On the first Friday of October, after classes ended for the day, Adam, Leah, and Esther took a Portkey home so they could get ready for the bar and bat mitzvah ceremony taking place tomorrow. Ginny, David, Luna, and Jonas had been invited to attend, and they were going to Floo to Jonas's home the next morning (from the fireplace in Professor Flitwick's office) and then be taken to the synagogue by Jonas's parents.
When they returned the following evening, just in time for dinner, they were discussing the events of the day and Leah was telling her sister that Esther's bat mitzvah ceremony next year would be more-or-less the same. David and Jonas were comparing the ceremonies to the ones that Ivan and Vera had, and the latter was also speculating over the one that he would have next year. As his birthday was on October 20th, his ceremony would likely take place on the last Saturday of October. Ginny and Luna joined in comparing the ceremonies, since they had attended Ivan and Vera's ceremonies, due to their families' friendship with the Romanov-Petrov clan.
"I'm surprised Professor Snape was there, though," Ginny said. "I understand his being there at Ivan and Vera's ceremonies, since he's friends with your family and Ivan is godson, but there was no reason for him to be present at yours, Adam and Leah."
Leah actually giggled, and Adam said, "Mum invited him. You can't tell anyone else, but he and Mum are dating."
"What?!" Ron exclaimed, as the Gryffindor quintet had been walking with them and had heard most of their conversation.
Adam turned around and made a shushing noise. "Not so loud, Ron. Do you want all of Hogwarts to hear us?"
"Sorry," said Ron, lowering his voice. "What do you mean about your mother and Professor Snape?"
Leah looked around, then gestured to an empty classroom nearby. "Let's talk over there, so nobody can overhear us." Though there was nobody in the hallway other than them, she nodded at a painting further down the hall, which would no doubt have a painted person that could overhear and gossip.
The twelve of them went inside the classroom, and Hermione put a Silencing Charm on the door so that no noise could escape the room. After everyone had sat down, Leah explained, "Professor Snape and our mother have been in a relationship for the past six months, but they're keeping it mostly secret. He reminds Mum of our father, but different enough that it's not like she's with a carbon copy of him. And she reminds Professor Snape of his first love, but with differences. He was a little reluctant to date her at first, citing his past, but Mum understands and doesn't care about his past. She pointed out that his past was no different from her father's. Grand-pere Henri also pretended to be a bad person in order to get information for the good side, though in his case it was pretending to be a Nazi sympathizer so he could get information for the French Resistance."
Beth and Alex exchanged looks. They knew that Professor Snape had once been in love with Lily Evans Potter, but getting involved with his housemates that supported Voldemort and calling her a 'Mudblood' in a fit of anger and embarrassment had ended their friendship, much less any chance of getting into a relationship. He had then been drawn further to the Dark side, though that was mostly to keep his housemates from targeting him, and the support of his Potions mentor and the rest of the Romanov-Petrov clan had kept him from actually embracing that side. He had made the mistake of taking the Dark Mark and swearing allegiance to Voldemort, but it wasn't as if he could have said no without being killed, and had then made up for the mistake by spying on the Dark Lord, though Granny Ilsa had tried to talk him out of it at first.
The death of Lily Potter had greatly upset him, but the Romanovs and Petrovs had helped him get through his grief. Alex suspected that incident was a big reason that Professor Snape was the way he was, along with not having a good childhood. However, it could have been worse. Considering who Alex's biological father was, Professor Snape could have decided to outright hate him, and be harsh towards Alex all the time, instead of his actual behavior of being strict in class and fairly decent in private. Alex figured that was partly due to Professor Snape focusing solely on the fact that Alex was Lily's son, and partly due to being raised by the Romanov-Petrov clan. It probably also helped that the Adoption Potion made him look more like a masculine version of Beth and less like a copy of James Potter, except with Lily's eyes and a lightning bolt scar.
"Well, being a relationship would be good for Professor Snape," said Jonas. "Ivan says that his godfather never really got over the death of Lily Potter and always thought that finding a second love could help him. Professor Snape is really lonely."
"I agree," said Adam. "Professor Snape wasn't anywhere as gloomy or brusque as he usually is when he visited us during the summer holidays. He actually smiled and laughed, and was really nice to Mum and us. He and Mum also went on lots of dates when the three of us were in Egypt."
"So you have no problem with Professor Snape dating your mum?" asked Ginny. "What if the two of them got married?"
Esther shrugged. "It's not like we remember our father. I was two weeks old when he died, and Adam and Leah were a year old. And Mum hasn't dated anyone since his death, until now, anyway. She might not have been as bad as Professor Snape, since she had us, but she was still very distraught over Dad's death and I don't think she ever really got over it, either. Being with Professor Snape is good for her, too."
"I think they'll be happy together," said Luna. "Professor Snape and Mrs. Rosenberg will balance each other."
"Thanks, Luna," said Adam. "Just remember, don't go spreading it around, you guys. If the Dark Lord ever returned to power, Professor Snape would want to resume his position as a spy, and he can't do that if it's known that he's in a relationship with a Muggle woman."
The others winced and hastily promised to keep it quiet. After that, Hermione removed the Silencing Charm on the door and they all continued on their way to the Great Hall for dinner.
The first Hogsmeade visit of the school year happened to fall on Halloween. Professor McGonagall collected the signed permission slips from the Gryffindors on the day before, at the end of Transfiguration. The only exception was Neville, whose grandmother had sent his permission slip to Professor McGonagall directly, feeling that it was safer due to his tendency to sometimes misplace or forget things.
Walking past the dementors that were stationed at the school entrance wasn't fun at all. Even though he was surrounded by his friends, Alex still was affected, this time hearing a woman pleading for someone, presumably Voldemort, to spare Harry and take her instead. Alex had already suspected that the worst memory that the dementors triggered was of Voldemort's attack on his biological parents and himself, and this confirmed it. He would have fainted again, but Beth and Ron grabbed his arms and pulled him past the dementors as quickly as possible, while Neville and Hermione hovered protectively behind him, despite the effect the dementors were having on them.
Percy and Vera, who happened to be walking a little ways behind the quintet, saw what was going on and promptly did the Patronus Charm. Their Patronuses of an echidna and a platypus, respectively, appeared and drove the dementors back to make it easier for the group. The two then stayed with their patronuses until all the younger students had gone through the entrance, joined by the Head Girl and the seventh-year prefects, who had all learned the Patronus Charm in N.E.W.T.-level Defense the previous year. Once all the students that were visiting Hogsmeade had passed the entrance, the prefects and Head Boy and Girl went through themselves, and then dispelled their Patronuses.
The Gryffindor quintet was waiting for Vera and Percy on the outskirts of the village. "What was your Patronus, Percy?" asked Ron. "None of us recognized it. And was your Patronus really a duckmole, Vera?"
"Yes it was," answered Vera.
"And my Patronus is an echidna, also known as the spiny anteater," Percy responded.
Hermione gasped. "I've heard about echidnas! They're the only mammal, along with the platypus, that lays eggs instead of giving birth."
"I think Professor Lupin may have mentioned echidnas when he was teaching us about Australia," said Beth thoughtfully. "But he never showed us any pictures of them. The only pictures of Australian animals he showed us were of kangaroos, koalas, emus, diricawls, and duckmoles."
"Duckmoles?" asked Hermione, looking confused. "What are you talking about?"
"That's what wizards call the platypus," Alex said. "When the British first discovered the animal, they gave it the name of 'duckmole', and the wizarding world stuck with that, even though the Muggle world eventually went with 'platypus'. Outside of Australian wizards, it's not likely to be brought up in conversation, and there was no reason for you to research Australian animals, so I'm not surprised you hadn't heard the term before."
"Oh," said Hermione. "Erm, out of curiosity, why are your Patronuses of an echidna and a platypus, Percy and Vera?"
Percy shrugged. "I don't really know, but Vera thinks it might have something to do with how I'm different from my siblings, personality-wise."
"After all, echidnas, unlike other mammals, lay eggs instead of giving birth," Vera pointed out. "And I guess because we're together, my Patronus turned out to complement his, since duckmoles are the other mammal that lays eggs."
Alex raised his brow at what that sentence implied. Considering that his own biological parents had complementing Patronuses (that of a stag and a doe), and his adoptive parents were the same (their Patronuses were both kestrels) he suspected that Vera and Percy's relationship was going to end up with their marriage sometime in the future.
"You two are going to end up married someday, aren't you?" asked Ron, saying what his friends all happened to be thinking.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley!" exclaimed Percy, turning as red as his hair. "You don't say something like that! And it's none of your business, anyway."
"I'm sorry, but Vera did say that her Patronus complemented yours, which implies that you two are meant for each other," Ron said. "There are several couples that had matching or complementing Patronuses."
"That still doesn't mean you can say stuff like that," Percy scolded. "As I said before, it's none of your business."
"I'm sorry," Ron repeated. "I was just curious, that's all."
"Be curious about other things," Vera said firmly. "Now, why don't you five go off and explore Hogsmeade? Just be on your guard, and come find us if you should run into any trouble."
The Gryffindor quintet nodded and headed for Honeydukes Sweet Shop.
Author's Note: I decided that since the wizarding world is old-fashioned enough that Neville would say that his Great-Uncle Algie got him a plant from Assyria (which no longer exists as a country and the region is called something else), they would also be old-fashioned enough to refer to the platypus by the name British settlers originally called it. Since Percy is rather different from his siblings, personality-wise, I decided to make his Patronus be an animal that was different from other mammals, and give Vera one that complemented it, since they're in a relationship together and will likely get married in the future.