December 2010

Snapes' family home

"Three more days of peace and quiet," said Severus as he pulled a chair for Florence to sit at the breakfast table.

"Yes," she nodded, looking at the quiet and organised dining and living space, "On Friday, we'll have teenagers back, and messes and dramas," she smiled, her tone sweet as she thought of having the kids back home for the Holiday break.

"At least Stephen has stopped getting in trouble at the school," added Severus, sitting at the head of the table to her left, as usual.

"Yes," she sighed in relief, "Your war lessons are certainly giving him things to mull over; so much so that he's even stopped tormenting Gianah."

"For now."

"Let's hope it stays that way," she added, pulling him for a kiss.

The loud 'Whoosh' of the floo activating interrupted them, and they looked towards the fireplace.

"Molly!" exclaimed Florence, "Good morning."

"Good morning, dear," replied Molly Weasley walking towards them wrapped in her usual colourful knitted poncho, "I hope I'm not intruding."

"No, of course not," said Florence looking pointedly at her husband, stopping him from replying rudely, "We're just having breakfast. Care to join us?"

"Well, I wouldn't say no to Tiffany's lovely tea and biscuits," replied Molly, sitting across from Florence at the table, "I went to the school first and Poppy told me you two hadn't arrived yet, so I used the infirmary's floo to come here."

"No problem, Molly," Florence reassured her, "You're always welcome here. Your home is connected to ours through the network; if we didn't want you to visit, we'd block you out."

We might. Severus added in Florence's mind, receiving a harsh glance from her.

"Thank you, dear," Molly smiled, accepting the teacup Florence had poured for her, "Now, you two have enjoyed some extra time in bed this morning, I see," she commented with a lilt in her voice, winking at Florence, "You'll have to glamour that, dear, otherwise the teenagers will have a field day at your expense."

Florence seemed confused.

It seems, Severus drawled through their bond, I gave you a hickey, wife.

Florence gaped and touched her neck, exactly where an obvious red mark sat on her otherwise unblemished skin – she remembered Severus had bitten her as he fucked her from behind that morning.

"Oh," Florence nodded, blushing, "I'll glamour it. Thank you for the warning, Molly."

"Don't mention it, Flor," Molly dismissed with a wave of her hand, "Well, I haven't come here to point out hickeys and take advantage of Tiffany's cooking. I came to invite you for the Weasleys' Christmas Party!"

"No, thank you," immediately said Severus, before sipping his coffee.

"Why not?" asked Molly, offended by his quick dismissal, "You haven't been to one in the last three years!"

Florence took it upon herself to calm Molly down: "What I believe Severus means by saying no, Molly, is that we don't think it's a good idea for us to go."

"It's a dreadful idea," added Severus, sipping his coffee again.

"It's not just my family's party! It's yours too!" exclaimed Molly.

"We know," said Florence in an understanding voice, "But Gianah is your granddaughter. And, if we were to attend, Stephen would go–"

"Unless," Severus interrupted her, pausing the cutting of his croissant, "we leave him at home and enjoy the party ourselves."

Florence glared at him, "We're not ditching our son on Christmas' Eve, Severus."

"Of course not!" said Molly, indignantly, adding with a reassuring smile: "But you don't have to worry, we can keep Stephen and Gigi away from one another for one night and enjoy dinner with family and friends."

Florence shook her head, "Really, we'd love to go, Molly, but... it's not that easy to keep those two apart."

"They've been behaving at the school, haven't they?" Molly asked.

"Yes. Under the threat of expulsion," explained Severus, an eyebrow raising.

"Their recent good behaviour at Hogwarts doesn't mean they'll behave at your house," added Florence.

"It'll be fine, Florence," Molly said, rather dismissively, "They don't really hate each other. Narcissa said Gianah actually has a huge crush on your boy," she shook her head, "But Gigi says he doesn't like her–"

"Doesn't like her?" scoffed Severus, "Now, that's not exactly true."

"Yeah," Florence nodded, "Stephen is obsessed with Gigi. I am dreading the upcoming years, to be honest."

"So come to the party!" insisted Molly, "Lynne and Gigi would love if your Lily came. I invited the Malfoys, James and Hermione– your own kids and grandkids will be there! You two have to come!"

Florence looked at her husband. Sophie and Lily would love to spend Christmas Eve with Elizabeth. And we'll get to see all the grandkids–

No, Florence. Said Severus in her head, This smells like trouble–

But she was already replying out loud: "Alright, Molly, we'll be there."

Severus rolled his eyes, not hiding his disapproval of that decision.

"Great!" Molly exclaimed happily.

"If they blow up your house, don't blame us," Severus added, looking at Molly.

"That house has seen worse than a couple of frustrated teenagers, Severus, it'll be fine," Molly said with conviction.

The Snapes, however, exchanged a look the clearly failed to echo her certainty.

A week later

Christmas' Eve

Florence and Severus apparated to The Burrow with Sophie, Lily and Stephen.

"Why is Sophie allowed to bring her wand and we aren't?" complained the boy as they walked towards the large tent that had floated high in the garden.

Severus and Florence looked at him, but Sophie beat them to it: "I can't believe you're asking that, little bro. It's obvious–"

"It's your own fault," said Lily.

Stephen huffed, "It's not my fault! It's bloody Weasley's fault! She's here, and I bet she has her wand. And if she hexes me–"

"It'll be well-deserved," added Lily.

Stephen glared at his twin and Sophie snapped at him: "Cut it off, Stephen! That's why you can't be trusted with a wand outside of school!"

"Oh, look!" Florence gasped, one arm hooked on her husband's arm, deciding to ignore their kids' squabbling: "Nicholas and Fred are already here! Come, Sev, let's see baby Fabian!"

And they walked towards the couple, the three kids following them.

"Hello, my dears!" Florence greeted her son and his husband, reaching out her hands to pick up her six-month-old grandson, "How is this baby-boy today?" she cooed, kissing his chubby cheeks.

"He's great, mum. A sweet angel," said Nick affectionately touching his son's black hair.

Florence leaned to give Lynne a kiss on the cheek and continued to play with the baby.

"Is Gigi here already?" asked Lily, hooking her arm on Lynne's and rolling her eyes at the way her parents acted around an infant.

"No, Gigi hasn't arrived yet. The Malfoys are already here. Mrs Draco Malfoy went inside to change Ayla's nappy," said Nick, using a playful tone to say his sister's married name.

"Great!" said Sophie, "I'll go find Liz," and she went inside.

"Is Sirius here?" asked Stephen.

"Yes," nodded Fred, "Teddy and he were watching the telly with the Malfoy Twins."

"I'll go find them."

"Behave, Stephen," reminded Severus as his son walked to the house.

Florence exchanged a worried look with her husband, touching baby Fabian's sleepy head and sighing.

"Mum," said Nick, understanding her concern, "This is the first Christmas we'll have all six of them with wands..."

"No," Florence shook her head, "Lily's and Stephen's wands are at home; I wouldn't risk letting them bring them."

"Well, we didn't know we should do that," said Fred reaching out his hand towards Lynne.

"What? C'mon, papa!" the girl immediately complained, "Please!"

"Give it here, Lynne," Fred shook his head.

"I'm not like Stephen and Gigi!" she stamped her foot.

"No, but you do have a temper, baby-girl," said Nick affectionately.

She groaned, reaching inside her pocket and giving her father her wand.

"What's that?" Nick pointed at the floor, where something candy-like had fallen from her pocket.

"Nothing!" Lynne quickly replied, "Just candy."

"Just candy?" Fred narrowed his eyes, "I recognise those blue wrappings, Lynne. Those are the Glitter Gums."

"So?" the girl replied, "It's candy!"

"Do not give that to anyone!" ordered Fred.

"What do they do?" asked Florence, curious by Fred's outburst.

"When you pop them," Fred explained, "glitter falls everywhere – and I truly mean everywhere. It's a prototype with a replicating spell to keep making more glitter after every pop."

"But it makes a lot of glitter," Nick grimaced, "Molly will be really upset if you pop that in the house, love. She'll never get rid of the bloody thing."

"Glitter is the muggles' most powerful weapon," Florence nodded, handing baby Fabian to Severus, "There aren't enough scourgifys in the world able to fully vanish it."

"And," added Fred, looking at his daughter through narrowed eyes, "Lynne's found out that if she chews a few of them, spits them out and lights them up, they turn into a glitter bomb."

Florence's eyes widened at that image.

Nicholas snorted, "It sounds harmless, but our backyard will be covered in glitter for the next ten years, not to mention the five-foot deep hole it left behind."

Severus chuckled and received reproachful glares from his wife, Fred and Nicholas.

"I'll share just a small piece with the girls, papa, that's all," Lynne said, pleadingly, "Maybe ask Aunt Liz to mention it in her column in the Witch Weekly when it's ready to come out."

"Fine," sighed Fred, "Publicity is always good."

Nicholas shook his head at how easily his husband caved.

"Thank you!" Lynne exclaimed, giving him a kiss on the cheek, then she turned to her Aunt, "Come Lily! Let's go to Gigi's and my room," and, as she passed by her grandfather, she received a kiss on her forehead.

"Severus," admonished Florence, "You can't show support for her mischievous behaviour!"

"Of course I can," he rolled his eyes, "Lynne's penchant from mischief is genetic not simply behavioural," he looked at Fred to illustrate his point, "She'll be naughty regardless of having the support. As I recall, Molly never supported her sons' misbehaviour. Look at the difference it made: they have a store that sells mischief."

"Touché," said Fred, laughing.

"Luckily we have two healers in the family," said Nicholas, glancing from his mother to Draco Malfoy who spoke to his Aunt Andromeda a few metres away.

Florence shook her head, letting out a soft snort as she added: "Not even Draco and I could heal the trauma of having one's house doused in glitter, Nicky."

Meanwhile inside The Burrow

After greeting her niece and nephew – the twins Scorpius and Lyra Malfoy –, Sophie found her older sister in the first-floor guestroom; Elizabeth was laying her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter in a crib she had transfigurated for her, kissing her blond waves and whispering: "Sleep angel, just two hours. Please, love."

"She's been giving you trouble?" Sophie said in a soft whisper, walking into the room towards them.

"Yes. Needy little thing she is, always wanting to be picked up," Elizabeth smiled, pulling her sister for a side-hug and kissing her cheek.

"She's so beautiful," said Sophie, looking inside the crib.

"Well, I'm biased, but I agree. She's Draco's little female version."

"Yes. She looks more like Scorp than his own twin."

"True," Liz whispered, casting a one-way soundproofing spell around the crib and leading her sister towards the bed in the room, sitting with her, "It's been a while since we last talked, sis. How are you? Ready for your O.W.L.s?"

"Yes, totally," Sophie replied with a smile, but the nervous fidgeting of her hands didn't go unnoticed by Liz.

"How many are you taking?"

"Eleven."

"Wow, is that what has you worried?" asked Liz, putting her hands on top of Sophie's, "If it is, let me tell you, you have no reason–"

"No, it's not the O.W.L.s, it's just–" Sophie let out a sigh, standing up and closing the door, before returning to sit beside her older sister.

"Is it about boys?" Elizabeth smiled knowingly.

Sophie blushed, "Yes, and no. He's not a boy."

"Oh, you like girls, then?" Liz tilted her head.

"No. I mean he's older... he's more a man than a boy," she averted her eyes, fearing her sister's reaction.

"I see... so you've got a crush on a teacher?"

"Yes," Sophie admitted with a small grimace, "And I can't tell mum about it! She's always understanding but... I doubt she'll like knowing I am panting over the Herbology teacher!"

Liz's eyes widened: "Longbottom? The war hero Gryffindor poster-boy?"

Sophie narrowed her eyes in disapproval, "Don't talk about him like that!"

"It's just how Draco mentions him," Elizabeth shrugged, "They went to school together– wait," she gasped, looking at her in dawning realisation: "He's–"

"Older, I know," nodded Sophie.

"He's not just older, sis!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "He's twice your age!"

"He's fifteen years older than me," Sophie replied as if that was any different than what her sister had said, "But in the wizarding world that is irrelevant–"

Elizabeth paused for a few seconds, frowning, "This is just a crush, isn't it?" but when her sister hesitated, Liz sighed: "Oh, baby-sis, don't tell me you're falling for your teacher."

Sophie answered in exasperation: "It's not like I can control how I feel, Liz!"

"It's not just a crush then?" LIz seemed to pity her.

Sophie nervously bit her bottom lip and shook her head, "I like him."

"Oh, dear sis. Longbottom is a full-grown man, your teacher. And a Gryffindor– he'll never look at a student like that. If he were a Slytherin, maybe he would, but–"

"Well," Sophie said, a bit unsure if she should share that or not, "He likes me, he asked me to be his assistant, I am working with him in the Greenhouses daily after classes–"

"What?" Liz worried, "He's hitting on you? Has he tried to touch you? Said anything remotely inappropriate?"

"No!" Sophie exclaimed, fearing her sister would think the worst of Neville, "Of course not! He's very respectful! We spend that time tending to the plants, talking about plants... he tells me about his travels. It's not like he's grooming me!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Liz! I've never felt uncomfortable in his presence, quite the opposite really: I've felt a kinship since the first time I saw him."

That immediately caught Elizabeth's attention: "What do you mean: since the first time you saw him?"

"I can't explain it, but he was sitting at the high table on welcoming feast and our eyes met and I felt something," Sophie noticed her sister's concerned gaze, "What? Do you think he's truly trying to groom me?"

Elizabeth hesitated, then she drawled: "No. Just... be careful and maybe do talk to mum about how you feel around him."

"Why?" Sophie frowned.

"To be on the careful side," Liz decided to say, instead of saying she thought she identified some similarity between her words and how she herself had felt the first time she saw Draco, "Longbottom seems decent, but one can never be sure."

"Ok. I'll talk to mum; she can keep secrets from dad, can't she?"

"Oh, yes," confirmed Liz, "She helped Draco and I for years and dad never knew."

"Good, I don't want dad knowing."

"No, absolutely not. If dad catches the smallest hint that you're simping after a teacher–"

"I'm not simping!"

"Are too," playfully replied Elizabeth.

But before Sophie could insist she wasn't, they felt the house shake and heard: BOOOM!

Something exploded somewhere in the house.

"Oh no," both Sophie and Liz groaned as baby Ayla started to cry.

Florence ran upstairs; Severus, Nicholas and Draco right behind her.

They reached the second floor in seconds, finding it filled with white smoke.

"Bubble-Head Charm!" she ordered, casting it on herself and not looking back to see if they had all heeded her order.

"LILY!" she then called, walking towards the room she knew the girls slept at the Burrow.

"LYNNE!" called Nicholas.

"STEPHEN!" called Severus.

"GIANAH!" shouted Draco.

"YOU STUPID GORMLESS GIT!" they heard Gianah shouting, followed by the sounds of wrestling and tumbling.

"Well, they're alive," Draco commented with a sigh.

Florence walked into the room and found the two redheads, Lynne and Gianah, punching Stephen, while Sirius, Teddy and Lily tried to stop them.

"Abluo ventas," Florence cast, cleaning up the air in the room.

When the white smoke cleared, they all gasped: not only there was a hole on the wall between that bedroom and the one next-door but there was glitter EVERYWHERE!

"Shit," muttered Nicholas, already knowing exactly what had happened.

"Glitter bomb?" asked Severus.

"Glitter bomb," Nick confirmed.

"YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!" shouted Gianah.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO RUINS MY LIFE!" replied Stephen.

"I'll transfigurate you into a DOORMAT, rub my dirty feet on your FACE and BEAT YOU CLEAN daily!" growled Lynne, still punching Stephen.

"Clever revenge," muttered Draco, a hint of admiration in his tone.

"Thanks," replied Nick.

"ENOUGH!" Florence shouted, glaring from the two adults behind her to the kids fighting in front of her. She waved her hand and cast a wandless Discede to pull the kids away from one another, separating the wrestling preteens, "Is anyone hurt?"

"NO," said Gianah, Lynne and the others, except Stephen, who said: "YES!" as he got up from the floor, "They punched me!" he pointed at the two redheads.

"YOU DESERVED IT!" shouted Lynne.

"We're fine, mum," added Lily, walking towards Florence, while glaring at her brother.

"THIS IDIOT BLEW UP OUR ROOM!" shouted Gianah, punching Stephen again.

The boy shoved her, and she moved to attack hit again, but Sirius and Teddy put themselves between the two of them, stopping their fight from re-escalating.

"I told him not to chew a whole piece!" explained Lynne, "Because of the glitter, but he didn't listen! Then he got mad when a lot of glitter started coming out of his mouth!"

"It was a bloody ridiculous amount!" said Stephen, his lips still covered in glitter.

"I told you it was a prototype!" Lynne ran towards him and pushed him hard, "I was going to share just one with the girls, each of us would get a small piece, but then you had to steal two and stuff them in your gob!"

"How could I know what would happen?" Stephen pushed her back.

"I told you to spit them out!" Lynne pushed him again, "And you shouldn't have taken them in the first place!"

Stephen moved to push her once more, but Nicholas put himself between them.

"Enough!" he glared at his younger brother, "You shouldn't have stolen them."

"I just wanted to annoy them, Nick!" explained Stephen, "She refused to give me a piece–"

"Because of the glitter, you nitwit!" exclaimed Lynne, "I knew you wouldn't want to be covered in pink and purple glitter!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE JOKING!" replied Stephen.

"EITHER WAY!" shouted Nicholas, "They weren't yours to take, Stephen!" he turned to his daughter: "And you shouldn't have brought them here!"

"I know, dad– but it's just glitter! It's harmless!"

"Harmless?" asked Severus motioning the hole in the wall.

"I was just going to share one small piece with the girls, granddad!" Lynne repeated, "I wasn't going to blow them up!"

"So how did Stephen know it could become a bomb?" asked Nicholas, already knowing the answer.

"I told them," Lynne honestly replied.

Nicholas exhaled in frustration, "Downstairs, Lynne. You're going to apologise to you grandma. Now!"

The girl lowered her head and left with her father without another word.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING!" shouted Gianah, glaring at Stephen, "We didn't even get to try them!"

"Oh, so you want a piece, Weasley?" Stephen pulled a small piece of the glittery gum he still had in his mouth and threw it at her.

And chaos ensued.

"AAAAAAAH, MY HAIR! You threw it on my hair!" and she shoved Teddy out of the way and jumped on Stephen, punching his face hard.

"GIANAH!" shouted Draco, running to take her away from the boy she was assaulting.

"GET HER OFF ME!" Stephen shouted from the floor, seconds before the sound of a nose being broken was heard, followed by a cry of pain.

Draco pulled his sister towards the door and Stephen sat up, his nose bleeding.

Severus walked towards him and grabbed his arm, "Get up, Stephen!"

"I'm in pain!" the boy cried, "She broke my nose, dad!"

Severus waved his wand in front of the boy's face with a silent Episkey.

"OOOUCH!" shouted Stephen, covering his nose with his hand, "Fuck! That hurt!"

"Why did you blow up the gums?" demanded Severus, ignoring his whining.

"Lynne said they could become a bomb, I didn't believe her," the boy replied, as if that was a good enough reason to blow up a bedroom.

"You're grounded–" started Severus.

"It was Lynne's gums!" interrupted Stephen.

"That you stole!" growled Severus.

The boy insisted: "But if she hadn't brought them here, none of this–"

"ENOUGH, STEPHEN!" ordered Severus.

"Or what?" Stephen replied petulantly, "We're not at school! You can't expel me from The Burrow!"

"No, but I can take you home, and cut off your allowance!" growled Severus, grabbing his son's arm and immediately disapparating.

Then the glitter-covered bedroom fell blessedly silent for a few seconds.

"Well," said Draco, having returned after taking his sister downstairs, "Can't say the boy isn't brave; he's got the Slytherin version of it– which is stupidly brave– but still... brave."

Florence just sighed in response, looking down into Lily's purple eyes, "Are you alright, love?"

"Yes, mum."

"Ok," Florence looked at the other boys, "And you two?"

"Not a scratch, Mrs Snape," said Sirius, after checking both himself and Teddy.

"Good, now, you two take Lily downstairs and I'll fix this mess," she ordered.

"Good luck with the glitter," said Draco with a smirk.

"Don't make me send you some, Malfoy," Florence good-heartedly threatened as he left with the preteens.

Florence fixed the ruined wall and managed to clean up most of the glitter – the girls were going to have a sparkling room for a long while.

When she finally walked back to the Christmas party, she found Remus sitting alone at a table and joined him.

"Problem solved?" asked Remus.

"For now," Florence replied with a tired sigh, summoning a flute of champagne from a nearby floating tray and taking large gulps, "Where's Dora?"

"Over there with her mother and Narcissa," he pointed at where the three women stood talking, "But what happened up there?"

"Stephen stole explosive candies from Lynne and blew up the girls' room. It's all fixed now," she finished her champagne and looked at Remus with a small frown, "Why couldn't you have had him instead, and I had a son like Teddy?"

"Why, do you hate me now, Flor?" asked Remus, smiling softly.

"No, of course not. But... really, you knew him better and for longer than I..." she continued, her voice dying inside her champagne flute.

Remus frowned, trying to understand what she meant: "I'm afraid you lost me, Flor– what are you talking about?"

Florence paused, summoning another flute of champagne, "I've never told you this..." she paused, "But... Stephen carries the soul of James bloody Potter."

Remus startled, staring at her with widened eyes, waiting for her to laugh and tell him she was joking – only she didn't.

"Not a joke, unfortunately," Florence sighed again, sipping her champagne.

"You're serious?" he asked, needing confirmation.

"Yep," she nodded, "We found out about Lily-Rose's and Stephen's souls the night of Liz's wedding–"

"Wait–," Remus inhaled sharply, "Lily-Rose? She carries–"

"Lily Potter's soul," Florence nodded, "Yes."

"But they're siblings!" Remus exclaimed, aghast.

"Not soulmates," she quickly explained with a shrug, "That's what they told us."

"They told you?" Remus was breathing fast, "You mean you saw them? You saw–"

She nodded, "James and Lily themselves. Yes. In spirit form."

"That's insane, Flor!" he shook his head for a moment, tilting it the next, "But it explains a lot about Stephen's troublesome behaviour."

"Yes, it does," she grimaced.

"Why are they here?" Remus frowned, "Why come back so soon?"

"To find their soulmates. According to them, that first time they had a mission: to birth the Chosen One. And now they are free to find true love."

"But... if Stephen carries James' soul, how is he in Slytherin?"

"Sev and I want to believe that the way we've raised him changed his soul but... honestly?" Florence shook her head, "It's still a bit of a mystery to us. As is the whole thing with his wand..."

"What about his wand?"

"It malfunctioned a while ago. I talked to Chris and he explained to me that black walnut is the wand of the honests. And if Stephen is lying to himself regarding Gianah–"

Remus sputtered, "Bloody hell, is she his soulmate?"

"Highly probable," Florence nodded, giving him a worried smile, "We know he's already found his soulmate–"

"And you think it's her because?"

"Part of me hopes not," she admitted in a whisper, "But enemies to lovers is not something that has never happened before. Also, leave it to James Potter's soul to obsesses over a ginger girl that wants nothing to do with him."

Remus barked a laugh, "True. Too true."

"Not funny, Remus," she narrowed her eyes, "You laugh cause he's not your son."

"Well," Remus looked suddenly sad, "Actually, I'm worried about Teddy and it has something to do with his wand too. I even asked your Chris about it and..." he let out a heavy sigh, "Instead of reassuring me, he only made me worry more."

"Why?"

"Teddy's got an Ash wand," explained Remus, "and people who are chosen by Ash should be careful that their romantic hearts do not lead them into danger."

"But Lily is not going to break his–" Florence stopped, realising what he meant, "You mean Sirius," she sighed, "Yes, I completely understand your concern. And the fact he follows Stephen around like a puppy makes me wonder if he isn't in fact–"

"Sirius– our Sirius!" Remus gasped, looking at her in surprise, "It would explain a lot!"

"Yes. Especially after the Shrieking Shack episode... Severus and I have been wondering about that, but Trelawney wouldn't tell us anything."

"Trelawney?" Remus frowned, "You're consulting with her now?"

Florence raised her champagne flute and spoke in mocking seriousness: "After one fights a war because of a Prophecy and has kids that carry the souls of dead friends, one starts to believe Divination isn't all bollocks."

Remus chuckled, raising his glass in agreement, "Yeah, I get your point."

As they laughed, Florence saw Severus had returned and was walking towards them.

"He's home," Severus said, sitting beside his wife, "Grounded, wandless and under Melody's watch for the rest of the holiday break," he summoned a glass of firewhisky and drank half of it at once, "Why can't Stephen think before acting?" he vented, "He doesn't seem to know how to act unless is with impulsivity! It's maddening! It's like he's constantly trying to unalive himself for the sake of a joke!"

"He's always been like that," Remus smiled sweetly.

"No, Remus, please, you can't be justifying Stephen's actions!" said Florence, "James was an idiot, but he was smart enough to not blow-up other people's houses!"

Severus frowned at their conversation, looking at Florence, "You told him."

"Yes," she nodded, "I vented and ended up telling him the truth."

"On that note," added Remus, "I agree that Sirius Potter may be a reincarnation of Sirius Black."

Severus groaned, "I'm not drunk enough for this conversation," and he tossed the rest of his firewhisky, and Florence's champagne, back.

Note: Thank you Melanie for my first review in this story! I'm glad you're enjoying it and Sophie and Neville are truly amazing to write (you just wait, their arc is lovely and smutty!)!