Chapter 26: Old and New Friends

Severus enjoyed his week with Lily and the rest of the Evans family, and by the end of that week, he would be expecting the company of one Remus Lupin.

Remus was looking fairly exhausted when he arrived via the Floo Network, and he looked very much like his mother. She and her father dropped him off, greeted and thanked Eileen and departed after a farewell kiss to Remus from his mother. His father, on the other hand, showed little affection and Remus looked displeased.

"Something wrong?" asked Severus, after the Lupins left.

"What do you mean?" asked Remus uncomfortably.

"Well, you and your father didn't seem too…close, I suppose." explained Severus.

Remus looked down. "He hates himself for what happened to me."

"Your father? Why?"

"He was the reason I became a werewolf, in a way." explained Remus. "He insulted this particularly nasty one, Fenrir Greyback…and in retaliation, Greyback took me and inflicted the bite…my father has never been able to look me in the eye since. I don't know if it's because he thinks I blame him, or because he now hates me as well for being one of the foul creatures he insulted."

Remus looked fit for tears, but Eileen surprisingly came in and rubbed his shoulder kindly.

"Don't you let such negative thoughts corrode your mind, Master Lupin." she murmured. "I saw how your father looks at you. There is no hatred in that man's eyes when he sees you, and of all people, Severus and I would know what it's like to see a man you call a father look at you with hatred and abhorrence. Your father loves you. He's just upset with himself."

Remus nodded with a small smile.

"I thought it would be different, you know." he said quietly. "I have the Wolfsbane Potion now. I could transform safely now, locked in my room and just rest peacefully. But I think the fact that my parents had to hear my agony when I transformed was too much. And then Dad only thought of negative stuff, like I have the Potion now, but what about after I leave Hogwarts? How will I get the Potion then, as I can't afford it, and neither can they? And he has a point…how will I live without it?"

"Couldn't you brew it yourself?" asked Eileen.

Severus knew he wouldn't be able to. Remus was never a good Potioneer, and he would not be able to find a lot of the ingredients without paying for more than half of them.

"I'd do it." said Severus.

"What?"

"I'd volunteer." said Severus. "I have a small fortune in my vault at Gringotts, and by the end of school, I'm sure I will know all about this Wolfsbane Potion, and then I can be your brewer. And since we're friends, I won't demand anything in return."

Remus shook his head, overwhelmed.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, Severus." he murmured dismally. "It would take up far too much of your time."

"Not really." said Severus. "We have a lab here and I believe my grandfather has a massive one at the Prince Manor. I could brew you enough to last months before needing to make another load."

"But I can't just expect this to be free." protested Remus.

"You can." said Severus. "And if by that time, you still insist, you can always pay a small amount from whatever wages you end up earning in future."

"If anything." said Remus mournfully. "Where would I be able to work? Who'd hire an adult werewolf?"

Severus and Eileen looked at him sympathetically. They couldn't answer that question confidently.

After a while, Severus invited Remus to come with him to visit Lily and her family.

Lily anticipated this eventuality for the holidays and told her parents and Petunia about Remus and his poorly condition.

"He's always falling ill?" said Rose.

"Nothing contagious, is it?" asked Trevor.

"Not so far as I know." said Lily. "Nobody in Gryffindor has complained about catching anything from him."

"Maybe Muggles are more susceptible?" suggested Petunia.

"I'm sure that isn't so, Tuney." said Lily.

The three of them nodded, trusting Lily, and Rose decided to brew some soup for the poor boy.

"Soup can cure anything. One of your Mummy's special poorliness soups too!" she said optimistically.

Lily guided Petunia to the next room.

"Tuney, could you please treat Remus like you would treat Sev and I?"

"Um, okay." said Petunia guiltily. "I won't upset him, Lils. Promise."

Lily nodded, satisfied. Petunia looked like she wanted to say something else, but refrained herself.

Severus also warned Remus that the Evans family knew nothing of his condition and that there was no need for concern.

Remus wished that Lily and her family could know the truth of his condition, but he understood that they needed to be kept in the dark for the time being, otherwise the Evans family, especially Petunia, could develop panic and shout to the stars about him.

On the way, Remus also told Severus how he and Peter and Sirius had all stayed over at James' manor over the course of the second week. Remus and Peter left after that week, but Sirius remained for another week, and if he and James could persuade their parents, maybe even longer. Sirius seemed to be much more at home with James than with his own family.

Apparently, Sirius had to lie to his parents about the Potter family's views, and they let him and Regulus go. Regulus had accepted the invitation because he wanted to hear from both Sirius and James about Hogwarts and of the ways of the Houses. He was, like his parents, disappointed that Sirius had been Sorted into Gryffindor, but he was also the only one who wasn't condescending upon Sirius and showing contempt towards him.

Remus admitted to Severus that nobody had told Regulus of his condition, as it would inevitably spark prejudice and hatred. This would, of course, had sparked James and Sirius' own rage and perhaps even retribution, which could have led to terrible legal results. So, for the time being, Regulus was kept in the dark on that little secret. But on the bright side, they all got on. But Remus pointed out that Regulus was not receiving very good feedback on Slytherin House, and he received absolutely no foul language directed at Muggle, Muggle-borns, Half-Blood, half breeds or anything below Pure Bloods. This sparked his suspicions that Sirius had invited him to hang out with some equality fighters, which he currently held no interest in.

Remus had to go home by the time these suspicions came to light, and so for the time being, none of them knew what had occurred between the Potters and the Black brothers in his absence.

Severus said that he was sure they would find out in due course, but for now, they need to enjoy the week ahead.

So, the two friends knocked on Lily's front door, and she welcomed them in, giving Remus a reunion hug.

"Feels like ages already!" she said excitedly.

Severus chuckled, and Remus just smiled happily at the continuing acceptance.

"My parents and sister are in the living room." said Lily and she practically dragged Remus in, whom still had sore muscles from his latest transformations. He refrained from mentioning it, but Severus distinctly heard and saw him wince.

"Mum, Dad, Tuney. This is Remus Lupin!" she declared in introduction.

"Good day to you, Mr Lupin." said Trevor, shaking Remus' hand heartily.

"Hello, Remus, dear." said Rose motherly, which reminded Severus distinctively of one Molly Weasley.

"He-he-hello." stuttered Remus shyly.

"Aw, bless you." said Rose. "Lilykins said you'd be shy and maybe a little poorly. Let's feel you."

"Mum!" cried Lily and Petunia in embarrassment as Rose motherly checked Remus' temperature on his forehead, as well as Lily's nickname being publicly spoken.

Severus and Trevor were trying not to laugh. Remus was shier than ever, but soon Rose let him go.

"Normal enough, maybe a tad over normal." diagnosed Rose. "Have a nice vegetable soup."

She offered him a cupful, and Remus, not wanting to seem ungrateful, obliged to the offer, sipping his soup gingerly, and found to his surprise that it tasted delicious.

"T-th-thank you, Mrs E-Evans?" he said.

"Think nothing of it, dear." said Rose sweetly.

Severus chuckled.

I really need to introduce her to Molly Weasley one day, somehow, he thought to himself.

Remus had a good time meeting the Evans family, and he found Petunia an engaging Muggle child and asked her all about the objects in her room, and even asked her if he could borrow one of her Muggle books, full of stories. She was a fan of Agatha Christie stories, and she recommended the one entitled: Poirot's Early Cases.

"Thanks, Petunia." said Remus gratefully.

Petunia smiled. "You're welcome, Remus."

Severus and Lily were glad that Petunia was able to bond with another magical child, and she was fascinated by his wand too, which was very different to Lily's and Severus' wands. It had a more circular end where the hand held it, and it also twisted in the middle. It had a peculiar and therefore engaging design.

Soon after, they stayed for dinner, where Severus and Remus once again felt the delicious benefits of Rose's cooking, aided by Petunia, while Lily made herself useful by shuffling the plates. Petunia was definitely the better cook. And Lily didn't mind. If Petunia exceeded her talents at something, then that would make them feel more equal after all.

After that, Severus and Remus bade them all farewell and escorted Remus back to Spinner's End.

"Well, that was nice." said Remus.

"Yep. Went by without a blemish." teased Severus.

"Yeah, except for being prodded and poked by Mrs Evans." said Remus.

"She's just a very maternal woman." smiled Severus. "She was like that with me and my mum after they became friends."

Remus smiled. "Not complaining too much. Pity James, Sirius and Peter are missing this though. It's very…homely here."

Severus didn't like the suggestion of the other three Marauders being house guests too, but he did feel glad that Remus felt quite at home in this new atmosphere…with his new friends.

Soon, they were back at Eileen's house, but as they entered the gate, Severus thought he could hear a voice.

"Sounds like your mother's got company." said Remus.

"But who?" wondered Severus. His grandparents weren't expected until the end of the summer, and the Evans family were all settling down at home.

Severus and Remus quietly entered through the front door and peered into the living room. There, sat on the sofa, hand in hand, were Eileen and a man that Severus didn't know. He was in his mid-forties, similar to his mother, and he was beginning to grey around the sideburns alongside his ears. The rest of his hair was wavy, sleek and brown. He was well built and had a firm look about him, but his eyes were positively burning with affection as he looked at his mother.

Severus didn't like the look of this man at all. And why the hell was he touching his mother's hands and looking at her in that way?

Remus pulled him back.

"I think your mother is dating." he whispered.

Severus cringed. "No…not again…"

Remus frowned. "What?"

"Remus, please…go upstairs and read that book. I need to speak with Mum."

Remus knew he wasn't wanted, nor did he want to be involved in this awkward situation, so he obeyed and went up to read the book.

"This was a lovely afternoon." Eileen was saying.

"And evening." added the man.

"And it ends now." snapped Severus as he entered.

Eileen rose swiftly. "Floo, Robin. Now. See you soon, I'm sorry!"

"Understood." replied Robin politely and he fled through the Floo Network post haste.

"Severus…" began Eileen, but her son cut in.

"Who the devil was that?" he demanded.

"Sit down and calm down, or I shan't tell you anything, young man!" snapped his mother firmly.

Severus flinched and sat down, afraid of what he was about to learn. The man was wearing Muggle clothing…but then he knew about the Floo Network. Was his mother dating a Muggle born?

"Okay…honey, I'm so sorry that you saw what you saw." said Eileen, seating herself beside her son.

"Who was he?" asked Severus as calmly as he could.

"His name is Robin Kennedy." explained Eileen. "He works at Hogsmeade. He has a job at the Hog's Head. I went there with Rose for a day out back when you started at Hogwarts. He's Muggle born and was in Hufflepuff."

"But he works in a shady brewery!" cried Severus. "That's like you trying to date one of Tobias' best friends!"

"He doesn't drink!" insisted Eileen.

"Course he doesn't!" sneered Severus sarcastically.

"He doesn't." insisted Eileen. "Aberforth said as much. Complained that he was willing to take a wage packet, but never spend any of it in the pub himself. And there's that awful Fletcher fellow too. He doesn't like him cos Robin never obliges on his offers to share a pint, and there's a sweet old lady who smells of cats who drinks there, and she always has a good word for him. Robin Kennedy is a very sweet man. And I found that out when he showed interest in me and Rose suggested I get to know him more."

"Mrs Evans knew about this?" asked Severus, agog that Rose never mentioned anything.

"Yes." said Eileen with a small smile. "Without Rose, I don't think I would have managed this new relationship…the last one still haunts me."

"And you really believe that this new one will be any better?" asked Severus dubiously.

"I have no doubt." said Eileen. "And I feel stronger now, especially since this is my chance not to let you down again, ever. And if Robin ever, ever causes either of us any trouble, I will get rid of him, I swear, darling!"

Severus still looked doubtful, but then he thought of how happy Eileen looked. She had suffered so much at the hands of not just one, but two versions of Tobias Snape, and she was finally, with the help of Rose Evans, able to have hope that she could have a real love in her life, a man who could truly love and care for her, no matter what her heritage and abilities were.

Severus didn't want to be so negative about this new occurrence. After all, his mother endured fresh beatings and sufferings in a second life, purely for his own sake, so he could remain able to meet Lily, and reform his past mistakes. He didn't not wish to interfere with her own upcoming happiness.

"If you and Mrs Evans trust him, Mum, then, I'll try to learn to trust him too. I want you happy too." he said meekly.

Eileen smiled. "Thank you, darling. I do trust him. He's treated me so well, and he hopes to find me a job too, maybe at the Three Broomsticks or something."

Severus smiled softly. The idea of meeting his mother in Hogsmeade now and again sounded appealing.

"I hope this all works out, Mum." he said with a smile.

Eileen thanked her son, cuddling him heartily, and then sent him off to re-join Remus in the bedroom, and explain to him that all was well again.

In Heaven, Lily Potter was having a peaceful day. James had gone out with Sirius to go and visit Remus and Tonks. Dumbledore was going to be there too. Lily declined as she had had some guests coming over to her. She invited Tonks, but Tonks politely declined as well as she wished to spend the day with her husband and cousin.

Lily only had two guests coming over without Tonks, but that was plenty for her to have pleasurable company for the day.

Until their arrival, Lily entertained herself by watching over Harry and his family growing together. James Potter Jr had lost his first teeth, Albus Severus was able to walk and play with a toy broom, and Lily Luna was learning to stand on two feet but couldn't quite manage to walk unsupervised yet.

Also, she was watching Severus and the Death Eater families she promised to keep an eye on, but nothing interesting had happened yet.

Severus himself looked very happy. Eileen had given him a proper introduction to Robin Kennedy upon Remus' departure at the end of the week.

Robin was very keen to make an impression on the twelve-year-old and after some severe words of warning from Severus, much to the embarrassed consternation of Eileen, Robin fully assured Severus that he only had Eileen's best interests at heart. In the end, Severus agreed for his mother's sake to give Robin the benefit of the doubt.

Lily approved of that. She couldn't watch Severus' doubts destroy his mother's chances at finding love again. Maybe Robin Kennedy could provide Severus with a father figure to be proud of.

Then, she surveyed the remainder of the holidays for him and her counterpart. The pair of them went to Diagon Alley to get their new supplies for second year, and met with Nora Waynefleet and her friend, Elizabeth Burns for ice cream at Fortescue's. They also met Quincey, Remus and Mary there. Everybody else were either already well supplied or were yet to come to Diagon Alley, leaving it to the last week of the holidays. After a cheerful day together, the friends went their separate ways until they were due back at Hogwarts in less than two weeks.

Lily was just finishing watching Severus and Lily's last dinner with their parents, Septimus and Desdemona when she heard a cheerful and light knock on her door.

"Come in!" she called welcomingly.

In the doorway came to women. One was none other than Helena Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena and recently arrived resident of Heaven. The second woman looked younger still, and yet with the same wise twinkle in her eyes as her brother had: Ariana Dumbledore.

"Hello, Mrs Potter." said Helena politely.

"Hello, Miss Ravenclaw." replied Lily respectfully.

"How you doing, Lily?" asked the more familiar woman.

"Delightful, thank you, Ariana." said Lily. "Nothing like some nice and quiet girl time."

The other two nodded in agreement. Although all three women could be considered chatty, their idea of quiet time was basically conversation that didn't entail the topics of Quidditch, old Marauder days and regrets of the past, not to mention, lack of a past in Ariana's case.

Ariana was delighted to reunite with her brother, Albus some time ago but it did sometimes frustrate her that to this day, he felt the need to continue apologising for his role in her death. Aberforth had passed on the previous year, and he too begged for forgiveness because he feared being the one whom had struck the fatal blow on her with his wand in the three-way conflict between himself, their brother and Gellert Grindelwald.

Helena was reunited with her mother, whom incidentally, had a rather important place in Heaven. They, in Helena's own words, had a tearful reunion and all was forgiven after a long and hard conversation between mother and daughter. She also accepted that the Bloody Baron was a part of her life and afterlife, despite his terrible sins towards her, he too paid his penance on Earth and Helena had her mother's intelligence, enough so to see that the punishment had fully fit the crime and it was time to move on. The Baron, on the other hand, also felt the need to keep apologising and it gave poor Helena some distress, aching for the solitude offered to her by Ariana after telling her of being friends with a famous witch named Lily Potter, hence their current meeting up together in Lily's heavenly residence.

Lily provided them all with some tea and buns, a favourite, if not quaint concept for elevenses. Lily felt a bit like her sister in that way, but Heaven had that sense of simplistic peace and wondered if perhaps, Petunia's livelihood was not as mundane and wasteful as she had imagined. It would never justify her cruelty to her and Harry, but Lily could see why Petunia didn't want such peace disrupted by the world that rejected her yet expected her to play sentry and host to one of their own, albeit her nephew.

As they ate and drank comfortably, the three ladies exchanged general gossip, then Helena brought up a particular subject.

"How are Dumbledore and that young friend of yours coping in my world?"

"Sev is enjoying the holidays at the moment." replied Lily. "I've been keeping an eye on the Malfoys, the Blacks and the Lestranges in the meantime for him. It was I who told Sev where the diadem was…"

There was a pause here as Helena still felt discomfort on the subject.

"…and now I'm helping him track down the remaining three Horcruxes through those three families."

"What?" gasped Helena and Ariana in unison.

Lily looked puzzled.

"You can't just watch over three families, your son and your best friend 24/7 as well as living your eternity here with your husband. And us, your friends." snapped Ariana.

"But I must." protested Lily. "I promised Sev I would do everything I could to help him make this second life as good as possible. Getting rid of Voldemort is the key to a peaceful life at least."

"But you can't do all that alone!" said Helena. "You'll never get any peace at that rate!"

Lily knew what they said rang true. She did have a lot of responsibility for a dead woman, and James did help when he could, but it was still insufficient to keep her from growing tired and anti-social.

"But then…what can I do?" she asked piteously.

"That's obvious." said Ariana simply. "We'll have to share the job together!"

Lily was surprised.

"You'd want to help?"

"Of course." said Ariana.

"Yes." added Helena earnestly.

"But why?" asked Lily. "Why would you help me secure Sev's happiness? You never knew him."

"I never had much use in life, if anything my biggest accomplishment was killing my mother, and that's one accomplishment I'm not proud of." said Ariana dimly. "But to know I had helped one world be rid of the Darkest Wizard of all time, that would feel like I achieved something good!"

Lily understood this perspective. She only managed her most major accomplishment in dying to save Harry, and as she loved her son beyond compare, that was enough for her. It was just saddening to know she had to die to do this.

"And I still feel some responsibility for Voldemort's uprising." explained Helena. "If I hadn't trusted him…anyway, I feel that to fully redeem myself, I must do the clever thing and be of help to be rid of Voldemort once and for all. As a Ravenclaw and a wiser woman in death than I ever was in life, I am only too happy to oblige in helping you fight Voldemort with your friend. And, I owe him for destroying that cursed tiara!"

Lily smiled understandingly.

"Thank you both so much!" she said happily.

"No problem at all, Lily." said Ariana, embracing her new friend. "I'll keep an eye on the Malfoys."

"I'll watch the Lestranges." volunteered Helena.

"And I'll stick to the Blacks and look in on Severus and Harry from time to time still, of course." concluded Lily.

"Naturally." replied her two new good friends in unison.

And so, it was arranged.

Lily soon bade them farewell and awaited James' return. He would be very relieved to hear she would be sleeping better tonight, with 66.6% worth of stress and determination lifted from her shoulders.

(Here's Chapter 26. I hope you all like it. Eileen's secret is out, and Lily (Potter) has some helping hands! Chapter 27 coming soon! Thanks for reading, please review!)