February 2010

Hogwarts Dungeons

Potions Master James Snape sat at his desk while the third years Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students walked out of his classroom. He had a tall pile of essays to mark and a couple of potions to finish before his wife arrived to help him on their special yearly February project.

"Hi, James. Are you busy?" an unexpected female voice asked from the door.

He raised his head, "Hi, mum. Yes, I have a lot of essays to read and potions in stasis waiting for me. But do you need anything?"

"Yes, love, I won't take much of your time," Florence said, walking in and stopping by his desk, "I just wanted to check with you how Stephen is doing in your class. He's had some problems this morning during Charms."

James frowned, "What kind of problems?"

"Apparently," she exhaled, concerned, "his wand was acting out. He tried to cast an Engorgio but ended up exploding a few desks instead and hurt some classmates."

"That's odd, he's never had problems with Charms, Nick says he's one of the best-" James hesitated, lowering his quill onto the desk and resting his arms on the papers, realising what his mother was probably thinking: "You're afraid that his wand's malfunctioning has something to do with what happened during the Holidays."

"Yes," Florence nodded slowly, looking troubled, "Lily and Stephen will be twelve next month, they're preteens... and that means hormones and feelings all over the place; I've always hoped his childish squabbles with Gianah would stop once they reached a certain age... now I fear they will only get dangerously worse."

James grimaced, "I hate to say that I agree, mum," then he tilted his head to the side: "But Gianah is not here, Stephen hasn't even seen her in over a month... why would his wand's malfunctioning have anything to do with her?"

"The connection between wands and their owners are much more complex than we know, James. And Stephen's got a black walnut wand – which are known to have a temper. If he's fighting his feelings for Gianah, maybe his magic is being affected-" she sighed, "I don't know. I'll have to talk to Chris about this."

"Yeah, he'll certainly know if there's reason for concern. Well, in my classes Stephen is great – one of the best first-year students, actually."

Florence smiled in relief, "Good. Let's hope this was just an isolated episode."

"Either way, mum, you should talk to Chris," James paused, for the door that led to his private quarters was opened and a woman showed up.

"Hello, Hermione," Florence greeted with a knowing smile.

"Hi, Florence," Hermione replied, walking to James and giving her husband a kiss.

"Hi, kitten," he held her hand, affectionately rubbing his thumb on her knuckles, "The potion I need your help with is in stasis on the lab table," it was clear he was trying to keep a professional face in front of his mother.

Florence chuckled low, "You're needing your wife's help to finish a potion now, James?"

"Yes," he looked at her, still keeping a straight face, "As I told you, mum, I'm pretty busy-"

"It's February, James!" Florence rolled her eyes, "I'm well-aware you've continued your father's tradition of brewing Amortentia the week before Valentine's Day only to let the students steal it," a smirk slowly formed in her burgundy-painted lips, "I'm also aware of how interesting it is to be shagged over a freshly-brewed Love Potion cauldron," she raised an eyebrow at the couple.

Hermione's deep-red blush confirmed her words.

"I did not need to hear that," James grimaced.

Florence laughed and turned to leave.

"Just be careful, though," she continued, walking towards the door but turning his head to wink at Hermione, "That was how Christopher came to be."

"Merlin's balls, mother!" James growled as she left, "Spare me the details!"

And Hermione laughed.

The next four months of classes went by uneventfully.

Stephen's wand didn't cause any more accidents in Charms or any other classes; he, Lily and Lynne, finished their first year at Hogwarts with perfect grades.

June 2010

Looking to avoid any more fights between Gianah and Stephen, Narcissa decided to spend the summer months in Italy with her daughter.

Narcissa's husband, Minister of Magic Charlie Weasley, joined them every weekend, and other family members showed up occasionally.

Elizabeth and Draco Malfoy took their three kids there weekly – for Narcissa's delight (she didn't hide she was dreading spending the whole summer with no one but a moody preteen).

Even Lily-Rose Snape, Lynne Weasley-Snape, Sirius Potter and Teddy Lupin joined them for two weeks.

Stephen, however, stayed home; he had been forbidden to join his sister and their friends since he couldn't be civil towards Gianah.

August 20th 2010

Lupins' Home

Remus watched his son walking down the stairs that morning, noticing that the light-blue hair the boy had been sporting for the past three weeks was still on – a tell-tale sign of the preteen's inner turmoil.

"Good morning, son."

"Hey, dad," Teddy sat at the table and began eating his breakfast without another word.

"You know," Remus said, trying to cheer him up, "I was thinking that maybe today we could go to Diagon Alley and get your school supplies."

Teddy's head snapped up at him, his green eyes shining with sudden excitement, "And I get to pick my wand?"

"Yes, and you get your wand."

"Wicked!" Teddy smiled.

"I'm glad that you like that idea. I've sent Harry a Patronus and asked if-"

"Sirius," Teddy gasped, "Is he going to meet me- I mean us- is he meeting us there?" he stammered.

Remus watched his son's hair change suddenly from light-blue to a light-orange (that he knew meant excitement) and then to a light magenta (that Remus suspected meant deeper feelings).

"Yes," Remus said, adding with a smile: "And Lily will be there as well."

Teddy's sigh of happiness was absolutely endearing, it was as if all the troubles of the world had left his shoulders at once, his hair getting a deeper pink colour.

"Thank you, dad," he said, smiling sweetly.

"You're welcome, son. I know you miss them, even though you see Sirius almost every week."

"But not Lily. I haven't seen her in three weeks."

"I know, I noticed the blue," Remus motioned his hair, "Which is gone now."

Teddy blushed as bright as his hair, "I like her, she's my friend."

"I know. And you like Sirius," Remus added in a non-judgmental tone, "Your hair started changing when I mentioned him."

Teddy nodded, seeming a little apprehensive, "Yes, dad, but-"

"Hey, Teddy," Remus said in an understanding tone, touching his son's arm, "It's alright. You don't have to explain anything to me. I know you like them both. And it's fine. Your mum and I support you no matter what; we just don't want you to get hurt."

"They're my friends, dad," the boy rolled his eyes, but was unable to hide his flushed cheeks.

"Yes, I know they are, son," he nodded, not pushing for more information, reminding himself that his son was just eleven – in the coming years, things between Teddy and those two would either stay friendly or turn difficult if feelings other than friendship proved to be involved.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. Remus thought, a small smile on his face belying the tightness in his chest.

Later that day

Diagon Alley

Sirius Potter stood by the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, looking at the brooms and thinking about which model he was going to take to Hogwarts the following year – when he would be joining his House Team on his second year.

He had no doubts he'd be in the Quidditch Team; his mother was one of the best chasers in the world and his father had been the youngest seeker to ever join a House Team at Hogwarts.

I'll be the best chaser the Gryffindor Team has ever had!

He saw a group of people leave the store next-door and glanced up and down Diagon Alley, hoping to see one of his friends soon. He couldn't wait to see them, it had been days since he had last seen Teddy, but Lily had spent the past three weeks travelling with her sisters, and he missed her.

Spending weeks without seeing them was oddly distressing – had always been. When they were toddlers, there had been more than one episode where the three of them had developed a fever without any sign of sickness – only for their temperatures to go back to normal within minutes of them being brought together.

Emotion-related fever.

Once they were past the age of eight, the fever episodes stopped, but they still felt some discomfort whenever they spend more than a week apart.

That will soon change, he thought, When classes start in just a week and a half, I'll never have to be away from either of them. We'll all be together in Gryffindor!

Well, except for Stephen and Gianah – but it was for the best that they weren't Gryffindors.

If they were housed on the seventh floor, Gigi would certainly push Stephen out of the first open window they happened to walk by.

Sirius shook his head, smiling when he noticed a couple of kids staring at him.

"Hello," he politely greeted them, having become used to being recognised as Harry Potter's son.

"You're Sirius Potter, aren't you?" asked one of the kids, a girl.

"Yes, I am."

"Wicked!" the boy beside her replied, eyes wide.

"Is your father around?" asked the pretty woman with them, probably their mother, "I'd love to thank him for saving us all."

"Sorry, Miss, dad's not here. I'm here with friends," Sirius replied.

"Oh, it's alright, it was great seeing you, Mr Potter," the woman said before walking away.

"Bye," the two kids waved, smiling.

Sirius waved back, looking at them as they walked down the Alley.

"Oof," he let out as the air was suddenly squeezed out of him by someone that collided with him from behind and wrapped their arms around his waist – he knew just by the perfume exactly who that was.

"Lily!" he exclaimed, turning around and hugging her tightly, his heart leaping inside his chest as he buried his face in her long straight dark hair and inhaled her fresh floral scent.

"I've missed you, Siri," she whispered in his ear.

He smiled, taking a step back to look into her purple eyes, not trusting himself to speak right then, completely taken by her presence and beauty.

"Where's Teddy?" Lily-Rose asked looking around, intertwining her hand with his, "Have you seen him already?"

"No," Sirius finally spoke, "I think he hasn't arrived yet."

"I'm dying to see him!" Lily said as they walked towards Flourish and Blott's, "I couldn't believe when mum said Uncle Remus had invited me to come spend the afternoon here with you and Teddy!" she smiled at him, a sparkle in her purple eyes, "Just the three of us together for a whole afternoon!"

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, feeling a little flustered by his own response to her proximity, "No Steph and Gigi nonsense for a whole day!" he said, trying to diffuse the tension he had started to feel ever since she'd grabbed his hand.

"Don't remind me!" Lily rolled her eyes, "I'm so glad I'm not in Slytherin, those two will burn the dungeons down this term."

"Yeah. But we'll be safe, eight floors above them."

Lily smiled at him, touching his arm, "Yes! You, Teddy and I will see each other every day – even though we aren't going to be sharing classes."

"Yes, but we can have all our meals together. And at the weekends-" Sirius paused, for Lily seemed suddenly a little hesitant, her hand tightening in his as she bit on her bottom lip, "What is it, Lily?" he asked, knowing something was bothering her.

"Promise me you won't stop being my friend when we get to school."

He frowned at that absurdity, "Of course I won't stop being your friend, Lily!"

"It's just-" she paused, "Well, it's silly of me. I know you'll have new friends– and believe me, everyone will want to be your friend, cause of your parents..." she added with a hint of annoyance, "I just... I don't want to lose you and Teddy."

"You'll never lose us, Lily," Sirius promised, tightening his hand in hers.

Just like that, her beautiful smile was back on her face, and she gasped when she looked over Sirius's shoulder, "Look! There he is!" she exclaimed, pulling him towards their friend.

Sirius looked at Teddy standing beside his father smiling at them, and if his heart raced at the sight of the boy just as it had for the purple-eyed girl pulling his hand, he did his best to bury the feeling.

At Florean Fortescue Ice-Cream Parlour

Remus watched the three preteens' interaction as they enjoyed a cold sweet.

Lily sat between the two boys in the corner booth, and they shared their ice-creams and talked as if nothing else mattered in the world but their friendship. They discussed their wands, and she told them all they needed to know about the teachers of Hogwarts.

The girl's purple eyes moved between the boys, never paying more attention to one than the other – she clearly adored them equally.

Teddy tried to hide his feelings towards his friends, but Remus knew his son, and he was certain the boy liked both of them equally as well.

Well, this is interesting, he thought, suppressing a worried sigh.

Lily adored both boys; Teddy adored both her and Sirius; but Remus had his reservations when it came to Sirius Potter.

He knew the boy's father was a decent man who had never cared for fame – and as Remus watched how Sirius looked from Lily to Teddy, he failed to see any difference in the way the Potter boy treated either of his friends.

However, no matter how good and honest Sirius' parents were, the boy was James Potter's grandson through and through – and just like his grandfather, he loved being under the spotlight.

The three of them were kids of war heroes, constantly receiving praises and recognition from strangers for something they hadn't done nor lived; the kind of attention that Lily hated, and Teddy shied away from, but Sirius Potter seemed to live for.

And that smelled like trouble.

And heartache.