Rewrite the past

Chapter 28

The nearly 3 months of summer holidays were just about over for Hermione and Severus with only a week left. Lily had occasionally visited, the last time right before she had gone on holiday with her family. Other than that, Hermione and Severus had read much in Minerva's library and played outside. 

This day was not different from that - they were in the backyard just lying on the soft green grass, their noses pointing towards the sky, their eyes closed and the sun beating down on them. Right as Hermione was about to doze off, a voice rang out from inside the big house they had all lived in that summer.

"Severus, Hermione - there is a visitor here for you!"

Both of the children sat up and looked at each other quizzically. Neither of them knew who the mysterious visitor was, and so they quickly got up and went inside to see for themselves. 

There, in the entrance hall, stood their fellow Ravenclaw - Remus Lupin, who smiled sheepishly at his friends as his father put his hand on his son's shoulder. 

"Remus! What are you doing here?", asked Hermione overjoyed. 

Her friend didn't respond, but just smiled at her as she embraced him. 

"We thought that maybe you young lot might want to catch up a bit before school starts again," laughed Lyall Lupin. 

His appearance resembled much that of Remus as a grown-up, bar for the many wounds and scars Remus would later on carry. He seemed to be about thirty years old, with a worried face and too many wrinkles for his age - he seemed to have had just as much of a troubled life as his son would have. Hermione would attribute his older appearance to the troubles he must have had after his son was bitten. Remus had after all told her that they had moved a lot when he was younger until they had found their current house, which was built in the middle of nowhere.  

"Hermione, Severus, why don't you show Remus to Sev's room. It should be spacious enough so that I can put another bed in for the time being," requested Minerva, while Severus's mother already guided Lyall into the kitchen. 

The children needn't be told twice - faster than someone could have said Quidditch Severus had picked up Remus' suitcase, and they were up the stairs. First, they put Remus'baggage into the room he would share with Severus for the next few days, until they would again live in the same dorm room. Only after that, Hermione led the boys into her room, which she had redecorated sometime around Easter, when she and Minerva had checked into their home. The formerly purple and violet room was now a bit less vibrant with its walls painted in very light blue and mint green hues. Similar to her own dorm room, she had also put magically enchanted stars on the ceiling.  

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Meanwhile, the three adults were sitting in the kitchen, drinking freshly made lemonade. All throughout the summer holidays, Severus'mother had done much of the cooking by hand instead of asking a house elf to do the work. After all, that was what she was used to after her many years of not being allowed to use magic in her own home. 

"Now, Lyall, you said you wanted to talk to me?" asked Minerva in a slightly concerned tone. 

"Well, yes. You see... I have been struggling with trying to come up with a way to bring this matter up without being too blunt. So far I have yet to find one, and so I will be pretty straightforward. My son - he has a very rare condition and I believe that there must be someone at the school who knows about this," said Lyall, obviously unsure of how to phrase his concerns. 

"If this is about his lycanthropy, then you can rest assured. We have already found out and took the necessary precautions at the beginning of the last school year. We have also found a potion which lessens the pain he has to undergo during the full moon, and we have a separate and secure room for him to go to when the time comes so that neither he nor others are unnecessarily endangered."

"Oh, really,-" Lyall was at a loss for words. He had hoped and feared that his son's lycanthropy had gone unnoticed, but who was he to fool? "Who knows about this?"

"Oh, just me, Professor Dumbledore and Hermione. Don't worry, we have not told anyone, and we will certainly continue to keep it secret, for his safety."

The younger man instantly relaxed a bit, but there was something else still troubling him. Before he could speak out, he glanced down at his wristwatch.

"I would love to stay a bit longer with you lovely ladies, but I have the fairest of all at home and she needs to take her medicine now. Again, thank you so much for taking Remus in a week earlier, but anything else would have made our journey to find a cure or some help at least just so much harder."

"This is not a problem at all, you saw their joy yourself. He is in good hands here, trust me," replied Minerva as they walked out into the entrance hall. The children must have sensed Lyall's upcoming departure, because they came down the stairs and Remus immediately went in to hug his dad goodbye. The man in turn patted his son's head lovingly, a serene smile crossing his thin lips.