Fathers and Sons

Fathers and Sons

*

Settling In

*

Severus stayed sulkingly silent the whole way down to the dungeons. Remus and Michael, however, talked some, trying to establish at least something in their complicated relationship. Michael was also trying to collect courage to approach his other father. Despite his words in the staff meeting, he was still wary of the Potions Master. Severus wasn't a man you wanted to mess with.

At last, they reached a place in the corridor that didn't seem to be in any way different from any other few feet of the dungeon corridor they'd passed. The only things that made them even able to tell any difference were the two torches around the place, being placed a lot nearer to each other than the other torches in the corridor. Taking his wand out and tapping the wall with it, Severus said, "Revealo."

As Remus and Michael watched in fascination, the part of the wall located between the torches turned into a huge portrait of a luxuriously dressed woman in dark blue and silver. "Password?" she asked sharply, eyeing the two goldenhaired wizards warily.

"Lemon drops," Severus replied snappishly. "And Marine, these are Remus and Michael, my husband and son. They will be living here."

"Very well," the portrait said, then flung aside to reveal an archway. They all walked in, and the painting flew shut behind Michael, soon turning into a seemingly solid stone wall.

"You're getting paranoid on your old age. And the password -- lemon drops, eh?" Remus asked with a teasing tone as they were all inside. "Really, Severus, you're letting yourself slip."

"It serves its purpose," the Head of Slytherin said, shrugging slightly. "Nobody would ever think that I would even say the name of those horrifying sweets."

The werewolf smirked. "Just wait till Albus hears of this," he said, his amber eyes twinkling.

"Yes, I shall wait," replied Severus calmly. "And you shall wait outside these quarters when I change the password, as I do not intend to tell the new one to you."

"Why, I'm hurt," Remus replied amusedly. Then he glanced around. "You know, Severus," he said good-heartedly, "I did not expect your quarters to be like this."

"Our quarters, Remus, our quarters," Severus replied calmly. "And may I ask what's so surprising about the room?" he asked then, arching a challenging eyebrow.

The both Gryffindors, however, were too busy eyeing their surroundings. Instead of green and silver, the living room they'd just entered was decorated with the same midnight blue hue as the dress of the woman in the painting they'd come in through. Other than the deep shades of blue, they saw also warm, dark brown, and -- most surprisingly -- pure white. Not a hint of silver was to be seen anywhere.

"Well, you know," Remus said, testing a nearby couch's surface with his fingertips, "I'd expected you to be more into the Slytherin colours. Green and silver, remember? The colours of your very own House?"

"It would be rather inappropriate," Severus replied, raising his eyebrow again. "Frankly, I'm sick of the combination of green and silver. The so-called Slytherin green reminds me of some most vicious concoctions I've had to brew for Voldemort. And there was silver, before. But when we got back together, I removed anything that was made of silver in hopes of getting you here some day."

Now the werewolf's eyes flashed with warm light. "You did?" he asked, fascinated. "Thank you, Severus."

"Don't thank me for doing the only possible thing," Severus replied, smirking. "It wouldn't do if I allowed my only love be burnt or poisoned by some decorations, now would it? And anyway," he added then, "I think that we have some other work to do." He pointed at a nearby door. "That door wasn't here before, so I assume it leads to your room, Michael. Why don't you take a look at it?"

Obediently Michael walked to the door and pressed the handle. He was slightly surprised that the door indeed opened -- he would have expected it to be warded as well. So, he opened the door and stepped into his room.

It was... nice. Very nice, to be exact. The stone walls had been painted a pleasant deep blue shade, and the same colour marked the ceiling. A dark blue rug covered the floor, thick and warm under his feet, and a desk and a chair of the same colour stood next to a dark brown wardrobe. The four-poster bed was also made of dark brown wood, but the curtains and the canopy were surprisingly a light blue, almost white shade. The bed was covered with a dark blue duvet, and a fluffy, pale yellow teddy bear was sitting next to the pillow. An enchanted window showed him the Hogwarts grounds near the Whomping Willow.

"Looks like the house-elves have followed my orders," Severus observed, sounding rather satisfied. "Although that teddy bear was not a part of my orders. I suspect Albus's meddling on that part."

"It's really nice," Michael said, smiling. Then he asked, raising an elegant eyebrow "Why all blue, though?"

Another black eyebrow was raised in response. "I didn't think you would approve of the Slytherin colours, you are a Gryffindor after all," Severus said. "At least you are if you don't want to be re-Sorted. Anyway, I personally will not allow a room decorated with the Gryffindor colours inside my quarters, so this seemed to be the safe option."

"On every passing moment I'm more and more beginning to think that you were originally meant to be in Ravenclaw," Remus said amusedly, eyeing their mostly blue surroundings. "Maybe you're the one who should be re-Sorted?"

"Pfft," was the only response he got. Then Severus nodded at their son. "It looks like your things have also been brought here," he said, pointing at the trunk on the foot of the bed. "What about you try settling into your room?"

"While you try what? Settling into my other father?" the boy asked back cheekily. At Severus's raised eyebrow and Remus's suppressed smirk, he flushed slightly. "Oops," he muttered sheepishly.

"'Oops', really," Severus replied dryly. "It seems that you've got more of a Marauder's character than you should by any right have."

"Anyway," Remus hastened to say, seeing that Severus was definitely not on a good mood, "what are you going to call us, anyway? 'Father' and 'other father' might get a bit confusing by time."

"What about Mum and Dad?" the boy suggested innocently. This time it was Severus's turn to smirk and Remus's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Okay, okay," Michael said with a grin. "Father and Dad?"

"Sounds appropriate enough," the werewolf said, shrugging. "Now, Severus... I don't think I've seen our bedroom already." With this, he grasped the Potions Master's hand, starting to lead him to another direction.

Michael smirked slightly and shook his head. Then he closed the door of his room and walked to his bed, where he sat down with a sigh.

This far all this fuss had kept his thoughts well away from the more serious matters. Now, however, his mind was free to fly around, and so it did just that. His sad thoughts from the night before came back to his mind, uninvited.

There was nothing that could distract him from them now.