The next morning the Great Hall was a flurry of activity as many of the teachers had grave faces and once again the Potions Master was late for a meal. For it to happen once was something of huge curiosity but for him to be late twice was almost unconscionable. The noise disappeared as the Headmaster tapped his wand against his goblet and stood at the Head Table. 

“Good Morning ladies and gentlemen. I regret to inform you that your potions lessons will be cancelled for the rest of the week. Professor Snape has had a family emergency that needs to be dealt with immediately. As such he will be leaving the castle today for Italy. Any further questions please see your Head of House; Slytherins will have Professor Sinistra as their temporary head.”

With that he strode from the hall, Professor McGonagall trailing in his wake as they made their way to the dungeons and the quarters of the resident potions master. 

The door swung open as they approached, the wards recognising their magickal signatures. They entered the room to find it deserted but with two dragon-hide travel bags stood in readiness on the couch. Just as they were about to check the other rooms in the quarters Severus swept out of one of the bedrooms, a sleepy looking Alex cradled in his arms, one hand clutching his panther, Jupiter the kitten trailing behind them.

“Albus” the young man greeted him “you’re just in time, we were about to leave. My grandparents are expecting us.”

“You’ve spoken to them then child? They know the situation?”

“They do Albus and I believe the Potters will regret bringing this situation to the attention of that incompetent Fudge. According to Grandma, Octavian is already hard at work on the case with the Don. Diego’s tying up all the loose ends of his current cases and Luc’s fishing for information at the Ministry. Juliana’s contacted the rest of the family. There is no way in Hades I will lose this. I’ll be in touch Albus, Minerva”

With that, he shrunk the two bags, allowed Jupiter to climb onto the shoulder unoccupied by Alex and threw a pinch of floo powder into the fire. With a cry of “Villa Principessa” the three of them had disappeared from the vivid green flames.

Minutes later Severus stepped out into the large airy library of the main villa of the Principessa estates, Jupiter yowling as he scampered down Severus’ robes, having hated the floo trip. The sound of the floo activating was heard by both Lucrezia and Antonio and they came running into the library, Lucrezia heading straight for Severus and Alex, gathering them into her arms. She drew back enough to see Severus’ face and mouthed at him “Does he know?” indicating Alex as she did so. The look of despair on his face told her everything: how could he tell his son that he could be sent back to his birth parents. He had told Alex that he was adopted, however he had also promised that he would never be sent back to them. There was also the fact that he had never lied to his son and he was not going to start now.

“Alex baby, I need to talk to you about something. It’s very important baby so I need you to be quiet and listen to daddy.”
Alex nodded solemnly, his wide dark eyes fixed on Severus 

“I went to see Grandpa Albus last night after you fell asleep and he told me something that might upset you. Do you remember me telling you that you had parents before me but they gave you to your aunt and uncle?” At Alex’s nod he swallowed heavily before continuing “Well, your first parents – Auror and Professor Potter – have found out that you don’t live at your aunts anymore and they’re trying to find you because they want you back.”

He winced as Alex’s arms tightened like a vice around his neck so that he was struggling to breathe “Daddy no. You promised. Want to stay with you” the child whimpered.

Severus closed his eyes briefly against the tears that had formed and held Alex tighter “I want you to stay with me my raven, more than anything. Uncle Octavian and Uncle Diego are going to help me make sure that you never have to leave me. I promise you that we will work it out. I have no intention of letting you go baby. Do you understand me?” He pulled back slightly so that he was looking Alex straight in the eye.

As young as he was Alex could tell by the glint in his fathers eye that he would do everything in his power to keep him and that was enough to reassure the child for the time being. He loosened his grip on his fathers neck slightly but kept himself close to the man. 

Severus felt the vice like grip on his neck loosen slightly yet noted that Alex was showing no inclination of moving any further, but Severus was more than happy to indulge his son if he felt like being clingy.

***

Severus was incredibly relieved when he stepped into the sitting room of the Principessa villa to discover that Octavian was already there along with Diego Ortez and Niccolo Zabini. The two men would be instrumental along with Octavian in helping Severus to win the case against the Potter’s. Severus greeted the trio and his grandfather who appeared in the doorway with a bottle of wine and five glasses, while Lucia Zabini took Alex off to play with Blaise under the supervisory eye of Lucia and Lucrezia. When they were all comfortably seated, Octavian produced a sheet of parchment and a Quick-notes quill to record everything that they would be saying. 

“Right, Severus, I need you to tell me exactly what the Potter’s know, what they’ve said and how you know all of this.”

Severus nodded and took a deep breath. “I received a letter from Lucius Malfoy, Alex’s godfather. He had received a visit from the British Minister of Magick, Cornelius Fudge, that was both unarranged and unofficial. Fudge is not the smartest of men, I believe he was a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts, but he is aware of just how much he owes his current office to both Lucius and myself. He had received a visit from Potter and Black stating that their son/godson had been kidnapped from his aunt and uncles. As the Ministry was unaware who was involved at the time they followed the required procedure and sent a team to record the house’s memories. These memories, when analysed, show me leaving the Dursley’s property with a dark haired child.”

Severus paused to take a sip of wine and to allow the others to take in the information before he continued. “That is not all. They have filed papers with the British Ministry accusing me of kidnapping their son and the case is to be heard in front of the Wizengamot. They visited Albus at Hogwarts and informed him of the situation. They then told him that he was lucky they were not having him charged with aiding and abetting a kidnapping and that if he refused to co-operate with them then that could change. Albus informed me of this and I immediately wrote to Octavian and now we are here. What do you gentlemen think?”

The three professionals mulled over the information, before they finally exchanged glances and signalled for Octavian to speak first as he was the one primarily involved with the adoption. 

“Firstly, I believe that we have a very strong case and there is very little chance that the Wizengamot will be able to rule in favour of the Potter’s. Diego and I will represent you and Alex, it’s also probably an idea to get a child advocate for Alex, we’ll be able to recommend someone to you. Regardless of how strong a case you have, we are going to need to work fast.”
Diego nodded before he spoke out. “How long ago did the Potter’s file the charges? Do you know?”

Severus nodded after he had thought about the question for several minutes. “I would say two days, three at the maximum. They had filed the papers by yesterday afternoon when they visited Hogwarts. However, with the inept dunderheads that staff the Ministry there is no guarantee that the papers have actually been viewed yet. I haven’t received anything.”

Diego shook his head. “Even if you haven’t received anything that doesn’t mean that the papers haven’t been filed. It could just mean that it’s taking a while to get to you here in Italy. Right, first things first, we need to get copies of all of the paperwork; the guardianship papers that the Dursley’s signed, adoption papers, any medical records. We’ll need Sofia’s records of making and administering the Paternitas potion along with a copy of her license and masters certificates. Can you think of anything else Octavian?”

“I think that pensieve memories are going to be vitally important. We can get the memories from Severus, Niccolo, Arabella Figg, Poppy Pomfrey and maybe even Alex himself. Didn’t you take photographic evidence of the abuse Sev?”

The dark-haired wizard nodded. “Yes, along with several specific medical spells for abuse cases. We made written copies of the results. I have them all in my study along with the rest of the documentation.” The Potions Master was starting to feel much more relieved now that these men were taking care of the little details. “Do you think we’re going to need anything else?”

The two lawyers conversed discretely amongst themselves for several minutes. “Character witnesses would probably be a good idea. Work colleagues or friends. Lucius Malfoy will probably be a good idea and someone from Hogwarts if you can think of anyone? We’ll get written references from the others; Cygnus, the twins and Andrei. In all probability, we’ll have to call in the big guns and they’ll need to be there in person.”

At this point Niccolo, who had previously been silent, gave a devious grin as he spoke up. “Let’s face it Severus, those bloody Gryffindor’s aren’t going to know what has hit them. You have seven of the most powerful families on the European continent behind you as well as several prominent British wizarding families. None of us are going to let you lose Alex, he’s one of us now and that’s how it’s going to stay. The Potter’s are going to regret the fact that they’re even attempting this. Now, go and spend some time with your son while we sort through the finer details. If we need you we know where you are.”

The professor nodded and stood to leave the room before Octavian grabbed his arm. “Just before you leave Sev, is there anyone else who has full copies of the paperwork? What about all the paperwork showing Alex as your son, birth certificate and that sort of thing. Did you bother with any of that?”

Severus sneered slightly. “Of course I bothered with that. I was determined to do everything properly so that this could never happen. For Merlin’s sake, the abuse was confirmed by three wizarding healers including yourself and Poppy Pomfrey. I registered everything with Tommaso Buscetta at the Italian Ministry and he dealt with all of the necessary paperwork for the Muggle world as well; passport and the like. Now, if that’s all, I’m going to spend some time with my son, he was rather distraught after yesterday’s events and today’s information.”

As Severus left the room, Octavian grinned at the name he had given. “That’s just made things a hell of a lot easier if Sev has used Buscetta.” At the confused looks he received, he elaborated slightly. “I did my training alongside Tommaso and we’ve both worked for Don Visconti on occasion, as has Severus. We should bear in mind that it may be necessary for Severus and Alex to have a guard when they return to Hogwarts. They can’t remain here forever and I don’t trust the Potter’s and I especially don’t trust Black. He may be the black sheep of his family and the supposedly ‘good’ one but if you grow up in a family like that one then it’s going to affect you.”

****

Immediately after the initial conversation with Severus, Octavian had visited Buscetta and gotten two copies of every piece of paperwork he owned that dealt with Alexander Snape. The only thing that concerned the duo was the fabrication of Ainara Verenus, something that the Potter’s lawyer was bound to seize upon. Tommaso also agreed with Octavian that a guard was a useful precaution once Severus and Alex returned to Hogwarts and the two of them would approach Don Visconti to appeal for the use of one or two of his men. The Don was a senior figure within the Italian mafia as well as being a wizard. Whilst none of the Snape’s or their extended family was directly involved with the Mafia they had, on occasion, helped the Don whether it was with potions or, more likely, through legal help and as such, he was willing to aid them where possible. The majority of his men were trained both magickally and through Muggle means such as a martial arts and weapons training, both of which could come in useful protecting the Snape’s at Hogwarts.

With duplicate and triplicate copies of all of the paperwork that Tommaso and Severus had in Italy, Octavian persuaded Bellerophon to take a day’s leave from the Auror office in order to accompany him to Scotland. They needed to gain pensieve memories as well as medical reports from Poppy Pomfrey as well as a copy of Alex’s magickal tests and once they had completed those, they needed to visit Surrey and Arabella Figg in order to gain her pensieve memories. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to visit the Dursley residence as it had been warded by the British Ministry and no doubt their entering the building would alert all kinds of people, something that they didn’t want. It was not ideal, as they knew that the house could yield information of vital importance to them but if necessary, they could always request an excursion during the court trial itself. The trip went without a hitch, both at Hogwarts and in Surrey, with both women willingly turning over pensieve memories and documentation without question as they were incredibly fond of both dark-haired Snape’s. The medi-witch had enquired why they were duplicating and triplicating everything including the pensieve memories, but had nodded in understanding when they informed her that they didn’t trust the British Ministry not to lose everything. All of the evidence had to be submitted to the courts before the trial began to ensure that nothing had been tampered with, another bone of contention for the Ortez-Salieri legal team. As Severus had often complained, there was still a stigma attached to him thanks to being trialled as a Death Eater, even after he had been released from Azkaban and started teaching at Hogwarts.

Whilst he had a title, manor and money, Severus wasn’t interested in politics like Lucius Malfoy, whose work in the public eye had diminished much of his stigma. Or rather, the comments had moved further underground where the blonde aristocrat was seemingly unaware of them. For this reason, Diego and Octavian were taking no chances. They were creating multiple copies of all pieces of evidence in the possibility that something could disappear or be destroyed before they had an opportunity to bring it in front of the Wizengamot. Arabella Figg hadn’t questioned anything, she had simply allowed them to take her pensieve memories and informed them that if they needed a character witness for Severus then she would be more than happy to oblige. Octavian had accepted her offer, knowing that it would be a huge boost to their case as she had been little Alex’s babysitter and privy to the results of the abuse. 

Whilst Octavian and Bellerophon were in the UK collecting evidence and Severus had, with much persuasion, taken Alex and Blaise to the Malfoy estate in Wiltshire, Diego had taken over the library of the Principessa villa. He was currently writing to Cygnus Delacour and Andrei Petrovich in order to ask if they would be willing to write references for Severus, with them being the signatories on the adoption papers. It was less than three hours later that he received the replies .... they were not only willing to write the references, but they would be there in person when the case went to court. Combining this with all of the paperwork and pensieve memories that they now had, not only those belonging to Poppy and Arabella but also to Severus, Alex himself, Alastor Moody (who had sent in his own pensieve memories) and Octavian, the photographs of Alex’s abuse and medical reports they had a rock solid case. The personal support of Cygnus Delacour, Andrei Petrovich and Lord Lucius Malfoy only added to that. 

The entire weight of the Principessa family, both immediate and extended, was going to be behind the two Snape’s and there wasn’t going to be a thing anybody could do to stop them.