➣ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝟖 “𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠”
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“Can I know why you’re reading about Obliviating Charms so diligently?” asked Cedric, looking down from his study book.
Nicolás shrugged with his head resting on Cedric’s lap. “You never know if someone will hear something they shouldn’t,” he said, not taking his eyes from the pages.
They had decided to move one of the long couches from their common room nearer to the small fireplace, being rewarded with soft heat.
“Don’t you think you're overdoing yourself? Wearing yourself out a bit too much?” Cedric said in a soft and worried voice, threading his calloused but still gentle fingers on Nicolás’ black hair.
Nicolás closed his eyes with a content sigh, basking in the contact, before opening them, looking up at Cedric, right into his favorite honey pools.
“I don’t—”
“You’ll be sitting twelve O.W.L.s; you take more classes than anyone else; you take time off your weekends to tutor Neville, Harry, even Hermione, and let’s not even talk about all your family drama,” replied Cedric.
"There's no such thing as drama in my family, Ced," Nicolás corrected him, earning a raised eyebrow.
"So you and Caelum being fidgety and jumpy has nothing to do with the winter break?" and Nicolás was left speechless. "I know something happened and that there's a reason you've decided not to tell me, but that doesn't mean I'm oblivious to you or anything related to you,"
And it wasn't like Nicolás wanted to tell him how he and Caelum almost died in a fool's errand, trying to play the freaking heroes after arguing they shouldn't. And least of all was he going to tell Cedric about Regulus.
“I worry, you know,” Cedric finished, tracing the contour of Nicolás chin with the back of his fingers, and softly gracing his thumb over his cheek.
Blushing, Nicolás pressed his face against Cedric’s hardened belly, grumbling something incoherent against the boy’s shirt. Cedric barked a laugh, closing his own book, before moving to tickle Nicolás’ side.
Nicolás was forced to wriggle like a worm because damned be his sensitivity to tickles. His cheeks hurt and he could barely breathe.
“What did you say?” Cedric asked, before another storm of tickles rained on Nicolás’ belly and sides.
“Stop! Stop! Have mercy on me!” Nicolás squealed in between laughs, slapping Cedric’s thighs. “Yourmyboyfriendsoiexpectedit.”
“What?!” Cedric laughed, before unleashing another round of tickles. “Say it! Say it again!”
“Okay! Okay! I yield!” and under Cedric’s overexcited eyes, Nicolás grumbled, “You’re my boyfriend, I expected you to worry about me,” he did his best to avoid Cedric’s eyes, as his face was stubbornly on fire.
With a wide Cheshire cat smile, Cedric leaned down, close enough to grasp Nicolás nose in between his lips, leaving a small kiss on its tip. “I love it when you say that,” he whispered.
“That you’re my boyfriend, boyfriend?” Nicolás said with a smirk.
In their closeness, Cedric had the perfect spot to grace the tip of his nose up and down the bridge of Nicolás’ nose.
“I have something to show you,” he whispered.
“Oh, yeah?” Nicolás whispered back. “Tell me more.”
“Hold a minute,” Cedric replied, untangling himself from Nicolás and standing up, before rushing up the stairs and toward their dorm.
Barely three minutes later — very suspiciously —, their other roommates walked down sending Nicolás smirks, and Cedric came down after them with a big satisfied smirk, walking towards Nicolás in silence.
“I believe you said you had something to show me, didn’t you?” Nicolás asked as Cedric pulled him by the hand towards their dorm.
Cedric turned to him with a wide grin, and if he looked closer, he could find a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I did say that, didn’t I?” he retorted, opening their door.
“And what was that with you—” he asked, but he stopped at the sight that awaited behind the door.
The dorms, by standard, had five beds, one for each student, but now, their room had only three normal beds and another one, a queen-sized one. Cedric had stuck the two beds together and then transfigured them so they could be only one.
“Oh, well, but look at that,” Nicolás whistled.
He felt a known warmth pressing against his back, a rhythmical breathing against the back of his neck, and two strong arms wrapping around his waist, and resting over his belly.
“You really came and kicked out our dormmates to show me our new bed?” Nicolás asked, starting to walk towards the bed with Cedric still glued to his back.
“Oh, but they left most willingly,” said Cedric, so unapologetically attractive, while he mouthed on Nicolás’ neck.
“It would be a waste not to try it out, huh?” Nicolás asked, and as Cedric opened his mouth to answer, Nicolás pushed him down on the mattress.
And as he laid next to Cedric, in between the softness of the mattress, and the warmth from Cedric’s body, he finally understood the concept of snogging the living daylights out of someone. And the idea never sounded more appealing, nor more natural.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
“I’ll need to stay as far from that Boggart as I can, you know,” Nicolás said, looking at the large packing case resting on top of Professor Binns’ desk. "Don't need Harry having nightmares with that," he added with a small wince.
Sighing, Remus put a hand on the back of Nicolás’ neck, softly squeezing it. “I know, I just told you to come to help me get to him.”
“You’re an amazing teacher, Dad. I’m sure you could’ve done it on your own,” said Nicolás with a small smile, squeezing his father's shoulders.
“You have a special talent for making everything easier, Love,” said Remus when the door was opened and Harry entered.
“Uncle Remus,” Harry greeted with a smile, before noticing Nicolás’ presence. “Oh, hi, Nico.”
“Hello, Little One,” said Nicolás with a smile.
“You're here to help us?” asked Harry, tilting his head.
“I’m just here as moral support,” replied Nicolás, grinning and showing Harry both thumbs up.
Harry chuckled, “For me?”
Nicolás shrugged, looking from Harry to his father, “For whoever needs it. Now, let’s begin.”
Remus nodded. “So... The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm,” he said, taking out his wand, Harry did the same.
“How does it work?” said Harry nervously.
“Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus,” said Lupin, “which is a kind of anti-dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor.”
“The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive, you name it — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it,” added Nicolás, earning an appreciative nod from his father.
“But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it,” added Remus.
“Nicolás can do it,” Harry pointed out.
“Well, Nicolás' always been an exceptional case,” said Remus proudly.
“And I've been doing magic since I was nine, Little One, don't pressure yourself, okay?” added Nicolás quickly, and Harry nodded.
“What does a Patronus look like?” said Harry curiously.
“Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.”
“And how do you conjure it?”
“With an incantation, of course, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory. The incantation is this—” Remus cleared his throat. “Expecto Patronum!”
“Expecto Patronum,” Harry repeated under his breath, “Expecto Patronum.”
“Louder, Little One, accustom yourself to saying it, with confidence,” instructed Nicolás from the back.
“Oh — right—” said Harry, quickly forcing his eyes shut again, concentrating on his memory. “Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum —”
Then, a small wisp of silvery gas came out of the tip of Harry’s wand.
“Did you see that?” said Harry excitedly. “Something happened!”
“Amazing!” Nicolas said from behind him. "Good job!"
“Very good, indeed,” said Remus, smiling. “Right, then — ready to try it on a Dementor?”
With Harry’s affirmation, Remus went to open the box. Nicolás hid behind a desk, as to not get caught in the Dementor’s presence. The last thing he needed was for the boggart to take again the shape of his dead parents and scare the shit out of Harry.
But no matter how much Harry recited the incantation, nothing came from his wand, and the Boggart, in the shape of a Dementor, went for him, and Harry collapsed. His father made quick work of it, putting it back in the box as Nicolás helped Harry to a sitting position.
“Here—” Remus handed him a Chocolate Frog. “Eat this before we try again. I didn’t expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had.”
“It’s getting worse,” Harry muttered, biting off the Frog’s head. “I could hear her louder that time — and him — Voldemort —”
Nicolás saw his father paler than usual. Harry argued to try again, in case the dementor showed up again in the upcoming match. And so, they tried again, with the same result. Harry recited the incantation, and nothing happened, ending with him on the floor and Remus forcing the boggart back into its box.
“Harry! Harry... Little One, wake up...”
Harry leaned back against the warmth of Nicolás' chest, breathing heavily.
“I heard my dad,” Harry mumbled. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it...”
Harry tried to hide how the tears streaming down his face mixed with the sweat on his face, but Nicolás saw it, using his own robes to help him dry his face.
“Harry — perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced... I shouldn’t have suggested putting you through this...”
“No!” said Harry. He got up again. “I’ll have one more go! I’m not thinking of happy enough things, that’s what it is... Hang on...”
“Perhaps what you need is a change in your approach,” said Nicolás. “I believe it to be very hard to search for a specific memory with that much happiness, especially for someone who’s suffered what you have, Little One. I would suggest you to, instead, think about a person, or perhaps a place, one that maybe has many happy sensations attached to it.”
Harry looked at him with glassy eyes, before a determined hardness came to them, he smiled, and nodding he got ready for the final round.
And after that, the room was filled with Harry’s hardened voice, and the incantation, “EXPECTO PATRONUM!” as the Boggart, back to its Dementor illusion, came at Harry.
He yelled with conviction until, from the tip of his wand, came a huge, silver shadow. It hovered between him and the Dementor and was able to stop it for large moments before Remus took the lead and with a “Riddikulus!” the Dementor, as well as Harry’s noncorporeal Patronus vanished.
“Excellent!” Remus said, striding over to where Harry sat.
“That was brilliant, Little One!” Nicolás exclaimed, with a huge smile.
“Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!” added Remus, a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.
After that, Harry asked for another round, with both Nicolás and Remus refusing entirely, surprisingly, Harry budged. After making sure Harry reached the portrait entrance of his common room, after giving him another chocolate and a hug, Nicolás walked down the basement towards his own common room, where his warm bed waited for him with Cedric.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
The rain lasted for the entirety of the month leading up to the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw match, but much to Harry’s constant annoyance, all he could cast was a wisp of silver mist that stopped the Dementor. He was too hellbent on the result and that was hindering his thought process, his desperation wasn't allowing him to connect with the happiness necessary for the Patronus Charm.
On another part, Hermione had spent hours desperate trailing behind Nicolás, asking question after question, book recommendation after recommendation, and especially Nicolás’ beta reading of some of her essays, as well as the lending of Nicolás’ past works.
Nicolás still didn’t understand how the hell the girl was taking all of her core subjects, as well as all the elective courses. He couldn’t be sure, but something told him that the golden thread around her necklace was the answer. It was obvious to him that it was a Time-Turner.
Ron and Harry had already told him about how Hermione never missed a class, not even when two of them happened at the same time.
Nicolás was also taking extra classes with his electives, but that was because of an arrangement he made with the headmaster. He took some classes on the weekends, but, as he already had most of the necessary knowledge, he could simply sit most of the tests and hand over the assignments by assisting to at least half of the classes of each course.
Of course, everything took a turn for the worst when Crookshanks, Hermione’s half-Kneazle cat, attacked Scabbers, also known as Peter Pettigrew, the ugly treacherous rat. According to Ron, the cat ate his rat, but Nicolás wasn’t so sure. What sucked, was that the cat probably scared the rat so much, it ran out of the castle, hence, out of the Marauder’s Map reach.
By the time the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw match came, the weather was so much nicer than the last Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff. And somehow, the Ravenclaw team was much sloppier than they had been with Hufflepuff, and in general, it didn’t look very good for them.
Dorian, who was sitting next to him with Draco, had warned Nicolás that some of the Slytherin team would play a tasteless prank on the match, just so he wouldn’t worry.
The match started as normal, with Lee Jordan at the mic, this time speaking like a paid advertiser for Harry and Caelum’s Firebolts, with Professor McGonagall trying to stop him to no avail.
The Ravenclaw Seeker, Zhang Mei, didn’t seem to trust much in her own capabilities, and instead of searching for the Snitch, she decided to stick to Harry, watching his every move. Harry, however, played a good distraction for her, before finding the Snitch himself.
Then, in front of them, appeared what seemed to be four Dementors, of course, the fake ones, as not a single cold feeling passed in the entire pitch. Still, Harry managed to cast his non-corporeal Patronus at them, sending them flying, at the same time as he grabbed the Snitch.
Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Blaise Zabini, were the ones who dressed up like Dementors. They ended up losing their house fifty points and gaining detention for the remainder of the term.
Parallelly, Abu Pedro’s defense case and Nicolás’ mom’s taking over Buckbeak’s case as a whole were looking good. The only thing they needed to wait for was the final trial, but that was more of a formality, as the response was already decided.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
It’s been more than a month and a half, and the crystal still hasn’t changed. As he paced around it, he could see that it was still red, and Regulus’ body was still encased in its inside—not dead, but not exactly living.
Nicolás confirmed he was alive, but his mind was completely out of reach, which meant he was in some kind of state Pedro was unable to reach. Hence, the need for help.
It wasn’t easy to receive help from him, much less to have him visit, but if there was someone who would answer, it would be him. And Pedro felt him when he arrived, manifesting himself out of the shadows in the room.
“Please excuse the tardiness of my response, my friend,” he said, stepping out of the shadow of a corner.
“It is always my honor to be in your presence, Zipa Tisquesusa,” said Pedro, making a deep bow.
In front of him, Tisquesusa merely chuckled. He was a middle-aged man, with long black hair topped by a majestic gold crown. He was wearing a long white tunic, its sleeves, and collar adorned with embroidered runes unique to the Muiscas. He wore large earrings, and a necklace with a large charm, all in gold. In his right hand, he held a ceremonial spear, made of gold too.
Tisquesusa was the current Zipa of the ancient Llanthu tribe —descendants of the Muiscas. He was named after his direct ancestor, Tisquesusa, the last great Muisca Zipa before the Spanish conquest, who died back in the 16th century, when all the Colombian magical tribes went into hiding to avoid their extermination at the Spanish hands.
The Llanthu, the Shadowy Ones, are the only ancient tribe whose main bloodline still lived. The rest, like the Hampiq—from which the Cardona Family descends—, only survived in other bloodlines as indirect descendants.
“I had to settle some urgent matters down in the Capital, but I couldn’t resist coming and witnessing this by myself,” the Zipa said, “It’s not every day you find the body of someone supposed to be dead encased in a crystal, is it?”
“I’m glad to see you still carry your sense of humor, even after so many years,” said Pedro, walking up to him, and opening his arms.
“Well, one must appreciate the joys of life where one can find them,” said Tisquesusa, before returning the gesture, and embracing Pedro. “Where is your wife, by the way?”
“Ministry,” Pedro replied with a small groan, one mirrored by Tisquesusa. “Covering for me, as I’m most… preoccupied, as you can imagine.”
“Well, as the soon-to-be Colombian Minister for Magic, you should get acquainted with your duties, yes? You, Hampiq really refuse to let go of that flair for the dramatics"
Pedro groaned. “Don’t even remind me. The appointment is set to take place before the summer begins, the Minister is all too eager to sign himself out.”
With a lopsided smile, Tisquesusa walked around the crystal, observing it with sharp eyes. His eyes travel across, following what seemed to be some kind of liquid inside the crystal’s surface, a liquid nobody was able to determine.
“Do you feel it?” the Zipa asked. “The calling from it?”
“I’ve been trying to decipher what it is, but none of my knowledge of any kind of dark magic gives me clarity. You and your tribe are much more familiar with all these kinds of practices,” said Pedro, walking behind the Zipa.
“This seems to me like Blood Magic, do you see all his wounds?” said Tisquesusa.
"He was in a cave infested of Inferi," commented Pedro.
"Inferi? Why would anyone have a cave filled with those vile things?"
Pedro merely shrugged. "Voldemort will be an eternal mystery for me, my friend, but he was hiding something in there, a Horcrux this young man retrieved," he gestured to Regulus' body.
"Well, that was very brave of him, your grandsons too, some fearless young men they seem to be," said Tisquesusa.
"I would call it stupidly reckless," Pedro shook his head. “But that's not the point, you think he did this while dying?” he asked, gesturing to Regulus and the crystal encasing him.
“We’ll have to see,” he replied, before moving his palm across the edge of the spear’s head, cutting his palm. Flattening the cut over the crystal, he started to mumble words in ancient Muisca as his own blood wetted the crystal's surface.
The crystal seemed to respond, with all the liquid in its inside—which Pedro now assumed to be blood—, coming to the spot where the Zipa’s hand and the crystal made contact, but after a few seconds, nothing changed.
“Mhm, of course it wouldn’t be that easy,” said Tisquesusa, before turning to face Pedro. “It is Blood Magic, but not a simple one. I highly doubt this boy had the chance to make any ritual or spell under the water. This seemed to be compulsive magic,” he finally concluded.
“Compulsive magic?” Pedro asked, aghast. “Like… like binding magic?”
“Yes, whether a magical contract, an Unbreakable Vow, a Blood Pact, or whatsoever, I couldn’t be sure.”
“So, he made some kind of contract that prevented him from dying?” asked Pedro, looking a bit lost.
“No, Pedro. He had something to fulfill, the terms of his contract or vow, or whatever, and he hadn’t — at least not until the day he was supposed to die. Not having honored his vow yet, I assume his magic reacted on its own,” the Zipa explained. “His magic probably used the blood from all of his injuries on its own, and created this crystal to protect him, it’s like some type of cryonics or something.”
“But he’s alive inside there,” Pedro said. Tisquesusa nodded. “How do we get him out of there?”
“There’s binding magic mixed with Blood Magic; it won’t be easy. And not just that, his magical core is very weakened, almost extinguished from sustaining this thing for so long,” he gestured to the crystal.
“What do you think we could do, then?”
“The only thing that comes to my mind is a breakout ritual, but we would need someone who is blood-related to him.”
“There’s two,” Pedro said cautiously. “His older brother, and the son of said brother, his nephew.”
“Good, it’ll be a hard procedure. We’ll need to use one of them to channel whatever is binding this boy, and the other will help with restoring his magical core. I must warn you, Pedro, whoever they are, they better be ready, because this will let their magical cores drained, for days, if not weeks they might not be able to perform any magic.”
“But they’ll all recover, right?” Pedro asked, feeling the anxiety creeping up his belly.
“Of course,” Tisquesusa dismissed. Pedro let out a long breath he wasn’t aware to be refraining. “But it’ll take time for them to recover… When do you think it could be done?”
“Until the next summer, one of them is at Hogwarts right now, and the other is on the run from the British Ministry,” Pedro said with a sigh, pinching his brow.
“Well, I sincerely hope you and your family get to Sirius Black before the Ministry and its Dementors do,” said Tisquesusa. Under Pedro’s wide eyes, the Zipa laughed. “My friend, the shadows listen — even from across continents — nothing can really be hidden from them.”
And with that, the man walked, with his regal posture, back to the shadow in the corner, simply nodding in Pedro’s direction. And in an instant, the goldenness of his attire vanished into the small darkness.
With a heavy sigh, Pedro walked out of the room, and back to his office. There were letters that needed to be written.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
Turns out, things with Uncle Sirius were never going to get any better, and in no way were they ever meant to be easy. Not if he decided to keep trying to get inside the Gryffindor common room.
Last time, he sliced the Fat Lady’s portrait for not letting him in, and now, last night, he decided it was smart to use the passwords, only God knows how he got, and get inside Ron’s bed to try and kill Scabbers, who’s been on the run for weeks now.
Let’s not even talk about poor Neville who got a Howler because apparently, it was his list of passwords that Sirius used to get inside the Gryffindor common room.
For the next days, the whole castle was constantly searched, obviously not finding Sirius. And Nicolás had to wait almost two weeks before deciding his next moves.
“Nico, would you tell me what’s so important in the forest? I’m supposed to be a Prefect! I'm supposed to not let you get into the Forbidden Forest, least of all come with you!”
Flicking his wand, Nicolás cast a Muffliato Charm around them as they strode across the forest, the tall dark trees surrounding them. On his other hand, he held a bag with notes he spent some hours researching in the library.
“In a few minutes, you’ll probably be very angry with me, I totally get it, just, please don’t make rushed decisions, yes?”
Caelum looked at his cousin confused. “What are you talking about? And what’s that in your hand?”
“Just you wait, they’ll arrive in a few seconds, stay behind, and let me talk first, yes?”
Caelum sighed, still confused, “Okay,” he agreed, slowing his steps until he stood still, and Nicolás walked into the small clearing.
Once in there, Nicolás saw Ember’s orange fur coming into view next to a night black one. Padfoot came with his head low, softly whining, while Ember grunted back at him, probably scolding him in his own way.
“What the hell is your problem?!” Nicolás growled at the dog, and Padfoot only whined, probably trying to apologize. “Transform back! Or I swear to God—”
And Padfoot did, leaving Sirius' body on display. The man’s shoulders were hanging low, and one hand was scratching the back of his head.
“Nico—”
“No, Sirius!” Nicolas yelled, and Sirius knew he was in fucking trouble if Nicolás didn’t call him Uncle Sirius, or Uncle Siri.
“Is not fair! I’ve been risking my neck for you for months! This is the second time! Have you stopped to think before doing these stupid things?! Of course, no! You could’ve given Ron a heart attack, what if you stabbed him?! I’ve been lying to Caelum for you!”
“Leave my son out of this!” Sirius pleaded, his eyes already glassy.
“No! He’s the reason I’m here, because this is over. I'm sick of this and you need to get your freaking priorities in order! And you will do that, right now!”
“What – what do you mean?” Sirius asked, before hearing the sound of dry leaves breaking under shoes. His head snapped in that direction, and he saw him.
He had seen him wonderfully flying back in the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match, but this was the first time he got such a close look at him. At his son. The one he was forced to leave behind when the boy was only three.
Caelum was almost as tall as him, with all the Black genes in his body and features screaming and mocking at Sirius. But perhaps the painful truth was that he looked so much like Reggie did back then, and that sent a harsh tug to his chest.
“Dad?” Caelum asked in a soft voice, taking in the first sight of his father in twelve years. Understanding the way his body looked so thin, and his hair looked so unkempt and ragged.
“Caelum,” Sirius breathed, taking a step in his direction, so enraptured in the sight of his son, that he most likely forgot about Nicolás’ existence.
And it only took a few strides, before Caelum was pressing his face into Sirius’ chest, and hugging him, holding on to the back of his father's shirt like his life depended on it.
“I’m so sorry,” Sirius’ broken voice said, as the man took deep inhales over Caelum’s head, trying to bathe himself in his son’s scent and relearn it. “I’m so sorry…” and the tears started to stream down his cheeks, but Caelum couldn’t care less for his hair getting wet, as he was making his father’s shirt wet as well.
“Why?” Caelum asked in a broken voice, without clarification.
“Nico said you were having nightmares… I… I assumed it was because of me. I’m so sorry.”
“No, it was—” Caelum cuts himself before finishing, aware that telling his father that he and Nicolás went on a suicide mission and found Regulus alive, inside of a crystal, was probably not very wise. “Doesn’t matter. You’re here now.”
“But he can’t stay for much longer,” Nicolás said sorrowfully, breaking the trance father and son were in. “But you guys need to talk, Ember and I will walk ahead, so, take advantage of the path and talk all you need to talk,” he added, starting ahead with the Wampus Cat by his side, leaving enough space for son and father to talk.
“I don’t — I don’t even know what to ask,” Caelum sighed.
“How’s your mom?” Sirius asked quietly.
“You mean your wife?” Caelum said pointedly. His father seemed to take a hard inhale.
“I don’t – I don’t think she’ll be pleased to be called that,” he said contrite, unable to look at his son in the eyes.
“Well, then you don’t know shit,” Caelum snapped at him.
“Caelum, I – I already tarnished the family name, don’t you get it? Your mother, your grandparents – they gave me everything I always dreamt of, and I – I wasted it, I ruin everything I touch, I think – I think it is best if you don’t even acknowledge me as your father,” Sirius said, doing his best to stop the sobs that threatened to come out in each word.
“Then you don’t know shit!” Caelum snapped at him, eyes glassy and hands shaking. Sirius looked at him wide-eyed. “You’re innocent! There must – there has to be something we can do for your case!”
“Nicolás didn’t tell you, did he?”
“Tell me what?” Caelum asked, out of breath.
“He’s here, Caelum. Peter Pettigrew is in Hogwarts,” Sirius said.
“What?!” Caelum bellowed, his eyes drifted to Nicolás, looking at his cousin's regretful eyes with anger and betrayal. "How dare you?!" it didn't matter how noble Nicolás' intentions were—because they bloody always were—, he had no right to keep anything related to his father from him.
“Please, don’t — don’t get mad at Nico. He only did what I begged him to do,” Sirius tried to mediate. “Nicolás told me the rat escaped from the castle, there’s no use to it now, not with the Dementors anyway.”
Clenching his fists, Caelum knew his father was right. He forces his eyes away from Nicolás, looking back at his father in silence.
They walked in silence for the next minutes. Not knowing what the next topic of conversation should be. It’s not like they could simply speak of the weather or about Sirius’ last food, considering Caelum wasn’t even sure if his father was eating at all.
Soon enough, they reached the Whomping Willow, and with a flick of his wand, Nicolás pressed a small wood against its knot, making it come to a halt. After checking that no Dementor was hovering over them, they went down the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack.
“Do you… do you still love us?” Caelum asked in a very small, brittle voice, and even in the quietness of the tunnel, it reverberated, just like Nicolás felt his heart lump.
Sirius came to a hard halt, looking hopeless, helpless, and torn; less than a shadow of the man who used to create living room mini-concerts for their entertainment when they were but babies.
“What do you think is the only reason I haven’t gone completely mad in there?” he asked, his voice breaking in every word. “You are the only reason I haven’t lost complete sense of myself, Caelum, the only reason that gave me enough strength to escape Azkaban, to come here, to still be here.”
Nodding, with the world blurry in the wetness of his eyes, Caelum embraced his father once more.
“Do you – you and your mother – still love me?” Sirius asked in a whisper. Caelum nodded against his chest.
“There hasn’t been a single moment in which Mom considered moving on. There no – there’s no moving on from you, Dad.”
But their conversation was cut off once they entered the dust-covered inside of the shack. There were several empty plates and cups around, along with some clothes.
Caelum looked at Nicolás, before asking, “Did you…?”
“You didn’t think I would let my uncle starve to death or go around eating rats, did you?” Nicolas asked with a smirk. Caelum smirked back, nodding.
Nicolás looked at the two of them with sadness, but he knew their conversation needed to come to an end, at least for today.
“I don’t want to cut your conversation, but we don’t have all day,” he looked at Sirius. “Grab everything you need.”
Confused, Sirius obeyed, grabbing some newspapers and clothing, and putting them in a bag, before coming back to Nicolás. “What will happen now?”
“You can’t stay on these grounds for the time being,” Nicolás replied.
“Where am I supposed to go now?”
“Home, you'll be home today,” Nicolás said, before looking back at Caelum. “I’ll be back soon, wait for me.”
Sirius looked at his nephew for a second, “What do you mean home? Nico, I can´t—” but before he could finish, Nicolás grabbed his arm, and with a popping sound, he Apparated them away.
After another pop, they appeared in a completely different setting. It was a large portion of green area, next to the start of the forest.
“You were here before heading to Hogwarts,” Nicolás said.
Looking around, Sirius replied, “I couldn’t find the house,” he breathed.
“That’s because Dad and I redid all the security wards when we moved back last year,” Nicolás noted. And without saying anything else, he pointed his wand at Sirius’ head, muttering under his breath.
His uncle shivered for a moment, as the magic traveled down him, and when he looked back, Sirius’ breath caught up in his throat, and his eyes filled with tears. For the first time, in over a decade, he was seeing the Cardona Country House. The place where he not only married his wife, but also the place where his son and his nephew were born, the place that birthed the most precious memories of his existence.
“Welcome back,” Nicolás whispered, “I’m sorry Caelum is not here, but well, you’ll have time for that much later.”
And before Sirius could answer, Nicolás extended his arm, with the bag in his hand. Sirius looked confused.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Well, my plan is for you to go, knock on the door, and beg Aunt María not to kill you after your stunts in Hogwarts,” his nephew replied with a shrug.
After another hug, and leaving a kiss on his uncle’s forehead, Nicolás saw an overexcited Padfoot running across the front yard with a bag on his snout and barking at the door while scratching it.
Because of course, Uncle Sirius would pick Padfoot to give face and beg to his wife.
And with a smile on his lips, he Apparated back to the Shrieking Shack where Caelum waited for him.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
With quick steps, he approached the dark corridor in which Harry was with Snape, Nicolás quickly concealed the map, before hiding it inside his robes. Just around the corner, he got a small glimpse of their conversation.
“Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with a strange story, Potter. He tells me that he was up by the Shrieking Shack when he ran into Weasley — apparently alone.”
Harry said nothing, looking at Snape, impassive.
“Mr. Malfoy states that he was standing talking to Weasley, when a large amount of mud hit him in the back of the head. How do you think that could have happened?”
“I don’t know, Professor,” said Harry.
“Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. Can you imagine what it might have been, Potter?”
“No,” said Harry, now trying to sound innocently curious.
“It was your head, Potter. Floating in midair.” There was a long silence and Nicolás bit the inside of his cheek to prevent a chuckle from escaping him.
“Maybe he’d better go to Madam Pomfrey,” said Harry. “If he’s seeing things like—”
“What would your head have been doing in Hogsmeade, Potter?” said Snape softly. “Your head is not allowed in Hogsmeade. No part of your body has permission to be in Hogsmeade.”
As he approached them, Nicolás saw Snape with his wand casting a Lumos right in Harry’s face.
“I think it’d be better if you lowered your wand, Professor,” he said, making his presence known.
Snape looked at him with a sneer, before lowering his wand.
“Mr. Lupin, I think nobody invited you into this conversation,” he said slowly, almost threateningly.
“I know that,” said Harry, stopping Nicolás' response. “It sounds like Malfoy’s having hallucin—”
“Malfoy is not having hallucinations,” snarled Snape. “If your head was in Hogsmeade, so was the rest of you.”
“I’ve been up in Gryffindor Tower,” said Harry. “Like you told —”
“Harry, there’s no need to lie,” Nicolás cut him off, and Harry looked at him wide-eyed. “Harry spent the afternoon in my presence.”
Snape sent them a fake, mocking, and angry smile. “How surprising, Potter and his savior were conveniently together. Why didn’t I think of that?”
"Your methods of reasoning escape me," Nicolás muttered.
"Excuse me?" Snape's eyes narrowed.
“Harry was not only with me, but with Cedric Diggory too. We spent the afternoon in the kitchens,” Nicolás said. “You can ask Snickety, Quizzle, or Tumbletoe, they served us food.”
“You’re not allowed to go to the kitchens,” Snape growled.
Nicolás looked at him, immovable. “There’s no school rule that forbids us from going to the kitchens, I already had discussed the topic with Professor Sprout and Professor Dumbledore.”
Snape looked him deadly in the eye, before turning his back to them, in a forced move to swing his robes dramatically. The man did love his dramatics.
“Come,” he ordered, nobody in particular. Naturally, Nicolás walked behind Harry. With only one look, Nicolás told Harry very clearly how much he wanted to throttle him on the spot for his stupidity.
They walked into the dungeons, and right into Snape’s office.
“So,” the professor said, straightening up on his chair as Harry took a seat, Nicolás chose to stand behind Harry. “Everyone from the Minister of Magic downward has been trying to keep famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black. But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the ordinary people worry about his safety! Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought for the consequences.”
“I already told you—”
“Shut up, Lupin! I don’t believe you,” he sneered, before turning back to look at Harry with nothing but vicious rage in his eyes.
“How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter,” Snape said suddenly, his eyes glinting. “He too was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made him think he was a cut above the rest of us too. Strutting around the place with his friends and admirers... The resemblance between you is uncanny.”
“My dad didn’t strut,” said Harry. “And neither do I.”
Nicolás for his part had to choke the laugh that threatened with coming from his mouth. Uncle James most definitely did strut around Hogwarts.
“Your father didn’t set much store by rules either,” Snape went on, pressing his advantage, his thin face full of malice. “Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen —”
“SHUT UP!” both Nicolás and Harry yelled.
“What did you say to me, Potter?”
“I told you to shut up about my dad!” Harry yelled. “I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for my dad!”
Snape’s sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk.
“And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?” he whispered. “Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter’s delicate ears?”
Harry apparently didn't know, but Nicolás did. He still remembers the day his father told him about the prank, which was Uncle Sirius' fault and not Uncle James', about how he was so mad with Sirius that he didn't even look at him for months.
“I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter,” Snape said, a terrible grin twisting his face. “Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you — your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn’t got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts,” Snape said, before turning to Nicolás with the same smirk. “And let’s not even talk about the monster your—”
Gripping the wood of Harry's seat, Nicolás was fed up with Snape.
“Shut up, Snivellus!” Nicolás had had enough. “Drop your act, and stop pretending to be some kind of innocent victim! Why don’t you remind me who was the ganged-up Slytherin, molesting, pestering, and harassing all the muggle-born students in the lower years? Tell me! Who was the one parading around proud as a peacock for agreeing with a magical Nazi?!
All three of them were breathing heavily, and Nicolás doubted for a moment if Snape would take out his wand and hex him in the spot. Snape looked a second from jumping out of his skin in his rage. But instead, keeping his hardened, and furious eyes on Nicolás, he spoke.
“Turn out your pockets, Potter!” he spat suddenly. “Turn out your pockets, or we go straight to the headmaster! Pull them out, Potter!”
Harry obeyed, putting Zonko products on Snape’s desk, but Nioclás breathing hitched when he took out the Marauder’s Map.
Harry then lied saying Ron gave him the products, before Snape’s attention fell on the map, or the parchment of it.
“Surely you don’t need such a very old piece of parchment?” he said. “Why don’t I just — throw this away?”
His hand moved toward the fire.
“No!” Harry and Nicolás said quickly.
“So!” said Snape, his long nostrils quivering. “Is this another treasured gift from Mr. Weasley? Or is it — something else? A letter, perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or — instructions to get into Hogsmeade without passing the dementors?”
Neither of them spoke, and Snape’s eyes gleamed.
“Let me see, let me see...,” he muttered, taking out his wand and smoothing the map out on his desk. “Reveal your secret!” he said, touching the wand to the parchment. “Show yourself!” Snape said, tapping the map sharply. It stayed blank. “Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!” Snape said, hitting the map with his wand.
As though an invisible hand was writing upon it, words appeared on the smooth surface of the map. “Read it!” Snape commanded, and for the first time, Nicolás was more than glad to obey.
“Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people’s business.”
Nicolás would die being a hardcore fan of his father’s sass and pettiness.
“Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.”
'You go, Uncle James,' Nicolás thought.
“Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor.”
Nicolás couldn’t help but agree with Uncle Sirius on that one.
“Mr. Wormtail bids, Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.”
Nicolás read one by one, each message with glee. But Snape clearly didn’t agree with that sentiment. With his face looking about to explode, he strode towards his fireplace, before throwing powder, and yelling, “Lupin! I want a word!”
Seconds later, Nicolás saw his father walk out of the fireplace. The moment he saw Nicolás, he couldn't help the exasperated sigh that came out, Nicolás only smiled sheepishly.
“You called, Severus?” said Lupin mildly.
“I certainly did,” said Snape, his face contorted with fury as he strode back to his desk. “I was having a chat with your son and Potter, I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this.”
Snape pointed at the parchment, on which the words of Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs were still shining. An odd, closed expression appeared on Remus' face, but he quickly masqueraded it.
“Well?” said Snape. “This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?”
Remus looked up and, only stopping for a second to send Nicolás a glance that quite clearly said 'you better don't screw me trying to save your ass'. Nicolás smirked back at his father.
“Full of Dark Magic?” Remus repeated mildly. “Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke shop—”
“Indeed?” said Snape. His jaw had gone rigid with anger. “You think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don’t think it more likely that he got it directly from the manufacturers?”
“You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?” he said. “Harry, Nico, do either of you know any of these men?”
“No,” said Harry quickly.
“Nope,” said Nicolás. “I wouldn't buy anything from a man who calls himself Prongs, Wormtail, or anything among those lines, anyway.”
“You see, Severus?” said Lupin, repressing the smirk from creeping up his lips, turning back to Snape. “It looks like a Zonko product to me —”
Right on cue, Ron came bursting into the office. He was completely out of breath, and stopped just short of Snape’s desk, clutching the stitch in his chest and trying to speak.
“I — gave — Harry — that — stuff,” he choked. “Bought — it... in Zonko’s... ages — ago...”
“Well!” said Remus, clapping his hands together and looking around cheerfully. “That seems to clear that up! Severus," and when Snape moved to grab the parchment, Remus snatched it away, "Nevertheless, I shall investigate for any hidden qualities this may possess, it is, after all, as you say, my area of expertise."
And with that and an excuse, Remus took them all to the hallway, finally deciding to confiscate the map and warning Harry and Nicolás to not cover up for them again.
⋆｡°✩°｡⋆
Author's note
sooo I was actually thinking of leaving you guys on the hook after last week's chapter, but I thought it would be so interesting to see you reacting to this one!! so, here it is!!!!
Now, on the side, for personal reasons, this story won't be updated for maybe weeks or months, so make sure to be subscribed to be notified when it happens!!! to clarify, the story will not go on hiatus because I'm not writing, it's just that I won't be able to update it! But rest assured, the remaining six chapters for part 3 are already finished!
As always, your comments, votes and follows are always appreciated!!!
Thank you for showing this story so much love!!
- 𝐣.𝐟. 𝐜. 🐼💜