Chapter Text
Lucy shook off the lingering nausea of apparition with a slight shudder. Then she rushed forward towards the cottage with a beaming smile.
“Wait a moment,” Severus remarked as he shook out his house keys. After a few clicks the door burst open. “Alright! Lucy! Could you please put everyone's trunk by their doors? Harry, can you go open all the windows and doors?”
“Sure!” Harry cried happily as he rushed to the dining room first.
“Um… dad? Where should I put mine?” Lucy asked worriedly.
“Whoa!” Harry cried in awe. “Since when do we have a conservatory?!”
“Well,” Emmeline said with a smile, “we needed an extension, didn't we? " Harry blinked, and he and Lucy shared a glance before running up the stairs in excitement.
“That one!” Harry cried, pointing to the new door. Lucy grinned before she opened the door. As she stepped inside she let out a sigh of awe. It wasn't a massive room, but the wide bay window, just like Harry’s, provided enough light to make the space feel so open. She crossed the space and opened the window which faced out towards the rolling fields with the horizon of the ocean just a line in the distance. As the sound of the waves crashing into St. Margret's beach, she took a deep breath, took in the scent of the sea and smiled.
“Make sure you don't put anything on the walls,” Harry remarked as he looked around. The furniture matched him, but he had a feeling their rooms would look wildly different regardless.
“Why?”
“For when Mum and Dad put colour on the walls,” Harry explained.
“W-what?” Lucy muttered in slight shock. She turned to the door, to see Severus and Emmeline leaning against the frame with soft smiles. “I - I can have colour on my walls?”
“Of course darling. I was going to change them before you arrived, but I couldn't think of what colour you'd like best.” Emmeline admitted.
“The colour of the furniture can change as well,” Severus pointed out. “Harry chose a rich mahogany.” Lucy was a bit overwhelmed as she turned and looked at the room again.
“Lavender purple.” she declared. “Please.” Emmeline smiled and waved her wand. The room instantly bloomed into the soft pastel blueish purple that was evidently Lucy’s favourite. That's when the emotions bubbled over. The tears streamed down her face as she turned and buried her face in Emmeline's chest. “I'm sorry. It's just… I never was allowed colour on the walls before…”
“It's alright darling,” Emmeline promised “We all understand.”
“Yeah.” Harry agreed. “I had the same reaction. It's totally normal.”
“Here,” Severus said gently before he reached into his robe and pulled out a handkerchief. “Let's get all unpacked. And then, to The White Horse, as is tradition.” Lucy smiled before she turned to the bay window.
“Can I have pink pillows?” she suddenly asked, gesturing to the bay window seats.
“let's get you unpacked first darling!” Emmeline insisted even as she pulled up her trunk.
“Harry, go get yourself unpacked. Emm, I'll take care of us.” Severus offered.
“Certainly.” Emmeline agreed.
“Ah!” the hostess of the white horse cried with a beaming smile. “Hello again Snapes!”
“Hello,” Severus said with a slight shock. “Table for four please.”
“Would you like the patio again?” the hostess asked casually.
“Certainly.” Emmeline agreed with a smile.
“This way then.” the hostess said happily as she led the way.
“I suppose we've come here enough to be regulars.” Emmeline pointed out to Severus with a slight snicker. The potions master grumbled a bit under his breath as the waitress came by with water and asked about drinks. The family enjoyed their meal. Severus explained to Lucy the rules of the house. She seemed especially surprised by the rule about telling Emmeline and Severus if anything bothered her, at the risk of losing privileges.
“A bit extreme, isn't it?”
“Ask your brother.” Severus parried with a somewhat irritated glance. Harry blushed a bit and poked at his dinner, which made Lucy snort and shake her head. As they finished the mains the waitress came back with a smile.
“Can I interest you in dessert?”
“Oo! Lucy! You gotta try the chocolate mousse! It's fantastic!”
“Four please.” Severus offered. The waitress smiled before nodding. It was a bit later when suddenly the entire staff came out along with their orders. Severus blinked then shared a glance with Emmeline. She shook her head.
“All of here at The White Horse just wanted to say congratulations.” the waitress proclaimed as she placed the mouse with a few sparklers in front of Lucy. “And we hope to see you all again soon!” Lucy’s eyes lit up with a beaming smile and she took the sparkler out and waved it through the air. The family recognized a few spells, like the swish and flick and allohamora. The staff all clapped, along with a few other patrons who had little smiles, as the sparkler went out before they bowed their heads and left save their waitress who gave them a refill of water and asked if there was anything else she could get them.
“No,” Severus said softly. “But… thank you. It means a lot.”
“It's our pleasure.” the waitress assured him before walking away.
“Welcome to the family Lucy,” Harry said as he raised his glass. Emmeline and Severus both smiled and raised their own glasses. Lucy beamed before she raised her glass as well and they all clanked them together, like a ring out to the future.
There was a knock on the door just a few days after they all settled. Severus was washing the dishes and frowned as he walked up to the door, drying his hands. When he pulled it open an eyebrow shot up.
“Snape,” Sirius muttered, sounding more civil than he ever had before.
“How can I help you, Mr. Black?” Severus said, trying for casual, but sounding rather snooty nonetheless. Sirius pulled a face before looking away with a huff.
“Is Harry here?” Severus frowned.
“Why?”
“I just want to have a chat with him, that's all,” Sirius complained. Severus frowned at him and he huffed. “He was in a bad way last I saw him. I just want to check that he's alright.”
“So you've finally decided to play Godfather have you.”
“Look,” Sirius spat “I’ll admit! I had my own head shoved up my arse! But now I'm trying! Can't I get points for trying?!” Severus paused as he took in Sirius' posture. Defensive, but not afraid. Then he saw his expression. It was angry, but that was probably down to him. Under the surface, he could see regret and a bit of shame that made him finally nod and then turn to the stairs.
“Harry! Can you come down please!” he called. He walked back to Sirius, who had been rather smart in not attempting to cross the threshold, though he had come up onto the stoop. “It will be up to him whether you have your ‘chat’.”
“Of course,” Sirius agreed before straightening up as Harry came around the bend of the stairs and stopped at the landing.
“Hello,” he muttered, trying for casual but coming off defensive.
“Hello,” Sirius said with the awkward air making even Severus’ face twitch. Then he cleared his throat. “I ah, need to talk to you, about what happened at the ministry. Formal reports and all that.”
“I thought you weren't working for the ministry anymore?” Harry snarked.
“I wasn't. Fudge had to crawl on his hands and knees to get me back.” Sirius argued with a chuckle. Harry scowled, but then his father caught his eyes. The look was one of begrudging encouragement, so he sighed and stepped forward.
“We'll talk out here?” Sirius asked, gesturing to the front path. Harry nodded and followed him, flinching slightly when his father closed the door. But when he glanced to the dining room window he could see his dad ‘inconspicuously’ polishing the various glasses in the liquor cabinet by said window and felt much better. “So… how have you been?”
“No way that’s a ministry question,” Harry argued as he leaned against the rock wall.
“Alright… the ministry might have been a pretense.” Sirius agreed, keeping his distance by sitting opposite the gap in the wall. “I came to see how you were holding up.”
“I'll be fine,” Harry muttered. He had been repeating that phrase to himself for weeks now.
It still wasn't quite the truth.
“Right… well… I want you to know that… that I know what you're going through.” Sirius stuttered out. Harry‘s knee-jerk reaction was to roll his eyes and snark that he'd heard that line already thanks. But then he paused.
Sirius might be one of the only people in the world who knew exactly what he was going through…
“Does… does it ever get better?” he suddenly asked, quiet, and averting his eyes. “Only… well Dad says that the pain doesn't go away, but it gets easier… said he hadn't quite gotten to the easier part yet.”
“It does… at least I think it does,” Sirius murmured, eyes a bit far away. “I was so focused on revenge for so long though. I think it might have… muddled the water a bit.”
“Going for revenge didn't much make me feel better,” Harry admitted. He still felt a bit cold when he thought back to the way that curse had felt when he cast it on Crouch.
“Didn't for me either,” Sirius admitted softly, “I thought it would. But it just made me bitter.” he swallowed. “I'm sorry by the way… for the things I did and said to you.” Harry shrugged. “He's right about one thing though. It never goes away.” Harry let out an exhausted sigh after that. “But you wouldn't want it to I don't think.”
“I think I would,” Harry argued.
“Well that would mean you'd have to forget all the good parts with them,” Sirius argued. “And I would wish that on my worst enemy! Well… maybe Voldemort.” Sirius amended.
“Wouldn't matter. Voldemort doesn't have anyone anyway.” Harry reminded
“What a way to live…” Sirius muttered.
“Wouldn't call that living.” Harry finished. Sirius let out a sardonic chuckle at that. Before he cleared his throat and stood up.
“If you ever feel the need to chat with someone. I'll wait for your owl. It's the snowy right?”
“I use my dad's tawny in the warmer months.”Harryy corrected.
“Well, either way,” Sirius argued before he stuck out a hand. Harry looked at it for a moment before he smiled and gave the old animagus a quick handshake.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Potter,” Sirius argued before straightening his robes. “And have a good summer.”
“You too Mr. Black,” Harry murmured before he watched the man cross the threshold of the wards then turn on his heel and disappear with a crack. And there he stood, with his hands in his pockets, watching the waves on the horizon and thinking of what was, what would be, and what might have been.
Tracey Davies sat up with a horrified gasp. She looked around. It was… some kind of white room filled near to the brim with… well… rubbish. Broken bits and thimmabobs occasionally pocketed by… even stranger objects. Shattered planetariums next to a massive pile of ashes. Comfy chairs beside a pile of cracked glass spheres. Most everything was piled up in strangely well-organized towers, reaching up to about her head. As she stumbled through the towers she marvelled at the way some things were stacked. The most impressive was the massive stack of LPs, stacked on top of each other, thin sides down and perfectly vertically, while their sleeves were arranged behind them like a house of cards. She tilted her head to read them then let out a noise as she recognized one. A record that Professor Vance liked to play during her office hours.
We'll Meet Again, The Very Best Of Vera Lynn
Her finger just brushed it when the whole tower came down with a clattering crash, followed by several towers surrounding it.
“What on earth?” came a voice behind her. Tracye whipped around, wand at the ready, to face this unknown assailant when the man stumbled around the corner. He was an older gentleman. A redhead with a bald spot and tiny spectacles balanced on a round button nose. He seemed oddly… familiar … to Tracey. His robes were a dull brown colour with a few patches and, most distressingly, a few burn holes.
“G-goodness!” the man cried. “Who are you? How did you get here?”
“I could ask the same thing.” Tracey countered, still defensive. She'd been battling death eaters not thirty seconds before after all.
“I'm afraid I can't answer that.”
“Can't or won't?” Tracey demanded.
"Can't… rather I can't remember. I do think it's been some time. But none of the clocks in here are ever working. I'm fairly certain though, that time doesn't move… yes, yes I'm sure of that.” the man muttered thoughtfully. Tracey blinked. Was this guy… insane?
“Do you work for the ministry?”
“The ministry?” the man asked, confused before suddenly his eyes lit up. “Yes! Yes, of course! The ministry! I did! For the department!”
“Which department?” Tracey asked wearily. The man blinked.
“ The department?” he repeated. Tracey groaned before looking around.
“Where are we?” she asked again.
“I’m not sure,” the man admitted. “But it's an odd collection of things, isn't it? I do feel a bit obligated to sort everything together. Not sure why. Perhaps it was my job!”
“Who else is here?”
“Just me!” the man insisted. “Oh! And Bob!”
“Who’s Bob?” Tracey asked quickly. Hopefully, this Bob would be less insane than this weirdo. The man winced then put a finger to his mouth and gestured with a hand for her to follow. Tracey raised an and eyebrow then followed. As they turned a corner the man held up a hand and gestured ahead.
“That's Bob,” he whispered. Tracey followed his finger and gulped.
A Chimera
Bob was a Chimera .
Tracey let out a wheeze of distress before she whipped out her wand.
“Ah, I'm afraid that won't work.” the man explained. Tracey blinked at him.
“What?” she asked. The man drew his wand and then frowned before smiling.
“Tempus!” he declared, seemingly proud of himself for remembering that one.
But nothing happened.
Tracey looked at her wand.
“Lumos., she muttered.
But there was nothing.
Not even a spark of a feeling in her arm.
She looked straight ahead in slight horror
She had no magic.
“I'm dead.” she declared in slight horror.
“Oh no!” the man cried with a shake of his head. “There are plenty of dead bodies in here. You're not dead.”
“D-dead bodies?!”
“Yes Bob does eat them sometimes…” the man suddenly trailed off as he looked back towards the Chimera. Tracye followed his eyes and froze. The creature was staring at them now with a grumpy expression. Then groaned as he undulated as if he was about to spit up a hairball. The man grabbed Tracey’s arm then.
“We should move,” he declared.
“Wh-” Tracey began, but she didn't finish as the man pulled her away, just in time to miss a massive fireball. Bob made a little growling noise then before yawning and turning to go back to sleep.
“He doesn't like to be woken from his naps,” the man explained under his breath. “He gets quite cranky. He seems quite fine otherwise. I think he might have been wizard-reared." Tracey then turned and stumbled away, clutching her head in a panic.
This could not be happening!
Then she stopped and turned to the fellow with a horrified look.
“You don't know how to get out of here, do you?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“Haven't the foggiest!” the man agreed with a smile. “I think I tried when I first ended up here. But without magic, I couldn’t think of anything.”
“Oh brilliant.” Tracey wheezed before she stared out at the sea of rubbish. For a moment panic threatened to overwhelm her as she bent double and practically wheezed out a little sob.
"oh dear!" the man cried before he frantically looked around pulling a chair from one of the neatly arranged piles and guiding her into it. Then he dragged out a gramophone. "this was much easier when they were stacked.." he complained as he tried to sift through the various LPs scattered over the 'floor'. "any requests?" he asked gently.
"Vera Lynn..." Tracey got out shakily, already feeling a bit better.
"here we are!" the man cried as he found the requested record and then placed it on the gramophone. As he started it up the last few lyrics of one of the songs filled the void and their message put both a lump in her throat and a fleeting hope in her heart.
“From the time you say goodbye,
From the time you say cheerio,
will you take my hand, shake true,
for your journey as you go.
Keep a prayer within your heart,
That the time will surely fly,
To the day when we shall meet again,
From the time you say goodbye.”