Severus looked at Lupin. "What trouble is the boy in now?" He sounded exasperated. Could he not stay out of trouble?
"He isn't in trouble, but the memory of his mother is." Remus walked over to a stool and sat down.
Severus sighed. Remus worried too much. "I thought it may be. I went to Dumbledore and told Harry to seek him out."
"He has, but it did not help." Remus looked very disturbed by this as he said it.
"He's pigheaded. He'll get over it eventually." Snape dismissed the issue.
"Are you so sure? He has a higher opinion of you than of his mother now. He thinks she died for him out of guilt, not love."
"Did he say that?" Snape looked at Remus in worry.
"About his mother, yes, but not about you. Though, it is quite obvious. He's angry, confused, sad. He not only feels she abandoned Severina, but that she did so only to keep James, not to protect her as Albus has informed him she did." Remus was relying on information from third parties. He had never known about Severina.
"She did what was needed." Severus' voice held an edge. Remus knew Snape felt slightly like Harry in regards to James.
"Perhaps, and I understand how he could see it the way he does. She could have told James, stayed with you, left you both to raise her daughter on her own. Harry has yet to learn that you can't live in the past. I think his sister can teach both of you that." Remus looked at him pointedly in hopes of relaying that he understood and they were no longer children or enemies.
"He found out recently that one of his parents was not, in his opinion, who he believed them to be. It will take time for him to get over it. He has made a step by claiming 'Rina as a sister, no once have I heard him refer to her as half anything."
Remus nodded, glad Severus was perhaps getting a new opinion of Harry. "Did you know about the stones?"
"Yes, I know she left them for both." He had learned not long after Severina started Hogwarts. Albus had felt it had been time to inform him of Lily's wish to have the children linked together.
"Harry has them. He refuses to hear what the woman on the stone says. He won't even call her mother now." Remus looked away with sad eyes. He had known Lily well, had loved her like a sister. He could not fathom anyone looking at her the way Harry, of all people, was.
"It is his choice. What would you have me do? He would not listen to anything I would have to say about her."
"No." Remus stood dejectedly, not looking at Severus. "I should go."
Severus did not know why, as the words left his mouth, but he felt compelled to comfort the man as best he could. "You may stay if you wish… To talk."
Remus was surprised by the offer and sat down with a nod. "What do we talk about?" Neither man had any idea.
Harry rushed into the infirmary. "Ron, are you okay?"
Severina was standing there smiling fighting chuckles. Ron looked at Harry with a glare. "Yes! I'm bloody fine! Would you people stop fussin'. Worse than my… No, no one is worse at that then mum." Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue and frowned at him.
"What in blue blazes happened?" Harry got out just as Poppy spoke.
"Ronald Weasley, do not yell while in this room!"
"He…" Severina started to fight her giggles. "He collided with this small gray thing…" She trailed off as she lost her battle with her giggles. "Found out it was his owl. Knocked him clean off his broom."
Harry forgot his grief and tried not to laugh himself, turning a nice shade of crimson in the process. About that time, Pidwigeon came in and started flying about like a little gray tornado, colliding with Poppy's head in the process. Harry lost it and doubled over in fits of laughter. She clucked again, frowning. "Alright. Out with you three." She ushered them to the door. "And take this with you." She pointed to Pidwigeon.
Severina had to help Ron off the bed as he was a bit sore. He pulled away to walk on his own as they walked from the room. They made their way toward Gryffindor Tower. "Ron, can you make it on your own?"
"Of course I can! I'm not crippled." He grumbled about mother hens and pains in the arse as he left them. Ron entered as Harry pulled Severina to the side. "Vena, I need to talk to you." He knew Ron was alright so he was thinking about his mother again.
"Alright." She looked at him, waiting.
Harry held out her necklace. She took the small bag from him. "Your mother left this with Dumbledore for you. I have on, too. It connects us so we can talk to each other. There's also a message if you wish to hear it; but, if so, don't play it while I'm around."
She frowned at him, clasping her fist around the green stone she had taken from the bag. "What? Why?"
"I do not ever want to remember that a selfish creature like that was my mother."
Severina took a step away from him. "Harry?" She was confused and worried.
"Yes?" He looked at her as though nothing he had just said should be odd, almost challenging her, in a way, to contradict what he said.
"What's wrong with you? Why would you say such a thing?" She was horrified.
"Because I know the reason she did what she did. She gave you up so she could keep my father. So, he wouldn't be mad at her or leave her."
"That's not true!" She backed away farther. Her eyes danced around looking for an escape or something, anything to change what she was having to hear, what her brother thought.
"Believe what you will. You're my sister and only family. That is all that matters to me right now. To know that you are safe." He pointed to the fist that held her stone.
"Oh, Harry…" He turned to leave. She just stood there and watched him go before turning and running to the dungeons. She nearly plowed Filch over in the process. Filch yelled after her but she ignored him, continuing to father in hopes he could make sense of things for her. She rushed in pale and distraught.
Severus and Remus looked up from their conversation and tea. Severus frowned, not liking her continence. "What is the matter?"
"It's my fault! I should never have told him!" She still clutched the stone, chain hanging from her hand.
"Told who what?" He had a feeling deep down he knew who and what.
"Harry." She looked frantic. "I should never have told him that I am his sister."
Severus stood. "Why? What happened?" He would damn the boy if he had done something stupid.
Tears started falling from her eyes. "He hates her, and it's my fault." She looked lost as she just stood there.
Snape walked over and embraced her, tucking her head beneath his chin. "It is all new to him. He will see the error in his ways soon." She leaned into his chest. Remus looked at them, nodding his goodbye to Severus knowing they needed to be alone.
"I was scared to tell him, that something awful would happen," she mumbled into her father's chest.
"Rina, you can't blame yourself for others' feelings. It is because he cares so much for you that he feels this way. He feels guilty that he had his mother and father when you did not. He thinks you deserved more."
"I know but… What if he comes to hate me, too? If he so easily casts blame… He already hates you and now our mother…" She pulled back to look up at him. "I had plenty. I have memories. I still have plenty." She leaned back into him, returning his embrace. Her tears fell to his robes. She still had a father where Harry had none.
"We have a dislike of each other, true; and to some extent, on my side, it is due to that fact that Lily chose James over me. I did not make things easy for him. I still do not. He does not hate me though." She did not say anything. She stayed where she was, enjoying the feeling despite her sorrow. He so rarely held her or did anything like he was. "He will not hate you. The feelings he has right now are part of a protectiveness for you. You may have had more than he throughout your life, but he doesn't see things that way. He does not dwell on what he did not have, but he thinks you should have had the chance to know your mother's love in some way. He isn't seeing clearly right now it will change. You should be there for him."
"But she did love me." Severina pulled away. She wondered when he had become so in tune with such matters. "Do you think if I showed him that she did…"
"It is up to you. It may help a little, at least, to start the healing." She nodded and kissed his cheek.
"I should go to my room and sort through all my new clothes." She smiled at him slightly. "I…" She stopped what she was about to say. "Tell Harry I wish to speak with him if you see him first."
Snape looked at her. "What did you start to say?"
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She kissed his cheek again before starting for the door.
"And I you, Severina." He returned her slight smile. She nodded and left his rooms.
