Killing and Running

Chapter 3 - All the Time in the World

December 31, 1979

Ten minutes. That's how late he is so far. Does the man have no sense of decency? Did we not arrange to meet at this specific time, right here by these very trees?

Maybe it's a marketing strategy. Maybe he thinks that if I've had to wait this long I'll be more desperate and willing to pay more money. Well, let him have that delusion, and then I'll be able to vent my wrath.

It won't work. I've been through worse. I've been whipped, beaten, bled, and branded in the service of My Lord, and I've endured all that. So I can endure this.

WHERE IS HE?!

The time ticks by more and more slowly. 10:10:15. 10:12:13. Was that a movement by that tree? No, it's not him. 10:13:43. 10:14:00. 10:14:13. 10:14:20.

Suddenly I see a figure leaning against a tree, enshrouded in the shadows cast by the moonlight. I approach the figure quickly, stalking toward him in my usual relentless manner.

"You're 15 minutes late," I say to him.

Hiltern looks at his timepiece. "14 minutes 47 seconds, Snape."

"Merlin's beard," I mutter.

* * *

December 15, 1971

Severus was rapidly losing his patience.

It had been 2 12 months since the whipping, and in the interim he would have liked nothing better than to curse Potter, Black, and Pettigrew ten thousand times and throw them in the lake at the mercy of the giant squid. Too bad the giant squid was harmless.

But he also knew that he couldn't risk it just yet.

It was hard enough to convince Leonard not to do anything. Leonard was, of course, feeling guilty about what Severus had done for him, or at least making a good show of it in private, but Severus refused to let him turn himself in to Dumbledore or do anything else that stupid. ("What's done is done, Leonard," Severus had told him.) However, Severus now wanted nothing more than to get back at Potter and his friends before Christmas. He felt he had let too much time pass without doing anything, and now found it extremely difficult to do anything without thinking that he should be pursuing ways to get at Potter first, no matter what the cost. The trouble was figuring out how to do it.

If there was an upside to what had happened, it was that Nathaniel now considered himself Severus's friend, and Severus couldn't have been more pleased. With Nathaniel close to him, if Potter and his gang ever put one toe out of line, he now had someone to tell the teachers about it, someone whom they would believe, for Nathaniel was quite the brown-noser.

* * *

That morning, Severus sat with his friends in the great hall at the Slytherin table, which was decked festively with green and silver Christmas decorations. Some people wondered about putting them up this early, but as Evan had said when he showed his support for the decorations, "We're not the rest of the school. We'll celebrate Christmas as we choose, and be recognized for it."

Right now, they were discussing what to do about Potter and his gang of Gryffindors.

"You know, we could just..." Nathaniel started, looking up from his copy of Hogwarts: A History, but he trailed off.

"I don' like it already," replied Adam, who was sitting on Nathaniel's left, swallowing his toast.

"Neither do I," Nathaniel sighed, returning to his book while nibbling on his own toast.

Meanwhile, a girl sitting to the right of Nathaniel had been arranging his bacon into a geometric shape while he was distracted. The dull reddish-brown bacon contrasted starkly with the shiny silver plate. After Nathaniel finished with the passage he was reading, he looked at his plate. Upon noticing the state of his bacon, Nathaniel frowned and looked at Severus, who was sitting across from him.

"Did you do this, Severus?" Nathaniel asked.

"No, it was that girl sitting next to you," Severus replied casually, between spoonfuls of eggs.

"I'm sorry if you're offended, sir, but the bacon just cried out to me for arrangement into a nice pattern," said the girl.

"I'll let it go, you did such a good job. I can see what you mean about the bacon crying out for this shape. I wish I could keep it this way, but bacon was meant for eating," replied Nathaniel, picking up one of the pieces and putting it in his mouth after he was finished. The removal of that piece shifted the others and the pattern was lost. When Nathaniel finished chewing, he continued, "What's your name? I find it hard to believe, but I've never met you before."

"Elektra Branford," said the girl nervously.

"Fascinating name, I like it."

"You are from a wizard family, aren't you?" Evan asked uncertainly.

"Of course. My mum was a Ravenclaw, and my Father was a Hufflepuff, but somehow I ended up here."

"My mother was also a Ravenclaw," Nathaniel said. "I remember when I was younger, this time of year we'd go out into the forest, and chop down a whole bunch of trees, so as to make a neat little Christmas tree display in our yard. My mother would make sure all the trees were placed in the right spots artistically, while my father would decorate the trees with as many green and silver ornaments as possible. Green on green on green. And I would go back and forth, helping them both. Sometimes I would get sick of all that green and silver after awhile, but it was still a lot of fun. I miss those days."

Nathaniel's musings were interrupted by the arrival of the owl post. A familiar looking reddish-black owl landed next Severus and held out its leg, which bore a letter addressed to him.

"Something from your sister," said Leonard, interested.

Severus took the letter, opened it, then read it aloud after a brief glance:

Dear Severus,

How are you? Sorry I haven't written to you in a while, but Wesley and I have been doing some very serious thinking. You see, he's been conscripted.

I don't know how much you've been hearing about the war, but it's not been going well for either side. So far, all the battles have ended with stalemates, each side killing too many of the others' for either one of them to claim victory. Therefore the Ministry has done a new round of conscriptions, and Wesley got picked. He'll have to report in on December 28.

In the meantime, we've decided to move our wedding date to Christmas. That way, we'll be married before he goes off to war, the whole family will be together anyway, and no one has to spend extra money on wedding presents because we'll already be getting plenty of Christmas presents, see?

I look forward to seeing you in a few days. Oh, and you can invite your Slytherin friends if you like. Mum and Dad have agreed to be tolerant of them as long as they behave. I'd like to meet them too.

Love,

Arabella

"Sounds interesting," said Nathaniel.

"I don' know if I'd wanna spend that much time with a bunch of Gryffindors, though," Adam said.

"I see an opportunity," said Evan.

"What's that?"

"Black'll be there too. This'll be our chance to show him up without getting in trouble with Dumbledore."

"Yeah, that makes sense," said Adam. He looked around at the decorations on the table, and the silver plates and green silverware in front of him. "Besides, I've been getting sick of green an' silver anyway."

Everyone laughed. "Leonard, what do you think?" Severus asked.

"I like it. Black'll probably invite his friends too. We can show all of them up!" Leonard replied.

"Good! I'll tell her we're all coming."

"Can I come?" Elektra asked.

"No," said Severus.

* * *

Severus wrote this letter to Arabella:

Dear Arabella,

I'm getting on just fine. I'm sorry to hear about Wesley being conscripted, but I think it'll all work out for the best. He'll probably do very well, come back home intact, and will tell your children wonderful stories about it once you've both grown old.

My friends would like me to tell you that they accept your invitation to attend. I eagerly anticipate seeing you again!

Love,

Severus

* * *

December 18, 1971

Christmas Holiday finally arrived, and Severus found that strangely enough, he had mixed emotions about it.

On the one hand, he was glad to be going back to his home, where he had spent all of his childhood. He really wanted to see Arabella, and believed that he would be happy to see her get married, even if he had some minor reservations about her fiancée being a friend of Black's brother, as well as a bit of a prat at their first meeting.

On the other hand, though, he wasn't completely looking forward to seeing his parents again, especially his father. His mother might be inclined to be tolerant, but memories of the letter his father had sent after the sorting still stuck in his mind.

We'll have to talk more about this the next time we see each other face to face.

He wasn't looking forward to that meeting.

Severus, Adam, Evan, Leonard, and Nathaniel arrived at Platform 9 34 shortly after 3:00 P.M.

"Do you see them, Severus?" Evan asked once they had all gotten off the train.

"I'm looking..." Severus replied.

"Have a happy holiday!" someone shouted at them, passing by before anyone could see who it was.

"Same to you!" Adam yelled.

"Happy Christmas to everyone! Except for the following people..." started Leonard, but Evan cut him off, snickering.

Platform 9 34 was indeed very crowded with students and their parents seeing each other again for the first time since September, and the festive holiday atmosphere was evident not only from them, but also from the various trees, wreaths, and other splotches of green and red spread throughout the platform, contrasting brightly with the dull colors of the ground and walls, but matching well with the scarlet Hogwarts Express. With all the hustle and bustle, Severus was having a hard time recognizing any relatives.

"I can't see them yet," Severus said after a few minutes.

"Should we go through the barrier?" Nathaniel asked.

"Not yet," said Severus. "Give them a few more minutes."

Leonard yawned. "I'm hungry."

"I'm sure yeh are," said Adam.

Severus suddenly spotted Arabella and Wesley several meters away from them, next to a clump of red decorations.

"I see them, I see them!" Severus shouted, and he ran quick as he could towards Arabella, hugging her waist once he got close enough.

"Hello," said Nathaniel from behind.

Severus let go of Arabella quickly and looked behind him. Arabella looked down at him for a moment, puzzled, then turned her head in the direction Severus was looking.

His companions had caught up, clustered behind Nathaniel. Severus looked embarrassed for a few seconds but quickly regained his composure.

"Ahem. Arabella, this is Nathaniel Lestrange, Leonard Avery, Adam Wilkes, and Evan Rosier," he said, pointing to each of them in turn. A chorus of introductions and greetings followed as they left the platform.

After the introductions were made, Arabella and Wesley took the children to their car, which was parked in a secluded alley covered in a thin layer of snow.

"So, are you liking Hogwarts so far, Severus?" asked Wesley.

"Sure, it's tremendous," replied Severus, getting into the back seat of the car.

"Isn't this a Muggle custom?" asked Evan, looking at the car.

"You mean contraption," said Severus. "Yes. It's a little cramped, but we don't have any other way to travel together. There's been an allergy to floo powder in my father's side of the family for several generations, and he passed it on to Arabella, so we can't use the fireplace as long as one of them's with us."

"A little cramped? Are yeh daft? There's no bloody way we're all gonna fit in that damn tin can!" Adam said. Arabella and Wesley looked at him in wonder.

"Don't mind him," Evan said. "He's a little rough around the edges, but he's still all right." Adam nudged Evan with his elbow in jest, and they both sniggered at each other.

"They're neighbors," said Severus, getting out of the car.

"Alright," said Arabella. "Don't worry about room, I can fix that." And sure enough, after looking around for muggles, she tapped the car with her wand and it expanded to include more seating.

"There's the ticket," Evan said, getting in. Adam followed quickly behind, and Severus joined them in the back seat. Leonard and Nathaniel took the middle seats, and Arabella and Wesley sat up front.

Time passed very slowly for Severus during the ride home. Leonard and Nathaniel were engaged in conversation in their seat, so he only had Adam and Evan in the back to converse with. But his heart wasn't in the conversation, and often, Adam or Evan would say something funny or be expecting a response from Severus, and he, too busy looking out the window at the passing scenery, would miss it.

"Severus, are yeh alrigh'?" asked Adam.

"Yes," replied Severus. "I'm alright. I just get sleepy on these long rides, see?"

"It's only been 30 minutes," said Evan.

Time slows down for those who wait.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Snape residence around 4:47 P.M., Arabella and Wesley got out of the car and let everyone out. Wesley, being the chivalrous sort, ran up ahead of everyone to the main door to hold it open for them.

"Your home is huge," said Leonard, looking a bit more awestruck than everyone else.

"It's big enough," Adam said. "I' seen bigger, though, righ' Evan?"

"Oh, my house isn't that much bigger. Really, it's about the same size," replied Evan, who was the first to cross the threshold into Severus's house, Adam and Severus right behind him.

"Adam, your house can't be that much smaller if you live next door," Severus stated.

"Actually, I live on his property. See, my dad's his dad's servant, because of some legal entangament years 'fore I was born, and so we live in the servant's quarters righ' next to the main house where Evan lives. As a result, we grew up together, but neither Evan nor his dad ever regarded me and my dad as inferior," Adam said. "They saved that treatment for the house elf."

"You have a house elf?" said Severus. "That's something!"

"We've been doing just fine without one, Severus," said Arabella, who was the last to enter the house. "Well, make yourselves comfortable, I'll go make us all some tea. Severus, you can show everyone where to go." She walked off to the kitchen with Wesley. Severus led his friends through an open door into a large room with dark brown wooden walls and floors, and a big brown wooden table in the middle with plenty of chairs. The walls were adorned with numerous moving pictures, most of which seemed to be inactive at the moment. They all sat down at the table.

"Say, where are your parents, Severus?" Nathaniel asked as he sat down.

"I don't know. I'll check it," said Severus, getting out of his chair and running to the door. "Arabella, where's mum and dad?"

"Out working. They'll be back by five, five-thirty at the latest," came Arabella's voice from the kitchen. "Oh, by the way, dinner's at seven, so don't go and gorge yourselves too much between now and then, alright?"

As Severus shouted his assent and returned to the table, Evan asked, "Say, whereabouts are we? I don't know all that much about travel in a... what did you say the name of that contraption was, Severus?"

"A car," answered Severus. "Our house is about a few miles away from Stratford upon Avon. There's only 3 wizarding families here, the rest of the people in the area are Muggles, and so we have to keep up some pretenses to avoid their suspicions. There's the McKinnons, who were both friends of Arabella's at Hogwarts, and there's another family I don't know that well. The Bones or something. They're older, and don't mix much."

"They don't usually stop by, do they? The Muggles, I mean," asked Evan.

"No, we pretty much keep to ourselves, and so they don't bother us."

"Glad to hear it."

"So are you going to ask your father about his job?" asked Leonard.

"If I get a chance. He can talk a lot sometimes, especially if the conversation isn't going where he wants it to go," Severus answered. He was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. As much as he had wanted to come home, he now felt uneasy about being there, in some ways.

"Do you really think he's an... unspeakable?" Nathaniel said in a tone of unmistakable awe. "I've wanted to meet one all my life!"

"It's possible. Just don't go up to him when he arrives and say, 'Hello Mr. Unspeakable, sir, may I have your signature all over my things?' You'll only make things worse, especially if he isn't an unspeakable," Severus replied sarcastically. Evan snickered.

"But that's not likely, at leas' I don' think so," Adam replied. "You, me and Evan all saw that picture in the Daily Prophet four months ago."

"We'll find out when we find out," Severus said quickly. "Please don't push me, alright?" As much as he wanted to know the answer, he dreaded the question.

"Find what out?" came Arabella's voice from the door. At that moment, Arabella and Wesley had both entered carrying several trays of tea and biscuits. Severus and the others couldn't tell how much of the conversation they had overheard.

"When his mum and dad are coming," Adam replied.

"Oh, they'll be here when they get here, don't put up such a fuss," Severus said, playing along.

"That's a rather... mature attitude, Severus," Arabella said slowly. "Mum and Dad will be proud of you, I think. Anyway, here's your tea and biscuits." She set the trays down and motioned for Wesley to put his down. He did so slowly, as if still trying to process some bit of information. How much of the conversation had he heard? Severus thought worriedly.

Wesley picked up a cup of tea and sat down, but jumped up suddenly at the sound of the outside door opening and closing with a loud SLAM!, dropping the cup to the floor where it shattered noisily, spilling tea all over the dull brown wooden floor. "Sorry," he said quickly, "I don't know what's gotten into me recently. I'll get it clean." He paused. "Go see who it is, Arabella, I think everyone wants to know!"

Though everyone else was shocked at Wesley's sudden jittery behavior, Arabella didn't react at all. She just went out to greet whoever had just arrived. Meanwhile, Wesley had taken a napkin off of one of the trays and was wiping the spill and attempting to pick up all the pieces.

"I'm sorry boys, I really am," he said. "I haven't been feeling quite right for a while now. Ever since I got that damn letter from the ministry... I'll get over it."

Everyone just stared at him, not saying a word. The room became so quiet that Severus could discern the sound of two voices from outside the room. He couldn't tell what they were saying, but they seemed to be getting louder. One of them was Arabella's, and the other sounded like his mother. But he couldn't hear his father. Suddenly there was the sound of something falling to the floor outside. After a pause of about half a minute, by which time everyone in the room was listening for the sounds of the outside voices, Arabella came into the room slowly, followed, sure enough, by Julia Snape. She quickly surveyed the room and its occupants, including Wesley, who now resumed cleaning up after himself. Then she looked at Arabella.

"You tell them," Arabella said somewhat loudly. "All of them."

"Ah... Severus, dear," Julia said, not looking directly at Severus. "I have something to tell you about me and your father's occupations. Ah... Severus... how do I say this?"

"Yer both unspeakables," Adam said bluntly.

"How did you know?" asked Julia. "You knew, Severus?"

"We saw you and dad in the background of a picture in the September 1rst issue of the Daily Prophet," answered Severus, trying to keep his eyes level with hers. "The article next to it was about the attacks that day, and it mentioned that two unspeakables had been investigating. We figured there was a possibility that you and dad were the unspeakables."

"You always have been a clever boy, Severus," Julia said nervously. "How's Hogwarts been?"

"I love it there," Severus answered. "Although I'm starting feel like..." He trailed off. In truth, he wasn't sure what he had been about to say.

"Tell them, mother," Arabella said, sounding unusually upset. Indeed, Arabella, who normally was a very happy person, now looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Where's dad?" Severus asked, trying to change the subject. At that point, Arabella rushed over to the nearest chair and sat down, burying her face in her hands.

"He's in a coma at St. Mungo's," Julia said, also looking like she was about to cry. "We, along with several others, were investigating some odd occurrences just outside of Liverpool, and we were attacked by a group of... strange wizards in cloaks and masks. A few of us managed to fend them off, but they put some sort of new, unheard-of curse on Claudius and several others, and now they're all... comatose now while the doctors try to figure out what was done to them."

Then she began crying too.

Nobody knew what to say.

* * *

After Arabella and Julia calmed down and regained some semblance of their composure (during which time everyone else in the room attempted to give Severus some sort of comfort), it was agreed that Severus could go to visit his father at St. Mungo's. As he and his mother did not share the family allergy to floo powder, they took the fireplace while Arabella apparated. Wesley agreed somewhat reluctantly to stay behind and watch after Adam, Evan, Leonard, and Nathaniel until Severus and Julia returned.

After the initial shock, however, Severus was oddly calm. As much as he didn't want his father to die or stay in the coma forever, he couldn't help but feel that another crisis had been averted. And perhaps his father could still hear him, in which case Severus would get a chance to tell his father everything without his father making editorial comments.

He saw more of an opportunity than a problem, because he believed rather optimistically that his father would recover.

After arriving at the fireplace in St. Mungo's, Severus and his mother waited five more minutes for Arabella. She showed up late, saying, "Sorry, but I had to calm myself down a bit more. I didn't want to splinch myself and have my liver turn up on some poor patient's bed."

Once the three of them had checked in with the desk clerk, they were escorted up to Claudius's room, #12-25. Upon arriving, Severus saw his father lying on the hospital bed with a magical monitor nearby.

"Claudius," Julia said gently, "I've brought Severus and Arabella here to visit. I told them what happened."

No response.

"Hello, dad," Severus and Arabella said in unison.

No response.

"We're all really worried, because we all love you," continued Julia, taking her husband's hand. "Severus has been having a decent term. And his Slytherin friends he brought home with him seem to alright, so far."

No response.

"Dad?" Severus said quietly sometime later, after having asked to be alone with his father. "I know you were upset about my sorting. I'm not. I like it in Slytherin. I have friends there, and they're not bad."

No response.

"I know you also said that you wanted me to be fair to the other houses, and I've tried. But some of the Gryffindors I've met, I find them rather annoying. We've been known to exchange curses every now and then. And I liked doing that."

No response.

"I didn't seriously harm any of them. I suppose some of them aren't so bad, at least not to each other. But I just don't like them."

No response.

"I still love you, and mom, and Arabella, though," Severus said, hoping it was still true.

No response.

* * *

December 25, 1971

After returning home from St. Mungo's, life fell back into a recognizable routine for Severus and his friends. There was still going to be a wedding on Christmas Day, and so everyone was immediately put to work preparing the house for the reception, greeting guests, and other similar jobs. Severus suspected that that was why his friends had been allowed to visit; his parents had wanted laborers.

With such colorful, and indeed sometimes joyful work to do, Severus found it very easy indeed not to dwell on his father's infirmity. In the seven days since he had arrived home, the doctors had still not found any way to revive Claudius or any of the other afflicted unspeakables.

And now Christmas Day was upon them and the wedding was at hand. Adam and Evan had taken to the work a lot and were often to be found discussing (and occasionally fussing over) the state of their work, even more than Julia or Arabella. Nathaniel had quickly relegated himself to more "administrative" duties, supervising their work, while not surprisingly, Leonard had been helping out with food selection and preparation.

This was why Severus's friends didn't accompany him to the ceremony at 5:00. Leonard was back at the Snape residence because he was still preparing the food, Nathaniel was making sure he didn't eat it, and Adam and Evan were doing some last minute decoration.

Of course, there was another reason why Adam and Evan didn't chose to come with Severus. The wedding was being held at the church, and the minister was a Muggle. As a result, security was paramount, and Julia had stayed up late the previous night sending owls and conducting floo conversations to ensure that everyone attending the wedding was properly dressed in Muggle clothing.

Upon arriving at the church, Severus could see the extent of his mother's success. While everyone was wearing Muggle clothing, thankfully, some weren't wearing the proper Muggle clothing. One of the older men was actually wearing a dress, though Julia managed to supply him with more appropriate clothes.

As he entered the church with his family, Severus noticed a rather bulky man with long hair and a single, long scar down the left side of his face. Upon seeing Julia, he pulled her aside, quickly whispered a few words in her ear, and let her pass with the rest of the family.

"That was Alastor Moody," she said to Severus and Arabella afterwards. "He's an Auror, and he's here to ensure our safety, in case anything... well, happens."

Severus pushed back his nervousness at this statement and said as calmly as he could, "Is anyone watching over the house?"

"Yes, another colleague of mine, named Bode. And no, I don't know his first name," his mother replied.

After that, the wedding went more or less smoothly. Wesley arrived separately by apparition, but he ended up landing in a snowbank, so his suit was still somewhat damp. And despite some odd behavior on the part of a couple guests, no memory charms were necessary for the minister and clergy.

When Severus and Julia left the church building, they once again passed Moody, who now had a second scar down his other cheek. He said to Julia, "I apprehended three suspicious blokes tryin' to get in without an invitation. They put up a bit of a fight, as you can see... had 'em taken down to headquarters for questionin'."

"Thank you, Alastor," Julia said. "Will you be coming to the reception?"

"Yes, m'dear, I don't reckon I'll say no to that invitation," Moody replied, taking a slight bow.

"Thank you," said Julia. They went straight to the car.

That was probably the most interesting time Severus ever spent at church.

* * *

That evening, the Snape residence filled up quickly with all sorts of ladies and gents there for the wedding reception. Those who had been present at the wedding had changed back into robes and other wizard clothing, and the air was filled with an atmosphere of delight and celebration as people had their wonderful conversations and opened their presents (and sometimes crackers), singing songs and dancing along with them. Around 7:00, Jeremiah Black arrived with his family, including his younger brother Sirius Black, who was, to Leonard's disappointment, accompanied only by Potter.

And to Severus's everlasting horror and amusement, all of the children were seated at the same table in the kitchen while the adults exchanged words and drinks among themselves. There were only eight children at the reception that Severus knew of: himself, Leonard, Adam, Evan, Nathaniel, Potter, Black and a 9-year-old little girl who's name he didn't know, except that she was apparently the illegitimate daughter of Bode and some mysterious Muggle who left him with the child.

Having heard about this, Severus was confused and ultimately decided that he hated Muggles, if they could leave their own children behind like that.

However, the little girl was not at the table right away, and neither was Adam or Evan. Leonard was putting the finishing preparations on their food, and of course Nathaniel was watching him to make sure he didn't eat it.

Which left Severus alone with Potter and Black. He had tried to leave until the others arrived, but his mother insisted that he sit down and be a good lad. So to pass the time he tried to start as polite a conversation with them as he could.

"Been having a good holiday, boys?" he asked.

"Yes!" they both chimed in unison. "And now it's going to be even better," Black continued.

"How's that?" Severus asked, curious.

Potter quickly pulled out his wand and said "Wingardium Leviosa!," causing an umbrella on a nearby rack to float into the air. Impatiently, Severus got up to grab it and put it down. The moment he grabbed the handle, however, the umbrella opened.

"That's bad luck, Snape!" the two other boys chimed in unison before shaking each other's hands.

"Ha ha, you've had your silly little bit of fun," Severus said, closing the umbrella, and returning it to its original spot. "So, where are Pettigrew and Lupin, hmm?" he continued, returning to his seat. "Didn't they want to come?"

"Peter had to go home. His mother wanted to have a separate holiday just for the family this year. And Remus..." Potter said, trailing off.

"Yes? Where is Lupin?"

"He said he was sick and had to go back home," Potter continued, sounding unconvinced.

"Sure he did," Severus said, barely even trying to contain his sarcasm.

"Just shut it, Snape?" Black said testily.

Severus smiled. He had struck a nerve. "Whatever you say, Black."

In an effort to change the subject, Potter said, "Why can't we just all have fun? You know, Sirius, I reckon Remus was correct. Maybe we should be nicer to Snape?"

"I'm not falling for that one again, Potter. The only reason you apologized before was because Lupin dared you to. You two are no friends of mine," Severus said calmly.

"Your loss," Black said, apparently deciding to restrain himself.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not missing..." Severus was cut off by the arrival of Leonard and Nathaniel with the Christmas turkey. "Where's Adam and Evan?" Severus asked.

"Not sure," Nathaniel replied, sitting down at the end of the table while Leonard served the food. "They'll have to get here quick, before all the food goes, though."

"Or Avery eats it," Black continued under his breath.

"Be nice," said Severus. "After all, 'give peace a chance,' correct?"

"Right," said Black sarcastically.

Outside the room, Severus heard a commotion. Two voices were raised in singing something that didn't sound like a Christmastime hymn, and one of the voices had a slight accent which even months of magical speech classes couldn't completely erase.

"Muggle, Muggle, Mudblood spawn

Hide your face until we're gone

Go back home, you don't belong

Muggle, Muggle, Mudblood spawn,"

The lyrics went on after that, getting dirtier and dirtier.

"I think I hear Adam and Evan," Severus said, getting up and leaving the room. "Potter, Black, make sure my food doesn't get cold... or eaten. If it is, you'll both be in big trouble." Nathaniel and Leonard followed him out, and soon, even Potter and Black went outside the kitchen, curious.

Adam and Evan stood in the middle of the corridor singing at the little girl, Bode's daughter, who was now crying. Leonard was fascinated by the rhyme and soon joined in once he had caught the words. So did Nathaniel, once he had picked them up. Severus simply stood back and watched them, smiling and doing nothing. He could tell his friends were having a lot of fun, and he enjoyed watching them.

However, Potter and Black decided not to stay back and do nothing. They ran recklessly into Nathaniel and Evan, knocking them over. Leonard and Adam quickly left the little girl alone and both started pummeling Potter and Black as best they could, and Potter and Black of course fought back in a brave but futile Gryffindor manner.

However, Severus could hear people coming, so he took out his wand and broke up the fight. By the time the adults arrived, all they could see was a sobbing little girl, six boys, all with bloody noses, sitting on the floor, and Severus leaning against a wall, looking down at them.

"What happened?" Julia exclaimed, surveying the casualties.

Potter and Black got up. "Those four boys were calling that little girl 'Mudblood!'" Potter exclaimed, pointing at Adam, Evan, Leonard, and Nathaniel.

"No we weren't," Leonard said. "We just got into a fight here, after some nasty words were exchanged on both sides, and Severus intervened, right Severus?"

"Right," Severus said. "No one called anyone 'Mudblood.'" Which was technically true, since they had been calling her 'Mudblood spawn.'

The little girl cried even louder.

Julia muttered something ending with the word, "...unbelievable," then said aloud, wearily, "Will someone stop up their bloody noses, please? And boys, please don't do this again. No fighting in this house."

* * *

January 1, 1972

The day after the reception, Adam, Evan, Leonard, and Nathaniel were sent home. After the fight, Julia had decided that they had overstayed their welcome and asked them to leave. Arabella and Wesley left the house for a two-day honeymoon before Wesley had to report to the ministry for conscription. Arabella returned home to be with her family until Wesley came back.

The three 'suspicious blokes' that Moody had captured were still being interrogated; however, it was starting to seem as if they might have had some ties with the people who attacked Claudius and the other unspeakables.

Meanwhile, Claudius had recovered. At exactly 5:00 P.M. on December 31, he and the other unspeakables awoke from their comas simultaneously. The doctors were at a loss to explain why, as they had done nothing.

But somehow, they weren't the same. All of them seemed to have undergone severe personality changes. One of the unspeakables, who had previously hated the company of women, now seemed to revel in it. Of all the people, Claudius seemed to have changed the least, but even he had still lost much of his old forcefulness and aggression.

As they did not seem to be in any physical danger or distress, though, they were allowed to return to their homes and families the morning after. (It also may have been possible that the doctors were afraid that the unspeakables had been subjected to dark magic which might rub off on them.) The reunion between Severus and his father was a very calm one. He seemed to have lost his anger over Severus's sorting.

"What's done is done, Severus," Claudius said, giving Severus a gentle pat on the shoulder. "You're forgiven. Julia, could you make me some tea? I didn't like some of that hospital food they gave me."

He was only a glimmer of his previous self.

That afternoon, the post arrived.

"I'll get it," Julia said, getting up off the sofa where she and Claudius had been sitting, just holding each other quietly. Arabella and Severus, who had been having their own conversation on another sofa, looked up with interest.

"Letter for you, Arabella. From Wesley," Julia said, entering with a single envelope in her hands. Arabella rose from her seat and snatched the letter quickly from her hands. Upon opening it, she read:

Dear Arabella,

How are you getting along? I'm alright, though it's pretty cold where I'm at (sorry I can't be more specific, but our location is currently classified). There are a lot of soldiers here with me at the camp I'm at. Some of them are new, like me, and others are older ones who've been through several battles. They don't seem very cheerful.

On an interesting note, I ran into one of our old friend's from Hogwarts yesterday. His name was Jason Biggs, he was that Muggleborn from Cardiff, remember? He still has that characteristic Welsh voice, with a slight stutter. Some things never change, do they?

The food here isn't as good as the food you make me, and when I go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, I miss having you lying right beside me. Things aren't the same without you around, unfortunately. I shall be glad to get back home when this is all over, one way or the other.

It looks as if we may be going into battle within a couple days. We haven't actually received any notice of this from the officers yet, but you know how rumors can fly sometimes. This one may have some credit, though. Well, I'm as ready as I will ever be, I think. They taught me plenty of defensive curses, and I know how to use a sword, if it comes to that.

I wish you were here with me, but at the same time I wouldn't wish these surroundings on you. It's very dreary where I'm at (sorry, location is classified, yak yak yak), and many of the more experienced soldiers seem very pessimistic. I've never been in a less cheerful place. I hope going into battle isn't as bad as many of the people here say it is.

On an odder note, it seems as if a lot of the people here are Muggleborn. I mentioned Biggs, but there's also Richard Dawson, Jack Boffer, Fanny Bush, Randy Rodger, and John Guff Thomas, remember that lot?

Good-bye until our next letter. May God be with you until we meet again. Say hello to everyone for me, I miss you all.

Love,

Wesley Figg, at 5:02 P.M. December 30, 1971

As Arabella finished reading the letter, Severus realized that she looked sadder than he had ever seen her. "Wesley says Hello, everyone," she added quietly.

The silence that followed was interrupted by a knock at the door. Severus watched Julia walk over to the door and open it, revealing Alastor Moody standing outside.

"May I come in?" he asked solemnly.

"Why... of course. We weren't expecting you, though," Julia said slowly. Brightening up, she continued, "Would you like some tea, Alastor?"

"No thank you. I need something stronger, do you have a pint of bitter?"

Julia sighed and said, "Claudius, do you know where the beer is?"

"It's in the..." Claudius started, but he was cut off by Moody.

"Never mind. I think I'd prefer to be sober while I tell you."

"Tell us what?" Julia said, leading Moody over to a chair next to the couch where Severus and Arabella were sitting.

"Well there's two things really," Moody said. "First off, there's the three blokes I arrested at the wedding. We've finally gotten them to talk, and what they had to say was so downright horrifying, that well... I don't want to talk much about it in front of the kid." Moody pointed to Severus. "What I have to say has to be said, but not in front of him."

"Severus, could you please go to your room for a while?" Julia asked.

"Alright, I'll go," Severus said. "Call me down when you're done, alright?" He went upstairs to his room. It had changed since he had first left for Hogwarts; while before it had been a little cluttered but still fairly neat, it was now a downright mess. Dirty clothes were spread all over the place, the sheets on his bed had not been straightened, and there were other assorted items lying on the floor where he had left them before.

It was not that he no longer desired to be neat; he simply felt no more attachment to this room. His room, he had come to realize, was back at Hogwarts. It felt like he had been away for too long a time.

Upon arriving in his room he lay down on his messy bed and stretched out his arms in a big yawn. Then he got up again and picked up a book that he was reading the previous night off the floor and opened the page he had left off at. About ten minutes later, he suddenly heard a lot of noise from downstairs. It sounded like Arabella was yelling very loudly. Severus put down his book and strained his ears to hear what she was yelling.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!!" he heard her shout. He had no idea what that meant. There were footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Arabella, please calm down - " he heard Julia start, but Arabella cut her off.

"For the love of God, please leave me be, mum! Can't I just have a few minutes by myself to mourn?" Arabella yelled

"Alright," Julia said quietly. "Dinner will be ready in a couple hours," she added as an afterthought.

Severus heard more footsteps going downstairs and what sounded like his mother quietly telling his father to go away, and leave Arabella alone. After a few minutes, he crept quietly to the door and opened it. Arabella was seated on the floor in the darkened corridor not that far away, crying.

"What's wrong, Arabella?" Severus said quietly. Arabella looked up at him, angry for a moment, but then she suddenly burst into a fresh wave of tears. Severus approached her cautiously, and sat down, placing his hand on her shoulder. "What is it?"

"Wesley's dead," Arabella said. "There was a battle this morning and he got killed."

Severus looked at her in shock. He hadn't expected this. "That's... that's horrible," Severus said.

"That's not the end of it, though," she said, looking up suddenly and sounding very bitter. "The war was pointless! All this time, all the people who died in this war, it was all for nothing!"

"What makes you say that?"

"The Russians didn't attack the Knight Bus."

Severus, shocked, struggled to absorb the full horror of what this meant. "Who did?"

"Oh, there's this nasty fellow named..." she said, trailing off as she struggled to remember the name. "--Voldemort or something like that. The men that Moody arrested at the wedding were some of his followers. That's how he found out." She paused. "Ever heard of the Dark Lord Grindelwald?"

"Wasn't he that nasty German who..."

"Yeah. That's him. This Voldemort fellow has aspirations to be the next Grindelwald. He and his followers were the ones who attacked the knight bus and killed all those people."

"Is the Ministry going to stop the war now?" Severus said.

"Not right away, those stupid bastards," she said. "Instead, they're going to pretend it's still going on while they negotiate a truce with Russia. They don't want to admit that they were wrong until they have to. Idiots."

Severus could not believe the stupidity he had just heard about. "Arabella..." he started, but she wasn't listening anymore.

Instead she was crying, even louder than before, and she wailed out one word.

"FUCK!"