Generous

Sev stayed alone in the kitchen, taking it easy to try to digest the information without getting desperate. It's better that I'm doing something in the meantime. The dishes aren't washed, great, here I go. He began to wash the dishes thoroughly and very slowly.

Ugh… I have to talk to Jack as soon as possible, not to ask him about my mother, at this moment I don't care at all, but because of how Ariel has taken it. He has known since before dinner, he must be very worried about me and Mum, suffering for what we may be suffering, if he has been able to hide all this time what was happening so as not to hurt either of us.

Booahh… I can't believe it… I have a brother and I just found out… and I only met him a little over six months ago. Ugh… this is very hard, very hard… it's going to be hard for me to accept it. How awful…

Maybe it's better that I'm not with him tonight, I'm going to get too many questions, and he might not be at his best either, poor boy… But at least I have to talk to him on the phone, I have to tell him something, so he knows I'm okay. Ugh… He's also going to want to know everything, he's been holding back the desire to know why he didn't grow up with us for as long as he can remember.

Ugh… he's also going to have a terrible time for me when he finds out how things were at home, what a disaster, what a disaster of a family. I'm even embarrassed to go out there for the part that concerns me, because knowing everything I've spent years and years apologizing and defending my mother, and look what she was doing to me. And this afternoon she was still telling me that she was willing to go back to Tobias. Of course, it's unforgivable, I think what she did is almost worse than what my father did. It's incredible, incredible…

And she didn't have the courage to leave him so that we wouldn't be separated, when many women without education or resources get ahead on their own by working and raising their children. She, who is a witch and has power, can't be forgiven. Of course, she has many, many explanations to give me. But not today, calmly, very calmly, knowing first to what extent those who are with her have found out, facing her knowing what I'm up against, thinking everything through very carefully and consulting with many people how I should do it.

Ugh... maybe I'm the one who needs one of those psychologists in the end. Now I understand why Deborah told me yesterday that I shouldn't try that drug this summer, even without it I feel exposed, very exposed to madness, my head is spinning.

Okay, cool head, think only of the immediate. Talk to Jack on the phone, in private, have someone call my house and put him through to me, I don't want to risk my mother picking up or maybe Deborah or Valerie, this isn't the time to talk to them, just Jack.

Jack… Jack… how I love him… That's why he left me alone with Ariel in the clearing when I trained with the Guard for the first time, he calls me brother and always treats me like an older brother, so I can learn with Ariel. And he's been able to overcome all the differences between us just in time to be by my side in this difficult time. I wish he was here and not with my mother, I'm going to ask him to come over so I can talk to him face to face, I need a hug from him too. Plus, I can talk to him about Lauren.

Lauren… her letter… of course, it was for this… that's why she enchanted it so I wouldn't open it before time… Do I read her letter first or talk to Jack first? Ugh… I don't know anymore… I've been given too many options and little help to decide.

Poor guys… They must have been thinking about it for months and they have done the best they could, none of them have experience with things like this. And now I am ignoring them all, since they must be worried about me and they don't dare to come and tell me anything, because those who know me well know that I need solitude to assume and face problems, but this one is too much for me, it is clear that I do need people.

Well, that's it, I'm going to put myself in their hands, I'm going to consult them on every decision I make, I'm going to let myself go. First, talk to Jack, I can also read Lauren's letter while I talk to him, let him advise me whether to do it now or wait until I'm alone.

He dried his hands, left the kitchen and returned to the living room. Remus was the first to see him enter, Sev didn't go past the couch.

"How are you, Sev?" Lupin asked him.

"Terrible," he replied. "I'm going to need a lot of help tonight. To start with, from someone who isn't here."

"Who, Prince?" Alice asked him.

"Jack, I want to speak to him urgently face to face. Would that be appropriate?"

"Depending on what you want to talk about, Severus," Peter intervened. "What do you want to talk to him about?"

"I don't want to hear a word from my mother, not today. I just want to know how my brother is, how he's taken it and if it's appropriate for me to talk to him to reassure us or if we should meet tonight. Jack is the best person because he knows him best and he's the one who's spoken to him. And not only that, I need a hug from him, he's also my older brother."

"Very well, Severus, if that's the case, I do think it's appropriate that you talk to him as soon as possible, but what you said, not about your mother."

"Can one of you call my house so he can come?"

"I'll do it, Sev," said Cecile, and stood up immediately.

"Prince... do you want a hug?" Hippolyta asked him, sad.

"Of course, honey, of course I do," he answered.

She walked around the couch and hugged him very tightly. "Are you going to chat for a long time with Jack?" the girl asked.

"Maybe so, why?"

"To take advantage of the meantime to go to my house with Cecile and Violet and ask for permission to stay the night here."

"I still don't know if I will, huh?" he warned.

"It's okay, it's just in case, so I don't have to leave later when you might need me more. If we don't end up sleeping together, I'll go back to my house and that's it, it's okay."

"Thank you very much for understanding, honey. Would you mind if we sleep with Ariel too?"

"No, of course not, you get in the middle and that's it, and we'll both hug you," she suggested.

"Thank you very much, my love." Sev began to cry.

Hippolyta gave him lots of kisses on his face and caressed his head, bonding with him. "Honey, honey, my life, cry as much as you need. Today I'm not going to ask you not to cry, you have to cry to feel better."

"Thank you... Are you very tired?"

"Nothing, nothing, on holidays I always stay up late. I'll resist as long as necessary, today I won't fall asleep before you, I'll do it after the sleeping potion takes effect and tomorrow I'll wake up before you do too. I brought my alarm clock, so you won't be alone at any time."

"Thank you, thank you…" he said.

"Stop thanking me for everything. You cured me of the problem I had, now it's my turn to do the same with you. I'm going to be by your side as much as I can until you're cured, that's what my parents told me to do, that it will unite us more than anything else we did together."

"I love you, I love you, how much good you do me…"

"I love you too, very, very much…" she said.

"I'm almost convinced that I'm going to sleep with you."

"That's it, that's how I like it, that you accept all the help we can give you. You'll also see how much fun we'll have tomorrow morning with Ariel or without him, whatever we do. If we stay here there's also a piano to play and Cecile said that if we want she'll come here. Now when I go home I will also bring my flute, the music stand and the method to start practicing alone, so maybe I can make notes."

"Of course…"

"And you'll start teaching me to read music, you will see how much fun we have, also with Peter and Tuney," she continued. "They will love the flute, so she can also try it in case she wants another one for September."

"Great, you are making my day for tomorrow."

"Of course, honey, I have been thinking about it since Sirius came and told us that you might want to stay here. When I made the plan with Cecile she told me that it was best to sleep at her house so that we could make music the next day with her piano, because music is very healing, but because we did not know that there was a piano here. That way you can be with us and also with your good parents, who are Peter and Violet, you have to think of them as if they were your real family now, Violet said so."

"Oh…"

"And you'll go on holiday anyway even if you don't want your mother to go, you'll all go by car, with your brother, who will also be like a son to them, they're dying to meet him," added the girl.

"Oh…"

"Of course, they were already counting on him for the holidays too, what did you think? They already have the apartment rented, if you don't go they'll lose the deposit they've given."

"Then we'll go," agreed Sev.

"If the six of you go in two cars, I'll go too, I'm sure my parents will let me."

"Sure… Although maybe I can go by bus or train."

"We'll think about it between now and then, because there's plenty of room, the apartment has four rooms, two with large beds and two with two small beds, there's room for eight people, you can still invite one more person," she explained.

"Oh…"

"And that way you don't go by bus or train alone."

"Sure… But if we invite someone who can Apparate, they can take us like my mother was going to do," he suggested. "And Violet and Peter both have driver's licenses to rent another car and get around there, that's what they were going to do if the six of us went, the four of them, my mother and I."

"You'll see how great, what a great holidays, we're going to spend the whole month planning it."

"Great."

Sev had already calmed down.

"Are you better?" Hippolyta asked him.

"Yes, yes, much better."

"I say this because Jack has already arrived and greeted everyone, you haven't heard anything."

"Yes, yes I have heard, I was listening to them," he said.

"Go on, then go talk to him, he's waiting for you. And let me give you some advice, don't be alone again, look at how many of us have come to be with you, don't have a bad time by yourself, it doesn't suit you."

"You're right."

Sev and Hippolyta separated, Jack took him by his arm, Sev unbonded from Hippolyta and turned around.

"Brother…" Jack told him.

"Merlin… Jack… that word hurts me like a knife now." Sev began to cry again, they hugged each other very tightly.

"I understand, but soon it will seem like one of the most beautiful words in the world, now that you're going to really know what it means," said his friend.

"True."

"Come on, cry as much as you need to, let it all out as soon as possible so you can start enjoying yourself. Rest assured that you will never be separated again except when you want, it's going to be an exciting adventure for both of you."

"Ugh… Jack… and since we can be together since the mess I have barely paid attention to him…"

"Well… don't worry about that. He understands how busy you have been and for him it was already a lot. Think that he had been waiting for you since his first year, at Christmas he was already amazed to be able to be with you every morning."

"But I hardly paid attention to him either, by then I always went alone to walk through the Forest, I didn't invite him."

"Because you didn't know anything and you were used to always being alone, that had been your life until then," the older one excused him. "He understands everything perfectly, he is much more mature than many older people, you know that."

"True."

"What I'm telling you, what he has had with you until now is already a lot for him. You have to realize that he doesn't have any problems in his relationships. He has a lot of friends, all the kids of his year, and he also has us older people. And above all, he has my sister, who is to him what Lily would have been to you if she had loved you since you loved her, or what Hippolyta is to you now."

"Of course…"

"That's why I've always called you brother," Jack clarified. "Have you realized yet that we're going to be brothers-in-law?"

"No, I hadn't."

"I have, since the first day you trained with us and we realized the mess."

"Oh… Sirius has already told me," said Sev.

"And have you realized yet why I convinced you not to read him that afternoon?"

"No, I hadn't thought about it, but of course I do."

"You don't know what a hard time you made me spend from the fir tree to the path, when we went in silence, racking my brains to see how I could reassure you that his Aunt who visited him wasn't dangerous without you noticing anything," his friend remembered.

"Oh, Jack…"

"You've had us all on tenterhooks for four months, thinking that at any moment you could realize before the right time."

"Now I also understand why one day he got very angry because I bonded with him while he was sleeping and spied on his dream."

"Of course, Prince, of course…"

"He was dreaming that he did magic with me and Lily when they were little."

"His real dream, to have grown up with you and to have lived his childhood with you."

"True," Sev understood.

"A lot to overcome. He has already assumed it, because he has known it for almost three years, but now it's your turn and I'm sure that he himself is going to help you a lot, because he went through the same ordeal that you are going through now at barely eleven years old and he went through it completely alone, without telling anyone. He channeled it by admiring you and telling everyone about you, it was not a trauma for him at any time."

"Oh…"

"A lot to learn from him," added Jack.

"Of course." Sev had calmed down again.

"Are you better?" the older one asked.

"Yes, I'm better."

"Do you want to talk in private?"

"Yes, please. Let's go to the kitchen, but wait, I have to get something from my backpack," Sev proposed. He took Lauren's letter out of his backpack, in a sealed envelope with no addressee or return address.

They went to the kitchen, sat down, and bonded.

"You start," Jack told him. "I don't know what you know and what you don't."

"I know enough for today, if I have any questions about the past few months, I'll ask you. I don't want to know what you talked about tonight with my mother, not today, too much material for my head, I'd go crazy."

"I understand. No problem, I'll remember everything in detail, you know, thanks to you."

"If I wanted to talk to you it was precisely to find out how Ariel has taken it," explained Sev. "He has been hiding it from us for all these years to avoid hurting us, it must have been a shock for him to know that you were going to tell us."

"Of course, he didn't want us to do it. He has been trying to convince us not to do it, especially for you, he knew it would destroy you."

"Ugh…"

"And even more so with what just happened to you with Lily," added his friend. "Then he moved on to another tactic, trying to delay it, so that you would spend a few days calmer and get over what happened with Lily before you found out."

"Oh…"

"But we convinced him by telling him that it was better that we do it as soon as possible, so that you have two whole months to get over it before returning to Hogwarts and so that you can start your work at St. Mungo's as soon as possible."

"Well… That's why Deborah also told me not to start today, but on Monday, to take the whole weekend off," Sev deduced.

"Of course, Prince."

"Of course, you had everything planned in detail."

"Even if you don't feel like going on Monday in the next few days, Deborah already has Professor Belby's address to let him know that you won't be able to go that day either, explaining everything tactfully and appropriately, as you know she knows how to do."

"Of course…"

"So don't be in a hurry, take all the time you need," Jack added.

"But I think that working will do me good so I don't give it too much thought, that by Monday I'll be ready to do it."

"We all think that too, but take it easy, don't force yourself. And even if you go on Monday, take a good look at how it suits you. It's a monotonous job and you'll spend many hours alone with yourself without interacting with anyone, so it might not suit you very well either."

"Of course, of course…"

"In fact, we thought that the first week you should only go to the hospital half days," suggested the eldest. "Talk to Professor Belby on Monday. The escort you go with, which will probably be Valerie and I, will help you out."

"Great."

"And something more about Belby since we're talking about him. We're also going to teach him and his assistant Occlumency, so they can go to Diagon and move around the hospital and public places without risk to themselves or you."

"Well... right," Sev realized.

"We should have already done it to Belby since you got in touch, it's been a risk we've been taking."

"Of course."

"And that way we can also bond with them and ensure their protection, or that they themselves can carry it out knowing Ancestral Magic," explained Jack.

"True, two birds with one stone. When I met Damocles I thought it was a shame not to be able to tell him anything, because I know he will be very interested."

"Yes, I remember you told me. What I was saying, if they are willing and have time, we will start on Monday, with the same Pensieve that we are using for your mother. If she has not finished yet we will take it and bring it back, the work schedules complement each other. If it can't be like that or if it is convenient for the Pensieve that we use for them to stay there, we will buy another one, which will be for the Army next year."

"Great," Sev approved. "Have you done anything with my mother tonight?"

"No. But I have an appointment for tomorrow and Sunday with her, two whole days."

"Great. What a beating you are going to give yourself, Jack, she does not deserve it."

"Don't judge her so harshly before you know the whole story, Prince."

"I've already told you that today I'd rather not know anything."

"Well, maybe it would be good for you to know something, even if it's just a part, something that really bothers you so you can start to forgive her right now."

"Yes, answer me one thing if you know it," asked Sev. "When she ran away from my house pregnant with my brother because my father had started to mistreat us, what happened to me?"

"She took you with her. She tried to find shelter with her family and they didn't accept her, after more than ten years without seeing her, with a two-year-old half-blood and pregnant with another."

"How awful…"

"She was forced to go to the Muggle orphanage and there they took her in to spend the last months of her pregnancy," explained his friend.

"How awful…"

"She almost lost your brother because of a beating from your father, huh? That's why she ran away."

"Ugh... and then?" asked Sev.

"She wanted to leave you two there, but they didn't accept you."

"And that?"

"They told her that if she had been able to raise you alone until then, she should continue doing so," explained Jack. "Also, remember your magic, you broke everything."

"Ugh…"

"Yes, they kept your brother because it is very easy to find adoptive families for babies."

"It was a miracle that no one adopted him," said Sev.

"Yes, it was a miracle and lucky for him, because that way your mother could continue raising him and teaching him to control his magic. He also manifested it very young, at three years old."

"Wow…"

"She had to take care of both of you, each one in a different place while hiding it from your father," explained the eldest. "It was impossible for her to start working until she taught your brother to take care of himself."

"Of course…"

"Only then could she have gotten a divorce, when you were already eight and a half years old and Ariel was six."

"Sure…"

"Are you a little less angry with her?" asked Jack.

"Ugh… I don't know."

"She had a really bad time, really bad."

"Sure, I can imagine," Sev understood.

"And she's still going through it, she's devastated."

"I can imagine, but she's brought it on herself, you just told me that she could have divorced my father eight years ago."

"True," admitted his friend. "Deborah is going to stay overnight with her, we're going to take turns to keep her company until you decide to come home if you decide, and if you don't come back, until she recovers a little."

"Thanks, Jack."

"The initial idea was for the three of you to spend the summer together, you're a family and you've been separated for fourteen years. Don't get angry, enjoy what you have."

"Understand that it is so difficult for me to forgive her, Jack. If I hadn't happened to stay at school for Christmas I would never have met my brother, and if it weren't for you, even knowing him, I would never have known that he is one."

"Understand what the weight and shame of such a serious secret is, Prince. Let's say that things were going better now, your brother has his life sorted since he met us and you have managed to free yourself from the threat of hanging out with the malefics, something that she didn't find out about until Christmas either. She preferred to leave everything as it was so as not to complicate things further."

"Yeah."

"In fact, she had resigned herself to not seeing him anymore because of you, because of everything you told her at Easter and not being able to go to Hogwarts," explained the eldest.

"Of course... That's why when I arrived she was also so down, because she also missed that, seeing my brother."

"Of course, Prince, of course. And think about something else, you have already secured a place in the rearguard, but your brother has not, and he is also going to be a warrior, she is also suffering for his future."

"Of course…"

"You have to make an effort to understand and forgive your mother as hard as it may be, you only have two months until you return to school, then you might regret the time lost," Jack encouraged him.

"Ugh…"

"And not only that, your mother is no longer young, if she is in a very bad mood she can get sick and you might lose her before the time is due. Lily saw her in Erised, you didn't."

"True," Sev realized.

"If you have been able to forgive your bullies to save their lives, you must also be able to forgive your mother to perhaps save hers, otherwise you will never get that thorn out of you, you will feel guilty all your life for having contributed to the death of the person who gave you life."

"You are right."

"And we continue where we left off with Ariel," said his friend. "In the end we convinced him by also telling him that this way the three of you would finally be able to live together."

"Oh…"

"Of course, he doesn't know the whole story and yet he has never felt resentment towards your mother for leaving him in an orphanage. Despite that, he doesn't hold a grudge against her and has never felt abandoned, he's really extraordinary. Learn from him and do it for him too, you're going to make him very happy by finally being able to live the holidays together for the years you have left until you graduate and start your adult life, which isn't that long either."

"Ugh... I don't think I'll do it, Jack. This very afternoon my mother was convinced to go back to my father. And I've already told her that if she does I won't come home."

"I'm sure that if she has the two of you she won't do it anymore."

"That remains to be seen."

"So it didn't do you good talking about your mother," the eldest deduced.

"Not much, really."

"I'm sorry then, Prince, for having convinced you to do it. Did we at least come up with a good plan? Telling you both at the same time?"

"Yes, that was good, at least so she understands why I'm not coming home."

"Lily's idea. Forgive her someday too, so that you don't have that thorn in your side either."

"Of course not, Jack, I had nothing to forgive Lily until I found out about this, and not even then. You don't choose to feel what you feel or when to do it, it wasn't her fault that it was inopportune for me. It's everyone else who has to forgive her. You and I were still able to bond with her."

"Of course. She faltered for a few hours only, Prince, she didn't make it to a whole day, from Saturday night to Sunday after lunch when she had a serious talk with Cecile. Her mistake was going down to lunch at the same time as you during that interval, otherwise you would never have found out. I think the rest of the Clanship has been too hard on her."

"Of course, I think so too."

"I'm going to take charge of campaigning for her among everyone else," proposed his friend. "Lily is a strong person but she easily falters if she feels rejected by others. In that she is very similar to me, like the time I had when I was only interested in Lauren and I got off track. We have to help her get out of the hole, she won't be able to do it on her own, and for the others to forgive her, the first one who must show them that he has done it is you, because their anger has arisen from her disloyalty towards you."

"Sure, Jack, but even her parents won't let me see her when I ask them to."

"Yeah. Let's say they are trying to protect you from uncomfortable situations."

"Yes, apparently especially me, and I don't want them to, I want to see her," said Sev.

"Maybe I shouldn't have brought up the subject of Lily at this moment. I'm overwhelming you with too much information."

"Not at all, the talk is doing me a lot of good, it's helping me to clear up my ideas and put them in order in my head."

"Great, I had to give you something back for everything you've given me," said the eldest.

"But we haven't finished talking about what really interested me."

"Your brother."

"Him.Is he calm?" asked Sev. "Do you think it's appropriate for me to spend the night with him? I'm going to sleep with a sleeping potion that Alice brought me and I intend to do so with Hippolyta as well, in principle right here, in the guest room, where there is a double bed."

"Of course it seems appropriate and you're going to make him very happy. In principle he was going to stay up until twelve, and there's no hurry to call him, he's calm and comfortable with my parents and my sister, who are also his family. He has two families, like you."

"Now he's going to have three, because Violet and Peter love him too."

"Of course... And you're going to have a lot of them, from all your friends as you get to know them," said Jack. "Deborah and Valerie told me that everything was perfect with Hippolyta's parents yesterday, right?"

"Of course, I can now consider them my family too."

"Well, thank life for everything it's giving you and give back as much as you can of that love and appreciation that people show you. Be generous, I know I don't need to ask you, because you're the most generous."