Like Father, Like Son

Twelfth Chapter

*

Samantha's Trials

*

"A spotted skunk?" echoed Severus disbelievingly, staring at his son like he hadn't believed his own ears. "Your Animagus form is a spotted skunk?"

"Well, it kind of fits him, actually," murmured Hermione with an amused smile. "You know, they are just like him -- never afraid of anything. Almost all wild animals know to keep well clear from skunks of any kind, so they behave like they owned the whole world. That's the reason for many thousand skunks dying every year when they unfortunately get to the Muggle roads and get hit by a car, which they don't know to try to avoid," she added then with a sigh.

"Truly it fits him," Severus then said dryly. "Never afraid of anything, and if you mess with him, prepare for a very foul surprise." Glancing at his husband, he added, "Like some of us have already noticed."

"It was not my fault," said Sirius sulkingly. "I didn't ask him to make me smell!"

"Whatever is the reason, you'll sleep on the couch tonight," said Severus, sneering. "And for still a couple of nights, until the anti-smell charm has some effect on you. In fact, it'd maybe be the better if you slept completely outside the quarters."

"But Severus!" protested Sirius as Remy just laughed. "It wasn't my fault! Blame our son for this!"

"Well, you're the one who smells," said Severus mercilessly. "Therefore, you are the one to blame." As their son snickered at this, he shot a sharp look at him. "And you're forbidden from your next Hogsmeade weekend, young man. I happened to have plans for tonight, and now you've ruined it all." This, of course, made Remy blush slightly as he obviously got some mental image he'd rather avoided.

"Fine," the boy muttered mildly. A tad too mildly, by his father's mind.

"If you even dream about going there with that blasted Invisibility Cloak, I will confiscate it and keep it well away from you until you graduate," added Severus calmly. "And don't give me that look, young man."

"Damn," muttered Remy. "I hate having a father."

"Language, Son," reminded Severus, an amused smirk on his lips. "Even though your carrier told me that he's already given you the birds and bees talk, he has obviously forgotten to actually do it. However, I will tell you a secret: Every person in the world has at least one father."

Both Hermione and Samantha laughed aloud, and even Sirius managed a grin despite his baffled mood. Remy, however, just put on his best Snape scowl. "I hate you," he muttered.

"No, you don't," the Head of Slytherin replied calmly. "You're just saying it to make me feel better."

"What's so funny?" asked Remus, stepping into the room. "Has something happened?" Then his eyes settled to Remy. His nose shivered once, twice, as if he was smelling the air. Then the werewolf suddenly took a hasty step backwards.

Remy, of course, did not understand this kind of behaviour. "Remus?" he asked in slight -- and very rare -- confusion. "Is something wrong with you?"

"What, something wrong with me? No, I'm fine. No, I don't care about you the slightest. I'm not even looking towards you." He turned his back to Remy, trying to look innocent. As the boy, who was really confused now, tried to reach a hand to touch him, he at first flinched. Then the werewolf walked to the other side of the room, whistling mock-innocently as he went.

The two other adults noticed Remy's confusion. "That's not a surprise, in fact," Sirius said, chuckling slightly. "For some time after a person has taken the potion, Remus treats them like a wolf would treat their animal forms. And a wolf, like most wild animals, avoids skunks as much as possible."

"Don't worry about that," Severus said in turn. "He was the same way when I took the potion, trying to attack me at every occasion -- you know, dogs and cats. Remus can't help it. It'll go over in a couple of days."

"It was still even worse when Peter took the potion," commented Sirius. "It's just - well, let's just say that James and I had to do everything we could to stop him from trying to eat Petey."

Remy snickered slightly, and then more as Remus's cheeks flushed. "Maybe he should have," the teen said then, turning back to his serious self. "Would have saved us all a lot of trouble."

"True, so true," sighed Severus.

Samantha, who'd of course been listening closely to the conversation, took a couple of wary steps away from the werewolf, seeing very well the almost hungry glances he was giving her. Remy, noticing this, calmly walked between his tiny friend and the man he'd been named after.

"Although it would have been better if you had indeed eaten Pettigrew," the youngest Snape said mildly, "I would appreciate it if you didn't eat my friends." This, of course, made Remus blush even further.

"What about you, then?" asked Hermione curiously from Sirius. "What did Remus do to you after you found out your Animagus form?"

"Nothing pleasant," muttered the darkhaired Gryffindor. "Just imagine waking up in the middle of the night just to find your friend trying to sniff your butt!"

At this point, Remus couldn't bear it anymore. He simply ran away from the room, his face a glorious shade of Gryffindor red, the laughter of the others echoing after them.

*

Samantha drew a deep breath. Then he muttered a quick, "Alohomora," opening the lock of the door in front of her. Pushing the door open, she stepped silently inside.

In front of her opened the dungeons of the Ravenclaw Tower. This passage was long forgotten, and it hadn't been sealed -- whether it was because the teachers hadn't thought about it or because they didn't think it should be sealed, she did not know. Either way, there was no way anybody even could get to the actual dungeons from there -- unless they were stupid enough to fly around in the darkness in a place they didn't know.

However, Accioed things never collided with walls. Especially not broomsticks.

Samantha inched nearer to the edge. She had found an interesting mention on one of the books in the library. The mention was about a broom Madam Hooch had once had -- a magical race broomstick. The story told that it was the perfect broom for anyone, always following the instructions just right, faster and more agile than any other broom under the sky.

"Accio Madam Hooch's magical broomstick," she called out to the surrounding darkness. Only seconds later her ears caught the sound of a broomstick whirling towards her through the shadows. Feeling triumphant, she prepared to catch the broom as soon as it flew to her.

As the broomstick came near enough for her to see it, however, her triumphant mood disappeared completely.

Something was holding the broomstick. Something that looked like a deformed, hairy hand. The hand was attached to an arm, and the arm was attached to a body that was hidden by the darkness. Only a pair of yellow, glowing eyes could be clearly seen from the shadows, an evil glint in them.

Samantha screamed, loudly. Then she turned around to run away. However, in her haste she did not look in front of herself, and tripped over a loose stone on the floor. She fell down, hit her head on the stone floor, and lay still.

The monster had now reached the plane and let go of the broom, dropping easily to its two deformed feet. It left the broomstick and started to slowly advance on the unconscious girl.

*

Remy's head perked up as the faint scream echoed through the corridors to their hearing. "That's Samantha!" he exclaimed. "Something is wrong with her!"

Not needing more encouraging, Hermione and the ever-curious Luna they'd just been talking with started to run after him. Even though Remy did his best to stay calm and controlled to keep panic away, he couldn't help but silently fear for his young friend. Why, oh, why hadn't he taken better care of Samantha?

It had been just a moment ago that Samantha had been standing next to him. When had the girl had time to disappear? Why had she done so? And what, what in Merlin's name could have made her scream?

After a couple of turns they saw something weird. A wooden door, one that they'd never even noticed before as it was hidden by shadows -- and as they rarely even came to this part of the Ravenclaw Tower -- was now open, despite that it was never used. Through the open doorway they saw Samantha, lying on the floor, clearly unconscious. And nearing Samantha, they saw -- something.

There was no other way to describe it. It resembled a human in some way, yet it was covered by long, shaggy fur. Its claws and fangs made them think of a werewolf, yet its face was more that of a bear than that of a wolf. It didn't have a tail, but the evil yellow eyes and the beastly glint in them told that this was not a human being.

It was the Horrid Student-Eating Monster of the Ravenclaw Tower.

Despite her usual calmness, Hermione screamed, Luna's cry echoing hers. Remy, however, forced himself to function sensibly. "Stupefy!" he roared, sending a red jet of light towards the monster. As it didn't seem to even slow down at the hit, he shouted, "Hermione, try to keep it away, so I can get Samantha from there! Luna, go and get some teacher here, we need help!"

The fair-haired girl immediately ran off. Hermione, on the other hand, casted the strongest barrier charm she knew, placing it right between Samantha and the horrifying beast. The monster clawed at the magical wall, howling in frustrated rage. Seeing the magic sparkling around it, Remy knew that Hermione, despite her skills and power, couldn't keep the barrier up for long. Rushing forward, he knelt down next to Samantha's unmoving form and gathered the tiny girl to his arms. Thanking whatever deity listening for the fact that he had his muscular carrier's strength and not his skinny father's, he then started to carry his precious load away from the danger.

Just as he was stepping out of the door, however, Hermione's powers failed her. The barrier broke down, and the roaring beast flung itself forward. Remy felt a stinging pain in his back, and his steps faltered, making him fall.

'This is it,' he thought to himself, at the same time subconsciously arranging his body to the best possible shelter for the still unconscious Samantha. 'Now it'll get us both, and I'll be remembered as the Boy-Who-Died-On-His-Way-To-Dinner. Splendid.'

Just then somebody yelled, "Stupefy!" and a jet of ruby light flew over his head. It didn't knock the monster out, either, but it did fling it a couple of steps backwards. Another spell -- this time Remy could raise his head, and saw that it was Remus casting them, an agitated-looking Luna by his side -- made the beast back away even further. A new blast, this time even stronger, and it flew over the edge of the plane and to the seemingly endless darkness.

For a moment, they all just stared at it. Then Remus walked forward, closed the door, and locked it with a charm that even Remy knew he could not break.

"Okay," the werewolf professor said then, glancing sternly at them. "Maybe you could now explain me, Remy... Why exactly the only time that you're not in trouble because of Voldemort, you're finding trouble lying on top of a girl?"

At this point, Remy couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't a happy laugh, it was an almost hysteric laugh, all his thrill and fear making their way out of him. He was alive, Samantha was alive, and even Hermione was alive, and he couldn't stop laughing.

*

Remy kept his eyes fixed on the girl lying on the hospital bed. There were other people around him -- Hermione, Luna, Remus, and Sirius and Benjamin, who'd both been already explained what had happened. They were all waiting for Samantha to wake up. Madam Pomfrey kept giving them stern glances. Especially much she eyed Remy. She'd already bandaged the rather nasty claw-wound in his back and told him what healing salve he had to use, but even though she'd insisted that the boy should stay in the Infirmary for some further observation, he'd strictly refused. He hated the place just as much as his father, and had only agreed to stay until Samantha woke up.

Then Remy saw the tiny girl fluttering his eyelids. Leaning forward, he was at the same time mirrorizing the actions of everybody else in the room.

"How could you, Samantha?" he spat as soon as she was wholly awake. "Did you think at all, or are you even capable of that? Are you sure you shouldn't be in Hufflepuff really? Or, even better, in Gryffindor - always running ahead without another thought about what's going to happen to you! You knew there was something down there, you knew it was dangerous, and still you went there! Did it ever occur you that you could have got seriously hurt? That you could have died? You little, stupid fool, what the hell were you thinking?"

"That's the way a born Snape says, 'I was worried sick and I care a lot about you,'" Sirius said dryly from the foot of her bed, where he'd settled to stand. "Although he is right, Samantha, that was a very stupid stunt you just pulled."

"I, I didn't know," the girl said weakly, almost on the verge of tears. "I thought it couldn't get up there -- whatever it was."

"Rules exist for a reason," Remus said strictly. "I'm afraid I have to take fifty points from Ravenclaw for this obviously purposeful ignoring of rules. However," he then added, glancing at Remy, Hermione, and Luna, "I do think it would be fitting to award you three fifty House points each for sensible actions in a bad place."

"What about fifty more points for simply letting you live after that completely inappropriate comment?" suggested Remy dryly.

"What about you forget those, and we'll forget your threat for a teacher's life?" asked Sirius, raising his eyebrow. "And what was that inappropriate comment, anyway?"

Remy smirked. "Well, I'd just got Samantha carried out of the upper dungeons or whatever they are when the monster make me fall down, our tiny friend still in my arms," he explained. "So, after this oh-so-brave DADA Professor had blasted the monster away, he said, and I quote, 'Why exactly the only time that you're not in trouble because of Voldemort, you're finding trouble lying on top of a girl?'"

"That's something I would like to know also," Benjamin said jokingly as soon as everybody had got over their laughing fit -- well, Samantha didn't laugh, she just blushed, and Remy merely smirked broadly. "Why exactly were you lying on top of her?"

"Why, isn't it obvious?" asked Remy. "I'm born to be a hero. I've always dreamed of dying while protecting a beautiful blonde behind my back. But when that didn't manage, I thought that a brunette under me would do the trick."

Needless to say, their laughter didn't at least lessen at this. Neither did Samantha's blush.

*

Two days later, they were all sitting on the breakfast. To the youngs' great surprise, an owl flew to them, landing in front of Samantha. He reached out his leg, offering the letter that was attached to it.

"What's this?" muttered Samantha curiously, taking the letter from the owl. Opening the parchment scroll, she quickly scanned down the lines.

Suddenly she paled past white to gray and stood so hastily that she knocked her chair over. Oblivious to Remy's and Hermione's surprised questions, she rushed out of the Great Hall.

Muttering lowly to himself about girls and their weirdness, Remy ran after the tiny girl. Something was not right -- and besides, she might do something stupid again and get herself really hurt this time.

However, he found Samantha only a couple of corridors from the doors to the Great Hall. She was leaning against the stone wall, crying silently.

"Samantha?" asked Remy, slightly worried for his friend. "What's wrong, Samantha?"

The girl raised her teary eyes at him. "M-my mother," she sobbed, clutching the letter against her chest. "She -- oh, Remy, my mother is dead!" With that, she flung herself at his neck, crying and sobbing.

For a moment Remy was too stunned to do anything but hold her. Then he attempted to caress her back comfortingly. "Don't cry, Samantha," he murmured. "What happened? Why did she die?"

"She -- she'd been sick for a long time already," Samantha told, trying to retain some control of herself. "It wasn't really a surprise, but -- Remy, I'm so afraid!"

"Why're you afraid?" asked the Snape boy, frowning. He was confused now, and he didn't like being confused.

"Because I've got the same disease!" exclaimed the girl, tears rolling down her cheeks. "That's why I'm so tiny, it's been distracting my growth. It's not really bad with me yet, but it will get worse later."

"Isn't there anything you could do?" asked Remy, now a bit fearful, although he did hide his feelings well, as usual. "Any medicine to take?"

Samantha shook her head sadly. "It's incurable," she said quietly. "Of course they are looking for the cure all the time, but nobody really thinks it will be found -- at least not soon enough for me."

"If there is not a medicine," Remy said, suddenly determined, "I will create one." Seeing the girl's disbelieving expression, he continued, "I promise, Samantha. I will find a cure to your illness. If anybody can do that, then a Snape."

"Somehow, I doubt that anybody can," she muttered. With a weak smile, she then added, "But if anybody truly can do that, then I believe that you have the best chances of managing."

"Exactly." Steadying her by the arm, he added, "Now calm down, Samantha. Nothing will happen to you. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know that," the tiny girl said quietly. "But I can't help the fact that I'm afraid."

To that, Remy couldn't say anything.