell, and I've had adequate time to think through my actions and my … feelings." The word drew a puckered purse to Snape's lips, and he rapped yellowed fingernails on the table. "I acted rashly on them. Furthermore, Albus never did anything of significance to protect Lily and earn my loyalty. His one method, to send her and her family into hiding, was ultimately the cause of their downfall. Making Black, who has already turned traitor twice—"

Jack jerked up from his seat, hands slapping on the table. "Nah, nah, nah – don't gimme that bullshit. Siri never turned traitor to anyone. Sure he pissed off, but didn't betray us nor the Light, and he weren't never the secret keeper, if that's the point you're tryna make."

Snape looked unconvinced. "Who else but Black could have been secret keeper?"

"Old hamster boy, Pettigrew, innit. Fuck knows how many times the Dark Lord sent me out with that little twat – probably trying to get me fucking killed – but Pettigrew sure as shit didn't know how to keep his mouth shut, little rat. Siri didn't have shit to do with it, so you can fuck off with that."

Lukas and Harry had heard this bit too. Jack had made a point of telling them both that no matter that Sirius was believed guilty, he was the pinnacle of loyalty and would never betray anyone, or some crap like that. How highly Jack seemed to think of his father gave Lukas a little bit of hope for the man. If Jack liked him, he was probably okay.

Probably. The guy seemed to change sides like a weathervane in a storm to Lukas, but perhaps he had … reasons.

Snape's lips thinned. Something tiredly malignant lurked in his black eyes. "Interesting, but irrelevant." His voice bit. "What I was saying was that Albus no longer has my unwavering loyalty. I remain at Hogwarts because he trusts me and there are … few better options. Truthfully, with all of you … gone, I had little hope to see any of you again. I reacted on instinct when I saw you here, but you aren't my enemy, Jack. I hope you still think the same about me."

"I'll think on it." Jack crossed his arms and glared. Lukas grinned. He wasn't serious at all. "Now how about why you're actually here. You got Lucky's letter?"

Idle, Snape drew a creamy envelope out of his pocket and dropped it on the table. Lukas's name was at the top, along with some pretentious posh-boy middle names that he was glad Jack had never told him. Lukas Alphard Oren Black, followed by his address, right down to 'The Only Bedroom of Flat 930'. It was all written in green, spidery ink. Lukas flipped it over. A red seal bearing the Hogwarts crest in honest-to-god wax emblazoned the back.

Well, that part of his story is true at least, or he mugged whoever had my letter originally. Lukas snorted. Perhaps that was why it took so long to get here.

"Something funny?" Snape drawled. Lukas shook his head and cracked the seal. Inside was two sheets of parchment so thick they nearly made him drool. The stuff it was written on was probably more interesting than the letter. Even the book list was basic stuff. He'd read it all and further ahead already. Not that he'd actually cast any spells, so he had a little something to keep him busy at least.

Once he'd finished, he flashed Jack a thumbs up then tugged his notepad over.

'So, does Dumbledore know who I am?' Lukas directed the note at Snape.

Snape's eyes narrowed, but past that, he gave nothing away. "He will have suspicions, undoubtedly, but I have no inkling how far his knowledge of you goes. He may believe you to be dead like the rest of the wizarding world, or he may know more than he hasn't deigned to tell me. I'm of no help to you on that front, I'm afraid."

A frown puckered the space between Jack's brows while he rolled the mug between his hands, one Lukas echoed in a twist of his lips as their eyes met. They had their suspicions about Dumbledore's involvement. No way he wouldn't notice another magical child in the boy saviour's house. Whether he'd put Lukas there or not, or wiped his memory or not, they thought he probably had something to do with one of the two.

"Oh!" Jack sat up in his chair, banging his empty cup against the table. "D'you know where Anthea is? Or … how she is?"

Lukas perked up. Jack – and everyone else – had lost contact with both of Lukas's parents after he disappeared, but at least they knew where Sirius was. Anthea had disappeared, and no amount of Jack's searching had turned up news.

Snape shook his head, and Jack deflated. "I have not, I'm afraid. Albus searches for her too. I've been assisting him in the search, but to no avail. I've long suspected she's in Himmingård, although I've not informed Albus of my thoughts on the matter."

"Shit…" Jack scratched at the side of the head. "You seen Astraea? I ain't had a chance."

"Yes, several times. Alas, she remains closed-mouthed. I have to say…" Snape trailed off into a long sigh and uncrossed then re-crossed his legs, the crisp black fabric of his trousers taut across his knee and a troubled tightness to his lips, "hearing not even little, but nothing… I worry that after her father, then Mikael – as much as I'm loathe to insinuate his death might have troubled anyone but you—"

Jack snorted and got up from the table, cup swinging around his finger. "Fuck off."

Playfully said, but Lukas didn't miss the tension in Jack's face before he turned away.

Snape continued as if uninterrupted. "—But he must be considered. And then with Lukas after what happened to her brother … it may have been too much for her."

"Yeah…" Jack flicked the coffee machine on and raised his voice over its death rattle, leaning back against the counter. "I did wonder about Himmingård. I, uh…" His fingers scratched at the side of his hair. "I don't know if the wards are still open to me, so I haven't gone to look. Anyway, guess that don't really matter."

"No..." The word lingered and Snape's fingers tapped once, twice against the table before he sighed and dropped them. "She will appear when she is ready to face us again."

A lengthier silence passed while both Jack and Snape just sort of … stared into the distance. The way they both talked, neither of them expected her to turn up at all. Lukas chewed on the tip of his pen, gathering his knees up to his chest. Why didn't either of them just say it?

How long were they going to stare at nothing for?

The coffee machine stopped, but Jack made no move to pick it up. Snape's fingers tapped against the table, so lightly they didn't make a noise.

Lukas crossed his legs and doodled a ghost lurking over a gravestone in the corner of his notebook.

He fleshed it out to a cemetery and a spooky tree before he gave up and scribbled out a note. Time to get some things done and leave these two to their maudlin vacancy.

'I'm gonna get Kev to take me to fetch Harry. Make sure he's gone when I get back and see if we can go to Diagon tomorrow.'

Jack started a little when Lukas leant back to waggle the notepad in front of his face, taking long slow blinks as he read it. "Oh … yeah. Yeah, gowan, kid. Sure thing. Just one thing before you go." Jack turned to Snape, baring teeth in a wolfish grin as he snagged the coffee cup from beneath the machine. "Nothing against ya, Sevs. Hope you don't take it personally, but I gotta be careful."

"A magical vow, is it? What sort?"

"I dunno…" Jack took a thoughtful slurp of boiling liquid. "Like, I was thinking unbreakable vow, but Lucky don't have a wand."

Lukas rolled his sleeve up and stuck out his arm, grinning as Snape flinched at the sight of his bare skin. It wasn't a pretty sight, but he liked it that way. Thick burn scars encircled his wrists and elbows, stark marks that refused to fade along with a generous scattering of smaller scars sliced along his pale skin. The rest of his body wasn't much better. It made people uncomfortable, and it was only fair. He had to live with the memories after all.

Lukas twirled his finger to Jack. Get on with it.

"Uh huh, sure that works." Jack took another long drink and dropped back into his chair. "Unbreakable vow it is."

Snape's eyes flew wide and he made a strange spluttering noise. "With the boy?"

"With Lucky, yeah. He don't get any repercussions from this. No problem-o."

"The boy can't speak the vows."

Lukas huffed and pulled his hand back, shaking out his sleeve. That'd be a problem. A little jump went through his chest and he stopped himself looking down at the table. How many other things would be a problem because he couldn't speak?

Jack looked unperturbed. "Eh, worth a shot. Swear on your magic then."

"What shall I swear?"

Lukas rapped his knuckles on the table and held up a finger. While Snape and Jack waited, he made a little list of points then put them together into a tight vow. Jack read it through, grinned, and knocked his knuckles against Lukas's shoulder before handing that and the wand back to Snape.

"Don't try anything with that," Jack said, "alright?"

A smirk curled Snape's lip. "Come, Jack, you should know you don't have to worry about that."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack said, but the grin said he believed Snape.

Snape cleared his throat and placed his wand against his chest where the heart lay. In a monotone intonation, he recited the vow Lukas had written from the notepad, binding him into keeping the both of them a secret. As he spoke, "So mote it be," a flash of white light burst from the tip of Snape's wand and sunk into his chest.

Jack sat back and grinned. "Sweet! All done here then. Stop antsing and piss off then, kid."

Grinning, Lukas scampered off his chair and snagged Jack's pack of tobacco before he headed off. He heard Jack offer Snape a cup of tea, and waved goodbye as he exited the flat.