Disclaimer - It's not mine. It never was. The only characters I own are Sable and her children, other than that, the rest belong to Rowling.
A/N - Special thanks to wolvesaremylife1, Lothliana, and anubis04 for taking the time to review. Hopefully this chapter will be a bit more thorough. Later, A.A.
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Wolf's Bane II: Return to Hogwarts
Chapter 2
The Past Returns
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Harry sat on the edge of his bed, his window open to let the breeze blow in, and three different letters sitting beside him on the bed. He'd been back at Privett Drive for a couple of days, and been receiving letters from Ron, Hermion, and Remus everyday, or in Remus' case, every other day. He picked up one, noticing the messy scrawl across the paper and quickly pinned it to his best friend Ron Weasley. He opened it and sat back on his bed to read it.
Harry,
How's the muggles treating you? Mum says that she's going to give your aunt an ear full if they aren't taking care of you.
Harry laughed at the image of the fiery tempered Mrs. Weasley jumping on Aunt Petunia for not taking care of him, and making sure he ate enough, and finished his homework.
Well mate, I've got some good news and some bad news. Good news is, Dumbledore's found a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Apparently she's some Auror, not sure of much else. Bill won't tell me anything else. Only thing I do know is she's a potions expert, like Snape. I expect they'll get along just fine. She's probably just as sour tempered and unfair as that greasy haired git! Probably just as ugly too!
Well, this was expected news. He knew Dumbledore would have to find another person to fill the vacated position. But he was surprised to find out that the headmaster had chosen so quickly.
That's the good news. And here's the bad. Did you know that Hermione has been writing to Krum again? AND THAT HE'S INVITED HER TO STAY WITH HIM IN BLOODY BULGARIA FOR A WEEK DURING CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS!
What are we going to do? Hermione doesn't need to be spending anymore time with him. It's bad enough she writes him letters long enough to be considered books! What do they talk about, anyway? It's not like......
Harry rolled his eyes at the outrage he could feel coming off of the parchment at Ron's rant, skipping over the two and a half paragraph rant about how Hermione had not business with Krum. Any time Hermione and Bulgarian young man were mentioned in the same sentence, Ron's temper would blow, often making him look like Mount Vesuvius right before it blew. Harry's fleeting suspicions that Ron fancied Hermione were starting to become more solidified as time went on.
Oiy, got to go, mum's calling us down for dinner. Take care, and I'll see you soon.
Ron W.
P.S. Oh, and Ginny says to tell you hello.
But how soon was soon? He wanted to get out of Privett Drive, and soon. His aunt and uncle were still as cold to him as ever, but they seemed to be more cautious around him now. Although it did make him feel better when Dudley would back away from him, a great amount of fear in his piggy eyes anytime Harry walked into the room.
He picked up the next letter, recognizing Hermione's neat, evenly spaced script immediately; which was most likely due to the fact that he'd copied her work on more than one occasion in the past.
Dear Harry,
How are you doing? Is your aunt and uncle treting you okay? I hope everything is going well.
'Well, it's good to know that they're concerned.' Harry thought dryly.
Have you received a letter from Remus, yet? I have, and I'm happy to say that it seems like you'll be away from your aunt and uncle soon, but I won't say anymore.
'What's Hermione doing, getting a letter from Remus?' Harry thought, shaking his head. 'And why won't they just tell me how long it is before I get to leave?'
I'm relatively sure that Ronald has already told you about what the Ministry is doing to Sirius' house, so I won't go into that. It really is horrid. I wonder where Dumbledore plans on doing about it.
Harry shook his head in confusion. Something was happening to Sirius' house? Well, that was no big loss to him, but it would put Dumbledore in a bind with the Order. And, he noticed, Hermione called Ron by his full name, Ronald. 'They must have been fighting about something again.' he mused. 'Probably has to do with Krum.'
I'm also relatively sure that Ronald as told you about the new DADA professor. From what I can gather from everyone, mind you I'm at my home and not at the Burrow, her name is Dr. Lee, and she is an Auror from the American Department of Magic, but she was originally from England. She also has her doctoral degree in Potions. I wonder if she is anything like Snape? Remus told me all that he could, but it still isn't a lot to go on. I hope she still lets us have D.A. meetings.
'So that's what she was doing, writing to Remus.' he thought with a grin. 'She was grilling him for information. How Hermione-like.'
Well, I hope this letter finds you well, Harry, and I will be seeing you soon.
All my love,
Hermione.
Harry folded up the letter and slipped it back into the envelope, his annoyance increasing the more the read. He picked up Remus ' letter and opened it, hoping to gain some more insight into what was going on in the wizarding world.
Harry,
How are things? I hope your aunt and uncle are treating you well.
Needless to say, our world is in chaos at the moment. The Ministry is in an uproar about Fudge. I have a strong suspicion that we will soon be answereing to a new Minister of Magic. Apparently a vote of 'no confidence' has been rumored, but there are no definitive facts yet. I will be sure to keep you updated. By the time this letter reaches you, we should know if Fudge will be removed from his position or whatnot.
'Getting rid of Fudge, huh?' Harry thought with a grin. 'Bet Percy is having cows over that one.'
On to more pleasant new, Dumbledore has found a new professor for DADA. I am to meet her tomorrow, along with Albus and Bill Weasley. We were all quite concerned that the Ministry would try to instill another Umbridge into the school, but thankfully these bumbling idiots are furthermore occupied at the moment. Dumbledore says that he knows this woman very well, and that she will be a large help to our cause.
Harry noted that Remus did not sound all to enthused about the impending meeting. That did not sit well with the way things were going, especially if Remus was getting annoyed or loosing faith.
Unfortunately, I feel that I must burden you with a note of bad news. It seems that Sirius' house will be transferred to the Malfoys, or more accurately, Narcissa Malfoy, seeing as how Lucius is presently indisposed of.
Harry re-read the line again, just to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. They were giving 12 Grimmauld Place to the bloody Malfoys? His anger began to rise again, but it subsided when he remembered that Narcissa was actually one of Sirius' many cousins. And since Bellatrix was on the run, Narcissa was the only one who would be legally able to take the place.
We are currently stationed elsewhere until better accomodations can be arranged. Dumbledore is trying to fight the order from the Ministry to give the house to Narcissa Malfoy, saying that as Sirius' heir, you should inherit the place, but the recent development involving Voldemort has overshadowed things. Add that along with the fact that the paperwork that consisted of Sirius' changes to his will have suddenly come up missing, and you can see exactly how this problem is no where from rectifying itself.
'I don't want that house.' he thought angrily. 'But Dumbledore needs it for the Order meetings. If they are kicked out, we'll loose Order headquarters.'
Because of the incident in the Ministry a few weeks ago, we are going to gather you and Hermione and bring you back here in order to ensure your safety. I will keep you updated, although I doubt you will need it, considering your stay with the Dursley's will be over shortly.
Makes sense.' Harry thought. If they stayed with their families in the muggle world, they would run the risk of being attacked by someone or something. And he'd had enough of summertime attacks last year with the dementors.
Hang in there, and you will be out of that house soon enough.
Remus.
Harry placed the letters on his night stand and fell back limply on his bed. From what he could gather, things were a complete mess in the wizarding world. The uproar caused by the sighting of Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic had overshadowed everything.
He was knocked out of his silent musings when he hard the loud noise coming fro dudley's bedroom across the hall. His corpulent cousin had gotten a new video game of some sort and was happily blowing buildings to smithereens and gunning down innocent victims at the moment, of that Harry had no doubt.
The messy haired boy groaned and pulled himself up from the bed, bored out of his mind and not entirely sure of what he could to to alleviate the problem. He spied his trunk in the corner, knowing he had a great deal of summer homework to complete, especially from Snape and McGonagall. He really ddin't feel like doing it, and knew that if he and Hermione were to be collected from their homes soon, then he could get her to help him. He was fairly sure Ron hd not began his either, nor Ron's little sister Ginny.
So, with a frown, Harry left his room and went down the stairs, intending on going for a walk around the neighborhood, only to run headlong into his horse-faced Aunt Petunia at the bottom of the stairs.
"What are you doing, boy?" she snapped, glaring at him suspiciously.
"Going for a walk." he answered simply. His aunt regarded him for a moment longer before turning around and walking into the kitchen where Harry could hear his uncle sitting, complaining about the news on the television. He shrugged, then walked towards the door, but stopped when he noticed an envelope tht had been left on the floor by the door. He picked it up, recognizing the faded brown envelope and green handwriting on the front as that of Dumbledore. Skimming over the address, he was surprised to find it addressed not to himself, but to his Aunt Petunia.
'What do they want from her?' he thought, turning to enter the kitchen, his walk around the block utterly forgotten.
"What do you want, boy?" Vernon Dursley barked, casting his eyes towards Harry and frowning.
"You got a letter." he said, turning to his aunt. "It's from Dumbledore." His aunt paled considerably and snatched the letter from his outstretched hand, quickly ripping it open and reading the contents.
"What is it, Petunia?" Vernon asked, coming to his wife's side and trying to read the letter, only to see a jumble and mix of words and phrases in front of him. "What is this rubbish? It's nothing more than some babble." The large man turned to Harry and glared even harder. "What sort of trick is this?"
"The letter isn't addressed to you, so you can't read it." Harry pointed out. "I couldn't read it if I tried to, either."
"So you've been digging through our post?" Vernon fumed. "How dare you, you ungrateful brat?! I will not have something going on in my own house that I am not aware of!!" Vernon Dursley took the letter from Petunia's hands and thrust it into Harry's face. "Fix it, boy! I want to know what is going on at the freak show you call a school! I have every right to know!"
"Sorry, I can't." Harry said, shaking his head. "Can't do magic out of school."
"Bloody hell you can't!"
"Leave him alone, Vernon." Petunia said quietly. "He can't do anything about it." Harry looked over at his aunt's drawn face and the disbelief on his uncle's face.
"Petunia?" Vernon Dursley questioned. "You're pale, my dear. And you're shaking."
"Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked, handing the letter back to her. "Are you okay?" Petunia looked over at Harry and shook her head.
"When were you going to tell me about your god-father, Harry?" she asked, looking at him with disbelief. Harry stiffened up imediately at the mention of Sirius, and squared his shoulders, fighting back the incredible sense of loss that overcame him everytime Sirius' name was mentioned.
"I wasn't." Harry said stiffly. "You didn't need to know, and you don't care anyways, so I saw no point in telling you."
"The boy has a god-father?" Vernon asked, disbelief in his voice. Harry had tried to tell them about Sirius at the end of his third year, but his aunt and uncle had turned a deaf ear to him, thinking him out of his mind. "Wonderful, now we can get rid of him once and for all. Where does the man live, Petunia?"
"Harry's not going anywhere, Vernon." Petunia said simply, turning to her husband.
"But..."
"Quiet, Vernon." she said sharply. She turned back to Harry and took a deep breath. "He's gone?"
"Yes."
"I see." Petunia said, folding up the letter and placing it back in the envelope. "I would not unpack my things if I were you. You will be leaving here within the next week or so to go with Dumbledore."
"I'm leaving this early?" Harry asked, confusion on his face. He wanted to know what was in that letter, wanted to know what was on it that had gotten his aunt so worked up and scared. And he also wanted to know why his aunt had hidden her knowledge of the magical world away from everyone else for so long.
"If you want to question it, then go send a letter to your teacher!" Petunia snapped impatiently. "I'm just relaying a message."
"Did you want anything else?" Harry asked sullenly. "What else did the letter say?"
"Nothing that concerns you." she snapped. "Now go."
"Fine." he said, turning and leaving the kitchen to march back up the stairs, past Dudley's room where the sounds of a war game were bouncing off the walls, and into his room. He flung open his trunk and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, bent on finding out from Remus what was going on, and why his aunt was suddenly getting letters from headmaster Dumbledore.
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Meanwhile....
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"....sneaky little bitch!"
"She's nothing more than some half-human tramp." came a snide voice from behind where she was on the floor, kneeling before two black cowled figures. Behind her, she heard the arrival of yet another Death Eater, who joined the semi-circle around her. One of them reached out, and grabbed her by her hair, yanking hard and pulling her to her feet.
"Why our Lord wants such a pitiful creature, I still wonder." came another voice as someone else backhanded her across her face. She had been cuffed once again and brought to this room to begin her 'instructional time', and now she was laying on the cold stone floors with blood slowly trickling down her mouth. She managed to pull herself onto her hands and knees, and glare up at the men as best she could through the cloud of pain that was quickly overwhelming her mind.
"She's worthless!" grolwed another, delivering a swift kick to her ribs, causing her to drop to the floor again, grimacing in pain and fighting back tears of hurt."
"What's wrong, you mongrel?" questioned a sneering voice that she immediately recognized as Cody Flint. "Have you finally lost your ability to open your mouth?"
"No, I haven't." she ground out, glaring up at the now unhooded young man before her as best she could. "I don't speak to people who aren't worth my time." A blow to her lower back kept her face down on the ground and caused her to cry out when the perpatratior dug the heel of their boot into her back.
"Not worth your time, you say?" asked the first man, disbelief coloring his voice at her obvious hatred of them. "Well, I think it is time to make us worth your time."
"Unless you want to find yourself at our Lord's feet with the Cruciatus on your head, I suggest you leave the half blooded mongrel alone." came a voice she was never more terrified, and at the same time, relieved to hear. The newest Death Eater came towards the group, and the others pulled away as he reached down and roughly pulled her up. She stilled herself for another blow, knowing somewhere in her heart that this young man had more of a reason to hate her than all the others combined.
"Why do you care, Snape?" came the second man's suspicious voice. "She's just a born mongrel."
"Of that I am very much awayre, Goyle." Snape growled out, pulling his hood down to glare at one of the numerous men surrounding them. "But our Lord wishes to keep her alive for the time being."
"You're going to be lucky if he doesn't kill you for manhandling her." came an aristocratic voice from the doorway. Her eyes shot over to the entrance, seeing glints of golden hair escaping the hood of the cloak the man wore. "He did say to keep her unharmed."
"Careful, Lucius, you actually may start sounding as if you care." came some disembodied voice.
"If it was left up to me," Lucius said disgustedly. "such abominations like this woman would be eradicated, right along with the muggles that infest our world."
"Well, it's a good thing you're not in charge then, huh?" she asked. Lucius only sneered and waved his hand, dismissing the others who had gathered.
"Such an audacious young thing." the blond man said. "I'm sure Severus is quite happy our Lord has gifted him with your instructional learning." He reached into his cloak, and pulled out his wand, quickly healing her various cuts and bruises that the other Death Eaters had given her. "Much better, don't you think, Severus?"
"My opinion has no place in this." Snape said coldly, watching the older man closely.
"She is quite a pretty little thing, isn't she, though?" the blond man said. "Especially to be such a little mongrel." Lucius extended his hand to cup her cheek and she jerked back, all but growling at him in defense.
"Get away from me." she barked.
"Such spirit, even when chained." Lucius smirked, nodding towards the manacles that bound her wrists and ankles. "I would enjoy breaking you down to serve our distinguished Lord and Master."
"Unfortunately, you were not." Snape said, interrupting the blond's hand as it once again made for her face. He pulled the shackled, forcing her to fall back a few steps to keep from falling..and consequently keeping her away from Lucius. Snape quickly fastened the ends of the manacles to a set of rings that were protrucing from the wall.
"Clearly." Lucius said. "I shall leave you to your instruction then, Severus. Flint will return to collect her in a few hours."
"Understood."
"Have fun, my dear." Lucius said. "Severus has been trying to isolate you for quite a while, so I'm sure he will make the most of your time together."
"Bastard." she said through clenched teeth.
"There will be a guard posted outside in case you need some assistance, Severus." Lucius smirked, walking towards the door. "This room will be under surveillance to insure that you do nothing we have not already discussed as far as teaching methods go." She looked up and, caught the evil grin that was on the blond's face before he turned and left, shutting the heavy wooden door behind him. The sound of metal on metal told her that the latch had been put into place.
She was stuck.
"You?" she asked with barely concealed anger as Snape pulled off his cloak and threw it to a nearby corner.
"Yes, me." he said, advancing on her menacingly. "It's me. And you're about to find out why it was such a bad idea to align yourself with the weak side of the school." She had every intention of fighting her way out of the cell, and if it meant killing Snape, then she was more than ready to do it. But her mind turned to Remus, who was still in the cell below them on another floor, and her plan halted in mid-formation. If she fought, they would hurt him. Voldemort had already murdered her parents, and she did not want her own boyfriend's blood on her hands.
She tried seperating her mind from her body, tried to ignore what was happening to her. She tried to gather her anger up towards the man who was violating her in the worst possible way. And she had almost convinced herself that Severus Snape was the devil incarnate, the lowest possible scum of the Earth, and that the fires of hell would never burn him enough to satisfy her....until he drew her close enough and murmured into her ear.
"I am sorry." he said hoarsely. "I am truly sorry."
Sable Robbins sat up from her bed in a cold sweat, her pulse racing and her body shaking violently from the dream she had woken from. When she had calmed down sufficiently and gotten her breathing back to normal, the images of that fateful night a little over sixteen years before flashed through her head as if she had never woken from the nightmare. The covers of her bed slipped around her as she stood and walked over to the large windows that composed the farthest side of her bedroom, pulling on a robe and trying to compose herself after once again enduring that awful dream that so often plagued her in the dead of night.
It had been almost sixteen and a half years since that night that had been haunting her dreams for so long. Sixteen and a half long and very painful years. Sable shook her head, trying to forget the memories that threatened to spill over, only to have her eyes settle on the pices of folded parchment lying on her bedside table that was the probable cause for the dream's sudden re-emergence.
The letter from her old headmaster Albus Dumbledore had arrived two days before as nothing more than a small, unobtrusive letter carried by a small grey and black hoot owl to her office at the American Department of Magic. She had taken the letter without hesitation, gave the owl a treat, and sent it on its way. It was only when she turned it over and saw the seal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry emblazoned in the wax seal that caused her to panic. She had promptly thrown the letter, unopened, into the drawer nearest her and shut it with enough formce to have her secretary come into the office to see if there was a problem.
Two days later, she managed to gather up the courage to bread the seal and read the letter. The words from her old Headmaster had thrown her for a loop.
Death Eater attacks on the rise.
Sirius dead.
Harry being possessed by Voldemort.
The attack in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic.
It had been enough to scare the living daylights out of her. And if truth be told, it still was when she thought about it. The thought of more rampant Death Eaters running around unchecked in her homeland made her quiver in fear. But she was reluctant to go back and get into the fray, no matter how much Dumbledore asked. She'd set up a stable life for her and her children after disappearing from Hogwarts right before her own graduation. Truth be told, she hadn't had much of a choice if she wanted to keep her head on her shoulders. So she had changed her name, and with the help of the Department of Magic's higher-ups, had practically erased her former life as Meadow Sabriel Robbins, instead taking the name of Mikayla Lee.
The attack on the old Zabini mansion had given her the cover to leave when she realized the bounty on her own head after escaping from Voldemort and his cronies. Then, when she'd found out she was with child, her resolve to stay away from England and Hogwarts solidified. She couldn't risk bringing her children into the mess, and possibly having them marked as a target. She would not consent to jeopardizing them. So, she had left her life in England behind, and concentrated on what was to come.
Some old friends of her parents had helped her out a great deal during the pregnancy, which was even worse considering she had been carrying four children; all due to the semi-dormant lycanthropy in her that caused numerous eggs to be released into her body during her cycles. The evening by the river with Remus, when they had first been together, she had used a contraceptive charm to ward against any unplanned surprises for later on down the line. But when they had been captured by the Death Eaters upon returning home, and she had been given to Snape for 'instruction time' while the other Death Eaters looked onhe had cast another charm on her without her knowledge, effectively canceling out the first and leaving her open to get pregnant.
She'd started working her way up through the ranks at the Department of Magic not so long after the birthing of her children. Unfortunately, she had lost her youngest daughter Savannah during the full moon the month after her birth. The change had been too much for the young infant, and she had died, taking a piece of Sable's heart with her. The other three, Sabine (her eldest child and other daughter), Gabriel (youngest son), and Ailric (oldest son), had seemingly grown up over night after that.
After almost five years, she had become a fully fledged Auror and Potions expert. Her children were attending a primary muggle school by then, and showing signs of their magical abilities. Sable had chosen to raise them in the middle of a muggle neighborhood, and teaching them the muggle way of doing things as opposed to them relying on magic from an early age. When it had gotten to the point where Ailric was blowing up furniture when he got angry, and Gabe and Sabine were causing glass to shatter when they fought with each other, Sable decided it was time to sit them down and give them the full truth about what they were.
They had been shocked, to say the least. But, considering that they knew they were werewolves, or at least partly so in two cases, it had not taken them long to warm up to the idea. And so, she had taught them about the wizarding world, slowly easing them into a place that they only thought existed in dreams and fantasies.
By the time they had recieved their letters from Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at age ten, Sable had finally all but let go of her dreams of going back to her homeland. Now, with her children occupied with school, she turned her attention to her work, and more importantly, her Potions reasearch.
Her work with the Wolfsbane Potion had finally broken through, and she had formed an easily replicable set of instructions from her original notes. It had passed inspection and been allowed to the public a few years later.
And so the time had worn on. Gabe, Ailric and Sabine had worked their way through Salem, finally graduating only the year before. All through the time, Sable had never forgotten her home in England, and had actually bought a large house in Scotland when she had earned enough extra money. She and the children would go there every holiday after she bought it. And she would occassionally stay there for extended periods of time when her work with the British Ministry would force her to go back to England for extended periods of time.
She had contacted Dumbledore a few years before, when the mark on her stomach started burning and hurting, and when it was apparent that Voldemort was on the rise again. He alone, had known that she was not dead, and had actually helped in erasing her time at Hogwarts as best he could. The wizened headmaster had kept her up to date since then, and for that she was grateful. She had found out about how her old friend's James and Lily Potter's son, Harry, was doing and how he was holding up. She'd also found out about many of the other people she had went to school with, where they were and what they were doing.
Her guilt over never telling anyone else about her new life only intensified when she found out that both Remus and Snape were still alive and in contact with Dumbledore. She'd expected Snape to have been caught by Voldemort and killed by now. And Remus....well she wasn't exactly sure what to think about him. Yes, she still missed him, and wished she could see him. But if he knew that he was a father, she didn't think he'd take that too well thrown onto the fact that she had never died to begin with.
Sable shook her head in frustration as she pulled her robe more tightly around her. She left her bedroom and traveled down the set of stairs and into her kitchen to get some water, knowing full well from previous encounters that the recurrence of her memories would not allow her to fall back asleep.
Upon making it to the kitchen, she was surprised to see light underneath the door, and hear muffled footsteps walking around, along with the distinct smells of cocoa and sugar. She pushed the swinging door open and found her eldest child, and only living daughter, sitting on the counter, sipping a mug of hot chocolate and staring out the window. The girl turned to face her mother, amethyst eyes slightly rounded in surprise.
"Couldn't sleep, mom?" she asked.
"Afraid not, hon." Sable answered truthfully, taking a seat in a chair at the table. The girl watched her moher carefully for a few moments, noticing the black circles under her eyes and the sallow color of her normally creamy complexion. Her black hair was rumpled, and the natural white streaks seemed to be more prevalent somehow.
"Something wrong? You've been acting strange the last few days." she asked, shoving herself off of the counter and pulling another mug out to make her mother something to drink. And unerrangly getting straight to the heart of the problem of her mother's problem. If she nothing else, she was direct, and didn't beat around the bush when something was wrong. "It wouldn't have anything to do with that letter you got a few days ago, would it?"
"What letter?" Sable asked, playing innocent.
"Oh, you know, maybe the one you threw in the desk drawer without even opening." the girl said, fligpping her long coal black braid behind her back as she sat the cup of steaming chocolate in front of the older woman and giving her mother a pointed look. "It was from Dumbledore again, wasn't it, mom?"
"Yes, Sabine. I'm afraid it was." Sable said, taking a sip of her drink as Sabine took in the news. She had told her children the truth about her connections with the wizarding world in Britian when it was apparent that Voldemort was on the rise again. They had barely been fourteen when everything had started up again, but she considered them mature and responsible enough to know what had happened, and the events that had brought them to live in the world as they were. She'd told them of the night she'd spent with Remus, the attack on her home in Hogsmeade, the capture and eventual death of her parents, her rape at the hands of the Death Eaters, and her and Remus' final escape from said Death Eaters with the help of a mole planted in the ranks of Voldemort's followers. They had taken it quite well, considering the facts, but Sable considered it better for them to know the truth than to wonder forever.
"I figured as much." the young woman known as Sabine answered. "I meant to ask you, but haven't been able to shake Ailric and Gabe lately. And you know how they react when Dumbledore sends any type of letter." Sabine knew what she was referring to. Ever since she'd told them the truth, her two sons, Gabe and Ailric, had usually gotten angry anytime Hogwarts or any other connection to it was mentioned, including their fathers, despite the fact that Sable had taken the fault for not telling Remus and Snape about them before then. The decision had been made, surprisingly by the three children, to keep both Snape and Remus from finding out about them, at least until the time came. And when, and if, the situation did arise, then they would confront the two men. "So, what's got you so uptight?"
"They want me to come back to Hogwarts." Sable answered truthfully, relaying what Dumbledore had told her about the most recent developments in England due to Voldemort's rising. Sabine's eyes went wild in utter surprise and shock upon hearing all that had been happening. She and her brothers had been told the stories of Hogwarts and the Marauders and their mother's time at the magic school when she'd finally told them everything. And hearing that Sirius Black was dead was enough to get her worried again.
"Things are getting hairy over there, and Albus has revived the Order of the Phoenix. They want me to come and help them, and to take a teaching position at the school." Silence settled in between the two women and Sabine finally broke it.
"They? As in more than one?" Sabine asked. "I thought Dumbledore was the only one who even knew you were still alive?"
"Apparently Bill Weasley mentioned my name at the last Order meeting as a potential candidate for the position. It seems as though Dr. Mikayla Lee, American Auror and Potions expert, stuck out in his memory for some odd reason." she said, referring to the alias name she had taken sixteen and a half years before to protect herself and the children.
"That was the red-headed guy with the earring from Egypt, right? Some curse breaker for Gringotts?" Sabine asked. "Really tall, rocker wannabe who was too cute for his own good?"
"Sabine!"
"Yeah, I remember him." Sabine said with a grin.
"Anyhow, Albus wants to speak with me soon. Probably to try and convince me to come back to England." she said dejectedly. "And what's worse, the Ministry is in an uproar. Apparently Harry Potter and his group of friends caused quite a stir when the battled Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries."
"Was anyone seriously hurt?"
"Other than Sirius, no." Sabine said quietly, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, mom." Sabine said, hugging her mother and remembering the stories of the famous Marauders and how close her mom was to them. Sabine knew that her mother had wanted to go back to England for a very long time, but had put her dream on hold to get her and her brothers through school and and raised.
"Voldemort has somehow managed to possess Harry due to the damned scar on his head, and it's causing problems on top of problems. Albus thinks I can help." There was a few moments of silence until Sabine finally broke the quietness.
"You're seriously thinking of going back?"
"I'm not sure. I refuse to leave you and your brothers here, but I don't want to risk taking you with me." Sable said. "You'd be the first targets of the Death Eaters if they found out about you. And I don't want that. I don't want you to get hurt because of something that you had no hand in."
"School is starting back in a couple of months." Sabine pointed out. "And both Ailric and Gabe can work there if they want to. I'll still be where I am at the Department. We can stay out of trouble, mom." Sabine tried to reassure her mother of their abilities to care for themselves. True, they were sixteen -would be seventeen by December-, and technically of age in the American wizarding world, but she knew her mother still worried more about them than she would ever really let on.
"You don't understand, hon. Your dear old mom can't go back there by herself...too many memories." Sable said wearily. "But I refuse to uproot what we have settled here just to go back there. I won't jeopardize what we've worked so hard for."
"Mom, can I see that letter?" Sabine asked. Sable pulled out her wand from a hidden pocket in her robe and the letter appeared in front of her daughter. Sabine took the numerous sheets of parchment and settled them into a neat little pile. She pulled the first sheet up and started to read through it, her eye brows frowning in silent worry.
Ten minutes later, she placed the last piece of parchment onto to turned over pile and turned to her mother, a grim expression on her young face. "This is serious, mom."
"I realize that, Sabine." Sable said, running her hand through her own black hair that was streaked with numerous white strands. "I just don't know what to do about it."
"Would your reluctance to go back stem somewhat indirectly from the fact that you have a feeling Remus Lupin and Severus Snape are tied up in the middle of this somehow, somewhere?" she asked, pinpointing her mother's reason for indecision quite quickly and with deadly accuracy. "Especially because you will have to face them if they somehow manage to find out who you are. Which, considering what you've told us about them, shouldn't be to hard for them to do?"
"You won't hear me admit to it." Sable grumbled.
"Are you even going to send Dumbledore a reply?" the young woman asked. "Sounds like time is running thin over there."
"What would you do, Sabine, if you were in my shoes?" her mother asked. The sixteen year old looked at her mother, choosing her worlds carefully.
"You haven't told us everything about what happened in the twenty four hour span that we were conceived." she said carefully. "We, the boys and I, know how you got there, what led up to it, what happened while you were captured, and how you got out. We also know why you left the way you did, considering the circumstances. You did what you thought was right at the time.
But your relationship with Remus and Snape, you never talked about all that much. You said you and Remus were dating, but I have a feeling that you're glossing some of that over. You were more attached to him than you've admitted to us, mom. Don't think we haven't noticed. And as for Snape, I'm not sure exactly what you haven't told us about him. But it's obvious to me that you don't hate him, probably never did, at least to the extent you want us to believe."
"So I shouldn't go back?" Sable asked.
"No, I think you should." Sabine said simply, causing her mother's head to jerk to attention. "England is your home, mom...despite how long you've been away from it. I heard somewhere once, that life was like a book, with each chapter telling a part of a person's life. And the story can never truly be complete if some of the chapters are left half written. There are still a couple of chapters in your book that need to be finished, and have been needing to be finished for quite some time."
"So, I should go back?"
"I think so." Sabine said, shrugging. "Despite the circumstances, I think it's high time Snape and Lupin knew the truth, especially Lupin now that Sirius is gone. The poor man is going to loose it if things don't let up on him, and soon. Seeing you again....well....it may help, mom."
"Remus always was the one to fall into depression stages, given the way things are over there." Sable agreed, setting her now empty mug onto the counter.
"So you've said. And according to this little jewel," Sabine said, tapping the parchment in front of her. "he's only gotten worse." There was a comfortable silence settling in for a few moments before she spoke again. "What are you so scared of, mom? It's not the Death Eaters; you've put criminals worse than them behind bars. Is it Voldemort?"
"Surprisingly, no." Sable said. "It's not."
"Snape and Lupin?"
"Yes."
"You're scared of them? I find that hard to believe, mom. You're not very easily intimidated." Sabine said simply. "Is it the rejection you think you'll get?"
"Yes."
"Of you?"
"No." Sable said quietly, tears forming in her eyes. "Of you and the boys. I could deal with knowing they'd never speak to me again. Hell, I'd deserve it if they never spoke to me again. But if they tried to deny you three...I don't know what I'd do. They are your fathers."
"Mom, you've said yourself, on more than one ocassion might I add, that me, Ailric, and Gave are practically carbon copies of you, Snape, and Lupin when the three of you were younger. I've seen the pictures, and frankly, there's not much denying that either of them can do." Sabine pointed out briskly. She could stand her mother in any kind of mood, but self pity and guilt were not one of them. And as far as she was concerned, and her brothers would say the same, their mother had nothing to be guilty of. "Besides, we're grown. It's not like we absolutely need them around, mom. We've got what we need right here, with you. So if they don't like us, then we can tell them to piss off and forget they ever met us."
"There's nothing subtle about you, is there, young lady?" Sable asked wryly, looking over at her daughter and shaking her head.
"Subtlety is lost on you, mom. You said so yourself."
"Good point." she said, picking up the letter and folding it back, putting it in the envelope.
"At least owl Dumbledore back and tell him you will agree to meet with him to discuss the possibility of you going back. Give him that courtesy at the very least." Sabine said, hugging her mom and walking towards the door. "Night, mom."
"Goodnight, baby." Sable answered. "Sabine?"
"Yeah?"
"Would you go to England, if I asked you to?" Sable asked carefully, gauging her daughter's reaction.
"Yeah." she nodded. "Yeah, I would."
"What about your brothers?"
"Well, I can't answer for them, in all honesty." she said. "But Gabe would probably think you've lost your mind, and Ailric would get mad and then want to know when we're leaving. They like being over there more than they let on. The worse part will be keeping them from blowing up should they ever meet Snape and Remus."
"And you?" she asked. "What about you? What would you do if you saw them face to face?"
"I'll be fine with meeting them." she answered. "Like I said before. I'm practically grown; I don't need them now that the hardest part of raising me is over with. You won't hear a bad word out of me unless they're an ass to you and the boys."
"And if they are?"
"Then they had better apologize, or be able to run, very fast." she said with a wicked little grin. Sable shook her head and smiled, knowing that Sabine would very well carry out on the upspoken threat behind those words. That girl was not one with whom to trifle with.
"Goodnight, Sabine." Sable said quietly.
"Night, mom." Sabine answered. "Try and get some sleep. You need to be rested for your meeting with headmaster Dumbledore." Sable just nodded and waited until she heard Sabine's steps up the stairs end before using her wand to conjure up some parchment and a pen. She chewed on the pen for a few moments, trying to think of a way to start the letter that she was sending to Dumbledore.
Dear Albus......
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A/N - Okay, hope you guys liked that chapter. It explains a good bit about where Sable's been since the end of Wolf's Bane, but I do realize that there are a few more little bits that I need to clear up. So, until next chapter, take care.
A.A.
Remember to review, I want to know what you guys are thinking.
