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You Will Not Kiss Me	By : Prosperosdaughter Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Snape/Remus Views: 22836 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: JK Rowling & her associates own the Harry Potter universe and I make no money from my stories.

Chapter List
- 107
- 108
- 109
Chapter 108: A Black Reckoning

Snape and Lupin had laid in bed for hours after, Lupin stroking and kissing Snape, re-acquainting himself with every inch of Snape's body. Snape relished every touch, in his mind reinforcing their Bond, and pushing away the sham marriage. If they were to see Tonks, Snape wanted to feel Lupin's hands and lips on his body even as he looked at her. He would know how Lupin wanted to caress him and how Lupin hadn't wanted her touch.

"I'm sorry we have to go out," Lupin murmured, holding Snape tighter, scenting even his skin, seeming to soak his senses in everything that was Snape.

"As am I, but we have to."

Lupin kissed Snape's mouth. "Yes. We do. And I'm sorry ..."

Snape kissed him back to silence him. As far as Snape was concerned, the sooner they saw her, the sooner they would return – return to this bed for as long as Snape could keep them both there.

They bathed together and seemed to wash and even dress in synchronised movements, each fitting, buttoning and smoothing down the other's robe, helping on boots and belts, hands deft but caring, unified once more.

Snape could sense Lupin's concern about what was to come as Lupin picked up the phial and stowed it carefully in his robe.

"I will be right by your side, Remus. Whatever is said, I know the truth."

oooOOOooo

Lupin and Snape had arrived at The Hog's Head first, Snape under a Disillusionment Charm so Aberforth wouldn't know he was there. Lupin took a private room upstairs. If Aberforth thought it was odd, he said nothing. Snape was relieved it was not the same room in which Dumbledore had interviewed Sybil Trelawney all those years ago.

They had agreed that Lupin would do the talking, but Snape warned Lupin he would intervene if he thought it necessary. Lupin didn't demur, but squeezed Snape's hand in thanks, as they stood together and waited.

Snape heard the footsteps on the stairs first. He Disillusioned himself once more and sank back into the shadows.

Ted entered the room, giving Lupin a nod and a strained smile.

"Ted," Lupin nodded.

Ted held the door and Andromeda swept in, imperious as ever, and Tonks followed, looking peaky, her hair palest pink, but her eyes darted around the room, alert and still in Auror mode. The four took the chairs around the table, Ted pouring from the pitcher of Butterbeer into four glasses on the sideboard, more for something to do than thirst, Snape thought.

"Wotcher, Remus," Tonks said, standing uncomfortably, her fingers playing in the straps of her leather jacket. Her voice sounded hoarse, Snape suspected from crying. "Why the family conference?"

Lupin gestured to the table and chairs and took a chair himself. The others looked at each other quickly and then also sat.

"We need to talk about ... us. And the baby. How your parents can help -"

"We? We take responsibility for your failings, I suppose?" sneered Andromeda. Tonks waved a hand to silence her mother.

"Well, talk then," said Tonks, sticking out her chin resolutely. "Are you coming home?"

"It's not my home, Dora. It's yours."

"How can you say –?" Tonks started forward in her chair.

"Don't interrupt me, Dora. Please." Lupin held out his hands in a pacific gesture. "I know ... I know about the Amortentia and the Memory Charm."

"What's he talking about?" Ted asked his daughter, his tone urgent as Tonks's face blanched. "You didn't ..."

"Of course, she didn't, Ted," snapped Andromeda. "How could you even think ..."

"Much depends on honesty now," Lupin interrupted forcefully. "Our marriage can't work. It never could ..."

"But ..."

"Please Dora! Hear me out." Lupin gentled his tone to pacify her and then composed himself as Tonks settled back in her chair. "There are things that you didn't know. If you had, I don't believe you would have done what you did to me."

Tonks's face flushed and her eyes glittered.

"What do you mean by that?" sneered Andromeda. "Are you suggesting that my daughter in some way ensnared you? You? A filthy half-breed?"

"Mum! Don't!" Tonks pleaded, and Snape could see a flush of guilt begin to blossom on her cheeks. At least, she had that small amount of decency to feel guilt, Snape thought as he glared at her hard.

"Andromeda," Lupin said, with a long-suffering sigh. "It would be helpful if you could be quiet."

"I will not be told how to behave by one of your kind -" Andromeda said forcefully, her eyes darkening with fury, looking more like Bellatrix with every perceived offence. Dear Merlin, thought Snape, how did I never see her sister in her before – or Black for that matter?

"Then leave! Leave now, and let me discuss this in peace with Dora. Ted can stay, if you're concerned to leave your daughter with me. Although I assure you: she will be quite safe!" Lupin snorted derisively. Snape didn't think he had ever heard that derision from Lupin.

Snape moved forward angrily. He wanted them all in the Charm and he didn't want Andromeda to leave. But Lupin had judged it correctly in calling Andromeda's bluff. She sat back, her furious eyes boring into Lupin, as Ted patted her hand consolingly.

Lupin ignored this. He focused on Tonks and continued.

"There are things you didn't know. Albus decided these things had to be kept from you – from most in the Order and beyond. It was all part of his plans ..."

"Well, tell me! I signed up to the Order! I should know."

"These secrets were vital to Albus's plans ... are still vital ..." Lupin began to pace the floor, Snape knew, from nerves.

"Are they to do with Harry? Something to do with his mission?" interrupted Tonks, her eyes alight.

"They are all part and parcel of the same plan. It was too dangerous for you and others in the Order to know. Lives depended – still do - on these things not being known." Lupin stopped pacing and regarded Tonks almost regretfully. "I will say that you knew this thing once ... but Albus Obliviated you."

"What?" exclaimed Tonks.

"How dare he!" exploded Andromeda at the same time.

"Can we just hear the boy out?" chimed in Ted, who had been listening intently the whole time.

Andromeda reached out and held her daughter's hand.

"It is still a dangerous secret. However, you need to know it because this unborn child's life depends upon it, and on your co-operation."

"Get on with it, man!" clipped Andromeda impatiently.

Lupin stood still now, poised at he reached the crux of the matter.

"Only if you agree to be bound by a Fidelius Charm for everything that I'm about to reveal. This secret must be kept and this is the only safe way."

The Tonkses looked at each other, clearly shocked by the request and they began to discuss it animatedly amongst themselves, excluding Lupin. Snape stood forward and pressed a hand to Lupin's back in reassurance.

"And if we say no?" asked Ted.

"Then I cannot help Dora," said Lupin with an unfamiliar hardness. "And only knowing this secret can help Dora with what will happen."

"You must give us more!" pleaded Ted.

"No. This secret is too important to me." The atmosphere in the room became frigid.

"More important than I am?" asked Tonks plaintively.

Lupin regarded her coldly. Snape saw no trace of the pity Lupin normally had for her. The choice for Lupin at this moment was stark: Snape or Tonks. Snape's heart almost hurt, he was so touched.

"I'm sorry, Dora. Yes."

"More important than our child?" Her voice was raw.

"It's for the sake of the child that I'm even prepared to tell you this at all, but only under this safeguard."

Snape wondered what Lupin would do if they called his bluff. Snape decided in that moment, if they didn't consent, he would cast it anyway, without their consent, just as Dumbledore had done to him. Snape would not allow them to damage Lupin more than they had already done, even if made Lupin angry with him: he would take that risk.

Tonks jutted out her chin, looking for all the world as if she would refuse, but Ted covered her hands with his own.

"Dora love. You know your Mum and I have been worried about the baby. I know you and Remus have ... well, you've had your issues ..."

"But Dad -"

"Listen, love."

"Imagine! A werewolf ordering this family around!" hissed Andromeda.

"Enough, Dromeda! This is our daughter's welfare. Give it a rest, will you? Just give it a rest." Ted heaved a weary sigh. It was clearly an argument that was recycled with regularity.

"You're prepared to let him cast a Fidelius on you? Without knowing its terms? If we allow it, we can't discuss whatever this is with anyone else. It might be illegal! Or it might put us in league with the Dark Lord," she hissed.

"Why would you even think Remus would have anything to do with Death Eaters?"

"He's a werewolf, Ted. A Dark Creature!"

"Dromeda! Why should he suddenly change sides – after all these years?" Ted sat back, regarding his wife intently. "For our daughter and our grandchild, I'll take the risk," affirmed Ted, his amiable gaze now hardened with resolve. "Dora?" Ted said gently. "It's up to you."

During this whole exchange, Tonks hadn't taken her eyes from Lupin. Snape saw the hurt reflected in that glassy stare, the knowledge that this secret would be a heavy one for her to bear. She knew it would change everything. He saw her fighting the urge to refuse, as if that – somehow – would bring Lupin back to her. But the depth of hurt in her eyes told Snape she knew the truth. Lupin would never come back to her. At least now, she could learn why. Snape's stomach lurched unpleasantly as she nodded to Ted.

Ted turned to Lupin and nodded once more. "Go ahead, Remus."

Lupin lifted his wand, and Snape, still Disillusioned behind him, stepped forward and they cast the Charm together quickly and silently, in perfect unison, as they had practised. Snape moved back into the shadows as the family opposite them adjusted to the Charm settling on them.

"So tell us then. Tell me about this child's life and how it's bound up in this secret," said Andromeda her tone glacial. Lupin ignored her, never taking his own cold gaze from Tonks.

"Even though you dosed me with Amortentia, I knew I had cast a Contraceptive Charm on our wedding night. Still you went against my wishes in conceiving a child ..." he began.

"No, I didn't ..." Tonks protested. It was a mistake.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" shouted Lupin, slamming his fist on the table, stunning the assembled company. "I KNOW THE SPELL YOU CAST!"

Tonks blanched, as did her father whose hand moved to close around his wand. Snape was sure he saw Andromeda stiffen but not look as shocked as he had expected. Lupin breathed deeply and closed his eyes.

"You shouldn't have done that." Lupin stood away from the table, his own expression dejected. "You carry a werewolf."

"You can't know that!" gasped Tonks.

"I do know that! It's how this curse works! It's why people like me don't breed, Dora! Why do you refuse to listen?"

The silence crashed in around them. Ted stared between Lupin and his daughter, but Andromeda's stare fixed on her daughter with revulsion.

"It's not too late ..." Lupin said quietly.

"... I won't kill my baby ..." Tonks whispered, her hand resting protectively over her stomach. Lupin held up his hand to silence her.

"I'd never expect you to."

From his robe, Lupin pulled out the glass phial with the opalescent mauve potion. "This Potion will make the baby safe ..."

Tonks sat forward, staring intently at the phial.

"Wherever did you find it ... how ...?" Her voice trailed away as her trembling fingers reached for the Potion, her teeth biting her lower lip. Then one word escaped her in a rasp, as her eyes widened enormously.

"Snape!"

Her head snapped to Lupin and tears filled her eyes as her parents stared at her in confusion.

"Snape!" she said louder. "He ... he brewed it before." She pulled her hand back and stood suddenly, kicking back her chair. "For ... for Amelie and Jasper ... Romania! Oh my God, Remus!" The tears flowed down her cheeks now and Snape knew Dumbledore's Memory Charm had shattered, one memory leading to another and another, inexorably on to the truth of how wrong - how unutterably wrong - she had been.

Snape saw the shock and devastation in her eyes.

"Snape! He was your mate, not Sirius!" Her hands flew to her face as a small shriek escaped. "He is your mate! He made this Potion! You've been with him!"

Snape was shocked that Lupin did not comfort her or reassure her.

"Yes," Lupin said quietly. "I tried to tell you I wasn't the one for you. You wouldn't listen. Albus Obliviated you to keep Severus's cover."

"He's a traitor! He murdered Dumbledore!" she whispered frantically. "I should arrest you for aiding a Dark wizard ..."

"No, he isn't."

"How can you say that? Harry told us -"

"Because I know. It was arranged between them – between Albus and Severus. You saw his hand - that it was cursed. Albus was dying. It was planned, and now Severus's cover is unassailable." Lupin looked inexpressibly weary. He held out the Potion once more. "Please drink it. Do it now so I know it's done."

"I don't want anything from a Death Eater!" she spat.

"And I don't want to be responsible for creating a werewolf! Do it!" he ordered harshly and it startled Tonks again. Snape had heard that voice before, but only ever on the day of the full moon - never like this. Tonks stared at Lupin as if she had never seen him before and her nostrils flared.

"I can sort this out a much better way," Tonks cried desperately. "I only have to tell the Healers at St. Mungo's that it's a werewolf and I'd be given a termination immediately." Her usually pretty face was contorted with anguish and hatred as she watched Lupin's face pale. Snape could be silent no longer.

"No, Miss Tonks." Snape removed his Disillusionment Charm and stepped forward as Tonks quickly drew her own wand and Andromeda and Ted started forward in their seats, both reaching for their own wands. Lupin's wand was in his hand in an instant.

Snape's wand was also at the ready but, unlike Tonks, his mind was clear and his hand steady. He stood next to Lupin and spoke quietly, an unpleasant edge to his voice now he was finally confronting her.

"All you have to do is say the child you carry is a werewolf and you will be the subject of laboratory testing for the rest of your pregnancy until it ends in your death – which it most assuredly will."

"What? What are you talking about?" exclaimed Ted, standing and wrapping his arm protectively around his daughter who curled into him like a child as her wand arm dropped to her side and she wept.

Snape pulled Alphard's parchment from his cloak and set it before Tonks, one long finger pointing to the paragraphs on human and werewolf pregnancies. His black eyes never left Tonks. He didn't need Legilimency to understand the depth of her hatred for him at that moment.

"Your great uncle and I have corresponded," he said softly, but with no tenderness. "We have worked together on cures and medications for werewolves. A common cause, as it were. We are both mated to werewolves, after all." He emphasised the word he knew would cut her deeply.

He ignored the outraged imprecations from Andromeda that only a Death Eater would hide in the shadows, and watched intently as, with trembling hands, Tonks picked up the parchment and read the paragraph, tears still streaming down her face. She brushed them away with the heel of her hands and sniffed, as her mother snatched the parchment from her and cast it away on the table as if it burnt her.

"Why should I believe anything my uncle says? He's unnatural too! He brought this shape-shifting curse on this family. Him and that Lydiard boy ..."

"BE QUIET, WOMAN!" shouted Snape. "Enough of your putrescence! That your aunt connived with the Dark Lord to have a fifteen year old boy Turned into a werewolf to protect the Black family name should tell you all you need to know about how wrong your morality is!"

"How do you know that?" cried Tonks.

"Because Remus and I stayed with that pack. We met Idris when Remus was running with the wolves."

"You dare talk of my morality!" With a hiss through her teeth like a cat, Andromeda sent a Whipping Hex at Snape as she sneered, "You filthy half-blood!"

But Snape was quicker and parried the Hex, sending back a Stinging Hex of his own. It was Tonks who cast a Shield Charm between them as Snape and Andromeda prepared to cast again.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" cried Lupin. The raised wands flew to him, but not Snape's. Lupin had not commanded his. Tonks's mouth fell open in horror at this.

"Enough of this!" Lupin barked as he raised his other hand so Snape would cast no more curses. He kept his wand trained on them all as he placed Tonks's and Andromeda's wands in his belt, much to her chagrin, but he returned Ted's. "You will do me the courtesy – certainly for the first time, perhaps for the last – of listening. Severus can help us. And it is 'us', Andromeda. We have to work on this together to save your daughter's and this child's lives."

Andromeda's mouth snapped shut and Snape stepped back and breathed in deeply. Then Snape continued.

"This potion will make the child safe. With this, he will not be a werewolf. In fact, he will be a ..." Snape stopped himself saying 'shape-shifter' – he realised Andromeda would say it often enough. "He will be a metamorphagus too."

"You know it's a boy?" gasped Tonks. Snape had no intention of letting her know what their dream was or how Snape had prepared for it.

"A mere figure of speech," Snape said dismissively.

Tonks looked between her parents. There was no comfort to be had from Andromeda whose attention was still focused with hatred upon Lupin for taking her wand. Ted squeezed her hands and Tonks leant into him again. She stared at the Potion, looking at it askance.

"Is there any ... part of you in here?"

Snape rolled his eyes.

"What were you expecting, Miss Tonks? Or do you prefer Madam Lupin? My sperm perhaps?" Snape's lip curled in derision. Tonks screwed her eyes shut and didn't stop the beetroot flush that invaded her face, ignoring again the hissed protestations of Andromeda.

"No," Snape said with disdain. "The sweat of my brow and the product of my considerable intellect and skill have made this possible. You'll carry no part of me than those." He stopped himself saying that the Claim of Lupin coursed through his veins and the child would be connected to him through it. He very much wanted to just to see how it would pain her, but that would be counter-productive and, for now, he had to concentrate on her taking that Potion.

"This child is biologically Remus's and yours. My input is to change his - or her - development so it picks up your gift rather than the Lycanthropic curse. But it must be taken quickly for that to happen."

"I don't want to!" Tonks said petulantly.

"I don't care!" said Snape through gritted teeth leaning over the table towards her. "I'll spell it down your throat if I have to!"

"You could be trying to poison me - kill my baby."

Snape had never felt more murderous than he did at that accusation. How dare she!

"I could do that any time I desire, I assure you."

"Nymphadora dear," said Andromeda, raising an immaculately manicured hand to silence Snape as she turned to her daughter, still clinging to her father. "Severus is a skilled Apothecary. One of the best. You know this." Her tone was reasonable, her expression kind, but Snape could see the hardness of purpose. She would not be grandmother to a werewolf, or see her daughter die. As a Slytherin, she would do whatever it took to accomplish her goal, even praising Snape's skill, if it was necessary.

"But Mum – it's Snape! He's a Death Eater ..."

Andromeda shot a brief glare at her husband, as if vindicated for her objection to the Fidelius, but then she softened.

"Does that mean this Potion won't work?" Andromeda stroked Tonks's now lank hair away from her face. "Think of the child. Think of yourself. Nymphadora darling -" and suddenly, she looked all too human as a mother trying to save her child's life, "- you'll die without this."

"You believe him?" Tonks whimpered.

"It would be the crowning achievement of the Lydiard Curse," said Andromeda. "Don't let it be. I beg you."

"I've never believed that old wives' tale," said Tonks, still sniffing. "You just use that because you hate my choices," she said resentfully.

"Perhaps, if you had listened, rather than crusading to be as much of a blood traitor as you could be, we wouldn't be in this situation now!"

"Enough!" hissed Snape once more, as Ted held on to his daughter from his wife's onslaught. "I'm fed up listening to this drivel about a curse! This is just a smoke screen for your daughter's criminal behaviour! Amortentia and Memory Charms!"

The colour leeched from Tonks's face as her father gaped, but her mother's gaze narrowed.

Lupin caught Snape's glare.

Be careful! Lupin chided. She must take the Potion!

"Criminal? Do you honestly believe that a woman such as Nymphadora would want a wretched creature like him if she were in her right mind?" Andromeda flicked her hand dismissively at Lupin. "Oh it's real," she clipped. "Mimsy!"

A small elderly house-elf, clad in a pristine pillow-case, popped next to Andromeda and bowed low.

"Mistress Tonks!" The elf's eyes swivelled around to take in her surroundings as she came out of her bow.

"Mimsy, fetch the portrait of my parents. The one from the study."

"Mistress?" squeaked the elf, clearly scandalised. "Bring Mistress's esteemed parents to ... to a public house? This public house?"

"Yes, and do it quickly," commanded Andromeda and the elf popped away. "We girls grew up with this tale – the tale of a Welsh braggart farmer who dared curse the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. We never doubted it! We had the evidence of our own eyes. My mother even thought I had married a Mudblood to dilute the curse!"

Lupin and Snape both stared at Ted, expecting him to be offended.

"Of course, your mother never once thought that perhaps this Mudblood had plans of his own," Ted said, real affection shining from an attempt at a cheeky smile as he looked at his beautiful wife and held his daughter proprietorially. Suddenly, Andromeda's face softened with love and kindness once more as she reached a hand to her husband and then stroked Tonks's hair once more.

Mimsy popped back, tottering under the weight of an ornate ormolu frame. Lupin Levitated it up and onto the mantelshelf. Mimsy stood like a statue awaiting her instructions.

"Daughter! Why have you brought us to this place?"

The middle-aged couple in the frame were Cygnus and Druella Black. Cygnus wasn't as handsome as his brother or his nephew, but it was clear he was a Black: long black hair with steel grey wings, grey eyes and a patrician nose all adding to an air of distinguished entitlement, as he sat in a rigid pose in his finely cut green robe with silver clasps. Druella Rosier Black, clad in ashes of roses and marl grey, complementing her husband's robe perfectly, stood with her hands folded over the wings of her husband's chair. She had heavy-lidded eyes like her eldest daughter, but there the resemblance to Bellatrix ended. Blonde Druella was as much like Narcissa as Bellatrix and Andromeda were clearly Blacks.

"Mama, Papa – please would you be so kind as to relate to these ... gentlemen the story of the Lydiard Curse."

Cygnus drew in a sharp breath over his teeth and Druella cast a reproving glare at her daughter.

"We do not speak of these things in company, Andromeda! You know this!" snapped Druella.

"They know of the Lydiard boy. They have even met him."

"He still lives!" gasped Cygnus, horrified.

"Not only lives, Papa. Uncle Alphard now lives with him."

For in as much as these were merely representations of people no longer living, in magical oils, yet still the tension became palpable.

"Alphard is alive?" whispered Cygnus, looking thoughtful. "We thought ... years ago, we thought he'd died on the continent."

"And these men know ..." asked Druella, leaning forward, shushing her husband with her hand.

"They know what Aunt Walburga did. They know she arranged the Turning of Lydiard's son with ... with the Dark Lord."

Tonks looked up at her mother through narrowed eyes, her expression becoming shrewd. "Why do you call him that?" Tonks hissed. Ted put his finger to his lips and squeezed her shoulders. "But why would she call him that?" she insisted.

"Be quiet, Nymphadora. Leave this to me."

"Hmph," Druella snorted, peering at Tonks. "At least her hair isn't pink today. Some kind of Mudblood fashion, is it?"

"Mama!"

"Come now, Dru," chuckled Ted, regarding the pair with more than a touch of humour. Snape wondered how he could tolerate the insufferable pair. "Your granddaughter is highly magical. Who knows where her metamorphagus ability could have come from back in the mists of time?"

"Theodore," said Druella, primly. "We resigned ourselves to Andromeda's marriage to you. We thought, at least, if she were only a blood-traitor, worse would not befall her. We were clearly wrong."

"How dare you!" cried Tonks. The pair in the portrait looked past her as if she were not there. Snape frowned.

"If you'd married your own kind ..." Druella whined.

"... but no, you had to compound the curse ..." Cygus joined in.

"No doubt you would have had a child with congenital degrading stupidity, but at least it would be a pure-blood!" Snape snapped, taking care to ensure the portrait figures could not see him. "Now enough of this familial back-biting."

"And who is this rude man who so addresses a scion of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black but does not show himself? A Mudblood, no doubt," challenged Cygnus.

Best they direct their odious opinions at him than at Lupin, who was watching the unfolding discourse with disgust and pity mixed. But Snape could not afford to be seen. Doubtless, there would be a corresponding portrait at Malfoy Manor and he did not want to be found out in that way.

"You do not need to know my name. Or what I do. I am a wizard. A half-blood. I know your family's shameful secret. I want to know if there is a curse at work to account for criminal behaviour of this family." He shot a hateful look at Tonks, whose father scowled at Snape as he hugged her once more. "Now speak!"

"Well really ..." huffed Cygnus.

"Is this because she's fixated on another of those creatures?" Druella asked, her voice dripping with disgust as she nodded at Lupin. "We so hoped when the first one died ..."

Tonks let out a wail of grief. Snape snatched a look at Lupin to see a look of utter horror at the cursed family in front of him.

"Please Mama. Papa." And now even Andromeda began to sound defeated by their indefatigable prejudice. "Just tell them the tale."

"Very well." Cygnus pinned Lupin with his grey eyes, cold and hard.

And he began.

"It was Easter. Walburga and Alphard were at Hogwarts as it was their NEWT and OWL years, but I was home. I was twelve and not allowed to stay at school over the holiday. We were at Grimmauld Place. At dinner, as I recall. Mama, Papa and I. There was a commotion outside. A pounding on the door. Then the front door was blown in! The house-elves were screeching! I heard the voice – it was deep and powerful."

Snape watched as the portrait's eyes seemed to unfocus with the memory. Was that possible?

"'Pollux Black! What kind of wizard hides behind his house-elves?' the voice boomed, and then I heard the crack of magic and the cry of our house-elves being Stunned.

"My father stood, telling my mother to keep hold of me and he left the room with his wand drawn and he was bound as soon as he entered the hall! I broke away from my mother's grasp and ran to the door.

"There was a wild man in the hall. He was as tall as Papa but broad, with wild black hair. He stank of drink but, as my memory serves, I don't think he was drunk at that time. He scared me and I remember I cried out just as my mother got to me and held me to her."

Snape imagined a version of Idris, wild with grief – he would almost feel the reality of it.

"'Who are you? Get out of this house!' my mother said, trying to be brave, but I could hear the fear in her voice. He bound and silenced Mama in a thrice. I needed no binding for I was paralysed with terror.

"The man stared at me – deep black eyes. I remember they seemed to burn into me. He couldn't seem to stop staring at me.

"'Two sons, have you, Black? As well as your foul daughter – a female so unnatural she would send a boy to a werewolf.'

"Then he looked at Papa, who was bound and silenced on the floor, struggling in his bonds.

"'So what if I took this boy and fed him to a werewolf, Black? Or is he disposable? Only your 'spare' after all? Perhaps I should fetch Alphard for good measure?'

"I remember my father's eyes. My father was not an expressive man, but I saw true fear in his eyes that day.

"'No, Pollux Black. I think you should suffer for a lifetime, and your children should suffer, and your children's children – grandchildren I can never now have!'

"Lydiard dropped to one knee and lifted his wand to my father's heart. I saw the sweat break on my father's forehead. I had never seen it before, nor saw it again. Then the wild man spoke – so resonant – his words drilled through me to my core. I know they settled there, as his wand traced the curse and silver tendrils snaked out, seeming to fan out over my father's heart and then to sink into his clothes. I remember Papa arched in pain as the wild man incanted:

'I curse you, Pollux Black and bring down on you this Reckoning!

'May the Darkness in your soul eat your Black black heart.

'May your line be blighted, each and every one.

'May all that you fear for them be their true reward.

'Let them betray the pure-blood you hold so dear by the choices which they make.

'Let the moon control them as it now controls my son, by curse or in madness.

'Make them lunatics, blood traitors and shape-shifters all!

'May they tear open your daughter's Black black heart,

'As mine has been torn from me!

'May this curse never be laid to rest,

'Until my son is restored to me!'"

Snape felt the hair prickle on his body. Such a Dark and terrible curse. It would have cost Lydiard greatly to have cast such a curse.

"Then he staggered away, Rennervating the elves as he went. The house-elves undid the spells." The portrait's eyes snapped back into focus. "I recall Papa telling Mama after that Easter that Lydiard had died. Mama hoped the curse was broken. But I remember how my father said ... he said,

"'It has already begun.'

"I didn't know what he meant then but looking back, Alphard had already withdrawn from the family, from pure-blood society. As soon as he left school, he left for the continent to search for the half-breed. Walburga's behaviour became more erratic. The only match my parents could make for her was with cousin Orion. When he married her, he took the curse so seriously, he put every protection known to Wizardkind on the house in case they could be haunted by Lydiard, or tracked down by his half-breed son. They were terrified.

"And so it went on throughout the years. Walburga gradually lost her mind. Our father outlived us all and watched his family disintegrate in body or in mind. Alphard was lost – or we thought he was – and had no children. Orion died in '79. Sirius was already blood traitor. Then Regulus died. But then Sirius was accused of being a Death Eater and ended up in Azkaban. Walburga died mad and broken.

"Our own children? Only Narcissa seemed to escape." (Snape said nothing of what she suffered now.) "Our beautiful Bella showed madness early and she was so very Dark. She had no children and perhaps ... perhaps that was for the best. And Andy," Cygnus actually smiled. "Andy and her Mudblood. Walburga blasted you from the tapestry but I don't deny we hoped that if Theodore was the worst that could happen to you, perhaps the curse was diluting." Cygnus sat back in his winged chair, his remembrance finished.

"So," Tonks said, her face tear-stained and crumpled, "you would have me believe that what I feel for Remus is just a curse!" Her voice rose hysterically. "That everything I felt for David was a lie!" Grief crashed over her anew. "It was not a lie. I loved. And I love!"

Snape stepped backwards, finding her grief unseemly and painful to behold. She spun to face Lupin.

"You should have told me! You had no right to play with my feelings."

"I never played with your feelings. I needed help at the full moon. Albus asked you ..."

"Damn Albus!" she shouted. "How could he ask that of me? How could you? You know what the Bite is!"

"Bite? Sweet Salazar, do you bite my daughter?"

Just as the Andromeda and the grandparents in the portrait were about to begin berating Lupin, Snape swiped his wand so all of the Tonkses and Blacks were silenced.

"Take that bloody article away!" Snaped roared at the house-elf. Mimsy looked to Andromeda who nodded her assent, even as she clasped her own throat. The elf Summoned the portrait to herself with a snap of her fingers and popped away.

Snape undid the charm on Tonks, but only on Tonks. He wouldn't listen to any more of Andromeda's pure-blood bile. He wouldn't have Lupin listen to it.

"I don't understand how you could have done this, Remus," she cried, glaring balefully at Snape.

"Dora. You remember now – you remember seeing us in Romania. How can you doubt it's true?"

"But after – even if Dumbledore -" her breath hitched again. "You let me think -"

"I never let you think that, Dora. Please, be honest with yourself. I told you over and over!"

Even as Lupin pleaded, Andromeda stood sharply, turned her back and walked away to stare out of the window, robbed of her wand and her voice to express her distaste for what she heard.

"You asked me to marry you," Tonks whispered.

"Under Amortentia," countered Lupin softly. "Why did you resort to that if you truly believed I could love you?"

Ted ran a hand over his face, his expression devastated for his daughter as he still held her hand.

"I thought ... Sirius ... I ..." her voice broke.

"Even if I had been with Sirius, what you did was wrong, Dora."

She shook her head convulsively, as if willing the voice away. When she spoke next, her voice was hollow.

"You used me to keep him safe. A murderer. A Death Eater."

Lupin's eyes closed at the accusation, and Snape knew she had found the wound with pinpoint accuracy.

"Your help kept us both safe whilst Severus did as Albus ordered. Yes," said Lupin, his shoulders slumped. "I'm sincerely sorry you thought it was more."

"Of course I thought it was more!" Tonks shouted. "Anyone who knows what the Bite is would think so!" Her eyes were a fierce orange now, almost like a wolf's in colour as her hair began to flame red. "And about Sirius! I mean, Sirius and Snape hated each other. Did you keep this from Sirius too? Lie to him as well? He was supposed to be your friend!" she said accusingly.

She might as well have called him 'lying werewolf' – it was certainly the inflection in her voice. Snape watched Lupin's face, seeing a tiredness there, almost an acceptance that this had to be the accusation that would come.

"Severus and Sirius had an understanding at the end," said Lupin, wearily.

"I never saw it," Tonks responded tartly.

"You weren't supposed to," Snape jeered, as if she were a particularly idiotic student. Her eyes narrowed at Snape, making her look so like her mother.

"What dark spell brought you two together?" she said viciously to Snape.

"Why you –" Snape's wand trained on her throat and her eyes flashed triumphantly to have provoked him even as Lupin's Shield Charm separated them.

"Hit a nerve, have I?" she hissed, the colour in her hair now a vivid and angry crimson.

"No Dora," said Lupin quietly – but the softness of his voice belied the wolfishness in his glare. "Don't denigrate my relationship with Severus." He placed a possessive hand on Snape's shoulder. "You've trespassed on it enough."

"How could I trespass on it? I didn't bloody know -" Her voice trembled.

"Do you think that excuses what you did? Obliviating Remus because you assumed he had mated with Black? You gave him Amortentia! And not just once! You! An Auror! Do you even remember my lecture on Amortentia? That it can never never replicate true love? And then – on top of that - the Conception Spell! Forcing a conception on Remus he didn't want! The corruption of the Blacks is certainly running rampant through you, Miss Tonks!"

Tonks issued a strangled gasp as her own legs gave way and she sat heavily on her chair, her father sitting with her.

BAM! Ted slammed the table with the flat of his hand and gestured angrily to his mouth. Snape removed the Silencing Charm.

"That's enough, Severus!" Ted cried.

"No, it'll never be enough for me!" hissed Snape, but Ted moved protectively in front of his daughter, his genial face distraught at what he had heard.

"I understand, Severus. If what you say is true -"

"Ted!" Andromeda snapped. "How can you even -"

"Dromeda. Don't," he sighed heavily. "This is no time for pretence. I know about those family spells – the stories you've told me." He shook his head. "Maybe it is the Lydiard Curse. Maybe. It fits." Snape could see Ted didn't believe it though. "But it's enough. Let me deal with it. Let me take care of it." Ted turned to face his daughter, crooking a finger under her chin. "Dora love. Take the Potion. For your old Dad? I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. Please?"

"And then what?" sobbed Tonks.

"At least you and the baby will be safe," Ted said, unstoppering the phial and passing it to his daughter. "And the rest ... we'll take it step by step."

Her eyes never leaving her father's, Tonks downed the Potion in one. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, they were a startling violet, staring at Snape.

"I may have to keep your secret, Snape, but one day we'll meet as Auror and Death Eater. No Fidelius will help keep you safe then."

She held out her hand for her wand and Lupin returned it with her mother's. Snatching it, she left and her mother followed.

Ted remained, looking frazzled.

"When ... how will we know if the Potion works?" he asked tentatively.

"I'll know at the next full moon," said Lupin confidently.

"You'll let me know. Probably contacting me would be best."

Lupin nodded. "I'll let you know any Order news too," Lupin said.

Ted nodded and moved to the door.

"I'm sorry, Ted."

"So am I, son. So am I."

oooOOOooo

Snape wrote out the Lydiard Curse and leant over his table, studying it. He could feel the power in the metre of it. A wizard in the very depths of grief-stricken desolation could cast the most powerful of curses. Could this curse have travelled down the generations in the way Cygnus Black had said?

"If it's true, maybe we can help," said Lupin at his side.

Snape swung around and glared at Lupin incredulously.

"Might I remind you that she drugged you! She ... she abused you!" Snape said, his fists balled.

Lupin stepped up to Snape and enveloped Snape's fists in his own hands.

"Thank you, Severus," he said softly and kissed Snape's lips, shocking Snape completely. "For caring enough to be angry for me. Until I came to find you, I felt so alone. That no-one would ever believe me. And now there's you." Lupin held Snape's gently, and kissed him again, leading him to sit down with him on the settee.

"I'm trying to find a way out for all of us," Lupin continued. Snape made to protest, but Lupin pressed a gentle finger to Snape's lips. "Please." He closed his eyes slowly and when he opened them Snape saw a deep pain in them before Lupin spoke again.

"Do you remember our first Christmas? What I did to you? How you said to me that you could no more blame me had I been under the Imperius Curse?"

"It's not the same," growled Snape.

"I raped you," murmured Lupin, his face draining of colour. Lupin swallowed hard and said, "Violently. You could forgive me because you wanted to."

"I could forgive you because you were under the possession of the Darkest of Slave curses and it fractured the wolf from you. You, Remus Lupin, would never have raped me!"

Despite Snape's protestations, Snape realised what Lupin was trying to say, what Lupin's compassionate nature compelled him to request: Snape had shown Lupin mercy and compassion in the face of a grave crime committed because of a Dark Curse; now Lupin wanted to do the same. Snape's heart swelled with such intense pride and love that it was almost painful, and he wondered, as he had so often before, how Lupin had this capacity for forgiveness with all the insults life hurled at him.

Snape loved him for it all the more. Snape, however, would watch Tonks as a snake watches a mongoose. Snape would never forgive her.

"A Dark curse, Severus. If the Lydiard Curse is real, maybe we could help break it. We worked a counter-curse for the Thrall after all. We could help free her from it. Freeing her frees us, don't you see?"

"You think she would relinquish you if we broke the curse?" asked Snape, disbelieving.

"Yes, I do. It'll be difficult; traumatic even especially because of the pregnancy. But it would be freedom for us too, Severus. And hopefully, when the dust has settled, there'll be no fuss over a divorce – it'll just be us again. I'm certain Andromeda will assist – anything to get me out of their lives."

"We had Albus's help before."

"We were dealing with a multi-layered curse, cast by a coven. If that portrait is right, it was just Idris's father. Hopefully, we can work it out."

"What of the child? If she thinks the child is the product of a curse ..."

"I think," Lupin sighed heavily, "even without the curse, everything she's found out today will be very hard for her to bear." He clasped Snape's hand. "Perhaps ... perhaps ... the child will be too much for her." Lupin's eyes darkened with sadness but he said no more. Snape slipped his arm around Lupin and held him close, and Lupin nestled into Snape's embrace.

"If the curse is real, do you believe she ever really loved David?" wondered Snape.

"It looked real to me. But then you know Dark magic can manipulate the feelings – the emotions of its targets." Lupin rubbed his thumbs over Snape's hands.

"Don't you think the Blacks with all their money and influence would have tried breaking the curse? Hired the great Spell Workers of the day to assist them?"

"Possibly, but then they would have to tell the Spell Worker why they had been cursed. I wonder if they would have trusted such a Dark and dangerous secret to a stranger – a secret that could see Sirius's mother and the young You-Know-Who in Azkaban or leave them open to blackmail for a lifetime." Lupin shook his head. "No. Without knowing the Caster's intention, I think all of those people would have had no empathy with the Caster; no insight into Lydiard's tortured mind. They would have failed."

"Very well," said Snape. If there were supernatural bonds tying Tonks to his husband, Snape would ensure they were severed - once and for all. He would have that witch out of their lives.

"I think you need get in touch with Idris about his father," said Snape as he read the curse again. "I don't think a message from me will find a welcome there."

.

Next chapter: Work begins as the staff returns and Snape and Lupin have many priorities to juggle.

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You Will Not Kiss Me