CHAPTER 22
We Have A Godfather?...Each?
The Christmas vacation approached quickly and so far there weren't any more attacks. The students would leave for home that morning and the Swarm and Severus would travel a little later via the floo.
Patiently, he waited for the laughing, chattering crowd of youngsters to finish their breakfast, and then head to their dormitories to complete their last minute packing. Then he waited alongside the other teachers until the little brats were off in their carriages and away from his view...and then, finally, he was able to rush up to the castle and gather his little group of teenagers.
Then they flooed to the Alcove. Severus left the five to unpack and moved downstairs to find the household in complete chaos...decorations and boxes were all over the place and a new addition in the form on an undecorated Christmas tree seemed to be moving by itself in the living room.
Severus snorted and said, "Dudley?"
"Prof?" the tree answered. "You're back! The others too?"
"Uh huh." he said, using his wand to leviate the tree and set it in the right position by the fireplace, revealing a grinning Dudley.
"Gee, Prof. I'm glad you're back. I swear Mum and Mrs. Black are going crazy! They're trying to make mince pies and Christmas cake and the pudding and the rest and they've just declared the entire kitchen area a no entry zone!...well, now that you're here maybe you could get me some of those cookies in that jar on the shelf above the stove?" he said hopefully.
Severus chuckled. "Tell me first, between the time you sent me your last letter and today, have you had any trouble? Were any of you approached by Malfoy or anyone?"
"No trouble." Dudley said shaking his head. "We're perfectly safe Prof. You shouldn't worry so much."
"You can't be too sure." Severus admonished gently.
Dudley nodded though his expression showed that he disagreed and said, "Now, Prof, how about those cookies? I'm pretty hungry."
Severus shook his head and turned towards the kitchen.
...
He an the rest of the household enjoyed a wonderful Christmas... The children were, as usual, given to decorate the Christmas tree and the sounds of laughter and chatter filled the air. On Christmas day, gifts were exchanged and Severus made quite a collection...a voice recorder, a rare potted cactus and a large bottle of naturally-made honey were some of his Christmas gifts.
Severus made sure the children and particularly the triplets had a wonderful time.
The day passed quickly and so did the next. Now, Severus wanted to test the strength of the Swarm's Patronuses. He had been beyond impressed by their success...true, he'd nearly brought down the roof with his demands, but they mastered it...unfortunately, it was Lily's one-time lecture that paid off. And though he was disappointed that it wasn't he who taught them, he held no hard feelings against anyone.
He gathered them all and flooed them to his quarters at Hogwarts. From there, he led the five as close to the gates of Hogwarts as he dared, that is until he could feel the dementors beyond those gates.
"Wands out!" he commanded.
And they obeyed.
"Take three steps foward!" he cried.
And yet again, they unhesitatingly obeyed!
"Alright!" he snapped from where he was. "Cast your Patronus!"
"Expecto Patronum!" five voices roared and shooting out of the wands belonging to Harry, Blaire, Ethan, Neville and Draco and running towards the dementors were an ostrich, a doe, a stag, a camel and an eagle respectively. The dementors fled, never to return.
The children looked back at Severus with satisfaction, and Severus beamed at them all.
Once their little moment came to an end, very leisurely, Severus and the children began to head back towards the castle. On their way, they took a detour to the frozen lake and he conjured a warm circular couch on which they all sat surrounded by his most powerful protection charms
His conscience had been bothering him for a long time, and he felt that now that they had mastered both Occlumency as well as the Patronus, they would be able to take in a little more information. Severus decided that it was time to let them know, that their parents didn't actually leave them to fend for themselves...that the senior Potters had indeed assigned to each of them a godfather... but most unfortunately, all three godfathers hadn't acted as ideally as it was expected of them.
Severus sat with them for a while, killing time by handing them each a mug of hot chocolate, talking about nothing in particular, plucking up all the courage he could muster. Then, he took them all back to the castle. And he skillfully pulled aside Draco and Neville, telling them that he had to make a terrible revelation to the triplets, that they could either wait in his quarters for the shocked siblings to return or they could floo to the Alcove.
Such moments proved to be a test in itself. A test of friendship...and as Severus had guessed, the two boys preferred to remain in his quarters until he brought back the triplets.
However, Neville asked, "Can't that wait for after the holidays?"
"I'm sorry, Neville." Severus said, sadly. "I've been putting this aside for the last two and a half years. My conscience doesn't permit me to leave them ignorant of the fact anymore."
And so, Severus gathered the three siblings and took them outside, back on the reconjured couch that looked over the frozen lake.
Severus sat with Harry by his side and said, "Harry, Blaire, Ethan, you know better than anyone how I've tried my level best to keep you from getting hurt."
He took a deep breath, realising that he had their attention and then, he said, "I've tried hard and if keeping you from harms way meant withholding information, I withheld it. I only hope you will forgive me when I tell you this. Because as mildly and vaguely as I put it, this will hurt. But you must know."
The triplets remained quiet...but their bemused and slightly cautious looks were the last thing he needed. Severus didn't think he would be able to bear it if they stopped trusting him now. He was just too fond of them for that.
He cleared his throat and said, "You see, your parents didn't actually leave you to survive in this world by yourselves...they assigned for you a godfather each...and for that I will need to tell you a story...you already know a part of this tale... You see, there was a young boy, who was the only child of a muggle drunkard and a pureblooded witch... This boy had to learn how to live with constantly arguing parents, until, one day he came across two sisters, one of his own age, and the other a couple of years older.
The younger girl was performing accidental magic before his very eyes, and the boy, happy to be of some help, told them about the Wizarding World. Naturally, both girls didn't believe him and even resented him. After a while, however, this boy and the younger girl became the best of friends, giving him another a chance to be a part of a family, to experience love...to be another precious child to the girl's parents, only a little later. And all this happened before the boy turned ten... And by now, his drunkard of a father had mysteriously died in his sleep.
His mother used this opportunity to repair her tattered relationship with her son and began raising him in a better way...this girl's parents and this boy's mother met and introductions were finally made... A year later, the Hogwarts letters arrived and the children were soon boarding the train, by which, this girl's older sister was so jealous of her, chances that they would reconcile were nil.
Now, on the Hogwarts Express, our boy and girl came across two arrogant, rich, pureblooded boys...Both sides got off on the wrong foot when they first met and their dislike for each other simply increased each passing day.
The sorting ceremony worsened the problem when this boy and girl were separated into two different houses. And to our boy's bad luck, those two arrogant boys had been sorted into the same house as the girl."
"Prof," Blaire said. "Was that boy you by any chance?"
Severus hesitated but nodded slowly.
"And was that girl our mother?"
Again Severus nodded. Then carefully, without naming anyone else, he moved to explain how he grew up. He conveniently left out anything that wasn't worth mentioning, and this included Lupin's lycanthropy. But the children soon caught on and realised that one of those rowdy boys from that Marauder band was 'Dad'.
Severus told them of how he went home after his first year and found his mother on her last legs, battling cancer. There wasn't any cure then, but Severus found one almost as soon as he got his Mastery. He told the children of how the Evans' practically adopted him. And he moved the story to their fifth year. Painstakingly, he told the thirteen-year-olds about his and Lily's fallout and about how she began dating James Potter.
He skipped the entire Death Eater episode (simply stating that, "I joined bad company...and you know what that resulted in.") and got on to the part where they were born.
"And so," he said, "your father made two of his friends your godparents and your mother made me the godfather of the third...you see, when I realised what I'd done, I confessed to Dumbledore and now you know of the side job that I have...your mother found out about it and apparently she was impressed...so making me godfather was the peace offering she gave me."
There was no reaction. Not at first, but then Blaire said, "Whose godfather are you, Prof?"
"I'm sure he's mine." Ethan said with confidence.
"No." countered Harry, equally as confident. "He'll be mine."
Severus smiled at them and then turned his eyes towards Blaire and said nothing, but the little grin on her face told him that she now knew.
"He's my godfather!" she exclaimed to the boys.
Harry and Ethan made defeated sounds and then Harry sniffed, "Blaire was the peace offering."
"Her little girl." Severus said fondly. "James wasn't the least happy about it. He said, I would do the worst job and that I would turn Blaire into a, nevermind...well in other words, he threw tantrums by the dozen, but Lily wouldn't sway...and in some ways, James was right... I admit, that I've-"
"Hold it!" Harry said with annoyance. "You haven't...you haven't done a bad job, if that's what you are trying to say, okay? You gave us a room. You gave us a real home. You gave us a family. You gave us our first presents-"
"I should have been the one raising you!"
"You were told that Dumbledore had placed us in a safe and loving home." Ethan pointed out.
"You shouldn't have been living in that hell hole."
"You came for us the moment your realised the truth." Blaire corrected firmly. "And you are still there for us no matter what. Did those other godfathers even try to find out if we were given a home after that Halloween?"
"Blaire," Severus sighed. "That's what I'm coming to. You see, one of them is suffering from an illness that has made him legally unfit to look after you...The other was locked up in Azkaban."
The silence that followed was a shocked one which lasted for five whole thoughtful moments until Ethan whispered, his eyes showing that he knew what the answer was. "What are their names, Prof?"
Severus looked at them with sad, sympathetic eyes and said, "Remus Lupin and Sirius Black."
"What!?"
"I'm sorry, but yes...Ethan, Lupin's your godfather-"
"And I'm the godson of Sirius Black." Harry whispered.
Severus placed a arm around Harry's shoulders and squeezed comfortingly. Harry leant into him, his face showing nothing.
"They were Dad's best friends." Harry stated, as Ethan put his arm around Harry's shoulders.
"Yes." Severus said. "Sirius Black was your parents secret keeper."
"Secret keeper?" Harry asked confused.
And Severus began to explain to them the workings of a Fidelius charm.
"You see, they trusted Black with their lives."
"And he betrayed them?" Blaire gasped.
Severus nodded gravely.
"And he murdered those muggles and that wizard."
"That wizard was Peter Pettigrew, the last member of the Marauders."
And when Severus saw the signs of hatred appearing on Harry's face, he said, "Harry, Ethan and Blaire, this was the exact reason I didn't want to tell you this in the first place. You're too young to hold hatred. No no! Let me finish. You must remember that your parents wish was to keep you alive so you could grow into healthy young men and woman. And if you wish to fullfill their last wish, you will have to throw away those plans of revenge from your mind. It isn't healthy, and I forbid it."
"Then why did you-" Harry began to choke out.
"The reason I told you this was so you could be aware of what the actual situation was. I told you this so that you could be prepared one day, if somebody gave you some false story. I'm telling you this today, so you don't fall into a trap."
Unbeknownst to them, a werewolf, unable to resist his human curiosity at the five magnificent Patronuses, was hidden under disillusionment, listening intently to the intriguing story, his eyes slowly losing the sparkle they held...And unbeknownst to Remus Lupin, hidden in a nook created by the frozen rocks besides the lake was a dog who knew that the chances he now had of winning over the children's trust were zilch.
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The days went by and the new year saw Dudley and the Swarm heading back to school. The triplets however, looked at the world with a different light. Prof was right when he said that the truth would hurt. And Harry knew he had a right to be angry over the entire episode...But all he felt was numbness.
His mind seemed to have taken charge and blocked everything out... Harry couldn't help but feel grateful. He didn't want to think about Black and his Death Eater friends laughing behind his, Harry's, parents back. He didn't want to think about what his parents were thinking when they were faced by Voldemort. He didn't want to think of how cold-blooded Black must have been to visit Harry's parents everyday, and without any conscience, joke around with them, knowing exactly what their fate would be.
Thinking about it made his head hurt...it made his insides hurt...and moreover, it turned his mood so sour, nobody wanted to be around him - not even Blaire or Ethan. And Harry didn't like that. So he preferred to think about nothing, except his family, his friends, his school, his lessons and Sly (who made sure he was very accomplished in digging tunnels).
Harry knew there was nothing he could do, and confronting Black would definitely not bring back his parents...the confrontation would probably help him join them, but...it was best not to think about it.
...
Ethan on the other hand, would spend his time thinking about the entire situation, and in particular, his godfather. So far, neither Harry nor Blaire and not even Neville and Draco (who were told about what happened by a very white-faced Harry), had asked him or Prof about Remus Lupin's condition that made him 'legally unfit as a guardian. Their sole attention was on the Harry and Sirius Black dilemma.
Ethan wondered if it would help if he told them about Lupin's condition when they asked. Was it worth giving them another shock? He trusted them not to go spreading the truth, but he didn't want them to be worried. They already had more than enough on their plate.
Ethan wondered what would happen if he approached Lupin with this knowledge. But then it would either end up with him being thrown out by a furious Lupin, or with Lupin having a breakdown and making the entire episode an emotional mess. Either way, Ethan realised that it wasn't his job of confronting Lupin...it was the adult who was responsible for the child...not the other way round.
It could also be that Lupin was afraid of confronting Ethan, incase he was rejected...then there also was the protective stance Prof had taken when Lupin had come into the library for a read.
Now thinking back, Ethan never saw Lupin in the library after that day... could it have been that Lupin hadn't come in to read? Was he actually trying to meet up with them and tell them the truth? Well, he certainly lost that opportunity.
Ethan had read books on lacanthropy and noticed how terribly biased they were and it didn't take him long to realise that people feared werewolves because of something that wasn't in their control. They hated werewolves, and, Ethan realised with a heavy heart, so did Prof.
Ethan surmised from certain reads about how painful transformations were for werewolves and he then deduced that Lupin wasn't by any means a coward.
He had been through lots and would certainly go through a lot more.
So Ethan decided to give Lupin all the chances he needed. Ethan would keep an open mind and listen to Lupin if ever he decided to say something.
...
Blaire was more worried about Harry than anyone else. He had completely closed of. He didn't waste time in idleness, nor did he spend his time in thought as she had expected him to be. What was worse was a change in Ethan's demeanor. Usually he would be the one preferring not to think about the bad, but now he was in deeper thought that Blaire had ever seen even Harry in.
She tried to get them engaged in their lessons or some game and sometimes even commanded rather than begged a reluctant Draco and Neville to help her get her brothers to get back to their original behaviour. She knew that both Draco and Neville were almost exasperated with her, but were kind enough not to say anything.
She was worried Ethan and Harry would become too grown-up altogether. And that, mind, wasn't what bothered her at all. It was the fact that they could get hurt if this continued that troubled her.
But now with absolutely no help, she decided that if they didn't come out of their gloom before the end of January, she was going to approach Prof for help.
Sometimes, she wondered if Lupin was helping Black around in the castle and she had half a mind of asking him about it. But that would lead to complications and she didn't want to subject her brothers to any more danger.
Maybe she herself was thinking too much. Was it that her brothers were actually growing up?
Was it best if she waited and watched as things happening, before she muddled them up?
Alright, Blaire was going to wait. She was going to stick her nose in her books, and insist that the boys did the same, but she would wait. However, the minute she got wind of any sign of danger heading towards Ethan and Harry, and even Neville and Draco, she was going to grab them all and portkey them to Prof's quarters asap.
By now there were a dozen sightings of Sirius Black in Muggle villages surrounding Hogsmeade, and Blaire was now wondering if she had, after all, actually made a mistake in assuming that Black was an animagus. Perhaps, she would have to go about it in a different way?
And now she was absolutely confused.
...
The Quidditch matches arrived as a distraction and soon, her brothers were absolutely normal. They laughed at their little party after the match (something that she'd thoroughly missed) and everything seemed alright.
It wasn't thought of again for the rest of the day, but it wasn't forgotten.
And the next day, much to Blaire's consternation, everyone was talking about Sirius Black. But the moment she heard that he had entered the Gryffindor tower with a knife and slipped into the third year boy's dormitory, she found herself calling to Neville.
"Nev!" she shrieked.
"I'm alright." he said soothingly.
"Black had slashed open Weasley's curtains last...Probably thought he was Harry."
"That's awful!" she groaned.
"Why are you worrying, Blaire?" Harry said with irritation. "I don't think he'll ever come near the dungeons. He hates Slytherins, remember?"
"He joined them!" Blaire countered in distress.
There was silence for a little while and then Harry said, "You don't worry, Blaire. Remember, Prof's put protections around my and Draco's cubicle, and the rest of you have airtight wards around your beds. There is no need to worry at all!"
"What he's trying to say," Ethan said, in a feeble attempt to lighten up the situation, "is that if you ever feel endangered, hide in your beds."
"Ha ha." Blaire said, unimpressed.
"Honestly, Blaire," Ethan said seriously. "We're as a safe as can be. Don't spoil your mind worrying when there's nothing to worry about."
Blaire didn't press the matter, knowing very well that her point wouldn't seep through their heads...not in this manner anyway.
The days went on in tense anticipation. Ronald Weasley didn't seem affected by the matter at all, given by the way he'd happily and readily retell his tale over and over again with a little improvisation everytime someone asked him something.
The ones who were actually upset over the matter were Tilly and Hermione Granger. And speaking of that little gang, the Swarm were sure that the three were on the verge of a split. It seemed that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger just couldn't speak without insulting each other and Tilly was the very upset go-between.
Well, it wasn't any of the Swarm's problem...as it was, they had more serious matters on their hands.
...
"May I take a look at that parchment?" Harry heard Professor Lupin say.
He turned around and saw the twins hand him a folded piece of parchment very reluctantly. Lupin looked it over, turning it around in his hands, his eyes sparkling. Looked up at the twins and said, "Would you boys accompany me to my office?"
And Fred and George Weasley followed him, looking like a couple of morose monkeys who'd just lost their tails.
Harry shrugged and went on with his day. He attended his Arithmancy and Herbology class (where he had to sing to his assigned Fairy Snowdrop, a large fussy drop-shaped flower that bloomed in the greenhouses only in the winter, grew only when it danced and danced only when someone sang to it) and then DADA had been cancelled, so he sat alone in the library and waited for Potions. An entire cauldron of well brewed shrinking potion and a short conversation with Prof later, he headed to the Great Hall for lunch with Neville and Draco.
When they reached the door that lead them to the entrance block, Harry noticed some slight shimmering in the air covering their path from floor to ceiling. Unfortunately, he'd been the only one to notice.
"Wait!" he said at Draco and Neville, but he was a little too late.
Both boys stepped right into that shimmering substance and a large web appeared before them and came to life, pouncing on both Neville and Draco and simply cocooned around them, barring their every move... they couldn't even talk if they tried and all of them that Harry could were their noses and their frightened pleading eyes.
Harry stared in shock for a moment. Then he screamed and called out for help. But the Entrance Hall in front of him and the passage way behind was empty. No one from the Great Hall would even be able to hear them thanks to the noisy environment.
Harry took a moment to calm down and look thoroughly.
This looked liked a cobweb, almost similar to a spider web. Thankfully there wasn't any spider in it. From the thing's unnatural behaviour, it was either some new kind of creature or the result of some very creative Transfiguration.
What made it worse was if Harry touched it, he'd get stuck too and that wouldn't make him of any help. If he called Blaire and Ethan, there were chances that they too could get caught in there. If he set the darned thing on fire, he'd end up killing his friends.
What intrigued him, though, was that, the web seemed absolutely content at sitting there with its two hostages. It didn't budge anymore.
"Blink once," he said to the boys on gathering his wits, "for yes and twice for no."
He cleared his throat, "Is it hurting you?"
He recieved a no.
"Right. I'm going down to call Prof back up. Give me a few minutes to rush down there, he's probably going to have lunch in his own quarters today."
The Swarm knew Prof had an important meeting with Dumbledore and Minister of Magic Amelia Bones and the other Heads of House regarding the further strengthening of the wards.
He shot off back in the direction of Prof's classroom only to be encountered by Peeves who was splashing soapy water all over the place from a large steel bucket. Harry jumped into an alcove immediately, hoping that he would move fast. But the Poltergeist spotted him and cackled madly, holding his bucket of soapy water at a dangerous angle.
Harry's first instinct was to bully the ghost into that web, but should he pass through it, Peeves would make Neville and Draco's life a living hell.
So he put on a brave face and waited to get soaked. But...
"PEEVES!" came the roaring voice of Professor Snape. "Get away from that boy!"
Peeves cackled and tipped the water all over poor Harry and disappeared down the corridor. Harry was dry within a fraction of a second and without waiting a moment longer, he said, "Prof, follow me quick! Nev and Draco are in terrible trouble."
Prof followed him without asking a question and the moment he saw their predicament, he let out a sound of annoyance and flicked his wand. Both Draco and Neville were safely dropped onto the floor.
Harry soon realised that they were in shock, for their feet simply wouldn't support their weight. It was almost fifteen minutes and a calming draught later, that they could stand without Harry's and Prof's help.
"I," Draco declared, "am never approaching a spider again."
Neville nodded in agreement, but Harry said rather sharply, "There wasn't a spider there. Don't be stupid or we'll have two more Ronald Weasleys in our midst."
"This wasn't a spider's doing." Prof said. "It was a prank. A signature Marauder prank. I'm heading up for a meeting with the Headmaster and the Minister of Magic now, and if I get the chance, I'm going to get Lupin fired."
"Harry, Nev?" Blaire called. "Where are you and Draco? Everyone's nearly leaving!"
"Coming, coming." Harry said. "We got a little caught up. We'll be there in a minute."
With that, he thanked Prof and dragged Nev and Draco into the Great Hall to enjoy the remnants of a delicious caserole.
And this resulted them in leaving for their CoMc class in a hurry. Neville and Draco had carried their warm outerwear in their bags. But Harry having slipped and fallen on a frozen bit of ice the grounds, had soaked himself to a very uncomfortable point and hurriedly dressed for his cancelled DADA class, giving him no time to pack another set of muffler, gloves and coat.
And he had almost reached Hagrid's Hut, shivering in the bitter cold, when Blaire ran up to him with a pair of warm clothing, berating him mercilessly over his carelessness. Draco and Neville, not in the mood for a lecture, tried to get her to stop, but whenever he got a chance, Ethan added a little fuel to the fire.
"Now, I'll be late for Runes." she fumed. "I hope I'm allowed in... And you! If I ever see you doing something as stupid as that again-"
"Blaire?" a quite voice called.
"Tilly?" Harry responded, grateful for the intervention.
She blushed shyly.
"Could I come with you to class? Ron and Hermione got into a horrible fight. Ron thinks Hermione's cat ate Scabbers, that is, Ron's old rat. And Hermione won't hear a word of it. It's just awful-"
Tilly broke off as they heard the sound of claws hitting something solid, likely ice, then she lifted her eyes in that direction with a gasp, her eyes widening with fright and then... she screamed!
tbc...
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. This will be my last update for this year...