Severus stepped into the living room of the flat above the apothecary shop just as Lily looked up from the copy of the Daily Prophet in her hands. Hands that were shaking as her green eyes filled with sorrow and rage. It was then that he noticed Remus sitting beside her while the children played on the floor.

Harry, Teddy, and Tessa were playing a game with Mousekins while Eric tried to join in. Draco and Rosie were playing with her baby doll, Bitty, the boy holding the doll in his hands and making her dance, much to the toddler’s delight. The boy had come a long way in the last two months, but he still had a long way to go to recover from the physical and mental abuse of his mother and the emotional and sometimes physical abuse of his father. How was it that people would claim that he would abuse his son but miss the obvious abuse this boy had been subjected to for years?

He sat beside his wife and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. “Do you know anything about this?” he asked his best friend.

Remus shook his head. “No. But I will do what I can to find out who did this. Who knew about your father?”

“No one who would tell,” Severus answered with a sigh. “My mother, Lily’s father, you, Cissy, Poppy, Tom…Andromeda, I think. I always kept it quiet.”

Lily looked up at her husband. “James and Sirius are both Auror consultants. They know how to research for information…and James calling you a child abuser is what started this custody battle. This sounds like something he would do.”

Before Severus could respond, there was knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” Harry said, leaving his kitten with his two best friends and little brother and ran for the door. He knew that his parents and godfather were upset about something, but they hadn’t told him what it was that was upsetting them. Opening the door, he smiled. “Hi Gran’ma Lee. Grandpa. Come on in,” he told them. “Mum and Da are upset about something.”

Eileen Snape bent down and kissed her grandson on the brow. “We’ll go talk to them. Where are Eric and Rosie?”

“In the living room. Uncle Remus is here and he brought Teddy and Tessa and Draco. Rosie is playing with Draco and the rest of us are playing with Mousie,” the boy answered.

“Why don’t all of you go play in your room,” Henry Evans suggested. “That way we adults can talk.”

Harry nodded and taking one hand of each grandparent, headed back to the living room. “We will, but Draco might not want to leave Uncle Remus. Draco and Rosie play quiet though.”

Upon seeing her father, Lily stood and hugged the man, crying again. Henry held her close, whispering softly to her and Eileen moved to greet her son. Harry convinced the twins and Eric to come play in his room, but Draco just moved closer to Remus, leaning against the man’s leg as he sat on the floor. He could sense that something was wrong and didn’t want to leave the security that he always felt around the man. Rosie crawled up into Remus’ lap to cuddle with her godfather. “We came as soon as Eileen showed me the paper,” Henry told his daughter and son-in-law. Henry Evans and Eileen Snape had been neighbors since Lily and Severus were little and still lived next door to each other. They had been friends and only become even closer once Lily and Severus had married. Daisy Evans had died shortly after Tobias Snape and Henry and Eileen had been on a few dates the last few months, but hadn’t said anything to their children yet because of the troubles they had been having with James.

“We were just talking about that,” Severus told them.

“Any ideas?” Eileen asked.

It was Remus who answered. He was stroking Draco’s pale blond locks with one hand and had Rosie tucked against his chest, now sleeping and hugging her Bitty. “My best guess is James. I think one of us should go talk to him. Or possibly your solicitor.”

“We should probably consider someone in Family Services,” Henry told them. “They know about the custody hearings and I’m sure would be able to find out about Severus’ past.”

“I still think it was Potter,” Severus said. “And I want nothing more than to flay him. He’s been trying since we were eleven years old to ruin my life.” Eileen pulled her son into a hug as the Floo flared green and a face appeared in the flames.

It was Tom Riddle, Headmaster of Hogwarts. “May I come through?” he asked them. After finding out about the abuse that Severus had suffered from his father, Tom Riddle had tried to provide a positive male influence in the boy’s life and Severus had gotten close to the man who encouraged him to follow his life’s dreams in a way that his own father never had. “I have some one that wishes to speak to you.”

“Of course Tom,” Severus replied, pulling away from his mother.

Tom Riddle stepped through the Floo followed by James Potter. He quickly cast a silencing charm on the door so as not to startle the other children. Upon seeing this, Remus cast a gentle sleeping charm on Rosie knowing that things would likely get loud and would wake her. He also cast the charm on Draco. They had come too far to take a backward step now.

“Get out of my house!” Severus yelled at James, storming toward him, only to have his father-in-law and Tom get between the two men. “I won’t have him here!”

“It wasn’t me!” James protested. “I didn’t even know about your father until this morning! Siri either!”

Tom placed a hand on the Potions Master’s chest. “Do you trust me, my boy?”

Severus looked up at his mentor, wanting to say that he didn’t trust the man. But the truth was that he did trust the man. He trusted him with his life and with the lives of his loved ones as well. Sighing deeply, Severus nodded. “I trust you.”

“I questioned him under Veritaserum,” Tom told him, “before bringing him here. He had nothing to do with this and he doesn’t know who did.”

The Potions Master stared at the man that was the closest thing to a father he had for a moment before lowering his head. He felt a gentle hand on the back of his head before it was pulled forward to rest on the older man’s shoulder. Severus took advantage for the strength that the man offered for a few moments as he calmed himself, before pulling away and squaring his shoulders. “We need to figure out who told that Skeeter woman about my past and what happened with Harry. I would have thought that Family Services records would be sealed.”

“They are,” Mathilda said, entering the room. When she had taken Harry’s case Severus had adjusted the wards to allow her to Floo into the flat. “I’ve spent the morning looking at Family Services. Those leaks didn’t come from us.”

“Then who did?” Lily asked, coming to stand beside her husband.

“Black,” Severus growled.

James glared at him. “If I didn’t know, Siri doesn’t know either. You know what he’s like, Lil. He wouldn’t keep his mouth shut about something like this.”

“What about Pettigrew?” Remus asked from his place on sofa.

“What?” James questioned, looking at his former Gryffindor roommate. “No. He’d never do anything like this. He doesn’t have it in him.”

“He’s a rat, James,” Remus said with a smirk. It had been hard for the three Marauders to hide the fact that they had become Animagi from their werewolf roommate. Now however, their Animagus forms were common knowledge.

“That doesn’t mean he’d do something like this!” James protested.

“I’ve never liked Peter, James,” Lily told him. “I told you that when we were married.”

“That doesn’t prove anything, Lily,” he responded.

“I don’t want him near my son!” she yelled. She turned to Mathilda. “If he allows Peter into the manor while Harry is there is there anything we can do?”

The Family Services casewitch sighed and nodded. “You can sue James for negligence and for sole custody.”

James turned to look at her. “Tildy…you can’t be serious.”

“Unfortunately, I am,” she told him. “It was in all the paperwork that was signed at the custody hearing.”

“You can’t do this to me…”

“I’m afraid that my hands are tied, James.”

James turned quickly to face his ex-wife. “You can’t tell me who I can have in my home!”

Lily put her hands on her hips, something she often did when her children were being stubborn. “Then if you want to see Harry you can come here, because I will not allow him to go to Potter Manor as long as you allow Peter to visit.”

“This is all your fault, Snape!” James yelled, approaching Lily’s husband.

Severus sneered at him. “My fault? It’s that little pet rat of yours who is to blame. All he needs to do is answer a few questions about what he’s been doing the last couple days.”

“He hasn’t done anythi…”

“How much did you tell your friends, Potter?” Severus demanded. “How much did you tell them about what was going on between me, my wife and Harry?”

James eyes grew dark. “I told my friends what happened just like you told the werewolf over there and his women…”

Severus grabbed a fistful of James’ shirt and pulled the other man toward him. He could no longer sense Lily’s presence at his side and knew that she had gone to Remus. “At least my friends aren’t traitors who go running to spill their guts to the nearest smarmy reporter.” He started to let the man go, but stopped. “Oh, I forgot, you Marauders like ANY publicity that you can get, don’t you? You can’t keep your mouths shut. You three are worse than a bunch of gossiping hags!”

“Well maybe we don’t have anything to hide,” James said, shoving the Potions Master away from him.

“No? How about the fact that you were a bully who tormented me and others for years? I bet your pals in the Auror department would love to learn about that. And what about the Daily Prophet? How would it look if they knew that you were just as much a bounder as my FATHER?!”

James took a swing at him. “You bastard!”

Severus ducked the blow. “Not so perfect now are you?”

Tom stepped between the two men before James could swing again, Henry laying a restraining hand on his son-in-law’s shoulder while Mathilda stepped over to James, laying a small hand on his arm. “This is not the time or the place.”

Mathilda looked up at James. “I need you to contact Peter so that I can speak to him on behalf of Family Services.”

“Why are you taking their side, Tildy?” James asked her.

“I’m taking Harry’s side, James,” she replied. “If your friend Peter will do this, there is no telling what else he will do. Slander is a crime, James. This could ruin Severus’ career.”

“I won’t give him up.”

Tom walked over and placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “There is a time and a place for loyalty, James. All we want to do is to talk to him.”

James stared at his mentor for a moment before nodded. “You can go check at the Manor. He was supposed to stop by today. Siri too.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Tom said, before Apparating away with Mathilda. Sighing deeply, James sank into a chair and put his head in his hands.

Eileen turned to her son and daughter-in-law. “Why don’t you two let Henry and I take the kids for a few hours…they don’t need to be here for this.”

“Are you sure, Mum?” Severus asked her.

“I’m sure, dear,” she replied, kissing his cheek.

Severus glanced over at his daughter. “Leave Rosie and Draco here. He still doesn’t handle new places well and those two will play quietly for hours. But I would appreciate it if you would watch the other four for a few hours.”

“I’ll keep an eye on those four,” Henry told her. “You can come back and help out around here.” It took a bit of work, but soon Harry, Teddy, Tessa and Eric were happily playing at Grandpa Henry’s house. After helping the man get them all settled, Eileen returned and went down to keep an eye on things in the shop until Severus or Lily could come down themselves. As a Potions Mistress, she often helped out in the shop when they needed an extra hand. While they were gone Remus woke Rosie and Draco and sent them to play in Rosie’s room. Tom and Mathilda returned from Potter Manor empty-handed.

Lily looked at the Family Services worker. “Please tell me that you aren’t going to arrest my husband or take my son…”

Mathilda took her hand. “No. We only do that when we feel the child is in danger. I know for a fact that these are unfounded rumors. But we will get to the bottom of this. I promise you that.”

“Thank you,” Lily told her, before going downstairs to the shop. She needed something to do to keep herself busy and her mind off of the article.

The casewitch turned to James. “He wasn’t there. Do you know where he could be?”

“I have no idea,” he snapped at her, before leaving the flat and Apparating away.

Remus stood. “I’ll help you find him,” he told the casewitch.

She nodded her thanks and followed him from the flat.

--

Andromeda Tonks and Cissy Lupin had been unable to leave their clinic to go to the Snape's flat when they had heard about the article, but they had sent word that they would come by after work and that they would bring dinner. When they arrived, Remus had already left with Mathilda Bagshot to try and track down Peter Pettigrew. Though the two were never close, they had been in the same dormitory at Hogwarts for seven years. Remus had a talent for understanding people's minds, especially dark wizards. He had had job offers from several Ministry departments, including the Aurors and the Unspeakables; but he had turned them down to stay home with his children and teach. Sometimes he would assist James and Sirius on a case, but not frequently.

After dinner Andromeda and Cissy had brought Teddy and Tessa home. Draco had stayed with the Snapes because they were unsure when Remus would return. The small blond was doing better, but they didn't want him to have a setback. By the time they had put the twins to bed, Remus still had not returned. So they settled in the living room to wait. Now that Dora was away at Hogwarts, Andromeda grew lonely so Cissy invited her over several evenings a week.

"How's Dora?" Cissy asked.

"I had a letter from her this morning. She had some difficulty adjusting to being away from home and being in a classroom, but she seems to be doing better. It sounds like she and Charlie Weasley are joined at the hip," Andromeda told her sister.

"I like Charlie," Cissy replied. "He's a good kid. Even if he is obsessed with dragons."

Andromeda laughed. "He tells me about a different dragon every time I see him."

Before Cissy could respond, Remus stepped through the Floo. Cissy rose to greet him with a kiss. "Did you find him?"

He sighed and nodded. "Mathilda and I checked several places before going back to Potter Manor. When we got there Peter was begging James to help him hide and James agreed to help him before he realized we were there. I - I restrained them both while she called the Aurors," he said, dropping onto the sofa.

She sat next to him, wrapping an arm around him. "What did the Aurors do?"

"Questioned them both under Veritaserum. Peter's been in love with James for years. He encouraged James to cheat on Lily to get Lily out of the picture. Peter was just about to make his move on James when he saw James flirting with Mathilda. He wasn't happy that James was getting his act together for Harry, who he felt was taking James' attention away from him." He sighed. "Peter overheard Sev and Lily talking about Sev's father while we were still at Hogwarts. He's the one that gave the information to Skeeter for the article."

"What does this mean for the custody case?" Andromeda asked him.

"Well, Peter will stand trial for slander. James...James is going to lose all custody of Harry for this," Remus answered. “It’s against the law to aid a suspected criminal, and his agreeing to help Peter just made him an accomplice in the Aurors’ eyes.”

“How’s he taking it?”

Remus sighed. “Not very well. I’m afraid that he’s going to do something drastic.”