Lost and Found

Chapter Seven: A Seriously Eventful Christmas

Disclaimer: I only own Canan and Evan. Everything else is property of JKR and the companies that publish her works. If I owned it this would be canon and wouldn't be on fanfiction and I wouldn't be a poor college student.

Author's note: For starts I want to apologize for how long this took to post. I had a crisis with my health and became very depressed as a result of which because I may have to give up some dreams that were very important to me. I'm pulling myself together and won't keep you waiting any longer though. Second I have decided to put Sirius in my story. I realized just how much I want him in it. It's not going to be a big thing though. There may be slash in a sequel. The main point in this story is still going to be Severus and Canan bonding and Canan growing as a character. Also please do not shoot the author for their pun use in the title. I have enough dough thrown at me for my puns in class.

Two days after Canan finally came to trust Severus Christmas arrived. His quarters had, for the first time since he began teaching, been decorated for the holiday as it was the first year he had a reason to celebrate the occasion. In the living room a large, full Christmas tree had been decorated and was placed in a corner, fully adorned in tinsel, ordainments, and gifts. He had set the decorations last night as a surprise. Severus had purchased enough gifts for his son to make up for the Christmases lost, hoping to make it an enjoyable and memorable day for him even though he was still a bit under the weather. His stocking was fully stuffed, and Severus was waiting for him to wake up while preparing breakfast for him that wouldn't upset his stomach. It was as he was finishing the meal that the boy woke up and shuffled into the kitchen. "Mornin' Dad." He mutters, rubbing sleep from his eyes and trying not to trip over Evan. "Good morning Canan. Merry Christmas." His father greets him, placing the food on two plates. "Merry Christmas." He returns and reaches for the tea pot and pours himself a cup and tucks into his breakfast. "Did you sleep well?" Asks Severus. Canan nods and yawns. "Good. Now let's eat breakfast then do presents." Says Severus. "Sounds like a plan." Canan agrees and finished his meal before they went into the living room of Snape's quarters.

When they entered Canan found the room decorated for the holiday, something which he didn't expect of his father. None the less his eyes lit up when he saw the tree in all its glory, the fluffy branches lit up with lights, tinsel, and piled with ornaments. Beneath the branches were enough presents to make his honorary cousin, Draco Malfoy, green with envy. "All these are for me?" He asks, jaw slack with shock and Severus lets a happy smirk befall his face. "Well I do have nine years worth of Christmas gifts to make up for don't I?" He asks, taking a seat on the couch and grabbing a camera. "You didn't have to. I mean just having a family who cares about me is the best gift." He says, hugging Severus tight. "Having you back is the greatest gift I could ask for Canan. But I still wanted to do this for you." He says and levitates a present over to him in a fashion that would make Flitwick proud. "Now get started on your gifts. I have every right to spoil you rotten today." He says and tickles him playfully, making his son giggle as he starts tearing away at the wrapping paper, Severus being sure to snap pictures of each gift.

In the end Canan had received a new set of robes, an enchanted star map that would be mounted on his ceiling, and each constellation would move across the map in real time so he could read the stars whenever he wanted, a wizards chess board, a set of books on astrology, a set of fiction books, a practice broom, a set of self inking quills, colored ink, and parchment charmed so that ink spatters and mistakes could be vanished from the page. There were sweets from Honeydukes, socks with a warming charm, and his stocking was stuffed with a plush snake, new pajamas and a few cassette tapes from Canan's favorite muggle recording artist. There were new robes, more casual than his uniform. They were stylish and comfortable at the same time, and had a set in black, deep blue, red and green, all lined in silver. He had gotten Canan warmer outerwear than had been provided by the standard winter uniform at Hogwarts.

From the muggle world Canan received a stereo that played cassette tapes, some more books from his favorite horror series, Goosebumps. (Which of course his father had read to make sure they were appropriate.) Of course there were more cassette tapes than just the one in his stocking. He got posters of his favorite bands and a key board. "How did you know I played?" He asks, grinning excitedly. "Well you seemed quite interested when I mentioned to you I had played the piano to you while I was pregnant. By your reaction I figured that you played as well." He answers, which earned him a limpet called Canan.

It was the last gift though, that was the most special. Even if it was simple. It was a framed photograph. Not a wizarding one. Just a plain and simple muggle one. It was what the picture was of that made it so special. To a normal nine year old, this gift would be quickly forgotten and disappointing on opening, but not to Canan. A child who, until two days ago, thought he had never had the love of a parent. The photo within the frame reassured him of just how much his dad loves him, as the photo within the frame was the only picture that Severus had of his son for all those years. The picture happened to be of the two of them together, not long after he was born. Severus was holding his new born close for the first time, just after he had been cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket. He was nestled in the curve of his Dad's elbow, head against his chest, holding onto a finger from his other hand and looking up at Severus' face. Severus in return is looking down at him with a wide smile on his face, clearly in awe and eyes full of love. Poppy had told him he would want a picture of him holding his son for the first time. Little did she know just how precious that photograph would be.

"Thanks Daddy." He says, launching himself at Severus and hugging him close. "Your welcome sweet heart." He says and runs his fingers through his hair. "I have something for you too." He replies and retrieves a present hidden in the book shelf. Before fetching the gift from its place a brown, leather bound journal catches his eye. As he grabbed the gift he slipped the journal into the pocket of his house robe and takes the paper wrapped gift to Severus. "Here." He says with a grin on his face, excited for his dad to open it. Severus lets a smirk cross his face and brings the wrapped box to his ear and snakes it gently. "I wonder what it could be." He says and stretches it out as long as he can just to tease him. "Open it Dad!" He says, rolling his eyes yet smiling at the same time. "Well if you insist I suppose I shall." He says and slowly peels off the wrapping paper. "We learned a charm to carve wood in professor Flitwick's class and charming stones for protection in defense against the dark arts so I thought I would make this for you." Canan explains, hoping Severus would like the box that he carved.

The box it's self was made of ebony, matching Severus' wand, with a carving of a birth chart on the lid. Representing each planet on the chart were stones that were charmed for protection. On closer inspection Severus realized it was his own chart. It was absolutely amazing. The inside of the box had different compartments that were labeled to store different potions ingredients. The compartments were charmed so that there would be more space than there would appear outside the box. There was a compartment for lace wing flies, unicorn horns, pixie dust, eel eyes, bezoars, worm wood, anything he could think of. "You made this? Canan this is incredible!" Severus says, a smile across his face as he hugs his son, which causes him to beam happily. "I'm glad you like it." He says and hugs him back. "Like it? I love it. I've never received such a thoughtful gift Canan." He says, carding his fingers through his hair. "This is the best Christmas ever Dad." Canan exclaims. "I have to agree with that." Severus says with a grin. "Now how would you like to spend the rest of it?"

"Can I read my new books?" Asks Canan. "Of course you can." Says Severus as he vanishes the wrapping paper and each of them curl up with a stack of books. Canan started with one of the astrology books, reading about how magic was effected by the alignment of stars and how it carried over on magical beings. An example the book kept coming back to was werewolves and the lunar cycle. It was interesting but the journal in his pocket piqued his curiosity. After reading through the first chapter of the astrology text he sets it aside after marking his page and withdraws the journal from his pocket, opening to a random page, which was dated the 11th of June, 1981. He knew nothing of the charm that had protected the journal years ago as it had already been removed, and had no idea that the journal belonged to his paternal father. With that ignorance, he begins to read.

June 11, 1981.

Lilly and I are still in hiding, and in about a month and a half she's due with our first son, Harry. Dumbledore suspects that there may be a traitor within the Order of the Phenoix. I suppose it was wise that Peter, Sirius, Lilly, Dumbledore and myself made the arrangements for having Peter as the secret keeper for our Fidelus charm instead of Sirius was wise after all. He's been leading the death eaters on a chase across Europe, though he's unable to give them the information which they seek. Nobody suspects a thing.

This was James Potter's Journal! And wasn't Sirius Black in Azkaban? If his dad had the journal wouldn't he know that the man was innocent? Especially if he had read it? He got the feeling he shouldn't have been reading it. It was on the shelf with old potions journals, though clearly this was a journal of a different kind. "Um, Daddy?" Asks Canan, fidgeting a bit. Severus raises an eyebrow at the tone of his voice and nervous movement. "Please don't be mad at me. I found this on the shelf with your potions journals. I thought it was just another one. And um, from the one page I read I discovered it was James Potter's. And it said something about Peter Pettigrew, the guy his secret keeper, Sirius Black killed, actually being the secret keeper instead of Sirius."

Severus' heart stops for a moment before taking the book from the child. "I forgot this was there. I'm not mad at you for an error I made, but how much of this did you read Canan?" Asks Severus, trying not to let on just how nervous he was. "Only this entry. But this entry shows that Sirius couldn't have been the one to betray the Potters." He says. With this Severus' breathing slows down to a normal pace and he looks over the entry. "It would seem you are correct." He says after a moment of shock, though he had plenty of thoughts racing through his mind. The first of course was to get Sirius out of Azkaban. As much as he couldn't stand the man he had been a bit more civil to him after they graduated, though it was a brief window. And he wasn't so evil as to wish dementors on someone who didn't deserve them. So his first thought was to contact Albus. But the next thought he had was that Albus performed the charm, and as a result of which, had to know who the true secret keeper was. The resulting question was of course why would Dumbledore allow an innocent man to be sentenced to life in Azkaban? Severus didn't have an answer and found that information and the possible reasons for withholding the fact the man was innocent to be highly disturbing.

Of course he was wondering why Sirius was at the scene of the crime where 12 muggles had been blown up and why the auroras had found Pettigrew's finger. It was too early to say for sure, but it seemed as though the man was framed. Which brought him back to the question of why Dumbledore would allow that. He couldn't think of a reason, at least one that didn't cast a dark shadow over the character of the head master. So he knew he couldn't go to Dumbledore with that information. Indeed, more and more things the head master had done were called into question with this new information and he had to question many of his actions. There was the way he handled the werwolf incident in his fifth year, the way he neglected to do anything when he told Dumbledore about his father the end of first year. The way he handled the situation with Canan. Placing Harry Potter, as loathe as he was to admit it, with Lilly's sister. He knew the women had been physical with Lilly. He had to agree with Minerva that Petunia really was the worst sort of muggle. He knew that he couldn't bring this information to the headmaster. If there was one thing he knew, was that the deeper one dug, the more dirt one found, and he had enough dirt not to trust Dumbledore at this moment.

"Canan enjoy your books. I need to make a floo call." He says, standing up in a billow of robes and heading to his study and kneeling in the hearth before casting a silenceo. "Lucius! Get over here. I have urgent business I need to discuss with you." Severus hissed into the fire, to which Lucius' face appeared in response. "Severus? It's Christmas. What could possibly be so important?" Asks the blonde rather incredulously. "Just come over. I would rather discuss this in person." He informs him. Recognizing his friend's urgent tone, he nods. "All right. Step back. I'll come through the floo." Severus nods and backs away from the hearth and the flames glow green.

"Severus what's going on? Is my godson alright?" He asks, looking around the study and not seeing the smaller noirette anywhere. "Canan is just fine Lucius. He found something though that I think you should see. But first, how much do you trust the head master. I want you to be honest with me." Severus demands. Lucius nods and begins hesitantly. "Severus, my loyalty is to the light. Not to its leader. I was a double agent and saw the worst of both sides. I do know that there's more to the headmaster than an eccentric old man." Severus nods in return. "Many people follow him blindly. But I've always had my doubts about the man. Today I found out those doubts were well placed." He says and hands him the diary, still open to the entry about the secret keeper. The blonde lawyer reads the entry, then reads it again a second time. "Well this is unexpected. Shocking really. As a lawyer I have an obligation to take this to the ministry though Severus." Says the blonde. "That's why I called you. As much as I didn't get along with black in our school days I can't see an innocent man in prison." A heavy silence follows for a good minuet.

"Well I'll call an emergency meeting with the Wizengamot. Hopefully they'll pull memories from Black and use Vertiserum and I'll be home in time for Christmas dinner with Black. Perhaps you and Canan can join my family. Draco misses his uncle and I'm sure he would like to be properly introduced to his cousin. That is if he feels up to it." Lucius offers. "I'll run it by him. He is feeling plenty better. Still I would like to make sure." Severus replies. "Of course. Cissy is the same way with Draco." Lucius says understandingly. This earns a chuckle from Severus. "You say it like you aren't just as bad." Lucius concedes the point and says, "Well one can never be too careful with their child. But floo me later and let me know about dinner. I'll tell you how everything went. Do you mind if I take this?" Asks Lucius, holding up the journal. "By all means." Severus says with a nod. "Thank you. I'll be off then. Merry Christmas Severus." He says and steps through the floo.

Severus walks out of his study to find Canan absorbed into a book and puts a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. The action causes him to jump and look at his father rather sheepishly and says, "I'm sorry! Please don't be mad." Severus sits down with him and pulls Canan onto his lap. "Canan why do you think your in trouble?" He asks. "Because I get the feeling that's something you didn't want me reading." He explains. Severus nods. "Yes. That wasn't something I would have given you permission to read. But you thought that was one of my potions journals, and I gave you permission to read those didn't I?" Canan nods his head. "That's right. So you didn't do anything wrong. Now, are you feeling up to visiting with some people? Your uncle has some business to take care of at the ministry, but we could go meet your cousin Draco properly and your Aunt Cissy. But only if you feel like you'll be okay." Canan nods his head eagerly. "Let me just get ready first." He says and stands up from the couch. "All right. I'll let Cissy know we're on our way." He says and sends her a quick note via owl and goes to get ready as well, taking a quick shower, brushing his teeth and hair, and shaving real quickly before trying to decide what to wear for robes. In the end he just elected to wear his usual robes with a green shirt underneath instead of his usual white. He walks out of his room and finds Canan seated on the couch, dressed in a set of his new green robes, and his hair askew. He couldn't help but chuckle. One thing he hadn't gotten from him was limp hair. "Accio hair brush." He says and sits next to him and starts trying to tame his son's hair and giving some thought as to buying some products to help keep it tame throughout the day. After arranging the wavy hair into a style that had something that resembled order to it he grabs his hand. "You ready to go?" He asks. "Yep!" Canan exclaims, stepping into the floo. "Very well. Let's go then." He says, grabbing a handful of floo powder and calling out "Malfoy Mannor." And stepping out on the other side.

Narcessica was of course waiting for them, dressed in an elegant blue silk gown with a seven year old blonde fidgeting excitedly at her side. Narcissistic smiles warmly at Severus and hugs him. "Merry Christmas Severus. I'm glad you could join us." She says and pulls away from the embrace. "And I finally get to meet my godson!" She says turning to Canan. "Hello. I'm your Aunt Cissy." She says, kneeling down and hugging the younger Snape. "I'm so happy to get to meet you. I never thought this day would come." Canan was rather unsure about how to handle this and pats her back and doesn't say anything, looking up to Severus for guidance. Severus shrugs and shakes his head, letting him know he didn't know how to handle her either.

When she pulls away and ruffles his hair, she dismisses him and Draco to go play. "Lucius fire called before you arrived. The trial was over in 20 minuets. Their just filing the paper work and retrieving his effects. Him and Sirius should be through shortly. I thought I would send the boys to play in case he decides to act like..." She pauses trying to find the words. "In case he decides to be himself?" Severus offers helpfully. "For lack of a better explanation yes." She concedes, just in time as the fire place roars to life in a green flame. The two cut their conversation short, turning to the hearth.

Severus can't help but cringe as his rival walks out of the fire place, black hair matted to his head, face dirty and teeth stained from years of neglect. The striped prison attire probably hasn't been washed in his whole seven year stay, based off the putrid stench rolling off of them. His face was covered in stubble and his eyes looked over Severus with suspicion. Before Severus could blink he found himself at the end of the man's wand, and before he could even begin to wonder what was going on, Sirius barks, "Snivelly what the hell do you have James' diary for?"

Squirrel note: throw me a nut here. Leave a review.