Severus never slept well when he was anxious about something, so when he felt the movements of his younger brother next to him, he woke immediately. Turning to face Silas, he looked at the boy carefully, worried. He was laying on his side, looking at Severus with wide, unresponsive eyes.

"Silas?" he asked, position himself so he was leaning on his elbow. The boy continued staring. "Silas, answer me," he said sternly, but there was still no response from him. Slowly, Silas closed his eyes and appeared to fall back to sleep.

Perhaps the potion is beginning to work, Severus thought, laying back down. Still, the reaction was odd. Perhaps a talk with the mediwitch would do . . .

He didn’t fall back to sleep for the rest of the night, deciding, instead, to watch Silas sleep. The boy didn’t look peaceful as he often found him the few nights he decided to check on him, but instead looked stiff, as if he was expecting something. Maybe it was the potion, but that didn’t seem right; it should have relaxed him, if nothing else. Maybe . . .

"Silas?" he asked again, reaching to gently shake his brother to wake him. The boy stiffened slightly before relaxing completely. It was a sudden changed that confused Severus even more. Once again he reached to wake his brother. "Silas? Are you okay?"

"Uh," Silas replied, turning so his back was to his older brother. "Lemme sleep."

Nodding, even though Silas couldn’t see him, Severus relaxed and let his head back down to the pillow and continued to watch the youngest Prince. His breathing was heavy for a minute before it finally slowed down and he turned over to face Severus again, trying to find a comfortable spot.

As Silas no longer looked tense, Severus reached calmly to move the child’s fringe from his face and let his mind wander to other problems.

Honestly, Severus didn’t expect this last school year to be so problematic; the ghosts were especially unexpected. Showing up most likely because of the miscalculated spell of Silas’ at the beginning of the year, and all attracted to that room. Potter hadn’t followed them, so maybe he was trapped in Hogwarts and Severus hoped he was; an entire summer without the partial ghost trying to turn his brother against him would be nice.

But were any other ghosts showing up? Maybe they would have to stop by later. And who would they be? The first ghosts, Mikey, Lily and Potter, all played a significant role in his brother’s life, so it was possible their parents, Tobias and Eileen, would appear.

Severus grimaced. Although he loved his mother, he could do without seeing his father. And what would be the response of both to learn about Silas’ whereabouts? He just hoped their father wouldn’t be dangerous.

"Silas," he sighed quietly, having no intention of waking him up. Silas probably wouldn’t be happy about meeting Eileen, if she did come back. He basically stated before that their mother abandoned him and that he’d rather think of Lily and Potter as his parents.

Severus didn’t want to admit how much that hurt, even though he knew he and Silas were getting close. As it was, though, it was more of a guardian relationship than a brother relationship, and part of him didn’t want that. More now than ever he wished Eileen had said something – he would have prevented their father from doing anything harsh. He knew he could have. Damn the bloody worries and that stupid dream of Silas’ and damn the Dark Lord. If only he had visited home more often to see her, more than once a bloody year, than maybe he would have noticed and been able to do something about it! He was sure he would have seen through any illusions she placed on herself to hide her pregnancy.

Not able to stay still anymore, Severus stood up roughly and dressed in a simple black robe before going downstairs and out of the house to the garden. He walked around the house once before spotting Silas’ swing and sitting down roughly on it. Swinging back and forth slightly, he tried to turn his thoughts to something a little less personal.

Like Trimdol. Still slightly personal, as Silas liked the fool and his son, but not nearly as much. Quite honestly, he had been expecting something to happen to the man before school let out as something had happened to every other one in the past, yet at the end of the third term, he was still at the school, ready for the summer holiday and to begin preparing for the next year.

Perhaps the DADA curse was countered somehow. Severus’ spirits lifted slightly. He had been wanting the Defense position since before he actually started teaching, but he had been denied it, year after year. He knew it wasn’t because he wasn’t qualified; he was much more qualified than any other whom applied. There was a possibility that the headmaster still didn’t fully trust him, but it was much more likely that it was because the old man was afraid something terrible would happen should he get the wanted job.

If the curse was somehow nonexistent, it might mean that he would have a chance at teaching defense, if only he could get rid of Trimdol somehow. His own suspicions about the man were voiced many times to Dumbledore and Lucius, and even Lucius questioned the headmaster about his choice in the position.

Realizing he was swinging a little harder than he intended, Severus slowed the swing by dragging his feet in the grass. He never really liked swings, but he supposed he could see how Silas spent so much time on it. It was a way to release energy and think and the same time without having to watch where he was going as he would have to if he were walking. He was just glad, now, that no one was around to see him swinging like some child.

Leaving the swing behind, feeling better, he reentered the house and went back to his room to check on Silas. The boy was sitting up in bed looking confused.

"You alright?" he asked, and Silas looked at him before nodding.

"Yes. I’m hungry, though," he replied.

"Get dressed, then, and I will start breakfast. We need to be at the manor in a couple hours, so dress properly," Severus said before turning around and descending the stairs once again, looking over his shoulder has he went down.

He made breakfast simple: eggs, toast, sausage and orange juice, and he didn’t bother to take out the jam. Severus didn’t eat toast, and Silas preferred his either plain or with a small amount of butter . . . By the time he was finished making the food, Silas still wasn’t in the kitchen, so he put everything the table, sat down and waited.

Silas came bouncing into the kitchen five minutes later, hair still wet from a quick shower and obviously excited. He sat down and began eating, and Severus watched him, surprised at his sudden change in attitude.

"Why are you so . . . bouncy?" Severus asked and Silas froze, looking at his brother.

"Well, I’m seeing Draco today! I haven’t seen him in a long time!"

"Four days, Silas, is not a long time," he pointed out.

"I’m normally see him every day, though! And Stephan. Oh, I forgot!" Silas said, standing up quickly and leaving the room before Severus could stop him. Shaking his head, Severus continued eating. A minute later, the eleven year old ran into the kitchen again, stopping only when he came to the table, almost causing his glass of orange juice to fall over.

"Silas! Calm down! You’re going to ruin something!" scolded Severus, and the boy sat down. Looking ashamed, he slid the folded piece of parchment over to Severus.

"Stephan’s wondering if I can visit sometime, or if he can visit here. I haven’t seen him all summer!"

"Two weeks," Severus cut in.

"Please?"

Severus had to close his eyes to avoid agreeing suddenly. Silas had such a pitiful look on his face it would be hard to refuse.

"I suppose, although it would be best if he came here," Severus answered, not bothering to look at the note he was passed. More like, he didn’t want Silas away from him or the Malfoys too long than for any other reason not to go to the young Ravenclaw’s home. He recognized a sense a possessiveness for his brother that he pushed down.

"Thank you!" Silas said, excited once again, grabbing the letter and putting it in a pocket.

A few hours later, Silas tumbled through the floo into Malfoy Manor, Severus not far behind him, where Lucius was waiting.

"Hello Uncle Lucius!" Silas greeted. "Where’s Draco?"

"Hello, Silas," Lucius responded. "I believe he’s in his room, unless he wandered off. If you cannot find him, call a house elf."

Silas bounded out of the room without another word, and Lucius gave a small laugh.

"Can’t keep them apart, can we? Odd, though, in his letters, Draco never talked much about Silas," Lucius contemplated.

"They didn’t spend much time together," Severus told his friend. "They would talk at meals, sometimes studied together. He has his own friends in Ravenclaw and Draco has his own in Slytherin."

"Yet they can’t stand to be apart for more than a day," Lucius commented, shaking his head. "Draco has been asking when Silas was coming by since he left a few days ago, almost constantly."

"Silas has been asking several times a day . . . there has been problems lately. Sleepwalking. Yesterday morning I found him in my bed, bruised, cut and with a concussion – yet, there was no physical proof in the room as to how he got any of it."

"You have been to St. Mungo’s?"

"Yes." They two men sat in silence for a bit before Severus began talking again. "His window was open, and he said he remembered a dream about climbing out of the window. I checked the area outside and there was no sign of him having fallen. I warded the window, though."

"Best you can do, I suppose." Another pause. "Albus Dumbledore will be here soon, by portkey," Lucius said bitterly.

"Ah. That’s why you want me here," Severus said.

"It has been eight years. I thought he wasn’t going to come anymore."

"Yes, but now you’re the godfather of the bloody boy-who-lived," Severus responded. "He probably wants to make sure you haven’t regressed back to the Dark Arts, of course."

"Or he has news. He offhandedly suggested you come, meaning he wants you there. Did you know there is talk of the Triwizard Tournament at the Ministry? There has already been talk with the other schools . . ."

"No," Severus said, worried.

"Fifteen and older only," Lucius reassured him. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Yet," Severus answered. "How long from now? Two, three years?"

"Probably two. Any preparation will only take a year or so . . . but I don’t see Silas wanting to enter."

Severus sighed.

"He will want to. He likes challenges."

"I don’t think you have anything to worry about," Lucius answered. "Let us go to the room the headmaster will be arriving in. He wants to make sure this meeting is secret, even from the boys. Narcissa will keep them occupied long enough."

Severus followed Lucius up three flights of stairs and down a corridor where only every fourth candle was lit. It was obvious that no one but house elves have been down here for quite a bit of time.

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"Hi, Aunt Cissy!" Silas said, going into Draco’s room and finding his godmother sitting on Draco’s bed. Draco was still in his nightclothes and they were playing a game with the chocolate frog cards. Silas laughed.

"What?" Draco asked, offended.

"You’re still in pajamas!" he answered. "I’ve been up for hours!"

"So? Since when do you get up so early?"

"Boys," Narcissa sighed. "Draco, you should get dressed, especially since Silas is here. Are either of you hungry?"

"No, Ma’am," they answered together.

"Okay. When you are ready, go outside to play for awhile. There should be enough to keep yourselves occupied out there."

"But Mother," Draco said, and Narcissa gave her son a warning look.

"I don’t want any arguments, Draco. You have been staying inside constantly for the past few days. I will call you in for lunch, and I will send Dobby to watch you."

"We don’t need a minder!" Draco argued, but Silas just shrugged, not wanting to get in trouble. Narcissa shook her head, stood up and left the room, closing the door. In a huff, Draco opened his wardrobe, pulled out a green robe and some underclothes and changed quickly.

"Let’s go, Silas. Maybe we can get out there before Dobby so he can’t find us," he said as he pulled Silas out of the room by his arm. He let go when Silas started running toward a back door, leading, and Draco ran to catch up. "Since when were you so fast?" Draco asked as they continued to run as far away from the house as possible.

"I’ve always been faster than you, Draco, on ground and broom!"

"That’s not true!"

"Yes it is! Look! It’s going to rain soon, I think!" Silas said, looking at the gray sky. "Maybe we should go in."

"Why?" Draco asked, stopping and sitting on the grass. Silas followed suit, but laid down to look up at the sky. "My mother sent us out here. She said not to come back in until lunch!"

"Maybe she didn’t know it was going to rain. It wasn’t like that when I got up this morning."

"You live in a different place, Silas, of course it looks different," Draco scolded. "But look, it might be fun to stay out in the rain for a bit. I was never allowed to before, and now we can’t get in trouble because we were sent in here! My mother rarely pays attention when I’m outside, unless she’s watching me fly or something, but she’s sending Dobby, so we don’t have to worry about that . . ."

"What about the house elf, though?" Silas reminded him. "He’ll know that we should be outside and tell us to go inside!"

"We can ignore him, you know. He’s just an elf. He’s just out here to make sure we don’t get hurt any anything. I never listen to the house elves," Draco said smugly, as if he believed that following the orders of a house elf was beneath him.

"I guess," Silas said with a little hesitation. "We never got in trouble for not listening to them before." Finally, he shrugged, making up his mind. "Okay. I’ve always wanted to play in the rain. Maybe we can have a mud fight!"

"Yeah!" Draco said. "Person who is the least muddy by lunch wins!"

"We have to wait for it to start raining, though," Silas pointed out, and Draco rolled his eyes.

"Of course. What do you want to do until then?"

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"Before you start talking about what you are here for, I have a question," Severus said and he waited for Albus to nod his consent. "Is Trimdol working at Hogwarts next year, as the Defense professor?"

"Yes," Albus nodded. "He is planning on moving back to Sibiu in a week, I believe, and he will come back to Hogwarts early. Any reason?"

"Don’t you find it odd?" Severus asked. "You haven’t been able to keep a professor in the position for more than three terms as long as I can remember, but Trimdol is going on his fourth?"

Albus sighed and looked sadly at the potions professor.

"Severus, I have checked everything. Professor Trimdol is clear. If you wish, keep an eye on him because there could always be something I missed, but do not worry about it."

Severus hid his emotions carefully. He had assumed that it would be the headmaster’s response, but it wasn’t the one he wanted. He listened on as Albus questioned Lucius about what he has been doing lately, how he has been doing, and all the other questions that Severus had to respond to several times a year, but he kept his thoughts on other things.

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Silas was just getting off his broom when he felt the first raindrop land on his cheek. Standing still, he waited for more. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Draco doing the same. The rain came down slowly for about a minute before it started a little harder. Excited, Silas jumped up and down, letting his broom fall to the ground.

"I bet you can’t catch me!" Silas shouted, and he started running further away from the house, toward the woods that blocked the wizarding world from the muggle world (plus charms to keep muggles away, of course). The edge of the woods weren’t as well kept as the rest of the yard, so that meant there were patches of dirt that, once it got wet enough, they could start attacking each other with.

"Young Masters, please! Inside! You must not stay out in the rain!" Silas heard Dobby yell, but he ignored the elf in favor of grabbing a bunch of now completely wet mud and holding it behind his back as he turned to face Draco, who had just begun to run toward him. He just stood there with a smile on his face, and as soon as his friend was within arm’s length, he reached out to slap the mud on Draco’s clothes.

Getting a playful look of anger on his face, Draco didn’t even bother reaching down to pick up any mud. Instead, he rammed in to Silas, pushing him down onto his butt. Laughing, Draco didn’t see Silas go to kick him, and he unexpectedly landed belly first in the mud.

"Hey!" he exclaimed before he got to his knees and tackled Silas. The continued to roll around in the mud for a few minutes, getting each other covered entirely with mud. Even their faces weren’t spared. Having fun, though, they didn’t stop and continued with their wrestling.

"Stop! Stop! Young Masters must stop fighting!" Dobby yelled over the rain and thunder. "Stop!" Ignoring the house elf, the two boys didn’t realize when Dobby popped into the house to where Narcissa was sitting, reading.

A minute later, Narcissa was walking outside toward her son and godson in a rushed manner, a large umbrella charmed to stay over her to avoid getting wet. She didn’t know what to expect when she found the boys at the edge of the woods, but finding to the two laughing, covering each other with mud was not it.

"Draco! Silas!" she snapped. "Stop this nonsense at once!"

Suddenly aware of the newcomer, Silas and Draco stopped their playing and turned to face the intruder.

"Inside. Now!" she said, nearly a yell to be heard over the now-pouring rain. Reluctantly, they stood up and obeyed, watching some of the mud wash off of themselves as they walked back to the house. In order to avoid tracking it through the main part of the house, Narcissa pointed them through a not-much used door and told Dobby to clean up the trail of mud afterwards. On their way to the ground-floor bathrooms to clean up, they ran into Lucius and Severus.

"What happened here?" Lucius asked harshly and the boys earned a glare from Severus.

"They were fighting," Narcissa offered.

"We were playing!" Draco refuted. "We were having fun!"

"There are other ways of having fun than getting messy," Severus answered.

"Correct," Narcissa answered. "And I will have no more of this in my house."

"And no more playing in the rain. You know better than that, Draco," Lucius scolded, looking coolly at his son, then at Silas. "Understand?"

"Yes, sir," they answered.

"Go clean up," Lucius told them, and the three adults watched as the children found the bathroom and closed the door.

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Severus and Silas spent the rest of the day at the manor, and at six, they gathered around a dining table for dinner. Severus noticed Silas walk in nervously, Draco not far behind and looking a little scared himself. Looking at the Malfoys, he noticed that they noticed, too. Severus knew it couldn’t be from the mud fight earlier that day as the boys had shown no remorse in their actions before.

"What is the matter?" Lucius asked, and Draco shook his head. Silas, on the other hand, seemed willing to give up information.

"We were looking through the Prophet today . . ." he started, but seemed stuck. He threw an anxious look at his brother before looking down at the table in front of him.

"Black’s trial was two days ago," Draco spoke up, saving his surrogate brother from having to explain. "He’s free."

Severus knew that if he had been holding something at that moment, he would have dropped it. He felt every muscle in his body first relax completely, then tense up. He closed his eyes and grabbed the table.

"What?" he asked harshly. He felt Silas beside him moving away, slightly, at the word.

"He’s not entirely free yet," Draco continued quickly, noticing his godfather’s reaction. "They want to make sure he’s stable, so they are going to test him and keep him at St. Mungo’s until they are sure he is . . . they said it might be a while because of how long he was in Azkaban."

"Sirius," Narcissa said thoughtfully, earning a glare from her husband and friend. "He is my cousin," she defended herself. "We were fond of each other growing up. I know you don’t like him, Severus, but surely even you cannot condemn an innocent man – the last of the line of Blacks, at that – to Azkaban.

Severus knew what he wanted to say, but he refrained as Draco and Silas were in the room. No one spoke and finally, dinner was served. Severus dutifully ignored the other four in the room in order to pay full attention to his meal uncomfortably. Soon afterwards, they said their goodbyes and went home.

"Severus?" Silas asked, stepping closer to his brother after they were both through the floo. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Severus replied flatly.

"Are you sure? I . . . it’s not as if I have to see him, you know. I know you don’t want me to . . ."

"And you won’t," he snapped. Taking a step back, Silas nodded before going to his room. He was tired and he wasn’t in any mood to do anything, so went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, took his potion, and went to his room so he could sleep. He reasoned that Severus wouldn’t want to be around him yet, even though Severus said earlier that day that he was going to spend one more night in Severus’ room to be sure the potion was working. Tired, and drugged by the potion, Silas buried himself completely under the covers and fell to sleep almost immediately, despite the thoughts running through his head.

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Severus paced his room, trying to get total control over his emotions. He knew it wasn’t just the fact the Black was a bully that made his angry was angry, but because he knew that the man would ask about Harry Potter. And Dumbledore would most likely tell him, even though it is against Severus’ wishes.

He wanted to rip his hair out. Or, at least walk outside for a bit, but it was raining hard at the moment. It wasn’t until five minutes more of pacing did he realize that Silas was probably in bed by now – in his own bed. Sighing, he checked the bathroom and was relieved to find an empty bottle of what was the potion Silas was supposed to take. He remembered that, at least.

Severus was surprised to find the boy’s bedroom door closed; usually, he left it open a crack. Knocking quietly and not getting an answer, he entered the room, leaving the door open to let in light. He drew in a sharp breath when he didn’t see his brother in bed at first, but then he realized that he boy was completely under the covers. Shaking his head, Severus pulled the blankets down to his chin.

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Silas woke the next morning tense, as if he forgot something important. Laying in bed for a few more minutes, he couldn’t remember needing to do anything other than make sure Severus wasn’t mad before he approached him, so he crawled out of bed. He jumped when he noticed Severus standing in the doorway.

"You’re awake, I see," he said. "Did you sleep well?"

"I don’t know," Silas answered, rubbing his eye. "I don’t remember waking up, but I’m still tired . . ."

"You’ve slept two hours longer than usual. That could be part of the reason." Severus turned to leave.

"Wait!" Silas said. "Are you okay? I know . . ." Silas couldn’t continue. Honestly, he had no idea how to confront his brother about Sirius Black. It wasn’t that he was scared Severus would get mad at him but because he didn’t know how to . . . comfort him.

He doesn’t need comforting, Silas told himself. He’s an adult. You don’t need to take care of him.

"I am fine," Severus snapped, then he took a deep breath. "You do realize why I don’t want you to meet him, correct?"

"Because you don’t like him?" Silas supplied.

"Mostly," Severus answered, sitting down on the bed and indicating to Silas that he should do the same. Seeing no other choice, in his mind, he decided on telling his brother the full truth. "As loathed as I am to admit, Black was your godfather and once he’s released, he will start looking for you. The headmaster might even tell him who you are. Once Black finds out, he will start looking for ways to take you away from me."

"But what if he doesn’t?" Silas asked without thinking and he quickly covered his mouth. Severus, expecting a question like this, was able to hide his slight anger easily. "I mean, what if he’s forgotten about me? Did he know who I was when I was adopted? Does he know that I was adopt?"

"I do not presume to know what Black does," Severus answered flatly. "Knowing his connection with the Potter, he might have, but . . . I’d rather not take chances."

"Alright," Silas answered, and Severus heard the disappointment in his voice. He forced himself not to relent.

When did I start to feel the need to please him? Severus wondered. That was odd – understandable now, of course – how when he first took Silas in, he promised himself he would take care of him, but that’s it. He didn’t want to become emotionally attached, but want had nothing to do with it, obviously. It was the how it happened that caused Severus to wonder if there was some sort of magical bond between magical siblings . . . it was something to look into. He knew he didn’t know Silas that well. Not as well as he would like, anyway. They had only known each other for a year. For some reason, the logical part of his brain was trying to convince him that a bond that tight shouldn’t be made that quicky. He pushed the thought away.

"Dress and come down to eat," Severus said. "There is a letter waiting for you; it arrived about an hour ago."

"Really? Who’s it from?" Silas asked, excited. We’ll have to work on him controlling his emotion, Severus thought at the sight of Harry bouncing on the bed.

"I did not look," he responded truthfully before leaving. Silas was in the kitchen a few minutes little, and he opened his letter immediately.

"It’s from Professor Trimdol!" Silas announced. "I knew it!" Silently, he read it through, ignoring his brother’s annoyed look.

"Can we go?" Silas asked. "He said he is only staying in Sibiu for two weeks, and that we are invited for the entire time!"

"Only two weeks?" Severus asked sarcastically. "Do you think you will live that long without seeing Draco?"

Severus meant it as a tease, but it got Silas thinking seriously. He didn’t know what the two children were going to do when they wouldn’t be able to see each other almost every day. They seemed to dependant on each other.

"I guess . . ." he answered. "Yeah, I think so. So can we? Please?"

Severus gave his brother the usual glare when Trimdol was brought up and mentally rolled his eyes. Maybe Severus could get something useful out of this.

"I will think about it," he answered vaguely.