Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. It mainly belongs to the goddess JKR or an awfully long list of people... (the MOSSes -Ministry Officers of State Security- are mine). If you like it, review and feed my soul. And since we don't need to hurt each other, if you don't like it, don't tell me! Flamers will be adopted by my family (if you don't believe it's a threat... too bad for you!)
A/N: Parseltongue is noted like that //……//
Rating: from U to R18 [G to NC-17]
There were betas injured in the process of creation: eccentric_femme, Venus4280, SilentG, Miranda, Starkindler, Stephanie, Joyce, and Mikee. All remaining mistakes are mine, and mine alone.
Warning:
This fic is about Harry Potter and Severus Snape falling in love and, in the end,
in the same bed. If you do not like the concept, do not read further...
Battlefields
Chapter Thirty-Three - A Modernization of A Shakespeare Play
By DrusillaDax
Severus and Harry are frozen on the threshold of Seraphina Ally's bedroom.
Though the young witch is under a white cotton sheet, it's obvious that she is naked - as is her bed companion, Harold.
Arthemis ran into her daughter's room when she heard her husband shout, and Sarina must have been called by her twin through their fraternal bond, because she's already in the room when her fathers arrive.
'I am so disappointed in you, Seraphina!' Sirius is yelling, when Harry and Severus enter the witch's room.
'We thought you were attacked,' Severus tells Arthemis.
'My husband is quite loud, and rather quick-tempered,' Arthemis says, then she turns to her daughter and asks, 'Did you ward your door?'
'Mother! Really! I always do!' the young witch answers.
'Then you breached her intimacy, and now you are yelling at her!' Arthemis growls, not allowing Sirius to utter a single word. 'Did you take all the precautions?' she asks the young couple.
'A potion, two spells and a Muggle condom,' Seraphina says.
'Condom?' Arthemis wonders.
'I am not irresponsible,' Harold declares.
'That was very thoughtful,' Arthemis thanks him.
'I can't believe it!' yells Sirius. 'Arthemis! She's sixteen! She's just sixteen! And she just did Merlin knows what with Merlin knows who, and it looks like you're about to offer them breakfast!'
'Daddy! Harold wasn't my first,' Seraphina tells her father.
Sirius rubs his temples.
Arthemis hopes her husband won't have to be Apparated to casualty due to an aneurism.
'Harold?' Sirius growls.
'Our son, Padfoot. Harold Potter-Snape,' Harry growls back.
'Snape!' Sirius spits.
Sirius takes one step towards Severus, but Sarina stands in front of her father. She says softly, 'Don't take another step towards my fathers, Mr Ally.'
Sirius shivers because of Sarina's powers.
'Leave this house, and don't come near my daughter again. Any of you,' Sirius hisses.
'Do you know one another?' Arthemis asks.
'Your husband was... is my first godfather. He went to Hogwarts with my husband, and he nearly had his best friend, who's a werewolf, kill Severus. He was wrongly accused of murder, and after he got out, he tried to protect me, but when I made it clear that I only needed his friendship and his respect, he tried to treat me as a child. He refused to admit that Severus is my soulmate, and he meant to disrupt our Blessing, which is why he was kept for weeks by the Order of the Summoners,' Harry explains.
Arthemis is about to lecture Sirius when he points an accusing finger towards Harold and barks, 'Let's not forget what happened here! Our daughter spent the night with that... that... thing!'
'She's not a child, Sirius! If you had been paying attention to her, you would know. Besides, Harold looks like a nice wizard,' Arthemis says.
All the Potter-Snapes instantly become extremely fond of Mrs Ally.
'He's a Snape!' Sirius protests.
'Potter-Snape!' Harold, Sarina and Seraphina say simultaneously.
'Don't go there again!' bark Harry and Severus in unison.
'My daughter is only sixteen, Snape!' Sirius adds.
'Our son is fifteen,' Severus says, his voice cold as ice.
Though they are both under the care of their respective parents, there is one international wizarding law that makes Seraphina Ally of legal age and responsible of her acts, while Harold is legally under the full responsibility of his fathers.
Sirius knows that Snape could sue Seraphina.
'You wouldn't...' Sirius's voice trails off. He turns extremely pale.
'No, we wouldn't, plonker!' Harry barks.
'It doesn't matter,' Sarina says.
Her fathers and the Allys turn to her. She's crying and sitting on the bed - the empty bed.
'What?' Sirius wonders.
Arthemis is gaping.
'Where are they, my Angel?' Severus gently asks.
'Gone,' she answers with a strangled voice.
'Do you know where they went?' Harry asks.
Tears are rolling down Sarina's cheeks as she shakes her head.
Arthemis puts one hand on the young witch's shoulder and says, 'Seraphina probably Apparated the both of them somewhere till Sirius calms down. He doesn't know her, but she knows him well.'
'You don't understand,' Sarina says between gasps, tears steadily pouring down.
'What's bothering you, Princess?' Harry whispers gently.
'I cannot feel where Harold is,' she says.
'Could your brother Apparate without Seraphina's help?' Severus asks.
She only shrugs.
'He really loves Seraphina, you know,' she says.
Severus and Harry do not like what's going on. From the reaction of the twins' fathers, Arthemis begins to fear that Sirius might have done more harm than he thinks.
Harry turns to his first godfather and says, 'If anything happens to our youngest son because of yet another of your blunders, I'll dissolve you in one of Severus's potions.'
Sirius is about to retort something when a quick spell from his wife mutes him.
Outraged, Sirius gesticulates. Harry binds him with a charm.
'Seraphina took Survival Training back in Australia. If she doesn't want us to find her, it can be extremely difficult to locate her,' Arthemis says.
'This is not what's bothering me,' Harry declares.
He briefly looks at Severus. There's no need for words between them.
'Sarina, would you go to Bill's and ask him to Apparate here, please?' Severus asks.
Still crying, she nods and goes.
'What is bothering you?' Arthemis asks.
'I fear that we might have to call the local equivalent of Aurors if we can't locate them through a combined spell,' Harry says.
Severus and Harry look so worried that Arthemis begins to fear for her daughter.
'What aren't you telling me?' she asks.
'Harold has never done something so unreasonable. He's a very good son,' Severus begins.
'I don't think that they're going to try anything silly. I don't know much about your daughter, but there are things that are beginning to frighten me,' Harry goes on.
'We didn't feel it when they disappeared under our noses,' Severus adds.
Arthemis gasps and sees where they're heading. The two families had a literary chat the night before, and the mother knows that they've been informed of Seraphina's passion for Russian novelists.
'You already know that our children worship Shakespeare's works,' Severus adds.
'But Harold didn't say that he's been working a lot on Romeo and Juliet,' Harry says.
Arthemis can feel cold sweat running down her back.
'Surely, our children are too reasonable...' her voice trails off.
She can't believe that what she's thinking might become the truth.
'Harold and Sarina are Stork children. The bond between them goes beyond their being twins,' Severus says.
'Sarina said she can't feel where Harold is. That is truly frightful,' Harry says.
Arthemis understands their fears. She believes that her daughter wouldn't do something silly, but she's still growing up, and she fears that she might be wrong.
The alien witch remembers how everything can seem extreme to adolescents.
'We're going to find them,' she tells Severus and Harry.
She turns towards her husband and frees him of all the magic binding him.
'You're going to help us without growling, and when Seraphina is back, then we'll have a chat about all those things you never spoke of. Right now, I just want my child back here. If you hadn't repeatedly proved what an idiot you can be, she wouldn't have fled. She's no longer a baby, Sirius. Whether you like it or not, she's a young woman,' Arthemis says.
Sirius merely nods. He may not like that it's Snape's son that he found in his baby's bed, but he's not completely stupid, and he wants Seraphina back home.
There are not many cases of disappearances or suicide in the wizarding community, but it's not unheard of.
By noon, Sirius is whiter than Binns, and he's completely silent.
There is no trace of the young couple, and Bill has contacted the local authorities, who informed them that they didn't give a damn for international laws, and that they would not start searches before two weeks, which is for them the legal time at which point an elopement becomes a potential kidnapping.
For the Egyptian wizards, Harold and Seraphina are both of age, and they consider that they must be getting married somewhere in the south.
Their parents know better.
They've tried to locate them, but to no avail, and Sarina is either crying the seven seas, or very silent.
By tea-time, Sirius is scared to death.
Harry signals Sarina to come and sit on his lap. She wraps her arms around his neck, and he caresses her back to try and soothe her.
'You know, Mr Ally,' Sarina says, almost in a whisper, 'they really like each other. Maybe it's even a stronger feeling.'
Sirius rubs his hands over his eyes.
He'd been travelling all night, he'd found his baby in bed with a wizard, and as usual, he overreacted. Now, with each passing minute, he fears for Seraphina's life. He knows that she's a romantic and he hopes that he didn't go too far. He lost his best friend and his godson years ago when he tried to mess with Harry's Blessing and with Remus's part in it. It took him time to deal with that, but this time, he might lose his own child - his only child - and Sirius Ally, that was Black, feels like an idiot.
He just nods towards Sarina.
'Our children are strong-willed. I didn't think that Harold would do something like that,' Severus comments.
Harry looks at his daughter on his lap and asks, 'Darling, I'm not asking you to betray your twin, but Severus is right. It's an extreme reaction for Harold... It wasn't...'
'His first time?' the young witch suggests.
Harry nods.
'I can't believe that the Hat almost sorted you into Slytherin. You are such a Gryffindor, Dad! I bet you used your New Marauder map only after curfew,' Sarina teases Harry.
He can't believe his ears.
Sarina decides to add a bit more torture, and says, 'There are talks about his visits to the other houses' dorms, but no one can say for sure.'
That truly stuns Harry.
Sarina goes to the kitchen to brew some more tea.
Harry turns to Severus and asks, 'Am I a pitiful DADA teacher, and a gullible and blind Griffie?'
Severus hugs him and says, 'You're his father. You forgot that he's not like you. About sex, Harold is more like me, and Sarina is like you.'
'Oh,' Harry pauses. 'That doesn't ease my mind. What were you doing at his age?'
'Why do you think the mutt was following me? He tried to keep track of some of my activities,' Severus says, pointing at Sirius.
There is no animosity between them.
'Did you... You know... A lot?' Harry asks, blushing.
'Not a lot, but a bit. Like you would have, had not Voldemort been hunting you,' Severus says. 'Merlin! I need a fag!'
'After all these years! Certainly not!' Harry growls.
They hear the teapot crash on the floor, and they all run to the kitchen.
'What happened?' Sirius gently asks Sarina.
She looks at him, unshed tears in her eyes.
She grabs his arm and whisper, 'I think I can feel my brother.'
'Can you feel if he's all right? Can you feel how Seraphina is through him?' he asks.
She shakes her head and says, 'It's too faint.'
'Merlin! I just hope they're fine. That's my only wish,' Sirius says.
'Oh! Really, Black? Won't you give your daughter an earful - again - when she's back? For growing up and liking a bit too much the wizard you see not as your godson's son, but my son?' Severus quietly asks.
Sirius blinks and appears to be giving a serious thought to all this.
'No, Snape. I want her back, that's all. I won't pretend that I'm happy with any of the things that happened here today. I won't say that I'm happy with her choice, but I know what the life of the homeless is like, and I don't want that for Seraphina. The two children of your own blood you've been given are miracles according to the definition that most people give to the word, but Seraphina is my miracle. I met Arthemis while I was working for Albus. By the time I tried to mess with your lives, she was expecting Seraphina, but she didn't know. She could have gone back to Australia before I was released, and I might have never known that I was a father.' Sirius pauses and rubs again his hands over his eyes. He's exhausted and frightened. 'She's my only baby. Except that she's no longer a baby. Now that we're going back to the UK, she'll finish her education at Hogwarts.'
'Sirius,' Harry gently says, 'you knew that your daughter would go to Hogwarts. You know that Severus and I are going to teach her. She might even be sorted into Slytherin.'
Sirius shudders. 'I hoped that she might make Snape miserable,' he answers.
Arthemis cuffs the back of his head.
If and when their daughter is safe and sound at home, Mrs Ally is going to have a very important, and long, chat with her husband - about his past, and about their future as a family.
'Knock, knock,' a woman says from the threshold.
They all turn around to welcome Meriem Al'datjah-Weasley.
'What would you do if I told you that I might know where our young missing couple is?' Bill's companion asks.
'We'd start breathing again,' Severus and Harry say.
'So would I,' says Arthemis.
'I would take my daughter in my arms,' Sirius says.
'You wouldn't punish them,' Meriem asks again.
The four parents shake their heads.
'Come here, my sweets,' Meriem says.
In come Seraphina and Harold.
The Potter-Snapes and Allys are too happy to scold their runaways.
The Allys go back to the house they rent with Seraphina, but they agree to come back to talk the next day.
They need to talk at length about the future, but they've been through too much to think clearly tonight.
When they're sure that the Allys are gone, Harry casts a Privacy spell on the whole house.
Harold looks at Sarina.
She looks at him, and then at their fathers.
Severus and Harry look at their children, and at each other.
The silence lasts for five seconds.
And then.
Then...
They burst out with laughter.
'Thank you!' Harold says, when he stops laughing.
'Seraphina acted very well,' Sarina points out.
'I can't believe that I just helped you trap Black!' Severus almost growls.
'D d,' Harold says, very seriously, 'she's the one. I know it. It was the only way to force her father not to move back to Australia and not hex us each time we kiss in front of him.'
Severus nods and takes one of Harold's hands in his.
Both fathers understood the moment Seraphina told them who her father was that they would have to resort to extreme means to placate Sirius.
The whole family told Seraphina what was likely to happen, and they decided to combine their literary passions to trap Sirius. That was the only way.
'You did more than kiss,' Sarina giggles.
'By the way, Sar', why did you spill the info about my visits to the other houses' dorms?' Harold growls.
'It tortured Black, and Merlin knows that I don't like the man! Besides, I needed to teach you a lesson for what you did to my James. I could have done something similar to Seraphina, but I meant to show you that I have more heart than you,' she answers.
With the only free hand he's got, Harold holds his sister by the neck and says, 'You're the best, Sar'. When we're back to England, we'll go shopping together, and you'll help me find something for James, so that I apologize properly.'
She hugs him back.
'That's a kind idea, but I'm sure he'll be happier if you imagine how Seraphina would have reacted if I'd done that to her,' Sarina declares.
Harold nods.
'What have you done?' Severus asks his son.
'They used some silly spells that James didn't like,' Sarina lies.
Severus and Harry will never discover that Harold went with James Malfoy to the Chamber of Secrets. There, Harold used some spells in Parseltongue that James could not identify, and those made him sick and he suffered from a slight panic-attack. He felt instantly better when they got out. Sarina met them just outside, because she had felt what had been going on, and she read the riot act to her brother, while she nursed the wizard she loves.
Their fathers know that their children are keeping some secrets from them.
'You promised to transform into your snake form only to gather more knowledge,' Harry scolds Harold.
'But I didn't transform!' the boy exclaims indignantly.
'However, visiting beds doesn't count as extra-curricular education,' Severus says.
'It just happened, Dād! One minute I was working on assignments, the next,' his voice trails off. Harold sees Harry rubbing the bridge of his nose, which shows that his father might be a bit disappointed.
'Dad... It just happened... and not that often,' Harold whispers.
'Don't worry, he's just being his usual mother hen,' Severus says with a warm smile.
'Your happiness is all that matters to me. You were careful, weren't you? I know that we told you everything you might need to know, but some of your classmates don't know as much as you do, and they're younger or less mature,' Harry stops when Harold laughs out loud.
The two fathers blink, they're at sea.
'You're wrong, Dad!' Harold pauses. 'You won't pester them, right?' he asks.
Harry shakes his head.
'The first time, I was working on something with a Gryffindor. She was older, and... Oh! You don't need a picture, Dad.'
Harry heard loud and clear that the first witch who had initiated his son had obviously left Hogwarts now. Harry doesn't want to know a thing about what happened.
'In Hufflepuff... she's been very nice, she's a bit older, too. She's a friend,' Harold adds.
Harold doesn't speak of Ravenclaw.
'Bad memories in the other house?' Severus wonders.
Harold is still silent.
Sarina chuckles and says, 'They're not like Uncle Ron.'
It takes two seconds for Harry and Severus to grasp what happened. The female Weasley quartet is not schooled in Hogwarts yet. Even though Terrence Weasley is Charlie's eldest son, they know that it's Ron who would freeze for a minute if he were to be told that his best friend's son and Terry have been dating, or whatever it was that they did.
Of course, Terry is roughly Harold's age. He's the son of Hermione and Charlie.
Severus and Harry have nothing to fear about whatever the boys did - they know they've both been told all they needed to know.
Harold rubs his hand over his eyes. Suddenly he looks rather sad.
'He's fine, now,' Sarina intervenes.
'Are you sure?' her brother asks her. He looks at her, blinks and adds, 'Of course you are. Sorry, silly question.'
She blows a kiss at him. 'Terry still loves you, but he'll soon see where his future lies,' she says.
'It still disturbs me when you do that, Princess,' Harry says.
'Will Terrence be happy soon?' Severus asks.
The Potions master is quite fond of the quiet Ravenclaw, who has many of his mother's qualities.
'As soon as he opens his eyes and sees that Hadrian is meant for him. Their friendship is going to last for years before they understand that they're meant for each other though,' Sarina declares.
'Isn't it sometimes too much for you to have all that knowledge, Darling?' Harry asks his daughter.
She shrugs. 'You know, Dad, this is a part of what and who I am. I don't question it. It just is. Full stop,' she says.
Both fathers take a deep breath.
'Well, no transforming into a cat to go to the Slytherin dormitory,' Harry tells Sarina. 'And no more adventure for you,' he tells Harold.
'I'll be faithful to Seraphina,' Harold says.
Harry turns towards his husband and almost growls. That was not what he meant, but he knows that if their children could convince them to trap Sirius so that they would not have to eventually face a true re-enactment of the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, there was nothing he could do to keep his son away from the young witch Harold had recognized as his soulmate.
They would just have to play along as best as they could.
Thinking of what they'd done, Harry finally declares, 'It's a huge trap that we set. We are evil.'
'No, we are the best Slytherins in the world!' Sarina says.
They all chuckle.
'I discovered something,' Harold finally says.
'What, Darling?' his fathers wonder.
'I think I'd like to write,' answers their son.
Sarina grins.
'What?' Harold asks her.
'You write new plays, and I could produce them,' she answers.
'That's a bloody good idea!' her twin shouts.
'Language, Harold!' Harry scolds him.
'Send Hedwig to Uncle Ron if you want to complain, Dad!' retorts the young wizard.
'The nerve!' Harry says.
It would be more effective if Harry were not chuckling.
'Well, he's right. It's a Ron trademark,' Severus says.
Sarina invades Severus's lap.
'It's going to be an interesting year back at Hogwarts,' she says.
Her three wizards know that she must be making a true omen.
Life has never been quiet for the Potter-Snapes.
They are used to it.
They are walking through a battlefield, but they're fighting for love.
To Be Continued...