Their paths crossed several times, but the next time Severus spoke to Ron was at Hera Malfoy's christening. Draco and Helene were spending more and more time in France, and the ceremony was held in a small chapel on their property near Epernay. Severus could understand that with many of his English properties and assets confiscated, and a French wife, Draco's life was naturally centering itself in France, but he still felt bereft. Former Order members formed a little English island in a sea of French relatives and friends. Severus drifted off, wandering down the rows of green vines in search of a few quiet moments.

At the foot of the hill was a very utilitarian equipment shed, and sitting on the ground with his back against the far side, apparently enjoying the sunshine, was Ron Weasley.

"Beautiful, isn't it," he murmured lazily.

"I imagine it would be hard to tell with your eyes closed."

Ron grinned. "All that food and the wine... just makes me want to fall asleep," he admitted.

Severus smirked, then transfigured a chair from a packing crate and sat down next to him.

"So you're just here for the food then, Mr Weasley."

"And the wine, Mr Snape!"

Severus became lost in his own thoughts for a little while, and when he looked down it appeared that his companion had actually fallen asleep; his head was drooping at a strange angle and his mouth agape.

Ron Weasley had grown into someone strangely comfortable to be around, Severus mused. Perhaps it was because he had been the first friendly face he had seen when he left prison, or because he had been the one to give back Severus' wand. Maybe it was because he had been the one to see how disorienting Severus found it to be around a crowd of people he barely knew as adults but who seemed to feel that they had proprietary rights in his life. Possibly it was an effect of Ron's strong gift for friendship, or perhaps it was just because he was a Weasley, and however irritating he found the family en masse, at the back of his mind was the reassuring knowledge that they stood immovably for the Light. In any case, he was an undemanding companion.

The sun was going down, and soon the cool of the evening began to settle on the vineyard. Severus returned his chair to its original state and spoke loudly.

"Wake up Sleeping Beauty!"

Glazed blue eyes opened and a flush passed across the young man's face as he realised that he had been asleep. "Oh! Thanks. How embarrassing!" He jumped to his feet and started up the hill briskly.

Following less hastily, Severus called, "Mr Weasley!"

An enquiring face turned around.

Severus gestured to where the good French soil had left an imprint upon a fine English pair of trousers, and seeing total incomprehension upon the freckled face, sighed and did it himself. "Tergeo."

"Oh. Er, thanks!" Ron slowed down and fell back to walk with him. "Do you think you could call me 'Ron', sir? There are so many Weasleys at these events, I never know which of us is being called."

"Certainly, ... er, Ron. And I am rather tired of being called 'Sir'. You may address me as Severus, if you wish."

Ron looked pleased. "Thank you, Severus."

The dusk was closing in swiftly, and the lights from the party at the top of the hill gleamed . Just short of the circle of light, Severus stopped, and Ron turned to wait for him. The furrow between his brows was once again in evidence as he lifted his face to Ron. "I hope you will not find me impertinent, Ron, if I ask you something which has been puzzling me."

Ron shrugged genially. "Ask away."

"I thought that you and Miss Granger were together in school, and yet I now find that she is with Mr Potter and I have never seen you with a partner."

"Ten years is a long time, Severus." Ron's face was shuttered, but not angry.

"Mmmm. Yes. I missed them. The eldest Potter child is nine, I believe."

Ron turned to place his face in shadow and walked a few steps back down the slope. Severus followed him, remaining at a slight distance. Voice and face carefully neutral, he said carefully, "I meant no offence, Ron. There is no obligation upon you to satisfy my curiosity."

"No, that's OK. I just... this isn't really a matter to discuss at a party." Closing the gap between them slightly he lowered his voice. "I prefer men, actually, and Harry and Hermione preferred each other."

"Is it a secret? Your preference?"

"Not... exactly. I just don't broadcast it. My family and friends know, but as you have noticed I don't have a partner, so... what's the point of mentioning it?"

Severus was still puzzled, but the party flowed out to meet them and closed around them before they had a chance to clarify anything further.

- o - o -

They ended up sharing one of the guest rooms. Originally Severus was to have had his own room, but extra people stayed the night, and something had to give. Ron could see that no-one else was particularly keen to share Severus' room, and he had no objection so he volunteered.

It was Epernay, after all, and there had been a lot of champagne.

Far too much champagne, Ron decided, when he and Snape fell into an argument as soon as the bedroom door closed behind them.

"I just don't understand why you haven't made more of your fame and fortune. It's been ten years! When I was imprisoned you were on the cusp of having everything you could ever want, and ten years later... nothing. You have nothing."

Ron snorted, lying flat on his back and watching the ceiling turn lazy circles. "Tell me how you really feel, Snape."

"Severus."

"I think you just insulted me, Severus. So why shouldn't I call you 'Snape'?"

"Truth is no insult. You could have had fame, fortune, love..."

"I'm on a chocolate frog card, you know."

"...power, influence, sex..."

"I don't understand this obsession of yours, Severus! I have everything I want!"

"You have a job as an ordinary auror..."

"I like being an auror."

"...earning less than your brother Percy..."

"I don't need more money!"

"...and you're alone!"

"I like..."

"Don't tell me you like being alone."

Ron flushed, turning his face away. "I wanted Harry," he said flatly.

Snape's expression didn't change. "You could have had Harry," he said exasperatedly.

"I know, but..."

"But what?"

"He's happier with Hermione. And Hermione is happy with him. He always wanted to be ordinary, and now he is. As ordinary as he can manage, anyway."

Severus groaned. "Gryffindors! You had everything, and you gave it away."

There was a little silence. Ron blinked, thinking... "Severus?"

"Yes."

"How did you know I could have had Harry? I mean, I knew, if I just said something... I think Harry knew and Hermione... I think she guessed... but it it all happened in seventh year and..."

Snape gave him the old 'you idiot child' glare. "That's how it works. You could have had anything you wanted. You still could."

"What are you raving on about? How what works?"

"Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. That's how it works. The gift of friendship brings you everything you want."

Ron rolled over to face him, eyes creasing with mirth. "Severus, have you finally gone off your rocker? I'm the sixth son! There is is no seventh son, and anyway my father is an only child!"

Severus sat up, shaking his head as if to clear it. "You mean no-one ever told you? The old coot didn't even tell you? I'm the only one left who knows?"

Ron sat up too, although it made him dizzy... dizzier. "Severus, how much have you had to drink, in Merlin's name? I am not the seventh son of a seventh son. I'm just a very ordinary sixth son of no-one in particular."

Severus shook his head again, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "A moment, if you please. This isn't to do with how much I had to drink. It's true." He took a few deep breaths, then raised dark eyes to look at Ron.

"Albus worked it out. He couldn't understand your friendship with Potter. Chosen One, Brightest witch of our age ... and you. And it was clear that the other two adored you. You were the glue in the trio. You made it work. He developed this obsession. First he probed into Arthur's history. You know his father was very old when he was born?"

"Yeah, a hundred or something, but..."

"Your father was from his second marriage. Your grandfather's first wife left him and returned to Spain with her four sons in 1908."

"Yeah, so that'd make Dad a fifth son..."

"But she was pregnant with twin boys when she left. I don't think your grandfather ever knew. Albus sent me to Spain to rake through old records to confirm it."

"But even if that's true, I'm still only a sixth son."

"Sons don't have to be born in wedlock to count."

Ron went white under his freckles.

Snape watched him consideringly. "It's not as bad as you are fearing. Your parents split up over the Christmas holidays of their seventh year. Arthur had a brief affair with a Muggle waitress and then got back together with your mother after the holidays."

Ron still looked pale. "I don't feel very well," he blurted out, before making a sudden bolt for the door. Severus could hear the door into the nearby bathroom crash open and shut again behind him.

Downstairs, someone was still awake. At the edge of his hearing, voices murmured idly of their own concerns. He tried not to listen to the noises coming from the bathroom. Eventually, they stopped, and there was a sound of running water through the old pipes. The door opened and Ron padded back into the room. He smelled of damp and peppermint. The darkness closed around them as they both lay flat on their beds, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, Ron."

Ron's voice was curiously flat. "I have another brother..."

"His mother gave him up for adoption and he now lives in New Zealand, where he attended the local equivalent of Hogwarts. He thinks he is Muggleborn."

"What's his name?"

"Gordon Anstey. He has red hair. Or at least... this was fifteen or more years ago, you realise? I don't know what happened later."

"You met him? Did Dumbledore send you to New Zealand, too?"

"No. He had contacts of his own there, but I saw a photograph. He looked a lot like Charlie in the photo."

Ron sighed. "Does Dad know?"

"I have no idea."

The room was quiet for a long time. Eventually Severus must have fallen asleep, and when he awoke, Ron was gone.

- o - o -

A week after the christening Severus came up from his potions lab to find Ron making dinner in his kitchen. A fine steak was waiting to go on the grill with roast potatoes nearly ready and vegetables ready to flash-steam When he saw Severus, Ron placed the steaks on the grill.

"Where's your frying pan? I want to do some mushrooms."

Severus pointed, and watched as Ron sliced the mushrooms. "My wards?" he asked evenly.

Ron pointed to himself. "Auror."

Severus copied him. "Spy."

Ron shrugged and turned again to the frying pan. "Pissed-off auror. Sorry about that." He didn't sound sorry.

The wards had been brutalised. Severus figured he had twenty minutes before dinner was ready to do some rough-and-ready repairs. As he did it, he planned better wards to replace them, realising that he had been careless. When he arrived at the cottage he had been weak and out of practice, but he should have upgraded the wards as his strength returned.

Ron was a good cook. Severus didn't tend to invest a lot of energy in eating, and this was the best meal he had had since his visit to the Malfoys, but Ron merely picked at his meal. Severus didn't think he had ever seen Ron fail to eat heartily before. It disturbed him. He waited for the younger man to come to the point of his visit, feeling annoyed that he didn't know how to ask without causing offence. He was the one whose privacy had been invaded, after all! He should be incandescent with rage. Ron should be... damnit... apologetic, and...

Severus sighed. None of that was going to happen. He knew - basically - why Ron was here, and he really couldn't be bothered getting angry about it. He kept eating and waited.

Finally Ron muttered. "Dad didn't know."

"Oh. er... about your brother?"

"And about his brothers."

"Oh."

Ron poked at the steak .

"How did he receive the news?"

Ron shrugged. Severus waited.

"I can't believe Dumbledore never told us! How could he do that to us?"

"The Headmaster never told anyone anything unless he was forced to. It was his greatest fault, in my opinion."

Ron took a sullen mouthful of mushrooms, chewing slowly. Severus eyed him with irritation. The mushrooms were uncommonly good, and if Ron wasn't going to enjoy them he should leave them to someone who did. He leaned over and emptied the remainder onto his plate.

"You knew," Ron accused.

"I thought you knew, too."

"You said it yourself; Dumbledore never told anyone anything."

Severus was beginning to become annoyed. As annoyed as he could feel with a mouthful of steak and mushrooms. "Ron. I thought you knew."

"Well I didn't!"

"And now you do." Severus attempted to revive the death glare of his teaching days. Then he took another mouthful of mushrooms, somewhat marring the effect. "What do you want of me anyway?"

Ron pushed his chair back. For once, Severus could see in him the emotionally overcharged teenager he had been. It struck him anew how much that fiery child had changed, to become the man he was now.

"All my life," Ron began, "I've been nothing special. Harry, Hermione... You said it in France: Chosen One, Brightest Witch... and me." He looked nauseated. Severus tried not to think of mushrooms.

"But you are special," he prompted.

"Yeah but not because of me. Just because I was born after the twins. I mean, if Gordon Anstey had been twins, George would have been the one." He looked somewhat disoriented at the thought, as indeed did Severus. "You even said that that was what made Dumbledore suspicious. He thought I was too ordinary to be friends with Harry and Hermione."

Severus rolled his eyes. "It was the strength of your bond that made him so suspicious! The three of you didn't appear to have all that much in common, but suddenly there you were, completely inseparable. From the moment you walked into the Great Hall to be sorted, you and Potter were a unit - and you'd never even met before! Potter even chose his house based on how you were treated.

"The old man was thrilled when he figured it out; he said that if the Dark Lord were going to win, you would have been in Slytherin, making friends with Draco Malfoy and all the little Death Eater wannabes. Choosing Potter was a clear sign that the Light was going to win, he said. Repeatedly."

Ron sniffed, seeming a little calmer. "Wrong about Draco, wasn't he? And anyway, maybe I was just going to hand Harry over to Voldemort and win fame and riches that way."

Severus nodded. "Don't think he didn't consider the possibility! But by the time he had all the details worked out he knew that you would never do that - it's not in you. Now if Gordon Anstey had been quadruplets..." His mouth twitched up at the corners.

Ron grinned reluctantly, sharing Snape's vision of Percy, back in his pompous heyday, seeking glory by handing the Chosen One to Voldemort. "He wouldn't have, you know," he protested feebly.

"Mmm," Snape dropped the subject. "Miss Granger was born bright," he continued, "Potter was born into prophesy, and you were born with a magical gift. No credit to anyone in that; it's just what happened. What you did with those gifts is what mattered. All of you used them well in the service of the Light."

Ron stared reflectively at the wall for a moment, then sighed and moved back to the table. "I still don't like it," he admitted, picking up his knife and fork.

"Understandably so."

"Oy! You didn't have to take ALL the mushrooms!"

Severus ate faster.