A/N Thanks so much to my reviewers! I was in two minds about continuing
this story - it didn't seem to be ticking along the way I wanted - but
since the idea's been tooling around in my head for ages…to paraphrase a
certain move: if that is truly the will of the reviewers, my Muse will see
it done! ;-) Thanks again, hope you enjoy chapter three - in which Sejanus
meets some Hogwarts students.
Chapter Three
Sejanus Snape had not travelled by the Hogwarts Express for a long time. He remembered vaguely something about walking through walls, which did not assist him greatly, and thus was very relieved when a ticket arrived, along with instructions. The idea of receiving a second Hogwarts letter at the age of thirty was amusing to him. Sejanus had learned to be very good at letting go of bitterness and anger; it was all that had kept him alive and sane for the last fifteen years or so, all that had allowed him to love his brother despite everything that had happened. A part of him was even looking forward to seeing the school again, to spending time with fellow wizards - and he would be teaching young people, something he loved beyond all other things. But he was nervous - no, terrified - about the reunion with Severus.
There was little time to worry about it, however - the train was pulling in to the platform, and Sejanus hopped quickly on board after stowing his luggage. He settled himself in an empty carriage, beside the window, looking out at the mostly happy, laughing faces of the young people preparing for the new year at school. Some of them looked fearful - first years, so small! It was easy to pick out the muggle-borns - they were the ones with the roundest eyes, the biggest smiles, the expressions of wonder on their faces. Sejanus waved to a group of them standing near his window, and they, spotting a teacher, waved back shyly. Sejanus smiled to himself. He loved children. His greatest regret in life was not having any of his own - that would not be possible, now. Perhaps it had never been. It was something he and Severus had both agreed on long ago: the Snape family line, or at least their branch of it, would stop with them. No more children would face what they had experienced. No more bright-eyed, black haired, brilliant boys and girls would fall prey to the temptation of the dark. Sejanus had made Severus promise - the night, the only night, Severus had come to see him, immediately after his return to the Light; the night Severus had wept in his brother's arms, the only time Sejanus had seen him cry - except when mother died. Correction. When grandmother Livia poisoned her. The Snapes' fondness for poisoning one another had become something of a joke among other powerful pureblood families, which all, of course, had their own techniques for removing unwanted relatives. The only reason Severus and Sejanus had survived was because it fell to one of them to produce an heir - Livia couldn't go on forever after all - and as things stood, Sejanus was the more likely to do so from Livia's point of view. She would have to strike within the year to prevent her grandson from marrying a muggle and producing a halfblood child. Livia didn't know that Sejanus had vowed he would never have children - he would not damn the poor infant by bringing it into this world.
Dreadful how the sight of laughing children could bring such dark thoughts. He wondered if Severus, as he stood before his class and looked into the innocent, hopeful faces, ever regretted his own decision to forsake his right to be a father. But Severus had a godson, of course…
A sudden sound startled Sejanus out of his musings, rather to his relief. The carriage door was opening. A freckled face topped with bright red hair peered in at him.
"Oh! Er…sorry." A pleasant young voice, slightly embarrassed. Sejanus, taking in the gangly boy's appearance, could only think, this *must* be a Weasley!
"That's all right. Come in." The boy still stared at him as though he was a blast-ended skrewt. Do I look so much like Severus? Sejanus reflected that students were probably shy of his aptly-named brother. But now a girl was pushing behind the boy; bushy-brown hair made an appearance, followed by a heart-shaped snub-nosed face. Another boy seemed to be hovering behind her.
"Go on, Ron. Everywhere else is full." Said the girl irritably, giving the redhead a push. Ron came all the way into the carriage, offering a hesitant, awkward sort of grin, and dropped into the seat opposite Sejanus. The girl followed, and with her, the second boy…black-haired, round glasses, rather small compared to Ron. Brilliant green eyes. He reminded Sejanus of something…
Gods, that's *Harry Potter*! The realisation came as the boy brushed back his fringe as it fell in his eyes, and Sejanus caught the briefest glimpse of the famous lightning-bolt scar. Even *he*, the quintessential muggle-by-choice, knew about Harry Potter. He had always wanted to thank the boy - though 'thank' seemed rather inadequate. After all, Potter had brought about the fall of the Dark Lord, and though Severus' rivalry with James Potter and his clan was legendary, Sejanus didn't see why that animosity needed to extend to his obviously remarkable son.
A fourth youngster followed the others into the carriage, glancing shyly at Sejanus. She was smaller than the others, seemingly a little younger, with a strong resemblance to Ron - the flaming red hair proclaimed her another Weasley. Once they were all settled, the bushy-haired girl took it upon herself to make the introductions.
"How do you do? I'm Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter, and Ron and Ginny Weasley." As though determined to prove she wasn't afraid of him. Am I so scary?
"Pleased to meet all of you." Replied Sejanus, in as friendly a tone as possible. "I'm Sejanus Snape, I think you know my brother." Get it over with straight away.
"Er…yes." Muttered Hermione. The two boys exchanged pained looks. Sejanus grinned inwardly.
"Don't worry." He told them cheerfully. "I'm not a git. At least I hope not." Well, why not get them on side? He wasn't a *real* teacher after all, more of a…mature student. He wanted the pupils of Hogwarts to like him - being the brother of the fearsome Potions Master was an obstacle. Best make sure they realised Sejanus was not simply a carbon copy of Severus.
"I'll be teaching muggle studies." Sejanus went on chattily. "Any of you take that?" Only Ginny nodded.
"I'm muggle-born." Explained Hermione. "And Harry lives with muggles. Ron," she gave him a sharp look, "just doesn't take that subject."
"I always think it's rather useful." Sejanus told Ron, mildly.
"My dad wanted me to take it." The red haired boy volunteered, though he still seemed rather suspicious of Sejanus. "He's got a thing about muggle stuff…especially technology."
"Is your father Arthur Weasley?"
"Yes! You know him - er, sir?"
"Not exactly. I know *of* him. I was delighted to hear about the Muggle Protection Act."
"Oh, er…great." There was an awkward silence. Sejanus was aware that the youngsters wanted to be on their own. He considered moving to another carriage, but there wouldn't be one empty…perhaps he should mingle, get to know the students?
"Well, I'll see you all at Hogwarts - and you in class, Ginny." He added, with a smile for the shy youngest one, whom he was already beginning to like. She smiled back.
"Good morning." Sejanus made his way to the door.
"'Bye, sir." Ron and Harry chorused, sounding relieved.
"Good morning, professor." Hermione added, primly. Sejanus smiled again and departed.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Moving down the train, Sejanus had spotted more Weasleys, and decided to sit with them for a while. These two were twins. They looked at him with exactly the same suspicion as their younger brother, but moved up anyway.
"This is George." Said one.
"And that's Fred." Replied his brother. They grinned identical, wicked grins.
"So that leaves me to conclude that *you* are George," he told the first twin, "and *this* is Fred." The grins got wider.
"I'm professor Snape." The grins disappeared. "Or professor Snape's brother, I should say - Sejanus. Pleased to meet you."
"Our pleasure." Replied the twins, the grins back. Sejanus decided he'd need to watch his back with these two.
"We didn't know professor Snape had a brother, sir." Fred - probably - remarked.
"You're not as greasy as he is, sir." Added George.
"Now, boys. That isn't polite. I won't take points from Gryffindor since we're not at school yet - but please keep those sorts of remarks to yourselves." It was mild discipline, and the twins seemed surprised at getting off so lightly. Well, Severus *was* greasy. He seemed to think that, since no one liked him anyway, his appearance didn't really matter.
"How did you know we were Gryffindors, sir?" George asked curiously.
"Obvious. Only a Gryffindor would have your cheek." With a smirk Sejanus took his leave of them, and went off to harass some other pupils. There was one boy in particular he wanted to meet…
"Mr. Malfoy?"
The pale blonde boy had been sitting with his cheek on his hand, gazing out of the window. He glanced up at the sound of Sejanus' voice. An expression of languorous curiosity drifted across his face.
"Yes?" He managed to make even that one word a careless, aristocratic drawl.
"I'm Sejanus Snape."
Malfoy, refusing to react, nodded with a politeness that was strangely insulting and indicated the two enormous boys opposite him.
"Crabbe and Goyle."
"As I suspected - hello, boys." Just like their fathers. Ugh! But Sejanus was not interested in the troglodytes - he was interested in Draco Malfoy.
"I'll be teaching at Hogwarts this year." The younger Snape explained. "And since I am your…god-uncle…and we've never met, I thought we might get acquainted."
"Quite." Came the response. "A pleasure to finally meet you…sir."
"Sejanus will do," the professor replied, "until we get to Hogwarts." Sejanus was a little out of practice at dealing with the likes of a Malfoy - politics had to be observed, social position was of vital importance. The Snapes ranked slightly below the Malfoys; the Malfoys were to betreated with respect. He remembered that much from his grandmother's tutelage. Polite to the Malfoys. Amicable towards the Mont-Streppings. Coldly tolerant towards the Crabbes, Goyles, Bulstrodes and various others. Disdainful to the Weasleys. The Malfoys ranked ahead of the Snapes and the Mont-Streppings ranked as their equals, more or less; no other purebloods came close. Few of them were good enough for Livia to even acknowledge them as existing. The Snapes were a notoriously arrogant family; descended from Romanian and Irish aristocracy, with, it was rumoured, vampire blood, and even one or two banshees. An ancient and powerful family, now rapidly dying out, unless either Sejanus or Severus could provide an heir. Sejanus wondered how much the young Draco knew of the Snapes' family history and current plight - but doubted whether he cared.
For now, it didn't matter. Be respectful, the voice at the back of his mind warned. Sejanus, as the younger brother, was required to behave submissively towards the Malfoy firstborn, part of the contract which had bound the families for centuries. Severus, as the older brother, technically the head of the family (no one was in any doubt that the true head was Livia, but of course, she was female), Draco's godfather, and blood-brother to Lucius, had the privilege of treating Draco as the child he was until the boy came of age, at which point they would be equals, and most probably bound in the same way Severus had been bound to Lucius, through blood and family contract.
Sejanus was not a man who hated easily or lightly.
But Sejanus hated the Malfoys.
He hated Lucius, who had gone into the dark and dragged Sejanus' beloved brother with him. Bonded by blood.
He hated Draco for the sins of his father.
Nevertheless, he played the game.
For the moment.
A/N Please review and tell me what you think! This was a strange chapter, but the whole story is rather strange…
Chapter Three
Sejanus Snape had not travelled by the Hogwarts Express for a long time. He remembered vaguely something about walking through walls, which did not assist him greatly, and thus was very relieved when a ticket arrived, along with instructions. The idea of receiving a second Hogwarts letter at the age of thirty was amusing to him. Sejanus had learned to be very good at letting go of bitterness and anger; it was all that had kept him alive and sane for the last fifteen years or so, all that had allowed him to love his brother despite everything that had happened. A part of him was even looking forward to seeing the school again, to spending time with fellow wizards - and he would be teaching young people, something he loved beyond all other things. But he was nervous - no, terrified - about the reunion with Severus.
There was little time to worry about it, however - the train was pulling in to the platform, and Sejanus hopped quickly on board after stowing his luggage. He settled himself in an empty carriage, beside the window, looking out at the mostly happy, laughing faces of the young people preparing for the new year at school. Some of them looked fearful - first years, so small! It was easy to pick out the muggle-borns - they were the ones with the roundest eyes, the biggest smiles, the expressions of wonder on their faces. Sejanus waved to a group of them standing near his window, and they, spotting a teacher, waved back shyly. Sejanus smiled to himself. He loved children. His greatest regret in life was not having any of his own - that would not be possible, now. Perhaps it had never been. It was something he and Severus had both agreed on long ago: the Snape family line, or at least their branch of it, would stop with them. No more children would face what they had experienced. No more bright-eyed, black haired, brilliant boys and girls would fall prey to the temptation of the dark. Sejanus had made Severus promise - the night, the only night, Severus had come to see him, immediately after his return to the Light; the night Severus had wept in his brother's arms, the only time Sejanus had seen him cry - except when mother died. Correction. When grandmother Livia poisoned her. The Snapes' fondness for poisoning one another had become something of a joke among other powerful pureblood families, which all, of course, had their own techniques for removing unwanted relatives. The only reason Severus and Sejanus had survived was because it fell to one of them to produce an heir - Livia couldn't go on forever after all - and as things stood, Sejanus was the more likely to do so from Livia's point of view. She would have to strike within the year to prevent her grandson from marrying a muggle and producing a halfblood child. Livia didn't know that Sejanus had vowed he would never have children - he would not damn the poor infant by bringing it into this world.
Dreadful how the sight of laughing children could bring such dark thoughts. He wondered if Severus, as he stood before his class and looked into the innocent, hopeful faces, ever regretted his own decision to forsake his right to be a father. But Severus had a godson, of course…
A sudden sound startled Sejanus out of his musings, rather to his relief. The carriage door was opening. A freckled face topped with bright red hair peered in at him.
"Oh! Er…sorry." A pleasant young voice, slightly embarrassed. Sejanus, taking in the gangly boy's appearance, could only think, this *must* be a Weasley!
"That's all right. Come in." The boy still stared at him as though he was a blast-ended skrewt. Do I look so much like Severus? Sejanus reflected that students were probably shy of his aptly-named brother. But now a girl was pushing behind the boy; bushy-brown hair made an appearance, followed by a heart-shaped snub-nosed face. Another boy seemed to be hovering behind her.
"Go on, Ron. Everywhere else is full." Said the girl irritably, giving the redhead a push. Ron came all the way into the carriage, offering a hesitant, awkward sort of grin, and dropped into the seat opposite Sejanus. The girl followed, and with her, the second boy…black-haired, round glasses, rather small compared to Ron. Brilliant green eyes. He reminded Sejanus of something…
Gods, that's *Harry Potter*! The realisation came as the boy brushed back his fringe as it fell in his eyes, and Sejanus caught the briefest glimpse of the famous lightning-bolt scar. Even *he*, the quintessential muggle-by-choice, knew about Harry Potter. He had always wanted to thank the boy - though 'thank' seemed rather inadequate. After all, Potter had brought about the fall of the Dark Lord, and though Severus' rivalry with James Potter and his clan was legendary, Sejanus didn't see why that animosity needed to extend to his obviously remarkable son.
A fourth youngster followed the others into the carriage, glancing shyly at Sejanus. She was smaller than the others, seemingly a little younger, with a strong resemblance to Ron - the flaming red hair proclaimed her another Weasley. Once they were all settled, the bushy-haired girl took it upon herself to make the introductions.
"How do you do? I'm Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter, and Ron and Ginny Weasley." As though determined to prove she wasn't afraid of him. Am I so scary?
"Pleased to meet all of you." Replied Sejanus, in as friendly a tone as possible. "I'm Sejanus Snape, I think you know my brother." Get it over with straight away.
"Er…yes." Muttered Hermione. The two boys exchanged pained looks. Sejanus grinned inwardly.
"Don't worry." He told them cheerfully. "I'm not a git. At least I hope not." Well, why not get them on side? He wasn't a *real* teacher after all, more of a…mature student. He wanted the pupils of Hogwarts to like him - being the brother of the fearsome Potions Master was an obstacle. Best make sure they realised Sejanus was not simply a carbon copy of Severus.
"I'll be teaching muggle studies." Sejanus went on chattily. "Any of you take that?" Only Ginny nodded.
"I'm muggle-born." Explained Hermione. "And Harry lives with muggles. Ron," she gave him a sharp look, "just doesn't take that subject."
"I always think it's rather useful." Sejanus told Ron, mildly.
"My dad wanted me to take it." The red haired boy volunteered, though he still seemed rather suspicious of Sejanus. "He's got a thing about muggle stuff…especially technology."
"Is your father Arthur Weasley?"
"Yes! You know him - er, sir?"
"Not exactly. I know *of* him. I was delighted to hear about the Muggle Protection Act."
"Oh, er…great." There was an awkward silence. Sejanus was aware that the youngsters wanted to be on their own. He considered moving to another carriage, but there wouldn't be one empty…perhaps he should mingle, get to know the students?
"Well, I'll see you all at Hogwarts - and you in class, Ginny." He added, with a smile for the shy youngest one, whom he was already beginning to like. She smiled back.
"Good morning." Sejanus made his way to the door.
"'Bye, sir." Ron and Harry chorused, sounding relieved.
"Good morning, professor." Hermione added, primly. Sejanus smiled again and departed.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Moving down the train, Sejanus had spotted more Weasleys, and decided to sit with them for a while. These two were twins. They looked at him with exactly the same suspicion as their younger brother, but moved up anyway.
"This is George." Said one.
"And that's Fred." Replied his brother. They grinned identical, wicked grins.
"So that leaves me to conclude that *you* are George," he told the first twin, "and *this* is Fred." The grins got wider.
"I'm professor Snape." The grins disappeared. "Or professor Snape's brother, I should say - Sejanus. Pleased to meet you."
"Our pleasure." Replied the twins, the grins back. Sejanus decided he'd need to watch his back with these two.
"We didn't know professor Snape had a brother, sir." Fred - probably - remarked.
"You're not as greasy as he is, sir." Added George.
"Now, boys. That isn't polite. I won't take points from Gryffindor since we're not at school yet - but please keep those sorts of remarks to yourselves." It was mild discipline, and the twins seemed surprised at getting off so lightly. Well, Severus *was* greasy. He seemed to think that, since no one liked him anyway, his appearance didn't really matter.
"How did you know we were Gryffindors, sir?" George asked curiously.
"Obvious. Only a Gryffindor would have your cheek." With a smirk Sejanus took his leave of them, and went off to harass some other pupils. There was one boy in particular he wanted to meet…
"Mr. Malfoy?"
The pale blonde boy had been sitting with his cheek on his hand, gazing out of the window. He glanced up at the sound of Sejanus' voice. An expression of languorous curiosity drifted across his face.
"Yes?" He managed to make even that one word a careless, aristocratic drawl.
"I'm Sejanus Snape."
Malfoy, refusing to react, nodded with a politeness that was strangely insulting and indicated the two enormous boys opposite him.
"Crabbe and Goyle."
"As I suspected - hello, boys." Just like their fathers. Ugh! But Sejanus was not interested in the troglodytes - he was interested in Draco Malfoy.
"I'll be teaching at Hogwarts this year." The younger Snape explained. "And since I am your…god-uncle…and we've never met, I thought we might get acquainted."
"Quite." Came the response. "A pleasure to finally meet you…sir."
"Sejanus will do," the professor replied, "until we get to Hogwarts." Sejanus was a little out of practice at dealing with the likes of a Malfoy - politics had to be observed, social position was of vital importance. The Snapes ranked slightly below the Malfoys; the Malfoys were to betreated with respect. He remembered that much from his grandmother's tutelage. Polite to the Malfoys. Amicable towards the Mont-Streppings. Coldly tolerant towards the Crabbes, Goyles, Bulstrodes and various others. Disdainful to the Weasleys. The Malfoys ranked ahead of the Snapes and the Mont-Streppings ranked as their equals, more or less; no other purebloods came close. Few of them were good enough for Livia to even acknowledge them as existing. The Snapes were a notoriously arrogant family; descended from Romanian and Irish aristocracy, with, it was rumoured, vampire blood, and even one or two banshees. An ancient and powerful family, now rapidly dying out, unless either Sejanus or Severus could provide an heir. Sejanus wondered how much the young Draco knew of the Snapes' family history and current plight - but doubted whether he cared.
For now, it didn't matter. Be respectful, the voice at the back of his mind warned. Sejanus, as the younger brother, was required to behave submissively towards the Malfoy firstborn, part of the contract which had bound the families for centuries. Severus, as the older brother, technically the head of the family (no one was in any doubt that the true head was Livia, but of course, she was female), Draco's godfather, and blood-brother to Lucius, had the privilege of treating Draco as the child he was until the boy came of age, at which point they would be equals, and most probably bound in the same way Severus had been bound to Lucius, through blood and family contract.
Sejanus was not a man who hated easily or lightly.
But Sejanus hated the Malfoys.
He hated Lucius, who had gone into the dark and dragged Sejanus' beloved brother with him. Bonded by blood.
He hated Draco for the sins of his father.
Nevertheless, he played the game.
For the moment.
A/N Please review and tell me what you think! This was a strange chapter, but the whole story is rather strange…
