Like Father, Like Son

Sixteenth Chapter

*

The Gone Returns

*

Remy eyed warily the house in front of him. Then he tucked at the braid he was wearing his hair on for a change, drew a deep breath, and walked towards the door. His both fathers followed him, watching his reactions closely.

The door was opened almost before Remy had even time to knock on it. "Oh, my boy, how good it is to see you!" exclaimed Molly, closing the boy into a warm embrace. Eyeing him from head to toe, she then added, "Oh, you've truly grown since I last saw you! And you look a lot better, too," she concluded.

"Give the poor boy some rest, Molly," Arthur said form behind her back. "And let them inside, it's freezing out there." He then nodded at the two men who were standing behind their son, vaguely amused expressions on both their faces. "Severus, Sirius. Good to see you two, too. Come inside, will you."

They all followed their hosts into the house, shrugging off their cloaks. Molly smiled even more warmly than before when she saw that Remy was wearing the sweater he'd got from her as a Christmas present. "Oh, do you like it?" she chirped.

"Very much, thank you," Remy replied quietly. He still hadn't given up being wary. Thankfully, Molly didn't seem to notice it, she was too busy chattering briskly.

"Everybody's here who's supposed to be here," the motherly witch said. "Come here now, they're all anxious to see you. Especially you, Remy," she added then.

Remy nodded a bit. He did not know who "all supposed" consisted of, so it had to be forgiven to him if he remained wary. Even if Molly still seemed to consider him an extra son despite Ron's hostile behaviour, the other Weasleys would maybe not do that. Ron was a true example of how just the change in his looks and name could change the people's opinions about him drastically.

They soon had arrived Molly and Arthur to the now crowded living room of the Burrow. Everybody locked their eyes at Remy as soon as he'd entered the room. Remus and Kingsley were both there, and Mad-Eye Moody and Charlie Weasley, and a witch with shocking green hair he didn't recognize, as well as a just as unrecognizable, not exactly trustable-looking wizard. He did recognize, however, Arabella Figg from his -- no, the Dursley's neighbourhood, and, to his even greater shock, Percy Weasley. Now, there was one person he hadn't expected to see -- from what he'd heard from Ron before their falling-out, Percy worshipped Minister Fudge and would never take Dumbledore's word above his.

"I think it's time for introductions," Severus said dryly as he came to the room after his son and husband. "This is Remus Snape, our son, better known as Remy so as not to be confused with our pet wolf over there." He nodded towards the older Remus, who merely grinned in response. "Remy, I hardly think the Weasleys, Remus, Moody, or Kingsley have to be introduced to you. You might also recognize Arabella Figg. This one here," he pointed at the green-haired witch, "is Nymphadora Tonks, a Metamorphmagus. Well known for being the clumsiest person on Earth."

The witch grinned and waved at him, and then her hair suddenly turned bubblegum pink. Remy couldn't help but blink in surprise, and her grin grew even broader.

"And as for that man over there," continued his father, nodding towards the strange wizard who was now starting to doze off, "well, he's Mundungus Fletcher. Keep clear of him if you don't want to risk your possessions, he's quite a thief."

"Well, I do know them now," Remy said warily, "but I still do not understand what certain people are doing here, exactly." With this, he gave a meaningful glance at Miss Figg and Percy, not bothering to mention why he was unsure about them.

"Well, that's simple, really," Sirius said, grinning as he sat on the arm of the last free armchair Severus had just claimed, watching his son, who calmly sat down on the floor. "You see, Bella here, aside from being the most wonderful old lady I've ever known, is also an important member of the Order, not to mention a Squib."

"And you're still the most shameless flirt I've ever seen, Sirius Black," the mentioned woman huffed. "Honestly, I would have thought that your husband and son being present would put you down a bit!"

"Never, Bella m'dear," Sirius replied cheerfully. "I still do love you." Then he turned towards Remy again. "And as for our dear Percy's qualifications... Well, I'm sure he can show them to you by himself." He nodded at the young Weasley, who, after a moment of hesitation, pulled up his left sleeve, revealing the mark there.

More precisely, the Dark Mark.

Remy raised his eyebrows. "Well, either Dumbledore has indeed a wicked sense of humour when it comes to marking the members of Order, or I have just realized who exactly took the resident Death Eater spy's vacancy after my dear Father blew his precious cover." At this, he gave a quick glance at the mentioned Slytherin.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Thank Merlin you didn't start to scream bloody murder at the sight of that mark," he muttered. "At that point I would have disowned you."

"No, you wouldn't have," Remy replied lightly. "If you didn't do that by the time you'd opened your both Christmas presents, nothing I might do would make you do that." Seeing Severus's usually pale cheeks flare up at half rage, half embarrassment, he smirked. "Do you want me to tell everybody about them, or will we get to the point?"

"That's what I'd like to ask as well," Moody grumbled. "What's the boy doing here, anyway? I thought only qualified wizards or witches could get to the Order -- no exceptions, not even from your precious son," he added snidely, glaring at Severus.

"Now, now, Mad-Eye, no reason to get so moody," Sirius said, chuckling slightly at his own pun. Like the Sirius-serious ones weren't bad enough. "This is not a real meeting of the Order -- more like a gathering of the inner circle, to see where we are going at now." He nodded at Severus. "Explain."

"Very well." Severus drew a deep breath, then started, "Albus has told me that some of the Order have posed certain questions at him. Usually the consent of these questions has been, how can we defeat the Dark Lord now that there's no more Harry Potter?" As Remy snorted slightly, he glanced sideways at his son before continuing, "Now, Albus is hoping you would put these rumours to rest, each on your respective side. As you see, our son does have that blasted scar on his forehead." They all saw that, nodding, and Severus continued levelly, "Even though he's no more Harry Potter, it is obvious that he is still the Boy Who Lived. Therefore, we do still stand a chance against the Dark Lord."

"Well, that's a relief," Miss Figg muttered. "So you aren't any more James's son, then?" she asked then from Remy.

"I never was, really," the teen replied calmly. "He only adopted me. In reality, James Potter never had a biological son."

"Well, actually..." a quiet voice said, drawing all of theirs attention to its source. Remus squirmed uncomfortably, then continued, "Actually, James did have a biological son... Not for a long time, though."

Sirius gave his friend a serious glance. "That's a story you've never told us," he said very quietly. "I've never heard that James had a son. What is this about?"

"Well, we were young," sighed the older Remus, his eyes fixed on the ground. "Young and very, very stupid. We did not think about the consequences of our actions. So, when we were still at school, I got pregnant." A silence had fallen, and when he now made a small pause, nobody said anything to interrupt him. So, he continued to explain. "Of course, we were in no position to keep the child, but I just couldn't terminate it. Keeping the pregnancy secret from everyone, even our friends, I carried the child to term and gave birth to him. Then, not even seeing him properly as I figured it would be easier that way, I let James take him. Because we'd decided so beforehand, James then gave him to Ministry officials to be given up for adoption. There were no demands to lift the Charm at any age. We wanted only the best for our son, it wouldn't have done to at first let him grow to love someone as his parents and then take him away from his home.

"As James is now dead, I'm the only one who could lift the Charm - in theory, of course, even though I cannot, not really. I have no idea where my son is, or who adopted him. It could have been anybody, from anywhere. Maybe he's still alive somewhere, maybe he was killed in the First War, I don't know. I'll never know."

The silence went on for a long time. At last, Severus dared to speak. "Every Adoption Charm requires the child to be named at first," he reminded. "That name is what lifts the Charm when spoken by somebody qualified to do that, like happened in Remy's case, and that's also what it is based on. So, what was your son's name? If I may ask," he then added, in a moment of rare hesitation.

Remus just smiled sadly, then sighed deep. "Where do you think we got the name, 'Harry James Potter?'" he asked quietly.

Whatever reaction he had expected, it certainly wasn't what he got. While everybody else remained silent, staring at the werewolf in shock and surprise, Percy let out a strangled cry, raising a hand to his throat as if somebody had been strangling him. In front of their terrified eyes he collapsed to the floor.

And then, he started to change. His blazing red hair at first darkened into dark brown, then again lightened until it was the same golden-sandy hue as Remus's hair, minus the premature greying. The pale, freckled skin became slightly tanned, and suddenly lacked any freckles. He shortened a bit from his previously tall form, his shoulders broadened a bit, and he otherwise gained some weight to his lithe body, although not a single pound was fat. When the change was complete, he just lay on the floor, unmoving. Unconscious, to be exact.

Remus had half risen from his chair, a look of shock on his face. Then, before he could walk forward or sit back down, he swayed as if going to faint as well.

Sirius, fortunately, was there immediately, taking his friend into supporting arms. "How is it possible that you didn't know?" asked Sirius, still supporting his friend.

"I guess I just never thought about it," Remus said weakly. "During the first War, we hardly ever saw the kids. I only heard that he was adopted when I taught him at Hogwarts. He was sixteen back then, not that I'd known it - he was a year ahead other kids of his age, a fact which I've only learnt just recently. As I thought he was seventeen, I couldn't make any connections between Percy and our little Harry."

It was like this short speech had drained him completely, because after saying it, he collapsed on Sirius's arms, much like Severus had done in the Potions classroom when the Charm had been lifted from Remy. Even the reason was the same with them both: the numbing shock of getting back something they'd thought to be lost to them forever.

Remy blinked a couple of this as everything sank in. Then his lips curled into a sad smirk. "Now, isn't this just fitting," he muttered. "Seemingly the world cannot survive without a Harry Potter somewhere."

"Well, hopefully this Harry will be more sensible than the previous one," Severus said dryly, although even he seemed to be a bit shocked at this. Glancing around, he noticed that almost everybody was too shocked to do anything. Molly was clutching on Arthur's robes, and the wizard was trying to calm his wife. Tonks's hair was changing colour on every second, her eyes wide, Miss Figg was just staring, and even Mad-Eye looked surprised. Charlie was gaping like a goldfish, staring at his once-brother who seemingly was not that anymore.

Kingsley was the only one aside from the Snapes who seemed to be capable of any sensible action. Quickly kneeling on his lover's side, he collected the werewolf to his arms. "Check the boy," he said quietly to Sirius, nodding towards Percy/Harry who still lay on the ground, unmoving.

Sirius frowned. "Well, I hardly can do much for him," he muttered. "Severus, you don't happen to have anything useful with you, do you?"

"Of course," the Potions Master replied immediately. Reaching for the bag that always hung on his belt, he drew out a small phial and tossed it to his husband, who caught it without trouble. "Make him drink that, and there'll be no problems."

Sirius complied immediately. And truly, soon enough the young wizard sat up, his head in his hands. "Well, that bloody well hurt," he muttered. Eyes widened all around the room. It was well known that Percy never swore. Never.

Well, he wasn't Percy anymore, now was he?

Kingsley, after getting over the first shock, casted a quick "Enervate" at his lover. When Remus slowly opened his eyes, he immediately looked at Percy -- well, Harry.

For a moment, nobody said anything. They all just watched in fascination as the two wizards observed each other, father and son meeting for the first time. Amber eyes never left the hazel ones as each man slowly raised a hand in a subconscious gesture, both wiping a strand of honey hair from their face. Again, there was a moment of silence, as if everybody had been afraid of speaking.

Then, as if unable to keep himself back anymore, Remus released himself from Kingsley's arms and flung himself forward to embrace his long-lost son. Harry replied the embrace, a bit awkwardly but still warmly.

The others all just watched them, still not saying anything. Only Molly did something -- wiped a lonely tear from the corner of her eye.

After all, while Remus gained a son, she lost one.