Chance Meeting at the Ink Pot
by Healer Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC!
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse.
Driven by an unseen force, Sirius and Taiyo-kun suddenly moved upwards, before they very slowly began to descend again and finally made a soft landing on the ground. In a daze Sirius climbed down from the injured hippogriff and buried his head in his father's robes, realising that he suddenly had a splitting headache.
"Sirius, are you injured?" Severus asked in concern. "I don't know how you managed to make such an unexpected soft landing, but I'm glad that you didn't hit the ground with full-force."
"Yeah, that's true," Sirius whispered miserably.
=That was not due to the wind gods. You did elemental magic. You called the wind for help,= he suddenly heard Taiyo-kun speak with him.
"The elements?" Sirius asked in confusion. "Wind magic? I don't understand," he mumbled, unaware of the concerned looks the adults around him exchanged.
"Are you all right?" Severus asked worriedly, trying to pry Sirius' head from his robes to get a good look at him.
"Mr. Snape, what is wrong?" Professor Ito queried, causing the boy to slowly move his head to the side.
"It's all right, sir. I was just surprised because Taiyo-kun told me that it wasn't the wind gods that saved us but the wind itself," Sirius replied in a barely audible voice. "How can the wind help us?"
"Is he delirious?" Severus quietly asked his colleague, who pulled out his laser wand and pointed it at Sirius.
"No Severus, his temperature is almost normal; however he has completely depleted his magic and therefore has a terrible headache." He let out a thoughtful sigh. "Mr. Snape, apparently you are able to call the elements, the wind in particular, for help. The use of elementary magic is a very rare ability, but it is said to happen from time to time, especially here in Japan. Unfortunately, you are still too young and your magic is still too weak to efficiently use this ability."
'I'm already twelve,' Sirius thought, before he asked, "Is Taiyo-kun all right?"
"Yes, he is, but you're not," Ito growled, turning to Poppy. "Take Snape with you."
"Very well; come on, Sirius. Let's see what we can do to make you feel better. Don't worry; I'll release you to your own room after you've taken a few potions." With that she dragged the protesting boy with her, smiling upon seeing that his best friends as well as Severus and Minerva were following them at a short distance. Pomfrey made Sirius sit on the first bed and made him drink several potions, before she said firmly, "You will be exempt from your classes until the beginning of the holidays, and I don't want you to do any magic whatsoever until at least Christmas day. Come to see me after breakfast every morning."
"Ah but…"
"No buts," Severus firmly interrupted his son. "You will do as you are told, and there are only three days of classes left anyway."
"If I may ask one question," Minerva threw in thoughtfully. "Sirius, you told us that you were able to understand what your hippogriff said. Have you always been able to communicate with him? Normally people can only understand what animals say, if they are Animagi and able to transform into that exact type of animal."
Sirius realised that the adults were looking at him expectantly and feverishly pondered how to reply without giving himself or his friends away. However, before he could come up with a good answer, he was pulled into a vision.
"Sirius, are you all right? Did something happen?" he heard his father's concerned voice when the vision was over.
"Yes, I'm fine. The Dark Lord was angry once again, because he asked his Death Eaters to search for the muggle families with magical children for a Christmas raid and they couldn't find any," Sirius explained, grinning.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
During the following year, Professor Ito did intense research in order to find a method of eliminating or at least deactivating Sirius' scar. It was a few days before his fourteenth birthday that the professor addressed Severus and Sirius and informed them that he would like Sirius to come to the infirmary for an experiment.
"I can't guarantee that it'll work; however, the only way to find out is to try," the Healer explained to the Snapes.
"I want to try," Sirius replied immediately. During the last twenty months, he had been pulled into visions every so often, and getting rid of his scar was his greatest wish for the near future.
Severus thoughtfully looked at his son, before he queried, "What can happen to Sirius in the worst case?"
The Healer let out a long sigh. "Professor Abe and Madam Pomfrey will join us, so that they'll be able to help Sirius in case he experiences any problems. Nevertheless, he might get headaches or other minor difficulties as after-effects of the spell. One more problem that could happen is that his magic tries to fight the spell. This is one of the points, which Professor Abe and Madam Pomfrey will check, and if it happens, they'll try to suppress his magic; still it might lead to a temporary depletion of his magic. However, the spell will not be life threatening for him."
"Please Dad, let's try the spell," Sirius begged his father, who grudgingly agreed and promised to remain with Sirius, while Professor Ito cast the spell.
Together with Severus, Sirius followed Professor Ito into the infirmary, barely noticing that not only the headmaster and Madam Pomfrey but also Mami and Minerva gathered around the bed to which the Healer motioned him.
"Lie down and relax," Ito instructed him. "Madam Pomfrey will monitor you all the time, and as soon as she realises that you're in pain, she will spell potions into your system or make you sleep right away."
Sirius threw his father a frightened look, feeling very much comforted when Severus gently squeezed his hand. "Okay, I'm ready," he told the Healer, before he closed his eyes, fiercely squeezing Severus' hand in anticipation of what was going to happen.
Mere seconds later, he felt an enormous pain in his head as the magical laser beam hit his scar, before the world turned black.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
When Sirius woke up, Kazumi and Kenji were sitting next to his bed playing wizard's chess. "Hi," Sirius said quietly.
"Sirius, you're awake!" Kazumi shouted in delight. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," Sirius replied in confusion. "What happened? The last thing I remember is that Professor Ito cast a spell at me."
The twins sighed in apparent relief. "The laser beam that he cast at you caused you to fall into a coma for a week. I'm glad you seem to be all right now though."
Sirius smiled. "I'm fine. Let's leave."
The twins laughed, but before they could reply, Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room. She waved her normal wand over the boy, followed by her laser wand, before she said, "You still have your scar. Professor Ito did not manage to eliminate it. However, we are fairly sure that the connection to Voldemort is deactivated. Please inform us immediately if you experience any pain in your scar or if you receive any visions. If you're feeling well, you may leave now. However, you mustn't do any magic for another week."
"All right. Thank you, Aunt Poppy," Sirius replied, feeling all too happy to leave. He followed the twins into the Abes' quarters, wondering, 'Why are we going to their home and not into my father's quarters?' When they crossed the living room, it was strangely dark. No light came in through the charmed windows, causing Sirius to wonder why. 'It was very bright and sunny in the infirmary,' he thought, rubbing his forehead in confusion.
"Mum and Dad are doing some strange experiments," Kazumi explained, while they headed into Kenji's room that was as bright as the infirmary.
The three friends sat on the floor around a small table and made a few plans for the new school year that was going to begin on the first of April. "What day is it?" Sirius suddenly asked, having lost track of time due to the week that he had missed.
"Today is the 28th of March, so let's enjoy our last three days of peace," Kenji chuckled, "well, as quiet as it can be together with a permanently babbling sister."
"Kenji!" Kazumi shouted in annoyance and threw a cushion at her brother, causing Sirius to laugh.
"Kazumi, Sirius, Kenji, it's dinner time!" they suddenly heard Mami Abe's voice.
'I should go home and speak with Dad,' Sirius thought, still surprised that Severus hadn't come to fetch him or at least check on him. However, he quietly followed the twins out into the still dark living room.
All of a sudden, the room lit up, and many voices were shouting, "Happy Birthday, Sirius!"
Sirius looked around in shock. His father, Minerva, Poppy, the Abes, Hermione, Mandy and Neville were gathered around him, and the whole room was decorated with colourful balloons. "Thank you," he said in surprise, smiling when Hermione pulled him into a bear hug.
"Thank Merlin you're all right," the girl said. "I was so worried about you."
"We all were," Mandy agreed. "Is everything all right?"
"Of course," Sirius smiled, sighing in relief when everyone was finished hugging him.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
Sirius was glad when the first week of the new school year was over and he was allowed to do magic again. He still couldn't believe that his connection to the Dark Lord was really gone; however, even until the beginning of the summer holidays, his scar didn't act up even once, and he thanked Professor Ito profusely.
One day, shortly before the beginning of the summer holidays, Severus kept Sirius back after his Potions class. When everyone else had left the classroom, he quickly waved his wand, casting a locking spell at the doors, before he turned to his son. "Sirius, the most famous Potions Master of Japan, Professor Uehara, invited me to spend a week together in his home in order to work on a project together. In fact, we've been working together on a potion for certain injuries resulting from laser magic accidents for about two years, and we're progressing so well that we hope to be able to make the final steps during that week."
"Of course you have to go, Dad," Sirius said, feeling very proud of his father.
"Thank you, my son," Severus replied, smiling at the boy. "Now, last night, I received a letter from him. His wife suggests that I bring my family in order to have a bit of a holiday as well. I asked Minerva if she would like to accompany you and me, and she agreed. Now I'd like to ask you if you're willing to come with us. Professor Uehara lives in Shuri, which is located on the island Okinawa in the very south west of Japan, and Mrs. Uehara offered to show you the island, while her husband and I are in the potions lab." He raised an eyebrow at Sirius, who looked at him in awe.
"I'd love to come, Dad," he blurted out. "Won't Aunt Minerva mind though? Wouldn't she prefer to travel just with you?"
Severus smirked. "No Sirius. You're my son and belong to me. If Minerva wouldn't want you to be with us, she wouldn't come. Very well then, we're going to leave on Sunday morning right after breakfast. Cicero will pack everything you need for the week. Just so you know, Okinawa is a very hot place; it is said to be much warmer than here."
"All right, Dad. Thank you for taking me with you," Sirius replied happily and hurried to his next class. 'We're going on holidays. That's too cool,' he thought, while he tried in vain to concentrate on his History of Magic class. 'And Aunt Minerva is coming with us. It's nearly as if we were a real family.'
Sirius was pulled back to reality when Kazumi gave him a slight kick in the ribs. "Sirius, what happened? You look really happy."
Sirius quietly informed her about his father's plan, and the girl gave him a happy smile. "As much as I'm going to miss you, I'm so happy for you, Sirius," she said softly. "Do you think your father and Professor McGonagall are more than just colleagues or friends?"
For the rest of the class, Sirius pondered Kazumi's question. 'They have always been good friends,' he thought. 'But perhaps there is more. Most times I go home, Aunt Minerva is there as well, and when I spend the weekends at home, she always comes for tea in the evening. Hmmm, maybe they like each other.'
That evening, the relationship between the Potions Master and the Transfiguration teacher was the main topic for the six friends, who as usual gathered in Kenji's, Neville's and Sirius' room to do their homework together.
"Have you never observed them together in the Planetarium or such?" Hermione asked in disbelief. "They seem to be very close."
"That's true; especially since McGonagall was hit by the de-aging spell," Kazumi agreed. "Before that there was probably too much of an age difference."
The three boys rolled their eyes and chuckled, but Sirius thought that the girls were very observant. 'I just hope I'm not in their way,' he thought as he went to bed that night.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
During their holidays, Sirius soon noticed that neither Severus nor Minerva seemed to think that he was in their way. On the contrary, Minerva seemed to enjoy having him with her when Mrs. Uehara took them on a sightseeing tour.
"Until the end of the nineteenth century, Okinawa didn't belong to Japan but was an independent kingdom. Shuri, where we live, was the capital city," Mrs. Uehara informed them as she took them to the castle that had been rebuilt a few years ago. She showed them around for a while, until Sirius pointed to two parallel rails a few meters above the street, giving the kind woman a curious look.
"That's the monorail," Mrs. Uehara explained. "It is still new and was only built a few years ago. Do you want a ride?" Seeing Sirius and Minerva nod interestedly, she led them to the monorail.
They travelled to Naha, the newer part of the island's capital, enjoying the landscape on their way, and went to see the old market. Never before had Sirius seen so many fish in a market and suddenly Minerva let out a small cry – the fish were still moving. 'Japan is absolutely amazing,' Sirius thought when he tiredly scrambled into bed that night.
A few days later, Mrs. Uehara made a Portkey to the northern part of the island, where they visited the world's biggest aquarium. After visiting a dolphin show, which both of them had never had the opportunity to watch before, they took a magical bus back to Shuri.
"The bus reminds me of the Knight Bus. We have a similar magical bus in Britain," Minerva said, while the bus jumped through the beautiful landscape much too fast for their liking.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
On the last evening before their return to the Mirai school, Minerva, Severus and Sirius spent some time on a very quiet and beautiful beach. They enjoyed their picnic dinner that the Ueharas' elves had prepared for them, before they sat in the shadow next to the sea and enjoyed the evening sun.
"Sirius, there are two things, which we want to talk with you about," Severus thoughtfully began to speak, and Sirius noticed immediately that both points seemed to be topics that his father would rather not speak about.
tbc...
Thank you so much for your kind comments!