Chapter 57: Meeting with Lord Prince
Mourning Vale, Kilburn, Derbyshire, England
June 22, 1987
"How long have they been in there?" Draco asked softly, curiosity clearly having gotten the better of him.
Leonis looked up from the potions manual that he had been studying to keep his mind away from what his father and his master might be doing to each other behind the locked doors of his master's study. He looked at the door of the study and then back to Draco and gave him a worried look. "I don't know, but it has been a long time."
"It's been two hours," Aleksei supplied helpfully as he slowly settled his own potions manual beside him.
"What could they possibly be talking about?" Draco asked. "Cousin Sirius doesn't even like Master Severus," he reminded them. It was still strange sometimes to hear Draco refer to Severus as Master instead of Uncle. That Draco had begun to use the term Master over Uncle just showed how seriously he was taking the honor of being Severus's Apprentice.
Leonis scowled at the reminder. He was already worried about what his father and his master could be doing to each other. Draco's reminder that both men disliked each other really didn't help his state of mind. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Vague images seemed to dance behind his eyelids of younger versions of his father and his master exchanging hateful insults and then drawing wands upon each other. "I hope that they are behaving themselves," he murmured worriedly but somehow, he knew that they were not.
"This might be good for them," Aleksei ventured then. When his two companions turned to look at him with incredulous looks he smiled. "They need to clear the air."
Leonis inclined his head to concede that perhaps Aleksei was right. Personally, he just wished they could agree to hate each other peaceably. Of course, there was no real way to hate someone peaceably, but Leonis wished that his stubborn father and equally stubborn master would give it their best effort.
"I almost wish that they hadn't put up the silencing charm," Draco said. "I wish we could hear them."
Leonis winced as he felt the silencing charm fizzle and die. Later the three of them would wonder if Draco had somehow used wish magic to break the silencing charm or if the charm had simply run its course. Raised voices beyond the door captured the whole of their attention and made all three boys flinch. Leonis stared at the door worriedly. That they were yelling wasn't exactly promising, but so far, he could only hear insults and not actual spells. That was a good thing, wasn't it?
"I take it back," Draco said after hearing his cousin Sirius delivering a particularly cruel insult to their master. His gray eyes had hardened as he heard Sirius call their master 'Snivellous.'
Leonis sat upright as soon as he heard that insult and he was out of his seat before he had really thought about it. He approached the door without thought of consequences. He didn't care if it made both men angry with him. He just couldn't…he couldn't hear his father call his master that and do nothing. He had this awful feeling that he had heard it before and done nothing when he should have. He didn't understand it and now it just didn't matter. What mattered was that his father couldn't do that. Had to be told to stop.
"Leo?" Draco said worriedly as he moved to stand beside him.
Aleksei sighed softly and then joined them at the door. "Oh, very well," he said. "If we must," he teased them.
Leonis gave first Draco and then Aleksei a small smile to show his appreciation that they were willing to go in there with him and back him up. "I'll do the talking," he said.
"No," Draco said firmly. "We'll do the talking, but you'll start us off. We'll follow your lead."
"Right," Leonis agreed.
Then he turned the doorknob and pushed open the door of the study. He felt relief surge through him when he noted that the room was still perfectly clean and tidy. Everything was in its appropriate place. At least they had not been dueling while behind the silencing spell. He then took in the sight of his father and his master as they stood tall, facing off against each other. Each had a wand in hand and by the looks of things they were seconds away from hexing each other.
"Stop it!" Leonis shouted at them and was pleased to see that he had startled both men. "Stop it right now!"
"Leonis," Sirius said, clearly startled to see Leonis standing there with fists clenched at his sides, anger clear on his features.
"You boys should be studying," Severus snapped at them.
"Don't you dare speak to my son that way," Sirius snarled, turning his attention back to the Potions Master.
Severus opened his mouth to speak but swiftly closed it as Leonis yelled at them again.
"Don't you dare!" Leonis cried out. "Stop all of this right now."
"We would have been studying, Master Severus," Draco began pleasantly in drawling tones that reminded everyone in the room distinctly of his father. "I was really enjoying the section about harvesting ingredients by the full moon, but then there was shouting and horrible insults cutting through my concentration."
When both men looked momentarily confused, Aleksei spoke up. "The silencing spell died."
Sirius looked embarrassed then. "I am sorry boys," he said then. "We didn't mean for you to hear any of that."
"Well we did," Leonis said. His gray eyes stern as they stared at his father. "And we were not the least impressed at what we heard."
"You two are acting like babies," Draco declared. The two men bristled at the insult, but Draco continued, completely unrepentant. "If we had insulted someone that way, Mother would have washed our mouths out with soap," he pointed out while glaring at Sirius.
Sirius aback by Draco's glare. Leonis felt a curl of satisfaction seeing his father wrong-footed by Draco's censure. Draco had always been very kind to Sirius. It was the first time that Sirius had gotten a taste of the Malfoy Scion's displeasure. "We understand that you two were not friends when you were young," Leonis began. "But that was then, and this is now. You are both important to us, so please why can't you just try to get along?"
Sirius and Severus glanced uneasily at each other and then Sirius knelt before Leonis and Draco. "You are right. I should not have treated Lord Prince that way. I let my anger cloud my mind and resorted to name calling, just like when we were kids. It was no way for me to behave."
"I am proud of you three for standing up for what is right," Severus spoke then. "The easy thing for you three to have done would have been to stay put and continue to attempt to study. Instead, you came in here and stopped our argument from escalating. It was brave of you."
Sirius grinned then. "That must have hurt you to say," he said cheekily to Lord Prince.
"Watch it Black!" was Lord Prince's reply.
Seeing that the two men had their anger under control went a long way in settling Leonis's frayed nerves. He loved his father and he greatly admired his master. He didn't want them to fight.
"It was more cunning than bravery," Aleksei argued. "We trusted that neither of you would do anything to harm us. At the worst you would have yelled at us," he informed them. "And while we really don't like being yelled at, we decided that the two of you were worth the risk."
"Well reasoned," Severus said with a nod of approval and a gleam of pride in his eyes.
"I'm glad we were deemed worth the risk," Sirius said nodding to Aleksei.
Leonis looked at his father and slowly moved closer to Sirius. When his father pulled him closer into a hug, he felt the last of his anger at his father drain away. "You can be such an idiot sometimes Siri," Leonis said. He didn't know why he said it, but it was as if he had said the words a million times. It was like some sort of ritual that was just their own. Strange since he had never called his father Siri. He called Sirius father and sometimes dad, but not Siri.
Sirius curved his arms around his son tighter as he heard the boy call him an idiot. The way he had said the words, it was so very much like Regulus. The phrasing was precisely the same. It was not the first time that Leonis had reminded him of Regulus, but it was the first time in quite some time. Such moments always seemed to take him by surprise.
He glanced at Snape and found the man frowning in thought as he stared at Leonis. Sirius often forgot that Snape had been a friend of sorts to his brother. It burned him to think that Snape had known Reggie better than he did in those last five years of his life. Did he get caught off guard at times by Leonis acting like Regulus?
"Now that we are calmer, I think that Mr. Black and I shall continue our conversation," Snape said. "I expect you to continue studying. If you have finished the manual, then I wish for you to reread it and pay special attention to the parts about harvesting by moonlight and what plants should be harvested during the various phases of the moon."
"Yes Master," Draco and Aleksei said in respectful tones.
Leonis pulled away from him, and Sirius found himself reluctant to release his firstborn. "Yes Master," Leonis said with a small smile. He moved close to Sirius to give him one more squeeze and Sirius reveled in it, letting it ground him and calm him. Soothing what was left of previous irritation.
Sirius arose to his feet once more when Leonis exited the room, though he noticed with some small amount of amusement that the children had not closed the door. He tensed when Snape waved his wand but relaxed when he realized that the man was renewing the silencing charm. Curiously, Snape left the door open.
His inquisitive look was met with a gruff nod toward the outer room where the children were sitting in chairs that lined the hall. "They'll feel better knowing that they can at least see us, even if they cannot hear us," Snape explained. "I have learned what battles to pick with those three."
"I would think that you would simply dictate to them and force them to obey your will?" Sirius said without thinking. He inwardly winced when he realized how tactless he had sounded.
"That would be abuse," Severus replied, his tone firm. "I don't want to beat the creativity out of them. I want to guide their minds and teach them how to perform and enjoy this craft in safety," he explained to Sirius. "I imagine it is no different to how you must have felt when you helped your friends in Transfiguration and Charms," he said.
Sirius recognized that last for what it was. An olive branch. An attempt to find common ground and help Sirius understand. "I misjudged you again," he said quietly and didn't it gall him to have to admit to that.
Severus's lips quirked up into a slight smirk. "Yes, you did. You always do. I am glad to see that no matter how much you have changed Black, that you remain consistent in some things."
"It's stupid of me. Misjudging you could get a wizard killed," Sirius complimented. Even if he didn't like the man before him, he had to admit that Snape was a powerful and more importantly, knowledgeable wizard. Sirius could admit that now. He was no longer the petty child he had been back in Hogwarts.
Snape inclined his head then. "Then isn't it a good thing that we are no longer enemies?"
That took Sirius by surprise. He blinked in confusion for a moment as he stared at the man who used to be his school rival. Then he chuckled. "I suppose we aren't," he admitted.
"'Cissa would never allow us to remain, enemies," Severus said then and his voice sounded both fond and exasperated.
Sirius laughed out right then. "She runs rough-shod over you too. doesn't she?" he asked.
The slight glare that Severus shot him was answer enough and Sirius continued to chuckle. "She is used to getting her way," Snape allowed.
Sirius snorted then. "Well, what wizard or witch with any true sense of self-preservation would dare to deny her?" he mused.
"You are quite congenial about her having you as whipped as Lucius and me," Severus observed.
Sirius smirked then. "You forget, she's my cousin," he reminded Snape. "I've known her my whole life and she was always like this."
"I see," Severus said.
"She was guided and molded by our Aunt Cassiopeia," Sirius informed Severus. "I think the only woman I have ever met that is more formidable than my Aunt Cassie is Lady Vaisey."
Severus looked surprised then. "Lady Vaisey? When did you have the pleasure of meeting the Lady Vaisey?"
Sirius winced. "It was why I came to see you," he admitted. "Unfortunately, we de-evolved into our Hogwart's selves," he said with a wince.
"I accept my part in the blame," Severus said. "I was quite defensive to have you in my home. The last time you were here you were wearing Auror Robes and checking me for a Dark Mark," he reminded him.
Sirius nodded in understanding.
"Please sit Black," Severus invited. "I think it best that you explain why you chose to visit me."
"Intrigued eh?" Sirius tried for a light-hearted tone. One thing he could still count on then is that Severus Snape Prince was a curious soul. He took the offered seat and composed himself. He then looked up to where Severus had seated himself in an opposite chair. He was glad that they were doing this before the fireplace instead of with Snape, or rather Prince he really needed to remember to call him Prince, sitting behind his desk. Such a position was imposing and a subtle show that Severus had all the power here. It was hard enough coming hat in hand begging for Prince's help. Alicia and Hannah were worth it though.
"I am sure you have noticed my interest in Alicia Abbott," Sirius began.
Severus inclined his head. "Hard not to when you threw a birthday celebration for Miss Hannah Abbott," he said.
Sirius smirked. "I recall that you were a favorite of most of the children and of Mrs. Vane as well."
A flush suffused Lord Prince's cheek before he regained his composure. "As you say," he said simply.
Sirius hid his mirth, reminding himself that laughing at Prince would not get him what he needed. "I sought an audience with Lady Vaisey because I wish to marry Alicia. She gave me a task that I need your help to accomplish," he said.
"What is this task?" Severus asked him warily.
Sirius sighed. "Warring Abbott has slandered Alicia's name and that of her daughter," he said. "I need to prove that Hannah is Johnathon Abbott's daughter and that Warring Abbott was wrong to deny her."
Silence reigned for a few moments and Sirius fought the urge to fidget. Normally he was self-assured, but not with Prince. There was too much history between them for him to ever feel completely comfortable in the other man's presence.
"Lord Abbott is a swine," Severus finally said. "He is also well liked by Minister Bagnold and by Albus Dumbledore," he mused. "That being said you know he'll have powerful backing. What do you have in mind?"
Sirius felt relieved that Severus was asking about the battle plan. It meant that he was not saying no to helping him, at least not yet. "I am sure you know how the House of Black discovered that it had two little heiresses," he said referring to Hermione Granger and Eleanor Branstone. At Prince's nod, he continued. "I intend to act like the gruff and brash Gryffindor that you always accused me of being while at Hogwarts. I am going to have a confrontation with Lord Abbott in public and get him to disparage Hannah's paternity once more. Then I am going to challenge him to take Hannah to Gringott's and have the Goblins perform the Heritage Test," Sirius revealed.
Prince smirked as he leaned back in his chair. "With the challenge being so public, he'll suffer if he refuses," he said. "You need appropriate witnesses. People that he cannot afford to lose face in front of. You also need proper officials to witness the testing so that he cannot bribe the Goblins to lie."
Sirius looked taken aback. "You think that the Goblins will lie?"
Severus shook his head and wore an expression of exasperation. "Not every Goblin is honorable just the same as not every Wizard is honorable. You cannot afford to run the risk, nor can you afford to pick which Goblin will do the testing."
He nodded realizing the wisdom of Severus's words. "You are right. I guess I am used to dealing with the Goblin's who tend to the Black family vaults. They are honorable."
Severus inclined his head. "The Goblin's who oversee my vaults are likewise honorable."
Sirius nodded and then continued to speak of Hannah's testing. "You are known as a justice-seeking Wizard. You have made a name for yourself with your crusade in the Wizengamot to reform the archaic laws about magical children to better protect them."
Severus looked surprised before he schooled his features. "That crusade, as you called it, was started by Lord Selwyn. He deserves the credit," he deferred.
'Wasn't that strange?' Sirius inwardly mused. The child he had attended school with would have craved the attention he had just given him. Instead, Prince had demurred and given the credit for starting the campaign to reform those ancient laws to Lord Selwyn. Fascinating! There was more to Prince than Sirius had ever realized. Perhaps that is why he was one of Narcissa's beloveds.
"Yet it is not Lord Selwyn's droning on that everyone remembers and whispers about," Sirius said pointedly. "No. It is the passionate words and cunning tongue of Severus Snape Prince that everyone remembers, and they talk. Your words have been quoted on many tongues since your last appearance in the Wizengamot."
Severus seemed to mull that over. "So, you wish to capitalize on my new reputation as a crusader for children's protection from injustice?"
"Yes," Sirius said unabashedly. "That and our old and at times not so old animosity," he admitted. "No one will easily believe that you and I would become such good friends as to lie for each other and I will not ask you to lie," he was swift to assure Prince.
"Then what are you asking?" Prince asked.
"I only ask that you focus on Hannah. She is a child who was grievously wronged by her Grandfather," Sirius said with anger creeping into his voice. "She should have been loved by her father's family. Her father's memory should have been something to be cherished and her father's siblings should have held her and told her stories about him when he was a child. Instead, she was publicly shunned by her father's blood. They denied her."
He was gratified when Severus slowly nodded. "Have you thought of the consequences of doing this?"
Sirius looked at him in confusion. "I get to marry Alicia and be a father to Hannah," he replied.
Prince looked at him with a look that was almost pity, almost. "Abbott will want to save face. He'll proclaim far and wide that he didn't do it on purpose. He'll make grand public professions of remorse."
"Good!" Sirius cut in then.
Prince continued as though Sirius had not interrupted him. "He'll demand that Hannah come live with him because according to the Law, she shall be the Heir Abbott."
Sirius froze then, his blue eyes widened in dawning realization. "No," he growled. "He cannot have her," he snarled. "He cannot, just, no!" he growled and then he was out of the chair and pacing.
Prince didn't move from his seat, he simply watched him seeming to understand that Sirius had to move to remain in any semblance of control of himself.
"Can I deny him?" Sirius asked, his voice angry and desperate.
Severus frowned then. "I am not sure," he admitted. "If Hannah is acknowledged as the Abbott Heir then according to the current Laws he can demand she live with him because he is the Lord of her House."
"But everyone knows how horrible he has been to her!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Which Bagnold's minions and Dumbledore's minions will do a great deal to smooth over. They'll help Lord Abbott prove to the public that he really had believed that Hannah wasn't his grandchild and that he is full of remorse for having been so vile to her," Prince explained patiently.
"I cannot let him have her," he said stubbornly.
"Agreed," Prince said.
"But I must do this. Lady Vaisey will not grant me Alicia's hand if I don't," he reminded Prince.
"Yes," the Potions Master said. "And young Hannah deserves justice," he said. "She'll be too young to properly revoke any rights to her title as Heir Abbott, so we cannot have her do that. Besides, it would serve Warring Abbott right for his Heir to have been brought up without his guidance."
"If we can make that happen," Sirius growled.
"Words have power Black," he said cryptically. "Remember the vow that Dumbledore made me swear?"
Sirius winced at that. That was by far one of the most idiotic things that he had ever done. "Yes," he said warily.
"Then you might recall how I worded it," he said. "It's all in the wording. The vow I swore only said that I wouldn't reveal your friend's condition while I was still a student at Hogwarts. It said nothing of keeping the secret indefinitely."
Sirius blinked at that realizing that Prince was correct. "Have you?"
"Have I what?" Severus asked.
"Told anyone?"
"Lucius and Narcissa know," he said evenly. "Neither of them particularly cares what he is. Lucius has an uncle in France who is married to a Veela. He's never been particularly anti-creature blood," he pointed out.
Sirius slowly nodded.
"My point is," Severus said then. "That you need to get Lord Abbott to swear that he will never evoke his rights to take Hannah into his keeping," he said. "You'll need to figure out the exact wording," he said with a casual wave of his hand. "Do this at some point before you confront him about Hannah's heritage and challenge him to have her tested at Gringott's. Do it soon and then wait before challenging him. Give him enough time to have completely forgotten about the vow you coaxed from him."
He nodded and smiled then at Prince. "I should come to you for planning all the time," he praised. "You might be more cunning than 'Cissa," he added.
"Don't let her hear you say that," was Severus's response.
Sirius smiled. "Thank you, Prince," he said with a relieved tone of voice. "Thank you for helping me."
Severus looked away then. "Alicia seems fond of you and you seem to do well with young Hannah," he said softly and then he looked at Sirius with a fierce glare. "You best take care of them, Black!" he said in a cold and deadly tone of voice.
Sirius blinked in confusion for a moment because he hadn't known that Prince cared that much for Alicia and Hannah. Then he remembered that Alicia had been a Slytherin while they were in school. He wondered now how well she and Severus had known each other. He'd have to ask her sometime.
"I'll take care of them," he promised Severus. "If I don't, well, I know you'll avenge them," he said with a hint of seriousness.
Prince only nodded.
It had been my original intention to write the whole chapter just about Sirius and Severus, but I missed writing the kids and I wanted to write Leonis, Draco, and Aleksei somewhat concerned about whether or not Sirius and Severus were going to kill each other. So here we are! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I do apologize for not getting this posted sooner. Usually I post twice a month on this story, but family issues put a wrench in my ability to do that this time. Funny how life throws you those curve balls at times. :)
