Chapter 29: The Snake's tale.
Today.
Severus Snape smiled sardonicly and rolled his eyes. Smirking at Remus Lupin's angry eyes, he spoke. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lupin and for your own sake I suggest you'll get that wand out of my face." He snarled.
Remus made an incoherent noise and pushed the potion master roughly against the wall. "I want to know if you enjoyed your little death eater games with my wife? Did you enjoy burning our house to the ground? Did it give you pleasure to see her suffering? Answer me, Snape, or so help me god I will hex you!"
"Remus, dear…don't do anything rush." Professor McGonagal whispered but Remus ignored her and pressed his wand closer to Snape's throat.
Rose got up from her position on the carpet and stared at the pensieve, slowly aiming her wand at the silvery material. "No, don't." Snape whispered from the other side of the room.
Remus narrowed his eyes. "What did you say? What's in the pensieve?"
"Memories…all her memories from that night and the month that came afterwards." Remus lowered his wand and stared at the dark haired man as he sighed. "Please, Rose, I'll tell you everything that happened and later if you want to you could take the memories back but, please, listen to me first."
Rose raised her eyes to meet his and Snape was surprised to see how empty they were. Beside him, Remus, made a movement towards her but she glared at him and folded her arms around herself. "Speak quickly, Snape." She said and the cold voice sent shivers down his spine.
Taking a deep breath he spoke. "You all know of the prophecy that the dark lord knew of regarding a child that would be born on the last day of July. A month before that the dark lord already planed his attack on Frank and Alice Longbottom, it was clear that their child would be born at the end of July. But then, a new information came from a source inside the order of the phoenix and he said that there was another couple who managed to hide the existance of an unborn child that would arrive at the end of July."
Behind him, professor McGonagal gasped and looked at Remus with wide eyes. "But…how is it possible? I was there with you at the day of the abortion! Albus was there as well…"
"It doesn't matter now." Snape shook his head. "What matter is that the Lupins managed to conseal their secret well from everyone. It was a great shock for the dark lord and he immediately planed to attack you as well, thinking a descendant of a Haunter would be a bigger threat for him. And so we all waited for the end of July. The plan for the attack died when an information came saying that Rose Lupin should give birth around the middle of the month and not at the end of it." The Potion Master swallowed hard for a moment and then continued. "On the 30th of July we received information saying that the Lupin's baby would be born the next day in a muggle hospital. The Dark Lord ordered us to carry out our plan and so we did. We arrived to the muggle place Lupin was working and found out he wasn't there. From there we continued to the house in Godric Hollow." He closed his eyes. "We found you alone and Malfoy hexed you with the encient 'Cage Curse'. I had no idea he was going to use it but as I found out later on it was Umbridge who asked the dark lord to try the curse on you. In his twisted mind he thought he could get you out of the flames in time so you could decorate his house or something." He scowled and Remus growled beside him, a look of hatred on his featurs.
"You burnt the house?" Rose asked, her voice shaking.
"We sent burning torches all over the place and then apparated away. I returned a moment later and got you out of the house." He mumbled something more and Remus raised his eyebrow.
"What did you say?"
"Why did you come back?" Rose whispered. "You were a death eater."
Snape swallowed again. "Your water broke." He shifted his weight between one leg to the other. "I don't know why I came back." He shook his head. "There was certainly no reason for me to return. You were married to a half breed monster I despised and you were friends with my worst enemies…the men who got everything I ever wanted and yet…I returned."
"You saved my life." She whispered and he shook his head.
"You suffered labours for more then twelve hours." He could almost feel Remus eyes on him as he lowered his gaze to the floor. "I don't know how the baby survived but it did. You couldn't push on your own and I had to place a variation of the Crucio curse so that the muscles could contract."
"You delivered the baby?" Remus' jaw dropped as he stared from his wife to Snape and back. Behind him Arthur Weasley patted his shoulder for support. Rose moved towards the Potions Master and stared at him.
"What happened afterwards?"
"There was a faint hope that the delivery would destroy the curse you were under and I waited for you to shake it off but you never did. I underestimated Malfoy's dark magic. Conditions of stress usually wear off the 'Cage curse' but it didn't in your case. About a month and a half afterwards I brought you to St.Mungo."
"And the baby?" She whispered.
Snape sighed. "I left it outside a door in one of the houses in muggle London."
"You did what?" Remus exclaimed, shaking Arthur's grasp on his shoulder and fighting the urge to smack Snape across the face. Rose felt her eyes widen as she grasped the desk behind her for support. "Muggle London? Why didn't you bring it to me?" Remus asked.
Snape shook his head. "The baby was born on July 31. If the dark lord found out he would have killed it."
"Bullshit!" Remus exploded. "You just wanted to save your neck!"
"Yes, I did. Being a double agent is not as easy as it sounds, Lupin. Besides that, you were in no condition to raise a child. Those weeks you spent in Azkaban drove you mad and you know it. How could you possibly raise a child like that?"
"Azkaban?" Rose whispered and gazed at her husband who averted his eyes from her and nearly burned Snape with his glare.
"How dare you?" He growled, his hands shaking.
"I'm not daring anything, I'm stating the facts and the facts are, Lupin, that you came back from that prison and all you wished for was death." Snape watched as Remus' eyes narrowed and he dropped his wand to the carpet, sending his other hand to paunch him straight in the face.
Snape groaned and staggered backwards, his right eye burning with pain. "Don't you ever, EVER, judge me for that time, Snape…" Remus hissed, his voice and hands shaking.
"I saved her life." Snape hissed back, his hand moving to cover the right side of his face as he winced with pain.
"Only so you could redeem yourself. You never cared about anything but yourself, right?"
"I'm warning you, Lupin…"
"ENOUGH!" Rose screamed and the two men turned to look at her and the other people in the room with wide eyes. For a moment there, they forgot they were in the headmaster's office. "What is wrong with you two? Can't you forget the past?" Both men looked to the ground and she walked past them towards the door.
"Rose, where are you going?" Remus called after her but she didn't reply. He shook his head for a moment and then ran after her.
Then. September 1980.
"Remus?" Sirius waved his hand infront of him, trying to clear the cloud of dust that rose from the floor after the door fell.
"Merlin, this place stinks…" James mumbled. "Remus? Are you in here?"
The two rooms appartment really was dirty and filled with dust and James sneezed loudly. "Merlin, James, could you be more loud?" Sirius observed the worn sofa that stood in the room that could be called the living room.
"I can't help it, you know. I'm kinda allergic to dust…" James shrugged and looked at his friend, motioning towards a closed door to their left. Sirius nodded and James knocked on the door. When they received no reply, the sense of dread grew thicker and James opened the door, revealing a small bedroom.
The room was too small and bearly contained room for a small bed. James and Sirius held their breath as they caught the sight of their friend lying on the bed. They were next to him in a second. "Is he breathing?" Sirius asked and James nodded, eyeing three bottles of Firewhiskey trolled on the floor next to the bed.
"Remus can hold his liqueur but I never seen him drink that much." James sighed and then bent over to grab something from under one of the bottles. "Padfoot…" He mumbled and Sirius raised his eyes from their sleeping friend and gasped with horror. James presented him with a silver dagger and a vial containing drops of silver.
"What are you doing you idiot?" Sirius nearly screamed at the unconscious man. "You think he did something to himself?"
"No, I think he passed out before he had the chance. We'll apparate him over to Godric Hollow." James laid a comforting hand on his friend shoulder. "Lily won't take her eyes off him. He'll be alright."
"Fine." Sirius nodded. "You destroy these things." He motioned towards the dagger and the vial James was still holding. "I'll go and get his stuff from the living room." James nodded and Sirius left the depressing sight of his helpless friend and moved towards the living room.
He picked up Remus' black cloak and his muggle raincoat. On the sofa he saw a pile of letters and started to sort them. Some of them were dated two weeks ago. He tossed aside all the bills he saw and saved a paycheck scroll Remus received for an odd job he did before he volunteered to go to Azkaban.
The last two letters came from St.Mungo's hospital and Sirius raised his eyebrows. What business did Remus have with St.Mungo's? He opened the one of the letters carefully and started reading it.
He knew he should get up from his position on the sofa and call James over. He knew they had to shake Remus awake and take him directly to the hospital. But the sudden noise in his ears disturbed him and he couldn't think straight. How could this happen? The house was burnt to the ground. They all saw it.
But the precious letter he was holding with his shaking hands was very clear. It stated that Rose Lupin was found two weeks ago. One of the doctors found her at the entrance to the hospital. She was under some kind of a spell but she was alive.
Sirius took a shaking breath and suddenly the appartment was quiet again and the fog around his brain evaporated. He found his voice again. "James! You have to see this!"
Today.
"You're not allowed in here, dear."
Rose turned to look at the small woman infront of her and sighed. "Madam Finch, of course, you realize I am no longer a student here and that I don't need permission to enter the restricted section."
"I'm sorry, dear." The librarian said with the same sweet tone that made her roll her eyes with frustration. "You still need permission from one of the professors."
"Madam Finch, it's quite alright." A new voice joined the conversation and she breathed with relief at the sight of her husband.
Madam Finch nodded her head. "Alright then, professor Lupin."
Remus and Rose watched her leaving the room and Rose hurried towards one of the shelves. "There is a list here of all the students, right?" Remus nodded and helped her to grab piles of parchments. She sat down next to one of the long desks and started reading the parchments quickly.
Remus gazed at her for a moment, noticing the way her hands were shaking and the way her breath came out in small gasps, the way her eyes watered… "Rose, look at me." He whispered and she raised her eyes to meet his. "Are you sure you want to search? What do we have to offer for our child now after sixteen years?"
"Don't you want to know, Remus?" She pleaded him and he nodded his head. Of course he wanted to know but could he really barge into someone's life like that? What a shock it must be to discover that your father is a werewolf! He averted his eyes and was startled when she touched his cheek and moved over to seat beside him. "I love all of you, Remus Lupin and if our child is out there somewhere then he will love you just as I do."
Remus closed his eyes and inhaled sharply. Did she say the words he longed for such a long time? Swirling emotions danced infront of his closed eyes and he was suddenly aware of nothing but her quiet breathing beside him and her intoxicating scent. He opened his eyes a little and wrapped one of his arms around her, bringing the other to caress her cheek, pulling her closer towards him.
She stopped breathing a moment before their lips touched and shuddered when his hand caressed her back. The kiss was strange at first and she found herself giggling when their noses bumped against each other. Remus let out a small chuckle and stopped to breathe for a moment.
She tilted her head to the right and moved closer to him, bringing her lips to rest against his. He moaned in response and deepend the kiss sending shivers of excitement in their bodies. She whispered his name and snuggled closer to him, resting her head and lips against his neck.
He sighed with contentment. At that moment nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but the fact that he was suddenly alive.
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Well, I tried to update before the exams chaos started and this came out… I'm not sure I'm very pleased with the beginning of this chapter so I'm looking forward for your reviews and comments…
Thanks to! WolfScar, AngelOfLily, SarahLupin, chicablue18, xany, Prettiest in Pink, LunaStar, Diosa Alexia, Titou Moony, ElvenCherry07, Annikaya, Deathbycookie15, Nikajendayiuadjit…
Oh, one more thing: Xany said my last chapter was dissappointing, I greatly appreciate the honesty and thank you for it! But could you please tell me why you thought so? Thanks…
Thanks, Bell.