Like Father, Like Son

Eighth Chapter

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Student-Eating Horrid Monster of the Ravenclaw Tower

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Remy and Hermione made their way to the Ravenclaw Tower, where they went to their dormitories to put their books away and fetch their cloaks and money bags. Soon they again met each other in the Common Room. Remy had got there first, and he was looking up to the starry sky as Hermione came down the stairs.

"Ready to go, then?" asked Remy with his usual slight smirk.

"Don't I look like that?" asked Hermione back. "And if you dare to say, 'milady,' I truly swear I will hex you."

"I wouldn't even dream of that, Mistress."

"Brat," huffed Hermione, then rolled her eyes and followed her friend out of the Common Room.

Severus and Sirius were already waiting for them in the Entrance Hall. Not wasting any time to needless chatter, Severus simply walked to the large doors of the castle, starting to lead their group so naturally that he seemed to be born to do just that.

They had just started to walk over the school grounds as Remy turned towards his fathers. "Now, Samantha told us the tale of the Student-Eating Horrid Monster of the Ravenclaw Tower," Remy told them. "You should have been at Hogwarts at the time it was all told to happen. So, tell me, did you know Matthew Skinner? Is the tale true?"

To his great surprise, his fathers exchanged almost anxious glances. "Yes," said Severus very slowly. "It is indeed true."

"Father?" asked Remy, frowning. "What's wrong?" He couldn't recall ever seeing his Father uneasy, not in all the years he'd known him. However, there was no mistaking the expression the Slytherin had on his face.

"Remy," said Sirius quietly, avoiding his gaze. "Remember when we told you that Remus and James were together ever since our fifth year?"

Remy nodded slowly, indeed remembering that. "And what does that have to do with anything?" he asked sharply, although his mind had already come up with not a few possibilities. None of the possibilities was pleasant.

"They didn't get together until then because Remus already had a boyfriend," Sirius said with a sigh. "Matthew Skinner, to be exact. For all I could tell, they loved each other very much - not as much as Remus and James, but a lot. That brought them together, in fact - James was the one who comforted Remus as he cried for Matthew. They grew closer in the process, and, well, it developed further, and by the end of the fifth year, they started their relationship."

"How sad," breathed Hermione. "That must have been a really bad shock to him, to Remus, I mean. To have lost his both boyfriends in such a rude way!"

"Indeed it was a shock," replied Sirius grimly. "He didn't do much but cried for a week after Matthew's death. And after James's death, well, I don't really know about that time, but he most probably didn't take that lightly."

"He didn't," confirmed Severus with a just as grim expression as that of his husband. "I was there -- we were the only ones left of our group of friends, after all. Even though nobody knew about it, Remus spent most of his time before coming to Hogwarts at our house -- of course only after Dumbledore had vouched for me and got me free from Azkaban," he added gravely. "The couple of weeks before that, well, I don't know where he was, nor do I know how he stayed alive."

"There's something I've wanted to ask you, by the way," said Hermione with a slight frown. "If you and Remus were all the time friends in the backside, why did you tell everyone that he was a werewolf in the end of our third year? And as he wasn't fired but resigned, why did he come back this year?"

The Slytherin sighed. "At first, you must understand that I did not know that Sirius was innocent," he said quietly. "Of course I didn't want to believe that from him -- who would want to think that their loved one is a traitor? -- but I really didn't see any other options. And, just like Remus thought, he would have had a motive -- Sirius was always rather passionate in any feelings, and I couldn't know whether his anxiousness about not having little Remus with us could have overcome even his love for his best friend." Both youngs nodded in understanding, and Sirius placed an assuring hand on his husband's shoulder. So, Severus continued, "You're both very smart young people, and I would do wrong if I lied to you. Lord Voldemort would like nothing as much as one of his loyal servants as the Defence Against Dark Arts Professor -- me or somebody else." With a dry chuckle, he commented, "Although I don't think I'm on his list of loyal servants anymore."

"I should think not," Sirius noted dryly. "Go on."

Severus did as he'd been told. "So, as I knew something that could have got Remus fired, I had to tell the Slytherins in order to keep up my Death Eater facáde. That's one of the reasons. The other, well, it was Sirius. I had spent too many years hating him for something I thought he'd done to be ready to accept the news of his innocence. I wanted nothing as much as have him properly punished -- by my mind, it was wholly his fault that I didn't have my son with me anymore, as it was because of his supposed crime that he had remained with those Muggles as Harry Potter. Remus believed him, however. That difference, and the fact that he defended Sirius against my accusations, spoiled our friendship for some time. So, he decided that he'd rather go and be on Order work than stay in Hogwarts with a friend who was mad at him. And as of why he returned this year, well, we'd already come to peace, and Dumbledore was immediately ready to hire both him and Sirius to fill the free openings in the staff." With a sharp glance at his husband's direction, he added, "Although I do think that there would have been better candidates for the Charms position."

"Don't be so harsh, Severus," chuckled Sirius. "And I am a fully qualified Charms Master, after all, just like you're a Potions Master and Remus is a DADA Master. The fact that I'm in Order, your husband, and Dumbledore's friend were just pleasant little additions to that."

"Merlin help us all," muttered Remy. "You are a Charms Master? I'd rather think that Peeves is a qualified teacher than you!"

"Thanks for having such faith in your carrier," replied the Gryffindor dryly. "Yes, I am indeed a qualified teacher. You need to find other excuses if you want me fired."

"I wouldn't even try," muttered Remy. "Father would only get me killed for taking away the only person around whom he can shag."

"Language, young man," snorted Severus, "and some tact, if I may ask that much."

"Anyway..." A mischievous twinkle lit up in Remy's eyes, making him suddenly look like some horrifying mix of both of his fathers and the Headmaster. "Would you teach us to become Animagi?"

"Merlin forbid that," muttered Severus. Even Sirius frowned, looking a bit unsure.

"But you should," argued the teen, momentarily forgetting his Snapish mask in favour of waving his hands around in the air just like Sirius. "Just think what advantages it could give us in a battle! And don't try to tell me that there won't be any battles," he added with a sharp glance to Sirius, who'd just opened his mouth. "Voldemort is still at large, now more than ever. We're in a war now, and we should be prepared for that. Harry Potter or Remus Snape, I'm still the Boy Who Lived, like this scar proves, and therefore, there's no way I could avoid those battles. And Hermione, being my closest friend, is also bound to be involved in those."

"He's right, you know," Hermione said quickly before either of the adults had time to response. "The way things are currently going, we have no way to know whether being Animagi might save our lives one day."

"Neither do you have a way to know whether the Ministry'll take you to Azkaban for being unregistered Animagi," Severus pointed out dryly.

"Who said we're going to be unregistered?" asked Remy, raising his eyebrow. His hands had calmed down, and he looked again very Snapish.

"Where's the fun of it if you're registered?" Sirius muttered. As both his son and husband sent sharp glares to his direction, he raised his hands defensively. "Don't you get so pissed off," he said. "I cannot help what I am!"

Hermione smiled. "Like father, like son," she muttered quietly, thus earning the sharp glares of all Snapes -- Sirius included -- at herself. Flashing her sweetest smile, she asked, "Now, will you teach us, or shall we find out the way ourselves? Of course that'd be much more dangerous, as there surely is a reason why all Animagi should be registered, but..."

Sirius raised his hands again, this time in defeat. "I surrender," he sighed.

Then, with a warning tone, Severus added, "But if either of yours grades go down because of the Animagus studies --"

"No worry, really," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"You forget that technically, I don't have grades that could go down," said Remy with a smirk. "And if you mean Potter's grades, well, the only way is up. The only decent grade he has is in DADA."

"Not my fault," commented Hermione. "I was always telling him to study more, but did he listen to me? No. He never listened, and look where he got himself!" It felt weird by her mind to talk about Harry like he was dead, with her friend walking next to her, but she knew very well that in reality, Harry was as good as dead. Remy wasn't him, not in any way -- other than being the Boy Who Lived.

"True enough," snorted Severus. "Now, I do believe we're starting to get there." The others didn't notice until now that they'd come all the way to Hogsmeade while talking. They now headed to the Three Broomsticks. From there they quickly Flooed to the Diagon Alley.

"Professor Snape!" exclaimed Tom as the Potions Master appeared to the Leaky Cauldron. "And Professor Black! What are you doing here? And who's the lad?" he then asked suspiciously, eyeing Remy with a wondering expression.

"Professor Snape-Black, Tom, if you could," said Sirius cheerfully. Then, despite his son's icy glare, he placed a hand on the youngest Snape's shoulder. "And this is our son, Remy Snape."

Tom the barkeeper wasn't the only one whose eyes practically popped out of his head. Most of the customers were about to choke on their drinks. Not bothering answering any of the questions, Severus simply turned around and started to lead his group outside.

"Now, at first we'll get your new books," said Severus to Remy. "After that, you two can run around as you please. We'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron at exactly two hours from now. Understood?"

Remy nodded. "I understand," he replied.

At first they went to the Gringrotts to get money. The youngs discovered that Sirius had got all the money he'd inherited from his parents and got from the Ministry as a payment for all his years in Azkaban put into the Snape vault, as it was his vault, too. They gave Remy some of the money there, enough for his books and some extra, too. They also stopped on Remy's personal vault, from where the boy took even more money to "use as he pleased".

People gave them weird looks as they walked past. Most of them knew Severus, either from school or the newspapers, and everyone recognized Sirius, even though he nowadays looked a lot better than when he'd been on the run. None of them recognized Remy, however, and his rather attractive appearance and shocking blue eyes gained almost more attention than the fact that Severus Snape and Sirius Black -- or at least people thought he was Black -- were walking side by side without even fighting.

Then Sirius momentarily slipped his hand to Severus's. The Slytherin soon shook it away, but not soon enough to prevent three witches from fainting.

"Brat," muttered Severus as they entered Flourish and Blotts. "You just love shocking people, don't you?"

"Oh, I love it," said Sirius cheerfully. The three others watched as Remy went to the counter and asked for the books he needed for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. They watched as the shopkeeper asked why Remy hadn't got them before and why he was alone at the Diagon Alley.

"I'm not alone," replied Remy calmly. "I'm with my fathers." At this, he pointed at his fathers over his shoulder.

Then they all watched as the shopkeeper, too, fainted.

"I don't understand what's so bad about me that everybody faints," complained Sirius as they walked out of the shop after Enervating the shopkeeper and getting Remy's books. "I'm not that ugly, am I, Hermione?" He leant towards the girl, batting his eyelids in mock innocence, making the girl giggle.

"Shut up, you brat," Severus said, but without his usual malice. "Leave her alone."

"Can we now leave, Father?" Remy asked mildly.

"No," replied the Slytherin just as levelly. "You're not going anywhere yet."

"But you said we could go on your own once I get my books," argued Remy with a frown very reminiscent of Severus on his face.

"I lied," said Severus, then elaborated, "I thought of another thing we have to take care of."

"Oh? And that is?" asked Remy, raising his eyebrow.

"Your wand. You do realize that the wand chose Potter, not you, right? I wouldn't be at all surprised if you now had another wand. At least it's worth checking." Then, not listening to any further arguments, Severus started to walk towards Ollivander's, clearly expecting them all to come after him. And, of course, they did.

"Ah, young Mister Snape," said Ollivander as soon as they entered the shop. "Coming to get a new wand, are you?"

"Is there anything you don't know?" asked Sirius with a slight grin.

"Very little, my boy, very little," chuckled the shopkeeper. "Now, young man, come here, will you? I trust your wand hand is still the same?"

A lot of measuring and a high pile of wands later, they were still in the wand shop. Hermione couldn't believe it. She'd found her own wand at the second try -- holly and unicorn hair, eleven inches, swift and trustable -- and couldn't really imagine how anybody could use as much time as Remy did.

"Not any easier than your previous self was," chuckled Ollivander, getting even cheerier with every new wand. "Your father here was easy, took me only three attempts -- mahogany and dragon scale, thirteen inches, wasn't it? Accurate and light, fierce but not for too much use, he's always preferred potions -- but this other one here, he was one of the most difficult customers I've ever had," he said, sending a sharp glance at the grinning Gryffindor. "Forty-eight wands it took, forty-eight! But finally I found the right one. Oak, twelve inches, a dragon scale from the same dragon as your father's, powerful but pliable -- back then I couldn't imagine why their wands were brothers, but now I've come to notice that they have much in common."

"Like our family name and son," muttered Severus dryly. "I think that the fact that our wands are brothers is the only reason why I haven't hexed him to the next century."

"And here I was thinking that you maybe might love me," said Sirius cheerfully. "Anyway, on with the wands!"

"Yes, yes, right," muttered Ollivander. "Named after a werewolf, eh?" he added with a sharp gaze at Remy's direction. "Interesting, truly interesting... Here, try this," he then said, handing the boy yet another wand. "Rowan, ten inches, and --" at this, his voice became very low and mysterious, "-- a werewolf hair." Then, again with his usual voice, he continued, "Stubborn and impatient, but controllable by the right kind of a wizard. Not good for too Light spells, even though is not necessarily Dark. A powerful wand in general."

Remy raised his eyebrows, but took the wand anyway. As soon as he drew it through the air, a shower of tiny blue and silver stars shot from the tip of it.

Sirius frowned. "I thought only werewolves can have wands with a werewolf hair core," he said. "At least that's what Moony told us when we were kids -- once he'd got past lying that he had a dracon heartstring core."

"In most cases, it is indeed so," said Ollivander lightly. "However, in some cases, rowan can neutralize the lycanthropic trait. That's why this wand accepted a non-lycanthropic wizard. Oddly enough, even though normal wizards with a werewolf hair wand can become Animagi more easily than others --" hearing this, Remy smirked triumphantly at his parents "-- they are never canine creatures in their animal forms."

"Hey," said Remy then suspiciously. "This is not a brother to anybody's wand, is it? I don't want nasty surprises about that anymore."

"There's no danger of that," assured the shopkeeper. "The werewolf who gave his hair for this wand has indeed given only one other hair, so there is indeed a wand that is a brother to yours. However, as these are both very new, made this very year, the other one still lies on my shelves. And there it most probably will stay for still a long time to come."

"Wait a minute," said Sirius, an odd look on his face. "You don't happen to know who this werewolf was, do you?"

"Why so?" asked Ollivander. "Do you know a werewolf who's given some of his hair for wands this year?"

"Yes, I do," the Gryffindor replied. "Remus Lupin has -- the one Remy was named after."

"Then there's your answer," replied Ollivander cheerfully. "The fates can be really surprising at times."

"You could say so," muttered Sirius while paying for the wand. Then they all stepped out of the shop, breathing deep the fresh air.

"So a part of Remus is inside my new wand, eh?" asked Remy, a look of mild interest on his face. "Sounds... interesting. Well, I suppose even that is better than having a wand that is a brother to Voldemort's wand."

"You might say so, yes," remarked Severus dryly. "But you wanted to go on your own, didn't you? Then, leave!"

And the youngs did so, not wasting a minute.