Epilogue - 12 Years Later

"Turn that junk down."

"What?"

Severus reached over and shut off the music player, ending the punk rock song. "You've been listening to that long enough."

"Don't you appreciate music, dad?" Chiara teased him.

"That does not qualify as music."

She smiled at her grouchy father. "What about the Weird Sisters?"

"No. Finish your homework."

"I'm about done."

"Let me see it."

She handed over her Defense Against The Dark Arts essay and Potions essay. He always looked over her assignments.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" He didn't look up as he scanned her work.

She hoped to talk to him about this while he was distracted, so he wouldn't get too upset. "I came across Mr Lupin the other day."

No such luck. Her father was scowling. He didn't like very many people; he liked Madam Pomfrey, and had willingly given his consent for Chiara to volunteer in the hospital wing, but he seemed to only tolerate everyone else. When it came to Mr Lupin though, it was clear loathing.

"He's awfully skinny, so I got him a snack. He said he'd be around for this month's moon."

"I keep telling you, child, you are not obligated to give him anything."

"I know, but he really looked hungry. I couldn't help it."

"You could have."

She lounged against the armrest of the sofa. "Will you ever tell me why you hate him so much?"

Severus looked up, his loathing melting into fondness as he gazed on his only child. "Perhaps when you are older. It is not a story for young ears."

"Was it that terrible?"

"Yes. And no."

"But you have your reasons." She had heard him say this a hundred times before.

"That I do. That will have to be enough for now. As well as an additional reminder that I don't want you alone with him."

"I know, but it was only for a few minutes."

"A lot can happen in a few minutes."

"So he can't join us for the full moon?"

Severus sighed. "Did you invite him?"

"No. I wanted to, but I know how you feel about it."

Her father was silent as he thought it over, obviously against it. Sometimes Mr Lupin joined them in the Shrieking Shack for full moons, but it wasn't very often. Not that she remembered his company or absence either way, even with her father's excellent potions that kept her calm - she always woke up in bed afterward with her father nearby. Whether Mr Lupin was there or not, her father always was, and that made her feel safe. He had become an animagus shortly after she was born, and she knew he had done it just for her to keep her and himself safe so he could stay with her during her transformations. No one in their right mind would mess with a giant python who had offspring to protect.

"Does he have anywhere else to go?" Severus asked reluctantly.

"I don't know. He doesn't tell me where he goes."

"Nor should he. That's none of our concern."

"But you know how hard it is, dad. If he's loose or gets found, someone could get hurt."

He groaned, and she knew she was gaining ground. "You don't have to brew any wolfsbane for him," she added.

"It's too late for that anyway." The full moon was tomorrow, no time for a week's doses. "And speaking of wolfsbane, you need to take yours today."

"I will." Her father brewed a cauldron full for her every month, and she drank a cup of it every day the week leading up to the full moon. It tasted awful, even with her father's improvements, but she knew transformations were far worse without it.

"Do it now."

"Okay." She got up and went to the kitchen for a goblet, then went to his private potions lab, easily finding the cauldron with her wolfsbane. She could identify it blindfolded by now. Trying not to smell it, she ladled the steaming potion into the goblet, held her breath, and gulped it down. Having had lycanthropy her entire life, she treated it as simply taking her medicine for a chronic condition, and knew how fortunate she was that her father was a brilliant potioneer who had access to the ingredients and the talent to brew it. Mr Lupin wasn't good at potions, he'd told her, and he certainly didn't have access to the ingredients, some of which were expensive or hard to find. But whenever she asked her dad about how much it cost to brew wolfsbane every month, he told her not to worry about it.

Knowing how hated werewolves were, she kept her condition a secret from nearly everybody, except for Headmistress McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, who had actually been the one to deliver her right here at Hogwarts. But her father never made her feel bad about what she was. He always said it wasn't her fault. And he always did so much to help her and keep her safe. It made her wonder, though, why he despised Mr Lupin so much, who had the same condition she did. Was it simply favoritism because she was his daughter, or was it something else?

After she washed out the goblet, she came back to the living room and her father handed over her essays, corrected in his infamous red ink. She noticed her Defense essay was more red than her Potions essay. Being a potioneer's daughter had its advantages.

"So can Mr Lupin join us tomorrow?" she asked.

Severus huffed, and she knew he had been hoping she would forget. "Fine. But I will be there the entire time, and I will bite him if he does anything stupid."

He said that every time. "Thanks, dad." She hugged him where he sat in his old armchair. "You know I have to have you there with me, no matter what."

He gently patted her arm. "You are not getting rid of me so easily."

Chiara walked down the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack, a journey she'd been making as long as she could remember, longer than she had known how to walk, brought in her father's arms when she was little. He walked right behind her, as always, already on alert. He'd made sure she had a hearty dinner and plenty to drink before they left, as always - transformations took a lot out of her, and she needed her strength.

He had a hand on her shoulder as they entered the shack. It used to be run down and dusty, but since Chiara had started using it her father had fixed it up, not wanting her 'running around in filth.' It was clean and repaired, there was a decent bed, a large dog bed, and some chew toys on the floor (Chiara's idea).

Mr Lupin was there waiting. He gave her a smile.

"Chiara, good to see you. Thanks for the invitation."

"I'm glad you came!" she said brightly. "It's been a while."

"That it has." He turned to her father more solemnly. "Severus."

Her father gave a curt nod with one of his glares. "You know the rules."

"Yes, I do. I'll be good."

"You had better."

Chiara felt the tension of bad history between them, that one wrong move would result in curses flying. It had always been like this, but no one would tell her anything. Why didn't they get along?

Two werewolves howled as their transformations were complete, the full moon glowing through the cracks of the neatly trimmed boards covering the window. The bigger wolf, gray and brown, prowled around the shack, snarling and growling, while the smaller, white wolf sniffed out a chew toy and lay down to gnaw on it.

Severus minded what the bigger wolf was doing, but mostly he watched the smaller one. His little wolf. He'd been watching her transformations ever since she was born, and even before. His fear around werewolves was no longer for himself, but that someone might retaliate against his cub. But he was ready.

He lay coiled on the floor, a massive black python, alert and ready. Becoming an animagus had been plenty of work, but well worth it. He was able to stay with his daughter through every full moon without having to lock her up alone, and he could support her and protect her without Lupin around, as he preferred it. Lupin was rarely around anyway. All his earlier claims to be there for the cub, that she needed the support of a fellow wolf, meant little. Severus knew his daughter didn't need a careless coward who was more interested in old allegiances and saving his own furry backside than in helping his own biological child, and Lupin had made it clear by running away right after she was born and mostly staying away, rather than attempting to change. Every once in a while, though, he would show up again like a bad Knut, and his little girl was too kind to turn him away like she should. How Severus had gotten a child in Hufflepuff was beyond him, but at least no one dared to pick on the head of Slytherin's daughter, even if they whispered behind her back sometimes.

She was a good kid. A little too much like her sire sometimes with that soft heart, but she favored Severus as well - generally quiet, intelligent, had a nose for books, good with potions. She had begun expressing interest in becoming a healer, and Poppy said she was a big help in the infirmary, with a knack for healing spells. Severus was already proud of her. She was the apple of his eye, even when covered in fur. Like the first time he had held her.

When she was a baby, he had brought her here for full moons and watched her roll around as a fuzzy little cub, making high pitched snarls that only made him smile. When she had learned how to walk and run, she bounded on four short legs around the shack, yipping as she played, climbing all over her python father and sliding off his scales. Now that she was older and bigger, she was no longer the hyper little cub, though she still liked playing with her toys, but Severus still enjoyed watching her. He had many fond memories of their nights here, spending time with his cub and watching her grow. How was it going by so fast?

The gray and brown wolf started howling, arresting the python's attention. Something was outside the shack. He slithered over to the window and peeked through the boards. He hissed in frustration - someone in uniform was looking around, wand lit in the night. Someone from the Werewolf Capture Unit at the Ministry. They sniffed around Hogwarts every now and then, but McGonagall was usually able to quiet any (correct) suspicions that there was a lycanthrope on the grounds. What Severus hadn't failed to notice, however, was that they typically showed up around the same times Lupin did. That bungler was likely leading them right to their doorstep. Severus didn't care who he had to bite, no one was taking his cub away. He would sooner hand over Lupin, trussed up like a Christmas fowl. He was rather considering it.

His white wolf was busy happily tearing apart one of her toys, but the brown wolf started scratching and biting himself and howling from the pain, unable to get to the human outside. Severus had locked and magically secured the door before shifting into his snake form, but he was still anxious as the brown wolf started desperately throwing himself against the door, screaming and bloody. The white wolf looked up, her toy in pieces. She flattened her ears and started whining, sensing his distress. Severus slithered over and loosely coiled himself over her, his serpentine version of putting his arms around her. She calmed a little - she recognized him even in snake form - but she watched her fellow wolf nervously.

Severus was fairly certain the door would hold, and even if it broke, the brown wolf would be in the tunnel, not out in the open. Yet. He could still follow it onto the school grounds, and that would be a problem.

The brown wolf couldn't break the door down, and resumed biting and scratching himself, screaming from his own fangs and claws. Severus' new concern was the Werewolf Capture official hearing the commotion, finding a way into the shack and discovering the two werewolves inside. He didn't care if Lupin got hauled away, but he couldn't lose his daughter. Was there a way to make sure they only found Lupin?

The official followed the sounds of commotion, and eventually came across the shack. He circled around, noticing there were no doors. He tried peeking in the window but couldn't make out anything. But he heard snarling and howling from inside, which told him that he had found what he was searching for.

Severus covered Chiara with his coils as the window was blasted, shards and splinters scattering. The official climbed inside, looking around at the bloodied, growling brown wolf, the giant black serpent, and the small white wolf.

"What luck! I've found two!" He stepped towards the white wolf, wand raised, figuring he would go for the smaller one first once he took care of the big snake.

Severus wasted no time. He lunged, fangs out.

Chiara slowly resumed consciousness, hearing yelling from a familiar voice. Her father. Opening her eyes, she saw she was on the bed in the shack. Across the way she could make out her father, furiously berating Mr Lupin who was lying on the floor, groaning. Another body she didn't recognize lay nearby.

"You idiotic, dunderheaded, blundering mongrel! Do you have ANY idea what you've done?! You led them right to us! Are you bound and determined to put my daughter in danger? You couldn't even have the decency to be hauled away so I never have to lay eyes on your mangy carcass again?"

"Severus… I didn't think-"

"No! I do NOT want to hear your excuses! I don't care what you thought! I refuse to believe you've ever had a coherent thought in your entire miserable existence! Why can't you stay away from us?! We're getting on perfectly fine without you! She doesn't need you putting her right in the line of fire! I ought to skin you alive and-!"

"Dad?"

He broke off mid threat, saw she was awake, and stormed over to her. "Let's go. You need your rest."

"What happened?" she asked softly as he carefully picked her up.

"I'll tell you later."

Judging by the storm cloud in his voice and the fiery brimstone in his eyes, she knew it was bad. She weakly waved goodbye to Mr Lupin, who was bloodied and weak, as her father carried her off.

Severus was barely restraining his temper as he carried his daughter through the tunnel, over school grounds, and into the castle. Once in his quarters, he immediately put her to bed in her room. She'd lived there since she was a baby until she was old enough to attend as a student and live in the dorms, and she always stayed in her old room before and after full moons so her dad could take care of her. At Spinner's End, their summer home as she called it, she naturally had her own room, where she and her father spent full moons.

"Did Mr Lupin do something bad?" she asked as her father tucked her in.

"Forget about him," he said darkly. "What matters is you recovering."

"I didn't do anything, did I?"

"No. You were a good little wolf and destroyed another one of your toys."

"Which one?"

"The rawhide bowtruckle."

"Aww, I liked that one."

"I'll replace it." He placed a slow kiss on her forehead. "Now sleep."

She closed her eyes, easily falling asleep from exhaustion.

For the rest of the day she dozed deeply, safe in the dungeons with her father nearby. Severus tried to rest, having gotten no sleep last night either, but he couldn't stop thinking about Lupin's stupidity. He was as furious as ever, too worked up to sleep. Just when he thought Lupin couldn't do anything more, he found a way to make things worse. Severus had come far too close to losing his daughter, and he wasn't about to forget it anytime soon. She was all he had.

He would try again to get Minerva to ban the stupid wolf from entering the grounds. She chalked it up to old grudges, but he couldn't tolerate having his daughter put at risk of exposure again, even from her biological sire (not that Minerva knew who the girl's sire was). The thought of having his little girl hauled away and destroyed filled him with abject terror. He would rather kill first.

Ah, yes, as long as he was going to be awake anyway, he did need to inform Minerva about the body in the shack, and the bitten werewolf.

When Chiara woke up, it was dark. It was always dark in the dungeons, though, so that didn't tell her much. She reached over to magically light the lamp, then fell back in bed, still exhausted. At least after full moons she could sleep as much as she needed, and her father would excuse her from classes. He was good at coming up with believable explanations and covering up what he wanted hidden. She'd learned how to lie effectively from him (but she could never manage to fool him herself). The public explanation was that she had a chronic illness that flared up sometimes, which wasn't far from the truth. Kind of like the story of her family history.

The public story was that her mother had died in childbirth and Severus was raising her alone. Chiara knew the real story, inasmuch that technically, she was actually living with her mother. She knew that he had been the one to carry her, that she had broken his water in the middle of the night a month early, and Madam Pomfrey had delivered her and put her in his arms herself. His being a male bearer was his own secret he didn't want getting out, and they kept each other's secrets.

What she didn't know, what she could never get her father to tell her, was who her other parent was. He only said that they were a werewolf, which was how she had inherited her condition, that there had been no relationship involved, and that they'd only agreed on his being the one to raise her. She could only assume that it hadn't been a happy union. It was probably why her father didn't like werewolves in general but adored her. Maybe Mr Lupin reminded him of her sire, and he didn't like facing painful memories. But surely it wasn't right for him to blame Mr Lupin for something he didn't personally have anything to do with, right?

"Dad?" she called out softly, knowing his sharp hearing would pick it up, unless he was asleep. Even then, he usually woke up anyway.

A minute later he came into her room. "What do you need, child?"

"I'm thirsty."

"Wait here." He left, soon returning with a little tray he set by the bed. There was a pitcher of water, a cup, and a snack. He poured the water, and she sat up to drink it.

"Dad, was someone else in there with us?" She remembered the other body in the shack.

"Don't worry about it," he said dismissively.

"Who was it?"

"It's been taken care of."

"... Did you bite him?"

"I didn't have much alternative."

"What happened last night?

He exhaled and sat on the side of her bed. She felt a little guilty about how tired he looked. "Someone from the Werewolf Capture Unit found us last night, courtesy of Mr Lupin."

Chiara instantly grew nervous. She knew all about the Unit, being warned about it by her father her whole life and sometimes seeing an official at Hogwarts trying to track down lycanthropes. "But, Mr Lupin would never bring the Capture Unit here."

"Perhaps not intentionally, but he nevertheless led one here by his carrying on and no doubt suspicious behavior. The official managed to get in, and I ended up having to dispose of him."

"Did you have to?" she asked quietly.

Her father grew grim. "He was heading straight for you. Had he gone for Lupin, I would have let him alone. But I couldn't let him take you."

She shivered. Her father placed a hand on hers. "I am sorry to tell you about it, but at the same time I don't have it in me to regret it, so don't expect me to feel sorry. No one is allowed to touch my cub."

It made her somber to know that her father had killed someone, but at the same time she knew he was entirely capable of it; he used to be a spy and even a Death Eater in his younger days, and he still had his old skill, now used for her benefit. He had always been fiercely protective of her, and his terrible temper was worst when he thought someone was threatening her or he was frightened over her.

Once, she had decided to try climbing a tall tree on the training grounds and a branch had snapped under her weight, making her fall. She'd thought her father was about to have a coronary, bellowing about how careless she'd been and how she could have killed herself and how he ought to ground her for a month. She'd only gotten a sprained wrist, but to hear him carry on, one would have thought she had snapped her neck, and she hadn't heard the end of it for quite some time. She had learned early on, though, that his anger in these cases was more about his being worried about her. Like his screaming fit from last night, probably.

"Is that why you were yelling at Mr Lupin?"

"Yes, because he was being an idiot and he put you at risk. That was inexcusable behavior, and he's fortunate that I didn't use my venom, as sorely as he deserved it."

"You're really hard on him, dad."

"Not hard enough, apparently."

"Why? It's not his fault he's a werewolf."

"No, but it is his fault for being irresponsible. You know to take your potion and to avoid the authorities and how to safely spend the full moon." He gave her hand a light squeeze. "But I know for a fact that he cannot always be relied upon to make himself safe. Or to protect others."

"And that's why you hate him?"

"... Yes. He may not be an evil werewolf, per se, but his incompetence makes him almost as dangerous. He has repeatedly proven himself untrustworthy, and I cannot rest easy when he is around you. After last night, I am ready to hex him on sight if he ever dares to show his snout here again."

Chiara couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Mr Lupin, but she was starting to see where her father was coming from. He didn't have much patience to begin with, and he couldn't spare any for anything he saw as a threat to his cub. He was definitely her mama wolf, though she knew he probably wouldn't appreciate the term.

"I won't invite him over anymore, if you want."

He relaxed a little. "Thank you."

She might still sneak him some food, but decided her father didn't need to know about that. She leaned in for a hug, and he held her close.

"I hope you realize, child, that I am not trying to make your life more difficult than it is. I swore when you were born that I would do whatever it took to help you, that I would keep you safe. You're my cub."

She breathed in her father's familiar scent, punctuated by the herbs he used in brewing and the soot from cauldron fire. Her earliest memories were of smelling her bearer with her tiny cub nose, recognizing his scent and voice and knowing she was safe. Even in his snake form she knew his scent, which helped calm her during full moons, knowing he was right there with her. She'd never faced a full moon alone, and she was grateful.

She might never know the full story of who her other parent was, why they weren't in the picture, but right now it didn't matter. Her fierce mama wolf was here, doing everything in his power to take care of her.

"I understand, dad."

"Good." He kissed her head and laid her back down. "Get some rest. There's food when you're ready for it."

"Thanks."

Her father tucked her in, and left the door a little cracked so he could hear if she called. She snuggled deeper into her warm blankets and closed her eyes.

Everything was alright.

A/N: In case you couldn't tell, I have Lupin issues. I don't hate him, but the more I think about it the more I can't help feeling he tended to be more concerned with old loyalties and yet keeping everyone at arm's length, and he did skip a wolfsbane dose in the book so he also looks pretty irresponsible. And he canonically tried to run out on his pregnant wife out of fear, so there was really no chance here of him and Snape ever being happy together, even with a baby on the way. Sorry not sorry.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!