Replay

Replay

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Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Prodigal

He stared open-mouthed at his mother and the man next to her, his arm around her waist. This is just not on, he thought. Doing this when I've just arrived home for the summer... it's not fair.

"Um, that's brilliant," he said, forcing himself to smile. He knew he was supposed to be happy for them, he knew this, but he was having a very difficult time getting past the fact that his life was going to be forever changed, that his mother was going to have him permanently attached to her, legally attached...

"I know! Isn't it?" his mother said, grinning up at the man who would be his stepfather.

Snape was actually smiling at his mother. Almost. As much as he ever smiled. He definitely looked more cheerful than usual, as he wasn't scowling, which was his usual expression in the Great Hall, in the corridors, and in the Potions dungeon...

Teddy felt like his own smile was frozen in place as they chatted about a wedding at the farm during the Christmas holiday. I'll have to call Nate. If I don't do it right away he'll think I'm not thrilled, like he would be. Or like he thinks he'd be. I bet that Nate wouldn't be thrilled at all if his mum surprised him with a new dad out of the blue...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You--you're my dad?" Nate asked, his voice squeaking a little.

The red-haired man looked at his mother, as if waiting for confirmation; she nodded, smiling broadly, and the man cleared his throat and said, "So your mother tells me."

His Uncle Ron let out an elated cry and sprang forward, throwing his arms around his brother as his mum enveloped Nate in a hug; he permitted her this brief indignity, even though he'd be fourteen on Hallowe'en and he was only a couple of inches shorter than she was now. He turned nervously to his father--he was finally meeting his father!

Percy Weasley looked taken-aback at being hugged so enthusiastically by his youngest brother. Ron separated from him, brushing down his clothes and apologising for his excitement. "Sorry to jump all over. Just wait until Mum finds out! She was over the moon about Nate, but you--!"

"Yeah," Percy said shakily, looking a bit green. "Over the moon," he echoed. Turning at last to his son, he extended his hand. It seemed to Nate that this was to avoid more hugging, which was fine with him. He liked his uncle, who wasn't nearly as undignified as his grandfather, but Ron was more informal than Nate usually liked to be. Maybe I got that from my dad, he thought for a fleeting moment. While the informality was probably helpful to Ron, Quibbler reporter, in Nate's book civilized people were supposed to shake hands; it was more dignified.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, sir," he said solemnly, making his mum laugh; he wished, however, that she wouldn't muss his hair as though he was still six years old.

"A real chip off the old block, eh?" his mother said. His father. It was still so strange. His father was supposed to be dead; but now here he was, with his mother hanging off him and laughing convulsively at everything and his father was alive...

Nate felt a little dizzy. "How--how did--"

"Let's sit down," his mother said in her new, high-pitched, excited voice. "He's already told me everything, but of course you both want to know--"

"--what the hell happened?" Ron finished for her, running his fingers through his hair as they walked toward the kitchen. "I mean, we no sooner find out that you're a spy than Dumbledore ships you off on some assignment, and then back-to-back, we get the news that you've disappeared and no one even knows the last place you'd been and--"

They sat at the small kitchen table. "I'll tell you what I remember, but it's still a bit fuzzy," Percy Weasley said slowly before Penelope popped up again.

"Tea! I'll make tea... Oh, bother," she added suddenly, opening a drawer and removing her wand. Nate had only seen it a few times in his life; she waved it impatiently at the teapot and it started emitting steam. "I like it better the slow way, but--"

"--but you're feeling impatient," Percy finished for her, with a nod and a slow smile.

She smiled back; Nate had never seen his mother so happy. Even though he'd wondered about his father for years, the sudden change was jarring; he was starting to understand Teddy's hesitance to accept Severus and his mother as a couple. As though someone had read his mind long-distance, the phone chose that moment to ring.

"I'll get it," Nate said, glad for something to do. He went to the phone mounted on the wall and picked up the receiver. "Hullo," he said into it.

"Um, hi, Nate. It's Teddy. Just thought I should call you... that you should know..."

"Know what? I just saw you on the train. What's happened that you need to call me already? Not that you can't, I'm just--"

"My mum is engaged. To be married. She and Sn--I mean, well, you know who--"

"You-Know-Who? What?"

"No, stupid, not that You-Know-Who..."

"Oh, right. Got it. Erm, when?"

"Christmas holiday. At the farm. Anyway, thought you should know. Got to go now."

Before Nate could say anything else Teddy had rung off. Nate hung the phone on the wall and sat again. Well, Julian will be happy...

"Who was that?" his mother wanted to know.

"Just Teddy. He's, well, you know. He's home." He didn't feel like telling his mother about Severus and Tilda getting married somehow. Not yet. His mum would probably feel that it was all for the best that she'd turned down his proposal. Now Severus and Tilda were happy and his father hadn't come back to find her married to his old teacher.

"That's nice," she said absentmindedly as she put mugs on the table.

Nate looked around and asked, "Where's Julian?" He would have to tell Julian eventually, he knew, unless Severus wanted to tell his son himself.

"I called Abby and asked her to take him to dinner and a film so that Percy--your father--and I could talk. And so we could talk to you. He was quite excited--they're going to McDonald's and then to see Toy Story 4 or Shrek 3...a sequel of some sort... "

"Oh," Nate said, eyeing his father appraisingly and feeling that it was probably very wrong that he was envying his little brother for eating food they were seldom permitted and seeing a film when he had a father now. He also knew that it was wrong to envy Julian getting exactly the family he wanted--Severus, his dad, Tilda his stepmother, plus Teddy for a stepbrother. "So," he said to Percy, trying to cheer up, "where've you been all my life?" Until he said it he didn't realise what he really felt was wrong: If his dad had been alive all this time, where had he been?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Penelope licked her dry lips, sitting between Ron and Percy, opposite Nate. She'd thought that Nate rather hero-worshipped Percy ever since learning of his father's identity--which was understandable, since she had told him such glowing things about Percy-the-spy, but now he seemed suspicious and hurt. She wanted to reassure Percy that Nate would come round but didn't think it good form to do so in front of their son, so she gazed across at Nate as though his uncle and father weren't there and said, "Listen, Nate. If he could have been with us he would have been. This wasn't a choice. It was something that was done to him."

"Well, out with it!" Ron interrupted impatiently. "What happened? Where were you? How are you here now? Bloody hell," he breathed, pouring himself some tea and then sipping it too quickly, burning his tongue and swearing softly. Penelope gave him a look that meant, Watch your language. Nate rolled his eyes.

"You should hear what the kids at school say, Mum. And the ones here in London were even worse. I'm with Uncle Ron--I want to know what happened!" he said impatiently.

She met Percy's eye; he looked rather shy and frightened, but after a small nod, he turned to the others and said, "Years ago I found myself in Gibraltar with no idea of who I was and how I'd got there. I just had a slip of paper in my pocket with the name Weatherby on it. I seemed to remember, vaguely, being called that..." Ron snorted at this but Percy looked both mystified and offended. "What's so funny?" he asked him.

Ron struggled to keep a straight face and said, "Erm, nothing. Sorry. Carry on," in a choked voice, as though he was trying not to laugh again.

"At any rate, I didn't remember--anything." He lifted his mug with a shaking hand and took a tentative sip of the hot tea. "I didn't know where I'd come from, who I was. I felt like I'd just been born, except for being able to speak and read and write. I knew what to call things--well, most things. I just didn't know what to call myself..."

He swallowed some more tea, as if to fortify himself. "I found an old woman hanging out her laundry; she took me to the authorities, who tried to help me find out if someone called Weatherby had gone missing in Britain. They thought that was where I had to be from. My accent. Or just someone looking like me going missing. But there was nothing. I had no papers, so I didn't have any choice but to stay in Gibraltar. One of the policemen had a brother who was a lawyer; his clerk had just had a baby and decided to become a full-time mother, so he asked me to work for him. I'd told the police I had a vague memory of working as a clerk. The lawyer taught me how to use a computer and telephone and said that if it didn't work out he'd help me look for another job, but he decided that he was satisfied with me and I've worked for him ever since..."

"So you just--you just woke up one day in Gibraltar, didn't know who you were, didn't remember anything, then went to work as a clerk and just--just started a new life? Didn't it occur to you that someone had probably put a memory charm on you?" Ron demanded.

Percy made a face at him. "I didn't remember being a wizard, Weasley, so how was I to know what a memory charm was?"

"Well, Weatherby--" Ron started to respond testily.

"Uncle Ron, shut up!"

"Nate!" Penelope scolded him.

Ron muttered, "If you were my kid..." before clamping his mouth shut and leaning back in his chair with his mug of tea.

"So why are you here?" Nate wanted to know. "How did you find out who you are?"

Percy took a deep breath through his nose. "I was riding my bicycle to the shops one day and nearly ran over a blonde woman who knew me. Or used to. She was there on holiday with--" He paused. "Well, I don't like to pass judgment, but..."

Ron leaned forward, his elbows striking the table hard in his excitement. "Who was it?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

"Malfoy? Isn't that the bloke who tried to hex you, Uncle Ron?" Nate interjected.

Ron grimaced. "Among other things." Ron called Draco Malfoy some choice names under his breath; Penelope fought the urge to say Language.

"Oi!" Percy said suddenly, looking quite angry with Ron. They stared at him. He looked nervous, then pointed at Nate. "I know he hears worse than that at school, but still..."

"Anyway," Penelope said, rolling her eyes and continuing the story for Percy. "She was glad to see him because, evidently, years ago, her husband was accused of killing Percy. That was supposedly what happened to him. Charges couldn't be brought, of course, because of the lack of evidence, but now that Percy is back and clearly alive she's hoping that his name might at least be cleared posthumously..."

Ron snorted. "Much good that will do! I didn't know Lucius Malfoy was supposed to have killed you, Perce. What's she playing at? I mean, her old man did plenty of things that were proved, plus he was killed by You-Know-Who himself for screwing up. I was right there with Harry when it happened. And Neville. You remember Neville?"

Percy seemed to be gripping his mug very tightly. "Oh, yes. I remember Longbottom," he said quietly, not sounding happy about it.

"Right. There we were in the Department of Mysteries, in this room with doors all around; we'd seen it in fifth year. You-Know-Who tried to curse Harry, but Neville--"

"Uncle Ron! I want to hear what happened to my dad, not about this Malfoy bloke! I couldn't care less about him!" Nate said, frustrated.

Percy swallowed; his hand shook as he brought his tea to his lips. "Right. Well, at any rate, Mrs Malfoy was very nice to me. Asked how I was doing. She told me who I really was and about being a wizard and all... At first, of course, I just thought she was barmy. Pretty, but barmy. But she and her, erm, 'friend,' did a demonstration and showed me that magic was real. Then they gave me one of their wands to use and taught me a few spells, and soon I was doing it myself, which helped convince me...."

Ron was frowning again. "Who was her 'friend'?"

He hesitated. "Blaise Zabini," Percy said finally.

Ron's brows flew up in surprise and his frown was replaced by a lewd smirk. "All right, Mrs Malfoy! Let's not let the grass grow under our feet..." Percy started to stand; he gripped the table tightly and his face had gone very white.

Penelope was also glaring at Ron and gesturing with her head at Nate. "Ron!" she said in annoyance. Ron eyed Nate, who seemed very blasé about it all.

"I'm just saying," Ron said with a combination of innocence and worldliness; "a woman of a certain age, with a man who was in the same year in school as her son..."

"It isn't like that!" Percy insisted, returning to his usual colour and settling in his chair again. "Or, well, it didn't seem to be like that between them... perhaps... perhaps..."

"Perhaps she just misses her son so much, up there in Azkaban, that she's looking for someone else to fill that role?" Ron suggested, still smirking, not sounding like he believed this for a minute. Percy lifted his chin and looked him in the eye.

"Perhaps," he said stoutly to his little brother, but the effect was blunted by the vagueness and repetition of the word.

Penelope cleared her throat and eyed Nate again. "I really don't think that this is an appropriate topic of conversation..."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Come on, Mum. I know all about boy-toys. I'm not a baby."

Ron guffawed and quickly covered his mouth, but his eyes were still merry above the hand that was failing to completely prevent his laughter from escaping. "The last time I ask you for a favour connected to Nate!" Penelope cried. "You're a bad influence!"

"Oh, right," Ron said sarcastically, finally calming down. "You're the one who was raising him as a Muggle until he went to Hogwarts... Muggle films and television, that's where he heard about that, you mark me..."

To Penelope's surprise, Percy nodded in agreement. "I've seen a lot of Muggle entertainment that's pretty--well, you know." He eyed Nate nervously, as though not quite certain what he could or couldn't say. "Anyway... she and Zabini brought me back and let me get acclimatised before I came to see--to see your mother," he said to Nate. "There are things I don't remember. I'm not even certain who memory-charmed me... could have been anyone... It might not have been Mrs Malfoy's husband..."

Ron looked eager again. "We can help you remember! The whole family. And there's this girl we went to school with... not a girl now, of course, a woman... She has a business in Diagon Alley. She's helped other people who've been memory charmed."

Percy frowned. "Helped how?"

"Inducing trances... Not exactly hypnotism, but similar. I've tried talking Harry into going but he thinks it would be a violation of his privacy or something..."

"Harry?"

Ron swallowed. "Don't tell me you don't remember Harry? I can't believe that you--"

"No, I remember. I mean--his memory. I didn't know he'd been memory-charmed."

"Oh, well, yeah, you wouldn't." He looked sideways at Nate. "Long story. Later."

"Right. I'll, erm, come see you tomorrow at--at Mum and Dad's..."

Ron frowned. "Well, I don't live there anymore. You've a lot of catching up. Luna and I live at Spinners End--it's not far from Mum and Dad--with her dad and our kids--three boys and a girl. Luna and I have been married for--Luna Lovegood that is--for--oh, wait, I know this--" Ron bit his lip, his eyes closed. "Okay, our last anniversary was--"

"As you can see, Luna is the brains of the outfit" Penelope said in an aside to Percy, smirking; he caught her eye and smiled back at her, giving her hope. "It looks like Weasley men tend toward Ravenclaws. Or at least smart girls. Look at us. And Bill."

Percy's smile started to fade. "Erm, Bill? My--my brother Bill?" he said uncertainly.

Ron hit his head. "Oh, God, don't tell me you don't remember Bill? Listen, you should really consider coming to Diagon Alley with me..."

"Tall," Percy said suddenly, squinting and looking into the distance. "Right? Bill's tall. Erm, long hair. Pony tail. Worked for a--a bank--"

"Right!" Ron said, looking relieved. "And he was in the Order of the Phoenix, like you; that's why you--why you--"

"--don't remember most of my life now," Percy finished, sighing. Ron shook his head.

"I still can't believe this. We--all of us--and Mum and Dad..." He groaned. "Mum. When--when we had your memorial... she didn't speak for weeks..." He swallowed and wiped a tear from his eye. "And the rest of us... Fred and George felt awful about the way they'd treated you when we were younger. You know what I mean..."

Percy looked like he had a lump in his throat. "Yeah, of course. Well, I can imagine... I don't actually remember it very well..." He smiled feebly. "Which makes the whole 'forgive and forget' thing easy, doesn't it?"

Ron laughed but it sounded forced. "I reckon. Perce, you've got to come to Diagon Alley. Not to harp or anything, but Mum'll tell you the same thing. I couldn't convince Harry--but then, he only lost about half an hour of his life, and you've lost years... "

Penelope looked closely at Percy, who had a panicked light in his eye. "Leave him alone now, Ron," she said quietly. "Let's have some peace tonight, all right? We'll come to The Burrow tomorrow. Once Abby brings Julian home the four of us will need to talk."

"I need to go to the loo," Percy said suddenly, pushing away from the table, looking very pale. As he hurried from the room Penelope watched him go, her heart both aching for him and full of hope. I knew there was a reason why I couldn't forget him. It wasn't that I was being bloody-minded. Deep down I knew that he would come back to me...

She hoped that Ron hadn't unnerved Percy by talking about too many unfamiliar things. When she'd first opened the door of the flat and found him standing there she'd been unable to speak at first, and the way that he spoke to her was strange and rather un-Percy-like, although she supposed that that was from the memory charm...

After Julian had left the flat with Abby and before Ron had shown up with Nate they'd talked half an hour with no break, sitting very close to each other on the couch. Eventually they'd stopped talking and their faces seemed to be very close together. He'd stared at her, clearly very nervous, so she moved first, brushing her lips lightly against his. She wasn't prepared for his response, which was to gasp, opening his mouth and bringing his hands up to grasp her head as she also opened her mouth. He kissed her back frantically, without any of the finesse she was accustomed to Percy Weasley possessing (he was a perfectionist about everything). She stopped worrying about something that had nagged her a little bit: whether he had been with other women while he was in Gibraltar. The fact that he was so awkward and seemed to have no idea of how to do a simple thing like kiss her seemed to indicate that he was 'out of practice.'

He wasn't completely clueless, however; he could tell from the way that she was responding (or not responding) that something was wrong. "Sorry," he said breathlessly. "It's just been so long--and--and have you seen yourself? My God--what did you ever see in--in me? Why didn't you go for someone who was actually good-looking?"

She laughed. "Well, you were pretty smooth. We'll have to re-teach you that, eh? It's all right--I don't mind..." She stood and starting leading him toward the bedroom but he hesitated and asked for the bathroom. When he emerged he looked like he was going to explode, and afterward she felt a little like a civilian who'd got in the way of 'friendly fire.' He doesn't feel like himself yet, she assured herself, watching him lie on his back, contemplating the ceiling over the bed with a rather silly grin. He seemed about to suggest that they give it another go--so he'd have more 'practice'--when she realised that Nate would be arriving soon. So they'd dressed and continued to talk while they waited for the moment when he would meet his son for the first time...

Ron was rising to leave when Percy returned to the kitchen, some colour in his cheeks once more. With a furtive look at Penelope, he said, "If you don't mind, I think that I'd better see my mum and dad tonight." He looked nervously at her and at his son. "I got to meet Julian earlier, after all. He's so young; it might alarm him if I suddenly spend the night, you know? In the morning you can all come to--to my parents' and we'll have breakfast together. Erm, if Mum is all right with guests for breakfast, of course..."

Ron shrugged. "Don't see why she wouldn't be, considering the occasion."

"Of course," Penelope said. "How could I begrudge your parents finding out that you're back? I'm surprised you didn't go there already, though I am glad you thought of me first..." She reddened slightly and turned to Ron. "Will you call the others or shall I?"

"Let me," Ron said swiftly. "Harry's my best mate, after all, and I see Fred and George a lot. But could you go to the post office in Diagon Alley and send a long-distance owl to Charlie? I couldn't possibly use my poor little owl to go to the reservation in South America; he can barely make it between The Burrow and Spinners End." Ron turned to Percy. "We'll take the Knight Bus to Mum and Dad's."

Nate looked grumpy. "Why can't I go, too?"

"Because you've just got home from school and I want to talk to you about--a lot of things," Penelope said obliquely, looking sideways at Percy. "We'll see your grandparents tomorrow." She sighed. "I take it that all of the Weasleys are likely to be descending upon the Mother Ship in the morning?"

Nate laughed but Ron furrowed his brow. "Oh. Mother Ship. Very funny. Probably. Hard to say about Bill and Fleur. I just remembered--they're visiting her mum and sister in France. Could you send an owl to them, too?" Ron added, smiling feebly at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Very well. Oh, bother, if you're going to get the Knight Bus we might as well come along and get off at Diagon Alley..."

"Can we stop at McDonald's on the way back?" Nate asked.

"All right," she said, laughing. "Julian is, so you want to as well? Fine." She hooked her arm through Percy's. "And we'll have breakfast together tomorrow. Call me on your mobile, Ron, to confirm. We don't want to make your poor little owl fly to London."

Ron agreed and Percy nodded at her, saying, "Right. Okay then..."

She couldn't help think that Percy looked a bit lost as he sat beside his brother on the bus. She and Nate got off outside the Leaky Cauldron and waved to Ron and Percy as the bus pulled away again; Nate sighed as they turned to the door of the pub.

"My dad. He's actually my dad," he said in wonder, looking at the empty street where the bus had been moments before.

"Yes. He actually is," Penelope said, dreamily, amazed that the very thing she'd hoped for all of these years had finally happened.

Percy was back.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Say Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"

Percy blinked in the flash's blinding light as Luna took yet another photograph of him, before The Burrow's living room hearth, this time with Harry and Ginny. Harry was also feeling disoriented from all of the photography; he didn't think he had seen so many flashes since just after he'd come back through the Veil with Ron and without Voldemort. At least it's Luna handling the camera, he thought, not that trollish old wizard Rita uses. Ron was writing about Percy's return for The Quibbler. No one else knew about his return yet, so the gathering at The Burrow was a family-only affair.

Ginny grinned and hugged Percy. "I still can't believe that you're back!"

Percy held her tightly, smiling uncertainly at her. "So... you and Pot--erm, Harry, have been married for a while?"

"Since the summer I left school," Ginny mumbled, putting her arm around Harry now and pulling away from her brother; her face was very red.

"Percy... what have I told you about that?" Luna's dreamy voice said; she sounded disappointed.

Percy jumped, putting his hands into his pockets very quickly. Harry frowned, confused, but when he turned back to Luna he understood. She looked at her eldest son, shaking her head. The eight-year-old boy's strawberry-blond hair was falling in his eyes and his hands were behind his back. Luna patiently held out her hand, waiting. Young Percy finally took an Extendable Ear from behind his back. Luna sighed.

"If someone wants you to know something they will tell you," she said mildly.

His jaw dropped. "But that's Dad's! How do you think he gets most of his stories?"

Luna simply put the pinkish piece of rubbery material in her pocket. "So, if you're here, who's taking care of Diana?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Cedric and Hal. Between the two of them they can manage her. They're looking for gnomes in the garden. And Nana's out there with them; she's also watching Charlotte and the twins. She can handle Diana if Ced and Hal can't."

"Gnomes... that sounds like fun. Why don't you join them?" Her voice was as mild as ever, yet Harry--and young Percy--could tell that this was an order, not a suggestion.

The boy sighed deeply. "Yes, Mum," he droned, turning toward the garden, his shoulders slumping. Luna turned back to Harry, Ginny and Percy, noticing the surprised look on Percy's face; her own revealed nothing.

"Sorry, did that confuse you? We named our oldest boy after you. Ron's idea."

Percy took his hands out of his pockets again. "Oh, right. He told me that on the bus..."

He'd no sooner said this than the noise of the Knight Bus erupted again outside; Harry went to the door, Ginny hurrying after him. "Penelope and the boys are here," he announced, wondering why Ginny was standing so very close to him. They went out to the front garden to greet the newcomers to the party, but it wasn't just Penelope, Nate and Julian who disembarked from the bus; they were quickly followed by Hermione and Neville, who was carrying their baby daughter, Frances. Abundantly unruly brown hair framed a very round face, like Neville's and his mother's, and the large, observant brown eyes seemed to take in everything around her.

"Ooooh!" Molly cried, coming round the corner of the house, toting Charlotte and Diana on her hips. "Look who's here, girls! It's little Fran!"

Harry did not miss the tightening of Hermione's mouth when Molly said this; if her smile were any stiffer she could pass for being Petrified again. Suddenly Molly was thrusting Charlotte at Harry and Diana at Ginny so that she could hug the littlest Longbottom, cooing over her plump, tiny hands and the chubby brown legs and feet protruding from her gingham pinafore dress. When Harry heard Percy's voice at his elbow he noticed that Ginny jumped just a little and edged away from him again.

"I thought this was family only," Percy said, looking suspiciously at the Longbottoms.

"Oh, Hermione and Neville might as well be family, right, Ron?" Molly said pointedly, bouncing the baby on her hip. Harry remembered that, after Ron and Hermione had broken up, it had been Molly who had explained to Ron that she would still welcome Hermione in her house any time, as she considered her to be a family member as much as Harry was, or any of her children. Ron would just have to get used to the idea. She also heartily approved of Hermione and Neville, as she and Arthur had known the Longbottoms well, but Harry thought she was also a little disappointed; the relationship with Neville made it less likely that Hermione and Ron would give it another go. (Harry wondered whether that was why she wanted Hermione to come around "any time"--more opportunities to throw her together with Ron.)

"It's amazing that you're back!" Hermione said, hugging Percy quickly; he look shocked that she did this and it was over before he could reciprocate; he'd stood with his arms held stiffly by his sides while she had her arms around him. Neville shook his hand, nodding. Percy pulled his hand away very abruptly.

"Ron? Where are you?" Molly evidently hadn't realised the first time she'd addressed Ron that he hadn't been nearby; she looked at the house and saw him in the doorway. "What are you doing?" she called. "Say hello to Hermione and Neville and Franny!"

"Frances," Hermione said, barely moving her jaw.

"I'm organising my story notes... we'll chat later," Ron called back from the doorway of the house, raising his hand to wave at Hermione and Neville.

"Did you say something, dear?" Molly asked Hermione, turning back to her as Hermione reached for her daughter; Hermione had to tug the baby from Molly's grip.

"Her name is Frances," Hermione said, the stiff smile in place still.

Molly took Diana from Ginny and Charlotte from Harry again. "Yes, dear, I know," she said, distracted. "Named after your dear father," she added to Neville, looking on him fondly. "We're still setting up tables in the garden for breakfast..." As she turned away with the babies Harry saw Hermione's feeble (and failed) attempt not to frown at the back of Molly's head. "Bill and Fleur and Marguerite should be here soon," Molly went on breezily, "and I expect the twins to be--"

At that moment Fred and George Apparated not one foot away from their mother, making her stop so suddenly she looked like she was going to have a heart attack. "Fred and George! How many times must I tell you--"

"Yeah, Mum, we're very, very sorry," Fred said hastily, reaching for Diana, throwing her up and catching her, grinning at her laughter. "There's my girl!" he said. "Be riding a Firebolt 3000 any day now..."

"Born to be in the air," George agreed, catching Diana when Fred tossed her to him. She screamed with glee.

"Stop that! Give me that baby--" Molly started to say, but George had already tossed her back to Fred, who nonchalantly handed his niece to his mother. The twins walked around her, both still grinning, as they approached Hermione and Neville.

"And another one! How are you, little Fanny?" Fred asked as he chucked Frances under the chin; Harry thought that the only reason that the baby wasn't tossed in the air, like Diana, was that Fred recognised that Hermione had a death grip on her. Harry also thought that Hermione would soon look like she'd had an overdose of Pepper-Up Potion.

"Her name is Frances," Hermione said, her jaw clenched.

This time Neville also looked nettled. "Do not call her that vile name," he said tensely to Fred.

"But Frances is such a bore," George said, rolling his eyes.

"You couldn't have called her Francesca, at least?" Fred suggested.

Hermione's face fell. "Oh. Wow. Actually, that's a really good name... Where were you when we were picking names?"

"Oi!" Neville said, bristling and taking the baby from Hermione, holding her closely. "You said you loved the name..."

But the twins had moved on to Percy. "Perce! The prodigal returns!" Fred slapped Percy on the back so hard Harry thought his teeth were going to fly out of his mouth.

"Hmph!" Molly scoffed. "If anyone is a prodigal..."

The twins ignored her, as usual. George approached Percy and Harry saw Percy flinch, perhaps fearing another round of back-slapping. "So, I hear you've been skiving in sunny Gibraltar. Lots of pretty girls to gawp at, yeah?" George said, winking.

"Well, erm, I wouldn't call it skiving," Percy said uncertainly; he never did quite know how to take the twins, Harry remembered. Then Percy looked like he was forcing himself to smile. "Maybe I should have had some of your snackboxes, though."

"Ha!" Fred laughed, slapping Percy' back again. While Percy looked rather alarmed by the twins--and also looked like he was trying not to look alarmed--Harry thought that he was also making a noble effort, considering how much of his life he didn't remember.

By the time they were sitting at the tables in the garden Bill and Fleur had arrived in a Gringotts car (driven by a very old goblin chauffer) with their daughter Marguerite, a tall, willowy nine-year old with her mother's hair and her father's smirk. Harry knew he shouldn't, but he was rather enjoying seeing the way that Marguerite's natural poise made Ruby and Rory seem very awkward and ill-at-ease. He also enjoyed seeing all of the kids together for once; they got along remarkably well. Ruby and Rory, amazingly, would do whatever Marguerite did (daintily drinking tea with their pinky fingers extended), while young Percy and his brothers were surprisingly polite at table; Luna had only to raise an eyebrow or gently shake her head and one of them would say, "Sorry, Mum," and correct his behaviour.

Nate, oddly enough, wasn't the happiest-looking boy in the world; sitting between his mother and his resurrected father, he seemed a little left-out and lonely as question after question was fired at Percy, while Ron used his right hand for his quill and ate with his left. At length Harry thought he had an inkling about what was unsettling Nate.

"Would you like to have Teddy here?" he asked Nate, who was sitting across from him. His nephew looked up hopefully, but it was his little brother who answered.

"Could you bring Tilda and my dad?" Julian asked. Harry looked at Julian; he'd failed to notice that Snape's son, merely along for the ride as Nate's little brother, hadn't spoken much, not even to Ruby and Rory, who were listening to Marguerite talk about France.

Poor kid, Harry thought. Having Snape for a dad. "Of course, I'll fetch all three of them. I can Apparate there, make certain that they can come, and if there's no problem we'll all take the bus back."

As he started to stand, Ginny grasped his hand and squeezed it; when he looked at her she was mouthing the words, Thank you, to him. He squeezed her hand back.

"Your food will get cold, Harry--" Molly began.

"So I'll heat it up again. In the meantime, can someone add a few feet to one of the tables and conjure up a few more chairs?"

He Disapparated as Arthur and Bill were doing as he suggested and Molly was trying to convince Fred and George that they didn't need to do a thing. (She didn't trust them.) He knocked on Tilda's door a few minutes later, knowing that Snape was likely to be there, but it still didn't prepare him for the sight of his former teacher answering Tilda's door in his dressing gown, in the middle of actually laughing at something either Tilda or Teddy had said. Harry froze and stared. Snape abruptly stopped laughing and looked highly affronted at seeing Harry, of all people, in the open doorway.

"Erm," Harry said, swallowing. When he saw Tilda coming down the stairs in her dressing gown, covered in a pattern of large pink roses, it didn't help matters; he very inappropriately remembered that when he first took refuge in her house, so many years before, he saw her remove her dressing gown after she'd showered...

Stop that, he ordered himself. If you're not careful Snape'll find out what you're thinking. Don't want that, do you? And anyway--you're not interested in Tilda anymore. It was perfectly true; he wasn't. But at this moment it was very easy to remember that he had been, once, and why.

"Potter!" Snape said, immediately ceasing his laughter and making it clear that Harry's presence was not welcome.

"Harry?" Tilda said uncertainly, walking toward the door, instinctively pulling the collar of her dressing gown together with her hands. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, erm, something's happened..."

Tilda paled. "Oh my God! What?"

"No, no!" he said hastily. "Something good, I mean. I'm going about this very badly... I've come to see whether you all can come to a celebration."

"A celebration?" Snape said sceptically, eyeing Harry suspiciously. "An urgent celebration at this hour?"

"Well, it's just that--it involves Nate. And Nate is Teddy's best friend. And he just--he seems rather lonely in the middle of all of this and a bit lost and unprepared. And I thought, if there's anyone who knows how it feels to suddenly meet your father--"

"What?" Snape said, gripping Harry's arm painfully; Harry felt something like an electric shock jolt them both at the place where the hand held his arm and Snape released his grip immediately. He seemed to be peering into Harry's face very closely.

"Percy's back," Harry said, watching Snape for some reaction. Harry had never seen him so shocked. (Snape seldom betrayed surprise so the fact that he showed any reaction at all was amazing, Harry felt.)

"Percy Weasley?" he whispered. Harry nodded.

"In the flesh. He was at Penelope's when Ron took Nate home yesterday. Turns out he wasn't so much dead all of these years as living in Gibraltar with a memory charm on him making him forget most of his life, including being a wizard. He's been working as a lawyer's clerk and couldn't leave Gibraltar with no papers."

It was strange to see Snape having difficulty speaking. "Penelope... she must be..."

"Yeah," Harry confirmed. "She is."

"Severus, wouldn't it be better to have this conversation in the kitchen?" Tilda said suddenly; she seemed to be watching his face very intently when he was talking about Penelope. He looked up at her, startled, as though he'd forgotten she was there.

"Of course, of course..." he said vaguely, as though deep in thought.

"Well, see," Harry said quickly, "I'm inviting you to breakfast. At The Burrow. That's where Molly and Arthur Weasley live," he explained to Tilda. "Nate's grandparents. Penelope and Nate and Julian are already there and I offered to fetch Teddy so Nate could have his best mate there, and Julian asked if I could also bring you and Tilda..."

Snape had returned to looking sceptical. "You don't just want your son there because--" He stopped abruptly, then said, "Never mind," very quickly.

"Do you mean--Nate's dad isn't dead?" a young voice said suddenly; Harry looked up. Teddy, in jeans and a Gryffindor T-shirt, was coming downstairs.

"Right," Harry said, jolted. When had Teddy grown so tall? It was like seeing his dad in Snape's Pensieve again...

Teddy was suddenly grinning and looking impatient. "What are we waiting for? Can we go, Mum? Nate must be...that explains why he sounded so odd when I called him..."

"Teddy," she said quickly, "don't assume anything. But, well... I reckon while we're at it we could make a little announcement ourselves..."

Teddy frowned; Harry couldn't tell why. "Yeah, I reckon," he agreed reluctantly.

It didn't take long for Snape and Tilda to dress and soon the four of them were on the Knight Bus, which was nearly empty the day after the summer term ending at Hogwarts. In no time they had arrived at The Burrow, only a little worse for wear. Harry was glad that he had offered to bring Teddy; Nate immediately brightened up, as did Julian (although it seemed to Harry that Julian was even more pleased to see Tilda than his dad). After being greeted by Arthur and Molly (who, Harry thought, were less than welcoming toward Tilda), Snape, Tilda and Teddy sat at the new places that had been added to the table at the end where Percy, Penelope, Julian and Nate were already sitting.

Penelope did the introductions. "Percy, this is Tilda Harrison. She's Teddy's mum. Teddy is Nate's best mate..."

Percy was staring open-mouthed at Teddy, then looking back and forth between Teddy and Harry; Harry felt an instinctive defensiveness start to rise in him. "So you and--" Percy was having difficulty forming the words, glancing back and forth between Tilda and Harry so quickly Harry thought his eyeballs would fall out of his head.

Tilda cleared her throat; she was a deep pink colour. She nodded at Snape, next to her. "Perhaps this isn't the best time," he said quietly.

"Nonsense," she said briskly. "There's no reason to keep it to ourselves..."

A slight frown pulling at the edges of his mouth, Severus Snape attempted a smile and stood, raising his voice. "Congratulations, Arthur and Molly, at the return of your son..."

"...whose stepson will soon have a new stepmother!" Tilda finished, taking Snape's arm and looking fondly at Julian, who squealed and threw his arms around her waist.

Harry swallowed. What? he thought. No. This can't be happening. They're getting married? Tilda and SNAPE? But then he saw Ginny peering at him uncertainly and he forced his mouth to smile; he stood and raised his glass of orange juice.

"To Tilda and--and Severus," he said loudly, the forced smile making his face hurt.

"To Tilda and Severus," the others echoed, raising their glasses.

When Harry sat he saw that Percy was looking at him with a strangely familiar smirk, but Harry couldn't remember ever seeing Percy smirk that way. Later, Harry was putting some dishes in the kitchen sink while Percy followed him with an empty pitcher. Harry couldn't help noticing that Percy was still smirking all over his face while Harry put a spell on the sink to make the dishes wash themselves.

"Is there something you'd like to say to me, Percy?" he asked quietly, trying not to sound too confrontational, in case Ginny heard him.

Percy laughed for a moment. "It's just--you should have seen your face when the mother of your b--erm, your son announced that she was marrying Snape!"

Harry took some cups and saucers from the table and added them to the sink with a clatter. "I'm fine. It's just... well, how did you react to finding out that Snape was acting like your son's stepfather? He'll actually be my son's stepfather..."

Percy looked surprised. "What are you talking about?"

Harry shook his head and left the kitchen; Percy followed him up the stairs. "Did that memory charm take away part of your brain? You used to be halfway intelligent."

Percy bristled and repeated, "What are you talking about, Potter?"

Harry turned when they'd reached the bathroom. "Somehow you seem to have missed the part about Penelope having a kid with Snape. He's Julian's dad. Didn't you notice even a tiny little resemblance? That's what Tilda meant when she said that your stepson was going to have a new stepmother."

Percy opened his mouth soundlessly at first; when he could finally speak he whispered, "Is that what she was on about? I'm not married, so I can't have a stepson..."

"Well, you and Penelope have a kid, she seems to have been waiting for you to come back all of these years--I'm pretty certain that that's why she turned down Snape's proposal--and I reckon many of us just assumed... I know that your mum--"

"I'm not getting married to anyone!" he said suddenly, his face very pale. Some of his freckles even seemed to be fading. Harry peered at him.

"Are you okay, Percy?"

Percy checked his watch quickly. "Erm, no, can I use the loo first?"

Harry stepped aside. "Of course. What's--" But Percy pushed past him without even a brief thank you, slamming the door quickly. Harry grimaced. "You're welcome!" he called through the door. He received no answer from Percy and after fifteen minutes of waiting he gave up and decided that he could wait until he returned home.

Harry went outdoors again, finding that most of the party was breaking up and some people had even left already. Bill, Fleur and Marguerite were gone, as were the twins. Hermione, Neville and Frances were talking with Tilda and Snape while Teddy, Nate and Ron's boys played with Ruby, Rory and Julian. Luna stood nearby, taking more photographs, while Ron ran around the garden with Diana on his shoulders. Ginny was speaking with her parents and Penelope while Molly cuddled Charlotte.

Harry walked up to Luna as she snapped a picture of Ruby and Rory. "That looks like it'll be a good one. But surely you're not going to put these in The Quibbler?"

"No, these are for the family album. I'll send copies to you and Ginny," she said, the camera against her eye again as she got Teddy and Nate in her sights, joined by Julian. The boys suddenly saw that she was photographing them and immediately started pulling hideous faces; Luna didn't laugh but simply took the picture. Harry laughed at the boys' antics, but Luna's silent stoicism made him clear his throat and stop quickly; he remembered that she didn't tend to laugh unless Ron was telling a joke.

"He's a bit rude sometimes," Luna said, the camera still hiding her face as she searched for another subject to photograph.

"Snape? What, don't you remember what it was like to have him for a teacher?"

She looked him in the eye now. "I meant Percy. And you need to get over the fact that Snape is marrying your son's mother."

"Who's being rude now?" Harry snarled at her, sinking his hands deep into his pockets.

"You're the one who brought up Severus Snape. Was he always like that?"

"Percy?"

"Yes."

Harry shrugged. "He was never exactly my favourite person. I reckon you need time to get to know the real Percy."

Luna said something but he couldn't hear it; the kids started squealing loudly, chasing each other in circles, and then Ginny called, "Harry! Get the twins! We should leave."

"Okay!" he agreed. "Excuse me, Luna. Erm, I have a feeling that I didn't hear the last thing you said..."

"I said, 'Don't I have to meet him first?'" She looked at him placidly and Harry frowned.

"Yeah, I reckon. But in terms of personality, I don't think you'll find that Percy with all of his memories will be a lot different from this one."

She sighed as though frustrated. "That wasn't what I meant..."

But he had to turn away from her and extract Ruby and Rory from their game with the boys. They moaned and groaned and fussed so he resorted to tickling them, which made them even more hysterical and caused Ginny to sigh with exasperation. Once they were home again, Hades jumping around them all excitedly and barking madly, Harry threw himself into his favourite armchair by the fire and thought about Luna's words.

"I wonder what she did mean?" he said to no one in particular. Ginny was telling Ruby to take Hades out for a walk and trying to get the girls sorted out.

"Who are you talking to, Harry? Moody?" she asked him, clearly distracted.

Harry looked up at her suddenly, grinning. "That's a great idea, Ginny. Thanks."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The summer between his second and third years felt like the longest one of Nate Clearwater's young life. He'd thought he knew what would happen if Severus Snape decided to tie his life to Tilda Harrison's. He'd imagined visiting Teddy at Latere Farm, a trip to Severus's cottage on the Isle of Wight with both his brother and his best mate, swimming every day, practically living out-of-doors...

Well, he thought grumpily, I am practically living out-of-doors. There was certainly nothing to do indoors at The Burrow, so he had little choice...

What he hadn't counted on was his missing father coming back, his father wanting to take his mum out to dinners and other nonsense instead of getting on with marrying her properly, his father living with Nate's grandparents instead of his mum, and, worst of all, his mum and dad deciding that since his dad was around now he didn't need to go off with Severus and Julian anymore. He had his own father and didn't need to be "borrowing" Julian's. He hadn't counted on not getting to see his own brother during most of the holiday, being told that there was 'no time' for him to visit his best mate and that if he wanted to see his cousins they could come to his grandparents' house while he was visiting his father. He also hadn't counted on his mother's reaction. He was thoroughly disgusted with the way she behaved around Percy, trying not to offend him, jumping when he said jump and broadly hinting that he might spend the night.

Percy never did.

After spending a fortnight with his mother and Julian, Nate had been shipped off (how he thought of it) to visit his father at The Burrow; the same afternoon, Julian had been picked up by his dad with Tilda and Teddy. They were on their way to holiday on the Isle of Wight. Nate had been to Severus's cottage before and had always had a grand time, but had really been looking forward to going with his best mate and Tilda; now they were going without him and he was stuck at The Burrow, where there wasn't an air conditioner in sight and the frog pond was perpetually covered in green slime.

The worst thing was seeing his mother's face when she was bidding all of them goodbye; normally she looked a bit relieved to have some time on her own, but Nate could tell that she was close to throwing all dignity to the wind and begging Percy to stay. The night before Nate had caught her crying in the kitchen when she was doing the clearing up after dinner; he'd hovered in the doorway, hoping she couldn't see him, as she leaned on the sink and sobbed into her hands. He went back into the living room and made a great racket, shouting to Julian that he was going into the kitchen so that his mum would be able to pull herself together before he entered. When he'd asked her whether she was all right she'd insisted that she was, obviously not knowing how very red her nose was.

Nate sat up in his bed at the top of his grandparents' ramshackle house when the rooster crowed at dawn, immediately hitting his head on the sloping ceiling. "Ow..." he mumbled, rubbing his head. After a month at The Burrow, he was glad that he was going back to London soon. He loved his grandparents, and he had been able to see Ron and Luna's kids pretty often, and even Ruby, Rory and Charlotte a couple of times, but he was getting tired of telling young Percy, Cedric and Hal what it was like to be at Hogwarts, tired of watching out for the twins' pranks, tired of keeping the babies from getting underfoot while his grandmother worked in the kitchen, tired of de-gnoming the garden, tired of staring at the layer of green slime grow thicker and thicker on the pond... He missed his mum, his brother and Teddy, and he missed Severus, who had been more of a father to Nate in the years that he'd known him than Percy Weasley ever had just by providing half of his genes.

Trying not to knock his head on the orange ceiling again (he didn't know what his uncle had been thinking to plaster the small space with so much Cannons paraphernalia), Nate got up and dressed. He hastily pulled on jeans and a tee shirt before going downstairs for the morning ritual: checking every hour to see whether his father was getting up. His father didn't have to use someone else's room, like Nate, because nothing had ever been done with his old one. The door bore an old plaque declaring it to be Percy's Room. When Nate reached it he rapped loudly.

"Dad! You awake yet?" he shouted through the door. Nate didn't see how he could fail to be, what with the racket the rooster made. But he never got any response earlier than ten or eleven o'clock, and sometimes he didn't even get a response then and they just had to wait until he came downstairs. Lunch was often his first meal of the day.

"Can't I go somewhere or do something today?" he asked his grandmother as she set some eggs and bacon in front of him in the comfortably shabby kitchen.

Molly Weasley tutted with her tongue as she sat down to her own breakfast; his grandfather had already left for work. "What would you like to do?" she asked.

Nate squirmed in his chair for a moment. "I dunno. I've never seen a professional Quidditch match," he said hopefully.

Molly sighed. "Oh, what a pity you're not staying with us next week! The Quidditch World Cup is being held in Norway and your grandfather and some of your uncles are going. They're quite excited about it... Scotland versus the Ukraine."

Nate gasped. "What? Oh, can't I go, too? I know I'm supposed to be back in London..."

She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, love. They had to get the tickets ages ago and, well, it didn't occur to them to get one for you. The other grandchildren... their mums and dads bought their tickets," she added, sounding a little guilty. "They didn't even have a ticket for your father, but he managed to finagle one from an old contact at the Ministry. He said that it was lucky that you weren't coming as well, since he didn't think he could manage to scrounge up another one..."

Nate scowled. "So that's why I'm here now; so that I can go back home and he can go off to see the World Cup without his kid getting in the way..."

Molly's mouth was very thin. "That's not it at all dear," she said with a quaver in her voice that was not convincing. "Eat your eggs and toast. More tea?" she changed the subject. "Perhaps your mum can take you to a football match or a Muggle film."

"I do that all the time," he lied. He didn't do it all the time, but he had done both of those things. Nate stared down at his eggs and bacon and wished, very guiltily, that his father was still a memory-charmed lawyer's clerk in Gilbraltar.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Have we got everything?" Julian asked, bouncing as he walked. Tilda held his hand as they strolled from shop to shop, buying their last dinner on the Isle of Wight. Severus had told Tilda he had a holiday cottage, but she had still expected that they would spend the summer at the Farm. She'd been pleasantly surprised when he'd suggested going off to the cottage during the month she had Teddy, who had already visited Harry and Ginny at the start of the holiday (just after Percy's return) and would be with them again during the fortnight before the autumn term, when they would be taking a trip to Norway for a Quidditch match. She'd been worried about Teddy missing the farm, but he'd been excited about the cottage as well; Nate had told him about it.

Teddy's excitement had waned when he learned that Nate wasn't coming, but he'd rebounded once they'd arrived and he found that the cottage was right on the water, so that he could virtually roll out of bed each day and into the water, which was exactly what he did, even before eating. He looked like a seal much of the time as a result, his dark hair clinging wetly to his head. It was the first time that Tilda remembered his hair not standing on end constantly, as it had always done.

At this moment Teddy's hair was dry enough--temporarily--that it was behaving in its usual standing-on-end way, making it easy for Tilda to spot his head bobbing ahead of them in the holiday crowd. Severus held Julian's other hand, a market basket on his arm, but occasionally they gave each other a conspiratorial look and lifted Julian from the ground by both of his hands, making him crow in delight. Tilda laughed at Julian's reaction every time, remembering how delightful Teddy had been at this age, and while Severus did not smile, technically, she saw something in his dark eyes that showed that he was not completely immune to his son's high spirits.

Teddy, on the other hand... He was occasionally still moody about Nate not being with them. Julian missed his brother as well. She and Severus had explained to them that Nate had waited his entire life to know his dad; she'd been especially stern with Teddy, reminding him that he should know exactly how Nate felt.

"I'm sorry it ruined your holiday plans, but I should think you'd have some consideration for your best friend," she'd finally said to him; in response he'd stormed off to his bedroom and slammed the door as loudly as he could. When she'd turned to Severus for help, she'd received none. She found his attitude nearly as infuriating as Teddy's.

"He is a teenager now," he reminded her, as if he needed to. He seemed like he was going to add something to this and then stopped himself.

When she'd arrived at Hogwarts, Teddy had been enthusiastic and wanted to spend a lot of his free time with her. As the summer term continued, however, he'd found it harder to make time for his mother, and not just because he was revising. He wanted to hang about with Nate and Donna. He wanted to go to Quidditch practice, even though he was still a reserve player. (When she'd pointed this out he was very put-out and had avoided seeing her for a week.) It seemed that he had wanted to spend more time with her in theory, only if it didn't interfere with the time he spent on other things.

"Wait," she said suddenly; "where's Teddy? I saw him a second ago, but now I don't..."

Severus stood half a head taller than her and so could see farther; he dropped Julian's hand and shaded his eyes against the sun, scanning the crowd for the Potter hair.

"Hmm... " he said softly.

Severus doesn't see him, she knew, but he didn't want to tell her. Damn teenaged pride! Too old to do a simple thing like walk with his mother... Panic rising in her chest, she couldn't resist calling out, "Teddy! Teddy, where are you?"

It seemed that this weekend there were more tourists about than ever, and for some reason they all seemed to be converging on the shops at the same time. "He's fine, Tilda. Don't worry," Severus said smoothly. "Probably bent down to tie his shoe. We'll find him in a few minutes. Don't fret. He's not a baby."

Tilda looked down at Julian, whose hand was still in her firm grasp. Yes, but at one time he was my baby. It seemed not so very long ago that he was Julian's age and they were going together to the shops in their village, Teddy's hand held confidingly in hers when they crossed the streets, his grip tightening when they both noticed the glares of the town gossips, watching the Scarlet Woman pass with her Bastard Child... Ours must be the only village in Britain where time stopped marching on after the fifties, she thought, remembering running that gauntlet of eyes whenever she needed to buy food. From what she could tell even the wizarding world was more tolerant than the gossips in their village.

"I'm sure you're right," she replied to Severus, not at all sure. She swallowed, holding Julian's hand more tightly, scanning the sea of tourists and still not seeing him. The panic took hold of her again.

Where was her son?

---