Like Father, Like Son

Eighteenth Chapter

*

Breakings

*

"There's one thing I don't understand."

The irritated voice made Severus raise his eyes to his son. "Really?" he asked dryly. "Whatever could there be that's making you confused, o my dearest son?" Sirius raised his eyes from his work, too, and even Samantha and Hermione glanced up from their own homework. It wasn't often that Remy didn't understand it, much less admit that. This was a truly rare occasion.

"Well, everybody keeps saying that Voldemort's appearance changed when he acquired new powers." The boy wiped a long, midnight-black strand behind his ear. "But from whatever I've read, it doesn't seem that magic could affect a person's body in such a way. So, what made the old snakeface different?"

"Not everything can be explained by magic, and magic alone," Severus said, smirking slightly. "Magic cannot alone affect a person's body, no -- but under certain circumstances, it can." Seeing the confused expressions on all three teens' faces, he continued, "Any magical person's mind, magic, and body are all involved with each other. Even though magic can give strength, it cannot cause great physical changes. However, it's well capable of twisting one's mind. If I'm not badly mistaken, the Dark Lord's new powers damaged his mind. After this, his damaged mind twisted his magic, which in turn changed his bodily appearance. As said, magic alone can't change your body -- but when it's controlled by your mind, it can."

"That's just the way you become an Animagus," Sirius said. "A mind can't reach any form, but there's always one animal's form that's especially near to your heart. It's easier to your mind to settle to that animal's position, and then you can force your magic to change your body."

"Hey!" said Samantha suddenly. As they turned to look at her, she said, "Couldn't that have happened with the Student-Eating Horrid Monster of the Ravenclaw Tower, too? I've been wondering where the monster suddenly appeared from. What if it is Matthew Skinner -- he fell down the stairs and hit his head, that's where the blood came from, and then his mind affected his body through magic? It's just a thought," she said, squirming uneasily under their intent gazes, "but I think it might have at least something correct in it. It is, after all, perfectly logical."

"No, it isn't," argued Hermione. "How could he have got food down there?"

"Well, he never graduated, now did he?" asked Samantha. "Therefore, he, in a way, still has a legal reason to stay at the school. Therefore, the house-elves could very well take some food for him. Not a magical barrier can stop a house-elf, you know, especially if they're trying to fulfill their duties."

"Well, as interesting as your theory is," Severus said smoothly, "I hardly think it is correct. Not everything that is logical is true, Samantha, remember that."

However, neither Sirius nor Remy missed the meaningful glance he sent to his husband's direction.

*

"Tell me again why you should come with us?" asked Sirius sharply from Remy, who was standing on his side. "If you get killed down there, both Severus and Dumbledore will get my hide immediately for promising you to come."

"I'm coming with you because you owe me for not telling the girls that you're going," Remy replied calmly. "And because if I am to face Voldemort one day, you cannot keep me safe from dangers forever."

"Very well, then." Sirius glanced at him sharply. "But don't you forget what I told you."

"No, I won't," the boy promised. Then, as soon as they took down the barriers on the door, he hurried inside. The adults exchanged long glances, then sighed, and, each lighting a magical light with their wand, followed the boy inside the Ravenclaw Dungeons.

After they had lowered each other down to the actual dungeons from the plane with levitation charms, they parted ways. Remy and Severus went to one direction, Remus to another, while Sirius stayed right under the plane to keep their returning way safe.

Sirius was quiet as he glanced up the wall. There were deep marks of claws on the stone, like somebody with monstrous claws had tried to climb up it. As the light of his wand travelled up, he saw also long, deep grooves on the solid stone, like something had tried to slow its falling down the fall. And, according to the magical scans they'd run on the Ravenclaw Dungeons, that something had managed in its task, at least well enough to survive.

Just then he heard somebody approaching behind his back. A quick glance showed him a pair of glowing eyes. In an instant he spun around, pointing his wand at the creature that was still hidden by the darkness.

"Easy, mate," Remus said, laughing a bit nervously. "I'm not going to eat you."

"Well, you could have warned me," grumbled Sirius, lowering his wand slowly. "I thought the beast was sneaking up on me!"

"If I had tried to sneak up on you, you wouldn't have heard anything. Not before it was too late, anyway," Remus said confidently. Then he asked, "Where is Remy?"

"With Severus -- I hope," the Animagus sighed. "I told him that he has to stay with one of us all the time, and that wandering off on his own would have him grounded for the rest of his life. The boy's stubborn as hell, though, you never know what weird ideas he might get into his mind."

"Doesn't get it from any strangers, I can tell," muttered Remus under his breath. Fortunately, Sirius didn't hear him, and thus didn't comment on it.

Their half-nervous conversation, however, was suddenly abruptly interrupted as they heard a sudden shout. "Watch out, Remy!" Severus's voice echoed through the dark halls of the long abandoned dungeons.

Then, to the great horror of the two Marauders, they heard a sharp cry. After that, Remus's oversensitive werewolf ears picked the sound of something being tossed against a stone wall -- something that could very well be a human body.

"Father!" Remy called out, his voice laced with fear. At this point, Remus and Sirius were already running to the direction of the voices. They picked up their pace even more, however, when they heard Remy cry out in pain as well.

When they hurried around a corner, a horrifying scene reached their eyes in the dim lights of their wands. Severus was lying motionless in one corner of the small room. In the middle of the room they saw Remy, who was lying on his back on the floor. Above him they saw the crouched monster, which tried to bite the teen, who was obviously using all his strength to keep its fangs away from his face and upper body. Remy's sides were bloodied from several scratches, however, some of which looked rather deep.

"Stupefy!" called Sirius immediately, outraged. How did this monster dare to try to attack his little family in such a way?

However, this did little good. The monster was barely startled a bit, and it raised its head to growl at them. Remy tried to use this momentary distraction on his advantage to shove the monster off. This, however, only enraged the beast more, bringing its attention back to him.

Seeing that Sirius's curse hadn't helped much, Remus collected all his Lycanthrope powers, which was a great deal more than your average wizard's. "STUPEFY!" he roared then, sending a ruby beam of light to the monster's direction just as Remy's strength started to falter, the monstrous jaws snapping mere inches from his face.

The power of Remus's curse sent the monster flying hard against the nearest wall. It met the wall with a loud thud, and a snap could be heard as the hit broke its neck.

"Well, that was the end of that killer," muttered Remus. Then, seeing that Sirius was already on his son's side, he headed towards Severus. However, like he soon discovered to his great relief, there were seemingly no injuries that he could detect in the Potions Master, aside from the unconsciousness. So, he turned to see Sirius, who was tending Remy, when his eyes met the monster's dead body. A horrified gasp escaped his lips, and his face paled past white to grey.

There was no monster lying on the floor anymore. Instead, there was a man -- a man who was a lot older and thinner than the last time he'd seen him, but still well recognizable to anybody who'd known him as well as Remus had.

Samantha had been right. The monster had indeed been Matthew Skinner, Remus's first boyfriend ever. And he'd been the one to kill him.

"What now, Moony?" asked Sirius, glancing up from his pale son's injuries when he heard the gasp. "Is something wrong or -- oh, sweet Merlin." He, too, was stunned, staring at the monster-turned-man, his jaw hanging open.

Remy, too, forced his head to turn around to see what was astonishing them so much. A slight smirk curled his lips. "So Samantha was right after all," he muttered. "I'm sure she will be... glad to hear it." And then, he fainted.

*

"I cannot believe it," muttered Remus, biting his lip. "I simply refuse to believe it. All these years, Matthew was alive down there, and I -- I killed him!"

"Drop it, Moony," sighed Sirius. "You couldn't know, none of us could. Besides, we cannot know whether his mind could have ever been returned. It was him or Remy back there -- what if you had hesitated and let Remy get killed only to discover that old Matthew, like you once knew him, could not be restored?"

"But he changed back after he died!" the werewolf argued. "That means that he was still in essence a human! Maybe if I hadn't used all my powers, he would have been only stunned. Maybe he'd still be alive -- maybe his mind could have been saved!"

"And then what?" asked Severus sharply. He'd soon recovered from his injuries, even faster than Remy. "You would have explained to him how not only you have another lover, but you also have a son with somebody else than him? And what would you have done with Kingsley, anyway? Told him to sod off as you found your younghood love once again -- or told Matthew to sod off?"

"I don't know," Remus said miserably. "But now I'll never even find out."

"It was not your fault, Moony," Sirius still tried to say. There was, however, a glint in the werewolf's eyes that he didn't like. Not at all.

*

"Remy!" greeted a cheery voice. "At last you're back around! Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let any of us to see you, not even Sam!"

"Shut up, Benjamin, please," the black-haired teen hissed at his dormmate. "I haven't been officially released from the Infirmary yet! If Madam Pomfrey catches me here, the whole Hell will get loose!"

"So you're on bad ways again?" asked the older boy, smirking a bit. "Tsk, tsk, Remy, I'm so very disappointed. I expected much better from you."

"Shut up, will you," the younger one said, glaring sharply at him.

Suddenly, however, Remy got something entirely else to worry about. Samantha was coming up the corridor, and she didn't look at all happy with him.

"Good afternoon, m'lady," Remy said in his usual teasing manner. "How are we mere mortals graced by the presence of an unearthly beauty such as yours?"

This time, however, Samantha did not blush at his words, nor was she amused by them. Instead, her brown eyes flashed dangerously. "Shut up, you prick," she snapped. "I don't want to hear any of that crap from you right now."

"Samantha Louisa Green!" exclaimed Remy in mock horror. "Watch your language, young lady! That hardly is appropriate, especially not in your brother's hearing!"

"The Hell I care!" shouted Samantha. "I want an explanation, and I want it now!" Despite her tiny form she now seemed to tower over Remy, who was taller than any other occupant of the school, with the possible exceptions of Hagrid and his father. Yes, she was truly furious at the moment.

"But Samantha," Remy said, still trusting his ability to talk himself out of anything, "what is it you'd like me to offer and explanation to?"

"You know it very well, Remus Altair Marcus Snape," the tiny girl snapped. "You went to the Ravenclaw Dungeons. You fought with the Horrid Student-Eating Monster, which then hadn't eaten any students after all. You almost got yourself killed, again. And I didn't hear anything of all this until after you came back! It wouldn't have hurt to tell me, you know! If I had known, I could have come there with you!"

"And that's precisely why I didn't tell you," Remy replied, his Snapish mask never faltering. "If I had told, and you had come with us, it could have been you who almost got killed. And not only almost!"

"Well, without me you probably would have never even gone there!" Samantha shouted. "It was I who suggested that the Monster might actually be Skinner himself! I should think that would amount to at least getting to come along!"

"Try to understand, Samantha," the boy sighed. "It was really dangerous. Yes, I almost got myself killed. But as I am a far more skilled and experienced fighter than you, it would have been even more dangerous to you. The first time the monster almost killed me was when I was trying to save you from it, remember?"

"So I'm not old and sensible enough to come with you, eh? Then I certainly am not old and sensible enough to be your girlfriend," spat Samantha angrily. "Well, fortunately you won't have to worry about that. Because you know what? I'm leaving you!" And with this, she stormed off.

Remy stared after Samantha's retreating back. For a moment, he was too stunned to do or say anything, leave alone run after her.

"Uh-huh," he heard Benjamin's voice murmuring behind him. "Young Mister Snape, I think you have fucked up royally now." Remy could hardly do anything but agree.

*