Separation (Familia Ante Omnia - Book Two, Part Four) by SaraJany
Summary: Saturnine Snape knew that becoming Hogwarts’ new Defence Against the Dark Arts’ professor without revealing her identity would be a challenge.

When the headmaster tricks her into taking on the hunt for the Horcruxes as well, she realises that evading her brother’s suspicion will not be the most arduous task she’ll have to perform. It’s a good thing she has a lupine friend she can count on for help.

Harry’s sixth year, as seen through the eyes of Saturnine. And an exploration of the witch’s feelings through the prism of her relationship with Harry, Severus, and Remus.
Categories: Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Remus
Snape Flavour: Canon Snape
Genres: Drama, Family, General
Media Type: None
Tags: Adoption
Takes Place: 6th Year
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: Familia Ante Omnia
Chapters: 11 Completed: Yes Word count: 28329 Read: 2028 Published: 16 Apr 2022 Updated: 29 Apr 2022
An Old Friend Returns by SaraJany

There was a strangeness to being back at Hogwarts that had yet to dissipate. Everywhere Saturnine looked were memories of younger days. Taking the stairs, she remembered her first night ascending to Ravenclaw Tower. She hadn’t forgotten how amazed she had been when they had veered to the left at some point. She had screamed in surprise, as did several other first-years, then giggled in delight.

Walking down the corridors, gazing at the many paintings decorating the stone walls, she remembered how much she had enjoyed talking to them when she was eleven. By the end of the first term, she was familiar with all the portraits of Ravenclaw Tower and had befriended several others in the subsequent years.

Sadly, not all her memories were as positive as that of the amazement of a Muggle-raised eleven-year-old witch stepping into the Wizarding World for the first time. There were other memories, too, painful ones. Of all the students she had shared classes with, five were now dead—casualties of the war. And several had been injured in the line of duty. A couple more, she had read in the paper, had been widowed along the way. And then, of course, waiting around inconspicuous corners of the old castle were the memories that hurt the most. The ones that featured the only two people Saturnine had been close to before coming to Hogwarts: Lily Evans and her brother. For entirely different reasons, being reminded of either hurt like hell.

Entering the newly refurbished Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, she tried to force her thoughts to take a happier turn. One more day, she told herself. The Hogwarts’ Express would roll into Hogsmeade the next day, its old steam locomotive spitting out large plumes of white smoke. In a cacophony of metallic clangs and clonks, the red passenger carriers would rattle to a stop, their doors opening wide to let out an assortment of black-robed young witches and wizards—including one Harry Potter. Saturnine knew that she probably wouldn’t be able to talk to the lad, but at least she would get to see him. And then she would know—with dead certainty—that he was alive and well.

Entering the Defence Against the Dark Art’s classroom, Saturnine was surprised to find someone was waiting for her. A wizard was sitting at the front row table closest to the window, his gaze lost outside. It was no student but a familiar-looking man with light-brown hair flecked with grey and a rough beard insufficient to hide his facial scars.

“Mr Lupin,” she said, forgoing the French accent to assume a sterner northern intonation. “Eager for the classes to start, I see. I trust that the summer essay you’re about to hand in will reflect your enthusiasm.”

Remus gave her a bright smile at that. It took a few years off the tired lines of his face. “Remind me again what the subject was, Professor?” he asked, standing up.

“Werewolves,” Saturnine replied with a knowing smile. “Ten sure ways to identify them.”

The wizard chuckled at that before coming to kiss her on the cheek. “I’m certain I can exceed your expectations on that subject, Professor.”

She kissed him back. “Oh, I’m quite certain your work would be nothing short of outstanding, old friend.”

“You’ve redecorated,” the werewolf noted as the two parted. “If I may say so, you’ve really put the dark into Dark Arts.”

Glancing around at the ominous portraits hanging on the walls, Saturnine had to concede the point. It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing, though. There had been no time to think ahead about how to decorate the space before she got here.

“There were notes of pink everywhere when I arrived,” Saturnine said. “And cats—lots and lots of cats. Figurines, posters, painted plates—ugh.” She could not suppress a shudder as she remembered those ugly monstrosities. Her stomach had somersaulted when she had first stepped into her office. “Someone charmed all the office walls pink. Can you believe it?”

“Not the way I left it, I assure you,” Remus replied, with a hand on his heart. “Dolores Umbridge’s touch, I’d wager.”

“Well, I might have gotten carried away a little when I fixed it, but—” She glanced around again. “Now, more than ever, students need to learn how to defend themselves against evil wizards. And I want them to take this class seriously.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Remus said before moving to the teacher’s desk—well, her desk now, she supposed—and perching himself atop it. She had half a mind to remark on it but decided to let it slide. Remus looked tired. And he had taught in this classroom a few years ago; so, perhaps he still thought of it as his desk.

“Hmm,” mused Remus, looking around once more. “You know, if Severus ever gets hold of the Defence job, I imagine that’s close to how he would decorate.”

“My brother doesn’t decorate,” Saturnine deadpanned with a soft shake of her head.

Her friend tried and failed to contain a chuckle. “Fair enough.”

“Now tell me, have you seen Harry? How is he?” Saturnine asked, turning their conversation to a more pressing matter.

“Alive and well,” he replied with no detour, knowing it was what she wanted to hear most of all. “I dropped by the Burrow yesterday afternoon. He was all packed and eager to take the train.” He winked. “I daresay he misses you.”

The dark-haired witch said nothing in return, realising that the relief must have shown on her face.

“Hmm,” Remus said again. “I daresay he isn’t the only one.”

“You nosy wolf,” she chided gently. “Keep out of it, will you?”

The man continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “As you know, I care a great deal about the both of you. I’m happy to see how close you two have become over the summer. And I happen to think you are great for each other.”

There was a time, Saturnine figured, when she could have told Remus to mind his own business, assuming that he was wrong or that he did not know what he was talking about. But that ship had sailed when Harry pulled a vanishing act a couple of weeks ago to rescue one of his school friends. He and a group of students inadvertently came face-to-face with Death Eaters, and Saturnine had been close to losing him. Not even Occlumency could have hidden the anguish that took hold of her as members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered to search for the missing teenagers.

As it was, all Saturnine could do was try to redirect the conversation again. “Have you come with a solution to my little problem?” she asked. “Or are you here only to annoy me?”

“Will I get points for Gryffindor if I solve your problem, Professor?” Remus asked with the boyish grin she supposed he often sported when he was a student here.

“I’m afraid that only works for the kids,” she answered mirthfully. His good humour was contagious.

Remus grew serious again. “I cannot force the map to alter your name. It tells the truth—always.”

Saturnine nodded. She had expected something like that. The Marauders’ Map, which Harry had inherited from his late father, promised to be quite the thorn in her side. So far, she had concealed her true identity from the young Gryffindor with ease. But one look at that blasted map would reduce her efforts to ashes. Desperate for a solution to that little problem, she had sought the help of one of the map’s creators, former Marauder Remus Lupin.

“However,” the sandy-haired wizard continued, “I think I can occlude you completely.”

She crossed her arms over her chest as she pondered the man’s words. “I thought it didn’t lie.”

“It wouldn’t be a lie, per se,” he elaborated. “More of a momentary obfuscation.”

“It’s a fine line,” she said. “But whatever. If it works, I’m happy to overlook the semantics.”

“The map picks up on individual magical signatures. As you know, no two are alike, which helped us to avoid teachers during our nightly escapades,” he said, not in the least phased by having just confessed what his younger self got up to. Saturnine already knew all about that; back then, the Marauders’ reputation was something everyone was aware of, no matter which House they were in. “But troublesome for avoiding Argus Filch, who, as you know, is a Squib.”

She nodded in understanding. “No magical signature to him.”

“Precisely. We had to go back and include the caretaker manually. In retrospect, it was quite the oversight on our part. There we were, so proud of ourselves for what we’d done. And the first night James and Sirius took it for a spin, the very man we were most trying to escape cornered them.” He laughed a little at that. “Earned them both a week of detention, if I recall correctly. But that gave them ample time to think of a solution. It was no easy work, though. We had to deconstruct several of the charms to manipulate the map at that level.”

“And does it allow you to remove someone?” Saturnine asked, hopeful.

Remus nodded with a grin.

“So I will not show up at all?”

He nodded again.

“That’s—that’s brilliant. Not quite what I was going after, but it’ll do the trick.”

“It’s the best I can do. If Harry looks at the map while you’re in the room, you will have some explaining to do, but it should buy you some time.”

“It’s more than I hoped for.” Saturnine smiled earnestly. If Harry should ever figure it out, she would explain what they’d done and why. And she hoped he’d be mature enough to understand her reasons. “Thank you.”

“If I may say, Saturnine.” Remus grew serious again. “Harry won’t like it when he discovers the truth. That boy has been lied to and manipulated enough as it is. And that it came from you will cut deeply.”

The dark-haired witch had no answer to that. Remus had been speaking the truth, and she knew it. She had wanted to tell Harry many times, and if it were only her life on the line, she would have. But this concerned Severus, too. If word got out about who she was, it would put him in danger, and she couldn’t be responsible for that.

Her inner conflict must have reflected on her face, for Remus sat up. An instant later, he reached for her shoulders, drawing her close. She let herself be pulled in.

“I am lying to the two people I care most about on this planet,” she said into his chest. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, and between the heavy makeup and the contact lenses, it burned. “Do you have any idea how much that hurts?”

“I can imagine, ’Nine.” Remus said before placing a soft kiss atop her head. “I’m sorry you find yourself in such an impossible situation.”

“This isn’t a decision that I took lightly. I know I could lose both over this,” Saturnine continued, voice faltering over the last couple of words. “Trust me—if it comes to that, no one will suffer more than me.”

“I know,” he murmured before kissing her head again. “I know.”

He held her a little more tightly, and she was thankful for his steady presence. Remus, with his compassion and warm disposition, had always been a comforting shoulder to lean on in a pinch. And for a moment, it felt like it was 1981 again, and they shared a flat in the north of France. Part of her longed for the return of those simpler times.

The two of them met by accident in Normandie. They got to know each other as they imbibed an insane amount of beer at a local pub, and their unlikely friendship started the morning after, as they nursed their respective hangovers. Circumstances turned them into roommates for the next three years, cementing their bond, which they knew would last until the end of time.

“Thanks for being here,” Saturnine said once she had regained control of her emotions. She pulled away, but Remus kept one of his hands around her shoulders.

“If it were me, I know you’d be right by my side, too,” he said.

She nodded before catching his gaze to let him know that yes, she would.

The End.


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