FIC: Lions and Snakes, Epilogue
Mar. 27th, 2006 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mysidDisclaimer: Hogwarts, the characters, and everything else belong to J.K. Rowling.
Lions and Snakes
Postscript
“I still can’t believe you’ve never been in here before,” Sirius said, shaking his head as he looked at Harry. “This was our room, and it’s definitely on the map.”
“It may be on the map, but nothing indicates that it’s anything special. I didn’t have any reason to come looking for it. The only secret room or secret passage I’ve ever used the map to find was a tunnel into Hogsmeade—and I got in quite a bit of trouble with a certain Professor for that,” Harry replied with a guilty look at the brown and grey-haired man sitting beside his godfather.
“You made us feel awful,” Ron said to Remus, “You’re even better at guilt than my mum, and you can do it without yelling.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not your Professor anymore, isn’t it?” Remus said with slight smile.
“You punished them for sneaking into Hogsmeade?” Sirius asked incredulously. “After all the times we did?”
“The situation was a little different,” Remus replied calmly.
“How did you find this room?” Hermione asked suddenly. She was obviously changing the topic of conversation, but Harry didn’t mind. Given how he felt about Sirius now, and how Sirius obviously felt about him, it seemed so wrong that they had once believed that Sirius wanted to kill him.
Remus and Sirius suddenly looked at each other. They seemed to be deciding how to reply to Hermione’s question, but Hermione didn’t wait. “I love the eclectic mix of furniture. It’s like whenever someone didn’t know where in the castle to put a stray chair or sofa, it ended up in here. But one of you decorated that sofa, right?”
Remus and Sirius were sitting on a large comfortable sofa, long enough for even someone as tall as Sirius to stretch out upon. The upholstery was black twill covered with stars and crescent moons. As soon as Sirius had entered the hidden room and changed back into human form, he had proclaimed, “It’s our sofa, Moony! It’s still here!” and he had grabbed Remus by the sleeve and pulled him to over to sit beside him on it.
“Sirius transfigured it, more than once,” Remus said, smiling again.
“Constant improvements in search of perfection,” Sirius said.
“The stars and moons were a late addition.”
“Moony’s contribution was breaking it in. I can’t tell you how many naps he took on this damn thing. He’s probably drooled all over it.”
“Padfoot drools; I don’t.”
“Whatever you say, Moony,” Sirius with a smirk. Then he looked at Hermione again. “But I’m glad you like the ‘eclectic’ look. This room looked like a damn shrine to Hufflepuff when we inherited it, and since we weren’t Hufflepuffs, redecorating was required. That,” he gestured to a banner with the Hogwarts crest, “replaced a Hufflepuff banner, and then we changed some colours in here. We left that sofa alone,” he nodded at the sunny yellow sofa with small black dots, “in honour of the Hufflepuffs we inherited this room from, and the card table and chairs got Ravenclaw blue in honour of our mums—James put the eagle claw feet on the table—and of course Gryffindor red and some Slytherin green on other chairs and sofas so all the houses are represented.”
“You could have skipped green,” Ron said, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “It’s not like anyone would miss the Slytherins if they weren’t here.”
“Wouldn’t that be great?” Harry added. “No stuck-up, spoiled Malfoy.”
“No slimy-haired Snape!” Ron exclaimed with a gleam in his eye.
“No creepy dungeon-dwellers—”
“—hatching nasty, evil plots—”
“—wrapped up in smug superiority—”
Sirius had been listening to Harry and Ron’s tirade with an amused smile, but Remus was not smiling. His forehead was wrinkled in concern, and he was watching Sirius. Harry fell silent at the sight. Ron started to say more, but Hermione elbowed him into silence.
“So full—Ow!”
“You never told him, Sirius?” Remus asked.
Sirius’s smile broadened into a full grin, and he turned to look at his old friend. “And miss this? It’s very entertaining.”
“Never told me what?” Harry asked, but he suddenly realized what he was probably about to be told. No one had ever told him which houses his parents and their friends had been in. He knew his father was in Gryffindor; Hermione had shown him his father’s name as part of the Gryffindor team from a year that they had won the Quidditch Cup. But his mother? Sirius? Remus? He had assumed they were Gryffindors, but he didn’t know. His mother was Muggle-born, so whatever house she had been in, it was probably not Slytherin. But about Sirius and Remus, he didn’t even know that much. “I just put my foot in my mouth, didn’t I?”
Sirius raised his eyebrows and nodded, still grinning.
“Who?” Harry asked as he glanced between his father’s two friends.
“Me.”
“Oh God, Sirius, I’m sorry. I take it all back—except the part about Malfoy.”
Sirius and Remus both laughed at that. Sirius shook his head. “It’s O.K., kid. I’ve heard worse. When you’re friends with a bunch of Gryffindors, you have to expect them to gang up on you once in a while.”
“Only when you deserved it, Snake-boy,” Remus said.
Sirius’s smile faded as he looked at Harry intently. “I hope it doesn’t change your opinion of me, Harry,” he said.
“Actually, it’s kind of a relief.”
Sirius’s brow wrinkled in confusion. He glanced at Remus and then back at Harry. “A relief? Why?”
“It’s nice to find there can actually be a Slytherin that I like, considering—”
“Considering what?”
Harry glanced at Ron before answering. This was something he had never told either of his friends. “Considering that’s where the stupid Sorting Hat wanted to put me before I begged it not to.”
Ron stared in shock for a moment before laughing along with Sirius. “Parselmouth,” Ron muttered, shaking his head and looking at Hermione. “Creeped us out the first time we heard him talk to a snake. We should’ve known.”
Postscript
“I still can’t believe you’ve never been in here before,” Sirius said, shaking his head as he looked at Harry. “This was our room, and it’s definitely on the map.”
“It may be on the map, but nothing indicates that it’s anything special. I didn’t have any reason to come looking for it. The only secret room or secret passage I’ve ever used the map to find was a tunnel into Hogsmeade—and I got in quite a bit of trouble with a certain Professor for that,” Harry replied with a guilty look at the brown and grey-haired man sitting beside his godfather.
“You made us feel awful,” Ron said to Remus, “You’re even better at guilt than my mum, and you can do it without yelling.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not your Professor anymore, isn’t it?” Remus said with slight smile.
“You punished them for sneaking into Hogsmeade?” Sirius asked incredulously. “After all the times we did?”
“The situation was a little different,” Remus replied calmly.
“How did you find this room?” Hermione asked suddenly. She was obviously changing the topic of conversation, but Harry didn’t mind. Given how he felt about Sirius now, and how Sirius obviously felt about him, it seemed so wrong that they had once believed that Sirius wanted to kill him.
Remus and Sirius suddenly looked at each other. They seemed to be deciding how to reply to Hermione’s question, but Hermione didn’t wait. “I love the eclectic mix of furniture. It’s like whenever someone didn’t know where in the castle to put a stray chair or sofa, it ended up in here. But one of you decorated that sofa, right?”
Remus and Sirius were sitting on a large comfortable sofa, long enough for even someone as tall as Sirius to stretch out upon. The upholstery was black twill covered with stars and crescent moons. As soon as Sirius had entered the hidden room and changed back into human form, he had proclaimed, “It’s our sofa, Moony! It’s still here!” and he had grabbed Remus by the sleeve and pulled him to over to sit beside him on it.
“Sirius transfigured it, more than once,” Remus said, smiling again.
“Constant improvements in search of perfection,” Sirius said.
“The stars and moons were a late addition.”
“Moony’s contribution was breaking it in. I can’t tell you how many naps he took on this damn thing. He’s probably drooled all over it.”
“Padfoot drools; I don’t.”
“Whatever you say, Moony,” Sirius with a smirk. Then he looked at Hermione again. “But I’m glad you like the ‘eclectic’ look. This room looked like a damn shrine to Hufflepuff when we inherited it, and since we weren’t Hufflepuffs, redecorating was required. That,” he gestured to a banner with the Hogwarts crest, “replaced a Hufflepuff banner, and then we changed some colours in here. We left that sofa alone,” he nodded at the sunny yellow sofa with small black dots, “in honour of the Hufflepuffs we inherited this room from, and the card table and chairs got Ravenclaw blue in honour of our mums—James put the eagle claw feet on the table—and of course Gryffindor red and some Slytherin green on other chairs and sofas so all the houses are represented.”
“You could have skipped green,” Ron said, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “It’s not like anyone would miss the Slytherins if they weren’t here.”
“Wouldn’t that be great?” Harry added. “No stuck-up, spoiled Malfoy.”
“No slimy-haired Snape!” Ron exclaimed with a gleam in his eye.
“No creepy dungeon-dwellers—”
“—hatching nasty, evil plots—”
“—wrapped up in smug superiority—”
Sirius had been listening to Harry and Ron’s tirade with an amused smile, but Remus was not smiling. His forehead was wrinkled in concern, and he was watching Sirius. Harry fell silent at the sight. Ron started to say more, but Hermione elbowed him into silence.
“So full—Ow!”
“You never told him, Sirius?” Remus asked.
Sirius’s smile broadened into a full grin, and he turned to look at his old friend. “And miss this? It’s very entertaining.”
“Never told me what?” Harry asked, but he suddenly realized what he was probably about to be told. No one had ever told him which houses his parents and their friends had been in. He knew his father was in Gryffindor; Hermione had shown him his father’s name as part of the Gryffindor team from a year that they had won the Quidditch Cup. But his mother? Sirius? Remus? He had assumed they were Gryffindors, but he didn’t know. His mother was Muggle-born, so whatever house she had been in, it was probably not Slytherin. But about Sirius and Remus, he didn’t even know that much. “I just put my foot in my mouth, didn’t I?”
Sirius raised his eyebrows and nodded, still grinning.
“Who?” Harry asked as he glanced between his father’s two friends.
“Me.”
“Oh God, Sirius, I’m sorry. I take it all back—except the part about Malfoy.”
Sirius and Remus both laughed at that. Sirius shook his head. “It’s O.K., kid. I’ve heard worse. When you’re friends with a bunch of Gryffindors, you have to expect them to gang up on you once in a while.”
“Only when you deserved it, Snake-boy,” Remus said.
Sirius’s smile faded as he looked at Harry intently. “I hope it doesn’t change your opinion of me, Harry,” he said.
“Actually, it’s kind of a relief.”
Sirius’s brow wrinkled in confusion. He glanced at Remus and then back at Harry. “A relief? Why?”
“It’s nice to find there can actually be a Slytherin that I like, considering—”
“Considering what?”
Harry glanced at Ron before answering. This was something he had never told either of his friends. “Considering that’s where the stupid Sorting Hat wanted to put me before I begged it not to.”
Ron stared in shock for a moment before laughing along with Sirius. “Parselmouth,” Ron muttered, shaking his head and looking at Hermione. “Creeped us out the first time we heard him talk to a snake. We should’ve known.”
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-12 06:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-13 02:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-09 07:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-05 02:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-21 12:09 am (UTC)The epilogue was fantastic.
It was all pretty damn perfect, to be honest :D
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-23 06:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-26 04:30 am (UTC)