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Challenge fics > HG/SS Exchange

Lost Time by firefly124 [Reviews - 16]


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Disclaimer: I don't own the Potterverse, nor am I making any money by playing in it.
A/N: Originally wriiten for the SS/HG Exchange for bethbethbeth. Huge thanks to my wonderful beta, ubiquirk, (who deserves a gold star for hand-holding, cheerleading, and brainstorming far above and beyond the call of beta “duty”) and lovely Brit-picker, Saracen77, as well as to Scrappy, the practical joker who helped me invent the Wheezes.




“Hugo, stop! You’re going to get us in trouble!”

“No, I’m not,” he tossed over his shoulder as he sprinted up the next staircase. “Go ahead—tell me what rule I’m breaking.”

Rose put on a burst of speed, determined to catch him up. She didn’t answer until she was standing next to him on the seventh floor landing, trying desperately not to gasp for breath. “There may not … be any … specific rules … against it, but … every time … you try … one of Uncle … George’s ideas … somehow … we end up … in trouble.”

Hugo, infuriatingly not out of breath at all after the dash up here from the Great Hall, gave an unrepentant shrug. “You don’t have to come with me.”

Rose crossed her arms and glared at him. “You know I do. We have to stick together.”

Besides, Mum would have my head if I knew you were off causing trouble and just left you to it.

He grinned. “Well, come on then!”

With a resigned sigh, she followed him down the corridor until he stopped in front of an absurd tapestry of a wizard surrounded by trolls in what looked like ballet costumes. Across from it was a very charred section of wall. Rose bit her lip. She’d never known her Uncle Fred, obviously, but it felt weird to come here.

Hugo dug about in his pockets and pulled out a handful of candies, a pair of what had to be Enhancing Earmuffs, and a Rainbow Hathead Cap. He set them down on the floor in front of the tapestry.

“Uncle George says—”

“—that this is a better place to remember Uncle Fred than the graveyard.” Rose sighed. “I know. But … you can’t just leave those there. What if some little firstie comes along and picks them up? They’ll be crying to Madam Pomfrey, and you know we’ll be the first ones dragged in front of the Headmistress!”

“That never happens!”

So he’s done this before?

Rose took a step back and nearly jumped out of her skin at hearing an unearthly screech behind her. Whipping her head around, she saw a gray blur darting away.

“Oh, no! Mrs. Norris!”

Hugo’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Rose knew hers must look pretty much the same. She felt badly for stepping on the poor cat, but while this was almost certainly not the same Mrs. Norris from when their parents had been at school, one thing was definitely the same: where she prowled, Filch followed, and that was never a good thing.

“We’re dead!”

“C’mon!” Hugo grabbed her hand, dragged her to one side of the charred patch of wall, and then pulled her along as he walked past it. “We need a place to hide. We need a place to hide.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” She tried to yank her arm away. “You know James and Al could never get it to work.”

“Well, it won’t work if you’re not helping!” He dragged her back past it again.

“What is it, poor Mrs. Norris? Are the nasty children being mean to you again?” A plaintive meow. “The Headmistress won’t tolerate that! Maybe this time I can do more than give them detention.”

Well, they weren’t going to get away now, so Rose had to agree. “We need a place to hide!”

A door materialized in the wall. She lunged for the handle, all but threw Hugo inside, and pulled it shut behind them.

“That was close,” he gasped.

Rose nodded, looking about the room. It seemed rather odd for a hiding place, like a cross between the hospital wing and a sitting room. There was even a little vase by the bed with the same Singing Daisies that Mum always brought them when they were sick or hurt. “Isn’t this room supposed to provide whatever we need?”

“That’s what Uncle Harry says it did.”

“Well, are you hurt?”

“Huh?” He looked around and seemed to see what she was getting at. “Erm, no. Are you?”

“No.”

With a loud crack, suddenly there was a familiar house-elf standing in front of them.

“What is you doing here?” he demanded. “You is not supposed to be finding the Come and Go Room!”

“What are we doing here? What are you doing here?” Rose asked. “You don’t work at Hogwarts. You work for Uncle Harry!”

“I is supposed to being here.” Kreacher folded his arms and tapped his foot. “You isn’t.”

There was a sound she couldn’t quite place, as it didn’t seem to fit where they were at all, and a moment later, another door was jerked open.

“Kreacher! Where are you?” a jagged and unfamiliar voice called.

The house-elf Disapparated, and voices could be heard on the other side of the partly opened door, not quite loud enough to be understood. The voices stopped, the door opened the rest of the way, and Kreacher reappeared, pushing a skinny, ugly man in a wheeled chair.

Rose just stared as he looked both her and Hugo up and down critically.

“Merlin,” he said gratingly. “Are they really … Has it been that long?”

“Yes, Headmaster Snape, sir,” Kreacher replied. “They is Missus Hermione’s childrens.”

Rose’s mind stuttered, then began chanting, “It’s Snape. It can’t be Snape. But it is Snape. Why is it Snape?”

“What … what year is it?” he asked.

“Is wizard year two thousand and nineteen,” Kreacher replied. “Kreacher is telling you this yesterday.”

His voice held a patient tone Rose had never heard him use. She barely noted it as her mind kept up its refrain.

“But you can’t be,” Hugo said. “You’re … I mean Snape’s …”

The man’s eyes narrowed.

“You is should be leaving,” Kreacher said.

Suddenly agreeing that Filch was much less scary than this man who was supposed to be dead, Rose grabbed her brother’s arm. “Right. We’ll just be going then.”

“But …”

She opened the door, dragged him into the hallway behind her, and slammed the door shut. It immediately melted into the wall as if it had never been there.

“Well, well, well. Where did you come from?” Filch asked.

He was, Rose noticed irrelevantly, wearing the cap and earmuffs.

“Mr. Filch,” she said, “we were just …” And her throat didn’t do anything quite so dramatic as to swell shut, but she couldn’t seem to force the words out.

“I see. You were just torturing my cat, weren’t you?”

“No, Mr. Filch!” Hugo piped up. “We’d never do that. But we found …”

He didn’t seem to be able to say any more either.

Mrs. Norris gave an accusatory meow, glaring at Rose.

“Look plenty guilty to me,” Filch replied, whipping off the Rainbow Hathead Cap to shake at them, showing a perfect bowl of lurid plaid hair and knocking the Enhancing Earmuffs just askew enough to show that his ears were clearly at least double their normal size already.

Rose thought she probably ought to care what he’d do to them once he’d looked in a mirror. On any other day, she would have.

“I think that earns you both a week of cleaning up the hospital wing.” Filch grinned evilly, clashing bizarrely with his festive hair. “And half of Hufflepuff House is there with the flu.”

Hugo groaned.

Rose’s mind, however, was still chasing itself in circles, repeating, “It’s Snape. It can’t be Snape. But it is Snape. Why is it Snape?” Only now it added, “And why can’t we tell about it?”

~0~


Rose stamped her foot in frustration and tried again. “What I mean to say is that we’ve found …”

Al held out a hand encouragingly.

She wilted, crossing her arms and turning to look out over the lake.

“C’mon, Rosie,” he said. “You’re a Ravenclaw. You’ve got to be able to work out a way around this thing.”

“I’m trying!” Nothing she’d attempted had worked. She couldn’t talk about the room, couldn’t talk about the man they’d found there, even in the vaguest terms she could think up. Her eyes widened as she got another idea. She slung her rucksack off her shoulder, whipped out parchment and quill, and began to write.

Hugo and I were up on the seventh floor.

Well, she’d managed that much out loud already.

Filch was coming, so we had to get away, and we …

The quill stilled in her hands, refusing to scratch out another line.

Al’s eyebrows knit together, and he loosened his green and silver tie a bit. “Rosie, are you trying to tell me you and Hugo got into the Room of Requirement? Nobody’s been able to do that since our parents saw it go up in flames!”

She couldn’t even nod, but something in her expression must’ve told him he’d hit on what she’d been trying to say.

“Brilliant!” His face lit up for a moment, then shifted back to a look of confused concentration. “But why can’t you talk about it?”

She shrugged. “I can talk about anything else, and so can Hugo, so I don’t think it was a Mute Jinx.”

“No, it wouldn’t be.” He scratched his head. “Is it something you saw inside there?”

Again, she couldn’t even nod, but he caught on.

“It is. Something in there is under a protective spell!” He played with his tie again. “Can you talk to Hugo about it if no one else is around?”

“Yes. Not that that happens often,” she added with an unladylike snort.

“No, that’s good!”

“Huh?”

“Maybe you can only talk to people who’ve seen what’s in there,” he said. “You should try writing to your parents.” His eyes widened as he seemed to realize what he’d just suggested. “I mean …”

“It’s okay, Al. I’m getting used to it.” She sighed, wondering if it was really possible to be used to her parents having divorced. Neither she nor Hugo had even been home yet since Dad had moved out, so it still didn’t seem entirely real, except for needing to owl them separately. “I’ll try Dad first.”

Al nodded as she pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and started writing.

~0~


It was dinner the next day by the time she got her reply. And not from Dad, after all. She hadn’t been able to write to him either, and that had almost convinced her to just give up.

Almost.

But she’d tried Mum, and that letter she’d been able to write. It made no sense whatsoever, but Rose didn’t particularly care, so long as she was able to tell someone about it and possibly get some answers.

Over at the Gryffindor table, she could see that Hugo was watching her open the parchment that the tawny owl had dropped off, his fork stuck in his mouth as if he’d been put under a Stasis Charm.

“Swallow!” she mouthed at him, and he did, setting down the fork, though he didn’t take his eyes off her.

She finished unrolling the parchment and read.

Dear Rose,

I was startled to receive a second letter from you this week. I had no idea you would even be able to find that room, much less ... well, you know what you found.

Yes, you’re right that I already knew about him. That’s why you can’t talk to anyone else about it. The spell I used was a bit unusual, but I think I understand why the two of you would be immune. I’d rather not explain in a letter, even though it’s unlikely anyone but you or Hugo could read it.

Your questions show that you are every bit the caring daughter I’ve raised you to be. I’m so proud of you. Please trust me when I say that I have done and continue to do all that I can to help the man in the room. He deserves far better, considering all that he’s done for all of us, but as you know, Uncle Harry hasn’t been successful in his efforts to clear his name. Believe me, he’s tried, as have your father and I. Between that and his mental state, it’s just not safe for him to leave that room. Yes, I’ve tried the potion they used on Granddad Weasley. It helped a bit, but as you can see, some of the damage was far more severe, probably because of where he was bitten.

If either of you have other questions, I will try to answer them as best I can. Please don’t let your curiosity about this distract you from your schoolwork. As I say, he is being cared for, and there’s nothing you need to do for him. He has always been a very private man and probably wouldn’t appreciate any further visits.

Good luck on your Charms exam tomorrow, and please remind Hugo to get a head start on his essays so that he doesn’t have to stay up all night to get them done.

Love,
Mum



Rose chewed her lip and thought about the letter, barely noticing when Hugo scuttled onto the seat beside her and started reading over her shoulder.

“Hey!” he shouted, startling her out of her reverie.

“What?”

He pointed at a new part of the letter that had just appeared.


P.S. Hugo, what in the world were you thinking? Your Uncle George is not the best influence, and you know it. Honestly! And Rose, can’t you do a better job keeping your brother out of trouble?

Rose grinned and rolled her eyes. “As if Mum was any good at keeping Dad and Uncle Harry out of trouble!”

“Not to hear them tell it,” Hugo agreed. His eyes turned pitiful. “Ready for our second night of detention?”

“No,” she said with a sigh. Still, she pushed her plate away. It wasn’t a great idea to have a very full stomach when scrubbing out bedpans.

~0~


“Well, I think he must be lonely,” Hugo said the next morning. “Do you think he likes to play Exploding Snap?”

Going by the stories she’d heard, Rose didn’t think Snape was the sort to play anything. Then again, he hadn’t really acted very mean when they’d seen him.

Right, for the whole two seconds we were there.

“Maybe something more grown up like chess?” she suggested.

Hugo pouted. “Only two people can play chess, Rosie.”

“Well, you’re better at it than me, so maybe it should be you, and I’ll just watch.” She certainly wasn’t about to let him go alone. “And it’ll have to be Sunday.”

That was, after all, the only day for the next several weeks that all their free time wasn’t going to be spent in the hospital wing.

~0~


It was a good thing she hadn’t let Hugo go alone. While the game was hardly worth watching, Snape’s complete inability to play it was.

This was the great spy? Even Rose could’ve beaten him. Surely the man had some sense of strategy?

“It seems, Mr. Weasley, that I must concede,” Snape said as his king made a great show of tipping over.

“Good game, sir,” Hugo replied, offering his hand.

Rose couldn’t help noticing Snape’s tremors as he reached out to grasp her brother’s hand. All that from a snake bite? I mean, Mum’s right that it was probably worse for him than for Granddad, getting bit on the neck and all, but still!

At least the cane leaning against his leather-bound chair suggested that he wasn’t completely incapacitated, despite what they’d seen that first day. Physically that is.

“I’m sure it’s just that it’s been so long, sir,” Hugo added. “After a few games, you’ll be winning in five moves.”

Snape raised an eyebrow at this pronouncement but said nothing.

Rose looked at the Singing Daisies, which were still fresh. Or possibly they were new ones? On a hunch, she counted. There were four. She wondered what sort of music they played for Snape when he was having trouble falling asleep. Probably not the soft Muggle flute music she preferred or the Howling Hippogriff ballads they played for Hugo. She wondered, but she didn’t ask.

~0~


On the following Sunday, the next game went no better. Nor the one after. Nor the one after that. In fact, Snape didn’t seem able to even remember what Hugo’s invariable response would be to his habitual opening, as Snape never seemed to anticipate it.

Sometimes she wondered whether he even remembered who they were, though she noticed he addressed Hugo far more often.

Does he think Hugo is Dad? Everyone says he looks just like Dad did when he was a firstie.

That was a disturbing thought. When he did address her, it was always as Miss Weasley, though, and she barely looked like Auntie Ginny at all, being nearly a carbon copy of Mum except that her curls were red.

After all this time, why wasn’t he better? Mum insisted there was nothing else St. Mungo’s could’ve done for him, and Rose believed her, but it still seemed unfair that this great hero about whom she’d heard so much was so damaged and so alone.

This week, she noticed, there were five Singing Daisies. And according to what she’d learned in Transfiguration class, living things couldn’t be Conjured.

~0~


“But you shouldn’t have to miss out on the feast!” Hugo’s voice was loud and indignant.

“Mr. Weasley, I assure you, Kreacher will certainly bring me an adequate dinner.” Snape’s face darkened. “And I do not believe that Halloween has ever been a favored holiday of mine.”

Rose elbowed her brother in the ribs. Didn’t he remember Uncle Harry’s stories about how Snape was in love with Uncle Harry’s Mum? And Halloween was the day she’d died. Rose could picture Uncle Harry holding the vial of silvery memories reverently as he told the story yet again.

Then she replayed what Snape had just said.

“Don’t you remember?” she blurted.

“Don’t I remember what, Miss … Weasley?”

Why hadn’t she ever noticed that hesitation before?

“Don’t you remember whether you like Halloween or hate it?” she asked, an idea beginning to take shape.

His eyes took on a familiar faraway look. “No, I do not. It’s as though …” The distant expression passed, and he grew stern. “You will both be late for the feast. You should go.”

“But it’s only …” Hugo started.

Rose grabbed her brother’s arm. “Right. We wouldn’t want to be late. Let’s go, Hugo.”

When she’d dragged him out into the hallway, he demanded, “What was that all about? The feast isn’t for another two hours!”

“I think I know what’s wrong with him,” she said breathlessly. “And I think I know what will make him better.”

~0~


It bothered Rose that her mother hadn’t thought of this in the last twenty-one years. Maybe she’d already tried it, and it hadn’t worked.

It was obviously bothering Hugo too.

“Why don’t you just write Mum and find out?”

It was an entirely reasonable question, not that she’d ever tell him that.

“Because I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She wasn’t sure why, but she was positive that was the very last thing they should do.

“And waiting until Christmas is a better one?”

“Yes!” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And you need to work on Lily.”

“How? I can’t even tell her anything!”

“You can’t tell her about the room or about him, but you can tell her what we need to do, same as I’m going to tell Al.”

“What about James?”

James was the one hole in her plans. Well, James and Teddy, but Teddy usually spent Christmas with his grandmother and didn’t go to the Potters’ until Boxing Day. As long as he did the same this year, that left James to be a potential problem, something he was very good at. Albus and Lily would help and would accept that they couldn’t talk about it. James … probably wouldn’t.

“No James,” she decided. “He’ll make a better distraction if he doesn’t know that’s what he’s doing.”

~0~


And he did. James had got Dad, Uncle Harry, and Auntie Ginny into a heated debate over the strategy the Holyhead Harpies had used in their most recent game against the Chudley Cannons. They were going to be at it for hours, and Mum, predictably bored, was in the kitchen straightening up. In fact, if it had been anyone but James who’d started the discussion, Rose might have wondered if he’d done it expressly to end the awkward silences that kept happening any time Mum and Dad were in the same room for more than a minute.

Nobody was going to notice the four of them swanning off, and if they did, they’d assume they were playing with their Christmas gifts. While it wasn’t as big as the house at Grimmauld Place, the Potters’ home had lots of rooms for the grownups to look through, and by the time any of them thought of the study, she, Hugo, and Al really would be admiring Lily’s new Shifting Puzzle Cube and trying to help her solve it.

Or so Rose hoped.

They ducked into the study, leaving Al to keep watch at the doorway. Rose thought it was probably a bit ironic that he was the best at doing that sort of thing without being caught, considering whose memories they were stealing and why.

Somehow, now that they were looking up at the phial of memories, the shelf on which Uncle Harry kept them and the case that held them appeared rather higher than she’d remembered.

“Maybe we should get James to help after all,” Lily said. “He’s tallest.”

“Yes, but how would we get him away from the others?” Rose chewed her lower lip. She wondered if they could move one of the large chairs without making too much noise.

Wingardium Leviosa.”

Rose snapped her head around to look at her brother, then back to the shelf above them. To her horror, the glass case holding the phial of memories had lifted a few inches off the shelf. That they weren’t supposed to do magic out of school was suddenly the least of her worries.

“Hugo!” she whispered so that she wouldn’t yell. “Put it back down! You can’t actually—”

He somehow managed to inch it forward despite the fact the spell wasn’t really supposed to work that way. Darting her eyes back to him, she saw that he was using a wand movement more suited to a Summoning Charm.

Maybe it’ll work?

The case began to wobble, and she darted to stand under it so she could catch it if it fell, Lily and Al joining her. The other two might not understand quite what they were up to, but if there was one thing all the cousins were clear on, it was how very precious these memories were to Uncle Harry. They might be willing to take them, but no one was willing to see them dropped.

Slowly the case floated downward and closer to where Hugo stood, and when it finally landed in his outstretched palm, Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, it shot out of his hand and across the room.

All four of them cried out in dismay and ran after it, only to find themselves nearly running into Mum, who caught the case easily and looked at them all with an expression somewhere between disappointment and confusion.

“What, dare I ask, are the lot of you up to?” she demanded.

Rose sat down on the floor and buried her face in her hands. Their plan was ruined. They’d never be able to help him now.

~0~


After determining that Rose and Hugo couldn’t talk in front of their cousins and shooing Lily and Al out of the room to be dealt with later, Mum tried again.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “So the two of you are going to explain it to me, and you’re not going to leave anything out.”

Rose swallowed.

Mum gave her The Look.

“Well, it was back at Halloween, and he didn’t remember whether he liked it or not,” she blurted. “So we had to try to give his memories back, but …”

Mum sank into a chair. “You thought I’d let him sit in that room all these years without trying to come up with every possibility?” Tears glittered in her eyes. “Rosie, it doesn’t work that way, believe me. I’ve researched memory extraction thoroughly, and it doesn’t remove memories entirely, much less damage a person’s ability to form new memories.”

Rose’s heart sank into her stomach.

“See,” Hugo said.

Rose shot him a dark look.

“And just in case it was different this time, either because of the venom or because he was dying, I did try.” Mum’s eyes were still shining. “He either couldn’t or wouldn’t take the memories back.”

“Told you so,” Hugo muttered.

Rose slouched in on herself. She should’ve known. A tiny voice in the corner of her mind suggested that she did know, and that was why she hadn’t wanted to write Mum about it until she had good news, but she told the tiny voice to hush.

“I don’t understand, Rose,” Mum said. “I told you I’d answer your questions. When you thought of this, why didn’t you come to me?”

“I don’t know,” Rose answered with a shrug. And she didn’t. The tiny voice had no idea what it was talking about.

Mum gave her a hard look but didn’t press.

“But there has to be something you didn’t already try, Mum,” Hugo said. “Uncle Harry always talks about how brilliant he was, and now he can’t even play chess!”

“Chess?” Mum turned her stare on him. “You’ve been trying to play chess with him?”

Hugo nodded. “Rosie was right. He likes it better than Exploding Snap, but he doesn’t play it very well.” He shrugged. “We haven’t come up with any other ideas, but he doesn’t seem to mind.”

Yeah, because it can’t be boring to play the same game over and over again if you don’t remember it!

“He never said …” Mum sank back into her chair. “Didn’t I tell you he probably wouldn’t want to be bothered? How often have you been visiting?”

“Every Sunday.” Hugo grinned. “At first that was the only time we could, because of Filch’s stupid detentions, but then it just turned into a kind of a habit.”

“What do you mean, ‘he never said,’ Mum?” Rose asked. “Do you visit him?”

“Well, yes,” Mum admitted, a slight flush in her cheeks. “It sounds like it’s a good thing it’s been mostly Saturdays, or we’d have met up by now.”

“What?” Rose felt hurt. “You come to Hogwarts every week and you don’t visit us?”

“And how would you explain to your friends that your Mum is showing up all the time? I’m sure they’d tease you about it.”

“Well, you can see us now without anyone knowing,” Hugo announced. “Come on Sunday afternoons while we’re in the Room!”

“Perhaps.” Mum smiled.

Rose didn’t know how to feel about that. It’d be nice to see Mum, but Sunday afternoons had become kind of special, just her and Hugo spending time with Snape. He was like their new secret uncle or something. Having Mum along would change that.

Suddenly, Mum got that look on her face. Dad and Uncle Harry usually got worried whenever she got that look, though Rose never quite understood why. It meant that Mum had an idea, and her ideas were almost always good ones.

“You know, Hugo,” Mum said, “you’re right. There is one thing I haven’t tried. Never really had the option before.”

Rose brightened. “What is it?”

“Well, there was this one book …”

Rose and her brother listened as Mum outlined her idea. Rose felt her smile growing wider as she once again began to hope they might be able to help their new friend.

~0~


Of course, Mum hadn’t been willing to do things quite the way Rose had wanted. For starters, she’d insisted on telling Uncle Harry that they were taking the memories and borrowing his Pensieve while they were at it.

“Again, Hermione?” he asked once he’d been brought into the study and told. “What is it you’re planning to do with them this time?” He looked at Rose and Hugo. “I don’t think it’s really right to show them to the children, but if you think it’s important, you could always do it here.”

“No, Harry,” Mum said. “I’m sorry, but I still can’t explain. It’s not that I don’t want to—I literally can’t.”

His eyes narrowed as if he were thinking very hard. “But the children know?”

“Only mine.”

“And they can’t tell me either.”

Rose shook her head.

After a long pause, Uncle Harry asked, “Will I be getting them back this time?”

“I don’t know.” Mum’s eyes were pleading.

Uncle Harry’s eyebrows nearly shot past his scar at that, but all he said was, “I see.”

And without another word, he pulled down the Pensieve while Mum Summoned her purse to put the glass case and Pensieve into.

When they went into the sitting room, Dad looked very annoyed. “More of your big secret project?” he asked. “Are you dragging the kids into it now, too?”

“Ron,” she said tiredly.

“Never mind,” he replied, sounding equally tired.

After that, things were a bit awkward, and they left soon after, Mum going home and Dad taking them to the Burrow for Boxing Day. When Rose kissed Mum goodbye, Mum said she’d see them the first Sunday after they got back to Hogwarts.

~0~


“Did you hear what Dad said?” Hugo asked.

Rose stopped in the middle of the staircase and turned to look at him.

“Dad said a lot of things over the holidays,” she replied. “Did you mean something in particular, or did you just think I ignored him the whole time?”

Hugo rolled his eyes. “About Mum’s ‘secret project,’ silly.”

“What about it?” Rose started climbing the stairs again. They were nearly to the seventh floor, and she wanted to get there before Mum, to see how she’d been getting in unnoticed all this time.

“Do you think that’s why they … you know?”

“I don’t know. Maybe a little.” Rose sighed. “There were lots of things they fought about, Hugo. Not just how Mum’s job kept her away so much. Not like Dad never puts in long hours with Uncle George.”

If anything, it seemed they’d just been holding on until both she and Hugo were at school.

“So you don’t think they’ll get back together if we get him sorted?”

“Look at how Mum was at home and how Dad was at the Burrow. They actually seemed … happy. Night and day from how they were together at Christmas.” Rose shook her head. “I think it’d be a bad idea if they tried to get back together.”

They stepped onto the landing just before the staircase shifted away to go somewhere else.

“Yeah,” Hugo said at last. “I guess you’re right.”

Somehow, hearing him say that didn’t sound nearly as good as it ought to. Still, she forced a smile onto her face, saying, “I know I’m right. Come on.”

~0~


When they arrived, Mum was already there, and she refused to explain how she’d got in without being seen.

“The last thing the two of you need is another way to get yourselves into trouble,” was all she’d say about it.

Snape gave a little smirk at that, and Rose wondered if he remembered any of the trouble Mum had got into when she was a student.

Probably not.

Kreacher, standing next to him, twisted his lips in elvish imitation of the look. Somehow, it didn’t quite work.

It was a bit strange having Mum there with them and Snape. Not that Rose hadn’t known she’d be there, hadn’t figured out she was coming by at least once in awhile, but it was an entirely different thing actually seeing her there.

Odd as it seemed to her, it clearly confused Snape even more. Every so often, he looked back and forth between Mum and Rose as though they couldn’t both be there together, confirming Rose’s suspicion that he’d thought she was Mum at least some of the time.

Mum, on the other hand, was in full sick-room mode. Rose wondered, not for the first time, why she’d never gone into Healing. Oh, she was great at Magical Creature Relations. Everyone said so. But she was brilliant at making people feel better. Merlin knew Rose and Hugo had given her plenty of practice.

Mum dug the Pensieve, memories, and a small silver bowl out of her purse and set them on the table that magically appeared before her.

“What is all that?” Snape asked.

A comfortable chair matching the one Snape sat in materialized, and Mum sat down on it.

“The children are going to help me try a spell to fix the damage to your memory, Severus,” she said. “It’s an old spell, one that I tried by itself not long after you were hurt, but to use it along with returning your memories would take more than one person. Until the children discovered you, there was no one else I could bring here without jeopardizing your safety.”

Rose wondered at that. There were only three of them. Surely Dad and Uncle Ron would’ve helped?

Snape’s eyebrows drew together tightly. “Why wouldn’t I be safe?”

“There are people who don’t understand some of the things you had to do in the war,” Mum said.

Rose recognized the tone she used as “Mum trying to be patient about explaining the same thing over and over again.”

“Was I such an awful person? Is that why I have to stay here? Am I in prison?”

“No!” Mum took a deep breath and said more calmly, “No, Severus. You’re here so that no one can put you in prison. The people who don’t understand. You were very brave, and we wouldn’t have won the war without you.”

Snape didn’t look convinced.

Well, if we can make it so he remembers, then he’ll know.

Mum gave an encouraging smile. “Will you let us try?”

“What happens if it does not work?”

“Nothing,” Mum replied.

“And I’ll keep winning at chess,” Hugo added.

Snape smirked. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?”

“Is that a yes?” Mum asked.

Snape nodded.

“Right, then.” Mum stood up and drew her wand. “You two ready?”

“Yes, Mum,” Rose and Hugo answered together.

Rose drew her own wand and ran through the incantation and wand movement in her mind. Her part wasn’t terribly complicated, but she wanted to be sure it was done right, just the same.

“What shall Kreacher do, Missy Hermione?”

“Why don’t you go to the kitchens and make up some kidney pie?” Mum suggested. “I imagine Severus will want something to eat after we’re done.”

Kreacher nodded and Disapparated with a loud crack.

“And what must I do?” Snape asked.

“Just try to relax.”

“That is more easily said than done,” he replied, shifting in his seat.

Hugo’s eyes lit up, and he darted over to the bedside table, returning to set the vase of flowers on the table with the Pensieve and memories. Almost immediately, strains of violin music began to play.

Rose smiled. “What song is that?”

“I think it’s a concerto,” Mum replied. “Maybe Mozart?”

“Bach,” Snape corrected. “His Concerto for Two Violins.”

Rose stared at him. Mum and Hugo did as well.

Mum shook out of it first. “It never ceases to amaze me the random things you’ll remember, Severus.”

He merely shrugged, closed his eyes, and leaned back into his chair. The lines on his face eased, and Rose wondered if he might actually fall asleep.

Mum opened the glass case and then the phial, tipping the memories into the Pensieve.

Hugo stood next to Snape’s chair, holding the silver bowl to catch any memories that fell, one of the problems Mum said she’d had before. His expression was so serious that Rose almost wanted to laugh, except that she felt every bit as serious herself.

“Here we go then.” Mum touched her wand to the surface of the pool of memories in the Pensieve and drew out a silvery strand.

As soon as the shining thread of memory touched Snape’s temple, Rose traced a sideways figure eight in the air with her wand, saying, “Restituo Memorias!

At first, nothing seemed to happen.

“Again,” Mum said.

Rose arced her wand through the movement again. “Restituo Memorias!

Still nothing, except that the memory appeared to slip a bit, as though it would fall from Mum’s wand. Hugo shifted the bowl to be sure it was directly underneath.

“Again.”

Swish. “Restituo Memorias!

Was it her imagination, or did the shimmering thread seem a bit shorter?

“Again, Rose.”

Restituo Memorias!

And then it was definitely shorter, Mum’s wand at least a good three inches closer to Snape’s head.

“It’s working!”

The music from the flowers grew a bit louder, as if trying to cover Hugo’s shout.

“Don’t stop,” Mum said.

And Rose didn’t stop. For what seemed like hours, she continued swishing her wand through endless figure eights and practically chanting the incantation. She thought her arm might fall off, and her voice might just quit, but she didn’t stop. It was working, and she was determined to see it through.

Finally, the last thread disappeared into his temple. Rose let her arm fall to her side and tried to swallow the dryness in her throat.

He didn’t open his eyes. He didn’t say anything. Had he fallen asleep after all?

Mum pressed a different phial into her hand. At Rose’s querying look, she said, “Strengthening Solution for your poor wand arm.”

Rose looked at her oddly. “You just carry that around?”

Mum pointed to a cabinet that appeared to be built into the wall next to Snape’s bed. “That lets me reach into Madam Pomfrey’s supplies. How do you think I got half the things I needed when I first brought him here?”

Rose hadn’t thought about it before, but it made sense. This room did provide some of the most interesting things. She took a swallow of the potion, and the weakness and soreness in her arm faded almost immediately.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Sir?”

Rose looked back over to Snape. Hugo had his hand on the man’s arm and was looking at him with concern.

“Shh,” Rose said. “I think he fell asleep.”

Just then, Snape drew a shuddering breath. And another. If she didn’t know better, Rose would’ve thought he’d just finished a very long cry.

He opened his eyes, which were unusually bright.

“What have you done, Miss Granger?” he demanded, his voice hoarse.

“I believe we’ve finally restored your memories, Severus,” she replied.

That tone Rose recognized as her “don’t argue with me” voice.

Snape swallowed. “Yes, you have.” He gripped the arms of his chair so tightly his knuckles whitened. “And if you are quite done, then get out.”

Mum crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

“I said, ‘get out’!”

Rose shivered. This wasn’t the kindly, forgetful man who’d played chess with Hugo for weeks on end and listened to their stories about their classes and classmates. This sounded a lot more like the fearsome man of Hogwarts legend.

“Children, would you please excuse us?” Mum said.

Nodding vigorously, Rose grabbed Hugo’s wrist before he could argue and dragged him to the door.

“I meant you as well!” Snape shouted.

“I know you did,” Mum replied calmly. “And I will in a moment. Children? I asked you to excuse us.”

Rose pulled Hugo out into the seventh-floor hallway and closed the door behind them. It promptly melted into the wall.

Hugo, she was surprised to see, was grinning ear to ear. “It worked!”

Rose blinked at him. “He doesn’t seem very happy about it.”

Hugo shrugged. “Nobody feels very good when they’ve been sick a long time. Race you to the Great Hall? It’s almost time for dinner.”

He took off like a rabbit, but Rose walked slowly behind, wondering whether they’d just helped or just lost their friend.

~0~


The letter Mum’s owl brought Monday morning didn’t explain much. In fact, it sounded like a fancy way of saying exactly what Hugo had: Snape just needed time to adjust, it had been twenty years since he’d last remembered some of those things, several memories were painful, and more of the same.

Rose wasn’t sure what bothered her more: that Snape had thrown them out or that Mum had stuck around to argue with him. While seeing them faced off like that hadn’t quite given her the same sick feeling that hearing Mum and Dad fight always had, it was similar, and that confused her.

Not like I enjoy it when anybody fights, really. That’s all.

She passed the letter to Hugo after breakfast, before they both went off to their morning classes, and she managed to turn her focus to Arithmancy and Herbology for the next few hours. As they went back into the Great Hall for lunch, however, Hugo pulled her aside.

“Do you think we should check on him later?” he asked.

Rose chewed her lower lip. “Maybe. It might make him mad again though. Let me think about it.”

And she did. She was using a Quick-Quotes Quill (standard edition—she had no use for the kind that added its own embellishments) to take notes during History of Magic anyway, not that Binns ever added much to what the book had to say. Meanwhile, with her regular quill, she drew a line down the middle of another sheet of parchment and wrote two lists.

Why we should go see him:
1. Maybe it didn’t work all the way or didn’t work permanently, and somebody should go check.
2. Maybe he isn’t mad anymore, and he wants some company.
3. I want to know whether he was mad at us for helping him or just needs time to get used to having his memories back.


And in the second column, she had a rather longer set of reasons.

Why we shouldn’t go see him:
1. Kreacher’s there to look after him, and he’ll help him or get Mum if he needs her.
2. Even though he’s been nice, maybe that’s just because he didn’t remember to be mean, and I’d rather remember him when he was nice.
3. If he only liked us because he thought we were Mum and Dad, he won’t want to see us now that he knows for sure that we’re not.
4. If he gets mad at people for helping him, who wants to go visit him?
5. If he just needs time to adjust, one day might not be enough.
6. If he gets upset again, that might be bad for him, like after Granddad Granger had his heart attack and we were supposed to make sure he stayed calm.


Across the bottom of the sheet, however, she found herself scrawling the deciding factor:

If he’s in there feeling sad or lonely, and we don’t go, that’d be worse than getting thrown out again if we do go.

That settled, she listened half-heartedly to the rest of Binns’ lecture, then took herself off to Charms.

~0~


“Let’s be quiet,” Rose said just before they opened the door. “He might be resting.”

She didn’t add that he might be less likely to yell at them if they didn’t just barge in the way they usually did.

Hugo nodded, and they opened the door gently and stepped inside.

Of all the things she’d considered, Rose had never once imagined the sight that met them: Mum sitting next to Snape in the same matching chairs as yesterday and … holding his hand.

“…ry’s about worked it out anyway, and he’s working on Minister Crawferly to get your name cleared.”

“And of course, that is exactly what I wish: to owe another debt to another insufferable Potter,” Snape retorted. He sounded nowhere near as forceful as he had yesterday, but Rose had the distinct impression he’d either just been shouting or was about to start. “And why would he suddenly be successful now? If he could not accomplish this while Shacklebolt was Minister, what makes you think he will be able to do so with a non-Order member in the office?”

Mum sighed, and Rose nudged Hugo back towards the door again. Obviously they shouldn’t be here. It was a miracle neither Mum nor Snape had seen them yet.

Hugo, however, either didn’t understand or didn’t care and called out, “Hi, Mum. Hi, Snape.”

Horrified, Rose considered bolting, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to leave her brother to his fate alone.

Mum turned to look at them, clearly surprised, but smiling nonetheless. “Hugo! Rose! You have perfect timing.”

Rose blinked in astonishment. “We do?”

“Yes.” Mum waved them over, even as Snape gave them an angry look. “I spent last night researching more about the protection spell I used on this room, and I’ll need your help to break it when the time comes.”

“You will?” Hugo asked.

Mum nodded. “As I told you and was beginning to tell Se—Headmaster Snape, I didn’t know how to cast a Fidelius Charm, and even though the Room provided a book with instructions, there were just too many ways it could go wrong since I’d never done it before. I was especially afraid that Kreacher would tell Harry, and then Harry would tell the rest of the world before I could make him see it was a bad idea.”

Rose still didn’t think Uncle Harry would’ve been that silly, but Hugo nodded as though he understood perfectly … and so did Snape, though he added a snort for good measure.

Maybe it’s a boy thing?

“The only other spell in that book that would work on a house-elf was a blood spell,” Mum explained. “Since my blood flows in the children’s veins, or at least partly, that’s why they were immune.”

“And that’s why Mum couldn’t tell Dad or Uncle Harry, even after it would’ve been safe,” Rose piped up. “Because it wasn’t like she was a Secret Keeper who could decide who to tell.”

“That’s right.” Mum sighed. “And now it seems I’ll need your help to break it. I hate to ask it of you, but …”

“I’ll run and get my Potions kit,” Hugo volunteered. “Gryffindor Tower’s closer than Ravenclaw.”

Rose reached out to stop him, horrified, but she never got a chance to tell him what a little idiot he was being.

“You will not use your Potions dagger to cut your skin or anyone else’s, Mr. Weasley,” Snape barked. “Who in Merlin’s name do they have teaching you? Do you have the slightest idea—”

Mum cleared her throat softly and pointed to the cabinet in the wall. “I don’t believe anyone needs to leave to fetch anything. And at any rate, it’s early days yet.”

Snape grunted and settled back into his chair muttering something about managing Death Eaters more easily.

“Severus,” Mum said in a voice Rose had long ago learned never to argue with, “if you leave the safety of this room now, you’ll be in Azkaban by nightfall.” She chewed on her lower lip. “And if Harry doesn’t succeed, we’ll have to think of something else.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “So long as the rest of the world believes me dead, I imagine that should be rather less difficult than it might otherwise be.”

Rose didn’t like the sound of that, but she didn’t say anything.

“Do you still want to play chess on Sunday?” Hugo asked. “I mean, until Uncle Harry gets things sorted?”

“Hugo …” Mum started.

“That would be … acceptable,” Snape cut in. “Obviously I shall need to demonstrate my competence to survive outside these walls to your interfering mother, and I daresay she will not relent until I at least succeed in defeating a first-year at wizard chess.”

Hugo grinned.

Rose had the vague idea that she ought to be insulted on Hugo’s and Mum’s behalf, but instead she found herself grinning right along with him.

~0~


Rose wasn’t sure she was ready for this. Oh, she’d had a couple of weeks to get used to the idea while Uncle Harry finally got things sorted, but as this day had got closer and closer, and she and Hugo visited more and more often, she’d had a definite sense of time running out.

Some friend I am. I should be happy he won’t be stuck in here anymore.

She chewed her lip as she stood next to her brother, anxiously waiting.

At a nod from Mum, Rose went over to the cabinet, the one that led to Madam Pomfrey’s supplies. When she opened it, she found instead a single shelf empty except for a lone dagger.

When Rose brought it over to them, Snape watched critically as Mum cast several Cleansing Charms on it to be sure it was safe to use.

“Right then,” Mum said at last. “I’ll go first in case it’s satisfied with just mine.” And with that, she pricked the end of her thumb and squeezed it until a drop of blood fell to the floor. Mum stared at it for a minute before Healing her thumb and casting another series of Cleansing Charms on the dagger.

It didn’t sink into the floor as Mum explained that it had when she’d first cast the spell, just sat there like a regular old drop of blood.

Rose took the dagger and nicked her own thumb, wincing at the blade’s bite and squeezing out a drop of her own blood that landed next to Mum’s and ran into it until the two formed one slightly larger drop.

Mum Healed Rose’s thumb, Cleansed the dagger again, and handed it to Hugo.

He bit his lip, and Rose knew he was screwing up his courage so that he wouldn’t cry.

“It doesn’t hurt that badly,” she offered.

He glared at her defiantly and poked the tip of the dagger into his thumb. His eyes glittered, but he didn’t cry or even make a noise, just squeezed out a drop of blood onto the floor.

It just sat there a moment, then slid over and into the larger drop, which glowed bright red for an instant before sinking into the floor, leaving the faintest rust-colored stain.

Mum swished her wand at it and said, “Finite Cruor Ignotus!

Nothing.

Mum swished her wand again, her movements a bit sharper this time. “Finite Cruor Ignotus!

Still nothing.

Rose was no longer sure which she was hoping for. This new Snape, who was really the old Snape, wasn’t as easy to get along with, but he was still her friend. He’d even convinced her to let him coach her in chess a bit, and while it would never be her favorite game, that had been fun.

He wants to be able to leave, so he should be. But he’s not going to want to play with a couple of kids anymore once he’s gone.

She gave herself a little shake. Of course she was hoping for the spell to work. She didn’t want a friend who was only a friend because there wasn’t anyone else around, did she?

She’d missed Mum’s wand movement this time, but she heard her cast again, “Finite Cruor Ignotus!

The stain on the floor flashed a brilliant gold, then vanished completely.

Mum let out a huff of air, saying, “I think that’s done it.”

Rose looked at the spot where the stain had been. She cocked her head and wondered why it had taken three tries.

An Arithmantic property of the number three? Or maybe just because Mum, Hugo, and I make three?

“Then I am free to go?” Snape asked.

Rose tried to hide her disappointment. He was obviously in a hurry to leave.

“Of course,” Mum replied. “I’ll be by once you’ve settled in a bit.”

“I believe I can find my way around Grimmauld Place,” Snape muttered.

Mum rolled her eyes.

Hugo tugged Rose’s sleeve as if he wanted to ask a what they were talking about.

She shrugged. Who knew what went through grownups’ heads? Somehow, though, she felt a bit more hopeful.

~0~


~0~


“That was wicked, Dad!” Hugo said for the millionth time, bouncing as much as his seat belt would let him.

“And it wasn’t so bad, being high up like that, was it?”

Despite Dad’s grin and Hugo’s nod, Rose wasn’t so sure of that. Oh, she knew that the metal structure would hold them up, but she preferred the security of a well-crafted Firebolt XL—provided she was the one flying it—to being in a box on a giant wheel. Still, even Disillusioned, they couldn’t have taken a broom tour over London, and it had been exciting to see it all from above like that. And if it helped get Hugo over his fear of heights, that was all to the good.

“Amazing, the ways Muggles find to get around their lack of magic.”

“You sound just like Granddad!” Rose said.

“Well, he’s right, isn’t he?” Dad slowed the car and pulled into the driveway. His grin wavered. “Here we are then.”

None of them said anything more as they got out of the car and walked up to the door.

When they reached it, they were saved the awkward decision whether to knock or whether Rose should use her key because Mum swung the door open, smiling. Rose and Hugo flung themselves into a three-way hug with her as she asked whether they’d been good for Dad.

“Course we were!” Hugo replied indignantly.

Rose nodded into Mum’s arm.

“And you had a good time in Muggle London?”

Rose pulled back and grinned. “You knew we would! We saw almost everything, but Dad said we needed to leave a couple of things to see with you.”

“Thought you might be better company for the museums,” Dad said.

Rose turned and saw he wore an awkward little smile, his hands rammed in his pockets.

“Well, you kids can tell me all about it over tea,” Mum said.

Recognizing that as their cue, Rose turned back and hugged Dad, Hugo a beat behind her.

“See you next week?” she asked.

“Of course, Rosie.” A strong arm squeezed her shoulders, and she felt Dad plant a kiss on the top of her head. “Now go wash your hands for tea, both of you.”

As she and her brother went off to the bathroom, she heard Mum asking, “Now, what time do you think you’ll come pick them up on Friday?”

Rose quickly washed her hands and splashed water on her face, then traded places so Hugo could do the same before they went into the kitchen.

Snape was just pouring the water into the teapot as they came in, leaning heavily on his cane as he swished his wand at the kettle and tea service. Once emptied, the kettle flew back to the stove, and the tray holding the teapot, cups, and sandwiches floated over to the table.

“You have returned just in time,” he said, his stern expression belied by a slight quirk of his lips. “Dare I ask whether London has survived your visit, or should I prepare myself to sift through the remnants of another Great Fire when I return home this evening?”

“Ha-bloody-ha,” Rose answered, sliding into her seat at the table.

“Even the Prophet couldn’t have missed that,” Hugo added.

Rose decided not to mention that the past two days’ Prophets were still sitting rolled up on the counter, cleary untouched never mind unread. She didn’t want to think about why that was, really, and while it’d be fun to tease Hugo just to watch the faces he’d make, she couldn’t quite do that in front of Snape.

Just then Mum entered the kitchen. She took a deep whiff and smiled, saying, “Another new blend? You’ll spoil us all, Severus.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “I have been accused of many things in my life. ‘Spoiling’ people, however, was never one of them.”

“Maybe you’re making up for lost time?” Hugo suggested with a grin.

As Snape flicked his wand at the tea set, the cups floating to each of their places and the teapot preparing to pour them, Rose wondered if Hugo might not just be on to something. If so, then judging by Mum’s smile, it seemed he was doing a good job of it.

By the time they were done with their sandwiches, Hugo was pulling several of Uncle George’s latest inventions out of his pockets from their brief side trip to Diagon Alley. This time, most were Morphing Mints and Lying Licorice, though he’d somehow ended up with a set of Manicure Mittens as well.

Rose looked at those carefully to be sure he couldn’t trick her into putting them on next winter. The name might be innocuous enough, but she didn’t much want to end up with four-inch nails, no matter how pretty the colors.

“Is that all of them?” Mum asked.

“Um, yes?”

Rose rolled her eyes. At the very least, he had a box of Classic Puking Pastilles tucked away.

“Hugo …” Mum’s voice trailed off, and Rose saw that Snape had rested his hand over hers on the table.

“Far be it for me to suggest that Mr. Weasley’s inventions have any redeeming value …” he said softly, his tone suggesting there was more to what he was saying than the words themselves.

Mum’s stern look faded to be replaced again with the smile that had been there moments before. “I suppose you’re right.” She looked back to Hugo. “But if you’re going to go putting any up on the Seventh Floor again, you’re going to use the box Headmistress McGonagall put there, right?”

“Well …” Hugo shifted in his seat.

“And if you find any more people you think need help, you’re going to tell me before you go haring off to take care of things yourselves, right?”

“Yes, Mum,” Rose said with a smile of her own.

Snape gave a bark of laughter. “I believe you are crediting your children with far more restraint than you and your friends showed at their age.”

Mum smiled and held her cup out for more tea. “Would you have it any other way?”

Snape’s expression softened into the fond smile he sometimes showed these days.

“What’s for afters?” Hugo interrupted.

“Gooseberry fool, appropriately enough,” Snape replied with a smirk.

“My favorite!” Rose exclaimed.

“Mine too!” said Hugo.

“Really? I had no idea.” Snape flicked his wand at the Chilling Cabinet, Summoning four generous dishes of the delicious dessert.

Yes, Rose thought, he was doing a very good job making up for lost time indeed.




A/N: Key to bad Latin used in spells:
Restituo Memorias – restore memories
Cruor Ignotus – obscured by blood


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