Like Father, Like Son

Third Chapter

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Conversation

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"When we spoke, Dad mentioned one thing that confused me," Remy said after a moment.

"Yes?" asked Severus warily, not knowing what to expect. It could be anything, really.

"He said that fa - James had a lover at the side." The blue orbs locked at the black ones as Remy continued, "Who was his lover?"

Suddenly, Remus and Sirius stopped their playfight. They stood up, both wiping dust away from their robes, warily eyeing Severus and Remy. They were obviously waiting to hear what Severus was going to say.

"You're a clever boy, Remy," said Severus quietly, "you have to be, with the genetics you have. If I told you that each one of us - I, Sirius, and James - chose one of your names, what would you think?"

After a moment, the boy's eyes widened slightly, although his Snapish calmness didn't fade. "Remus?" he asked, his eyes shooting up at the werewolf.

Remus sighed. "Yes," he said quietly. "James and I... We were lovers, ever since our fifth year at school." A distant look came to his eyes as he continued, "That's the reason why I believed Sirius guilty... I was so mad with sorrow that I couldn't think straight. All I could think about was that James was dead, my only love was dead and not coming back." Swallowing, he ended, "Later, I just reasoned to myself that Sirius had been jealous, and that was why he became a traitor. After all, you, his dear son, were known as James and Lily's. And you were the only one who survived. I had to think so, for I wouldn't have survived myself."

"What do you mean?" questioned the boy, frowning at his namesake's words.

"What he means, Remy," Sirius said quietly, wrapping his arms around his friend's slightly shaking shoulders, "is that Remus has always been a bit to the suicidal side. If he'd allowed himself to think that I was innocent and he'd let me go to the Azkaban for nothing, the self-loathing could have got the better of him."

Now, the boy actually looked a bit scared. "So that's why you forgave him so easily," he said quietly.

"Exactly," nodded Sirius. "Because I had nothing to forgive, really. In his place, I'd done just the same things."

For a moment, the boy's eyes stayed locked at the floor. Then he glanced up and said to the older Remus, "I'm sorry that you had to suffer so."

"I'm sorry, too," said Remus with a shaky smile, obviously trying to fight against the tears that threatened to fall. "But none of us is guilty of that, so we could just as well forget it." Wiping away a tear that had managed to get out, he muttered, "Oh, crap. I always get oversensitive around the full moon." Sniffling slightly, he added, "I'm sorry for being such a woman, but I really can't help it."

"No problem, mate," Sirius grinned, releasing Remus from his loose embrace. "I'll never call you a woman again. I've got too bad memories about that!"

As Remy looked confused, Severus explained calmly, "Once, he called Remus a woman a day before the full moon. Unfortunately to him, the PMSing Lily also heard that, and he had to run through the house with two people chasing him, yelling, and throwing things at him."

"Typical," snorted the boy. "You just never know when to shut your mouth, do you, Dad?"

"No," grinned Sirius, "by Remus doesn't know when not to shut it, like Severus surely remembers..."

The amber eyes widening, Remus clasped a hand over his friend's mouth before Sirius could get any further. "You keep quiet about that," he hissed, "or I swear I'll rip your tongue out!"

"This story involves James, Remus, and a bedroom," said Severus helpfully to his son.

Remy groaned. "A bad mental image," he said, putting a hand over his eyes, "a bad mental image..."

Raising his eyebrow, Severus commented, "Our son obviously has your dirty mind, love. What about if we leave before he gets even more traumatized?"

"A good idea," said Sirius, whom Remus had at last released, although the werewolf still eyed him warily as if expecting him to start telling dirty stories at any moment.

So, the three men bid their goodbyes to the boy. Then, they left, Remus's hand gripping Sirius's shoulder in a way that looked very painful, the latter trying to talk himself off the hook, and Severus shaking his head at the two.

They'd hardly got off the sight as Poppy Pomfrey came to the room. "Miss Granger wants to meet you," she said warily at her patient. "What shall I say to her?"

Remy thought for a moment. He remembered Hermione, of course he did. But, he wasn't sure about what to think of the girl.

Well, there was only one way to find out, really. "Let her in," he said to the mediwitch.

Time to face the past.

Just a moment after Poppy had left, a curly-haired girl came to the room. With an almost shy glance at Remy, she said, "Um... Hi, Remus."

"Remy."

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking a bit confused.

"My name's Remy, not Remus. My calling name, anyway. Otherwise, it'd be too confusing with two Remus's around."

"Yeah, well. Anyway, hi, Remy."

"Hi, Hermione."

"So... Do you know the story now?" the girl then asked hesitantly.

"You mean, I'm a Snape, my most hated professor is my father, and my godfather my carrier?" Remy raised an eyebrow. "I should think so."

"Wait a second. Did you just say that - Sirius is your carrier?" Hermione demanded to know, looking surprised.

"Either so, or I've been cheated a big time. As they were quite adamant that it's the truth, however, I do think that it's true."

"Oh." Nodding, she asked then, "So, Remy, do you think you could be friends with us again?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Raising his eyebrow again in a very Snapish way, the boy continued, "Are you sure you want to hang around a Snape, though? That'd spoil your perfect Gryffindor image, wouldn't it?"

"Well, if you're half Sirius's, you can't be that bad," Hermione said with a bit sheepish grin.

"You'd be surprised," Remy said dryly. "I've just found out that he tells the dirtiest stories ever. Remus silenced him before he could tell more than that Remus doesn't know when not to shut his mouth, but from the details Father told to me, I think I don't want to know more."

Blushing a bit, Hermione giggled. "Once a Marauder, always a Marauder, eh?" she asked then, smiling.

"I do believe so." With a dry grin, Remy continued, "I'm going to ask them to teach me to become an Animagus. That should be really interesting."

"Oh, I'm sure it is," she replied, now getting an enthusiastic tone to her voice. "What do you think, will you be in Ravenclaw now? You know, the Sorting Hat was going to put me there, but in the end it decided on Gryffindor. Sometimes I think that it did the wrong decision."

"When I - or, Harry - was Sorted, it almost put him into Slytherin," Remy smirked. "How's that for a right decision?"

Hermione whistled. "Do you think it could have seen through the Adoption Charm?"

"Nah. I don't think so," replied the boy, shaking his head. "More it's about the traces Voldemort left to me along with the scar." Wiping away his fringe, he asked then, "By the way, do I still have the scar?"

"Yeah," she said, glancing at the lightning bolt at his forehead. "I think it's about more than whether you're a Potter or a Snape, or Harry or Remy. The scar, it's about the person you are, under all the charms and spells." Shrugging, she added, "Or I'm just wrong and it's already fading. After all, you're supposed to look like you would if you hadn't been adopted. Obviously, you wouldn't have received the scar."

"Then who would have?" asked Remy. "Since if nobody had, then Voldemort would still be here, right?" A calculating expression came to his face, as he continued, "The removal of the Adoption Charms will only change me. So, the world doesn't change. If I hadn't received the scar, it'd have to change the world, as the scar also affects other people, not only me. So, obviously, even though I had stayed with my parents, I would have received the scar." As he noticed the odd look Hermione was giving him, he asked, "What are you looking at?"

"You," Hermione replied simply, "and how you've changed. I highly doubt Harry'd ever been capable of that logic." With an amused snort, she added, "If you call that logic."

"Why, thank you." Remy once again raised an eyebrow, then continued his speculations. "So, I got the scar... But Voldemort didn't attack my real parents, for then, the way I got the scar would once again change the world. Logically, I was with Lily and James, as they're dead. And, quite more obviously, they were baby-sitting me, as nobody else was present - and nobody else got hurt. But then, there'd be no secret keeper, and that'd mean that they didn't have to hide, and that'd mean that Voldemort didn't want to get to them." A slight frown appeared on his forehead. Then, he still continued, "There has to be some reason why Lily and James were under the Fideliatus. They weren't really married, that's for sure. So, as they were Voldemort's most hated enemies, they had to hide... But why would Father and Dad give me to their care, then?" After a moment of thinking, a slight smile lit up his face. "Of course! Remus is the key thing in this. Or, rather, the fact that Remus didn't have to hide. As he was with James, and Lily and James wouldn't be married if I hadn't had to be adopted, what is the logical conclusion? It doesn't matter whether it was Remus or Lily, since it was James Voldemort wanted to catch. So, Lily didn't have to hide, either. Most probably, I was given to her, and she was visiting James, and that was when Voldemort struck."

Hermione didn't say anything, just watched him, looking fascinated.

"That's also why my character is like I'd been raised by my both parents. In this 'my universe,' James did die. But, as I wasn't under James and Lily's care, there was no reason for Sirius to be jealous, and nobody'd find any reason why he'd betray his best friend. Remus and Father would believe him, and he'd stay home and not go to Azkaban." Seemingly quite satisfied with himself, he grinned. "The problem has been solved!"

"My goodness," said a dry voice from the doorway. "I came here to inform you that the Headmaster wants you Sorted, but I doubt that's needed. From what I heard, you're pretty obviously a Ravenclaw, there's no denying that."

Both teens looked to the incomer. "Good evening, Professor McGonagall," said Remy politely. "I'm glad to hear you think I'd be fitting to the Ravenclaw House, since that's where I'm hoping to get to. But, as I and Hermione have both come to notice before, the Sorting Hat is not always flawless in its judicions."

For a moment, the professor just stared at the boy. Then, to the great surprise of both teens - Hermione looked dumbstruck, Remy raised both eyebrows - she started to laugh. "Truly you are a Ravenclaw, young Mister Snape," Professor McGonagall said, after getting over her laughter. "And truly you are Severus's son. Very well, we'll leave you to the Sorting Hat's not flawless care. Then we'll see just how correct its decisions are."

"Erm... Professor McGonagall?" asked Hermione now, speaking for the first time after the professor had appeared. "Is it - is it possible to get re-Sorted?"

Fixing a considering gaze at her, the professor said, "Maybe, Miss Granger, and maybe not. I shall talk with the Headmaster about that. I take it that you're wishing to be Sorted again?"

Hermione merely nodded. "At late, I've come to doubt that the Hat's decision was the right one at my case."

"I suppose you might be right about that," the Animagus professor admitted. "A pity, though. In such a short time I'll be losing my two best students to Ravenclaw." With a slight smile to them, she added, "Since I have no doubt that neither of you will be in Gryffindor, should you be Sorted again."

And with that, she walked out of the room.