Like Father, Like Son

Second Chapter

*

Confrontion

*

"Mmm... where I am?" asked the boy who lay on the Infirmary bed.

"In the Infirmary, dear," Madam Pomfrey replied gently. "About the time you wake up, you've been out for four hours already. We were getting worried, you should have woke up ages ago."

"What happened?" he asked, frowning. Then, he brought a hand to his forehead. "No, don't say. I remember... I remember Dumbledore saying something about... removing a charm." The boy opened his eyes, locking them at the mediwitch, who startled as she saw the icy blue orbs. "An Adoption Charm."

"Exactly," said a quiet voice from the door of the Infirmary. "An Adoption Charm that was placed on you when you were merely an infant."

The boy, Remus Snape, turned towards the speaker. "You," he said, his voice empty of all emotions, as he saw the three men standing in the doorway.

"Yes, me," Severus Snape replied calmly. "And Remus and Sirius."

With a wary voice, the boy asked, "What do you want?"

"To explain." With this, the three men walked to the side of his bed, sitting down to the few chairs. Madam Pomfrey left the room, but not before warning the men not to exhaust her patient too much, as he hadn't yet recovered wholly from the change.

For a moment, nobody said anything. Then, as everyone's eyes were locked at Severus, he decided to start. "Let's start from the beginning," the Potions Master sighed. "I wasn't born as Severus Salazar Snape. Instead, I was Julian Mathias Potter, James Matthew Potter's identical twin."

Young Remus's eyes flew wide. Soon, he got his emotions under control in a way that the others recognized to be copied right from his father. "What?" the boy asked, raising his eyebrow in an all too familiar manner.

The Slytherin smiled sadly. "When I was eight, I caught a disease called Merlin's Sleep. It damaged me so I looked different from my twin brother. As it's easy to avoid and heal with just ordinary wizarding skills, it's always a great shame to the family if a child suffers from it long enough for it to change their appearance. So, to avoid that shame, my parents gave me to adoption." Severus closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, and continued, "I and James still kept contact. I'd been adopted by Snapes, a family that loathed Potters more than anything. Of course they didn't know my origin, as I didn't look anything like I'd used to, and I was too clever to tell them. I hated my parents for abandoning me, but I couldn't hate James, for he wasn't in any way responsible of my situation. To the outside, we acted loathing towards each other to keep our families happy, but in secret, we were still the best friends and brothers."

"He looked different and had a different name, and their act was very good," Sirius said. "Even we didn't know the truth until James told us, about the same time as we found out about Remus's Lycanthropy."

"And then, I made friends with Remus and Peter, too," Severus added, picking up the story. "Nobody else knew. To the world, we were the worst enemies. Only Lily Evans was let in to our secret, since she was our friend, too.

"In secret we were still very good friends as we graduated. Some time later, I got married - secretly, of course, for I was already spying for Dumbledore at that point. However, as we found out that a baby was on the way, we had no idea of what to do."

"Fortunately, James was of course ready to help his dear brother," Sirius continued. "He and Lily set up a fake marriage - James had a lover on the side, and Lily was simply not interested in anyone at that point. When you, Remus Altair Marcus Snape, were born, they took you as their own son, under adoption charms and the name of Harry James Potter. And till their own unfortunate deaths, you were a son to them as well as you were one to Severus."

Young Remus didn't seem to buy the story easily. "Why didn't you take care of me after the Potters' death, then?" he demanded accusingly, his now icy blue eyes locked at his father.

"For several reasons," the Slytherin said, sighing deeply. "First and foremost, to give you protection. Although Lily was not your blood kin, she did die to protect you, and thus her family would protect you from the Dark Lord's followers. At second, everybody 'knew' that I had hated the Potters - they'd never believed me if I'd told that you were mine, a Death Eater claiming the Boy Who Lived. And, at last, I didn't know how the Ministry would have reacted. As long as you were Harry Potter, you were given some kind of safety. However, if anybody'd known who you were, you'd been highly despised and watched upon."

"Why's that?" asked the boy, slightly confused, although he hid his astonishment well. He tugged at a strand of his black hair in a manner that reminded everyone present of just who his parents were.

"Because claiming you, I'd been forced to tell who the other parent was. And believe me, even my status as a Death Eater was a little crime at the time compared to your other parent's deeds."

"Who was that, then?" the younger Remus asked, frowning. "Whatever could my mother have done?"

"That's just the problem, Remus," the older Remus said gently. "You see, you had no mother."

The boy's eyes widened slightly, and he again raised an eyebrow, but otherwise, he stayed unresponsive.

"He's indeed telling the truth," Severus agreed. "It wasn't a woman who carried you and gave birth to you. No, it was a man - more specifically, my husband, Sirius Anthony Snape."

Now, the black-haired teen stared at first at him, then at Sirius, obviously not believing a word of what he heard.

"It is true, Remus," Sirius said quietly. "I was the one to carry you. It wasn't that hard, really - just a couple of potions, and I could get pregnant. I loved Severus, I still do, and I'd have done anything for him. Especially much I was willing to carry his child."

The younger Remus lowered his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. At last, he raised his eyes at his parents and his older namesake. "I think I understand," he said quietly. "And, although it's not easy, I forgive you. You truly had no way to take care of me, and even after Sirius was freed, you couldn't do that. Trying to make me believe without any other proofs but your words would have been about impossible." With a snort and a quick glance at his now fine, long-fingered hands, he added, "Now I have more proofs than I really care to have."

"Good," said Sirius, obviously relieved. He'd been really nervous about how his son would react to the surprising news. The boy was taking this all much better than any of the adults had even dared to hope.

This relief didn't go unnoticed by the boy, of course. "Don't be so bloody surprised," he snapped. "I'm not a Gryffindork anymore - no offense," he added quickly, glancing towards Sirius and Remus. "Like you surely realize, I'm not Harry Potter anymore. Harry wouldn't maybe have understood your motives, he was too Gryffindor for that. But I'm half a Slytherin, and I think I understand enough to look past all those things. I'm accepting the family you're offering to me."

"Thank you," Severus said quietly, nodding slowly. He'd been half expecting this. Everything had depended on which one of his parents young Remus would take after in temperament. If he'd been like Sirius, he'd most probably been furious at them for keeping all this a secret from him this long. But, as he was seemingly like Severus himself, he just observed the situation logically, making his own conclusions. "We can discuss the details later, but I do think that the most important things are now taken care of."

"There's one thing we still need to decide," the older Remus said then, a little smile curling his lips.

Severus raised his eyebrow. "And that is?" he asked.

"Well, I truly am honoured that you named your son after me, but it's getting pretty confusing to have two Remuses around," the werewolf said, the smile now evident on his lips. "Therefore, it might be better if we decided on which one of us should be called differently, and what would that name be."

"You're Remus, and you've always been," Sirius said. "I'm saying that we call the younger Remus by some other name."

"And what's that?" asked Severus, raising an eyebrow. "I can hardly think of a nickname I would myself accept, and if young Remus is the tiniest bit a Snape like he should be, it might not be easy to create an acceptable name."

"What about asking the boy himself?" the older Remus suggested. They all turned towards the teenager, who looked thoughtful.

"Remy," he said after a moment of thinking. "That much of twisting my name I can bear." Then he added dryly, "Besides, if I don't allow that, these two Marauders will just give me some ridiculous name, like Puppy or something even worse."

"Actually, that'd be quite fitting," Sirius said with a sadistic smirk. Then, seeing the frown on the teen's face, he laughed. "No, seriously, you'll be fine as Remy. Back in our school times, we wanted to create a Marauder nickname for Severus also, but he completely refused. Must be because of his nature - feline creatures tend to be stubborn," he said with a teasing grin to his husband.

"Hey, wait a minute," Remy said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Then, he nailed his sapphire gaze at his father's obsidian one. "A Marauder nickname, eh? And a feline creature? Are you an Animagus, too?"

"Yes, I am," Severus admitted. "An unregistered one, like all my friends. My form is a black lion. And no, do not ask how a lion can be black, I just am. It's something nobody's managed to explain to this day."

"So that's why the Aurors said that the door was 'torn from its place' the day we caught Pettigrew," the young man realized. "You were the first one on the place, right? And I'm pretty well aware that you cannot tear doors apart with your human strength."

Severus simply nodded, then shrugged. "He was behind the door, just about to Disapparate," he explained quietly. "An unlocking spell would have taken too much time. It was easier to just bang myself against it as an animal. Do you have any idea how much a lion can weigh?"

"Too bloody much if it happens to fall asleep on your feet," Sirius muttered. "And not nearly enough when compared to a tiger. And certainly not enough to save it from some serious harm if Poppy thinks we're exhausting her patient too much, so I do recommend that we leave sometime soon."

"You're right," Remus said, smiling slightly. Then he glanced at Remy, and his expression turned serious. "We have to leave now, but I'm sure at least your parents will visit you still again before you're released from the Infirmary," he said. "You certainly have a lot to think about, and I'll be surprised if you don't want to talk about any of it." With a slightly nasty smirk, he added, "Nobody with Padfoot's genes can be quiet, not even a Snape."

"I am a Snape, if I may remind," Sirius pointed out. "No matter what everyone says, 'Sirius Anthony Snape' is what stands in every official paper, and that's all that matters." Then he replied the smirk. "And you'd better not say anything, wolfboy," he added. "You'll soon have one very angry Snape over you!"

"With what muscles?" asked Remus innocently, knowing very well that he was just about to enter a fist-fight.

Some time later, Remy glanced at the two men wrestling around the floor. "Tell me I'm not related to either of them," he then said, sending an almost pleading gaze towards his Slytherin father.

"Alas, no such luck," Severus said with a slight smirk. "One of them is indeed your father." Then he continued, "By the way, what are you going to call us? The correct terms are of course 'a father' and 'a carrier,' but I do think it'd sound rather silly if you went around calling Sirius 'Carrier.'"

"What about 'Car?'" suggested the boy innocently. Then he said, "No, honestly, you're right. I cannot call you both 'Father,' either, that'd be even more confusing than calling both me and Remus by the same name." After a moment of thinking he said, "You'll be Father, and Sirius'll be Dad. Or do you think he'd prefer 'Daddy?' After all, that'd be twisting the word even more, and he seems to like that kind of things."

"I do believe that 'Dad' is quite fine," Severus said with a faint smile. Remy truly was much like he'd been in the boy's age - more sarcastic than he should be. "Do you think I should break them off?"

"Nah. Let them fight," his son replied carelessly. "They seem to enjoy it, and besides, it's rather amusing to look at. Why disturb them for nothing?"

"Remus is a werewolf, and as thus, he has a werewolf's strength," Severus said with just as casual tone. "Sometimes he just forgets it. I'd rather not have my husband back injured or dead just because our friend doesn't know when to stop."

"Fine. Go on, break them off it, then." Remy pointed at the two still fighting men.

Severus took one glance at the fighting wizards, then took a better position on his chair. If he went nearer, he'd most probably be accidentally kicked, hit, or tripped, or any combination of those. Better let them stop it by themselves; they were grown men, after all.

Besides, like Remy'd mentioned, it was truly quite amusing to watch.