Bashing: James Potter, Ron Weasley and Dumbledore (slightly)
I don't own Harry Potter as all credit goes to J.K Rowling.
-Boston Logan International Airport-
Lily and Severus came out from the airplane, carrying Harry and Draco. The boys were slightly tired because of the time difference between London and Boston.
The two got their suitcases and headed to the meeting spot.
They were to meet Lily's uncle in a place called Cisco Brew Pub which is located north to BOS Terminal C.
When they found the pub and entered, an elderly woman walked up to them.
"Hello. I'm Linda Baca, are you no-maj or magical?"
"Um… actually, we're here to meet someone. His name is Mathew Evans," replied Lily, looking around the pub, "Did he arrive here yet?"
"Ah! Professor Evans? Yes, he did. Are you Lillian Evans and Severus Snape?" Linda asked.
Lily and Severus nodded.
Linda smiled, "Then, let me take you to his table."
Lily and Severus followed the server to the other side of the pub.
Linda walked to a table that has a man who has long brown-gray hair in a ponytail and has light green eyes.
"Professor Evans, your guests have arrived. If you need anything, shine your wands," said Linda before leaving.
Mathew smiled, "Well, I finally get to meet my little brother's brilliant daughter and the youngest Potion Master from Britain."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Uncle Mathew," greeted Lily.
"Professor," said Severus.
"Please, call me Uncle Matt. Well, shall we get going then? My wife is dying to meet you two and the children… well, when they are awake that is."
Lily and Severus laughed and followed Mathew out of the pub.
He gave Linda a tip and told her he'll be coming back within two months.
Mathew then took out a wire wrapped bail African turquoise sea pendant from his pocket.
"Hold my hand, Lillian and Severus hold onto my shoulder. Make sure you don't let go."
Lily and Severus nodded before Mathew activated the pendant and the five of them apparated. They landed what looks like an isolated island.
"Come along. It's a short walk to the manor from here," said Mathew.
The three walked the pathway to the manor which was covered in stone marble with electric lamps, and mountains of different trees and plants were all around them.
That's when they came to large silver gates and a long dirt path that leads to a two-story manor.
The manor has light brown bricks, towers from the renaissance era, twin staircase-towers, and stained-glass windows. At the entrance, there were double dark brown doors with a balcony on top.
That's when Mathew noticed that Severus was eyeing at the forest.
He chuckled a bit, "Healers, Herbalists, Professors, and Potion Masters/Mistresses come here to gather what they need since we have plants and herbs that dated around the 15th century."
Severus was speechless.
Mathew opened the double doors to find his personal house elf at the vestibule.
She bowed, "Master, welcome back. Mistress is in the drawing room with young Sally. Mistress Annabel needed someone to watch the child while she goes to work."
"Thank you for informing me, Willa," said Mathew before enlarging Lily's and Severus' suitcases.
"Let me introduce you to my niece, Lillian. You remember Harold, yes?"
Willa nodded, "Oh yes! Little Master Harold! I was sad when he left for Britain… but I'm pleased to meet his daughter! Mistress Lillian if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me or any other house elves."
"Thank you," said Lily.
"Willa, take their bags to their rooms," said Mathew after introducing Severus to the elf.
The house elf nodded, snapping her fingers and the suitcases disappeared. She gave a small bow before disappearing.
Mathew then gestured Lily and Severus to follow him.
They walked pass the vestibule and the entrance hall before entering the drawing room. Inside was a woman with long braided blond hair with gray highlights and has gray eyes.
On the floor was a young blond toddler with black highlights and light blue-green eyes. The young toddler looked about a year younger than Harry and Draco.
"Morning dear," greeted Mathew, kissing his wife on the cheek.
"I wouldn't say its morning since it's ten – Oh! Is this…"
Mathew nodded, "My niece, Lillian and her son, Harrison and her friend, Severus Snape and his godson, Draco."
"Well, I see that the boys wouldn't be able to greet us right now, shame. Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Serenity Evans nee Malfoy."
Lily and Severus widened their eyes.
"Malfoy?!"
"Are you related to Lucius Malfoy?" Severus asked.
"Why yes, he's a distant relative of mine," Serenity replied. "Set your boys on the couch. Sally was about to take her nap. Egan will watch them while we go to the study."
Mathew waved his wand, and the couch was turned into a makeshift bed.
Two sleeping boys and a tired four-year-old were placed on the bed.
Egan, Serenity's personal house elf, was called to watch the children while the adults went to Mathew's study.
Serenity sat on a light blue Victorian couch while her husband walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out a dark brown old book.
Mathew then sat next to his wife while Lily and Severus sat across from them.
"Now, from my brother's letter, what you four experience was an ancient and old ritual that was performed around the mid-1300s."
Mathew opened the book and placed it in front of Lily and Severus.
"It was used to protect the muggleborns from the hunters. Back then, no-maj aka muggles for you, thought witches were servants to the devil and kill anyone including children by burning them on the stake."
Lily gasped, "What awful thing to do!"
"Yes, it was. That's why the Ministry thought it was the safest way to insure the safety to the muggleborns," said Serenity.
"This old ritual, Magical Bond, allows the adopted child to gain a feature from their adopted parent or parents, but the child's magic core will stay the same. Only the hair and the eyes are changed," she explained.
"So, you're telling us that somehow Draco and Harry perform this ancient ritual?" Severus asked.
Mathew nodded, "Correct."
"But Harry and Draco didn't gain anything from either Narcissa or James," said Lily.
"That would be because the boys performed the twin version of the ritual," stated Mathew. "The boys will gain some of the adopted parents' features, but their hair and eyes are different."
He turned the paged and showed them a picture of two boys.
"Instead of gaining their adopted parent's hair and eye color, they gained each other's."
"That's why Harry has a blond strand of hair and green-gray eyes," said Lily.
"While Draco has a black strand of hair and gray-green eyes," said Severus.
"Correct, though they will gain a few features from the two of you as they grow older," said Serenity.
"Oh, dear, did you reserve a table for that meeting at the pub?"
As Mathew nodded, Lily frowned a bit.
"You know, when we entered the pub, the server asked us if we were magical or… no-maj, why?"
Serenity smiled, "That's cause both no-maj and magical work together in this community."
"But didn't Salem hold those famous Witch trials?" Lily asked.
Mathew chuckled a bit, "You should thank our ancestors for ending those ridiculous trials."
Lily and Severus were confused.
"What do you mean our ancestors, Uncle?" Lily asked.
"In 1692, Salem didn't give the welcome wagon to wizards and witches since they viewed them as the devil's servants…"
That's when Mathew smirked, "But around the late April of 1693, two wizards changed all of that. Their names were none other than, Noel Evans and Jackson Snape."
Lily and Severus were shocked, but Severus quickly shook it off.
"My father's bloodline was m-ma-magical?!"
Mathew frowned, "Your father never told you about your origins, Severus? …strange."
"N-No, sir," stuttered Severus, then sighing, "Everyone thought my father was a muggle."
"Your ancestor should've registered in the British Ministry when they traveled there, 200 years ago," Mathew tapped his chin, "I wonder what happened."
"Do you think the British Ministry removes wizarding families if they only give birth to squibs?" Serenity looked at Severus, "There's not many purebloods in Britain, correct?"
"That's right," replied Severus. "There're only a few that are considered purebloods. They're called the Sacred 28."
Serenity made a face, "That's just stupid…"
'Mm, I guess throughout the years, the Snape's lost their magic,' thought Mathew.
"So, what did our ancestors do to change the muggle's view of magic?" Lily asked.
"They healed the injured and sick, showing them the good in magic," replied Mathew.
"After seeing what good magic can do, the no-maj community of Salem had second thoughts about what the children were saying," said Serenity.
"I always questioned about those trials," said Lily. "How can those children accuse all those muggles if they knew each other?"
"Fear, Lily," replied Mathew.
He then sighed, "Those children did something sinful. They fear if their parents found out, they'd be disowned and be mark unholy to their God."
"That would explain a few things," said Severus. "In the end, I suppose those muggle children were disowned, correct?"
Mathew nodded, "The no-maj court made a law to only sentence someone if they show real proof to the community."
Lily sighed, "If only Britain had done the same thing."
Mathew laughed, "The day British Ministry accept no-majs and squibs is the day when British purebloods accept muggleborns and halfbloods."
Lily giggled while Severus smirked.
"Around the 1700s, the community of Salem fully accepted magic as a good thing, based on what they saw from the Evans' and the Snape's," continued Serenity.
"Afterwards, Noel and Jack team up with the Ministry and formed a wizarding school," Mathew smiled, "The school was named Salem Academy Institute for Wizards and Witches."
"An exclusive school. Not like Ilvermorny. They sent the invitations to specific children to few countries at the age of eight," said Serenity.
"That young?" Lily asked.
"Most children start showing 'accidental' magic around the age of four. So, the academy thought it would be best if the children start controlling their magic a bit earlier," explained Serenity.
"And most children have a decent level of magic at a young age, but in the academy records, the muggleborns' magic was always the highest," said Mathew.
Lily tilted her head, "Now that you mention it, my magic was quite strong, despite, being a muggleborn."
"That's because muggleborns' magic is stronger since its fresh magic," Serenity winked, "But British and Russian purebloods are quite stubborn to admit the truth."
Mathew snorted, "Stubborn? I say downright boneheads – look at their blasted family tree! All of them are practically related! They marry off their children to distant cousins to keep their 'pureness' strong."
"Resulting deformed or ill children," Serenity sighed, "I'm glad my great-grandfather escaped from that kind of society."
"About that, how are you related to Lucius?" Severus asked.
"Ah, yes. You see, my great grandpa, Lucifer, was the youngest son of the Malfoy's. He wanted to explore, so he sailed on a ship and came here to Salem. He then met my great grandma, Medina who was a halfblood and the two fell in love. Soon, they were engaged, but when my great grandpa informed his parents, they didn't want to do anything with filthy halfblood. My great-great-grandparents thought that Lucifer disgraced the family by marrying a filthy halfblood. So, they disowned Lucifer and never contacted him ever since."
Lily gasped while Severus sighed.
"A Malfoy would do that," said Severus. "When Lucius invited me to his manor, his father… let's just say, he didn't show any warm hospitality towards me."
"Idiotic purebloods," murmured Serenity before gasping. She grabbed her husband's arm, "Dear, they need to know about the contract!"
"Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me," said Mathew.
"Contract?" Lily asked.
"Yes, Lillian," said Mathew. "You see, the Evans' and the Snape's thought it would be a brilliant idea to combine our families together since they've been working together for quite some time. So, they made a marriage contract in advance."
"But sadly, the Evans' and the Snape's only had sons. Neither could give birth to a daughter," stated Serenity.
"So, that would mean…" started Severus before the two gasped in realization.
"The contract falls upon the two of you," said Mathew. "That is if you two want to."
Lily and Severus widened their eyes before having a slight blush on their cheeks.
Serenity smirked a bit before getting up and grabbed Mathew's arm. She guided him out of the room before smiling at them.
"We'll give you two some privacy. Once you're done, call Sophie. She'll guide you back to the drawing room."
Once the door closed, Lily and Severus stayed silent.
Severus then broke the silence, "I… I have been keeping a-a secret from you… ever since we were kids…"
"Sev?" Lily said, softly.
"I… I feel in love with you since the day we first met," admitted Severus, nervously.
Lily stared at her best friend before giving him a warm smile.
She grabbed his hand, "I must admit myself that I had a bit of a crush on you as well. It started around the end of our fourth year, but… then the incident in our fifth year…"
"Please Lily, forgive me!" Severus begged, holding Lily's hand in return.
"I didn't mean to say that foul word to you, honest! The pressure from my housemates… Potter pranking me in front of everyone… I took my anger out on you instead! Please, forgive me!"
"Oh, Sev," said Lily, softly.
She sighed, holding Severus' hand dearly, "I should be the one to apologize. I cast you aside and treated you horribly. I should've seen it through your point of view, but I foolishly believed those horrible lies. You were alone and called me out, but… I ignored it and ended our long friendship."
"Lily," murmured Severus, softly.
A heavy weight was finally lifted from Severus' heart and a tear fell from his cheek.
The redhead smiled, "I've forgiven you from that incident, and I was going to owl you, but James stopped me."
'Blasted Potter,' thought Severus, angrily.
"Sev, fate has reunited us for a reason," Lily placed her hand on Severus' cheek, "And I know why… do you want to marry a foolish Gryffindor?"
Severus was speechless before placing Lily's hand onto his chest.
He then gave a true smile, "You're not foolish. You're strong and brave… I was the one that was foolish."
Lily smiled, "Foolish, but with good intensions. Your ambition to protect those who need it is strong, and your cunning was useful during your time as a spy. You used your magic for good, not evil. You're the bravest man I have ever met."
"Thank you, Lily," said Severus, softly.
Lily smiled before getting up and dragged Severus out of the room. She called Sophie who guided them back to the drawing room where they saw the boys playing with little Sally.
On the couch, Mathew and Serenity were drinking a cup of tea and on the small Victorian coffee table had some small sandwiches and snacks.
"We accept the contract!"
-Break Line-
What do you all think?
Next Chapter: Acceptance Letter.