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Not Myself by Saerry Snape

Chapter 149 – More Conversations and a Grim Arrival

"NO!"

"But, Da…"

"UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU GOING ANYWHERE WITH THAT DEATH EATER!"

Mika cringed and was glad he was having this discussion with his father in Severus' office.  He cringed again when he saw the Potion Master's dark face out of the corner of his eye.

"AND YOU ARE NEVER GOING NEAR THAT WEREWOLF AGAIN!"

"DAD!"

Alastor Moody scowled at his son from the fireplace and growled, "If you ever listen to one thing I say in your life, let it be this, lad.  I don't want you to get hurt."

Mika snorted and pointed at his now blank right eye.

"I'm already hurt, Da!"

"NO!"

"Please.  Dad, please – I need to do this."

Moody scowled then grunted, "What did your mother say?"

"She told me that I was old enough to make the decision for myself," replied Mika.  "Said she told the same thing to her brother when he was my age."

"Fat lot of good it did him," snorted Moody.

"I didn't know Mum had a brother."

Moody's normal eye narrowed and he growled, "She never told you?"

"No."

"James Potter.  Your friend Harry's father."

Mika blinked then promptly fell off the low stool he'd been sitting on.

"James Potter was my uncle?"

"Quite," said Moody.  He then sighed and said, "If you come back the slightest bit scratched, I will rip out Snape's intestines and use them for bootlaces."

Severus rolled his eyes at the threat that had been directed towards him a great number of times.  All of his intestines (along with every other valuable organ) were still intact despite their being knocked about by Moody and an unhealthy amount of Cruciatus Curses.

"I'll tell him," swore Mika, feeling a little guilty about not telling his father that Severus was in the room.  "Talk to you later."

Moody just nodded and said, "Take care of your sister," before he severed the connection and the fireplace went dead.  Mika stared at the empty stone before he turned towards his Head of House.

"Well, sir?"

"I will consider it, Mika," said Severus slowly.  "But I will guarantee nothing."

"Yes, sir."

The white-haired boy started to leave then stopped and turned back towards the older wizard.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Mika?"

"Did you know James Potter was my uncle?"

Severus nodded slowly and replied, "I did.  I assumed your mother told you."

"She didn't.  Its…it's a little weird."

"What is?"

"I was just thinking…if you weren't Harry's father…"  Mika grinned slightly at him as he continued, "He'd be my cousin!"

Severus just smiled and said, "It is best not to think of what could have been, Mika.  I know this fact very well."

"Yes, sir.  See you in class."

Severus inclined his head towards the sixth year then sighed as the door to his office closed behind him.  Little did Mika Davids know that he was Harry's cousin.  The Potter name didn't appear on the family tree of the Elven royal family for nothing.

* * * *

Almost a month and a half later, Harry and Niamh were sitting out by the lake when a huge shaggy shape that they well recognized came bounding across the grounds towards them.

"SIRIUS!" they shouted as one and threw their arms about the dog as it skidded to a halt in front of them, tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Niamh hugged the big hound's neck tightly as Harry ruffled the furry ears.  He was very happy to see his godfather but a look into the dog's blue eyes told him that he was in for a shouting whenever Sirius got the chance to get out of his Animagus form.

"What are you doing here?" asked Niamh, releasing Sirius' neck from her embrace.  "To see the headmaster?"

The shaggy hound nodded and the two Slytherins looked at each other.

"Le's go then," said Harry, rising to his feet.  He helped Niamh up and they both began to jog towards the castle, Sirius at their heels.  Cloaks billowing behind them, they hurried through the nearly empty halls until they reached the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office.

Severus turned towards them from where he was about to give the password to the gargoyle and blinked curiously at the two breathless teenagers.  Then he spotted the dog that followed them and scowled.

"Ah," he said shortly.  "Lemon drop."

The gargoyle moved aside and the four hurried up the moving staircase, Sirius hurrying to the fore.  He nosed the door open and transformed, exclaiming, "I found him!"

"Who?" asked Harry, brushing his long hair off his face.

"Sedwick," growled Snape, frowning at the Animagus.  "Where is he?"

"Prison stronghold in Russia.  Moony and I ran into them when they were transferring him.  We followed them all the way from Albania.  We were both going to come back to report but Moony decided to stay last minute."

"Why?" asked Niamh.

"Fool moon," explained Sirius shortly.  He then looked at Snape and growled, "I hope your not intending on dragging Harry off on this suicide rescue."

"Sirius!" shouted Harry, his eyes flashing.

The Animagus turned on him with a sneer that was oddly like Severus' and bellowed, "You've already been in a coma!  I don't want anything else happening to you!"

"Everything 'appens to me," said Harry with a sneer of his own.

"I don't want you dead, damnit!"

"Are you implying that I do?" snarled Severus, his dark eyes flashing.  Sirius turned on him in a fury and jabbed a finger at the black clothed chest.

"You stay out of this, Snape!"

"If you don't recall, Black, Harry is my son."

"Like you do a damned thing for him."

"Sirius!" shouted Niamh and Harry as one.

"I suggest everyone take a seat and we discuss this like civilized people," said Dumbledore sternly, his blue eyes focused solely on Severus and Sirius.  The two dark-haired men ignored him for a moment before they sneered at each other and took seats on opposite sides of the room.

Harry and Niamh looked at each other then moved to sit together on the couch that was nestled beneath the office window.  Sirius arched an eyebrow as the dark-haired girl snuggled up against his godson's side but said nothing.

"Now," said Dumbledore, "Sirius, you say you've found Amadeus Sedwick?"

"Yes.  There are at least five Death Eater's at every entrance to the place where he's being held."

"And sign of Voldemort?"

Sirius shook his head and replied, "Not when I left."

"Things could have changed by now," said Severus coldly.  "Why didn't you simply send an owl?"

"Oh, I don't know…BECAUSE THERE WERE DEATH EATER'S EVERYWHERE?!"

"Sirius!" warned Dumbledore.

"Sorry, Albus."

Sirius glared at Severus, who returned it wholeheartedly.  Niamh frowned at then and whispered to Harry, "Is it just me or do their scowls look similar?"

"I's not jus' you," came the reply from the boy beside her.

Niamh's frown deepened and she said, "Excuse me…"

Three sets of eyes turned towards her as she continued, "Sirius, professor – are you two related?"

Sirius looked appalled at the question, Severus' upper lip curled slightly, and Dumbledore just chuckled.  He turned towards her with the usual twinkle in his blue eyes and said, "How very astute of you, Miss O'Feir.  There are not many who recognize the resemblance between these two."

"Something I find a blessing," growled Sirius softly.

"So…" began Harry only to be interrupted by his father.

"Yes, Harry, we're related."  He glared at Sirius and added, "We are – to both of our discomfort – cousins."

"Only because your bastard father tricked her into thinking he actually loved her!" spat Sirius, blue eyes flashing.  "She'd still be alive today if she'd never met him!"

Severus' eyes burned with a rage that neither Harry nor Niamh had ever seen there and he bellowed, "You think I don't know that, Black?  If you don't recall, I had to live with the man for two years!"

"And did you do anything to stop him from killing her?"

"She was half dead by the time I made my way back into that accursed house!"

"Gentlemen," rumbled Dumbledore.  "If you insist on continuing, I will lock you both up in a broom closet and allow you to fight it out."

"Probably not the best idea, professor," said Niamh.

Severus sneered and rose from his chair.

"I'm done here anyway."

With that he turned and was gone in a billow of dark robes.  Harry stared after him, blinking slightly.  There seemed to be a few things that his father had not told him about.

Things that he was definitely going to inquire about.

After the elder Snape calmed down.