Son of Serpents

Severus watched the tearful goodbye from the living room. More specifically, the tears belonged to Andromeda Tonks, even though she tried to stifle them as she hugged her nephew goodbye. Kierandus managed to remain dry throughout the hugs and last words, but then again,, he thought he was going away for school.

Fool. All excited about being introduced to the Wizarding World. Can't wait to start his new life at a great, big, magical school. Snape thought snidely to himself, preparing the hearth for a small fire.

Eventually the logs lit under the coaxing of his wand. Severus reached into his pocket and set a small bag of floo powder on the mantle. Glancing back at the odd pair, and saw Kierandus smiling with his aunt, his hands tightly clasping hers. Within a week he'll be weeping to be back here.

Finally, Andromeda stepped back from her nephew, her composed face trembling. It was fear, Severus reckoned, that caused the dignified woman to cry. She knew what Kierandus would be facing in the upcoming weeks; the boy didn't.

She has a valid reason to fear. She's raised a child born from the worst luck possible. With that thought, Snape instructed Kierandus to start the menial task of trudging luggage. The boy raised an eyebrow, but when his aunt nodded in agreement, he started upstairs to get his bags.

"This was the right thing to do, wasn't it?" Andromeda asked the moment he was out of earshot. "The Ministry can keep him safe, can't they?"

Can or will? Severus mused. "More so then you would be able to."

Kierandus came back with a suitcase, and winked at Severus before trudging off again. The potions professor glared at his back

"He likes you." Andromeda sniffed. " Cant imagine why".

Severus snorted unkindly. It was possible that he had gone his entire life without ever hearing those words arranged in that sentence. "There's no need to be sentimental, Andromeda."

"I'm not be sentimental, you oaf. I've never seen him go so out of his way to irritate a stranger before," she said, chuckling.

"This is the last one," Kierandus called from the staircase. Moments later, he was standing beside the professor, peering curiously into the fire. "So, traveling by floo, is it?"

Severus nodded, a little impressed despite himself.

"Thought so. Well...I hope your not too fond of your shoes, cause I always get mighty queasy when traveling."

"Imbecile," Severus snarled. "Let's go."

Even though Kierandus swore that he had read all about the Floo Network, Severus wouldn't let him go without a quick tutorial. Once he was satisfied the brat wasn't going to end up in the Atlantic Ocean, he threw down his handful of powder, and stepped into the green flames. Right before being swooshed away, he heard the boy ask his aunt:

"So, why exactly did they feel a need to send a professor to fetch me?"

Severus wondered how she answered that.

It was busy at Hogwarts. School was starting within a week, and everything had to be prepared for the hordes of students returning from summer break. House elves and staff were bustling about, paying the newcomers little mind.

Severus climbed the stairs from his office in the dungeons, sharply reprimanding Kierandus for his slow pace. The boy was taking the castle apart with his eyes–the staircases, the elves, the paintings–everything he had read about but never experienced first hand. As a consequence, he was barely paying the professor any mind.

"Stop gawking like a troll, and get over here!" Severus hissed, halfway across the foyer.

"Be right there, sir..."Kierandus replied, eyes hovering on a suit of armor.

They managed to climb to the second floor before the Grey Lady floated past them, missing them by mere inches. Severus was sure he'd have to pick Bellatrix's son off the floor after that.

"She...I mean, they actually do--"

"Say ‘exist' and I will personally throw you out of this school."

Kierandus barked his little laugh, surprising the potion master once again. "Of course, sir. You're right."

Finally Snape led them to a particularly gruesome gargoyle statue, and muttered, "pickled tallyjabbers." He ignored Kierandus's look, and the statue turned, revealing a door. Ignoring his questions, Severus pushed the boy up the revolving wooden staircase until they reached the door leading into the Headmaster's office.

Without so much as a knock, the door swung open, revealing Dumbledore in full-bearded, bright- eyes glory. Severus saw him look Kierandus up and down, noting the boy's dark hair, heavy lidded eyes, and the wand sticking out of his jeans. When Kierandus instinctively smiled at the aging Wizard, Dumbledore's bushy brows raised slightly.

"Give me a moment, please," he rumbled, shutting the door in both their faces.

"Hmm.." Kierandus turned to the professor. "I'm getting the faintest impression he doesn't like me."

"Don't think so highly of yourself. Your hardly worth the Headmaster's disdain."

In actuality, Severus was surprised himself. Dumbledore didn't even offer his great daft grin to the boy, and he couldn't remember a time when the Headmaster didn't immediately welcome a brat into his office. It was a habit that always annoyed the potion master in the past, but now it's absence made him uneasy.

"Well, it's not very fair. I haven't even had the chance to make a bad impression yet!"

"Yes, well, your mother's smile makes the impression for you."The instant the words were out of his mouth, Severus realized his mistake.

"What does that mean?"Kierandus asked immediately, drawing nearer even in the small space of the stairway. His eyes were intensely sharp and focused on the professor's, as if they would draw the answers out themselves. Of course, it was nothing the Head of Slytherin couldn't resist.

"Don't you dare question me! Ten points from--" Damnable seed.

"No really, sir. What did that mean? What about my mother?"

"I just told you not to--"

"Because if you knew her before she died, I'd really like to know." Each word was stressed for importance. "My aunt never really went into details. I know it's stupid, but I really am interested in that...stuff. I'd like to know what you meant. Really."

"Enough." Dumbeldore's voice boomed from behind the door. "You may both come in now."

But the two of them were still locked in eye contact. Severus cold grimace was the best he could do to mask his shock. This child knows nothing. Absolutely nothing. All this time I spent laboring under the impression that the boy knew something of the situation–at least that his blasted parents weren't bloody well dead! He felt an instant ripple of disgust for Andromeda Tonks–it was just so easy for her to leave this mess for others to clean up.

Brushing rudely past the boy, Severus opened the Headmaster's office door and went in.

Kierandus eventually joined the professor in the adjacent chairs facing Dumbledore's desk.

"So, Kierandus. I hear you have been a model student under your aunt Andromeda's supervision. All this while attending a muggle high school, is that correct?" There was a hardness behind the Headmaster's voice that Severus detected. He wondered if the reason Kierandus didn't correct the wizard about his name was because he noticed it as well.

"Well, I like to think I managed that because I didn't excel too brilliantly in either category."

"Don't be so modest,"Dumbledore replied, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I've been in touch with your aunt recently. She tells me how well you've been doing. Of course, we'll need to test your skills before decided where to enroll you."

Kierandus nodded, glancing sideways at Severus. The staleness in the air had spooked the boy.

"Tell me, what does the name "Voldemort" mean to you, young one?"

Dumbledore's question snapped Severus to full attention. What is he playing at?

"Er...is this the test already, sir?" Kierandus asked.

"No, no. I was just wondering how well you knew the name."

"Well, I know he wasn't a well liked wizard. My aunt only refers to him as ‘He-Who-Must-Not- Be-Named'," he added, chuckling as if she were silly indeed. "He was on the evil side of the war and whatnot, but he was defeated a long time ago by Henry Potter...that's pretty much what I know. Why?"

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore corrected, his voice warming slightly. "He goes to this school, actually. You can meet him, if you'd like." Severus made a noise that sounded an awful lot like scoffing. "One more question: what can you tell me about your parents?"

"Why?" Kierandus asked, looking stubborn.

Severus's sallow skin paled in his outrage. Rude little... Kierandus noticed the fury on the professor's face, and moved as far away from as he could without leaving his chair. "Get over it! I cant stand this cryptic game shit. I can tell something weird is going on--don't tell me it's not!"

"If you would so kindly answer my question, Mr.Lestrange, then I could begin to explain," Dumbledore answered quickly, before Snape could put together a lucid sentence.

"Well, your answer is, not much," Kierandus said hotly. "All I know is, she was beautiful, he was handsome. They lived, got married, had me, and were poisoned to death during the war. Okay?"

"That woman is absurd!" Severus gaped, looking at Dumbledore.

The headmaster closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his crooked nose."Perhaps it is how Andromeda sees the truth, Severus".Then he stood, and gestured for the professor to walk with him to the doorway.

Once out of earshot, he asked Severus gravely: "Is he telling us the truth about what he knows?"

     Using his best judgment as an Occlumens, Snape slowly nodded.

"Good. I think so as well. Your excused."

The Headmaster turned back to the Lestrange boy, and Severus could hear Kierandus asking after him as he descended the staircase.

"Professor Snape will be returning shortly to show you to your room. We have a lot to talk about in the meantime."

As Dumbledore promised, Snape returned within an hour to the Headmaster's office. He walked in, sensing a change in the atmosphere. Where there had once been tension and raised emotions, there was now a flatness. A drab coldness chilled the room. Kierandus still sat in the same chair, but he had slumped down, and was looking away, silent and pale.

Dumbledore rose, seeing the professor, smiled encouragingly. "There you are, Severus. Mr. Lestrange and I have just finished a very good talk. I'd like you to escort him to a guest room for the time being, if you don't mind. He'll have a week to acclimate himself before classes begin."

"He's being kept as a student? You were serious?"

"He's a boy in need of learning. Of course he'll be taught here. What did you think, we'd keep him as house elf?" Dumbledore laughed jovially, making light of Snape's tone. "Now, if there's anything young master Lestrange needs this week, I've let him know he can come to you."

"Surely there is someone better suited, Headmaster--"

"Nonsense. I can already see that you two will get along famously. Good night, professor."Dumbledore smiled, his eye crinkling, and looked away. Kierandus was already up headed for the exit, his shoulders limp and eyes shielded.

"Alright, but if he is to be a student here, shouldn't he be sorted?" Then the head of his House can get along famously with him.

Dumbledore raised a delicate eyebrow.

"We shall deal with that when the first years get sorted, I should think." The underlying message in his tone, was, very clearly, "but what would be the point in that?"

How could Kierandus Lestrange not be in Slytherin? Of course. How superb.

There was a very quiet knock at Severus's chamber door at six o'clock in the morning. Luckily, the professor was already up drinking tea by that time; he had slept a handful of hours, but couldn't keep his busy mind from working overtime.

He opened the door, not altogether surprised to see Kierandus standing there. The boy still wasn't meeting his eyes–just like on the entire walk from the Headmaster's office the evening before.

But unlike the evening before, the boy had changed from jeans into a skeletal ensemble of the Howarts dress code–a starched white shirt and dark blue slacks. Seeing it without a school tie, vest or crest made it look odd indeed.

"Can I help you, Mr. Lestrange?" Severus asked coldly.

At the name, the boy paled a few shades lighter then his natural tan. "Kieran. I told you," he muttered. "Look, I–uh...I can't find the library. Or the Main Hall. Or the way back to my room."

"I gave you a map last night, did I not?"

"Yes...but I cant follow it. Things are always moving on it...it doesn't make sense.

"That's because the castle moves, now isn't it?" Severus drawled. There was no response on Kierandus's part. He looks like a Dementor got to him. Severus found the odd sensation of disappointment at the lack of witty banter. One day in this place, and the life's already sucked out of the brat?

Severus sighed darkly, clearly put upon. "Alright. Give me a minute. God knows I was put in this school to play tour guide to misguided teenagers."

Fifteen minutes later, they were getting an early breakfast in the Great Hall. Quietly, hungrily, Kierandus swallowed his pancakes. Severus watched the boy's eyes wander over the massive room, as if trying to imagine what it would look like filled with students. The few teachers that were up and about this early regarded the two of them with mild but polite interest, nodding and passing by. After breakfast, Severus dropped the boy off at the library on the fourth floor.

"Don't think I'll be back before five tonight. I'm very very busy today, preparing for the onslaught of locusts expected this time next week. I'll show you back to your rooms, but after that your on your own."

Kierandus hardly listened; he was absorbed in the overwhelming volumes of text. His dark lids opened wide as his mouth turned down at the corners. He looked so much like a pouting Sirius Black that Snape had to interject.

"Kieran," he said, making sure he got the boys attention. "History books are in that corner. Newspaper articles are archived in that one." He didn't wait for a reply–with a swoosh of dark cape, he was gone.

It was past six before Severus remembered to swing back by the library. As he had suspected, Kierandus had gone to the library to do a little research. Across a wide oak table were hundreds of articles, magazine clippings, newspaper pages, and history texts lad open.

The boy was ungracefully snoozing amongst the deluge, his face pressed hard against "The Rise and Fall of the Dark Lord." Severus walked around the table, seeing dozens of snapshots of the same face; her dark, wild hair, her laughing eyes gleaming, her wicked smile. Kieran's smile.

Magazine cut-outs described Death Eaters, with sketches and diagrams illustrating the articles in grueling detail. The newspaper headlines were the worst of the lot: "The Lestrange's Strike Again!", "It's life in Azkaban for unrepentant Bellatrix" "Prison Break! Are Death Eaters amassing once again?"

Documents Severus identified as Hogwart's records displayed photos of a young Bellatrix Black and her husband-to-be.

"I didn't know you went to school here," muttered Kierandus, not bothering to lift his head. "Guess I should have."

Severus realized the boy must have seen a picture of him in the same Hogwart's records. The image of his skinny, young awkwardness being laughed over by this brat left Severus feeling exposed, and thus instantly angry. "I'm surprised that you had time for me in your simpering page-turning. You'd think your grotesque family dealings would provide enough to satisfy your self pity."

Kierandus raised his head, with a look of bewilderment on his face. Perhaps because he had mis- judged the boy, Severus's irritation peaked. "What? Can't find your mummy's body count? I'm sure we can find the list of names in here somewhere." Severus dropped the file he was holding onto the table. It landed with a thud and papers went everywhere.

"Or perhaps your daddy interests you more. Yes, things are much easier explained away on a pathetic father, now aren't they?" Kierandus just stared, color coming into his cheeks. "Oh, but maybe their too easy. Yes, far too easy to find dirt on. Maybe we should try your aunt–I'm sure her ability to lie bald-faced has gotten her into trouble in the past. And after all, she shares their blood, just like y--"

"Don't," Kierandus interrupted, voice barely over a whisper. But it was enough to stop Severus's tirade.

They walked back to the guestroom in silence. While his face remained stony, Severus felt an odd twisting in his gut, knowing he was the very first to spit on Kierandus's lineage. But there will be many more, and far worse then me. Better he learn to deal with it now. Reconciled, the professor put it out of his mind.