Lily's Defender, Part 2
The Way Back
TheOneandOnlyEnigma
Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply
Summary: With the Grimoire in safe hands and James Potter expelled, Severus Snape, Lily Evans, and their friends expected that their remaining time at Hogwarts would be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, the intentions of a few detestable individuals will make their lives more arduous. With the help of a few new friends, they all must join together to fight against the rising tide of evil in the Wizarding World. The Way Back
It was raining, as it had been for most days.
Gabriel looked out onto the Scottish moors, a cup of warm tea in his hands. He viewed the moors he had lived upon for what seemed like an eternity for what may be the last time.
Everything that wasn't nailed down that he couldn't take with him was sold. The livestock was auctioned off at the local muggle village a few miles north of his campground.
All that was left to do was to take down the tent and the surrounding fence posts. Then it will be like he was never there, to begin with.
The wizard looked back inside to a barren home. Save for a cot that his godson was sleeping in currently. He spent the last few days putting him through the wringer. Teaching Sam on several dueling techniques, and several new spells as well. He took to them like a fish to water. Silas would be proud.
Gabriel finished his tea and went to start making breakfast. He was using up the last of his supplies. Some eggs, smoked pork belly, peppers, mushrooms, a can of beans, and rye toast. A nomad's variation of a Full English.
Gabriel spent a half hour making the spread for himself, and his godson. He plated the food, and put it on a tray he transfigured out of a spare thimble laying around. "Wake up kid."
Sam woke up to a plate of food placed before him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Mornin' Gabe." He breathed in a sharp breath of air and inhaled the delicious aroma of the food placed before him. "Is there any milk left?"
"We finished that yesterday, plenty of water left. Want a cup?"
"Please, and thank you." Sam took the fork on the tray and dug into his breakfast.
Gabriel gave Sam his water before digging into his breakfast.
Sam took a look up at his godfather, and back at his plate. "So...today's the day? Right?"
"Yeah," Gabriel assured his godson. Gabriel glanced around the empty tent. He wasn't going to miss this, to be honest, but he was going to miss the silence. Silas' kids could be a handful at times.
"Why now?"
Gabriel looked back at Sam, "What?"
"Why now, Gabe?" Sam looked a bit confused. "Did it have something to do with Abraxas Malfoy? He's dead, and now you're coming back and…"
"Sami," Gabriel raised his hand to quiet Sam down. When he piped up Gabriel talked. "Yes, that's part of the reason. The other reason is that I'm being summoned to Mirrorvale by Lord Prince, you know him, right?"
Sam shook his head. "Yeah, of course. I know of him."
Gabriel cocked an eyebrow, "And you know Severus?"
Sam kept quiet at that query.
"His grandson?"
Sam picked at his rye toast.
Gabriel leaned closer to his godson. "Your godmother's son?"
Sam felt his throat get dryer and dryer. "We...really haven't...clicked."
"Have you even spoken to the lad?!" Gabriel glared at Sam.
"Of course! I mean... pleasantries, here and there."
Gabriel groaned, "Sam, is he even in your group of friends? In one of those outer circles of friends?"
Sam shook his head slowly.
Gabriel scoffed, "What the hell? It's like someone's keeping you two apart…" He looked at Sam. "Is someone keeping you two apart?"
"No!" Sam ate a few of his beans and sipped his water. "I mean...not unintentionally."
Gabriel sat up straight. "Was this Dante's doing?"
Sam shrunk in the cot.
"Sam, look at me."
He reluctantly looked up at his Godfather.
"Did Dante tell you to steer clear of Severus?"
"...Yes," Sam looked away in shame after answering his Godfather. "After he got sent away to Beauxbatons, he wrote to me. Telling me to leave him alone, that he's no good, he's dark, bad-blooded. Stuff like that."
"Dante was at Beauxbatons at that time, why did you listen to him?"
"His friend Cassidy Doherty was still at school. He made sure that Dante's will was imposed, even if he weren't there to see it done." Sam sneered at that last part.
Gabriel growled quietly. "Sami what have I told you? If you're getting bullied or picked on you go to an adult. Or your mother, your grandparents, hell, even Marcus!"
"It's not...that simple." Sam sighed, that excuse withered away as it escaped his mouth.
Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, "You've got to put an end to this now, or else he'll Lord over you your entire life! And you don't want that, do you?"
Sam shook his head, "No. But, Gabriel…"
"But, Gabriel nothing! Make me a promise here and now Samuel Augustus Yalarad! Promise me that you will put your foot down to Dante, the moment he puts you in a bad situation!"
Sam looked to be caught between a rock and a hard place and mumbled under his breath.
"Repeat that, and louder this time," Gabriel ordered.
"I promise." Sam sighed as he looked up at his Godfather.
"Good, now eat your breakfast before it gets cold. We still have much to do before we leave."
Sam gave Gabriel a faint smile before returning to his breakfast.
An hour later, both Sam and Gabriel were hard at work packing the last of their belongings and were now taking down the tent. After the tent was folded and put away into a chest, everything was prepared. The fence posts were taken down and summarily burned in a fire. Sam and Gabriel both enjoyed one final cup of tea as they waited for the fires to die down.
"What will you do once you come back?" Sam asked Gabriel.
"Oh, I'll find some work. Maybe your Grandfather might have a job for me at his company? Or, I could do a bit of freelance work?"
"Or maybe you could be an Auror again?" Sam said with a small amount of hope in his voice.
Gabriel chuckled, "I don't think that a return to the Aurors is in the cards right now." He scratched his rugged beard. "Or at all."
Sam frowned, "Maybe Lord Prince could help you? Maybe he's offering you a job? That could be why he wants to see you."
"He's a barrister, and me, I've never had the patience to practice Law." Gabriel finished his tea and put his cup in his chest with the rest of his belongings. "Come on then."
Sam tossed his tea out onto the grass and placed the tea into the chest. He picked up his knapsack, and duffel bag. Gabriel closed the chest and shrunk it down so that it fit in his pocket comfortably. He used his wand to put out the fire until only smoke remained.
Gabriel then pulled out the portkey he 'acquired' from Hezekiah Borke, a large, deep green emerald the size of a toddler's fist. One in which he hadn't used in quite some time. "Ready?"
Sam shook his head, "Ready Gabe!"
Gabriel and Sam put their hands upon the emerald, and the began to spin in place, and before either of them knew it, they were back at applewood Manor. Sam was wobbling around in place, and Gabriel had to hold him in place to steady him. "You okay?"
Sam brushed off his clothes of the leaves that had gotten on his pants when they landed, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine Gabe."
Gabriel looked around the grounds surrounding Applewood Manor. Merlin, it looked just like it did the last time he laid eyes on it.
Sam beckoned his godfather to follow him. "Come on Gabe! Everyone is going to be surprised to see you!"
"Yeah, I bet." Gabriel followed his godson into the manor.
~*~*Page Break~*~*
They went inside and found nobody inside the lounge, living room, or the main study.
"Hmmm, maybe they're out somewhere?" Gabriel pondered.
"That is unlikely. My mother and siblings are usually here to welcome me home whenever I come back," Sam said as they wandered into the kitchen.
"Was this the day you were supposed to come back?"
Sam shook his head, "Of course. One week exactly, Mum made it absolutely clear when I started visiting you." He put his bags down at the foot of the kitchen island. "Wait here, I'm going to look around for a bit. Help yourself to some food, and drink!" Sam went looking around for his family, and Gabriel was left standing there.
He decided to take Sam up on his offer and went sifting through the cupboards for some food. After almost eight years living on his homestead, he had forgotten what gingersnaps had tasted like. He took out a box of gingersnaps and opened them, but before he could have one, a knife was pressed up against his throat.
Before he could let this person speak he rammed his head back into the stranger's face. Gabriel felt the cartilage of their nose crunch under the force of his headbutt. He turned around and kicked the stranger in the stomach, launching them over the kitchen island.
Gabriel went to confront his would-be attacker. "Lucius Malfoy sent you? He works fast, but he's going to have to do better than just one assassin!"
He walked around the island to see his would-be assassin and to be honest, he wasn't expecting somebody as beautiful as she was. He also didn't expect the throwing knife that his attacker threw which embedded itself into his shoulder.
"Shite!" Gabriel recoiled in pain only to get tackled by the woman in black into the kitchen island.
He only had a split second to catch the woman's hand before she could stab him with a dagger she produced from her person. He kneed the woman three times in her stomach, "Drop..the ruddin'..." Gabriel immediately got a ceramic sugar Shaker and smashed it over her head. "Dagger!"
The woman dropped the blade, and Gabriel kicked her out into the hallway to create some distance between the two of them. Gabriel pulled out his wand, and the woman pulled out her wand after she sprung up, and the two were locked in a standoff.
Both of them, waiting for the other to make a move first, however, that move wouldn't come as Black Ivar stormed into the hallway behind Gabriel, intending to kill whoever intruded upon Applewood Manor. "Drop it!" Black Ivar barked at the intruder before him.
Gabriel did so slowly but knew the man whose voice had commanded him. "Sabo? Ivar Sabo?"
Black Ivar immediately recognized the voice of the man before him. "Gabriel Schell?"
Gabriel slowly turned around to face the Black Cloak.
Black Ivar holstered his wand and signaled for Black Neve to do the same. "Boy, I nearly blew your head clean off!"
"I believe you," Gabriel chuckled.
A moment later, and Sam came in, shocked to see the damage that happened once he left his Godfather alone. "What the blue hell happened here?"
"A small misunderstanding Sami," Gabriel said.
After the scuffle, they all spend the next twenty minutes cleaning up the kitchen. Black Ivar patched up his fellow Black Cloak, and Gabriel Schell.
Ivar reset Black Neve's nose into place, healed her ribs, which two were broken in the ensuing fight, and then pulled out small shards of ceramic out of her head wound before stitching her up.
Sam was holding a wad of gauze to Gabriel's shoulder wound. It was to stop the flow of blood as the knife was still lodged in there. "Can't we call Aunt Rebecca over here to speed this along?"
"On her day off? She'd kill us all!" Black Dain chuckled, "I'd much rather storm a Manticore den before incurring Lady Dain's wrath!" He finished with Black Neve's last stitch before cutting the line of thread. He patted her shoulder, "You're good." She sat up out of the chair and allowed Gabriel to sit down so that Black Ivar could attend to him
Gabriel took his shirt off, so Ivar could heal his stab wound and sat down. "Where is everyone?"
Black Ivar rummaged through his kit for some healing salve. "Lord and Lady Yalarad, along with Alexandria, Hippolyta, and Agamemnon went to Silverwood to visit Marcus and his family."
"You didn't go with them?" Gabriel asked.
"Black Neve was assigned to stay here to receive Sam. I myself was tasked by Lord Sherwood to check in and see if everything was all right. Black Caiden and Black Finn are with them over at Silverwood, and ain't nothing going to get past those two...unless they start bickering with each other."
He took a jar of healing salve and put it on the table. Black Ivar carefully took the knife out of Gabriel's shoulder. Gabriel winced in pain when he did, but kept his cool as Ivar extracted the knife. He looked over at Black Neve who was observing him.
He asked the Black Cloak, "Did you really have to throw a knife at me?"
Black Neve quipped back, "Did you really have to break my nose?"
"Did you really have to put a knife to my throat?"
"Did you really have to…"
"Okay, we get it! You both did things you shouldn't have. May we please move on?" Ivar asked aloud as he was struggling to keep Gabriel still whilst patching him up.
"It's kind of my fault as well. I should have stayed with you so that Black Neve knew you weren't a threat," Sam felt guilty over the entire thing.
"It wasn't your fault Sami," Gabriel assured his Godson.
Black Neve looked at the man, "Why are you here?"
"That's what I'd like to know as well." Black Ivar applied the healing salve to Gabriel's wound, and applied some Dittany so minimal scarring would occur.
Black Neve leaned against the wall, "You said something about Lucius Malfoy and assassins. Why would he send assassins after you?"
Gabriel and Black Ivar both really wished that she hadn't said that in front of Sam. The young wizard's eyes widened. "Assassins? Lucius Malfoy? Gabe, what's Neve talking about?"
"Sam, it's nothing. Okay...just..." Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. "I'm here because I was called for."
"Lord Sherwood didn't call for you," Black Ivar stated. "Not that I know about."
"He didn't, but Marius Prince did."
Black Ivar looked at Gabriel "It was you that Black Leif was searching for."
"Yeah, and he found me. Well, he found Sam, and I got the drop on him."
Black Ivar scoffed, "Proper Black Cloaks don't get dropped on."
"Ehh," Gabriel waved that off.
Black Ivar finished patching Gabriel up. "You're all set. What will you do now?"
"I'm going to see Marius. See, what he wants." Gabriel put his shirt back on, and rotated his shoulder, to see how it felt. "Thanks, Ivar."
Black Ivar nodded. "Tweren't nothing."
Gabriel turned to Sam. "I'll be back shortly Sam. I promise."
"Will you tell me what this is all about when you get back," Sam asked his Godfather.
Gabriel sighed, "I need to speak with your mother and grandfather first, but I think it's high time to tell you."
He kissed Sam atop his head and got a coat. He sized Black Neve up before giving a cordial, yet curt, nod before leaving to the fireplace.
~*~*Page Break~*~*
To say that Severus and Lily were being watched closely, was in of itself an understatement. The pair could hardly find a moment to themselves alone. Whether it be Vesper wanting to spend time with them playing a board game, Black Leif watching from afar when they were walking along the grounds of Mirrorvale, or making sure that all doors were open if they were in a room together.
"Is it me or are your grandparents, and the Magnussons being overly watchful since I've arrived,' Lily asked Severus as they were eating their lunch inside the kitchen.
"It isn't you. They've been keeping a closer eye on us," Severus stated.
"Why? They haven't had to keep an eye on us like this before."
Severus blushed lightly, "I think this might be related to the talk I had with my grandparents."
"What was it about?"
Severus twiddled his fingers. "It was 'The Talk.'"
Lily blushed lightly, "Ooh. Now all this added attention makes sense."
"Yeah," Severus cleared his throat.
Lily's blush was almost as red as the hair on her head. "My parents had "the talk" with me as well. I wanted to die of embarrassment immediately afterward!"
"I think they want to make sure we don't get into any sort of trouble," Severus theorized
"They don't have to worry about that from us! I mean…" Lily twiddled her thumbs. "Not yet anyway," She mumbled under her breath.
Severus cleared his throat, "So...tell me more about Petunia's designs."
"Right," Lily was happy to change the subject. She told Severus how she volunteered to model in the dresses that Petunia designed once she made them.
Just then the floo sounded. Severus and Lily turned towards the fireplace in the adjacent room.
Lily looked at the clock above the doorway. "It's far too early for your grandfather to return from work, isn't it?"
Severus nodded, "And my grandmother isn't supposed to return from her monthly charity meeting for another hour."
They both got up from the kitchen table and went to go investigate. They edged slowly past the doorway and looked inside. A man with long dirty blonde hair and an unkempt beard came out of the fireplace.
Severus and Lily shot right back past to the kitchen to hide from the stranger.
"Severus, who is that?" Lily whispered to her boyfriend.
"I'm not sure. He doesn't look like someone my grandparents would associate with."
Lily thought aloud, "Could he be a friend of the Magnussons?"
Severus thought about it. "That's a possibility, but they would never have people over without my Grandparent's permission."
Severus and Lily heard footsteps approaching, and quickly rushed out of the kitchen through the other entryway. They hid behind the corner and watched as the stranger made his way into the kitchen. He observed the half-eaten pork roast and baked potatoes on the table. The stranger walked over to the cabinet and retrieved an empty glass, and proceeded to get himself some water.
At this time Black Leif walked into Lily's eyesight, and she waved at him to come over. Black Leif felt something was off and rushed over, keeping close to the wall as he did so. "What's going on?"
"There's someone here! Someone we've never seen before. He's in the kitchen drinking some water!" Lily told Leif quietly.
"He looks like a transient, but he came in through the floo!" Severus added.
Black Leif began to piece things together. "Does he have brown, maybe dirty-blonde hair that went to his neck, and an unkempt beard?"
Both Lily and Severus shook their heads collectively. "Do you know who he is?" Lily asked Black Leif.
"Yes, but wait here for a second," Black Leif told them as he went into the kitchen. Sure enough there was Gabriel Schell, in the flesh. "Mr. Schell."
Gabriel turned to face Black Leif. "Black Leif, finally someone who knows how to properly approach a situation."
The Black Cloak looked confused, "What do you mean?"
Gabriel chuckled, "It's nothing. Oh, by the way." Gabriel took a small leather bag out of his pocket and resized it. "These are yours I believe. I cleaned all of them before leaving."
Black Leif smiled when he opened the bag, He was reunited with all of his weaponry. "Oh thank you, Mr. Schell, I was feeling a bit naked, apart from my wand."
"Please, just call me Gabriel."
Severus heard those names and put two and two together. He walked into the kitchen ignoring Lily's pleas to stay put. "Sev, wait! Don't…"
He walked into the kitchen, and into the view of Gabriel Schell.
Gabriel looked at the person who came in, and felt the air leave his lungs. Time felt like it moved at a snail's pace. The two just stared at each other, with no words leaving their lips. Black Leif decided to move things along.
"Umm, Severus this is Gabriel Schell. From what your grandparents have told Conor and I, he was very close with your mother. The best of friends, so I understand."
Severus slowly approached Gabriel. "You knew my mother?"
Gabriel had to find his voice, "Yeah. She was one of my best friends, and I got close to your father as well. Merlin, you look just like the two of them." He struggled to find his words, "Let me think, the last time I saw you, you nearly came up to my knees when you were just a babe. I remember that day well. I tossed you up into the air and caught you a few times, Leena chastised me for doing that, you then sicked up all over me, and Toby laughed as he got me one of his spare shirts."
Severus couldn't help but feel a connection with his man and chuckled at Gabriel's recollection. "Sorry about that."
"Oh don't be," Gabriel laughed and then looked over to the other doorway and saw a red-haired young lady peek her head through. "And who are you?"
Severus turned to Lily and invited her in. "Come on Lily...he's okay...I feel it."
Lily knew that this man must have made a quick impression on Severus as he almost never went with his feelings on any sort of matter. "Hello, I'm Lily Evans, I'm Severus' girlfriend."
"Gabriel Schell. It's a pleasure to meet you." Gabriel turned to Black Leif, "Is Marius here?"
"He's out at the moment, unfortunately. I'll call for him, and Lady Vesper as well. With luck, they'll be here shortly,
In the time that Black Leif called for his Lord and Lady, Black Conor was introduced to Gabriel by Severus. Within minutes, one after the other, both Vesper and Marius came out through the floo.
Gabriel was standing in front of the floo to receive them. Vesper gasped as she put her hands over her mouth, and Marius had tears in his eyes as they stood before the man they regarded as a son. "I must admit, for the first time in a long while I'm speechless," Gabriel admitted.
Vesper immediately embraced Gabriel in the biggest hug she could muster, and Marius was right there beside his wife doing the same. "Welcome back, son."
Gabriel had to hold back his tears unless he started to cry, he returned their hug, and the three of them were like that for minutes before they let go. "I don't wish to spoil the mood, but I think you wanted to see me, Marius."
"In due course, my boy. For now, please sit, and rest! Are you hungry? Can we get anything for you?" Both he and Vesper guided him back towards the kitchen. "I ate before coming here, but I could do with something to drink."
"Of course, perhaps some scotch?" Marius offered.
"Oh! Umm, perhaps something a bit more softer than that Marius. It is still early in the day," Gabriel dryly laughed as he followed Marius and Vesper into the kitchen.
Severus and Lily had made themselves scarce at the council of Black Leif and Black Conor. Both of whom were in the kitchen awaiting their lord and lady..
The three sat down at the kitchen table. Mitzi had retrieved a bottle of lemon seltzer for them, and served them.
"How's Arlo doing Mitzi?" Gabriel chatted with the house elf as if he hadn't been gone for years.
"He is well Mr. Gabriel. We're so glad to see you after such a long time!" Her ears flapped in elation.
"It's wonderful to see you as well Mitzi," he smiled.
Marius and Vesper caught up with Gabriel, making up for the time lost between them.
"A rancher? Out in the Scottish Moors?"
"More like a farmer." Gabriel explained, "I grew whatever the soil would take. Raise any livestock that could survive the moors, and sold them off to a muggle village up a few miles north of where I was."
"I don't understand, why did it take you so long to reach out?" Gabriel asked Marius.
Marius was confused, "Gabriel, you left so suddenly. Without little farewell, or any indication of where you went."
"But I let Marcus know where I was going. He told me that he'd tell Sherwood, and you where I was…" Gabriel studied Marius' face. "But that's not the case is it?"
Marius looked to be irate, "No it isn't."
"Goddamn Marcus, told his family but not you?!" Gabriel groaned.
"Perhaps he forgot?" Vesper tried to give Marcus the benefit of the doubt.
"Marcus Yalarad has a near photographic memory, Vesper I doubt the gobshite forgot."
"Language!" Vesper admonished him.
Gabriel raised his hands. "Sorry, but it's true! He doesn't forget things like this. Trust me I'm going to have words with him." Marcus looked at Marius. "Why were you looking for me?"
Marius took a sip of his seltzer water before speaking. "Dumbledore was looking for you originally. He wants you to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for this upcoming year.
Gabriel looked shocked at what was said. "You're kidding me? I don't have the patience for that! Who put him up to that?"
"From what I know, it was Rufus Scrimgeour," Marius explained, and he saw Gabriel's eyes widen. "Does that surprise you?"
"Yeah it does. I thought he'd be the last person who'd want me back here...after…"
Marius and Vesper understood what he meant. "Yes, well...perhaps he's changed his mind."
"Or maybe this has to do with Abraxas Malfoy's death. You've heard the news, you've had to."
Marius shook his head, "Yes. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say."
"Indeed, but now that he's gone there's no need to hide anymore. No more looking over my shoulder. No more waking up in the dead of night cause I thought I heard some random incantation."
Vesper looked at Gabriel, "His son succeeds him. Abraxas could have told Lucius to do what he couldn't."
"If it comes to that Vesper, I'll take care of it. What's one more dead Malfoy? They're a house that's skated by the skin of their teeth for the past three centuries." Gabriel held nothing back speaking about the House of Malfoy.
"Let's hope that it doesn't come to that, Gabriel." Marius put his hand over Gabriel's. "The extinction of a house, such as the Malfoys, will bring about the wrong message."
Gabriel sighed, he knew Marius was right. "Fine. Here's hoping that Lucius turned out to be like his father. A cowardly puke of a man with a Napoleon complex who would rather throw money at a problem rather than take care of it himself."
Gabriel drank his glass of lemon seltzer and looked at the clock in the kitchen. "You think Dumbledore is at Hogwarts?"
"You want to talk to him now?" Marius asked him.
"No time like the present."
Well let's see if he's in his office." Marius went to the floor to attempt to get into contact with Dumbledore.
Vesper looked at Gabriel. " Have you been in to see Walburga?"
Gabriel's eyes quickly met Vesper's. "No."
"Maybe you should go…"
"No, Vesper. That's not…"
"You were both friends, best friends along with Silas and Eileen. I just figured…"
"I know. I know, but that's just going to open up a can of worms that I'm not ready to deal with yet."
"You can't avoid her forever, Gabriel."
"I've been successful these past eleven years, Vesper. Besides, she made her choice, and I abided by it." He looked down at the table.
"Gabriel?
He looked back up at Vesper.
"Reach out. You'll be glad you did."
Gabriel sighed. "I'll try Vesper. I don't know what good it'll do, but I will try."
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