Nurturing Relationships

Terra honestly wasn't expecting any kind of mail for him until the next week as he made sure that he was not only caught up on paperwork, but also several days ahead on things that would cause said paperwork. Surprisingly, running an underground organization and secret community didn't have as much paperwork as he thought it would. Many of the things that he receives now are updates about one thing or another. Others are asking permission for projects or construction.

Severus Snape wasn't expecting any mail either. He doesn't know anyone to really send letters to, at least, before he got back in touch with the Scarlets. They exchanged the occasional letter; however, their letters always seemed sort of vague. Truthful, yes, but vague. They never went into too much detail in anything. Nothing that could possibly give away their location. The siblings were scarily good at keeping such important information secret.

So imagine these two males' surprise when they both get a letter from the same person the morning of the first day of classes. Severus, of course, kept his transaction with the delivering owl discreet so as to not draw attention to himself. Thankfully none of the students saw it. They were all too caught up in either the unbelief that they were at Hogwarts or busy catching up with friends. Severus recognized the beautifully controlled calligraphy that is Silver's distinct handwriting. He didn't waste a moment in opening the letter addressed to him.

Dearest Severus,

Good morning. I have already realized how uncouth it is to write a letter so soon into the school year; though, I hear that the Weasley twin boys have started their first year there. I also hear that they are quite the handful. I wish you luck in the endeavor of keeping a calm mind around them. I have not personally met them, but I do know of people who have known them in passing.

I have recently made a bet with my brother (though truly I believe it began when you had found us that cold winter's night) of what house he would end up in. I love my brother, but I am asking for a third party to be the witness for me to give me the real answer. I had bet that he would be in Gryffindor. Terra thought he was any other house than the house of "reckless idiots". If he did indeed make it into the house that I know he did, please do tell him that he owes me twenty. He'll know what I mean.

All that aside, how have you been? Has your health been good to you since your last letter? I can't wait to begin at Hogwarts just so that I can learn potions. I can see the look on your face now. I promise I won't work on any potions without your proper supervision. I'm not stupid. Though I have been doing some extra reading on herbology and how it goes into potion making. How the different cuts, dicing, and such affect the potion being brewed. It's quite fascinating, I see why you like it so much.

As a final note, please keep me up to date on my brother's grades. I will make sure that he does all that he needs to. It would truly be a shame if someone closely associated to you cannot perform a simple potion.

With much care,

Silver

Throughout the letter, Severus couldn't contain the miniscule smile that graced his lips. He missed Silver. That much he was willing to admit to himself. She was a great conversationalist and could hold intelligent conversations too. She understood many different things. Some of them she actually shouldn't know whether due to her age or the fact that she should be more naïve to the world. She isn't though. Silver knows many things because she has experienced possibly more things than a grown man his age could possibly dream of.

The guilt still ate at him to this day for not going looking for them after they left. He actually thought it a dream his desperate lonesome self dreamt up until he found the letter waiting for him on his desk.

Severus looked up from the piece of paper in his hands to glance at Terra who was sat at the Gryffindor table. The eleven-year-old boy hand a similar letter still in its envelope resting in his hands. Terra was staring at it in trepidation.

Lee Jordan saw the unopened letter his classmate's hand and asked, "Are you going to open that?"

"I don't know." Terra replied. "I'm honestly debating burning it, just so that I don't have to red the damned thing." The twins being near heard what he said, and one of them leaned closer with a brow raised.

"Oh, come on, mate! Can't be that bad!"

Terra looked him dead in the eyes. "It's from my sister. It could honestly go either way."

"Well, did you do anything to piss her off?" Lee asked as he added some food onto his plate. He held out a plate of bacon to Terra. "Bacon?"

"I don't believe so." Terra looked at the plate of bacon with a disgusted look on his face. He felt his stomach begin to turn at the sight of the fatty, greasy strip of fat. "No thanks." He understands now what Silver meant when she said the sight of pork made her sick. Lee shrugged, "Your loss."

"Not really." Terra replied.

"Then you should be in the clear." Another Gryffindor spoke up from beside the Scarlet. He had windswept dirty blonde hair, and light brown eyes that looked rather like they were golden instead. His body language was nonchalant, but his eyes were sharp much like a hawk. He was a few years older than Terra, maybe thirteen, and he was already making girls swoon with his looks. He really doesn't care though. His job always comes first, and that's protecting the Sanctuary. His name is Ward.

"We have a little sister too. If we didn't piss her off, we're usually in the clear." Probably Fred threw in his two cents.

"You said usually." Ward said with a playful tone and a little grin.

"If she's in a mood, you don't get in her way. We learned that one the hard way." The other twin said in reply.

Terra interrupted, "None of this helps me, guys."

Ward looked to his right and put his hand on Terra's shoulder. "If you want my advice, I say just open the thing and get it done and over with. It could be worse. It could be a howler." The other boys shivered at the thought.

"Thanks Ward." All he received was the swipe of a thumb over the corner of a pair of lips. The scarlette rolled his remaining brown eye. With that, he tore open the letter and began to read:

Greetings brother,

I come to you with news. I am holding your secret stash of chocolate milk hostage until you tell me what house you made it into without lying to me. I've already informed Severus of the deal. He'll make sure that you keep your end of the bargain. Toodles~

Just kidding with you, Terra. That wasn't the end of this letter. I am letting you know that I am here to help you with any problems that you may have. I may be younger, but you know the knowledge that I hold. Don't let your pride be your downfall, please.

As for the real set of news that I have to bequeath unto you. Anna is making progress in getting the cell phones to work around large concentrations of magic. We expect the final product in roughly a year or so. Provided no complications arise. Last night went well. No accidents. Griffin is making more headway than Shaun.

I love you. Be safe but live life. Have fun but be responsible.

Your dearest most lovable younger sister by two wholesome years,

Silver

At the very bottom of the page was a doodle of a lovely hand gesture that made Terra want to return it with both hands.

"Yeah, fuck you too, Silver." He muttered under his breath. Ward chuckled next to him and threw his hands up in mock surrender when his leader glared at him. "I don't need commentary from the peanut gallery."

"But I didn't say anything?"

"You didn't need to." Terra examined the letter one last time before folding it and placing it inside his pant pocket. As irritating as his sister could be sometimes, she always knew what to say. He doesn't know if he wants to be looking forward to when the phone updates are completed. Yes, he knows that it will help their people stay in touch with HQ should things go awry on a mission and they need immediate backup. However, he also doesn't want his sister to be able to nag at him.

(To be honest though, Silver does her best not to nag. She knows how much any male, much less any person hates to be nagged. She is more likable, and people listen to her more. It truly does work.)

The vague comment about the night before threw him for a moment until he remembered that it was a full moon. He was glad that one of the two Medical Division on the "cure case" were making headway. Just because they have ways of spacious containment for the werewolves does not mean that they should stop keeping an eye on whether or not there are any incidents. So far none have occurred since they started the Sanctuary. It was a good streak. They would love to have been able to brag to the Ministry that they were doing a better job but…they shouldn't open their mouths about it if they want to keep everyone—especially the werewolves—safe from the governments' biased and racist laws and regulations.

With that last thought, Terra locked the information away in his brain where no man could attain it without his permission. He also burned the letter and vanished the ashes in a corridor empty of people, pictures, and ghosts.

That next afternoon Silver had received two letters. One from her brother containing a photo of him in the Gryffindor uniform flipping her off with both hands and the driest look plastered across his face. It also had twenty dollars as promised. She smirked and pocketed the money before moving on to the next one. It was from her favorite potions master.

Dear Silver,

I appreciate the warning you have given me. You have my thanks as well for the encouraging words. I will remain ever vigilant. As for your brother, I believe he has kept up his end of the bargain. I have been well since we last spoke. Though recently, I will admit to being a little stressed as the start of the year came around. Reckless idiots are a worthy title of such a band of buffoons. I enjoy your enthusiasm for potions. It also sounds as though you have an excellent grasp of potions so far. However, your practical knowledge will be tested when we have some free time your first year. You are wise to wait for me to supervise. I don't trust anyone else with that responsibility with you.

With equal care,

Severus Snape

As silver read the letter, she couldn't help but imagine his low voice of velvet smoothly enunciate the words like a well-read storyteller. These letters encouraged her to keep working. As soon as she wrote a response. She'll send Terra's letter when she has paperwork to give him as well. She rose from her desk: she had work to do.

A few more weeks flew by, and Terra learned very quickly how to balance school and work life. He had to consult his sister a few times here and there, but it was worth it. She had the experience of managing school, home, and music life in The Before while managing to squeeze in self-care time in order to destress and recenter herself. Her tips were useful and extremely helpful. He had sent her a box of Honeydukes chocolate he asked Ward to get for him when he went down for the first Hogsmeade weekend.

It was during this time that Terra reluctantly admitted to his sister to having trouble falling asleep at night. He had spent so much time by his sister's side and always having her right there to mother him when he was sick or feeling down. Silver worked quickly when she got the letter and sent him one along with a howler.

The Great Hall went silent when more and more people noticed that one of the most well-behaved first years received a letter. Was there something he got in trouble for? What did he do?

Fred's eyes got wide when he saw it and hurriedly said to Terra, "You might want to open that now or it will explode." He and his brother had already got one from their mother for all the pranking that they had been doing. Terra had simply opened the written letter that came with it as the howler sat there patiently with no steam coming from it. It started getting suspicious looks from nearby students when it didn't go off after three minutes of silence.

"It won't go off until tonight when I open it myself." He told the twins, Lee, and Ward. Slowly, the student body went back to their conversations when they saw that nothing was going to be happening.

That very night, as the first-year boys were in their dormitory ready for bed, Terra sat on his mattress with the red envelope in his hands as the other boys watched from their beds.

"Are you going to open it?" George asked.

"Of course I am." Terra scoffed. "Why wouldn't I?"

Lee interjected, "Because you just keep staring at it, mate."

"Fine." With that, the scarlette boy tore open the howler and a voice he knew deep down he missed a lot began to fill the room in a gentle lullaby. There were no words. Only the humming of his precious little sister passed through his ears and lulled him to a restful sleep as well as the other boys. In the morning when they woke up, all the boys felt refreshed and well rested. The howler laid on the pillow next to Terra's head fully intact. The instructions from the letter Silver sent played in his mind as he went about his day.

"The howler will not destroy itself. I have enchanted it not to. If you need to hear the contents inside it again, simply open it and say 'play'. And remember, I will never be too far."

Months flew by and soon spring was coming around as was the end of the school year. Terra passed all of his classes with excellent grades with his sister's help here and there. It was this same time of year that Silver received a letter from Fenrir Greyback himself. She was expecting a letter like this from him sometime, but not at the time that she got it. Fenrir then became her third pen-pal for a short time before he asked the question he was beating around the bush for.

He wanted to see the Sanctuary himself. Suddenly, it felt much like a CEO visiting the small branches of their company there was so much stress. When she told her brother of the news all he had to say was to "Stop worrying yourself and we'll just show him around. Have him meet a couple other werewolves. It'll be great!" She had never wanted to slap someone so hard before.

On the bright side, the meeting went off without a hitch. Fenrir arrived by the Research Division's crack pot shot at a sling portal and escorted by Xandra, the Special Ops Head herself, and her right-hand man Tony. There, they proceeded to meet Silver and Terra at the gates where the ten-year-old girl grabbed the man's hand a dragged him with her brother and her around for the "Grand Tour".

Fenrir, for his part, amusedly let himself get pulled around while he simultaneously gaped at the sheer size and beauty of this hidden secret society. He felt like a little kid again seeing Diagon Alley for the first time. He felt like he didn't have enough eyes to see the shops and businesses; the marketplace set up with stalls selling fresh produce and hand made goods; the people happily going about their day and greeting the two kids with him as they waved back.

He recognized the man by the candy shop doors who was holding a little girl's hand as she animatedly pointed at the candy on display in wonder. The man was smiling down at the little girl in happiness with a large grin dancing on his lips.

Fenrir remembered a much thinner man whose clothes hung from skin and bone as he begged for any food for his infant daughter at the time. That same werewolf man was decked in a neatly pressed suit that fit his new lean muscle build and well cared for slicked back hair with a few strands falling on his forehead. The little girl had grown healthy and was wearing a pretty little sundress that she kept twirling around in while giggling relentlessly.

It wasn't just them. To his left, further up the smooth quartz street, walking out of a store, talking to another with a cup of something cool to drink, reading a book on a bench near a sparkling fountain, under a lush tree having a picnic with their family. Everywhere he looked and turned there were people he recognized and remembered them being far worse off than where they are now.

He felt something bubbling up inside his chest—threatening to explode. He saw the running grounds for the full moons. The lush fields filled with lemongrass and flowers of nearly every kind and sugar maples in abundance. It looked like a fairytale forest and field that was bordered by some kind of technology he didn't understand that kept both parties safe from harm.

(What was that feeling he was having? Why was his face so hot and why did his eyes burn? Why was his heart racing so?)

He was left in awe. The next place was where the Wolfsbane potion was made en masse. All the ingredients were stored and labeled with clipboards keeping track of how much they had. This way there would never be a panic of not having enough ingredients to make the potion. They took him to the school were every child attended regardless of any problems they may have. Yes, that meant that werewolf children got to have schooling for those of you inbred idiots that can't read between the lines.

The last place they went was a large building that could have been roughly half the size of Britian's oversized wizarding school. It was much quieter than the liveliness outside. He was then guided to what he assumed was an office or meeting room—the latter seeming much more likely the more he looked around the room—that had water running down the walls like fountains into the trenches in the floor near the walls where the water went who-knows-where.

Pristine white columns spotted the walls in increments decoratively. Flowering vines grew on the cone shaped ceiling where some kind of light dangled from the center point (it was a projector that does fun things). Plush, square, pillows laid on the floor in a large circle formation around another hollowed out circle in the floor that was about a step down with a 3D model of the entire Sanctuary covered with thick fiberglass. Regardless of the lack of furniture, it was a grand and beautiful room.

Terra gestured for Fenrir to sit on one of the pillows. He did so after he got the hint that the pillows were indeed for sitting after he watched the siblings sit down on them. The young boy crossed his arms over his chest and spoke.

"So, why don't we just get down to business. You have been promoting this place to other werewolves without having been here so far. What do you plan on doing now that you have?" Fenrir didn't answer for a good solid minute. He took in a breath and opened his mouth just to shut it again. This was strange behavior for him as he would normally just come out and say things regardless of others or the consequences.

(Definitely not because of the stare down the young girl was drilling into his skull while he talked with the boy. Who were these two anyways?)

"Who are you two?" His mouth moved before he could even think about it. He could feel the auras of these two and he suddenly felt as if he was a little kid that just stuck his foot in his mouth. Can she please stop looking at him like that?!

Terra couldn't bother to tell his sister to stop her one-sided stare down. He was far too amused watching a grown man squirm in his seat from his sister's stare. "My name is Terra Scarlet. This here," he gestured to the silver-eyed girl next to him, "is my sister Silver."

Fenrir couldn't believe his ears. These two little ones were the ones calling the shots? "What made you two do all this? Why did it take two children—!"

"Let me stop you right there." Silver interrupted the man who was getting louder and worked up with every word he spoke. She held up a hand in the air gracefully and looked Fenrir directly into the eyes. "We started this because we wanted to create a sanctuary for those who were failed by the system: a third side. We wanted to create a place that made sense without the prejudice of the wizarding world. A place where conditions are just that: conditions and not some cursed creature to mistreat because they aren't like others. So, get your head out of your ass and stop acting like a child." She said sternly. He couldn't stop the small flinch from the hard glare she sent his way. "You are a grown man Fenrir Greyback. Act like it."

The man just scowled, stood up from his seat, and began yelling, "You don't understand what it's like out there! I did what I had to in order to fix the view on werewolves!"

"No." She rejected, "You only created a bigger problem and made more people's lives miserable. They couldn't provide for their families anymore due to what you did to them. You are merely throwing a tantrum like a toddler not getting their way." Fenrir opened his mouth to object, but Silver kept going before he could get another word out.

"We understand perfectly where the werewolves are coming from. Trust me when I say this: there is a reason as to why we are an underground organization, and no one knows who nor where we are."

"…Why did it take kids to do it?" Fenrir hesitantly asked.

" 'Provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the L-rd.' We have far crossed the line of wrath, Fenrir. We will not stand by while this atrocity occurs like it did in World War Two with Hitler and the Jews. We refuse to let history repeat itself. It took children who were willing to do what it takes to make others safe and to protect our own because the adults outside are too far deep in their prejudice beliefs." Silver kept staring him down until Fenrir plopped his butt back down onto the floor with a roll of his eyes.

Terra just kept sitting and watching like this was the most entertaining thing he's seen in years. He sipped away at a cup of hot chocolate while his little baby sister ripped a grown ass werewolf man a new one. Yeah, he is pretty sure she's going to be in Slytherin.

"I know I have said some hurtful things in this little chat. I just want to let you know…I stand by everything that I said."

Pretty sure.