Like Father, Like Son

Fourteenth Chapter

*

Worth Fighting

*

It wasn't until over a whole month later that Samantha was released from the Infirmary. She'd missed quite a bit of time, but Hermione, Remy, and Benjamin had kept him updated about pretty much everything that was going on outside the walls of the Infirmary. Now, it was nearing Christmas, and the whole castle was full of life and noise.

Remy and Samantha sat currently in the library. The boy was concentrated on his Charms essay, while Samantha was flipping the pages of Animagia Exclusiva.

"Haven't you already read the book?" asked Remy curiously. "I'd think you've had more than enough time to finish it while you were at the Infirmary."

"Oh, I have read it," she replied lightly. "In fact, I've even practised it some."

"Truly?" Remy raised his eyebrows. "And have you had any success?"

"Well... look," Samantha said, reaching out her hand. Remy watched closely as her brows furrowed in concentration. Some time later fine, soft fur grew slowly from her skin until her hand was wholly covered with it.

"Woah," said Remy in genuine fascination. "That's great, Samantha!"

"Thank you," the girl said, smiling proudly. She had a reason to be proud. Although Sirius praised his students on every occasion available, had Remy taken more after his other father in the matter, praising other people's achievements rarely, if ever.

The boy took the girl's now furred hand into his own. Ignoring Samantha's blush, he petted the fur lightly with his fingertips. "It's soft," he said wonderingly.

"You are soft," replied the girl, fighting down her blush. Why, oh, why did Remy have to hold her hand so gently?

"I'm a Snape," replied the boy, smirking. "We're never soft. It's biologically impossible to us, you see."

"Very well," she said with a small smile, finally gaining at least some kind of control over her reddening face. "It's only your head that's soft, then."

"Insulting your friend, eh? We can't have that, now can we?" Suddenly he then let his Marauder side to get into charge, and startled to tickle her sides. Samantha giggled madly and tried to struggle against him, the fur on her hand disappearing as she lost her concentration.

Fighting against his cheery assault, Samantha suddenly lost her balance, her chair falling back. Remy, who'd been leaning towards her, tried to steady her chair, but only managed to lose his own balance, too. They both fell down in a heap of chair legs, swirling arms and wild giggles.

Remy shoved his chair away, freeing his back from the burden it'd got as the chair had fallen on top of him. His next conscious thought was, 'Oh, shit. I need to get up.' Samantha was lying half under him, staring up at him with wide eyes.

For a moment he just watched her. Her eyes were wide and bright with joy, her breath coming out in tiny puffs. Fleeting concern for her filled his mind -- could she really be this much out of breath from just a few giggles? Was it an aftereffect of her pneumonia? Or was she already getting weaker? -- but then his eyes found something that interested his teenager mind even more. To be exact, her lips.

There were times when Sirius acted before thinking, and, despite his perfect Snape sense, sometimes Remy had just the same flaw.

So, he bent his head down and kissed Samantha.

At first the girl was too stunned to react in any way. After a moment, however, she started to hesitantly respond to his kiss. Just as they were both starting to enjoy themselves, they were startled apart by a sudden sound behind them.

Benjamin and Hermione stood behind them, both clapping their hands. "Took you certainly long enough," the elder Green said then, grinning broadly. "Although if you ever hurt her, Snape, I will hunt you down and kill you," he added with a bit more serious tone. "Take my word for that."

"I do not doubt that," Remy replied just as seriously. He and Hermione were nowadays protective of Samantha, true -- and Benjamin was twice that. The younger wizard had no doubt that Benjamin would indeed fulfill his threat if he ever hurt Samantha on purpose. Not that he would do it, of course.

"Awww, isn't this sweet," said an all-too-familiar voice then. "But what did I say to you about lying on top of girls, Remy?"

Now the boy finally struggled up, offering a hand to Samantha while trying to appear calm in his namesake's eyes. "I'm not finding trouble now," he mentioned calmly.

"No, you aren't," the werewolf said lightly. "A girlfriend would probably be a better word -- although in my experience, they count for trouble." Then he laughed at Hermione's glare -- Samantha was still too embarrassed to do anything but blush and avoid everybody's eyes -- and turned away. "Just wait till your parents get to hear of this!" he then said to Remy over his shoulder.

"Oh, fuck," muttered Remy. "I'll never get to live this one down."

"So do you regret it?" asked Samantha shyly, looking up to him.

"Anything else," was the boy's reply as he leant forward to place a light kiss onto her lips. "If you do not regret it, of course."

"Of course I don't." And with that, she slipped her hand into his, obviously intent on keeping it there for quite some time.

*

Some time later Remy, Hermione, and the two Greens appeared to the Great Hall for dinner. Everybody in the Ravenclaw table stared concentratedly on Remy's and Samantha's joined hands. Even more they stared when Remy pulled out a chair for Samantha, giving her his best charming grin, making him flush slightly.

Just then Remy's eyes caught Remus whispering something to Sirius and Severus in the Head Table. After the werewolf had got to the end of his message, Sirius flashed his son a bright grin and a thumbs-up sign, while Severus merely raised an eyebrow to the direction of the Ravenclaw table, but didn't look entirely disapproving. Remy replied their gazes steadily, while Samantha, who'd also noticed the signs, blushed again.

"You'd better just get used to it," chuckled Hermione at the younger and smaller witch. "Especially you'd better get used to every girl sending you envious glances. They all want Remy to themselves, and yet you were the one to get him!"

"What, and you don't?" asked Remy playfully. "Why, Hermione. I'm hurt."

"Beware of your words," Benjamin laughed. "You don't want to mess it up the first day you actually have a girlfriend. Believe me, I know -- I've had seven already." With a grin, he added, "Although I don't think Samantha here is of the same type as I am."

"I should hope not," Remy said, smiling. "'Cause if she was similar to you, I could just as well be dating you instead of her, couldn't I?"

"Oh, shut up," huffed Samantha, although a bright smile was gracing her face. "Stop trying to embarrass me. Otherwise, I might break up with you, and an hour hardly is a lot of a relationship, now is it?"

Remy nodded with a grin, then concentrated on eating, although he did steal a couple of glances at his new girlfriend every now and then. Benjamin grinned.

"See, she's got you all whipped up already!" the elder Green said. "Ouch," he then said, as the younger one threw a carrot at his head.

*

The boys in Remy's dorm had all gathered to one place -- well, all but Julian Watson, anyway. One of them had an announcement of some kind to make, so they all had to listen.

"Now, listen to me, you all," said Tom Watson seriously. "Julian doesn't know yet that Santa Claus doesn't exist. And as he's just a kid, I don't want him to find out, either. Let him be little for still some time more. So, any of you telling him anything he's not supposed to know will be personally dealt with by me. Understood?"

They all nodded. While Julian was tiny and energetic, always going somewhere, Tom was big. Not fat, mind you, but tall, muscular, and a lot faster than he looked like. He wasn't the Ravenclaw Beater for nothing, after all. Not many seventh-years dared to argue with him, and definitely not any of his own age.

"Snape?" asked Tom still for a confirmation. Of course. As he was a Snape, everybody always expected him to be as nasty as possible.

Remy's thoughts, however, were somewhere entirely else. They were on a little kid -- a four-year-old little boy -- who was standing in front of his aunt and uncle, terrified. He was just being told that Santa did not exist, and definitely would not bring him anything. He was also told that if he even hinted a word about this to his cousin -- who of course was going to get a lot of presents from "Santa Claus" -- he would lose even the few toys he now possessed, and be locked into his cupboard for the whole Christmas Day.

Also, Remy remembered -- remembered, as this truly was one of his memories from the time he'd been Harry Potter, a very young Harry Potter at that -- very well the feeling of a great loss, disappointment, and sadness. Being a Snape by blood didn't mean that he didn't understand or have feelings; it only meant that he did not show them willingly. Thus, he understood enough to know that he did not wish that fate to anyone, and definitely not on little, happy Julian.

"Don't worry," Remy thus said. "I will not hint a word towards him."

*

"Ah, do you still believe that crap?" a nasty voice carried to Remy's ears as he, Samantha, Hermione, Benjamin, and some other Ravenclaws were making their way to the breakfast. "Grow up at last, brats. You should know by now that Santa doesn't exist. He's just a stupid fairy tale your parents have made up to amuse you."

Remy and Benjamin exchanged stern glances, then looked at the few other boys from their dormitory who were present. James Kilroy, the older Watson, and Lee Cruss all nodded in confirmation. Julian looked startled, like some other first-years around them.

"I would recognize that voice anywhere," muttered Remy as he headed towards the corridor where they'd heard the nasty words from. "Jimmy Crow. He's truly the worst kind of a bastard I've seen in my life."

And true, Crow it was. He was just taunting a few first-years, one Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuffs. A fourth one, a Gryffindor, was crying some way from them. "Stop weeping, brat," spat Crow. "I think it's about the time you face the reality."

"Well, I think it's about the time that you face the reality," Remy said coldly. "'Cause you obviously haven't noticed yet that lying is a very bad thing. Especially if you lie to those younger than you."

"Don't care about him," Hermione hurried to say to the startled first-years Crow'd been taunting, while Samantha tried to calm down the distraught first-years. "He's just a nasty bastard. He's unhappy because he's been nasty and knows he won't get anything nice from Santa Claus."

"Santa Claus does exist, doesn't he?" sobbed the crying little girl. "The nasty boy was just lying, right?"

"Exactl-" started Hermione, interrupted by Crow's sudden shout, "NO! Santa Claus does not exist! It's not him who brings you presents!"

Now, Remy'd had enough. Even now he had to do his everything to keep away the disturbing image flying around in his mind. "Santa Claus does not exist," he heard Vernon Dursley's harsh voice. "He will not bring you any presents..."

When Crow then laughed cruelly as another first-year bursted into tears, the ponytailed boy flung himself forward, attacking the other young wizard. Soon James Kilroy, too, came to fight, although that wasn't after one of the less anti-Crow guys who'd been watching him taunting the first-yars decided to join into the fight. Soon the elder boys were all fighting with each other, Samantha, Hermione, and a couple of other girls trying their best to keep the younger students out of their way.

Suddenly, however, their fight was interrupted by an angry question. "What exactly is going on here?" demanded Severus, eyeing the sight in front of him. As the boys stopped and he noticed his own son in the middle of it all, he frowned even deeper. "I do not care how this came about," he said sternly. "Everybody involved with this fight will come to my classroom for a detention tonight at six o'clock sharp. No, not you," he said, rolling his eyes as the ones who hadn't been actually fighting looked startled. "Only anybody who kicked or hit or punched or backhanded or bit or in any other way participated in the beating-each-other part of this whole ordeal." At Remy's glare, he added, "And no, nobody will get out of this one. This is an absolute disgrace!"

"That nasty boy said that Santa doesn't exist," one of the first-years dared to say, pointing at Crow. "That's not true, is it, Professor? Santa does exist, doesn't he?"

For a moment everybody was strained to hear his answer, expecting him to crush the child's hope. Remy'd already vowed to not talk to his Father ever again unless asked something on a lesson -- after all, a wrong word from Severus would crash everything he'd got into this fight, and detention, for -- but then he was shocked.

"Of course he does exist," replied Severus, not even blinking as he said this. "He's Headmaster Dumbledore's great-grandfather. And Crow," he added, "that's an additional detention for lying to younger students." Then he turned around to leave.

Remy, however, hurried after his father. "Father?" he asked hesitantly. "Why did you say that?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Despite what you think, I am not a sadist," he said levelly. "And if you consider protecting Santa's reputation worth a fight, I sure as hell won't interfere. I know the Dursleys were not pleasant." As Remy involuntarily winced, the Potions Master nodded calmly. "Just like I thought, then," he said. "Now, do hurry along to breakfast. Your girlfriend is waiting, and considering that you have a detention tonight, you might like to spend some time with her now."

*

"You must be kidding." The other boys didn't dare to voice their disbelief, but they all nodded in mute agreement to Remy's comment.

"Oh, but I indeed am," Severus said, smirking. "You got yourself into a detention, now suffer the consequences. It wouldn't be much of a punishment if you liked it, eh?" With an even broader smirk, he added, "Besides, as you were so intent on protecting Santa Claus's reputation, he'll surely be delighted to receive your letters."

"A punishment?" To all of their great shock, Remy started to grin broadly. "What do you mean? I never thought we might have so fun detention! Give me the parchment, I want to get started immediately!" Without waiting for his shocked father's response, he jumped up from his seat and fetched himself a sheet of parchment, then started to write on it, whistling cheerfully all the time.

For some time the other boys just stared at him. Then, however, they caught on the trick. Whistling the tune along with Remy, they all started to merrily write their letters.

Severus wasn't stupid, however. After watching their cheerful writing for some time, he said, "Oh, and by the way, I want to see your letters before you send them. A copy of each will be read in the Great Hall at lunch tomorrow."

Most of the boys winced, their writing slowing down considerably. Remy, however, merely went on writing, dotting happily down a line after line. At last, he was finished, far before the others.

"I'm done with my letter," he said then, looking up to his father. "May I leave now?"

"Let me see it at first," replied Severus curtly. He took the letter from his son's hands.

"Dear Santa Claus," the letter read.

"I would like to say that I've been a good boy, but considering that I'm writing this in a detention, I don't think that'd be very believable. However, I'd like to point out that I got this detention for fighting with a boy who was telling younger students that You don't exist. Maybe that could be counted as a good deed?

"Anyway, I probably should make some wishes now. At first, I'd like to have a new cauldron -- but not one of those standard pots used in Potions class, they're just useless. I'd also like to have the 'Potions in General Use' by Geralda Galleon.

To myself I wish nothing else, aside from a few sweets. To my Dad, however, I'd wish some patience --" At this, Severus nodded, "-- so he wouldn't go around like a kicked puppy every time my Father isn't willing to sleep with him." Now, Severus didn't nod anymore. He just looked scandalized.

"Also, if you could make my Father a bit less uptight, that'd be good as well. Although Dad's behaviour is irritating, I also kind of understand him. He's always complaining that he has to fill official forms and get them accepted by the Ministry whenever he wishes to have sex. Knowing Father, that isn't even too far from the actual truth."

Severus did not read any more, even though the letter still went on. He simply glared at his son with a mighty scowl. "You'll write a new one," he said sharply.

"I protest at that," Remy said calmly. "There's nothing inappropriate in my letter. I want another opinion from my Head of House or the Headmaster."

For a moment Severus just stared at him, knowing very well that every boy in the room was staring at him. There was no way he could give in. If Remus saw that letter, he'd never let him live it down -- and Albus would be even far worse. He drew a deep breath. "Get out of here," he said through clenched teeth.

"May I have my letter back first?" Remy asked innocently.

"Stay for ten seconds more, and you'll spend your Christmas holiday scrubbing the Great Hall with a toothbrush," replied Severus just as calmly.

So, the other boys watched enviously as Remy laughed and took off, leaving his father glaring after him. While glaring, Severus burned the offending letter, never finishing reading it.

*