"Again...it's...happening. Again", Snape stuttered before sinking to the floor. Remus looked in shock at the unmoving body, then quickly sprung to action. "Class dismissed!" He yelled as he crouched down, checked for Snape's pulse, and gently levitated his body towards the infirmary. Harry looked after them suspiciously. "What's happening again?"
"Oh no, Harry has gone into detective mode", Ron said with an eye-roll. Harry swirled around and wiggled an aggressive finger into Ron's face. "Something's up! And I will figure out what it is!"
"Sure, Harry, you go do that”, Hermione said mockingly before heading off to the library.
Day 734 of carrying this awful secret. It eats me up inside, claws at my insides like a locked up hippogriff. The words too heavy to put them out into this world. If never spoken, maybe my brain will let me rest. Maybe the images will faint. Can I keep it in long enough though?
Glad I made more paper. This batch turned out so pretty! Got to remember, recycled Yes Glitter! makes for much better quality than the quibbler.
xoxo padfoot
Remus leaned over the sleeping body in the infirmary. Snape looked peaceful for once, no signs of physical injuries. Actually, the man seemed in no bad shape at all, Remus noted in surprise. 'Hard to believe that this body once...', his mind wandered back to their school years when...
Rhythmic footsteps made Remus jolt back to reality as Dumbledore entered the room and joined him at the bedside.
"Poppy says you haven't left his side since you brought him in?", Dumbledore queried inquisitively. Remus just nodded, Severus' last words ringing in his ears again.
"Nothing we can do other than wait for Severus to wake up and explain," Dumbledore insisted. "Until then, how about some fresh air down by the lake to cool your head?"
Dumbledore rested his hand firmly on Remus' shoulder and steered him towards the door. With another concerned look back to the sleeping man, Remus followed.
Harry was pacing through the common room, questions racing through his head, when a sudden crash from the window stopped him in his tracks. Hedwig had fullbody-slammed into the glass and was helplessly flailing her wings. He rushed to pick her up only to find her feathers poking out to all sides and scratches covering her claws. With one claw she was weakly holding on to a ripped piece of parchment. Harry carefully put her down, gave her a gentle pat, and eagerly went to decipher the letter:
This letter just created more questions than answers. What did Remus and Snape do? Why was Sirius waiting for his mom? Was Sirius just telling him about a nightmare he's recently had? Not how Harry had imagined his first clue. Everyone was a suspect at this point, he needed more evidence. And the best place to start, Harry decided, was the forest. What kind of detective would he be if he hadn't even looked at the scene of the crime? Ripped letter in his pocket, he made his way down to the grounds.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Padfoot was racing towards Hogwarts, his paws heavily hitting the ground. Why did he send that stupid letter! Poor Harry didn’t need to be dragged into this. Sirius didn’t want to be the cause of even more trauma in Harry's life. He should have never let this secret escape his mind. Fuck!
Remus had to at least agree on one thing with Dumbledore, fresh air did calm the nerves. He stood alone by the lake, looking out towards the water. A soft, calming melody washed over him with the early autumn breeze and he swayed gently back and forth watching little ripples of water hit the shore. It looked so inviting. The melody had spread out and now engulfed his whole body, vibrating, hugging him, pulling him in. He knew who was waiting for him in there. And he wanted nothing more than to join him. With zero hesitation, Remus stripped down and walked towards the water, when a big black mass was suddenly all he saw before his back roughly hit the muddy ground. The music withdrew from under his skin, making Remus feel more naked than he already was. On top of him laid a shaggy dog he knew all too well.
"Padfoot!" He yelled, trying to look around if any on-lookers might have gathered. "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be hiding!" He whispered angrily at the dog.
"Preventing you from making the biggest mistake of your life", Sirius growled mid-transformation, clearly not caring about getting discovered. "And kicking your ass!" Back in human form, Sirius continued pinning Remus to the ground. "What the fuck are you doing?!"
Remus quietly avoided Sirius' eyes.
"Wasn't it bad enough that I had to see you skinny-dipping with that slimy git? Now you want to go back in there and reminisce with the...the...whyy...Moony", Sirius added now almost pleadingly.
"I don't know," Remus confessed hesitantly, still avoiding eye contact. "Marwood called for me. Something just pulled me to him."
"A spell. He put a spell on you!"
"No, it's more like when your mind suddenly just quiets down and....", Remus' words trailed off as his eyes dazed over in memory of the bliss he had felt just seconds ago.
"Moony!" Sirius barked, slapping Remus' cheek gently. "The squid fried your brain like delicious calamari. I won't let you go in there to become some fish incubator! Did you even consider the full moons? Is the werewolf just supposed to run through the forest pregnant with squid babies?"
Remus stared up into Sirius' face as the shaggy man drifted off into long-winded scenarios about weresquid creatures ruling land and sea. "Actually, I would just be a vessel", Remus interrupted with a chuckle. "And neither squids nor werewolves work like that..."
"Not the point!" Sirius insisted.
"Transforming with squids inside me really does sound awful though...", Remus conceded. "To be honest, I hadn't really thought at all when going into the lake. My brain does feel a little fried..."
Harry had heard enough. He hated eavesdropping on the two but when he had come out of the forest after a rather unsuccessful crime scene search and seen Padfoot pelting in full speed at the naked Professor, he knew he had to. He had snuck closer just in time to confirm some highly incriminating motives. Sirius was jealous. Of Snape of all people. And of the squid? But why would Remus carry the squid's babies? He desperately needed to talk this through with someone. But Hermione and Ron would just make more fun of him again.
Dumbledore! The only one who could help him connect the dots.
As he reached Dumbledore's office the headmaster was nowhere in sight. Harry entered as if it was his second home and walked up to Fawkes who was eyeing him carefully. Lying on the desk he noticed a piece of parchment that looked suspiciously like the other half of his letter. But before he could even grab it, Fawkes had jumped off the ledge onto Harry's forearm, pinning him down just inches out of reach of the letter.
"Let me go!" Harry yelled, but the bird only squinted at him. With his left hand Harry pulled his half of the letter out of his pocket, held it out of reach of Fawkes' beak and started to read, looking back and forth from one parchment to the other.
"Hello, Harry", a gentle voice said from behind and Harry's head shot back at Dumbledore standing in the doorway.
"Professor!" Harry yelled, suddenly freed from Fawkes' grip. "What does all this mean? Sirius can't have kidnapped Snape! He wouldn't!"
Dumbledore remained silent, delicately picking lakegrass from his beard.
"First, I thought Sirius was jealous of Snape, but what if the squid wanted Snape back?" Harry's words tumbled out of him faster than he could keep up himself. "Sirius mentioned a squid baby. But Professor, where do squid babies come from?" Before Dumbledore could even consider an answer, Harry had jumped up. "Wait a minute. How did you get the second half of a letter addressed to me? And sent with my owl?...My owl!" Harry exclaimed, circling back around to Fawkes. "What did you do to Hedwig?!" He yelled, pointing an angry finger at the bird who just yawned in return.
"Excuse Fawkes, Harry. He only tried to help", Dumbledore said nonchalantly. "I would have preferred you to not learn about your Professors'...adventures, as it puts me in a rather delicate situation", the old man said, looking tired. "Professors Snape and Lupin have helped me a great deal in the past. Severus more so than any other", he nodded to himself.
"It's happening again," Harry interrupted his headmaster. "That's what Snape had said. He once gave birth to the squid. And now Professor Lupin is being compelled to do the same... And you do not want people to know. Why?" Harry said sternly. He officially decided he hated detective work. His head hurt.
"Harry, your help is much appreciated, but Professor Snape has returned. Don't you think it is time you go back to focusing on your classes?" Dumbledore's formerly ice-blue eyes had turned into a dark inky blue.
"I don't. My godfather who should be in hiding is wrestling my naked professor to prevent him from giving birth to squids. My other professor who apparently has already given birth to squids had disappeared and then returned with ominous messages, and you seem to want to cover it all up", Harry eyed him suspiciously. Dumbledore started pacing, his hands held in tight fists at his side. The usually so calm professor was clearly struggling to hold back.
"And why do you think that is, Harry?", Dumbledore said through gritted teeth. "This was not supposed to happen yet!" He now almost shouted. "Squids are only reborn every 100 years! But Voldemort is back. And in a young and agile body no less! I can't face him like this." Harry stared at his old professor in confusion. What did Voldemort have to do with this?
"I need my energy back", Dumbledore monologued. "And who better to help me with that than a werewolf? I know he would just be a vessel, but maybe being part of that transformation in the womb would still transfer some of that raw wolf power over to me, turn me into a superweresquid. I just needed a reason for Lupin to come back here to get him to the lake. So I had to make Snape disappear for a while. But even tied up in the forest, he heard my music and had to come crawling back." Dumbledore rolled his eyes in annoyance. Harry's head was spinning.
“A…superweresquid?”
"Not caught on yet, Boy detective?" Dumbledore said sarcastically. "Let me spell it out for you. I am the giant squid. Every 100 years, I pick a vessel to rebirth my squidself, infused with fresh energy by the vessel's potentials, I leave behind my former body to nourish a new and improved me. DIGS forever. But thanks to Tom's early return as this hunk of a man, I now have to speed this up. Better and bigger."
Harry stared in disbelief. "…Snape's your dad...?"