His wand was out in an instant, firing spells as he moved to put more distance between him and the bastard who kept dodging what was being shot at him. His heart was pounding as the man kept saying his name, telling him to stop. But how could he stop? This was the man who sold Lily, and James, out to the Dark Lord. The man who had almost gotten Harry killed.
“Snape, I’m not here to hurt you,” Black said, hands up as he ducked another spell.
“Do you really expect me to believe that, Black? After everything else?” Severus snarled, firing more spells and hoping that one of them would finally hit the emaciated man in front of him so that he could breathe for a fucking moment.
“I was pregnant, too,” Black said, his voice desperate as he looked at Severus with wide, pleading eyes.
Severus stopped firing spells, shock filling him. His wand was still trained on the man, though. Ready. Waiting.
“What?” Severus asked.
“When I went to Azkaban, I was pregnant. I was Harry’s godfather, Snape, I love him like he was my own son. Do you really think I would betray him, James, Lily, any of them to the man who wanted to kill them?” Black said, and from the tears that glistened in his eyes Severus couldn’t help but think he was telling the truth.
“You said to the Aurors that caught you that it was your fault,” Severus breathed.
“I was supposed to be the secret keeper, but I had them change their minds, thinking I would be too obvious. The Death Eaters would come after me, surely, I had to go into hiding myself, I couldn’t risk…” the man swallowed, clearing his throat. “I thought Peter would be a better choice, no one would think we would use him, right? Peter was their secret keeper, because of me, it was my fault. I didn’t know he was a spy, but it was my fault, and I have hated myself every day since. I could have done it. I could have been the secret keeper and gone into hiding, but I didn’t.”
“You killed Peter, and those muggles, before you were caught,” Severus said.
“No, I didn’t,” Black shook his head. “I confronted Peter about his betrayal, it was stupid, I know. I should have stayed with Harry, instead of giving him to Hagrid, but I… I was hormonal, I suppose, and… I confronted him. He started shouting that I had killed them. Then he blew up the street, cut off his own finger, changed into his animagus form and ran away. I just laughed. Peter’s still alive. He’s in the castle, in his animagus form. I do believe he has been near Harry, and Neville, a lot these past couple of years, from what I’ve been able to gather from the news articles I have been able to get my hands on.”
“Do you have any proof of any of this?” Severus asked.
“I know where Peter is, you, or someone else, could find him and get him out of his rat form. You’ve seen my animagus form, you’ve seen James’ too, he saved you from… Remus. We became animagi to keep him company. Dumbledore knew I wasn’t their secret keeper. There isn’t a dark mark on my forearm. But I am assuming there is a faded one on his, like there is on yours. There are… stains, from the miscarriage I had in my cell. Remus knew I was pregnant, he was the father, he didn’t want them. He was too scared that they would be a werewolf, too, even though it can’t be passed on like that according to all the research, and I wouldn’t have cared anyway so long as they were as healthy as possible, but, well…” Black shrugged. “I may come from a Dark family, but I’m not one of them. I’m not going to hurt you, or Harry, or Neville, or anyone. I just want people to know the truth. And perhaps a little freedom. I know I’ve hurt you far too many times in the past, and I am sorry for what I did to you. I know you probably won’t believe me for a while, though. I get it. I was beyond terrible. I just… I didn’t know who else to go to.”
He seemed genuinely sorry, perhaps even scared.
“Where is Peter?” Severus asked, not knowing what to do, but he did somewhat lower his wand, still keeping it at the ready, though.
“He is Ronald Weasley’s pet rat. I believe he belonged to Percy Weasley before him,” Black said, looking at him with tired eyes.
Severus’ breath stuttered at the thought of the man being in that close proximity to young boys. He was an adult, sleeping in the same room as children, disguised as a rat. If what Black had said was to be believed anyway. Though he found it highly likely that Dumbledore would send a man he knew was innocent of those specific crimes to Azkaban. Especially if said man could go against his plan. Which Black could have as Harry’s godfather, and therefore next legal guardian.
“Okay. I am going to get Neville here, to get him away from… Peter. And I am going to call for my partner, and the goblins to help us. You will have to tell them everything you know. They will probably give you some kind of truth serum. And if what you say is true then one of my goblin friends is a healer, and she will probably want to dote on you as much as she dotes on me. You are far too skinny after all,” Severus said, his voice as soft as he could make it. “Be warned, though, that the second I tell them you are here, they might be quite harsh with their detainment of you.”
“Understood,” Black said with a nod, still standing with his hands up in the air, though his legs were shaking with the strain of it.
“Sit down, Black.”
“Why?”
“Because you look like you are going to collapse at any moment, and I don’t want to have to pick you up off my floor,” Severus said, taking a chance and turning his back on the man, wand still in reach, to pour him a glass of water and get him a packet of crackers, which he took over to Black with only a little hesitation in his steps.
“Why are you being nice to me?” Black asked, looking up at Severus in shock even as he accepted the water and food.
“Because despite everything… I believe you. I did think it odd at the time that you would betray James like that. Perhaps also because I think you have been punished enough if you haven’t, in fact, committed the crimes you were in prison for. And I’m sorry that… I’m sorry that you lost your baby, especially in Azkaban,” he saw Black was struggling so he turned back to the kitchenette, calling for Missy, who appeared in an instant, looking rather terrified at the sight of Black.
“Master Snape sir, Sirius Black is in your rooms,” she said, her lips quivering.
“I know, Missy, but it’s okay, he’s not going to hurt me. I need you to go and get Neville for me, and bring him directly to his room, can you do that? And if you are able to, can you stun and apprehend Ronald Weasley’s pet rat, and bring him here? Make sure he won’t be able to get away, no matter what,” Severus said, his voice soft.
“Yes sirs,” she said with a nod.
“Thank you,” Severus replied before she disappeared.
He turned back to Black, who was nibbling on one of his crackers. “I am going to talk to my son, then I am going to call my partner and the goblins. You had best still be here when I come back. I shan’t be long.”
“I’ll still be here,” Black said with a nod.
Severus nodded and went into Neville’s room, closing the door behind him as Missy popped a concerned looking Neville into the room.
“Mum, are you okay?” Neville asked, worried.
“I’m fine,” he wasn’t but he was physically and that was all that mattered. “I need you to stay in this room, okay. Don’t come out until Kingsley or I come and get you. But I need to know… I need to know if, over these last couple of years in your dorm room, anything strange has happened. Anything that you have experienced, anything that you have heard about from any of your dorm mates, anything.”
“What kind of strange?”
“Anything. Thing’s disappearing, or appearing out of nowhere. Any of you having… strange feelings. Feeling things that you shouldn’t be feeling. Any out of place, intrusive, touches. Have any of you woken up to find bruises or anything on your person that you can’t explain? Or any pains anywhere on your body that you couldn’t explain? Whatever you can think of, I need to know if anything bad has happened to any of you,” Severus said, concern growing within him that he couldn’t push down.
“I mean, sometimes if we leave chocolate or sweets out somewhere between classes we will come back and find some of it gone. Sometimes socks or things will be missing, too. I… mum, what is going on? Are you okay?” Neville said, concerned himself.
“I am fine, Neville. I promise. I just need to know if you and the boys in your room are, too. And I can’t tell you what’s going on yet, but know that… know that everything is going to be okay. So, anything else?” Severus asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, I suppose sometimes we might wake up with some scratches or bruises, but nothing major. And we just assumed that we had done it to ourselves, in our sleep, you know? I don’t… I don’t know,” Neville said.
“Okay. Okay, thank you. Stay in here, okay. I need to go speak to the goblins, and Kingsley, but I will be back. I promise,” Severus said, hoping desperately that those scratches and bruises were in fact just little things that they had done to themselves in their sleep, and not the alternative, which was a grown man doing those things to them. Or anything else.
“Mum,” Neville said, alarmed, eyes wide and perhaps even a tad scared.
Severus stepped towards him and pulled him close, wrapping his arms around his son and kissing the top of his head.
“It’s going to be okay, I promise. There are just some things that need sorting right now. I’ll be back,” Severus said, relaxing a little as his son’s arms wrapped around him, too. He kissed the top of Neville’s head again and said a quick, “I love you.”
Then he left the room, closing the door behind him. He found Missy there, holding a stunning and chained rat in her hands. Black was still there too. Severus took the rat from Missy with tentative hands.
“Could you stay and keep an eye on Neville for me, please? Make sure he’s okay,” he asked her.
“Of course, sirs,” she said with a nod.
“Thank you.”
He went to where he kept the mirrors and set them up, waiting for Kingsley and Ragnok to answer as he sat at the kitchen table, the rat on the other end of it, and Black sitting in his chair, quietly sipping on his water, looking frailer than he had ever imagined seeing him.
“Sev, are you okay?” Kingsley asked worriedly, and he looked back at the mirrors to find his partner and Ragnok there, looking at him with concern.
“Mhm, peachy. I need you, Kingsley, and some goblins to come to my quarters as soon as possible so that we can take one Mr Black to Gringotts for questioning,” he said as calmly as possible. “Also, if we could refrain from injuring him, that would be great. I do believe he is innocent, and he has a lot of answers we need, for the Dumbledore situation and such,” he added quickly, not wanting either of them to just charge in wands first.
“Sirius Black is there with you,” Kingsley said, anger in his eyes.
“Yes, but he’s innocent, and he hasn’t hurt me,” Severus said.
Kingsley disappeared, only to step through the floo a moment later, wand pointed at Black instantly.
“Kingsley, don’t hurt him,” Severus said, still sitting at the table and honestly wanting the day to be over by that point.
“Sev, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Kingsley said, looking at Severus with concerned eyes, and still pointing his wand at Black.
“I just told you he hasn’t hurt me. I’m fine.”
Ragnok stepped through the floo next, cuffs in his hands, which were placed on Black’s wrists so quickly that Black almost dropped his glass.
“Why is there a rat on the table?” Kingsley asked, his wand now not focused on Black, as he turned and began to move towards Severus.
“Black believes that the rat is Peter Pettigrew, who is also apparently the one who was the Potter’s secret keeper, and is, therefore, the one who sold them out to the Dark Lord,” Severus said, standing up wearily.
“And you believe him?” Ragnok asked, picking up the rat and shoving him in a pocket.
Severus nodded.
“Are you okay, Sev?” Kingsley asked, linking his fingers with Severus’.
“Mhm, I’m just tired,” Severus said.
“Okay, why don’t you go and rest whilst we get our answers?”
“No, I’m fine. Neville’s in his room and I said he could only come out if you or I came to get him. I need to make sure that you lot don’t get too harsh with your interrogation of Black. He’s been through enough as is. I-”
“You need to rest. Whether it’s here, or at the Bank. We won’t hurt Black unless he gives us reason to. But please, Severus, rest. You’ve done enough. We’ll let you know how things go when you wake up. We’ll come back and get Neville so that he can rest with you if you want to go to the Bank. You need to put your own health first for once,” Ragnok said, looking at Severus with piercing eyes.
“I agree with Mr Bank Man,” Black said with a grin. “Being pregnant takes up a lot of energy, and you have already attacked me tonight. Your people can deal with me whilst you rest up.”
“You attacked him?” Kingsley said with a grin.
“Well yes. One second he was a dog and the next he was him. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t know he was innocent at the time,” Severus said, beginning to feel light headed as he stumbled a little into Kingsley.
“Right, I am taking you to your room in the Bank and having Healer Greyclaw look over you. Then I am going to come and get Neville so he can rest with you. Then I am going to help the goblins with the interrogation. I promise, we’ll be gentle with him,” Kingsley said softly, looping his arm around Severus’ waist and still keeping a hold of his hand. “Ragnok, you go ahead with Black. I’ll join you when Sev and Neville are settled.”
Ragnok nodded and left with Black through the floo.
Kingsley started walking them to the fireplace, and Severus leaned into him, hating himself for being weak, but he was also far too tired to care about that.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Kingsley said, gripping Severus’ waist just a little more securely.
“Yes, I think,” Severus whispered before they stepped into the floo.
Severus vomited as soon as they stepped out of it, moving out of Kingsley’s arms just enough to bend over and thankfully not get any of it on his robes or shoes, only the tile floor of King Ragnok’s office. Kingsley rubbing his back in gentle circles.
Of course Healer Greyclaw was already there and rushed over to them, fretting over Severus with concerned eyes. “Right, you need to rest. You have exerted yourself too much, Sev,” she said, tutting a little as she cleaned up the sick with a click of her fingers and gave him a relieving potion, which he downed in an instant. “Kingsley, go and get Neville, then meet us at Sev’s room.”
“I… Will you be okay, Sev?” Kingsley said, worried as he continued to rub Severus’ back.
“I’m fine. I promise. I’ll see you soon,” Severus said quietly, squeezing Kingsley’s hand.
“Okay,” Kingsley said, kissing Severus’ cheek and leaving back through the floo, though not before making sure Healer Greyclaw had a secure hold on Severus’ waist, helping him as he felt weaker than he would like to admit to anyone.
“So that you don’t have to walk too far, I have an emergency portkey that is perfectly safe to use during pregnancy for you. I created it myself specifically. And when you go back to that blasted castle, you can take it with you. Just in case,” she said, holding it out so that he could grab hold of it, too.
He did so, and soon they were, more smoothly than he ever had with a wizard made portkey, landing in the room designated to him, and he was collapsing onto the bed gratefully as his healer friend transfigured his clothes into something a lot more comfortable, then ran her wand over him, just to double check that he and Harry were okay. Though he was almost certain they were. His magic felt fine and so did Harry’s.
“I’m fine, mummy,” Harry said within him, and he smiled a little as his hand found its way to his stomach.
“You really need to slow down a bit, Sev. You are doing far too much,” she said.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice a tad hoarse from throwing up.
“Yes, you and the little one are fine. You are just magically drained, and physically exhausted. Hence why you need to slow down. I know that it’s hard when in that place, but just… make sure you are getting plenty of rest, please. Sit down in classes, spend as much time away from the bad people as possible, and do less. I don’t care if Albus Dumbledore demands you do something extra now, it is written into the charter that pregnant members of staff should not be made to carry out extra responsibilities, unless they are okay to do so, have no risk of complications, and have been okayed to do so by their healer; for the sake of the mother and child. If he gets fussy with you, I will march in there and demand he use whatever brain he has to keep you and Harry safe. Or, I will simply just take you away from the school and keep you here until after you have safely recovered from the birth,” she said, her voice both strict and soft.
“Yes, well, I’ve already dropped one extra responsibility. I am fine with making potions for the other members of staff. I just… it’s been a long day. Didn’t help that I attacked Black when I first saw him in his regular human form,” Severus said with a tired shrug.
“Well, you can rest now, and I’m not letting you go back to that place until I feel like you are adequately rested,” she said firmly.
“So, never then?” he said with a grin.
“Probably,” she said with a nod, also smiling at him.
The door opened to reveal Kingsley and Neville, both of whom looked far too concerned for his liking.
“I’m fine,” he said, watching Healer Greyclaw place the portkey, which was just a small, empty envelope, on the bedside table.
“He’s fine. He just needs plenty of rest,” she agreed with him as Neville climbed into bed next to him, and held onto his hand.
Severus smiled at his son, squeezing the hand in reassurance. Kingsley kissed his lips softly, still looking worried, but relieved also that he had confirmation that Severus was, in fact, fine.
“You get some rest. I will fill you in on the situation when you are ready,” Kingsley said softly, kissing Severus’ cheek. “I love you,” he whispered in Severus’ ear, sending pleasant flutters and tingles through his body.
“I love you, too,” Severus whispered back, his stomach fluttering all the more at the delighted look in those dark twinkling eyes.
Kingsley kissed him once more before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.
“I’ll leave you two to your sleep. If you need anything, do let me know,” Healer Greyclaw said before she also left the room.
“Are you sure you’re okay, mum?” Neville asked again, clearly rather tired himself.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I promise,” Severus said, turning on his side to face his son, a smile tugging up the corners of his lips.
“Okay, goodnight. Love you,” Neville said, eyes beginning to flutter closed.
“Goodnight. I love you, too,” Severus replied quietly.
“I love you, mummy. I hope you are okay,” Harry said softly within him.
“I love you, too, Harry. I hope you are okay, too,” Severus replied, his free hand going to his belly and rubbing it gently.
It wasn’t long before he fell asleep, too. Hoping that soon they would have more answers. And perhaps even some more evidence against the Headmaster.