Family is the best kept secret

Chapter One ~ Pancakes & Nightmares

Year: 1982

Dust raised from the shelf as someone took down a book from it. The sound of the parchment scraping against the rough fingers of the tall, slim man looking through it. Stopping at the page he wanted, the tall, slim man walked over to his chair and sat down with an overwhelmed look washing over him. The screeching of the crows circling the street did not help with the man's headache with everything that was going on. His ears perked up as he heard the front door slowly open. The soft taps of the platform shoes, clacking on the hardwood tiles formed across the kitchen floor. The man adjusted in his seat, and marked the page he was on and quickly flipped to another, not wanting the person coming inside to know what he was doing.

"Darling? I'm home." The voice echoed from the kitchen, where this said person was probably placing his shoes by the door and taking off his coat.

The other man took a deep breath and placed a cold hard yet a strange warm feeling lingering on, and crossed his legs together. "Living room." Was softly replied back as he didn't want to wake anyone up from the house, as it was unfortunately the middle of the night.

Padded steps could be heard walking into the living room with the occasional clinking noise from the mugs of tea on a tray. The sweet and bitter aroma filled the small room while the smile from the said man looked drained. "Rough day?"

"I could ask you the same question, though you wouldn't say the truth." The twenty-one year old man pointed out as he reached over to grab one of the mugs and brought it up to his lips.

"River is asleep?" His newly wed husband asked as he attempted to change the topic of the poor excuse of a conversation they were having.

"She is." The man replied as he took a soft sip of his tea, prepped in perfection, "Remus, stop dodging the question and answer it. I am here for you, please do try and remember that."

"I know, I know. It's just that I've been caged away for so long that it does not come naturally for me. You know this, Severus." Remus sighed as he placed his mug back down on the tray which was on the coffee table.

Remus leaned against Severus and closed his eyes while Severus rubbed circles around his upper back. "Over breakfast?"

"Over breakfast." Severus confirmed as the young couple rested in their position as both of them were exhausted from how their days played out earlier. Sleep took both of them over and each head would be filled with a different nightmare, but tonight was different. Just like the other nights where they were allowed to be in one's presence, there were no nightmares, just pure bliss and relaxation. The crows were finally able to settle down and their soft chirps could be heard but oddly settled into the eerie tone of the night. The breeze that swayed through the trees which racked against the windows of their houses bended into their own image of what a perfect night would be in Spinner's End. One toddler fastly asleep in the upstairs bedroom while her parents slept in the living room while holding each other, and the other child holding tightly to her blankets in the attempts of keeping warm. One would say that the night came to a beautiful end.

••°•°°••°•°°••

The sun leaked through the curtains and the crows finally settled from the late night. Two patted feet made their way down the set of the old stairs in the house and quietly made her way to the kitchen. "We have to be very quiet, okay?" The girl whispered to the two year old in her arms. The baby wobbly nodded her head as they held her small finger up to her mouth.

"Alright, should we make Papa and Dad pancakes or waffles?" The seven year old asked her little sister as she placed River down at the counter.

"Pan Pans!" River yelled as quietly sucked on her thumb, "Please." She put on her puppy doll eyes to try and convince her older sister to make them pancakes.