Chapter 14: Mother and Son
"Can I meet her?" Tonks asked all of a sudden as she looked at Remus. Harry was sitting on the couch across from them. They'd been speaking of Sirius and all their years at Hogwarts, though of course Remus would mention nothing about his brother or sister which was why Tonks merely blurted out the question. It had been on her mind for weeks, ever since Remus told her about them.
"Tonks I haven't seen her in about sixteen years. I'm sure she doesn't want to see me," Remus said as he looked over at her. But he did long to see Viktoria. She was his sister and he hadn't heard anything about her for the past several years, even Severus refused to say anything about her. Actually, ever since the Order of the Phoenix started up he would say nothing about Viktoria and whenever Remus asked about her he merely glared at him and ignored him. He guessed that Viktoria had no other choice to tell him about Sirius, which accounted for the particularly nasty looks that Severus gave Sirius.
"Wait, I thought that it was you that did not want to see her?" Tonks said as she turned her attention to him. Remus scratched his neck.
"She wanted me to come to her wedding and I told her that I wouldn't and she said that she would never forgive me for not going," he said as he looked at Tonks. He turned his gaze over to Harry who was merely sitting there, staring on in interest. He'd been spending quite sometime in Grimmauld ever since his birthday. He was working on making his way to Godric's Hollow, but he was still awaiting the arrival of both Hermione and Ron before he moved on.
"Oh please Remus, she's your sister. I very much doubt that she would hold that against you for nearly two decades. Remus, she's the only family you have, what if you never get another chance to see her again?" Tonks asked as she looked over at Remus. Remus looked down at his hands. He had to admit that Tonks was right. He did miss Viktoria an awful amount and almost regretted the fact that he'd allowed them to fall apart. He'd allowed Viktor to die without ever trying to fix things with him and he didn't want the same to happen with Viktoria.
"Well I guess you're right. I should go now actually as there is nothing to do here today," Remus said as he stood up. Recently there wasn't much to do with the Order of the Phoenix. The Dark Lord hadn't done much for quite sometime, he was clearly plotting something big, which made the Order particularly nervous as there was no longer a spy so that they knew what they were planning.
"Great, lets go," Tonks said as she stood up. Remus turned to look at her and shook his head.
"It would be best that she not meet you just yet. She's never been particularly fond of any of my girlfriends, though she had good reason. Besides, I don't know how she'll receive me, which is why you're coming along," Remus said as he turned his attention over to Harry, who was taken aback by this. "If you're around her anger will surely dissipate. At least enough to give me time to explain to her how sorry I am."
"Me? How will I do that? Why do I have to go?" Harry suddenly said as he looked over at Remus in confusion. Remus stared at him for a moment. He thought that Harry would actually be glad to meet his godmother. Ah, yes, I forgot to tell him that, Remus thought to himself as he remembered that fact that he had left before he had the chance to.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Lily picked Viktoria to be your godmother and she remains to this day your godmother," Remus said as he looked at Harry. Once more Harry seemed taken aback by this.
"So if she's my godmother, why didn't she take me after my parents were killed?" Harry said as they walked up to the house. Remus had already told him about the day of his birth and about the fact that Viktoria didn't speak and never would. He explained that if she'd ever spoken that she'd only ever done so to the man that she married.
"Many reasons, but I'm sure that she would have liked to raise you. She seemed very fond of you when you were born and Viktoria has always had the greatest of patience. She would have been very caring, loving and protective of you," Remus said as he looked over at Harry, who had gotten even taller then he already had been the previous year. He was now merely a couple of inches shorter then Remus.
"Why then didn't she raise me?" Harry asked as he looked over at Remus.
"For one thing Dumbledore didn't want her to. He wanted you to grow up with real family and away from the wizarding world. It was also the only way that the protection charm would work. Besides, I very much doubt that her husband would have liked to raise you," Remus said as they made their way up to the door. She lived in a two story home which looked like any other family home on the block. "This place has changed a lot since last I came here. It seems hospitable now."
"Who did she marry?" Harry asked as he turned too looked at Remus. Remus face darkened somewhat.
"She married Snape when she was twenty, in my opinion the biggest mistake of her life. Maybe now you understand why I absolutely refused to attend the wedding," Remus said as he turned to look as Harry as they stood directly before the door. Harry was shocked by this and disturbed on the same time. He couldn't believe anyone would actually marry Snape or at least not willingly.
"How could anyone want to marry Snape?" Harry said, almost spitting out the name as if it tasted horribly in his mouth. Remus merely shrugged and turned his attention to the door. He hesitated a moment before knocking but at last did so after taking in a very deep breath. He could hear his heart pounding horribly in his chest as he slowly started to fill with anxiety.
A moment later the door opened and a tall, thin woman stood in the doorway wearing a long black dress with long sleeves. She looked very young still, she looked to be about twenty five, even thought Remus told him that she was only two years younger then he, meaning she was truly more like thirty-six. She had long hair, brown like Remus', that was tied in a loose bun that made her look even more beautiful than she already was. She had warm amber eyes just like Remus.
Harry stared into her face it seemed like she was familiar to him, not just from the pictures he'd seen her in, but like he'd actually seen her a long time ago. 'Remus? What are you doing here?' the green letters glowed before her, her brows were knitted together in confusion.
"I've brought Harry to meet his godmother," Remus said as he lightly pushed Harry forward who stood before Viktoria awkwardly, not knowing why Remus pushed him towards her. A smile spread across her face as she looked at Harry and she put a hand to her mouth as if she couldn't believe it was really him.
'Harry, I haven't seen you since your were still a little boy,' the words glowed before him as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. Harry stood in her embrace, not knowing what to do. He very slowly returned the hug and as he did so he caught her scent. He closed his eyes at the familiar smell of apples and his mind flashed back to when he was a little boy, about five years old, when he was at the park with Dudley and his aunt Petunia. Dudley had pushed him on the ground hard and he'd skinned his knees and hands.
"Are you all right?" Harry looked up at the pretty lady with a tear-filled gaze. She was beautiful and looked like an angel as the sun behind her made her glow in her white sundress. She had a very pretty voice and long, straight brown hair that was loose. Harry merely pointed as his skinned knee. "Come here sweetie, I'll help you with that," she'd said as she picked him off the floor and carried him over to the nearest bench. She sat him on his lap and pulled out something from her bag, a powder which she sprinkled on his knees and the palms of his hand, causing the pain to stop and the scars to heal like magic. "All better, huh?" she said as she looked at him with a warm smile on her face. He nodded in response as he stared at her with wide eyes.
"I remember you. You were there when I skinned my knee. You picked me up and made the wound disappear," he said as he looked at her with wide eyes as he pulled away. She was the nicest person that he'd ever met. That day he'd even longed for her to be his mother. He wanted to run away with her and wished that he were her son.
'You remember that?' the glowing green letters appeared as her eyes sparkled. 'I'd always watched out for you as best I could as a child, but your aunt Petunia wanted me nowhere near you. Said she wanted everyone of my kind to stay away, and after that incident Dumbledore scolded me.'
At that moment a small child appeared out from behind her skirt and the child clung to her skirt. The child was probably no more then two years old. He was small and had black hair and amber eyes. He had the cutest little face and his hands were tiny like the rest of him. Viktoria looked down and smiled once more as she looked at the little guy and picked him up.
"Who's this little guy?" Remus said as he stared at the beautiful little child that was staring at him in curiosity.
'He's your nephew, Amadeo,' Viktoria's green letters glowed as she handed the child over to Remus. Remus held the boy in his arms and smiled at him. At least he doesn't look like Snape, a voice in him said, causing him to smile. Viktoria stood aside and motioned for them to come in. Harry stepped inside first, soon followed by Remus. The house inside was very nice, like any other home, which made it sharply contrast what it used to look like.
She'd replaced the maroon colored walls, with plain white paint and the black, leather couches with white ones. She's put carpet all over the dark wood and all together changed the fireplace. Where it used to be a grey stone fireplace there was now a white, marble fireplace that seemed more for decoration then anything else. "You've sure made your home a much... happier looking place."
'I didn't think Amadeo should grow up in so much darkness,' was Viktoria's glowing green response.
"May I ask why Amadeo looks nothing like Snape?" Remus suddenly asked as he continued to stare Amadeo's characteristics very slowly. There was something in his features that seemed very familiar, but the only thing the child had of Viktoria's was the eyes. Harry looked over at Viktoria whose face looked like she'd rather not hear that name.
'Why should he? Severus isn't his father,' Remus looked up at Viktoria's letters and furrowed his brow. He turned his attention over to his sister, who was sitting down on a couch and motioning for them both to do so, Harry sat down in the armchair and stared over at Viktoria.
"What do you mean Snape isn't his father, then who is?" Remus asked as he looked over at her and sat down.
'Can you honestly not guess? Who does he look like?' Viktoria asked as she looked at her brother. Remus sat the child in his lap and stared long into the sparkling eyes, the fine nose, the small pink lips, the black brows, and the casual, full, thick black hair.
"Sirius?" he asked as he looked over at her. She merely nodded in response as Harry turned his attention to the baby that Remus was holding. "But how did this happen?" Remus said as he put the child on the carpeted floor. He very slowly and on very shaky legs made his way over to Harry. Harry picked up the small boy in his arms and looked into his eyes. The baby smiled at him and grabbed at Harry's glasses with his little hands.
'He stayed with me whenever he needed a place to stay during the year that Hogwarts hosted the triwizard tournament. It happened sometime in June. Amadeo was born in March, a mere couple of months before Sirius passed away,' the glowing green letters stood before Remus.
"Did Sirius know about him?" he asked as he looked over at her.
'Of course, he loved Amadeo with all his heart even before he was born. That's why I didn't give Amadeo our last name, but Sirius'. As much as he'd hated his family he wanted Amadeo to have his name.' Viktoria's eyes sparkled with sadness despite the sad smile on her lips.
"Does that mean that you and Snape have not been together for the past several years?" he asked as he stared at her. Her smile suddenly disappeared as she glared at Remus.
'Severus and I were having problems of our own to struggle through before you added more to them. He didn't leave me but he sure treated me like he didn't love me anymore when he found out that once upon a time I had a relationship with Sirius. It was why he was never home anymore. When Sirius came he was company, and one night I let the loneliness get the best of me. But I will never say it was a mistake,' Viktoria said as she looked at him. Remus stared at his hands.
"How did he found out that it wasn't his?" he asked as he looked at her.
'Other then common sense? I told him the truth. He was leaving me anyway and he needed to know,' Viktoria's letters started to glow red.
"Does that mean you're not married?" he asked as he stared at her. She shook he head.
'We separated, but we didn't get a divorce. And as much as he loathed the child and his father, he still loved me enough to come by and check on me whenever he could and he continued to provide for me,' Viktoria responded.
"When was the last time that you saw him?" he asked as he stared at her.
'The last I saw him wasn't long before the night that he killed Dumbledore. He looked very troubled and treated me like nothing had come between us, he treated me the way he did when we first fell in love. That's how I knew that something was wrong. Like it was going to be the last time that we would see each other and he wanted us to be the perfect married couple one last time,' Victoria's letters glowed green as her eyes sparkled with tears. 'I guess it really was the last time I would ever see him.'
"Does he try to contact you at all?" Remus asked as he looked over at her. She merely shook her head in response. "I'm sorry Viktoria, for everything that I have ever done wrong," Remus said as he went over to where she was sitting and sat down next to her and she merely smiled at him and shook her head.
'It's okay, I've just missed you so much,' she said as she wrapped her arms around him.
TBC…