Like Father, Like Son

Twenty-fourth Chapter

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Magazines and Magic

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Two days after the ball, Remy was just working on his Defence Against Dark Arts essay. Getting it finished at last, he rolled up the parchment, then glanced around. Most of the Ravenclaws preferred doing their homework in the library or, now that it had been deemed safe once again, in the Ravenclaw dungeons. For obvious reasons, however, neither Remy nor any of his friends really felt the need to go down there, so they were all in the Common Room at the moment. Remy himself was finishing his homework in front of one of the tables, Samantha sat on a sofa, and Hermione was sitting in an armchair across from her. Walking over to them, Remy sat down beside his girlfriend and put an arm around her shoulder.

When he saw what exactly Hermione was reading, however, he blinked in surprise. "But... Hermione?" he asked, sounding almost shocked -- well, as shocked as a Snape could be, anyway. "Isn't that -- isn't that Witch Weekly?" As Hermione simply nodded, seemingly deeply concentrated on the magazine, the young wizard blurted out, "Why on Earth are you reading that crap?"

"Oh, there's just this rather interesting report about the Ball," Hermione said, smirking. "You two made it to the cover!" At this, she showed them the cover of the magazine. True enough, there was a picture of Remy and Samantha dancing.

"Oh, well," sighed Remy, running a hand through his hair, which he was wearing down for once. "Just what are they telling now? That I've cursed Samantha or what? I don't think they'd just leave me alone without any further comment."

"Well, read for yourself." And with this and tossing the magazine to him, Hermione leant back in the armchair, looking rather satisfied with herself.

So, with Samantha reading the magazine at the same time, Remy started to read.

"LOVE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE SIZE

This was truly shown to be true in the Hogwarts St. Valentine's Day Ball. Remus Snape, formerly known as Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, formed one of the most wonderful couples of the night with his girlfriend, Samantha Green. It just happens to be so that young Remus is one of the tallest young men at the school, while Miss Green, a year and a half younger than her boyfriend, is rather petite. This does not bother the happy couple at all, though.

Witch Weekly has heard rumours that it was a difficult choice to Remus Snape as of who he was going to attend the Ball with. At last he went with young Miss Green -- not necessarily voluntarily, we're told.

"He asked me to go with him," tells us Cho Chang, one of Remus Snape's housemates in Ravenclaw. "Just like last year, he practically begged me to be his date. However, I declined, so he had to settle on Green."

Remus Snape's best friend Hermione Granger, however, does not agree. "She's lying," the curlyhaired beauty says immediately. "Remy'd never ask anybody else but Samantha, they're dating, for Merlin's sake! True, Chang did try to flirt at Remy, but she failed. He'd never have anything to do with her."

So Miss Green was the first and only one young Remus asked to the ball?

"Absolutely," Hermione confirms. "It was so romantic -- we other girls were all really envious. He'd somehow got a pink dove that carried a letter to her, and in the letter, he invited her for the ball. She of course accepted immediately."

Hermione herself did certainly not go unnoticed by anyone, either. Attending the ball beside the "new" Harry Potter, the recently discovered son of James Potter and Remus Lupin, she, too, was one of the most photographed ladies in the ball. Two other couples that interested reporters just as well as the students attending the ball were the last Potter's carrier, Remus Lupin, with his lover Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Remus Snape's parents, Severus and Sirius Snape.

Having heard of Samantha Green's intelligence and great accomplishments in the Quidditch field, Witch Weekly congratulates Remus Snape for his good choice. We also wish the Boy Who Lived good luck in everything he does.

-- By Rita Skeeter"

Remy looked up at Hermione in awe. "You got her to write this?" he asked, amazed. "Unbelievable. She practically states that I'm with Samantha, and that others had better back off." He grinned broadly. "And how right she is," he added, placing a kiss on top of his girlfriend's head.

"Aww, keep it down, will you," chuckled Samantha. Then, however, she pouted. "That title is just rude," she complained. "Can you imagine what everybody will think as soon as they lay their eyes on that?"

'Why isss ssshe upssset, the One Who Speaks?' hissed Sarlass from her new favourite place as Samantha's hair band. 'I don't underssstand.'

'She's just a bit annoyed,' Remy replied. 'This magazine says something that probably makes some people think that we have mated, while we have not.'

'Then why don't you two jussst mate and get it over with?' asked the snake. 'I don't underssstand. You humansss are too complicated for me.'

"What are you two talking about?" asked Samantha curiously as she watched her boyfriend and her pet snake hiss at each other. It always perked their curiosity when the two did that. She hadn't even found out Sarlass's species yet, let alone what she ate -- or when exactly Remy fed her, if at all.

"You don't want to know," Remy said with a slight grin. "Believe me, you don't want to know." Then, he laughed a bit. "Although you're probably dying of curiosity," he added, his eyes twinkling with mischief. As the time went by, his behaviour was beginning to resemble that of his carrier more and more, although he still was clearly a Snape at times. However, even this laughter would have been impossible to coax out of him just a few months earlier. Samantha had truly done a miracle.

"Well, of course I am," replied Samantha calmly. "You've corrupted me."

*

Samantha yawned as she turned yet a new page of the book in front of her. She was exhausted, but couldn't tell anybody. Remy'd have got worried for no reason.

She had almost fainted that day in class for no apparent reason. She'd managed to convince everybody about the fact that she was fine, but now she was desperately hoping that Remy wouldn't find out. Especially she was worried of Sarlass telling him. Although she'd strictly forbidden the snake from uttering a single hiss about it, she still wasn't sure whether Remy would manage to coax the information out of the snake. And even if Sarlass stayed silent, there were always the rumours.

Samantha sighed. Remy didn't treat her like a porcelain doll, but he sure was more careful around her than around Hermione, and not just because they were dating. At times, it felt nice; mostly it was just irritating. Therefore, she definitely did not want to give Remy any more reasons to worry about her.

Suddenly, her eyes caught something surprising. There was a snake in the picture on the page -- a snake that looked exactly like Sarlass. Curious to know more about her pet, she started to read the passage under the picture.

"The Indian Bloodling Snake," she read. "Curiously, this particular snake does not require any actual food, instead getting its energy from magic. To create a bond with the person whose magic they are consuming they need to be fed a few drops of their blood regularly, that's why the name." Suddenly, she felt cold. Blood magic?

"Another bond the snake forms is the one with their master or mistress. Bloodlings are very protective of their owners, and don't hesitate to use their consumed magic if need be. They have a special ability to use their blood bond to transfer any harm inflicted upon their owner to the person they have a blood bond with. Even Unforgivable Curses are known to have passed the owner of the snake and affected the one giving their blood and magic instead."

Samantha raised her eyes very slowly from the book. Then her gaze landed on Sarlass, who for once was wrapped around her wrist. "Did Remy know about this when he gave you to me?" she questioned.

Sarlass just tilted her head, looking innocent. Then she hissed questioningly.

"Don't give me that," the small girl snapped irritably. "You're an Indian Bloodling Snake, aren't you? So, did he know when he gave you to me that you can use your bonds with us to transfer any harm from me to him?"

For a moment, Sarlass seemed to be thinking. Then, very slowly, she nodded.

Samantha cursed under her breath. "That idiot."

*

"Hi, Samantha!" called out a happy voice.

Samantha turned to smile at her boyfriend. "Oh, hi, Remy," she said. "So your classes ended already, eh? I thought you'd still have Charms."

"Well, I should have had that, yes," admitted Remy. "However, the previous class had somehow managed to fill the whole classroom with very sticky and strong spiderwebs, and we were told to just write an essay on Invisibility Charms. I almost pity Dad -- he still had seven students left to get out of the class room when I left."

Samantha laughed at that. The smile that followed, however, wasn't as bright as her usual smile. She was tired, and she definitely didn't feel too well at the moment.

"Hey, Samantha?" asked the older Ravenclaw, watching his girlfriend concernedly. She didn't look too good. "Are you sure you are all right?"

"What?" The small girl turned towards him and smiled a bit. "Oh, I'm fine, honestly, Remy. I'm just feeling a bit tired is all. There's nothing to worry about." However, just as she was saying this, her steps staggered a bit.

"Watch out!" exclaimed Remy as he grasped on her arm. "That's it," he said then, giving her a stern glance. "We are taking you to the Infirmary. Now."

"No. Really, Remy, I'm fine." And with that, she fainted right into his arms.

"Why do I have a feeling that this has happened before?" sighed the young wizard as he lifted his tiny girlfriend into his arms. Starting to carry her towards the Infirmary, he hissed at Sarlass, 'How could this happen?'

'I could do nothing, the One Who Ssspeaksss,' replied the snake. 'Ssshe was not hurt. The harm came from within her. That kind of harm I cannot transssfer to you dessspite my wissshesss; it is out of my power to do ssso.'

'Very well,' huffed Remy. 'I truly hope this won't happen again. I'm worried enough as it is.' After that, he stayed silent, concentrating on his precious load.

*

Remy hovered nervously around the hospital bed on which Samantha lay. "What's wrong with her?" he asked worriedly. "It won't take long from her to recover, right?"

"Nothing is seriously wrong, I can assure you," the mediwitch reassured him. "This is just a usual side-effect of Lacentria. It'll go away in a month or so," she said, then casted yet another scanning charm on Samantha and examined the results closely.

"Good, but what is it?" asked Remy irritably. "What will go away in a month?"

"Why, her magic allergy, of course." As his eyes widened, she huffed. "Yes, she can still do magic. However, she also needs some Muggle influence to compensate the magical stress that comes upon her during the lessons."

Now, Remy was truly puzzled for once. "What do you mean, 'Muggle influence?'"

Madam Pomfrey shrugged. "Well, usually Muggle movies and some junk food do pretty well," she said, smiling a bit at this.

For a moment, Remy just stared at her. Then a wicked grin spread onto his face. "You don't think she would mind company while taking her cure, do you?" he asked.

Madam Pomfrey merely rolled her eyes. "Oh, dear," she said, although she didn't sound too upset about his attitude to this.

*

"Okay," said Remy, glancing around. "Do we have everything we need now?"

"I think so," Hermione said, grinning. She, too, glanced around, looking at all the candies, snacks, and video tapes they had scattered around. She plopped down on the couch next to Samantha and took the remote control. "Okay. Let's begin."

Nobody complained about her taking control of the situation -- after all, she was a Muggleborn. Well, so Remy had grown up in a Muggle family, but he'd never got to watch videos with the Dursleys, so that didn't matter. So, he just sat on the other side of Samantha, Benjamin being sprawled on the nearby armchair.

After some time of fussing, reaching for the snacks, and muttered insults later, all four teens had their eyes nailed on the screen. Headmaster Dumbledore had kindly provided them with all charms required to make Muggle devices work inside Hogwarts, as well as the mentioned Muggle devices. Even though Samantha and Hermione had got to choose the movies, neither Remy nor Benjamin would have ever refused to participate in the little "Muggle party". For the snacks, the free time -- and in Remy's case for Samantha's company -- they were more than ready to bear some childish cartoons, not that they'd ever said aloud they were childish.

"Aww, isn't he cute!" squealed Samantha as soon as the little deer came into sight. When Bambi then tried to get up to his little feet, Hermione joined the squealing, too. The boys just glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.

The next time Samantha squealed was when the little skunk popped up from the flowers. Hermione giggled, "That skunk is really gay! I mean, just look at him!"

At Hermione's comment, Benjamin laughed. "Is there something you haven't told us, Remy?" he asked teasingly. "Perhaps something about resembling your parents?"

They continued watching, although not without Remy throwing a threatening glance at Benjamin. They all laughed when Bambi tried to slide on the ice, although the girls made pitying sounds as the little deer seemed to have hurt himself. Also, when they saw Flower all sleepy and tired, everybody but Remy laughed, especially after Hermione exclaimed, "Now I know why you're so lazy, Remy!"

A moment later, however, their laughter turned into shrieks. "Oh, no!" shouted Samantha, tears forming in her eyes. "His mama died! That's so sad!" Hermione sniffled, too. Remy drew Samantha into a hug, murmuring quietly to her.

'Why is ssshe ssso sssad?' asked Sarlass, sounding confused. 'What happened?'

'The little deer's mother just died in the story,' told Remy. 'Girls tend to get upset over those things. Besides, I think it reminds her of her own mother, who's dead.'

'I don't underssstand you humansss,' the snake hissed. 'Crying -- it'sss called crying, isssn't it? -- will not bring the lossst onesss back. It doesss no good. And besssidesss, thisss ssstory isss not real. Why are they ssso upssset?'

'I don't know, I'm not a girl,' replied Remy with a shrug. 'I think you have a better chance at understanding it than me -- after all, you're female, too.'

It didn't take long from the girls to cheer up, however, when the spring came again and little Bambi had grown up. They all laughed at the three animals' proud announcements about being never going to fall in love. When Flower then met a girl skunk, Benjamin laughed out loud at Remy's expression.

"What's that, Remy?" he asked teasingly. "Running away with some strange girl?!" Samantha pretended to give Remy a hurt gaze, while Hermione just laughed.

When it became Thumper's turn to meet a girl, however, it was Remy who spoke up. "Oh, Samantha, how could you do this to me?" he whined. "I'll never be able to get over this! I trusted you, and you cheated on me with some strange rabbit!"

"Oh, shut up!" shouted Hermione. "You went away with some strange skunk at first! She had every right to do that as you clearly didn't care about her!"

Now Remy pouted very uncharacteristically, and then suddenly turned into a skunk. Samantha just grinned at him. Then, suddenly, she had a pair of bunny ears on her head. Both Hermione and Benjamin looked very surprised, but Remy didn't say anything -- well, of course he couldn't, being still in his animal form. Instead, he now climbed into Samantha's lap, lying down looking every bit like he was going to stay there for a longer time. Samantha huffed at first, but then settled to pet his soft fur.

*

Sirius opened the door and looked into the living room of their quarters. He smirked as he saw Remy and Benjamin in the middle of a fight for the last popcorn, using a couple of couch pillows as weapons. Meanwhile, Samantha and Hermione were calmly eating candies, watching the Lion King very attentively.

"Well?" asked Severus, raising an eyebrow, as Sirius closed the door again. "What were they doing there? Nothing too bad, I hope."

"Well, considering that Hermione already has a boyfriend, Ben's dating with some girl, and Samantha has her big brother present, I don't think they'd do anything bad," laughed Sirius. Then he added, "Don't worry. They seemed fine to me."

"And by 'fine' you mean...?" Severus's eyebrow was still raised in question.

"Happy," replied Sirius. "Happy, carefree -- and absolutely un-Snape-ish." With a grin, he added, "It looks like Samantha and Hermione have managed to overcome even your genes in the end. I wonder what you would be like if your best friends had been two girls when you were younger!"

"Well, I most certainly wouldn't be married to you," said the Potions Master dryly. "So, be happy that my friends were all boys."

"Oh, I am very, very happy about that." And then, Sirius drew his husband into a fierce kiss -- not that Severus protested much.

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