Chapter 71: When A Serpent Gets The Scent
{A/N: Here's Another Update...had business to take care of that needed my immediate attention, sorry for the delays and the mistakes...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S
The Snape Residence, Muggle London, England...
Phaeron had still been reeling from the in-averted slip of the tongue on behalf of his mother. If he had heard right, then that meant that his father was murdered during the second wizarding war and it meant that the previous year when his godfather Lucius Malfoy showed up drunk for the award and remembrance ceremony commemorating that day, He had been right when he shouted to all who had attended that "Severus Snape was unjustly murdered in a brutal and vicious fashion for his efforts in the war and that the so called accidental line being spread about it was a boldface lie."
With his mind moving wildly in a bid to connect the stories and decipher what had been left out, the raven haired Slytherin decided he did not have enough information to get a clear picture on what might have happened to his father but he knew if anyone would tell him what really happened it was his godfather Lucius. Noting that his mother had still been asleep in the middle of the day, Phaeron got dressed up and made his way outside the flat. His mother's enraged words to his muggle grandfather still ringing in his ears.
{"HAD HE NOT BEEN MURDERED..."} she had said with her face twisted in a grimace.
The more he thought about it the more he was sure of what he heard being right.
"Had he not been murdered" were his mother's exact words.
The young raven haired boy's head had been filled with a great many questions.
Who killed his father?
And why did the Order Of Phoenix cover it up?
Was it Dumbledore?
Was that why his parents hated the old sod?
Where did Harry Potter tie into all of this?
Why did his mother hate her former best friend so much?
What had he done?
Knowing he wasn't going to get any answers standing outside his flat awaiting Hermione to hall him back inside, Phaeron took off into the mild afternoon sun in search of someone who could answer at least some of his many mounting questions concerning the events that took his father away from him and his mother.
Later...
Hermione tossed and turned beneath the covers of her rather large bed. She had been so steamed about her father's drunken antics she had gotten drunk her self in a bid to quell her mounting rage. She could not believe that man had the audacity to insult the wizard she loved especially during such a difficult time. The anniversary of her first pregnancy ending in tragedy was fast approaching. Every year it grew harder to pretend it didn't happen, that it was all just a part of some long lasting nightmare from the war. To lose both her unborn daughter, who had not even taken her first breath, and her husband in the same heartbreaking fashion was almost too much for the witch. Often she would send Phaeron away to the Malfoys' to have her cry in silence.
Still tossing about in her bed, the witch had tears fall down her pale cheeks as she recalled the events that lead to her daughter's demise. The wretched scar that Dolohov left upon her belly still a haunting reminder of the heartbreak she and Severus suffered. She had truly meant it when she confided to both her late husband and her father that if she had not been found to have been pregnant with Phaeron, then her life would have taken a very tragic turn.
"Hermione." said a familiar deep baritone voice.
"Severus." she replied her amber eyes fluttering as she opened them still unable to stop the tears.
Out of instinctual habit, the sorrowful witch reached for her husband only to find the bedding beside her cold from the morning air. There had been no sign of Severus as she came to her senses. The line of sight blurry from the tears that continued to fall down her pale cheeks. She missed him. She missed him a great deal more than anyone would ever know.
No one.
Not even Phaeron, knew how many nights she spent in tears wishing a hoping for a chance to be with her husband again.
He had been the first and only man she had ever been with, dating anyone was out of the question. She remained faithful to Severus' memory despite all who had wanted her to "move on."
Shaking off the sorrow for the moment. The witch got to her feet and got dressed. She was more determined than ever to get her husband back come hell or high water. She had been working on a specified tracking spell of sorts for weeks now and had finally completed it prior to her unsavory visit with her parents.
Hearing her father say nothing but awful things about her late husband lit a fire under the sorrowful witch and she cast the spell on the unsuspecting Severus when he had been telling Phaeron a bed time story.
Hermione made her way into the kitchen when her wand picked up a signal. The magical signatures she placed showed that Severus was being kept in some remote field about several miles north in Scotland. After congratulating herself on her utter brilliance, she took off in a bid to find her husband's body making sure not to wake an assumed to be sleeping Phaeron. She left him a note before her departure, wasting no time to get there.
Diagon Alley, Wizarding World...
Phaeron stood in the center of Diagon Alley as he made his way toward the Weasley Brothers Joke Shop. He had known that Harry Potter had frequented the place, seeing as his children loved to visit and the Weasley Twins were his brothers in-law. The young Slytherin had wondered if his mother noticed that he had been gone and how long it would be before she had commissioned a search party to find him.
The boy had not liked giving his already grieving mother cause for worry but he needed answers. Both his parents had done a good job of keeping the truth about what happened to his father at The Fortress of Solitude away from him. Finding out about the attempted murder was quite the shock. Thinking back to that day in the infirmary, it seemed like Harry Potter was trying to tell him something, well before he was taken to task via his very angry former best friend.
Taking a deep breath, the raven haired Slytherin made his way inside the shop. He was greeted rather warmly by the Weasley twins.
"Hello." said Fred with a smile.
"Mini." said George with a smile.
"Snape." continued Fred.
"Welcome." continued George.
"Back." said Fred.
"We knew you couldn't stay away." said George putting an arm around the boy like an affectionate uncle.
"Behaving like a true Snape." said Fred putting his arm around Phaeron as well in the same manner.
"Go on have a look around." urged George.
"Yeah before Mione comes calling." replied Fred.
Phaeron shrugged his shoulders and did as they instructed.
The young Slytherin was quite dazzled by the various sights and sounds. Even the smells had gotten his attention.
Phaeron had simply been looking around for any sign of Harry Potter or James for that matter. He waited for nearly an hour before giving up and heading out the door when Fred and George turned their attention to two top sales. He had not gotten halfway down the alley when he felt a small tugging on the end of his coat.
Stopping just short of hexing whomever had the audacity to touch him, Phaeron found himself looking into the sweet beautiful face of Lily Luna Potter. The raven haired Slytherin had been at a disadvantage. He had not intended to nearly hex little Lily. Especially, when she seemed to be trying to get his attention.
"Aren't you going to say hello Phaeron?" she asked sweetly.
Phaeron could do little to hide the red that crept across his face.
"I-I-I'm sorry...I...uhh...didn't see you there." he said honest.
"What's your hurry?" asked Lily inquisitively.
"I-I have to get back before my mom misses me." replied Phaeron.
"Ooo." said Lily in a playful manner. "You snuck out...you're going to be in so much trouble if she finds out what you did."
"Don't I know it." replied Phaeron looking awkwardly at his dragon hide boots.
Lily smiled at him again then grabbed onto one of his arms wrapping bother her arms around him.
"What were you looking for?" she asked still in a playful mood. "Maybe I can help you find it?"
"I was looking for your father actually." said Phaeron. "I wanted to ask him some questions."
"Oh." said Lily seemingly hurt that he had not come to see her.
"Well...I am glad that I ran into you." said Phaeron reading her mind.
Lily looked at him and arched an eyebrow in the style of his father. Phaeron nearly burst into laughter.
"Really?" she asked skeptical.
"Really." replied Phaeron.
Lily smiled at him brightly and took him by the hand.
"Okay." she said happily. "What were you going to ask my father?"
Phaeron looked at Lily for a moment. He had not known her well enough to trust her and she was still a Potter after all. The raven haired wizard couldn't take the chance of anyone being alerted to what he really wanted from Harry Potter, least of all James II.
"It's personal." replied the raven haired Slytherin.
"What do you mean?" asked Lily inquisitive.
"It's about my father." replied Phaeron not wishing to reveal anymore.
Upon hearing this Lily backed off her line of questioning. It seemed understandable that Phaeron would have questions about Severus Snape. If anyone could answer them Lily believed her father could.
"I'm sorry." she said noting how insensitive her prodding might have been. "I guess I would want to know about my dad if I were you."
Phaeron had been pleased she had believed this to be a sentimental matter. Nothing could have been further from the truth but he knew Gryffindors were always trying to romanticize what needn't be. Still, it got her off his case and clouded his true motivation for finding out what was happened to his father.
He thought back to the in-averted slip of the tongue on the part of his mother.
His father was murdered pure and simple and it had something to do with Harry Potter.
The young raven haired Slytherin decided not to press his luck further since Potter did not appear to be anywhere around.
"Lily...it was interesting speaking with you but I have to get back." he said.
The youngest Potter smiled warmly at him.
"Okay Phaeron." she said gripping his hand tighter. "Stop by any time...Ozzy wants to thank you for saving him."
Arching an eyebrow, very much in the style of his father, Phaeron did his best to remain civil to the giggling girl and headed toward home. He was in for it if Hermione had awoken and found him missing. He was lucky if she let him take a trip to the corner market during his holiday stay.