Like Father, Like Son

Fourth Chapter

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Sorting

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"So Sirius is your other parent, right?" asked Hermione as Professor McGonagall had left. "How's that he gave you to his best friend?"

Sighing slightly, Remy started to tell the whole story. The girl listened quietly, nodding every now and then at something he said. In the end, she was quiet for quite some time.

"They gave up their own son?" she asked then, sounding horrified. "How could anybody do that?"

"I don't know," said Remy, shrugging. "Obviously, the Potters were -"

"Good people," interrupted a voice from the doorway. The teens looked up, seeing Sirius there. "The Potters were good people," the Animagus repeated, walking into the room. "Alanna Potter especially was, she never wanted to give up Severus - she was told that her son had died. And as for Mathias Potter - well, he was good, but blinded by his pride. He couldn't take the shame that would have come to him if the Wizarding World had found out that he couldn't provide his son the simple protection he'd needed to be safe from the Merlin's Sleep."

"So my grandmother knew nothing about Father being given out to adoption?"

"Exactly. She cried for a whole week after supposedly losing her firstborn son. So did James, until Severus owled him from his new family." Sirius sat on a nearby bed with a sigh. "Alanna regretted the rest of her life that she hadn't helped Severus in time. I think that Mathias regretted it later, too. When they took me in after I ran from my home, they treated me like a son - maybe they were trying to make up for Severus's fate in a way."

"Did they know that you and Severus got married?" asked Hermione curiously.

Shaking his head, Remy's carrier replied, "No. Even Mathias didn't know just where Severus had been adopted to, because his name had been changed. And, as I've told, the Snapes and Potters were the worst enemies. If they'd known that I was in love with Severus, I would have had to say goodbye to the whole family, including James. They wouldn't have allowed me to keep contact with their son anymore, just like James and Severus had to keep up the hateful facade to remain friends."

"Mathias?" asked now Remy. "So Father was originally named after his father?"

"Exactly, Julian Mathias Potter," said Sirius, nodding slightly. "He was the firstborn son, after all, and it was a tradition in the Potter family. That's also the reason why your second name was James after you were adopted; James and Lily 'kept up the tradition' to keep your grandparents' suspicions away."

"Like Bill is William Arthur Weasley, and Ginny's second name is Molly," said Hermione, nodding also slightly. "But you didn't keep up the tradition, did you?"

"Well... In a way," admitted the adult wizard, grinning a bit shamefully. "You see, Altair is just as familiar from Astronomy lessons as Sirius is. And Marcus is Severus's foster father's name - the Snapes were strict, yes, but they do truly care about him, and would have never given him up. Anyway, they are the only people Severus would voluntarily call parents."

"You know," Hermione said, not to anyone in particular, "if I had Mathias Potter now in front of me, I'd sure as hell hex him."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, surprised at her swearing, but Remy's calm Snapish mask didn't falter. "Not necessarily," the Animagus said then. "I don't deny that he did wrong, anything else, but in a way, it was also for the better. We don't know what Severus would have become like in the Potters' family, but he'd definitely be very different. If he was different, I maybe hadn't fallen in love with him in the first place, and little Puppy here wouldn't exist."

"Hey!" exclaimed the boy in annoyance. "My name's Remy, not Puppy! I'm not a dog like you!"

"Some respect to your parent, if you please," Sirius said amusedly. "I'm not a dog. Padfoot is. There's a certain difference."

"Well, I fail to see what it is," grumbled the boy. "At least most dogs have a higher IQ than you!"

"Hey!" exclaimed the Animagus in turn. "I'm actually a quite intelligent man, you know!"

"Of course you are," replied Remy, as calm as only a Snape by blood could. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to produce an offspring like me."

Sensing Sirius's short temper coming near to its end, Hermione said hastily, "Did you know that I'll probably be re-Sorted also? I asked Professor McGonagall about it when she came to tell about Remy's re-Sorting."

"Really?" Fortunately, Sirius's attention span was even shorter than his temper. "That's actually a good idea, you know. I've always wondered why you aren't in Ravenclaw."

"As have I," said Remy calmly.

"Anyway, I should leave now," Sirius said then. "I promised Severus to be back soon, he said he'll need my help soon."

Remy let out a snort. "Whatever would anybody need your help with?"

"Oh, I indeed have a couple of suggestions," said the Animagus, waggling his eyebrows up and down, "but I highly doubt you'd like to know them."

At that, Remy groaned, looking slightly green to Hermione's eyes. "You're right," the boy said, "I don't want to know."

And so, Sirius departed from the room.

*

As Hermione and Remy stood in the Entrance Hall, waiting to be called inside, the girl took advantage of the opportunity to study her new/old friend's appearance.

Remy was now undeniably taller. Before, even Hermione had been taller than her short friend, and now, Remy stood at least five inches taller than she was. He had a slender form obviously inherited from his Father, and stood in a self-confident position similar to his Dad's. The messy, short black hair now fell down to his mid-back on shiny waves, although Remy seemed to prefer keeping it on a pony tail. His previously emerald eyes were now sparkling, icy blue, unlike either of his fathers. When questioned about this, the adults - or, rather, Remus, since the Snapes hadn't come out of Severus's quarters by that time - had told them that Remy'd inherited them from his grandfather, Mathias Potter. Even though the disease had changed Severus's looks, it hadn't changed his genealogy, and thus, Remy still could inherit his original features.

Other than these differences, Remy looked very much the same. In fact, it was almost as if the looks he'd "inherited" from Lily had simply been replaced by those he'd got from Sirius. After all, James and Severus had been originally identical twins. And - although Hermione'd died rather than admitted it to anyone - Remy was now actually very good-looking in his own way.

Then, the door opened a bit, pushed open by Remus, who stood next to it on the other side. "We'll now Sort two students, one new, and one old," Dumbledore's voice bellowed from the Great Hall to their ears. "Miss Granger, Mister Snape, would you please step in?"

Taking a quick glance at each other, then both drawing a deep breath, the two stepped into the Hall.

In an instant, everyone's eyes were at them. Hermione's steps wavered a bit as she got wondering - and disappointed, from Ron's direction - glances from everyone. Remy, however, walked with his head proudly up, ignoring all whispers and glances.

They stopped to the front of the Hall, where Professor McGonagall already waited with the familiar little stool and the Sorting Hat. Her expression wavered a bit as she saw Remy, but not much. Some of the other teachers, however, were just as dumbstruck as most of the students.

"Hermione Granger," Professor McGonagall called out, and Hermione obediently walked forward to sit on the little stool. The Hat was put on her head.

'Ah, nice to see you again,' the Hat said with a bit dry tone. 'Not happy with what you got, eh?'

'No, I'm not,' Hermione replied silently. 'I don't feel comfortable in Gryffindor, nor have I ever truly felt. Even in the beginning, others kept teasing me because, by their minds, I was too clever.'

'Very well. Then, I think we'd better go with my original impression, and put you into...'

"RAVENCLAW!" the Hat bellowed out for everyone to hear. Hermione took it away from her head, then stood, and walked to her new House table, her steps faltering just a little. The other Ravenclaws welcomed her with approving glances, well knowing her reputation as a clever girl, who sometimes outwitted even the professors. They knew that she'd only bring good to their House.

She firmly kept her eyes away from the Gryffindor table, where, she was sure, Ron was watching her closely.

"Remus Snape!" said McGonagall then, and everyone became watchful. Especially the Slytherins nailed their gazes at the boy who now disappeared under the Hat. If this boy truly held any relation to their Head of House, he'd surely be the pride of Slytherin, wouldn't he?

However, almost immediately after the Hat had been placed on the boy's head, it called out, "RAVENCLAW!" with an even louder voice than with which it'd announced Hermione's new House.

Taking the Hat away, Remy stood, ignoring the even louder whispers, and walked over to the Ravenclaw table to sit next to Hermione.

"Now that the Ravenclaw House has two new occupants," said the Headmaster said joyously, "I have a couple of other announcements to make. At first, as you all obviously know already, Harry Potter is no more among us. The magic of the Adoption Charm collided with his own unnaturally high level of magic, causing his sudden death."

A couple of Slytherins looked absolutely delighted. Then they started joyful chattering, oblivious to the sharp glances their Head of House gave them, obviously picking up faces for later handling. The other students, however, started to loudly fuss over the news, wondering about the Headmaster's cheerfulness despite this shock. Then a couple of them caught a glimpse of the lightning bolt scar under Remy's fringe, and even louder whispering took over the Hall.

"Also, Professor Black has requested that he'd be called by his official name," Dumbledore continued, his cheerfulness never faltering. "But as it'd obviously be too confusing to have to Professor Snapes around..."

"And the thickest Hufflepuffs wouldn't dare to go to their Charms lesson because of their fear of Professor Snape," murmured Remy to Hermione, who chuckled slightly.

"...We'll simply call him Professor Snape-Black from now on, as in difference from his husband. Now, let's eat!" As he said that, the food appeared to the tables. Nobody seemed to be very hungry, though. Everybody, excluding all three Snapes, Remus, and Hermione, was staring at Severus, Sirius, or Remy. Everyone's jaws were either hanging open or busy whispering to each other.

After a moment of this, Sirius's rather short patience was worn out. "Shut the hell up," he snapped to the whole Hall in general. Even without Sonorius, he was easily heard. "Yeah, I and Severus are married. Yeah, we have a son. So, big deal. Now, if somebody's not eating after five seconds, I'll owl their mothers and ask for their baby pictures, and then put them all around the school with names on."

After four seconds, everyone was starting to eat, although they every now and then stole glances to the Staff Table.

"Well, at least your Dad has some imaginative threats," Hermione said with a slight smirk.

"I must say so," Remy said dryly. "Although I'd prefer if he had some good brains instead."

"You know yourself that's not true," his friend scolded him. "Your Dad is actually a clever person, he just doesn't show it often."

"Yeah, whatever," Remy replied, shrugging and rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. Then, he started eating.