Slytherin by Choice

Chapter 2

At Home

"Someone please tell me it's Friday," I muttered as I sat down at the table in the staff cafeteria at the Ministry of Magic. Hermione chuckled as she took a sip of her tea and Ron shook his head with a laugh.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Harry, but it's only Tuesday," Hermione said.

I let out an exasperated sigh and slumped in my plastic chair. "Good God, is it really?" I asked. "Please, say it isn't so."

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," I sighed, lying to my best mate not for the first time. I didn't want to tell him about the problems Ginny and I were having at home, mostly because he'd promised certain death if I dared hurt his sister, and partly because he was my brother in law. You just don't say these kinds of things to your brother in law, at least, not if you can help it.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

Hermione was different. I'd tell her in a heartbeat, no problem. And she wouldn't tell Ron, which was an absolute plus. In fact, Hermione was the only one, besides Ginny, who knew I was having an affair with Draco.

I shrugged. "Nothing big," I said. That, believe it or not, was code for there's something huge going on and I can't talk about it in front of Ron.

"Samson or Percival?" Hermione asked. They were two of my problem Aurors, but her question had nothing to do with either of them.

"Both," I answered. Percival was synonymous with Al and Samson was for Ginny/Draco things. "They're just...at each other's heads all the time," I answered. "I'm just really sick of it and that's why I wish it were Friday," I said.

Hermione nodded her understanding. Code was a great thing between friends, but it often left Ron uncomfortably out of the loop. That wasn't always a good thing. Especially with the look on his face.

"I thought Samson was on vacation," he said. Unfortunately, his working with me in the Auror department made this code a bit tough.

"Not your Samson," Hermione said, covering our asses. "Mine."

"Oh!" Ron said with sudden dawning. He knew absolutely nothing about the people in Hermione's department, which was a great thing because Hermione didn't have a Samson.

"The two of them are going through a rough breakup and they keep bringing it to work," I said, trying to explain why our two departments would be mixing. Hermione nodded and let out a sigh as she went for her tea again. I reached for my cola and took a long drink before I set it down again and went for my lunch.

Three hours later, there was a knock on my office door. "Enter!" I called, busy organizing a few files on various Death Eaters still at large after all this time. Twenty-four years and we still haven't gotten them all. It's pathetic really.

Hermione shut the door behind her as I turned around. "Hey," I said with a weary smile.

"So what's going on?" she asked. "Can you talk now?"

I nodded and pulled out a charmed knickknack that would put up a temporary silencing charm around the office just to make sure that no one would be eavesdropping. I even walked over to the second door of my office and locked it. I was not going to take the chance of another Ginny.

"Al's gay," I said, sitting down at my desk. Hermione sat down opposite me with her eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline. "What?" she breathed. I repeated myself.

"Merlin," she sighed, running her hand through hair that had been cut quite a bit since our Hogwarts days. It was also more of a blonde these days than her natural brunette. It was a good look for her.

"Ginny's not happy," I said needlessly.

"I can imagine," Hermione muttered. "Let me guess--as soon as you two were alone she said something along the lines of he's exactly like you?"

I nodded. "Slytherin by choice and gay," I said. "Her exact words."

"Merlin, Harry, you certainly do have an interesting family life. Do James and Lily know?"

I shook my head. "It's doubtful," I said. "You know they don't really care much for Al these days."

Hermione nodded with a sad sigh. "Unfortunate but true," she agreed. "Slytherin by choice and gay, huh?" she asked.

I nodded sadly. "She's right though," I said. "If I could go back, I'd make the other choice. I would have gone where the Sorting Hat had wanted to put me originally. I guess that would make me Slytherin by choice..."

"But you're not gay," Hermione pointed out.

I let out a bitter laugh. "Aren't I?" I asked. "Hermione, I haven't touched Ginny in more than ten years," I confessed. "I lost interest in her before James was born," I said. "To be completely honest, Hermione, I don't even know how or why we're still married."

Hermione sighed heavily. "Maybe it's time for you two to call it quits then," Hermione said softly. "Maybe it's finally time to throw in the towel."

"Ron will murder me," I muttered.

"You let me deal with Ron, Harry," Hermione said. "You save your sanity."

I nodded. "You're right," I said. I felt like a ton of bricks had been removed from my shoulders.

"So what about Draco?" she asked.

I sighed. "The same as ever," I answered. "Arrogant to a fault, completely needy, and the best thing that has ever happened to me," I said with a smile. Hermione smiled too. She liked what Draco had done to me. She was always wanting to thank him for being some sort of bright spot in my life but she likely never would because the odds of our relationship coming out into the open was slim to none. Unfortunately.

"And Al?" she asked. "Anything else with him?"

I shook my head. "No," I answered. "Though Draco suspects Al and Scorpius to be a future item."

"Really?" Hermione asked, her voice full of laughter. "Oh that's fantastic!" she said, nearly bursting at the seams with laughter. "Oh, Merlin!" she cried, fanning herself. She took in a deep breath and wiped the tears away from her eyes. Her brown eyes met mine and she laughed a bit again.

"I fail to see what's so funny here," I muttered darkly, reaching for the cold tea on my desk. I took a sip as Hermione sobered and grimaced.

"He really is just like you, isn't he?" she asked.

I nodded. "A little too much."

At Hogwarts

Classes were just like they always were as I made my way through the mass of students all wearing black robes. I kept my chin up as I walked through them, holding on to my Slytherin dignity even when I knew my family was about to break apart. I'm too smart for my own good sometimes, at least that's what Aunt Hermione's been saying for the last six years. I've always been able to figure things out when I'm not supposed to. Uncle Ron has said a couple of times that if my mother hadn't given birth to me, he'd think that my father and Aunt Hermione had slept together. If they only knew.

I'm fairly certain that Aunt Hermione knows about it, so in all honesty, I think Uncle Ron's the only person who doesn't know what my dad is doing. Aunt Hermione always gets this look on her face whenever dad says that he was working late and that was why he didn't do something. It's the kind of look that says she knows exactly what's going on. Then she asks about Samson, whoever that is. Dad just nods, turns away, and goes on with his business. I don't know who this Samson is, but over the past couple of months I've been starting to wonder if Samson even exists or if it's just some name they use to talk about something without using the words. I've done it. Dad and I do it all the time. Code. I'm starting to bet that that's the case.

I made my way into the Great Hall, lost in my thoughts, and sat down next to Scorpius.

"What's up?" Scorpius asked as I absently filled my goblet.

I shrugged. If I told Scorpius that my parents would be announcing their divorce in within the next few months, I'd also have to tell him why. Telling him why meant that I'd be telling him that our fathers were sleeping together and that would just make things far to weird for us. The very idea that our fathers being together and then us being together...no. I genuinely cared for Scorpius, sometimes more than I should, but there's just this feeling of...nausea when I think that what we want to do is exactly what our fathers are doing.

"Seriously, Sev, what's up?" Scorpius asked. "You've got 'Problem' written all over your face."

I sighed. "Just family shit," I answered. "More fighting between mum and da. I can see a divorce in the near future."

"Things are that bad now?" Scorpius asked. "I would have thought that they'd keep going until they were dead."

"Well, I did just come out to my parents. Da was fine with it, I knew he would be, but mum freaked out--just like I knew she would. I don't think James and Lily know yet, so there's hope for my Hogwarts days yet."

"The whole school knows you're gay, Severus," Scorpius muttered. "Even your brother and sister."

I let out a sigh. He was right. If it wasn't bad enough to be gay, I just had to be a mild flamer on top. In all honesty, it's a wonder my father never picked up on it. Then again, maybe he had and he was just waiting for me to say something.... Then again, with as much as James and Lily hate me, I wonder why they haven't told mum and dad about me before. Why did they wait for me?

I looked across the hall and saw my brother and sister laughing with a few of their friends. They both looked over at me at the same time and for once our gazes met and held. I began to wonder if they hated me as much as they appeared to. After all, they're my father's children too, and I've seen him hate someone as a front and love them in the background.

I was surprised when James stood and walked over to the Slytherin table and even more surprised when he sat down across from me. "We need to talk to you, Al," James said. "Can you spare a moment or two?"

I glanced over at Scorpius before I turned back to my brother and nodded. We both stood up and started walking towards the double doors that led into the main hall. I looked over as Lily stood up to follow us.

We found an empty classroom just outside of the Great Hall and closed the door behind us. I sat down on one of the empty tables and James and Lily sat down across from me.

"So what's up?" I asked.

James sighed heavily. "Al, mum wrote to us the other day. She said you came out finally."

"Is that what this is all about?" I asked.

James shrugged while Lily shook her head. "It's just a way to get the ball rolling," she answered. "Mum said that she and Da might be getting a divorce."

I nodded. "Yeah, I figured as much," I said softly. "They've been having problems..."

"You know, they're probably going to want to separate us," James said softly. "Mum will want Lily and I to go with her and you'll go with Da without a doubt."

I nodded. "Is there any other way to do this?" I asked. "Mum hates me, she's hated me ever since I wrote home to tell Da that I'd found myself in Slytherin, and now that she knows I'm gay...she probably wouldn't lose any sleep if she never saw me again."

"Her letter was tear-stained, Al," James said. "Don't say she doesn't care--I think she cares too much about you, that's why she's always freaking out about you."

I let out a bitter laugh. "She certainly has a funny way of showing it then," I muttered. "Anyway, what's the point of all of this?" I asked. "I don't mean to offend you two or anything, but this is the most we've spoken in five years."

James and Lily both sighed. "Al, you're not the only one who's gay in our family," he said softly. Lily agreed by shaking her head.

I raised my right eyebrow with a doubtful look. "Right," I said sharply. "Because you're both gay and mum's gay and so is da."

"Actually, mum thinks da is gay," Lily said softly.

I was actually shocked at that one. "You two know about that?" I asked.

"You do too?" James asked, also shocked.

I sighed. "Merlin, the Potters are great at communication, aren't we?" I asked. "Anyway, what did you mean?"

"I'm bi," Lily said softly. "I've actually got a girlfriend right now."

"And I'm gay," James answered. "None of us are straight. Lily and I just haven't come out because we know mum won't take it well."

I let out another bitter laugh. "You can say that again," I muttered. "So considering the whole school knows I'm gay, I'm assuming that you two knew as well. Is this why you never ratted me out?"

James and Lily both nodded. "I considered it about a year ago," Lily confessed. "Then James told me that he was gay and that if I was going to snitch on you than I'd have to on him as well. I started thinking about it and every time I did, I started thinking about Amelia and what I felt for her. I realized that I was bi and that if I told on the two of you, I'd have to tell on myself as well."

"So what are you two going to do if mum and dad finally throw in the towel?" I asked.

James sighed. "I'm seventeen in March," he answered. "I can move out."

"Lily?" I asked.

Lily sighed. "To be honest, I don't really know," she answered softly. "There's a part of me that wants to stay with mum because she's really all I have--we all know you're da's favorite--and yet there's the other part that wants to go with da because I know he'll accept me no matter what."

"And mum won't," I said softly.

Lily nodded. "And mum won't," she echoed.

"You do realize that mum will be absolutely devastated when all three of her children are lost to her," I said softly. "Don't you?" I asked.

They both nodded. "We do," James said softly. "But, Al--"

"Severus," I corrected. "I prefer my middle name."

James nodded. "Severus, we can't stay with her knowing that there's a better option. The only reason our family is rifted is because of our parents pulling favorites. Mum favored Lily and I and da always loved you the most. Maybe it's because you're almost exactly like him--you're the only one of us who has his eyes for Merlin's sake. Not only that, but the things he did when he was younger I know I could never do. Lily couldn't do them either, but I'm bloody sure you could."

I nodded. The tales we had heard of our father's childhood were not just horrible, they were enough to give us all nightmares. He had faced off Voldemort, the most powerful evil sorcerer in a century, every year except one when he was in Hogwarts and was even the only person to survive the killing curse--not just once, but twice. Both times, Hagrid, the old grounds keeper here at Hogwarts, had carried him to safety. I didn't think I could do quite as much as my father had, but I could a lot of it, that much I was sure of.

I was the most like him. Slytherin by choice...and gay....