Remus stood pensively in his little parlor waiting for his godson to come through the fireplace like he did every year.  What made this year different was what he was doing while waiting.  He had found a box he'd hidden in one of the closets.  It was filled with keepsakes from his schooldays, pictures, doodles, old notes from classes, a watch that ticked away the moon phases with each day.  He'd picked up a framed picture from the box and had taken it to the mantel.  It was taken in the Gryffindor common room during seventh year.  He remembered the time. 

"You can't move that piece there, Lily," James said, standing over Remus's shoulder as he gazed down at the muggle chessboard. 

"Why not?"

Sirius, who sat sprawled on the sofa studying a large and folded parchment, looked out of the corners of his eyes at Lily.  "Even I know that the knights move in an ‘L' shape, not a diagonal shape."  Then something caught his eye on the parchement and he announced, "He's on the move again."

James went over to the back of the sofa and looked at the parchment.  "Who's on the move?"

"Snivelly!" said Sirius.  "Probably off to torture someone.  Practicing for...him, no doubt."

Lily took a deep breath and then leaned to look at the parchment, before a smile graced her features.  "Isn't he with your brother?"

Sirius huffed through his nose.  "Regulus isn't my brother anymore."

"Was that a sore subject for you?" Lily asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah!  You know it is!  So I would appreciate it if-"

"Now you know how I feel when you bring up Severus Snape the way you do!" Lily shouted.

It was quiet for a minute before James looked at the parchment.  He drew his wand and tapped it.  "Mischief managed."  Then, he looked at Sirius.  "She has a point, Padfoot.  Everyone's got their things that set them off, so let's just not talk about it anymore, okay?" 

Sirius worked his jaw and grumpily folded up the parchment.  Before he could do anything else, James snatched it from his hands and began prancing around the common room holding it above his head.  Sirius leaped up and began chasing James around the common room, reaching for it. 

"Give it back, Prongs!"

James ran past Remus, who snatched it from James and proceeded to take over the running around the common room.  James flopped down next to Lily, who was watching the childish play and was shaking her head.  "Thank you, James, for telling him to-"

"You're welcome." 

James looked at the chessboard as Remus ran behind the sofa, and Sirius decided to climb over it and tackle the other boy to the ground, shouting, "Give me it!"  Just then, Peter Pettigrew ran towards the straining hands of Remus and Sirius and snatched up the parchment.  Sirius struggled to his feet, started to run, but tripped over Remus and fell back down.  Peter had a head start up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.  In only seconds, Sirius followed him.   

James moved one of Lily's pieces.  "There," he said, with a triumphant grin at her, "he'll be forced to take that rook or give up his queen, but that puts you in line for check...maybe even checkmate." 

"I hate chess," she mumbled under her breath. 

Remus stood from behind the sofa and walked back to his spot on the other side of the chessboard, studying it as he sat down.  Before he managed to sit down however, Sirius came barreling down the steps again holding the parchment aloft, as though it were the House Cup.  Someone called him and he posed with the parchment provactively, much to the amusement of most of the female Gryffindors.  "Hey, bring that camera over here!" he said to the girl who took the picure.  Sirius led the girl to his friends and told her from what vantage point to take the picture.  He threw himself on the sofa again, still holding up the parchment like a trophy with a huge smile on his face.

James laughed and leaned closer to Lily.  "Would've thought you'd be better at chess with all the time you spend with Snape."

Lily smirked and looked at James.  She gave him a gentle push with her elbow.   "Shove off!  We brew potions together, and study."

James raised an eyebrow in mock surprise.  "Really?  Because I swore I caught you snogging him in the library a few times."  Remus looked at the two with a smile, as Lily turned to James with a scandalized expression.

 "You're seeing things, James Potter." 

 "You say no, but your blush says yes," James cooed, trying to hold back a laugh. 

Lily's mouth fell open and she pushed James.  "Now!" shouted Sirius to the girl with the camera!  There was a flash and the moment was caught forever.

Remus looked at the moving picture.  He saw himself laugh and point as Lily's mouth opened in laughter as she playfully pushed James, who fell onto his side in the foreground of the picture.  But he was still laughing.  Sirius was smirking but then his head turned to James and Lily with an expression that clearly indicated his laughter.  Remus smiled sadly.  "The world was simpler even then," he said to himself. 

His fireplace suddenly turned green and he turned to it with a kind smile on his face.  Tevin walked from the fireplace, holding onto his pillow and a small bag.  He smiled shyly up at Remus and shuffled up to his godfather and hugged him with the arm that wasn't wrapped around his pillow.  Remus hugged the boy gently.  "Happy Halloween, Tevin." 

Tevin shook his head.  "It's not happy."

Remus drew away from Tevin.  "Why not?" 

Tevin looked up and met Remus's eyes.  "Mommy died today." 

Remus gasped as he saw the tears well up in his godson's eyes.  "Your father finally told you, then." 

"You know?" 

Remus nodded and took Tevin's shoulders and led him to the sofa and forced the boy to sit down.  Tevin held his pillow to his little body and hid his face in it.  Remus knew that the boy was crying, and trying to hide it.  Remus looked at the mantel and saw the picture of himself, Sirius, James, and Lily.  He picked it up and looked at it for a minute.  Then, he looked at Tevin.  A thought suddenly occurred to him. 

"Tevin," he said, quietly.  Tevin looked up at Remus.  Tears streaked his face.  "Have you ever seen a picture of your mother?"  Tevin shook his head.  Remus was shocked.  He knew that Severus had pictures of Lily, and some of them together.  To never show his own son those pictures was something he could not understand.  Remus looked at the picture again and then brought it over to the sofa.  He sat down next to Tevin and held out the frame to him. 

Tevin took it and looked at it.  "She's my mommy?"

Remus looked at the picture with him, leaning closer to the boy.  He pointed unnecessarily to the red-haired girl who was pushing the boy with glasses.  "That's your mother, Lily.  She's seventeen in this picture." 

Tevin touched his finger to his mother's laughing face.  "She's pretty."

Remus smiled.  "Yes she is.  Lily was always pretty."  Remus let Tevin take her in for another moment before he pointed out the boy wearing glasses.  "That's James.  He watched over you when you were little, before you lived with your father."  After he said this, the picture moved again from the beginning and James was pushed over by Lily. 

"Why did she push him?"

Remus smiled.  "Because he was teasing her."

"Teasing's mean," Tevin said, quietly. 

He looked at his godson in surprise.  ‘If only you knew how much James teased your father, if you could call it teasing.'  "That's right, Tevin.  Teasing is mean." 

Tevin pointed then to sandy haired boy on the left of the picture who was pointing at James and Lily.  "Who's that?"

"That's me."

Tevin's head whipped around to look at him.  "You?"  Remus nodded, laughing a little.  The boy made a face.  "No, it's not," he said, looking back at the picture. 

It was quiet as Tevin looked at the picture some more.  Finally, he pointed to the other black-haired boy with long wavy hair who lounged on the sofa.  "Is that Daddy?" 

Remus flinched.  "No," he said, looking at Sirius's smirking face sadly.  "That was Sirius." 

"Surrus?  Like my dog?"  Tevin asked looking up at Remus. 

"Yes.  Like your dog."

"Wish I can ‘member them," Tevin sadly said.  Tevin and Remus spent the next few minutes simply looking at the happy picture.  Remus wondered how everything could have gone so wrong after the time the picture was taken.

"Go brush your teeth, Tevin," Remus said as he got up from the table.  He took hold of the plates and cups and took them to the sink.  He began running the hot water to fill up the sink.  After he rolled up his sleeves, he heard Tevin run back into the parlor.  Just as Remus began to wash the first plate he heard the little boy come running back into the kitchen and through another door leading to the tiny bathroom.  He heard the water run and then shut off, followed by the tell-tale sound of someone brushing their teeth.  Soon enough, the water turned on again and the sound of spitting was heard from the little bathroom.  Then, Remus heard Tevin's little feet padding through the kitchen and back to the parlor.  Just as Remus finished the last of the dishes, he heard Tevin return to the kitchen. 

"Did you know you drink a lot of choc'late?"

Remus looked down at Tevin with a blank expression before he felt his lips curl into a smile.  "Your father says the same thing to me many times."

"He's right."

Remus dried his hands on the dish towel.  He saw that when they spoke of Severus, Tevin's expression saddened.  "What's wrong, Tevin?" 

Tevin shook his head and walked into the parlor.  Remus followed him after he turned off the kitchen lights.  He found Tevin curled up on the sofa already changed into pajamas and snuggled around the pillow with his head barely on it.  With a flick of his wand, Remus transfigured the sofa into a bed.  With another flick, he changed his clothing into warm fleece pajamas.  He smiled at Tevin, who in response crawled to the far side of the bed and turned his back to his godfather.  Remus sat down on the bed and lay down. 

Whenever Tevin slept at his godfather's the sofa became a bed.  The sofa was Remus's bed, and he had to make it big enough for two people.  The first time Remus had Tevin sleep by himself and he slept on the floor.  When Tevin realized that his godfather slept on the floor he said that they should share the bed.  No one should sleep on a floor if there was room in a bed. 

Remus allowed the fireplace to blaze away.  Fire relaxed him to sleep sometimes, and so it remained lit when he slept.  As he stared at the flames, he thought of Halloween.  Of James, of Lily, of Sirius, of everyone whose lives were forever changed because of that night.  He looked to his godson's back.  It was shaking. 

"Tevin, what's the matter?" he asked again. 

"Nothing."

"You can tell me, Tevin.  It's better to talk about it when something is bothering you." 

Tevin shifted until he was facing Remus.  "Daddy never talks when he's sad." 

Remus looked at Tevin in concern.  "You aren't your father." 

"He's sad today." 

"I know he is." 

Tevin bit his lip, as though he didn't want to say anything more.  Remus shifted so that he was a little closer to Tevin.  "You shouldn't let your dad's sadness make you sad." 

"Daddy doesn't like Halloween ‘cause Mommy died on Halloween."  Remus nodded, trying to hold off his own tears.  He remembered how he felt during that time.  He couldn't imagine what Severus felt.  His voice was stuck in his throat, but Tevin continued.  "How come I have fun on Halloween?  I should be sad too like Daddy!"  Then, the tears came for the little boy.  "I shouldn't have fun.  I should be sad and quiet.  The Feast at home is bad not good.  I shouldn't have the sweets.  I shouldn't play chess with you!  I shouldn't have hot choc'late and cookies with you!  I should be like how Daddy is.  How come I can have fun but Daddy can't?" 

Remus took hold of Tevin and pulled the boy to his side.  Tevin flung his arms around his godfather and buried his face into Remus's chest.  He sobbed as the day's emotions finally caught up with him.  Remus held Tevin to him, patiently waiting for the tears and sobs to lessen.  When they finally did, he tilted Tevin's face to him.  "Your father would want you to have fun today." 

"Why?"

Remus took a deep breath.  "Because," he said softly, "the night your mother died still haunts your father.  That doesn't mean he wants it to haunt you."  Neither of them said anything after that.  After another moment or two, Tevin laid his head again on his godfather's chest and stared ahead at the fireplace.  Soon enough both Remus and Tevin were lulled to sleep by the flames.

The door burst from the hinges and the red-haired woman spun around to face it.  The words said between the woman and the intruder was slurred, almost muffled.  He could hear the sounds, but could not make out the words.  And then, he was picked up from his cradle and pressed against the woman's chest.  She and the intruder were still arguing.  And then suddenly, blinding green light shot towards them.  The woman screamed.  It was a terrible sound to hear while the high-pitched laughter of the other person reverberated in the room. 

Suddenly the screaming stopped and he was falling, but hands still held him, though they were slackening every instant during the fall.  He hit the ground and then dazedly looked up at the approaching figure, who was still laughing.  Then, something was pointed at him and the intruder said the same thing that he said only seconds before.  Green light blinded him...

...He heard this new voice before he opened his eyes.  These were not the sounds of bad laughter.  It was like the sound he made when he was in pain.  He opened his eyes, and when he did, the sounds of this new person stopped instantly.  He stared into the eyes of the dark figure that cradled the woman to its chest, with her red hair falling like a willow tree's branches.  Suddenly, the new man's head spun to the broken door for a moment and then back to him.  There seemed to be a moment of hesitation before the dark shape rose, and ran to a window to disappear. 

Tevin's eyes sprang open as he struggled to draw in a breath.  His eyes darted around to look for the red-haired woman, whom he now believed was his mother, on the floor, but she was not there.  And who or what was the dark shape?  What was that blinding green light?  Who made the green light? 

He looked at the fireplace, which only had small flames still ablaze in it.  Tevin reached over and poked Remus in the arm.  "Uncle Remus!"  Remus did not stir.  Tevin grabbed his should and began to shake him.  "Uncle Remus, wake up!"  Remus shifted in his sleep but otherwise did not wake up. 

Tevin looked around desperately.  He needed answers, and he was growing scared.  Was this dream real?  He had too many questions about it.  If his godfather was not going to give him the answers, then he had to go to someone that would.  Tevin jumped from the bed and walked to the mantel.  He strained to reach the floo powder, but he could not reach it.  He looked around, and then remembered that he'd seen Draco once drag a chair over to the bookshelves once to steal his father's book on curses that was stored on a very high shelf in the library at Malfoy Manor. 

Tevin went into the kitchen and grabbed a chair.  He tipped it over and it fell with a loud crash.  Tevin froze for a minute, waiting to see if his godfather would come running in yelling at him.  When nothing happened, and he was sure Remus was still sleeping, Tevin grabbed the back of the chair and he dragged it into the parlor.  It took a great deal of his energy to stand the chair up again, but he eventually managed.  He climbed up onto the chair and then took some floo powder.  He hopped down and threw the floo powder into the fire.  "Snape home, Hogwarts!"  The small flames turned green and Tevin leaped into them, spinning off home.

Tevin fell onto the hearth of his father's quarters at Hogwarts only to find the parlor completely dark.  This was unusal, because his father almost always left one of the wall sconces burning so that his son could find his way through the rooms in the middle of the night if he needed to get up for some reason.  But it was dark in the parlor this time. 

Tevin waited for the fireplace to go from raging green to normal orange before he even dared to make the walk to his room door.  He almost ran into the armchair, but he made it easily enough to his room.  He walked inside and saw that it was equally as dark as the parlor.  "Daddy?"

He heard nothing in his room.  "Daddy?" 

Then he walked to the door that separated his room from his father's room.  There was a dull light shining in this room.  Tevin found this strange, but he ignored it in favor of his mission.  He opened the door quietly so that he wouldn't wake up his father.  "Daddy?" he whispered.  He knew that his father hated to be woken up from his sleep.  For some reason, he always reacted like he was being attacked.  It was because of this that Tevin never woke up his father if he could help it.  But not tonight.  He wanted answers. 

He walked directly to Severus's bed, the hangings of which were closed.  "Daddy?" Tevin said, a little louder this time.  When he heard nothing in response, he pulled back the hanging just enough to try to see inside.  "Daddy?"  He heard nothing.  No shifting, no breathing, no sound at all.  For a fleeting panicked moment, Tevin thought that his father was dead and that had been the reason he sent him to Remus's that night.  This idea fled his mind as quickly as it came once he went to shake his father awake and his hand landed on nothing but the covers on the flat bed. 

His father was not there.