An Experiment Gone Wrong

~~~~~~~~An Experiment Gone Wrong~~~~~~

* * * * *

"I'm bored....I hate when it snows like this," Harry said with a pout.

"I know, there's just nothing to do when it's snowing this hard....we can't even go out and play Quidditch!" Draco said crankily.

"Stop being such gits, there's plenty to do.....if you know where to look..." Remus said with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah Remy's right...I know something we could do too!" Severus said grinning as well.

"Alright then, what's so special that we could possibly do in this godforsaken place on a day like this eh? Why of all days did it have to snow anyway....just when we got our new Swiftriders!" Draco said annoyed.

"Oh stop whinging you git you'll get to ride your stupid brooms tomorrow. Sides, it's only a broom for Merlin's sake. I'm talking bout exploration here!" Remus said conspiratorially.

"Exploration? What kind of exploration? You know your da doesn't like us wandering round like that..." Harry said sternly.

"Oh lighten up Harry. Dad only doesn't want us to go wandering down into the dungeons....but he never said we couldn't go to the attic now...did he..." Severus said with a huge grin.

"The attic?! What on earth is so important in the bloody attic? It's all just old junk!" Draco said haughtily.

"Yeah....but it's really cool junk Dray! All sorts of neat things we can do up there, trust me. Sev and I used to go there a lot when we were younger and were bored, didn't we Sev," Remus said.

"Yeah, there's trunks and trunks of stuff like clothes and books and...Quidditch gear...." Severus said grinning at Harry and Draco.

"Quidditch gear?" Draco and Harry said at the same time, their interests peeked. "You've got that up there too?" Harry said.

"Yup! Course...if you'd rather just stay here and play some more Exploding Snap or chess we can do that...." Severus said with a mock sigh.

"Hell no! Let's go do some exploring then!" Draco said already heading towards the door. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go!" he said grinning.

Severus and Remus laughed and all 4 boys headed out towards the back staircase of the manor quietly so they wouldn't draw attention. It was the Yule hols and their parents were decorating the manor for the occasion. A huge Yule Ball had been planned for later that night and servants and house-elves were everywhere cleaning and putting up things, and the last thing the boys wanted was to be caught doing something they shouldn't be doing. Not that they weren't allowed normally to 'explore' the manor when they were there, but today wasn't the best day to be caught doing it with all the preparations.

They got to the attic nearly 10 minutes later half panting from the running and hiding they had had to do from everyone. "For Merlin's sake...why...is this place...so bloody big? I"ll take our small house anyday!" Harry said catching his breath.

"Bad luck?" Severus said catching his own breath.

"Hey this is one of the most noted manor's in all of the wizarding world thank you much...give it some respect for Salazar's sake..." Remus muttered recovering his breath. "Come on, attic's right down this way!" he said heading off.

The four of them walked up to a huge set of double doors that were made out of teakwood and had green and silver latticework adorning it. Luckily the hinges still seemed to be oiled enough where only the slightest squeak was let out when Remus opened them up.

"Well gentleman...welcome to the attic of Snape Manor!" Remus said with a grin.

"Whoa! This place is huge Remy! Wicked!" Harry said impressed now.

"It must run the whole length of the manor or something...cool!" Draco said awed.

"Actually it runs almost the length of the manor...at least from what we've managed to figure out over the years. We've never gone all the way to the back before though..." Severus said thoughtfully.

"Why on earth not? It's not like you haven't had enough time to explore this place when you two were growing up..." Harry said.

Remus and Severus looked at each other for a moment with a strange look in their eyes. "It's hard to explain but....there's something bout the back of the attic that's just...well...strange..." Remus said carefully.

"What...like ghosts or something? Come on you can't be scared of that! We see ghosts at school everyday!" Draco said scoffingly.

"Yeah right, like we'd be scared of ghosts..." Severus said huffily. "It's not that...and it's not as if we're really scared to go back there....we just...don't...that's all."

"Well if not ghosts, then what is it?" Draco said putting his hands on his hips.

Remus and Severus sighed and shook their heads. "If you really want to know...I guess we could show you...." Remus said quietly.

"Don't say we didn't warn you though..." Severus said fidgeting now.

"Oh come on, bunch of silly gits you are! I bet it's nothing..." Harry said heading towards the back of the attic now, and the other boys began to follow.

10 minutes later they arrived at another set of double doors, though these were far different then the ones they had come through earlier. Made of a heavy mahogany oak with a reddish brown tinting with green, silver, red and gold latticework climbing like ivy on the sides of the doors and even on the wall. But that's not what interested the boys, not in the least. It was what was on the doors that interested them because they knew they'd seen these things before.

Four crests were placed on the doors, 2 on each side of the double doors. On the right side of the doors was the crest of a golden rearing lion with a crown placed on it's head. The other crest on the same door just below the first one was of a coiled serpent ready to strike. On the leftside door the first crest was of a pair of wolves one grey and one black. While the crest just below that was of two wands crossed, sparks of red and gold flying out of the tips.

"Whoa....I know those two crests! That's the Gryffindor and Slytherin house crests! I've seen them at school!" Harry said pointing to the door on the right.

"But what are the other two? I've never seen them before...." Draco said puzzled.

"Well....the ones on the left door are family crests. The one on top is the Lupin-Snape family crest....the one on the bottom....is...err" Remus said shuffling his foot.

"Is what?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's the Potter family crest....from what we've gathered..." Severus said slowly and looked at his two friends.

"Po-Potter family crest? You mean...my family has a crest? Wicked!" Harry said awed now.

"Wait a minute...I do remember something now Harry...in the drawing room at the house I remember a photo album that mum has. She didn't know I found it cause I replaced it pretty quick, only got a glimpse really...and in one of the photo's there's this really really old guy wearing a robe with that crest on it. I bet it's one of our ancestors!" Draco said excitedly.

"Cor really? How come our parents never tell us bout our family? It's like there's something wrong with us or something I swear..." Harry said muttering.

"Hey don't worry Harry, our parents are like that too. They never talk bout the family, it's like it's a disease or something." Remus said with a chuckle.

"Well come on, let's not stand round here all day we've only got 5 hours till the ball. Are we going in or not?" Severus said glancing at the doors.

The other 3 boys nodded and each of them began to pull on the two black rings that held the doors closed. Only to their dismay the doors wouldn't budge. "Geez! Is it gummed up or something? Why won't they bloody open?" Draco said panting.

"Maybe because you don't know the password hmm?" a voice said amusedly from behind them causing them to jump and turn round guiltily.

"Dad! What are you doing here?" Remus said fidgeting.

The blackhaired man with a noticeably grey streak in his hair looked at the boys through his coal black eyes speculatively for a moment then grinned slightly. "One of the house-elves saw you heading out of your room and I figured you were just bored enough by now to end up here. Either that or the dungeons and I figured you wouldn't go there," he said with a grin.

"Awe dad...we were bored. We're sorry, didn't mean to...." Severus began quietly while gazing down at the ground in guilt.

The man gave a dismissive wave of his hand and looked at the boys. "No don't be sorry Sev. I suppose I'm the one that's sorry, I should have told you and Remus about this place years ago....but your mum's been so insistent on trying to maintain a 'normal' lifestyle...as if that could really ever happen for our two families," he said with a sigh.

"What do you mean by that Professor Snape?" Harry asked questioningly.

"Perhaps...it is time I showed you who and what this family really is. Not to mention who the two of you are," the man said looking at Harry and Draco now.

"The two of us sir?" Draco said surprised.

"Yes. Who you're descended from....who they were and what they did for this world of ours. Something that never should have been left to only books and legends. Are you ready to learn to learn the truth boys?" the man said quietly.

The four boys nodded in unison. "Yes." they said together.

Professor James Sirius Lupin Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts, father of Remus and Severus Snape knew this right time do what he was about to do. The boys were 16 now, and at the age where they should know who they were, and what had happened in the world all those years ago. So much had happened though he didn't know where to begin, but he knew it all began behind these doors. The truth of what happened all that time ago was here, and only here locked away from prying eyes and ears.

"Wolfsbane," James said slowly and in response the double doors shook for a moment then began to creak open slowly and he and the boys headed inside the darkened room.

The moment they walked in candles lit themselves in their scones, illuminating the windowless room with a golden daylight. There was a hush in the room as if they'd been the first people to step foot in this place in a long time, and indeed it was. It had been 40 years ago when a young James Snape had been caught by his father attempting to get into this room, and since then no one had been here till now.

It was Harry who first noticed the odd things hanging round the room and let out a gasp of surprise."Brooms! Blimey will you look at those brooms!" he said going over and examining them slowly. "Draco come here! You're not going to believe this...it's a Cleansweep! And a Nimbus 2000...and...."

"And a Nimbus 2001...and a Firebolt....and check it out...a Comet! A real Comet!" Draco said awed.

James chuckled and shook his head. "Pretty impressive eh? That's not just any collection of brooms mind you....go ahead and read the plaques on them," he said with a grin.

Harry, Draco, Remus and Severus began to read each plaque attached to the floating brooms.

The Cleansweep Series

A popular broom used even through the mid 1990's. Widely used for it's easy in ability even the most unskilled rider would have little problem controlling this broom. Popular to use to teach beginning flyers. This particular broom is the very same one that James Potter used during his years at Hogwarts School to win the Quidditch Cup all 7 years that he attended. He earned a plaque at the school for his chaser abilities and was widely known as one of the greatest chasers in Hogwarts History.

The Nimbus 2000/2001 Series

Swifter and lighter then the old Cleansweeps, it's movements were unparalleled during the later half of the 20th century. This Nimbus 2000 is a replica of the one in which the famous Harry Potter first used when he was only a 1st year Seeker on the Gryffindor House Team. The Nimbus 2001 here is the actual broom in which Draco Malfoy himself used while a Seeker for the Slytherin House Team, and the very same one he used to win the House Quidditch Cup for Slytherin.

The Firebolt Series

Several models were made of the Firebolts during the early part of the 21st Century, however none were comparable to the original. The fastest, lightest, most maneuverable broom made during the time it could outfly even the Nimbus 2001's in a second. This is the very same broom in which Sirius Black gave to Harry Potter in his 3rd year as Gryffindor House Seeker. Harry used it to eventually win the Gryffindor House Cup in his 5th, 6th and 7th years of Hogwarts. Harry Potter earned a Hogwarts School Plaque just like his father for his exceptional abilities in being a school Seeker.

The Comet Line Series

The Comet Line was the most uniquely designed broom ever built to date, and exclusive for Seekers. The merest touch would be enough to send this broomstick anywhere on the Quidditch Pitch that you needed to go. However due to it's extreme sensitivity this broom was pulled from the market for a time for refits. It was found that during moves such as the Wronski Feint that if the Seeker removed both hands from the broom they would be sent sprawling to the ground instantly.

Harry Potter was the first to find this out unfortunately as he was known for his unusual Snitch catches by removing both hands from the broomstick at given times. Breaking several of his bones in the process the Comet Broom Company was profusely apologetic and refitted the broom with Harry Potter's specialized instructions. There were no further problems after that and the Comet Line Series became the most popular Seekers broom ever built. This broom however is the actual first Comet that Harry Potter tested while he was a professional Quidditch Player with the Chudley Canons before finding out of the flaws.

DO NOT USE FOR RISK OF INJURY!

"Whoa! These are the actual broomsticks?" Harry said almost reverently.

James chuckled and nodded. "Yup, the very ones in which James and Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy used while they were at Hogwarts. Well, not the Nimbus 2000, that was destroyed from what I understand by a very fierce tree you all know as the Whomping Willow which still stands just outside the school. But I do believe it is a perfect replica of his original one."

"Hey...what's this dad?" Remus said uninterested in the brooms and finding a small black box instead, holding it out for the others to see.

"Ahh...now that's a particular interesting piece you've got there son. Go head and open it up," James said with a smile.

Remus did as his dad said and peered into the box. All he saw however was a small red sliver of something he couldn't place. "What is it?" he asked puzzled.

"That son, is a piece of the famous 'Philosopher's Stone'," James said.

"The Philosopher's Stone? I thought that was just a myth?" Draco said.

James shook his head. "'Fraid not. It was very real, and very dangerous. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley nearly lost their lives trying to protect that stone. In the end however it was destroyed for the better good by the people who created it, Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."

"Cor so it was all real? We're they really only 11 when this all happened?" Harry said skeptically.

"Yes they were Harry. It was the very end of their 1st year at Hogwarts when it all happened. Harry Potter faced his nemesis Voldemort in the dungeons of the school and thankfully using the power of Love Magic, was able to hold off Voldemort's return to power. Flamel himself gave Harry Potter that sliver of stone as a reminder of the good that had come out of such a horrible event," James said.

"Dad? Who are all these people?" Severus said coming from another area of the room with a large book in his hands.

James took the book from Severus's hand and sat down on a trunk nearby with the initials R.J.L. on it. "Ah, I see you've found the family album Sev. Good show," he said grinning.

"Family album? We have one of those?" Remus said excitedly his brown eyes glittering.

"Of course we do Remus, why wouldn't we?" James said.

"Guess I never really thought about it. Mum never talks bout the family history," Remus said sitting down on the trunk next to his father.

"Well, your mum doesn't exactly like to dwell on the past boys. There were a lot of dark things that happened back then. And our ancestors....were right there with the best of them," James said opening the book to the picture of a messy raven haired man in glasses and of a redhaired woman holding a tiny raven haired baby and waving and smiling at the camera happily.

"Really? You mean our family once practised dark magic?" Severus said dumbstruck.

James nodded. "Dark times called for dark measures son. And we weren't the only family to use the dark against the dark. The Potters did too. And the Malfoy's were one of the worst users of dark magic ever. Right up there with Voldemort himself," he said looking over at Harry and Draco.

Harry and Draco let out astonished squeaks. "No way! How could that be?" Draco said refusing to believe it.

James sighed and looked down at the first page of the photo album on his knees. "I suppose I should start at the beginning, because that's really the only place to start. The history books of today don't accurately depict what really happened back then, but the notes and diaries and photos here in these trunks that belonged to all of our ancestors..." he said tapping the one he was sitting on and pointing to the others in the room. "They tell the true story."

"What is the true story dad?" Severus said sitting down on the one of the other trunks, one with the initials S.S.S. On it. Harry and Draco followed suit sitting down on a trunk with the initials H.J.P. On it.

"Well...the tale begins over 400 years ago....during what was to become called the 'The Dark Ages'....and what would happen to once and for all put an end to the evils that plagued the wizarding world. And the men and women responsible for bringing about what we call now the 'Age of Peace' were none other than..." James began, and for the next few hours the tales of the past began to weave themselves through pictures and words.

* * * * *

A year later Harry and Draco Potter and Severus and Remus Snape graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and they had never forgotten the tale that the Headmaster had told them during that Yule holiday. After that day in the attic they went back there a few times, learning who they were and why they had the names they did. From those days on they had become prouder of who they were, and what their families had done for the world.

They wanted to be just like their ancestors, and even recreated the group called the 'marauders' in secret. Though Harry and Draco had been Gryffindor's, and Remus and Severus had been Slytherins they had been best of friends since the day they had met on the first train ride 7 years prior. They had never met before being that the Potters had lived in a place called Godric's Hollow and the Snape's family manor was in Kent, but they had heard of each other and found they had a lot in common.

The fact that they were fraternal twin sets, that they all had had snowy owls with them, and that they were both from ancient wizarding lines created a bond with these four boys that lasted through thick and thin. And now that they knew that their two families were interconnected in other ways, they knew they would never let the past slip away again. These two families were meant to be together, and not surprisingly...in the end they were.

They bought a house together in Hogsmeade two years after graduation. Harry and Draco worked for the ministry under the supervision of a man named Patrick Dursley. Apparently while sorting through the diaries of Harry Potter they found that he was a distant relation of the Potters, a descendant of a cousin named Dudley Dursley. This cousin had given birth to a wizard child and Dudley had finally come to terms with having another 'freak' in the family. Their son married a witch after he left Hogwarts and he never went back into the muggle world again nor did any of the Dursley descendants.

As it had happened several professors had left the school that year including the potions and DADA teachers, and Severus and Remus filled in those positions respectively, and very glad to do so. Harry and Draco teased them horridly however when they found out saying how it was irony at it's best. Considering they were taking over the jobs of their namesakes from 400 years past, but Severus and Remus just grinned and couldn't have been happier.

Though they're jobs kept them busy, they always managed to make time to meet during the holidays and summers. It came as no surprise. in the wizarding world however when Harry Potter and Remus Snape, and Draco Potter and Severus Snape announced their duel engagements to each other. Though they had no date for the wedding, everyone was sure it would be an event to remember once the day came.

And back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry things still stayed the same. Children would come and go, new faces mingling with old. At the moment though the headmaster of Hogwarts was out for an afternoon stroll by the lake, his thoughts not on his children for he knew all was well with that. It wasn't on the coming full moon, for he had already taken his wolfsbane potion that morning. He had been grateful the werewolf genes had skipped the boys, though he would have loved them nonetheless if it hadn't. So it wasn't the moon that bothered him either.

He didn't realize that he had now wandered to an area on the far side of the lake, an old footpath barely visible unless you knew it was there seemed to be beckoning him. He wandered down the pathway a bit until he came to a spot he often would visit, a place known only to the headmasters of Hogwarts though had anyone really wanted to find it they could have. It was a special place, a sanctuary of sorts that had been there since the days of Godric himself. A place for the headmasters to gain insight, and spiritual balance if need be. A place where thoughts could be made into words, and often times...answered.

James sat down on the white bench that had magically been altered to resist sun or rain or snow from fading it. The area was peaceful as always, calm and quiet, not even the sound of birds came to this place. James closed his eyes to think a moment, a suddenly he knew he wasn't alone.

"You're awfully thoughtful today James, anything wrong?" a voice said from off to James's side.

"Not really. Just the usual run of the mill things," James said opening his eyes to look at the person the voice belonged to.

The person shook his head and chuckled before gliding over to where James was. "Being a Headmaster is a big responsibility sometimes I know. I wonder myself why I was ever coerced into the job."

"I don't remember you complaining at the time though. In fact I recall you being quite eager to accept it..." a second voice said with a drawl and glided over to where the other two were.

"Hmph, I recall not having been giving the option now was I. However...I was glad in the end to take it on. Responsibility and all I doubt I'd have traded a single day of it," the first person said with a wistful sigh.

"Does it ever get easier?" James asked wearily.

The first person laughed and shook his head. "No, never does James. But as someone once told me that all I needed was to believe in myself....so I say to you. You're doing a fine job James, don't think you're not. Albus himself would be proud of you. We're proud of you," the person said.

The second person nodded his head and smiled. "We are at that. Look at all you've done with your life James. You have a lovely wife, two wonderful sons who are about to get married, became Headmaster when you were only 25 years old which is a feat in itself I might add...what more could you want?"

James thought on that for a moment and shook his head with a small smile. "Nothing I suppose. Nothing at all. I just wonder if I'm doing a good job sometimes. I don't want to let anyone down. I need to know that I'm being fair, just and loyal to what I am..." he said with a small sigh.

"As an old friend once told me that the only person I was unloyal to....was myself. I really believe that now, because it was so true. I had no faith in who I was nor what I wanted from my life. But something brought me back from that James. Something truly wonderful made me believe in it all again...." the second person said.

"And what was that?" James asked.

"Love James. It was love. When I stopped hating long enough to find love again....I found...myself. It was easy after that, and I never gave up on that love. If I had, you wouldn't be here now," the second persons said with a smile.

James looked at the person carefully for a moment then smiled. "I guess your right. I don't know what my life would have been like with out Shosie and the boys...not to mention the children and the school. They're my inspiration....and they believe in me. It would be foolish for me not to believe in myself then wouldn't it."

The two men nodded. "Very much so. Now go on back to the school, we'll have another chat soon if you want to. You know we are always here for you...and always will be," the second person said quietly.

James nodded, got up off the bench and walked over to where there were some stones embedded into the ground. Like the bench they were magically enhanced to repel the weather and never fade. He gazed down at them a moment before asking one last question. "Was it all worth it in the end?" he asked quietly.

The two men gazed off into the forest a moment in thought before turning back to James. "It was worth more than you could ever possibly know James," The second man said looking at the first person with a loving smile on his face.

James didn't turn back to look at the two people, instead he walked back down the path feeling a bit lighter then when he had arrived. He knew he could always count on the two people to help him when he needed it, or when he just needed that reassurance like now. And he knew he'd be back to this sanctuary, because that's what it was there for.

The two people watched James leave, soft smiles on their faces. When he was gone they turned to each other and gently wrapped their arms round each others body, content in the way things had happened over all these years. Even though some people had grown apart in all these many years, things had a funny way of coming back full circle.

"So my love...what would you like to do today hmm?" the second person said placing a small kiss on the first person's cheek.

"Oh I don't know...want to go up to the castle and see Richard and Edward? I hear Nick's finally taught them how to play football...could be interesting to join in on a match," the first person said grinning and giving his lifemate a returned kiss on the cheek.

"Hmm football eh? Long as Myrtle's not on our team this time I do believe that might be a grand idea luv. Shall we then?" the second person said taking his lifemates hand in his.

"By all means my love, by all means..." the first person said happily, and the two people glided off towards the castle discussing the latest batch of Gryffindor's and Slytherin's and who might win the Quidditch and House cups this year.

The clearing was left behind and only the stirring of a few blades of grass moved as the wind swept through. No creature would dare come to this glade, nor would any leaf dare fall off the trees littering the stones. Even at nights the very words on the stones glowed with a magicalness, a tribute to the great people that they represented. Thanks to these and the other brave names of the past, a time of peace had reigned, and all because of mismatched experiments and the power of love.

~~~~Remus J. Lupin-Snape~~~~

B. 1960 D. 2090

Headmaster of Hogwarts

Husband, Father

Loved By All Who Knew Him

Gryffindor

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B. 1960 D. 2090

Potions Master Of Hogwarts

Husband, Father

He Would Not Live Without Love

Slytherin

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B. 1845 D. 2025

Headmaster Of Hogwarts

Finally Found His True Desire -

The Perfect Pair Of Socks

Gryffindor

* * * * *

B. 1984 D. 2105

Seeker For The Chudley Canons

Headmaster Of Hogwarts

Husband, Father

Heir Of The Gryffindors

* * * * *

B. 1984 D. 2116

Potions Master Of Hogwarts

Husband, Father

Found Strength In His Only Love

Slytherin

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