Harry Potter and the Nymph’s Song

Chapter One: Naturally, the Gemini, and a Mothers words

Chase Pyrce tilted his head back and smiled at nothing really. His bleach blond hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and a few strands fell into his pink tinged gray eyes. His skin was pale and he had delicate look about him. He would neither confirm nor deny that.

“Why are you smiling?” His brother demanded, staring at him with wide green eyes. “We’re visiting our mum in the mental ward and your grinning.”

“Since we’re probably gong to end up here I figured I’d get used to the place.” Chase said, no emotion in his voice to tell if he was joking or not.

Brennan Pyrce blinked then shook his head. His brother frightened him at times. “I can’t speak for you, but I’m not going to come here for any reason except to see mum.”

“Deny deny deny.” Chase giggled and shook his head. “What ever works for you Bren. I know what I’m destined for.”

The two boys fell into silence for the next five minutes until a kind looking woman dressed in white came out of the back and motioned for them to follow. The rose to their feet and Chase winced visible at the way his brother just towered over him. Then again everyone towered over him.

They walked down pristine white hallways and up a flight of stairs to the private rooms, which proved if you had the money, you could be kept happy even when you had taken total leave of your senses.

The room was a nice size for one person, especially considering that she sat around in her bed all day and rarely moved. And there she was, laid out on the bed, long brown and red hair fanned out around her.

“And of course this is how I wanted to spend my day.” Brennan muttered, taking a seat next to the woman’s bed. “Alright, lets hear it.”

Chase snorted but didn’t bother sitting down. He was a curious boy, always had been, so he roamed about, poking into every little corner. It was the same every time they came. Brennan would sit and watch their mother, their mother would stare straight ahead, and Chase would look for something interesting to do.

He never found it.

He let his fingers run over a dusty photo album then pulled it off of the bookshelf and walked over to the bed and crawled onto the bed then sat cross-legged across from Brennan. The brunette boy grimaced.

“Get off of the woman’s bed.”

“Like she cares.” Chase snickered and opened the book. The first picture was of three girls standing in front of a large castle, waving up at him frantically. He looked down at the caption. “Autumn, Lily, and Narcissa, year four.”

“Aunt Narcissa?” Brennan asked, looking. The first girl was clearly his mother, with her tall thin form and flowing brown-red hair. Her brown eyes sparkled at him playfully. The one next to her also had reddish-brown hair, but her eyes were a vivid green that put Brennan’s to shame. Next to her was a beautiful girl with blond hair cut just below her chin. The first two had lions on their robes, but the last had a snake.

Chase flipped the pages, which showed the same three girls over the course of seven years. Then he stopped at the picture of two people, both boys, one with longish black hair and the other one with short, both looking like they would rather be anywhere else. It took a moment for the words underneath to sink in. Then he smirked.

“Uncle Severus was hot once upon a time wasn’t he?

“Eww, no. Who’s James? Do we know a James?”

“No.” Chase said, grinning. “But it might be because he’s dead.”

“Eh?”

“Well, duh much, how many Gryffindor James’ do you know of who were in the same year as her?” He nodded towards the sleeping woman.

“No way was our mother friends with James Potter.”

Chase shrugged and flipped the page again and looked down at that next caption. Brennan nodded at this one. This was more believable.

“Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.” Chase raised an eyebrow. “Do you think mom and Mr. Black had many adventures with the Dark Lord? You know, running about, killing loads of people, pillaging villages, betraying all their friends, and raping muggle children?”

“You have a fucked up sense of humor.” Brennan said, shuddering a little.

“At least I come by it naturally.” Chase said cheerfully. “How you ended up such a good person is beyond me.” As he spoke he turned a few more pages then laughed loudly. “Harry, Lily, and James. What was that about our mom not being friends with the infamous Potters?”

“They had bad taste in friends.” Brennan said solemnly. “Got them killed.”

“Most likely.” Chase stopped and fingered another picture. “Their kid was cute.”

“Chase, he’s one in that picture.” Brennan said calmly.

“And?” Chase asked defensively. “That means he can’t be cute? I bet he’s pretty hot now.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Naturally.” Chase grinned and leaned towards his brother until they were less then an inch apart and Brennan had a panicky look on his face. He licked his lips then grinned and kissed the tip of Brennan’s nose. “But I come by that naturally as well.”

Brennan pushed him away and shook his head. “You are such a sicko.”

“Duh much?” Chase asked, looking back down. He stopped on one picture then looked around. He grabbed a dinner knife from his mother’s bedside table and began cutting the plastic around the picture and the one under it as well.

Brennan sighed, why did this feel so much like grave robbing? She was their mother and she was technically alive, even if she only moved to be fed and spout off a few obscure and utterly senseless things, he shouldn’t feel horrible because Chase wanted to take a few things.

“The Gemini.” Chase said tossing a picture to him. “That’s the title.”

Brennan took the photo and his anger melted instantly. There was a younger and more alive Autumn Pyrce, standing next to their uncle Severus who was gracing the photo with a smile he had reserved for one person, and sitting on the ground in front of them was Brennan, a two year old with lots of curls and Chase, who was one and totally bald.

“Why did she call us that?” Chase asked absently. “We aren’t twins.”

“Does it matter?”

“Guess not.” Chase said, shutting the book and sliding off of the bed to look for more stuff. He pulled out a notebook with silver glitter all over the cover and the words ‘Autumn Lilies’ scrawled across the top in loopy letters. He flipped it open and was surprised to see poetry; only he knew it wasn’t poetry.

He tossed it at Brennan and continued to look through the books on the shelf. He had never looked through the books before and already they were proving more interesting then everything else in this room.

This room, which reminded him of death, with it’s dry, hospital smell and totally white walls and floors and sheets and damn if the curtains on the windows weren’t white too. Suddenly he hated the color and stormed over to the large windows, grabbed one side and yanked, hard. There was brief resistance and then they came tumbling down and he was sitting in a pile of white fabric, while pale sunlight flooded the room for the first time in years.

Or at least Chase thought it was years; he had never seen a single ray of the stuff in this room.

“In the time when darkness rises a new

The Gemini shall go to the place where battles will ensue.”

“Can I take a rain check?” Chase asked, pulling the curtains off of him. Brennan smiled then continued.

“The fifth shall betray them

And he shall obey his lord’s every whim

Four shall learn things, better left buried

They shall take on burdens never carried”

“She was reaching for rhymes wasn’t she?” Chase asked, plopping back on the bed. Brennan ignored him this time.

“And the visions shall slam into the unwilling one

And in the end it’s all or none

The world will weep and the earth shall bleed

And the nymph’s song will be uttered in the time of ultimate need

And fights with insanity will be won and lost

A life is the only cost

Traitors will confess their sins

And the lost will let light back in

The Lady will reclaim what is owed

The seeds of darkness have been sowed

And then there will be silence?”

“Our mother was creepy.” Chase said smiling slightly. “And her obscure ramblings aka prophecies are total bull shit and you know it, right?”

Brennan nodded. “Yeah but sometimes I wish…well, you know.”

“No, I don’t.” Chase shrugged. “I don’t wish for things I’ve never had. We never had a mother, get over it. It’s not something to cry over.”

“Because you don’t care about anything other then yourself.” Brennan muttered. Chase smiled.

“I’m a selfish prick, oh well. When everyone else is trying to be a hero, I’ll still be alive.”

Brennan shrugged and, after a moment of thought, put the notebook in his coat pocket, ignoring the look Chase gave him. Maybe he would look through it later, maybe he would forget about it, but he would take it anyway.

“God, is it time to go yet?” Chase asked. Brennan looked at his watch.

“We can to the gardens for about ten minutes. Uncle Severus should be here by then.”

Chase nodded happily and bounced off of the bed and out of the room. He really hated to be there and the longer he stayed the worse it would be for everyone else. The gardens outside were the only not depressing part of this place, because the more active patients were let out when their families visited. The colorful flowers and plants were more then enough to keep even Chase’s attention for long periods of time.

Brennan just stood at the entrance and watched his brother wander around for a while, not paying attention to the time and focusing on Chase, a faint smile gracing his features. Chase was…special.

He could literally go from being the happiest person in the world to sobbing on the floor to trying to kill himself, Brennan knew because he had seen it. He’d heard a few terms from people trying to figure out what was making Chase act that way. Manic-depressive, hormonally imbalance, sociopath, and just plain insane. Funny thing was, none of them were true.

Chase was just Chase, and he lived in a world that was perfect in it’s imperfection, and was twisted and dark and deadly, but it suited him, and he was caught between two personalities, and he hated everything and everyone, yet would never raise a hand in anger, and he was beautiful, but there was nothing special about him. Sarcasm and sincerity meant the same thing to him, and he could be a demon or an angel, it was all a matter of how he woke up that day.

He was all of those things, but he wasn’t insane and had always been in full control of himself, to a point where he made everyone else look crazy, he just was.

“Brennan.”

The boy turned and jumped. It was only his uncle, but this man just screamed fear me, so Brennan did. The person Brennan knew of that could look Severus Snape in the eye and not flinch was Chase, because they were two of a kind in a way. They both had deep haunted eyes.

“Uncle Severus.” It wasn’t that he didn’t like his uncle, he was family kind of, but they had never gotten along. “I’ll get Chase.”

“No need.” Severus said. As they spoke Chase came walking down one of the many paths. His face lit up instantly, and Brennan was all but knocked over as his younger brother more or less tackled the man. Severus looked amused, and there was that faint glimmer of a smile reserved for Chase and Chase alone.

And thus the reason they didn’t get along. They had different views on how to handle the puzzle that was Chase, and they just…clashed all of the time over that, and just about everything else. But mostly it was Chase.

The bleached hair had been approved by their uncle, the multiple piercing had been approved and signed for by their uncle, and the goth/tramp/punk clothes Chase liked so much, were most likely paid for by their uncle. Brennan didn’t like any of.

He wanted a brother, not some…androgynous kid around. But no one cared what he wanted these days.

Chase tugged at his sleeve and rolled his eyes. “Are you paying attention to a word we’ve said?”

“Uh.”

“Guess not. Well, come on, Uncle Severus wants us to meet the headmaster guy of that school-”

“Hogwarts.” Brennan broke in. “And his name is Dumbledore.”

“And get sorted.” Chase finished then shot his a withering look. “Do I look like I care what the names of the school or the guy are Brennan?”

Brennan shrugged then followed Chase and Severus back inside. His uncle talked to the witch behind the desk who smiled and handed him a small bag. Brennan’s heart sank.

“Can I just say how sick Floo Powder makes me feel?” He asked, already heading towards the large fireplace they had just for people traveling this way. He was ignored, because he had said this many times before and there was no point in reprising the argument.

Instead his was given instructions.

“When you go in say Gemini Corner.” Severus stopped at the looks they gave him. “She named it.”

“Ah.” Chase nodded. “Can we say obsessive?”

Brennan snickered then stepped into the magical fire, already feeling queasy. “Gemini Corner!”

Chase watched as his brother spun out of sight. “Were you friends with James Potter?”

Severus’ eyebrow went up. “Is your short attention span starting to get to you again?”

Chase shrugged. He had a tendency to jump from subject to subject rapidly and it did tend to confuse most sane people. No matter what Brennan insisted Chase was pretty sure he was almost as crazy as his mother, but he didn’t let it bother him. Sanity was highly overrated anyway; all it did in the end was give you thoughts and doubts and kept you from having any fun, ever. And it was nice to be living proof of the term sanity is all relative.

“I pinched one of Mum’s photo albums when Bren was doing the good son thing.” Chase admitted. “And the two of you were in a few pictures together.”

“Yes.” Severus winced. “The girls had us wrapped around their fingers.”

“Please feel free to elaborate on that.”

“Autumn, Lily, and Narcissa. The three of them were…great friends and they had us, me, Lucius, Pettigrew, Lupin, Black and Potter-” There was obvious distaste in his voice and Chase got the impression he didn’t care for any of the men he had just named. “At their every beck and call.”

“They had you by the balls?” Chase tilted his head off to the side. “Poor you. What happened?”

“Everything.”

“A hat.” Chase said for the twentieth time. “How is a hat going to determine what house I should be in? What if I don’t want to leave my fate up to a fucking hat?”

“Just keep your mouth closed.” Severus said, leading the way through the winding halls of Hogwarts. The had ended up in their uncle’s quarters then a brief argument had erupted between Chase and Brennan, which had been solved with the threat of being grounded for the rest of the summer.

But, it was still a damn hat. Chase didn’t get it. Whose idea had it been to trust a piece of fabric to decide what a kid was going to do for the next seven years and who he was going to do it with. Maybe it was just him, but he didn’t want to have anything decided by a goddamned hat. It conflicted with his rebellious nature, not to mention that he had enough trouble believing and trusting people, and at least they were alive. This was a hat. He didn’t feel he could stress that point enough.

It was a damn hat!

Was he the only one that saw a problem with this?

He was so caught up in his little mental rant that he didn’t even realize he had been lead into a large room. No that wasn’t a great way to get yourself killed.

It was a big room and the ceiling reminded him of the sky, a dull gray color with a few clouds. Then again, it was England, what else would he expect except gray clouds, even in the summer? It was pretty much empty except for a stool on which a hat, which was patched all over, and four people. An old guy with a long white beard and hair to match, half moon glasses and bright blue eyes, a woman with a stern face and brown hair pulled back into a bun, a tall black man, who was the only one not dressed in robes, but jeans and a t-shirt instead, and a short kind of plump woman, with a kind face and tan, leathery skin, like someone who spent a great deal of time outside.

“Ah, you must be Chase.” The older man said, looking at him. “Which makes you Brennan.”

“Yes sir.” Brennan replied politely. The man blinked, looking startled, then smiled.

“Well, it has been quite sometime since anyone has called me anything but Headmaster and ‘That crazy old coot.’” He glanced at the other four adults pointedly. “How refreshing.”

“Who knew, being a kiss ass does come in handy.” Chase said, looking down at his nails and the chipping blue varnish. It wasn’t until he felt eyes on him that he looked up and around. Everyone but Severus had varying degrees of surprise of their faces; Severus on the other hand just looked amused. Chase was clueless as to why everyone was looking at him then a thought struck. “I said that out loud didn’t I? Sorry, side effect of this very interesting mediation they have me on.”

“I wasn’t aware of the fact you were taking any medication.” The younger man said, glancing at the two women standing next to him. Chase grinned.

“I’m not.”

Severus cleared his throat. “Maybe we should move on. I do have to have them home before the semester starts.”

“If you must.” The older man sighed at the less then amused looks his staff gave him. Did no one have a sense of humor these days? He was so alone. “I am Headmaster Dumbledore, this is Professor McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor house, Professor Sprout, the head of the Hufflepuff house, and Professor Vector, the head of the Ravenclaw house. And Professor Snape, head of Slytherin, but I’m sure you knew that.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “You’re last name is Snape?

“That’s not…Severus Snape…alright.” Brennan looked the other way. It was surprising that he hadn’t known that, he knew he had heard people say it, but that was like calling his mother Autumn. Who the hell is Autumn was his most common response. She was doomed to be just Mum to him.

They were getting the ‘I am your uncle and legal guardian, I know your middle names and I am not afraid to use them’ looks™, so they shut their mouths and settled for muffled snickering.

McGonagall frowned slightly then picked the hat up off of the stool. “Brennan, you first.”

The brunette boy complied and sat down then frowned when the hat was placed on his head. A second later there was a scratchy whisper in his ear.

‘A kind hearted boy, excellent trait, smart enough to get by maybe Hufflepuff…but a nasty obsession I see, quite unhealthy, more of a Slytherin trait but still…yes, it had better be’

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

Professor Sprout smiled at him as he took off the hat. “It will be a pleasure to have you in my house.” Brennan smiled back.

“Thanks Ma’am.”

Chase’s eye twitched. ‘Kiss ass! There, didn’t say it out loud that time.’

“If you would Chase.”

He shrugged and sat down, trying not to wince when the hat was placed on his head. Patchwork headgear clashed with his outfit and his hair and…everything.

‘This is easy, a dark one through and through, just like your mother, I remember her well…there is only one place-’ “SLY-” Chase wondered if taking a pair of shears to this thing would be considered murder. ‘Eep.’

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Chase snorted and took the hat off; that had actually been kind of fun. Wow, that said a lot about him, didn’t it? Not that he was disturbed by it or anything, he was who he was, but he did not like the resemblance he was starting to show to his mother as far as attitude and overwhelming insanity went. It was getting more pronounced as he got older and he had to say he didn’t like it in the least. And as far as his house choice went, yes his mother had been in Gryffindor, but the only friend who gave a damn about her today had been in Slytherin, plus there was the fact their family had never been wound too tight and the girls were raised to obey, look pretty, keep those legs crossed and their mouths shut. She had been fucked from the beginning and had never had an actual chance to be anything but what she had ended up being, which was a Hogwarts dropout with one son she gave up, and two more a few years later.

Chase had more of a chance; he had Brennan and his uncle, who had actually threatened him with bodily harm if he ended up in Slytherin. He had failed with his mother; he didn’t want the same for Chase.

Which was fine, because Chase had no interest in following in his mother’s footsteps. He just wasn’t too sure he was ever going to have a choice in the matter, other then his pathetic struggle against everything she had stood for and he was predestined to believe in, because he was her son and he was already a nut job, it seemed like a natural progression.

“I think I’m contradicting myself.” Chase murmured, pushing a few strands of hair from his face. He paused when he realized he had spoken aloud again. “Heh. Sorry.”

Professor McGonagall gave him a quick once over and he could feel her distaste for the too tight, too low on the hips jeans, the midriff baring shirt that showed of his belly ring and chain, the seven, or was it eight, earrings divided between his two ears, his too white hair and the dark roots, probably his contacts, which didn’t improve his horrible vision that much, the way his robes were wrinkled and unbuttoned, and what the hell, probably the fact that the rubber bands on his braces were green and silver.

“Well, I certainly hope you turn out better then your mother.” She said finally. Chase swallowed and looked her straight in the eye. If he could stand up to his uncle this chick was a piece of pie…or was that cake. Same difference.

“Thank you for the concern.” Hey, he had said something with no evident sarcasm. He hadn’t known he could do that. Wow.

“Severus, if you have a moment?” Professor Vector asked. The dark haired man raised an eyebrow then nodded.

“We can talk on the way to my office.” He glanced at the Headmaster. “If there’s nothing else?”

Dumbledore shook his head. “Anything else for the boys I’ll contact you about, I have other things to attend to at the moment, and I must be on my way.”

“As must I.” McGonagall said. “I will see you later Mr. Pyrce.” Chase took a step away from her.

Sprout was considerably more pleasant. She clapped Brennan on the shoulder and flashed him a warm smile. “See you soon Brennan.”

“That so isn’t fair.” Chase said a few minutes later, unable to contain himself. “Why do you get the nice one when I get I get stuck with an old female version of Uncle Severus?”

Professor Vector choked loudly and Severus’ eye twitched at the thought. Chase just shrugged and hung his head sadly. Brennan patted his shoulder a little then grinned at the death glare that was laid on him.

“Poor Chasey.”

“You wanted something?”

Vector blinked then nodded. “The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

Severus’ eyes flashed angrily. “What about it?”

“Do you know who it is?” Vector asked.

“No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me.” Severus didn’t hate Vector, or even dislike that much, but the man was annoyingly patient man and refused to leave him alone, no matter how he acted. It was just a little bit discouraging. He could send his oldest nephew hiding in his room, but he couldn’t scare a boy over ten years younger then him, enough to get out of his face for a few minutes.

“Actually, I am.” Vector shot him a dark look. “I don’t suppose you remember William Rite?”

“Yes, I do. Ravenclaw, got out four years ago, with honors, spiked the punch when he was in his fifth year. Why?” Vector looked at him pointedly. Severus blanched. “You aren’t serious?”

“Would I lie to you?” Vector paused. “Wait.”

“I believe in your last year you tried to convince me that you’re toad was supposed to be that color.”

Vector was relatively young as far as teachers went, and since Severus had been teaching for the better part of fifteen years, there had been a period of time when he had taught Vector. Vector had been annoying then, but he had been bright and hadn’t fucked anything up to bad, so he had been one of Severus’ most liked students.

“Well…I still say some toads can be silver.” Vector nodded a little.

“It was green when I gave it to you.”

Vector sighed. “Fine, this is hardly the point. The point is we have a psychopath teaching the kids how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, which makes this the most important class they’ll have, since you -know-who is back.”

“Wonderful.” He muttered. “Wait here while I send them home.”

Vector did as told and stood outside of Severus’ office while he assumed the man was sending his nephews wherever it was they went. He knew one went to a school n Scotland while the other one went to one in California, and he guessed they stayed with their uncle during the summer. Where that was, Vector had no idea, and had never really thought about it until now.

The door opened and Severus walked out, looking a little put out, but then he remembered he wasn’t alone and settled back into his usual brooding expression. Vector rolled his eyes. Honestly.

“Should you be baby-sitting?”

Severus glared. “They can take care of themselves, and if they couldn’t they do have familes they go back to.” Vector looked surprised. “You didn’t think I could raise the two of them did you? They’re hell spawned, you should know that.”

“Hell spawned? Wouldn’t they be in your house then?” Vector asked.

“You’d think that.” Severus said. “But hell spawned doesn’t make them evil. It just means their parents are.”

“You know.” Vector said musingly. “There are rumors that you and their mother were more then friends.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you here.” The older man smirked. “What if rumors went around that your name was Vare?”

Vector shuddered. “That’s cold, even for you.”

Severus didn’t look phased. “Anything else you wanted to bother me about?”

Ignoring his tone Vector smiled pleasantly, enjoying the look of almost loathing of his former teacher’s face. “It’s early, you want to get a drink?”

Dark eyebrows went up and for a moment Vector thought he had over stepped his bounds, yes he did acknowledge that there were boundaries when it came to bothering the man, but then Severus shook his head.

“I have better things to do.” Sure he did. “But I’ll go.”

Vector sighed. “So sorry to take up your precious time that could be sent plotting how to drive your students to jumping off of the nearest towers.”

“As long as you know I could be doing better things.”

Vector’s mouth dropped open. Had he just made a joke? Maybe he didn’t want to go out after all. This was one of those go visit his mother and see if she had anything decent to eat then hide under the covers type things. Severus Snape cracking jokes was an earth-shattering event.

Almost as scary then the Dark Lord.

Oh my god, Snape has friends…okay a friend, but still…wow.