Chapter 8:
Bill, Arthur and Snape had been enjoying a rather burnt bacon breakfast (courtesy of his dad), until Remus brought Sirius downstairs. The atmosphere changed immediately when Sirius entered the kitchen. Sirius's face turned into a furious scowl when he met Snape's eyes, and Bill could clearly see how Snape's back stiffened in anticipation. Sirius, who now seemed to be angry at all of them, dished out some surprisingly vicious comments in Snape's direction while actively ignoring Bill, Arthur and Remus.
Snape answered Sirius's comments with ugly glares but refrained from replying to them. Instead, he left it to Remus and Bill to tell Sirius off for his rudeness while he stayed true to his promise to behave civilized. It was a relief however, when Bill and Snape finished their breakfast and could leave the kitchen.
The last thing Bill saw before he left the room was Remus's apologetic look, a sight that made him sigh deeply while he mounted the stairs.
Snape seemed to think he was sighing about something else. "I said nothing!" he growled, "I held up my end of the deal!"
"I know, I was just thinking of something else . . ."
"Like what!?" he growled again. More forcefully this time.
Bill hesitated when the image of a blushing Remus at the bottom of the stairs snuck its way to the front of his mind. "Nothing." he said, not sounding suspicious at all. He hoped Snape wouldn't notice the blush that slowly creeped its way across his face. But he quickly realized Snape had other worries than Bill's facial color.
Bill startled when he looked down at the little boy next to him. His hands were balled into fists and his lips were visibly trembling. "Hey," said Bill immediately and knelt in front of the kid. His heart constricted at the sight of the visibly shaken child. "Don't you listen to that crap from Sirius. He's just upset, and he's venting it on you. He's just being childish and none of it is true!"
"I don't need a pep talk from you! I am completely aware of what Black is playing at, and I do not care!"
"Yes, I can see that," Bill said, raising an eyebrow at the little professor. He made a move to put a hand on the kid's shoulder, but Snape backed away with a dangerous look.
Bill decided to change the subject " . . . Let's head out for that wand holster then."
"Oh my, what an excellent idea, Mr. Weasley," said the child mockingly.
Bill decided to take Snape's snark with a pinch of salt. "I was just considering how best to get to my flat."
"I don't know Mr. Weasley, perhaps we should apparate?" said Snape overbearingly.
"You sure you don't want to catch the knight bus?" Bill deadpanned. If Snape could be snarky, so could he.
"Under no circumstance do I want to catch the knight bus."
"Apparating it is then" said Bill and held out a hand. "Coming?"
"Are you not forgetting something?" Asked the child and crossed his arms.
"You think I should disguise you?" Bill deduced.
"Do you not think bringing a child to your home, with no resemblance to you whatsoever could be seen as slightly suspicious by your neighbors?" said Snape mockingly. Bill still noticed how he choked on the word 'child'.
"Bringing a child with me at all would be suspicious, I have never had one with me before. But I suppose I see your point."
"Then why don't you use your little brain cells, Mr. Weasley, and figure out how to disguise someone?" asked Snape, still mockingly.
This time it was Bill's turn to glare. "I dunno Professor, what would you like to be disguised as? My pet toad perhaps?"
"You insolent little brat!"
But Bill ignored him and smiled down at the little menace. "Why don't you stop being rude and answer this very important question instead? Blonde or redhead?"
"Does it matter?" Said the kid forcefully.
"Well, it depends on what role you want to be. Are you my little brother? My nephew? My son?"
"Cousin." Snape spat immediately.
"Nah. Let's go for nephew, eh? I'll make you look like Charlie's little kid." Said Bill while transfiguring his hair. When Bill had finished, Snape was a freckled little ginger with the most adorable glare.
"Are you quite finished?" he asked through clenched jaws.
"Yup, right, come along." Bill said and held out his hand to the child. Snape glared at it angrily, but he knew he couldn't apparate on his own. He took it reluctantly and followed Bill through the front door of Grimmauld place.
They apparated to an empty alleyway close to Bill's flat in London. Bill had procured this place on a whim after the news about Voldemort's return had reached him. He'd enjoyed his job in Egypt quite a lot, but with this new potential danger, he felt uncomfortable with the idea of living so far away from his family. Instead, he had transferred to a desk job at Gringotts which in comparison to his former job could only be described as boring. It was, however, a more reliable job. One that gave him access to a lot of useful information for the Order.
The flat was tiny, but at least it had been cheap. It was situated in a dodgy area with quite a few homeless people on the streets. Bill didn't mind. It served its purpose as a temporary home, and he had never felt nervous around homeless people before. But now that he had a child with him he realized just how dodgy the area really was. Without letting go of the little mini-Charlie, Bill walked casually across the street towards his apartment building. He gave no heed to 'Mad Mary' who was currently searching through a bin across the street and 'Dirty John', who slouched outside the entrance of the neighboring apartment building, surrounded by a cloud of smoke with the distinct odor of weed.
With a firm grip around Snape's hand, Bill found the key from his pocket and opened the door with as little sound as possible, to not attract attention from the smoker. They went up the creaky stairs to the top floor where Bill's apartment lay furthest down the hallway. Outside number 556, Bill pulled out his wand. He had used a normal key to get inside the building, but his flat was heavily warded against intruders of all kinds. Everyone in the Order lived in similarly warded homes thanks to Moody and his incessant tirades about 'constant vigilance'.
He wordlessly pulled the wards apart to let Snape in. He had enough sense not to teach the wards to recognize Snape as a friend, but only let him through when Bill was present. Snape was a death eater after all. He couldn't take the risk to give him full access, even if Dumbledore trusted him.
The kid, however, didn't seem interested in the wards. He had his eyes on the door to the flat next door. The door was closed, but it had a little drawing of a monster on it, obviously drawn by a child aged 4 or 5. Bill knew what he was thinking. This was no place for a child to grow up.
"All done." said Bill and held the door open. Snape nodded and followed him inside.
"I see what you mean by 'too small'." said Snape while they stepped inside. The flat was cramped and a little bit messy. Bill had left the dishes from last night's dinner on the little coffee table by the sofa and now that he had someone with him, the apartment suddenly looked a lot messier than it had last evening. A burning sensation spread across his face and ears when he had a sudden urge to clean the mess. The only problem was that Snape had already seen it . . .
"Umm . . . yes . . . it's small, I know, but I'm not exactly planning to stay here forever . . ."
Snape looked around for a second before he went over to the little sofa to sit down. "It's no different from my own house. I don't care much about it either, but the mortgage is paid, and the house belongs to me. I feel no desire to move." He said while sitting on the sofa, so his feet dangled over the floor. Bill was again surprised at Snape's willingness to share such personal details and struggled to find an answer until Snape reminded him what they were there for.
"The wand holster?" he said while he continued to dangle his feet cutely. For once it was a good thing their mum insisted on keeping all their old clothes and toys from their childhood. Bill used to find it terribly annoying that she kept all the old boxes and bags in his room, when they had a perfectly good attic to use for storage. The only problem was the Ghoul. Its odor would ruin anything stored in the attic, but Bill's parents seemed to consider it part of the family and refused to banish it. Bill had never agreed; 'Remove the Goul or stop keeping old stuff' he used to say. But his mum insisted on keeping everything, including the Ghoul.
At least the old clothes seemed to come in handy now. Both Snape and Sirius had something to wear for the week. Even though most of it was from Ginny, and therefore either pink or glittery. The only available pair of shoes in Snape's size was a purple pair of sneakers that used to belong to Ginny when she was six. Snape didn't seem very comfortable in them, but Bill had to admit they suited him a lot more than they ever suited Ginny.
Bill went to find his second wand holster in his bedroom dresser. Back in the little living room he found Snape with his nose in one of his more controversial books on curse breaking. The child had an intrigued expression on his face, and he looked like he had just found a treasure.
"Wanna borrow it?" Bill asked. Before the child had time to slam the book closed and pretend like he'd never touched it.
"How did you get a hold of this?"
"I've got some contacts in Gringotts" said Bill, well knowing that the book that Snape held was incredibly rare in Britain. He'd only got a hold of it himself because Gringotts had a policy for educating their curse breakers thoroughly. "You're welcome to borrow it if you want."
Snape studied Bill for a second before he nodded. "Thank you, I would like that."
"Cool, give it here then." Bill said. Snape handed the book to him, and Bill shrunk it before he put it in his pocket. "Right then. I guess we should head back to Grimmauld place," said Bill slowly "Unless . . . there's something else you want to do?" He hesitated only for a second, wondering how Snape would react to what he was about to suggest.
"Like what?" Asked snape suspiciously.
"Well. . ." Bill hesitated again and decided to sit down on the little sofa to lower himself to Snapes level. "I was thinking . . . "
"Oh dear," said Snape with a crooked smile. "Don't overexert yourself."
"Oi!" Said Bill, indignant. But being used to that kind of teasing from his brother Charlie, he didn't let himself get sidetracked.
"Is there anything you wanted to do as a kid, but never quite got to do it? This is after all your chance to do it."
Snape looked appalled at Bill's suggestion "I hope you're joking, Mr. Weasley."
"No, I'm serious! Why would you want to spend your time at that dingy place all day when we can do anything we want? Whaddaya say? We could go to the zoo, or to a muggle cinema, or even just to a coffee shop if you like." His mind was a little bit slower than his mouth, and he started to wonder why he suggested hanging with Snape of all people.
"There is nothing I want, Mr. Weasley. Stop being silly. We are going back to Grimmauld place."
"But why? Is there seriously nothing you can think of that you want to do? It's not exactly a beautiful day today, but we could go for some ice cream if you like." Said Bill and waved indistinctly towards the little bit of January light that came through his tiny window
"I would like a whiskey, but I can't have that, can I?" he said condescendingly as if he wanted to change the subject.
"No. No, you can't." Bill said with a similar tone, "But you can come with me for a walk in Hyde Park?"
Snape only gave him an impatient glare.
Bill sighed "Fine, fine, if that is your wish."
"I don't exactly wish to stay in that dingy rat hole, but I don't have any desire to go out and do activities for children."
"Alright," said Bill and gave up. Although it didn't keep him from trying again later. Snape seemed adamant on staying in Grimmauld place where he could be seen by no-one and where he could at least spend his time reading books in the Black library.
But they both realized the day in Grimmauld place would be far from nice and quiet.
They apparated back to Grimmauld place at about noon. When they opened the front door, they were hit by a sudden cacophony of noise coming from within the house. The paintings in the hallway were screaming above their lungs, and immediately started to verbally abuse the newest arrivals. Bill's dad was frantically working his way down the paintings, knocking them back to sleep one by one.
Bill immediately set in motion to help his dad close the rest of the curtains before his ears fell off. Snape, who didn't have a wand at the moment, could only close the front door behind him and watch while they struggled with a particularly vicious wizard of the Black family who refused to let go of his curtains. The problem was that someone was yelling at each other from around the corner, waking the paintings back up again after a few seconds.
Snape eventually went to see who it was and found Black and Lupin yelling at each other by the bottom of the stairs to the second floor. Together Bill and his dad had managed to finally knock all the paintings unconscious and ran up to Black and Lupin.
"What is going on here?" asked Bill loudly.
Sirius ignored him and continued to yell at Remus who glared at him angrily.
"Stop acting like you're my dad!"
"Stop acting like you need one!" said Remus, clearly a lot more flustered than normal.
"As if I would want someone like you as my dad anyways!"
At that last statement the whole hallway went dead silent.
"Sirius!" Arthur yelled appalled.
Remus could only stand there in shock, but Bill heard himself growl. "How dare you!"
In four strides he was next to the beautiful kid who backed away from him with an apologetic streak in his eyes. "How dare you say something like that to your best friend!?"
Sirius, still backing away from Bill, tripped over the lowest step on the staircase and fell on his bum. Bill was about to grab the kid by his collar and shake him, but he felt two hands on his chest holding him back. Both Remus and his dad had come to Sirius's rescue.
"Sirius, I think it's time you went to your room." said Arthur sharply.
Sirius, who seemed to grasp the seriousness of the situation, quickly scrambled up the stairs and out of sight.
Bill was breathing heavily. He shook the two men off him and ran a hand over his face that was now probably beet red.
Remus leaned with a huff on the opposite wall, but he had closed his face off from all emotion.
"He shouldn't have said that," said Arthur and put a hand on Remuss shoulder.
"Black has always been a bully. I'm not surprised he would treat his so-called friends like -" came a little voice from behind them.
"THAT'S NOT HELPING, SEVERUS!" Bill said so loudly he even surprised himself.
The little professor unwillingly jumped at the loud voice and said no more.
"Hey, why don't we leave these two alone to calm down a bit. The two of us can go downstairs for some lunch, eh?" Arthur said with a surprisingly gentle tone and guided the little professor downstairs to the kitchen. "I'm not hungry!" Snape said and glared at Arthur for talking to him like a child, but followed him, nonetheless.
Finally in silence, Bill met Remus's eyes. "I'm sorry Remus. I didn't mean to lose my temper," he said, still red in the face.
Remus, who was still leaning on the wall, smiled without humor, letting some of his hurt shine through. "It's better that you do it than I. If I lose my temper I . . . tend to do stupid things."
"Don't we all" said Bill, combing a hand through his hair again. Come to think of it, he had never seen Remus lose his temper since the day they met. It had to be serious for Remus Lupin to lose his cool. "My dad will probably keep Snape downstairs for a while. If you want, I can watch Sirius for the rest of the day," he said. He was reluctant to see Sirius after almost shaking him to death, but he knew he would do it if it meant giving Remus a break.
Remus thought about it for a while. Then he shook his head. "No, it's okay. You're angry at him. I'll be fine."
"You won't though," Bill said a bit louder. "He's hurting you on purpose!"
"I know, but he's hurting too. I can handle it."
"You're just excusing his behavior. He's being a dick, and you know it! . . . You don't deserve that."
There was a moment of silence when Remus's expression changed to one of surprise. It took Bill a moment to understand why. Without knowing it he had put a hand on the werewolf's cheek. He didn't know when he had stepped so close to him, but the realization made him snatch his hand away. "Shit" he said, feeling himself turning even redder than before. "Sorry, I didn't think." he rambled, hiding his hand as if it had been burned.
He had stepped over a line. Bill was convinced Remus would never speak to him again, now that he knew about his feelings for him.
Remus observed him silently, still with surprise on his face. His eyes however were strangely intense and looked almost yellow in the dark hallway.
Bill wanted the floor to swallow him. He backed away, not daring to look at Remus anymore. "I-I should just" he pointed in a random direction. "I- I'll leave you to it." He almost ran up the stairs to hide in his room, not noticing that Remus was smiling behind him.