"Ron finally found Scabbers," Harry told Remus as they walked along a trail that weaved around Hagrid's hut and through the greenhouses surrounding Hogwarts. "Turns out, he had been hiding in our dorm this whole time. He doesn't look too good, though. Hermione thinks the magic ivy that extended Scabbers life all those years ago is wearing off. That's why Scabbers is taking off more, to find somewhere to die. Ron doesn't think so, though, but I think he's in denial."
"It's hard to lose someone you've grown so attached to, even your pet," Remus said. "Otherwise, are they getting along once more?"
"Not really," Harry answered honestly. He kicked at a stone along the trail, pushing it along with them as they continued down the path. "Ron still doesn't trust Crookshanks and he wants Hermione to keep him locked up. Hermione won't do that to her cat, though. Draco thinks that they just need a break from the other, so they're ignoring each other now. It's been hard trying to hang out with them."
"Perhaps I should call in a magivet to look at Ron's rat. Maybe that will help ease tensions."
"Maybe."
"How's Sam?" Remus asked.
"Infatuated," Harry smirked. "There's a new fox around and he's always acting like he's way better than he really is. Like the twins tried to catch him for a prank a couple days ago, but they accidentally caught Haya in a net instead, and Sam was so furious he burned their rear ends. Thankfully, they said they didn't need a burn cream or anything. They said it was just hard to sit for a few hours after."
Remus chuckled and Harry laughed as well as they turned around the castle.
"Any other time, Sam would have played along. He seems to really like Haya."
"There are very few kitsune left in the world," Remus explained. "To chance upon one of each gender in similar age that are completely unrelated is a rare circumstance. Especially outside their native home."
"Hmm," Harry commented, but said no more as the two walked in silence for a moment.
"How are things with you and your father?"
"Weird." Harry stopped just at the edge of the Quidditch pitch as they came up to it. Remus walked over to one of the stadium benches and took a seat, patting the space next to him for Harry to take the seat. Harry did so, then frowned in thought as he searched for the right words to describe how things have really been between himself and Severus.
"Dad is just always distracted anymore. I think he's just worried about the whole dark healer thing. He's kind of hard to talk to—it's like he can't be bothered to stop and listen to me anymore. He takes off or he's reading weird letters he's getting from someone."
Remus offered Harry a sad but understanding smile.
"This is very hard for him. He lost someone very dear to him because of the actions of this man. I know you don't remember the day your mother passed, and that's of no fault of yours, but I remember, and it shook your father's world to the point he stopped doing anything at all. He was depressed, hardly took care of himself, let his muggle bills pile up, didn't eat, didn't shower." Remus shook his head.
"What pulled him out of it?" Harry asked.
"You did," Remus said with a crooked grin. "He kept going for you. After all, you were one of the last things Lily left behind for him, for us."
Harry smiled at Remus, then frowned.
"One of?"
"Per her will, we all got a little something from her to remember her by. That was just like her though, thinking of others in her last hours."
"Did she leave something for you?"
"I was a beneficiary. She was very thoughtful and left me enough to pay for two years' worth of Wolfsbane potions. As soon as I was paying out of pocket again, your father took it upon himself to start brewing the potion for me. She also left me this."
Remus reached into his robe and pulled out a silver pocket watch with a wolf face engraved on the case cover. Harry took the watch and stroked the engravement before opening the watch and looking at the rustic inside.
"It's really beautiful." Harry said.
"Your mother bought it in her third year of Hogwarts and spent half a semester learning the engravement spell so she could do that over the summer."
"Over the summer? But isn't that not allowed for underage wizards and witches?"
"She would often go over to Severus's place, sitting outside in the back garden with him. Since Severus's mother was a witch, it was hard to say who was performing the magic as the trace only identifies where the magic is performed. So she got away with it. For me, it was a very symbolic gift, and I have a feeling it'll be passed down in my family for generations to come. You know, for when I find the one."
"I know you will, Uncle Remus. And they will love having that as an heirloom. That's really cool. Did she leave anything else behind? Like for Uncle Sirius? Aunt Petunia?"
"I can't say what she left behind for everyone. Your uncle was given a generous monetary gift as well as her auror case assignments book. She wrote down every case she ever handled and how she went about it, giving Sirius a lot of insightful information on over seventy different tasks. He was very grateful for it. I cannot say what your aunt may have gotten, but I'm sure there was some financial gain and maybe something to do with family heirlooms such as jewelry, quilts, vases. The two received an equal sharing of inheritance from the passing of their parents, so Petunia may have taken much of that back."
Harry couldn't believe all he was learning now about his mother and her will. Why had he never thought to ask these questions before? What did Severus get from his mother? And did Lily get a chance to leave him something?
"What did Dad get?" Harry asked.
"Honestly," Remus began, then he paused and frowned. "I'm not sure what exactly, but probably everything else that wasn't distributed out to other family and friends. You'd have to talk to your father about that." Remus then smirked. "Though, I'm sure he'll tell you that she left the best thing on the earth to him. You."
"Yeah, he probably would," Harry agreed with a smile. "What about me?"
"Again, you'd have to ask your father about that. I'm not sure if Lily did leave you anything. Perhaps a vault just for you at Gringotts, but I can't think of anything else."
"Oh," Harry said, his thoughts straying. Not that he was against having his own vault for future funds, but still, he was kind of hoping he'd have something like what Remus had—something of sentimental value that Lily herself had once touched. If there was something like that, why hadn't he seen it yet? Where was it? Did Severus have it and was holding on to it until the right moment? Did Lily not get the chance to leave something behind for him? He was a baby after all. It wasn't like he had long to make an impact on Lily's life like everyone else before him.
That thought hurt, so he pushed away those questions and looked ahead to see Draco and Hermione walking out of Hogwarts and towards a shaded spot under some trees next to the greenhouses. Crookshanks walked at Hermione's feet. It was their favorite meeting place for afternoon study time, and Harry smiled, eager to go join them.
"I see your friends have finished with their final class of the day. Go join them, Harry," Remus said. He patted Harry's shoulder before giving him a gentle push. "I've enjoyed catching up with you. We should do this again soon. And remember, Severus is just struggling with personal demons right now. This case will blow over, Niles will remain in prison, and we won't have anything to worry about."
"You think he'll stay in prison?"
"After what he did? Yes. No one in their right mind would free him."
Harry nodded at that before jumping off the stands and running over to the greenhouses where Draco and Hermione sat. Crookshanks gave him a sidelong glance before resting his head back down in the soft grass.
"Hey, guys!" Harry greeted.
"Hi, Harry," Hermione greeted as she sat down in the grass. "How was your time with Professor Lupin?"
"It was nice to catch up with my uncle," Harry said honestly as he plopped down in the grass next to Draco. "I feel like I never get o talk to hm or Uncle Sirius as much anymore. If they're not working, I'm in class or studying. It's hard to find one on one time."
"I get it," Hermione said. "I miss my parents so much sometimes; I wish they could come here, or I could go home for a weekend to visit. I know we can get permission for that from the headmaster, but the process is so complicated and it's important I focus on my studies. So, I just try to make the most of every day and hope it distracts me enough from missing them."
"Me too," Draco said. "Although for me, going home would mean surrendering to my mom's overbearing tenderness and my father would make sure I study all weekend anyway, so . . ."
Harry chuckled. He knew exactly what Draco was talking about.
"You're lucky you have your parent on staff, Harry," Hermione said.
"Am I?" Harry asked. "You guys get to miss your parents or avoid having them breathing down your back about grades. Mine is always here and constantly breathing down my back about my grades. At least, he used to." Harry looked down at his shoes.
"Hey, he's just busy," Draco said comfortingly.
"Yeah, probably. Uncle Remus said this whole thing with Niles is hard on him."
A noise caught their attention and they saw Ron walking their way, Scabbers cradled in his arms.
"Hey," Ron greeted softly. "I ran into Professor Lupin. He said something about calling a magivet for Scabbers. I think that would be good. He's been quiet lately and I'm starting to get worried about him. Maybe he needs more of that ivy or something. Oh—I didn't know your cat was out here."
Ron gave Crookshanks a glare as he adjusted Scabbers in his arms protectively.
"He hasn't even looked at Scabbers, Ron," Hermione said. "He's just lying in the grass."
"And I'm keeping an eye on him," Ron said.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"He wouldn't hurt a fly," she said in defense of her pet.
Harry tuned out his friends' bickering and looked off in the trees, thinking back to his conversation with Remus. All this talk about missing family made Harry miss his mother. He may not have gotten the chance to know her, but he knew he loved her, and that she had loved him. He missed out on the motherly love Narcissa gave Draco every time she saw him, no matter how overbearing it seemed. He missed out on homemade lunches and sweaters like Molly Weasley did for all her kids. He missed out on having another parent to complain to when the other parent was being a complete git. He missed out on even hearing his mother's voice. Inside, he felt hurt that he would never have those opportunities. He wasn't even sure how he could miss something he never had.
"You okay, Harry?" Draco asked softly while Hermione and Ron were distracted by each other's arguments for their pets.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just really wish I had gotten to know Mum before I lost her."
Draco gave Harry a sad look.
"What do you guys think?" Hermione suddenly asked, looking at Harry and Draco.
"About what?" Draco asked.
"About this!" Hermione gestured between the two animals in question. "My Crookshanks would never hurt a fly, would he? You agree with me, right?"
"It's a cat!" Ron said. "He's made to kill little guys like Scabbers. He's probably stressing Scabbers out right now. He needs to be locked up."
"I really don't want to get involved in this petty argument," Draco said with a slow shake of his head. "We've got more important things to be concerned about. Right, Harry?"
Before Harry could answer, a loud caw sounded above the kids and a raven dove from the sky, flying straight for Scabbers, who squealed and tried to crawl up Ron's sleeve.
Ron ducked as the bird held its claws out for his face.
Crookshanks growled as he jumped on top of Ron and swiped at the bird.
The raven jerked back and flew off, cawing angrily.
Crookshanks chased after it until Hermione caught her cat, stopping him from pursuing the bird.
"See, he tried to save Scabbers!" Hermione said.
"I don't know if I would call that saving Scabbers," Draco said, "or looking for a meal."
"Thank you," Ron said. "See? Your cat wants to kill everything from rats to birds. It's in his nature."
"That's not true," Hermione huffed before she carried her cat back to the castle.
"Now who's in denial," Ron muttered as he stood up and followed Hermione, Draco and Harry doing the same. Clearly, today was not a good day for a study session outside.
Later that evening, Harry found his father's quarters empty once more, which left Harry disappointed. He had been hoping to ask Severus about Lily's will and if she had left anything behind for him. With no one to ask now, Harry almost retreated to Gryffindor tower, but he paused in the doorway.
Maybe there was something here.
Harry had never dared to look through his father's room before, but this was important. He had to know if there was anything left behind for him from his mother. And maybe Severus had something in his bedroom that he was keeping safe for when Harry was older or of age.
Slowly shutting the door behind him, though it never clicked, Harry walked back into his and his father's quarters and toward Severus's bedroom. He paused briefly before entering. He glanced around, taking in his father's long nightstand that was covered with papers, his wardrobe, and the small walk-in closet at the other end of the room.
Taking a deep breath, glancing over his shoulder once, Harry began a slow search for anything that might have information regarding Lily's will. He looked under the bed first for any boxes or containers, but not seeing any, he quickly moved to the nightstand.
He shuffled through the papers before opening a drawer and digging through that. He saw several parchments dated recently, so ignored all of them and opened the next drawer, glancing at the dates of those parchments. Two drawers later, Harry tried his father's wardrobe, just in case his father had the same habit as he did and kept some things in a drawer under his clothes. Turned out, that was not a habit of Severus Snape.
Turning toward the walk-in closet, Harry could see there were mostly clothes, but there was a shelf he could not quite reach, so he left to the potions lab and grabbed one of the stools. He used that to see the top of the shelf, standing on the rungs of the stool rather than the seat of it, giving him just enough lift to see there were a couple boxes on the top shelf. He pulled one at a time down, digging through the contents. The first box held nothing of importance to Harry, but the second, Harry paused when he pulled out a photo album.
He recognized it as one Severus had shown him when he was a young kid, maybe seven or eight. There were pictures of Severus's and Lily's wedding, their honeymoon, moving into their new house, and then pictures of a pregnant Lily. The album ended with Lily holding a baby Harry on one page, and then Severus kissing baby Harry's head on another. Harry smiled as he flipped through the pages, feeling as though he had known his mother all his life just through these pictures.
He wasn't sure how long he sat staring at the photos, but when the grandfather clock sounded in the living room and Severus still had yet to show himself, Harry put the album away and set the box on the shelf once more. He returned the stool to the lab, then almost left the quarters again in defeat . . . until he noticed the open study door.
Harry bit his lip. His father still wasn't back, so he might have just a few more minutes to do a quick peek in Severus's office. Besides, it seemed like a more reasonable place to keep important documents anyway. Before a reasonable thought of why not to go through his dad's study could invade his mind, Harry slipped into the office and moved carefully around the large desk. Parchments, muggle papers and notebooks, books opened to random pages, and quills and bookmarks littered the desk, but Harry figured nothing on the desk would be the will. No, it would be in a drawer. Of course, it could also be in Severus's study at home, but Harry was hopeful. He needed to know what was in store for him, what his mother's last will had been for her only son before her death. If anything.
Harry started with the first drawer on the right as he sank into the chair behind the desk. Once more, there was parchments and paper, extra quills and inkpots and supplies that filled the drawer to its rim. It took extra effort to dig through the drawer, and when Harry realized a document like a will would not be in such a stuffed full drawer, he did his best to shove everything back in and close the drawer.
Growing desperate, Harry picked up the pace and opened two drawers on either side of the desk and flipped through one quickly before doing the same with the other. He closed the drawers and opened the bottom drawers, digging through the contents before frustratedly shutting them as well. A small box under in the narrow space between the bottom drawer and the floor caught his eye, and he pulled it out, quickly taking the lid off and opening it.
Time froze and Harry sucked in a breath.
I, Lily Jeanne Snape (nee Evans), being of competent and sound mind, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament.
He had found it. He really had found it.
Harry's hands shook as he stared down at the brittle and aged brown parchment paper. The paper crunched in his hands when he tried to pick it up, so he left it in the box and sat back in the chair, looking over the words. The beginning was a long state proclaiming this will the true and honest will and that all actions were to be carried out by some executioner (Harry really couldn't make out the name in his mother's beautiful, fancy script), and as the paragraph ended, names were listed with short blurbs. Harry could see that friends were listed first, and he scanned over each one.
He made out Remus's name a few names down and could see where Lily had listed a designated amount of money as well as the pocket watch. Sirius was after Remus, and he was also given a designated amount of money and the case assignment reports book Remus had described earlier. They, and one other person, a female name who Harry could not make out nor did he recognize, were the only ones who were given a financial benefit from the will. The list went on a few ore names before Harry saw Petunia's.
It appeared that Lily had given Petunia a muggle equivalent of twenty-five thousand dollars and asked that fifteen percent of that money was set aside for Dudley, as the start of a college fund. Petunia was also given all their parent's heirlooms, earrings that Lily stated as "the ones we always borrowed from each other," and ended with a quilt that had been stitched thread by thread by their mother that Lily had been given.
Harry continued down, and he paused at his father's name. It declared all the rest of Lily's assets and vaults to be entrusted to Severus. There was a lot of legal jargon that doing all that entailed, and Harry gave up trying to read it. He finally saw his name at the bottom.
And to my dear baby, Harry Severus Evans Snape, I leave my third vault of two thousand galleons at Gringotts.
And that was it.
It ended there. There were no more statements, no more funny side notes as she had done for her friends, no sentimental statements, nothing! She left him a vault at Gringotts that was in his name. Severus had never told him that, though he was probably waiting until Severus was of age to let him have it, but still.
Harry felt a couple tears escape his eyes and trail down his cheeks. He wasn't sure what exactly he had been expecting, but it wasn't something so straightforward and detached. It wasn't this. It was as if his mother hadn't known him enough to add anymore to her will. As if he was a mere after thought she needed to include before her death.
An anger rose in his chest and Harry did the only thing he could think to do.
He screamed.
He kicked.
He lashed out at everything in his reach, pushing things off his father's desk, sending papers flying all over the office. Quills were knocked out of their stands and ink spilled on the desk. Books were thrown off the shelf and all over the room. There were a few jars of weird ingredients in liquid, and they two were smashed at the opposite wall in the room, and their contents spilled to the ground below.
Finally, Harry collapsed against the back wall of the office, tears rolling down his face as his anger dissipated into sadness and regret, wistfulness and hurt. He picked up the thin box with the will. He had left it unharmed, refusing to destroy the last thing his mother wrote on.
Footsteps came running toward the study, and threw his blurry eyes, he could make out Draco's shocked face.
"What did you do?" Draco asked in a harsh whisper.
He looked at Harry and noticed his state. He rushed over to Harry's side, sliding down next to him as he asked, "What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"
Harry showed Draco the will.
"She left me nothing to remember her by," Harry choked out as he pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his head against them. "Not like she did everyone else. Like she didn't even have time to get to know me. She just gives me a vault and calls it good."
"Hey," Draco scolded softly, glancing at the will before setting it aside. "I'm sure that's not what happened. She was your mother. She loved you."
"How would you know?" Harry asked. "You weren't there."
"Because it's what mothers do." Draco wrapped his arms around Harry, resting his head against Harry's. "She loved you, Harry. She was the best of mothers. I'm sure of that."
The two sat there in the back of Severus's office in silence for several minutes. Harry cried softly into his knees until he was just sniffling, and Draco never removed his arms from around him. Finally, Harry turned his head to look at Draco.
"It's not just that, you know," Harry said.
"No?" Draco raised his brows as he lowered one arm, keeping his other around Harry's shoulders.
"I'm sure she loved me," Harry said. "Dad always said she did. She was taken away from me before I even got to know her. And it's all that man's fault."
"You mean the one that's been on the front page?"
"Niles or whatever they call him. He killed my mother. And they're going to let him out of prison. It's not fair."
"No, it isn't," Draco agreed. "But there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to let the aurors take care of it. If he really is so bad, they won't let him out. He'll get what he deserves."
Harry was silent again and Draco waited to hear what he was thinking.
"I want to know why he did it," Harry said darkly. "I want to hear it from him."
Draco sucked in a breath. He shook his head.
"It's not possible."
"There has to be a way . . ."
"Whatever Gryffindorish ideas you're coming up with right now, stop it." Draco cuffed the back of Harry's head before returning his arm around Harry's shoulders. He pulled Harry against him, and Harry rested his head against Draco's shoulder. "Look, I can't imagine what this must feel like right now, but I'm pretty sure being anywhere near that psycho is a bad idea. Besides, he's still holed up at Azkaban, and no one but aurors are allowed there."
"Yeah," Harry agreed softly. Unless . . . there was a way he could go to Azkaban. Surely there were family who visited prisoners in Azkaban. How did they get in? He would need to do a little more research before he tried anything with the prison. In the meantime, he would have to consider other ways to hear the truth from the Dark Arts Healer and why he did what he did. That man took away his second chance at having a mother, leaving her incapable of leaving behind anything of real sentimental value for her only child. He had nothing he had once shared with his mother, nothing she had once touched but the will lying on the floor. And it was all that prisoner's fault. He would pay.
"Are you feeling better now?" Draco asked. "Because I don't know about you, but I don't want to be in here when Uncle Severus gets back."
Harry blinked and sat up, looking around the destroyed study. He felt his heart sink at the disaster. There was no way he could hide this from Severus. He had no way of restoring it to how it had been exactly before his father left. And yes, Severus would notice a paper turned just the slightest out of place.
Harry groaned.
"Hey, relax," Draco said. "You were upset. I get it. I could hear you thrashing things around down the hall. But I've got an idea. One that keeps both our hides safe. Here, put that will back where you found it."
Severus glared down at the two boys sitting in two chairs before his desk in his work office. Neither Harry nor Draco was looking him in the eye, so he knew something was up, but both boys were sticking to their stories.
"Let's try this again," Severus said. "You two have no clue how a pack of Cornish pixies ended up in my office, destroyed the place, and left no magical evidence of who may have intruded into my private living quarters."
"No clue, sir," Draco said honestly. "That is just a cruel thing to do."
"No, Dad. Like I said, I stopped by earlier that evening to talk to you, but you weren't there, so I left and went back to my tower. I . . . may have not shut the door all the way now that I think about it."
Severus gave Harry an annoyed look. After visiting with his P.I. the night before, Severus had returned to his quarter full of pixies causing havoc everywhere, tearing at his sofa cushions, throwing dishes around, but the worst hit room had been his study. There were a few ingredients that could not be replaced due to their long exposure to the outside air, and some parchment was drowned in ink, and that same ink left hard to remove stains on his desk. He managed to freeze all the pixies, collect them all, and toss them out to the forest, but it was not the welcome home he would have appreciated.
"You two are sticking with that story?" Severus asked one last time.
"Yes, sir," both boys chorused.
Severus let out a heavy, frustrated sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He had nothing else to go on as to who may have done this, and because of that, he would merely have to tighten up his wards and hope it didn't happen again. He had no leads and no evidence to point him in the right direction. It angered him that he would not be able to punish the culprit, and while he felt Harry and Draco knew something, it may be something unrelated to the incident. He dragged a hand down his face tiredly as he looked back at the boys.
"Okay," he said with a nod of his head. "Thank you for what you've told me. I will have to tighten my wards and security spells around my quarters. Is there anything you two want to tell me?"
Draco and Harry shared a look before shaking their heads.
"No? Very well. If I catch you two up to any mischief or life threatening adventures as you've done in the past, you know what to expect. Dismissed."
Harry and Draco both scurried out of the room quickly without so much as a goodbye. Severus narrowed his eyes. Something was up. He didn't know what it was now, but he would find out.
A long awaited chapter, I know. I am so sorry for the wait. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter. There is definitely much more to come.