InsaneJournal

Who: Remus Lupin, Eileen Snape, Severus Snape
When: January 7
Where: Severus' house / Eileen's house
Why: Because Eileen secretly likes children Eileen finds herself with two children to watch over.
Rating: PG
Complete: Yes


Eileen closed her journal in mild exasperation as she turned to regard the boy reading across the sitting room. "Come along, then," she said, placing her journal on the small, linen covered coffee table beside her chair. She stood and made a small waving motion at the book that covered the boy's lap. "We must leave to get my son."

Remus looked up when his attention was called and he reluctantly set the book closed. He was in a good part of the story (the silly emperor was about to parade himself naked in front of the whole town), but he nevertheless slid down his chair - his legs were a little short to reach the floor when sitting - his thick fairy tale book held to his chest as if he feared he would drop it. Quick steps sounded on the wooden floor boards as he made his way to the book shelf against the wall, and he returned the book reverently on the empty slot from which he first found it. He straightened and quietly made his way beside Eileen, one hand hesitantly taking a small part of her skirt.

"You may return to your book later," said Eileen, seeing the hesitation with which Remus closed his book. She took Remus' child-sized coat - transfigured from one of his old ones - and handed it to him, her longer shawls already wrapped around her neck and shoulders. "Boots." She pointed at the small pair, another transfiguration, as she opened the door. She waited until Remus was ready before stepping out and descending down her front steps. "Quickly," she urged, her hand outstretched, which Remus took. She counted with her fingers so Remus would see before Apparating them to Severus' home.

They landed on a sandy step. Eileen wore boots this time. She let go of Remus, whom she knew would trail after her closely enough, and knocked on Severus' door.

Severus somehow seemed to know that that book, the empty one, would work. He wasn't really sure why he thought he could find his mum just by writing in it, though he wasn't really sure what was going on at all. He was in some strange home and that bird in the corner of the room kept looking at him strangely. He somehow suspected Da had something to do with this - he did seem to want Mum and him to spend less time together lately - and had buried himself in a closet upstairs with his book. He was talking with a bunch of strangers and some of the were really cool! He really thought it'd be fun to go to a castle and see some snakes! He jumped when he heard the knock on the door, snapping his book shut.

He'd scoped out his surroundings before hiding. It was a bit of a stretch to open the door of the closet, but he did and carefully made his way to the upstairs window to peer down at who was knocking. If it was Da, he didn't think he would answer. Or maybe he would. He didn't want Da to get too mad at him for being bad again, after all. Then again, Da had done this to him, hadn't he? His heart leaped a bit when he saw his mum had arrived, however, though looking oddly old. Any thoughts of castles, snakes, healers, boys with the same name as one of his school friends and "Gods" or awesomes, disappeared. He bolted from the room, nearly tripping several times down the metal spiral staircase, and threw open the door. "Mum!" he cried, and a moment later his arms were wrapped around one of her legs.

Remus' eyes were still on one of the windows above them. He thought he saw someone moving from there and was about to reach for Eileen's skirt again, but he only saw a fleeting figure before it disappeared. He looked up at Eileen, who stood and waited quietly facing the door. He thought he heard something from inside and suddenly felt a little nervous, so he stood and hid behind Eileen as it seemed to near the door.

Judging by the sounds, Eileen expected a welcome different from the one she received the last time she came to Severus' house. She was able to catch Severus quickly, though she couldn't help bending over a little as the child - Severus - threw himself at her. Something bumped her from behind and with one hand on Severus' back, she quickly snatched Remus so the other boy would not stand so close. She was satisfied when the quiet boy just stood a little to her side, and she was able to give her attention back to Severus. "Good morning, Severus," she said in greeting, running a hand on the dark head.

Severus buried his face against her thigh for a moment and then craned his neck to look up at her. Her face was more wrinkly than it should be. "What's wrong with you? You're all pruney," he blurted, frowning slightly as he tried to figure out what Da could have done to her, too. He saw movement to his right and turned to see another boy standing next to his mother. Severus was torn between breaking away from his mother, to act like a big boy like Da had been telling him to do, or cling tighter. He settled for the later. The other boy couldn't have his mum. She was Severus' and why was that boy here with her when Severus had just been alone in a strange place. His glare at the other boy was that of someone trying to keep his favourite toy all to himself. "Who are you?" he snapped.

Remus jumped a little as the other boy turned on him and he instinctively stepped back, though his eyes strayed to Eileen. She was quiet though and she looked at him like she always did, as if she was waiting for him to answer. Remus looked at the boy again, a little insecure now as he must think Remus was taking Eileen for himself. "My name is Remus," he said, his voice quiet.

Well, at least the other boy stepped away. Severus was now fairly satified he could run this Remus off if he really had to. Of course, he might get in trouble. Not that it would have been the first time, but he was still a little unsure of where he was and he'd only found just that one hiding place so far. Severus didn't return with his own name, but looked back up at his mother. "What's happening?"

Eileen nearly rolled her eyes at the two, but she ignored it for now. She waited until Severus turned back to her, as she expected he quickly would. "This world hiccups a little at times, you could say," she said. "It is a long, complicated story. Perhaps I shall tell you later." She moved to untangle Severus' arms around her leg and frowned at what he was wearing. "We need to find you a cloak first. It's quite cold. May we come in?"

Severus looked from her to the door he'd just come out of. She was asking him if they could go in. "I don't-- I mean, I did." He supposed if he could just run about some stranger's house, so could his mum and this Remus boy could, too. He hadn't shut the door, so he peered inside at the stone walls.

"It's all right. This is your house, but you'll have to stay with me in my house for a while." Eileen paused and looked at Remus for a moment, considering him for a few seconds. "Remus will have to stay with us, too. We don't want him burning his house, since it is beside mine after all." She looked down at Severus again, ushering him in. "We need to get some clothes," which Eileen would have to transfigure, as she did Remus' things, "and then we go."

Severus' eyes widened for a moment before he remembered there was another boy here, and his features fell into a frown that Severus thought made him look older, like those boys who smoked on the corner and picked fights with all the popular kids in school. He let his mum guide him inside, in spite of still being confused. "There's a closet upstairs," he offered. He sort of though the oversized clothes he was wearing were a bit fun, though. "What do you mean this is my home?"

Remus jumped back a bit again as the other boy's attention went back to him. He looked at Eileen again as if imploring her to help him, as he did not know what to do. She did say that this house was the other boy's and he wasn't sure, but he thought the boy did not like him very much.

Eileen looked around the place her eyes straying to the spiral staircase as the mention of the closet. "I meant just that. This is your home. What else could it possibly mean?" She always did speak to him this way. Tobias once complained that Severus was beginning to talk like she did, but she was not at all displeased by it. She found it easier to converse this way and she was not going to go out of her way to change her manner of speech because he did not think the child would be smart enough to understand. She knew that her child, at least, would understand her.

A gust of cold wind came from the open door and she turned back at it, frowning as she found Remus still standing, half-hidden behind the door frame. "Come along," she said with a commanding gesture. "Get inside and close the door." She made her way towards the stairs, leaving Remus to look back at Severus, as if seeking his permission.

Severus' frown deepened when she didn't explain, but he didn't ask again. Instead he watched her walk away and then looked at the other boy. What was he stupid? He was just standing there. "If you'd rather freeze your bum off outside, you can, but shut the door either way."

Remus quickly shuffled in, quietly taking the door knob and pushing the door closed. He turned back to Severus, bowing a little as his Mum sometimes did when they needed to get something from their distant neighbours. "I am sorry for intruding," he said, remembering his Mum's words. He looked at Eileen, who was already making her way up the stairs, then back at Severus, tilting his chin a bit to point at Eileen. He figured Severus should go first.

So it talked. Well, he'd given his name before, but the other boy hadn't said much else. Severus took a moment to stare openly at the other boy. Remus, Remus, Remus... He sort of thought he should know that name, somehow. "Did you go to my primary school?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the other boy.

Remus looked at Severus a little strangely. "Primary school?" he asked, repeating the word. He seemed to remember what that was; Da and Mum talked about it a lot after-- after. Mum didn't want him to leave the house if she could help it, but Da said something about meeting other children. He was the one who wanted Remus to attend primary school. "No, no," he finally said once he remembered. "My Mum teaches me at home. I don't go to primary school."

Severus' eyes narrowed further still. "Why does your mum teach you at home?" he asked, incredulous. It wasn't like Severus' mum didn't teach him things at home, but he still went to school. He suddenly wondered if he could beg Da to let him leave and have mum teach him. No... that wouldn't work, would it? Not with the way he'd been treating them lately.

"Well..." Remus looked down, not wanting to talk about it. His hands suddenly grew clammy and he felt cold, even when the door was closed. He kept his hands together to keep them from reaching behind his left shoulder. He wished he had his Mum now, even Da or Nana. He knew Mum wanted to keep him home so he would be safe, so that what happened that other winter would not happen again. It still scared him, going out where the wolves were. He suddenly found he couldn't move.

Eileen took a few steps back to look at the two boys still talking by the front door. "What are you doing? Hurry now. We still have much to do," she said and she made her way up the spiral staircase again, not looking back this time.

Severus opened his mouth to tell the boy to spit it out, but then his mum was telling him to hurry. He gave Remus a look that clearly said Honestly, what's wrong with you!? and headed up the stairs after his mum. He really didn't see why he needed to change. He sort of liked how these clothes swished behind and around him like a cape, like he was some sort of super hero... like bat man! "I can just wear these," he said, once he bounced up the stairs and caught up with her. "I like them!"

Eileen pressed a hand against her temple as he heard Severus behind her. "You are going to end up tripping on those things," she said as she turned back to look at him. The hems were too long and the robes did not have the same imposing effects when it is a tiny Severus wearing them. Not to mention a tiny Severus that seemed to enjoy them too much. "I must resize them at least. Now help me sort through your things so we'll know which ones to bring with us."

Severus rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to trip! He was bat man! He headed to the closet he'd been hiding in and pulled it open... then realised something he hadn't when he was hiding in it before. "It's all black," he pointed out unnecessarily. He didn't think Da would want him dressed in all black all the time.

"Yes. You did develop quite a taste for black as you grew up." Eileen reached for one robe and held it up so the hems did not pool on the floor. He called both Severus and Remus over so she could show them. "You," she said to Severus, "grew up to about this height. You are both supposed to be older than you are now, which is why you both have houses of your own. It will be temporary, but since you are as you are now, you shall have to live with me for a while to avoid unnecessary accidents. Any questions?" She began to pull some robes out of Severus' closet.

Severus looked up at the robes she held up, noting that he only came to about the waist of them now. Remus was taller than him. Well, that wasn't fair. He gave Remus a spiteful look that he knew the other boy wouldn't understand and then listened to his mother explain. It still didn't make any sense. "How could I grow up and then not be grown up? Have you been drinking?" he accused, because sometimes Da drank and didn't make any sense either.

Eileen scowled at the boy - her son, now she remembered - and threw a robe at his face. "No, I have not been drinking. Lay that out on the bed so I can shrink them properly." She handed Remus a coat and a sweater (both black, of course), then handed Severus several other pieces of clothing. "We are in a strange place. It is a little--" she frowned as she sought the right word, "playful, you could say. Sometimes, things are not what they seem. Highly magical." She gave Severus a pointed look before walking towards the bed to begin taking care of the clothes.

Severus reached to catch the robe too late and wound up buried in it, then pulled it off his head to glare at her, not bothering to brush his hair down from where the robe had mussed it. She continued to hand him clothes and he didn't budge until she started to explain. There. That was what he wanted and, finally appeased, he moved to drop the clothes off where she'd asked him to. He climbed up onto the bed with some difficulty then turned to sit on it properly, watching her. "Playful..." he repeated. "How old was I?" He was tempted to ask about Remus, but if Remus wanted to know he could open his mouth and speak, for crying out loud!

"Thirty-eight," answered Eileen, shrinking as many clothes as she could manage. She spared a glance at Remus, waiting for his questions. Strange boy, he spoke enough on strange moments but remained completely quiet when you expect him to speak. "Questions?" she asked him as she also began to magically fold Severus' clothes into a neat pile.

Remus was quite fine just listening to his two companions - he found them very amusing together - but he did wonder, since Severus was here and he had his mother. "My mum and dad are not here, are they?" he asked, though he was already nearly certain of the answer. He should have seen them by now and if they were, he should have known. He sought Eileen first, so maybe he knew about this world, even if his current self could not understand it.

"Not that I know of," said Eileen. "Admittedly I do not know much about your heritage," his son maybe, but not before that, "but I have not heard you speak of them." She let Remus stew on that for a bit as she looked back at Severus. She stared at him for a while before tipping her head towards Remus. "Remus seems to be older than you now, but you really are about the same age." She couldn't help but add just to mock the imperious brat, "He's just really taller."

Severus' mouth was still hanging open that he'd been thirty-eight, because that was... well, a lot of years older than him, when his mother mentioned that Remus was taller. He snapped his mouth shut and glared at Remus again. One day he was going to be really big, though! As tall as those robes! "Yeah, well, not forever," he grumbled.

Remus ducked his head when Severus glared and just proceeded to pat Severus' robes so they would be free from creases. He almost mentioned being one of the smallest boys in the village, but realised that won't make Severus feel any better. He was about to agree just to appease Severus - really, Remus cannot imagine speaking like this to his own mum, but then Mum didn't go about teasing Remus either - but Eileen spoke before him.

"Do stop your grumbling, Severus. You stop growing at a certain age, you know. If Remus was taller than you at twenty-two, he'll be taller than you forever." Inwardly, Eileen smirked at his son's reaction. "Not by much, admittedly. You are both quite short compared to most, actually." She summoned the other clothes Remus had with him and placed them all in a black bag, shrunk with a weaker, more temporary spell. "Shall we, then?" She lifted a hand to the door, ushering them out.

Severus was inwardly a little pleased by Remus' reaction... until his mum started speaking. Outrage would have been a close approximation to how he felt at being told he was going to remain tiny his entire life! Dwarfed! Okay, she hadn't said it quite like that, but still.... he was going to end up picked on forever! Severus crossed his arms over himself and glared at the wall in front of him until his expression melted into something a bit sulky. He didn't suspect she would lie to him about that and, really, there was not point arguing about it if it was the truth. He gave her a withering look when she gestured to the door, then slid off the bed to brush past Remus on his way to the stairs, heading down them at a slower pace this time.

Eileen and Remus followed Severus down the stairs, neither commenting on the slow descent. Remus turned back to Eileen to see if she was going to say anything, but she seemed to be busy thinking to herself. She began going around the house when they reached the bottom of the stairs, shrinking Severus' clothes as she did Remus' first ones when they met.

"It's not so bad," Remus said eventually while they stood as Eileen walked about. "I mean, you seem to have done what you could with it. Black is a very imposing colour and Da said it can be intimidating. Height isn't very important anyway, when you're an adult."

Severus pursed his lips and regarded Remus with suspicion. Black could be intimidating? Ha! "What do you know about it? You barely even speak." He shuffled to the sofa and managed to push himself up onto the arm of the sofa, watching his mother for a moment before turning back to Remus. "Colours are colours. A good stinging hex is intimidating," he said resentfully... and quietly, in case his mum heard him. He wondered if Remus was worried he'd get hexed now. Maybe if he got good at stuff like that, no one would care if he was short.

Remus followed Severus to the sofa and lit up at the mention of magic. "You can do magic?" he asked, quickly distracted. It didn't matter that Severus still wasn't very nice. "Da tells me about them, but he said I can't do them yet because there are laws against them." He thought for a moment, then added, "I do magic, but only by accident. He said those are okay and that the Minister doesn't mind them."

"Of course I can do magic," Severus said quickly. Of course, usually his mum did it and he watched, or held the wand with her... or... well, he'd realised just recently he could control certain things and make it look accidental. It wasn't as though the Ministry could tell the difference if he didn't have a wand. "The Minister has the brains of a puffskein," Severus added. His mum had said that once. He glanced over his shoulder to see if she was near. He didn't want her to say anything about it, so he could look like he'd come up with it on his own.

"You know the Minister?" Remus asked. Well, he knew the Minister from pictures. They had a picture in the sitting room of Da shaking hands with a man with a big, funny hat. "Da said the Minister has a nasty temper. He blows his head off all the time even if he smiles a lot for the newspaper."

"Well, I've never met him, stupid, but I know of him." Severus shifted to face Remus, planting his feet on the sofa cushions. Severus leaned in conspiratorily, though his expression of disdain for the other boy didn't change. He dropped his voice lower. "The ministry's a lot of two-faced arseholes." His mum hadn't said that specifically... but Severus sort of somehow knew it was true.

Remus frowned a little. "I don't know if you haven't met him. I know people who have," he said, thinking of those other kids his Da introduced to him one time, saying they were children of some people from the office. He also felt a little indignant on his father's behalf. "And my Da's not a two-faced arsehole!" he hissed, dropping his voice as well, looking up to see if Eileen could hear them. "He says some things about the people there, though. He doesn't like everyone there, I think. Says lots of them aren't doing their jobs and he's left to take care of the dangerous people." He paused a little, then leaned in a little as if anybody would hear. "One time, he let me cast a spell in his office. He said there are different wards there and he doesn't like his boss anyway."

Severus was unimpressed, both by Remus' dad working in the ministry and Remus casting a spell in his office. Honestly, did he think that was so special? Severus' smiled, but it wasn't a very friendly smile. "If he works in the Ministry, he is. Anyway, I do magic all the time," he boasted. Severus leaned back on the couch, looking suddenly bored with his new companion and wondering when his mum was coming back.

Remus frowned again. "Da said I'll be caught if I try to perform magic at home." He wondered if that was true now, since this Severus boy claimed to do magic all the time. He already heard of stories where wizard children get their parents in trouble because of doing magic, although his Da mentioned once about giving a child a wand when it's not yet time.

Meanwhile, Eileen was wondering to herself if those two truly thought she could not hear them. It was not as if their conversation was nothing more than stage whispering, and she was only in the other room. She walked out of the kitchen to announce her presence again. "Come on now," she said, gesturing to the door. "Just there in front of the house. I'll Apparate us back.

Remus quickly turned back to open the door.

Severus hoped off the couch and bounced toward the door, grinning at his mum and purposely putting himself in front of Remus as they moved toward the door. He stepped outside and watched the waves crash against the rocks just off the coast. It was really pretty. He had good taste as an adult. In living spaces, anyway, if not in clothing. It was loads better than Spinner's End, anyway. "Where are we going?" he asked, remembering suddenly that she said they were going to stay with her. He turned sharply and looked up at her with concern. "Is Da there?"

"No." Eileen warded the door on her way out. "You won't be seeing him here. We are going to my place now." He took Severus' and Remus' hands, one boy on each side, and Apparated them back to the village.

They landed just in front of Eileen's gates. "Master Lupin's house," she said to Severus, pointing out the small cottage not far from the house in front of them. "This one is mine." She opened the gates with a flick of her wrist. She made to walk towards them, but paused and turned back to the two again. "If you are interested in magic, by the way, I imagine you can do them here. If you practise though, it must be outside the house. You make a mess, you must clean it up."

Severus was visibly relieved when his mum said Da wouldn't be here, then stumbled a bit when their feet hit the ground outside Eileen's home. He peered off in the distance at Remus' home, then looked at Remus. For a moment he wondered if this was all a joke, because that boy couldn't own a home and neither could he, but... he glanced up at his mum again.

They could do magic and not get in trouble? Severus smiled and looked at Remus and wondered if he could actually do a proper stinging hex like he'd talked about.

Remus looked back at Severus, growing nervous all of a sudden. He was almost sure he was going to be in trouble, and just as he was stepping back, a shock just exploded up one arm. "Hey!" he yelled, waving his other arm in the direction of the hex. The pain lifted quickly, but he rubbed his arm anyway and glared at Severus, almost sure that it was the other boy's fault.

Eileen did not seem to notice what happened, although she did look around when she heard Remus cry out. She gave him a look, but he just kept glaring at Severus. "I will be putting your things down, Severus," said Eileen, and quickly cast a warming charm on the two. "Go look around if you want. I will be making lunch soon and I do not want you two lingering in the kitchen before then, understood?" She made her way to the door without waiting for an answer.

Remus rounded on Severus once Eileen was out of earshot. "That was you, wasn't it?"

Severus couldn't help but smile wider. It worked! He didn't even have to try for it to work. He wondered if this world was more condusive to magic, because surely he couldn't normally do that. He watched his mum walk away then looked back at Remus. "Was what me?" he asked, though it was clear by his tone he knew exactly what he did.

"You hexed me!" Remus said, turning his stung hand away from Severus. The pain was nearly completely gone when he kept rubbing it. "Besides, you can't lie. You are smiling even if you say that."

"Did not! I only thought about it," Severus snapped back, the smile slipping off his face... and then he thought about it again.

Remus quickly swatted at the tingle on his arm again even before it began to rise. He felt the pain receding along with the wave of his hand, which he threw back as strong as he could.

"Ow!" Severus yelled as his hex rebounded on him, hitting him in the shoulder. He scowled, but couldn't think of another hex to use. Instead, he ran at Remus and shoved him, knocking them both to the ground in the process. "You hexed me, stupid!"

"I did not!" Remus tried to push against Severus, his arms and legs moving to get him off of him. "I was just trying to get rid of the hexes you keep throwing at me! Maybe that was just you hexing yourself!"

"Why would I hex myself?!" Severus cried. He thought he should be hitting Remus. That's what the boys at school did after they shoved each other. But Severus didn't really want to hit anyone. It somehow didn't seem as bad to hurt someone if he wasn't actually touching them, but now... He shoved himself off of Remus, rolling onto his back in the grass and glaring sideways at the other boy.

Remus glared back for about a second before pushing himself up, sitting on the grass and staring hard at the fence. He never fought with another boy before, and he realised that he was in a fight just now. He looked down at his stung hand, which didn't hurt anymore, but he somehow seemed to think he should do something about it. "I need chocolate," he said and moved to stand, patting himself down to take out the grass from his robes and starting to walk towards the house.

Oh. Well, that wasn't any fun. Remus was leaving. Severus sat up and glared at Remus' head as he walked away, then pushed up and started after him. What a disappointment! This wasn't how a fight was supposed to work at all! Severus' scowl turned into a frown and he trailed behind Remus, not speaking.

Remus heard footsteps behind him and didn't even need to look back to know the Severus was following him. Well, that's fine, but he better not start hexing Remus again. He wasn't really sure what he did back there to keep himself from being hexed, but he was sure he could do it again if Severus did anything funny. He trudged past the garden and went through the front door (Eileen kept it open for him, though she said bad people won't be able to get in) and started loooking about the sitting room.

Severus followed Remus inside, now glowering at the back of Remus' head, then crossed the room to climb into the couch. He flopped into it once he got on, forgetting that he hadn't brushed the stray grass off him and continued to give Remus That Look. "You're boring," he commented.

"Shut up," Remus muttered back, now looking under the pillows. He felt around a bit on the cushions, patting around the felt and fully aware of Severus watching him. Well, let him watch, that was really fine. Right now, Remus wanted his chocolate because he had just been hexed. He didn't know why chocolate should make it better because it wasn't something Da would say, but he somehow knew it would. "A-ha!" he crowed triumphantly as he pulled his hand that now held a piece of sweet covered in bright red wrapper.

Severus' eyes narrowed at that. He somehow felt like that wasn't the first time the other boy had said that to him, but he couldn't remember when. "Don't tell me to shut up!" he snapped, then watched the other boy dig in the couch. Why the hell did his mum have chocolate in her couch? It had to be this Remus' fault. He couldn't help but smirk to himself. He didn't think his mum would be too pleased Remus was eating chocolate when she was making lunch. Maybe, if he was lucky, his mum would yell at Remus.

"It's not like you say anything useful," said Remus, already unwrapping his chocolate. He sat himself in one corner of the sofa, a small throw pillow on his lap. He popped the chocolate in his mouth and chewed quietly, still upset with this Severus boy and his love for picking fights, but feeling a little better now with the chocolate in his mouth. Really, he never thought he knew anyone more difficult! The children in the village weren't mean, or maybe that's because they were with their mothers? No, Severus was mean even if his mother was around.

Severus' frown deepened. Honestly, Remus was the least satisfying person in the world to argue with. He wouldn't agrue back and he thought he could get away with telling Severus to shut up. "I say plenty of useful things," he grumbled. "How you going to know you're boring if no one tells you?" he asked. It was education. Yes, that's what it was. His mum told him when he was acting foolishly, so he could tell Remus he was boring. Maybe Remus didn't even know how boring he was!

"I'd like to hear some of these useful things then, if there are so many of them." Remus folded his arms on his chest as he looked at the other boy. "Telling a person they're boring isn't very cons--constructive" was that the right word? Maybe he didn't use it properly, "--useful." He ammended. At least that word he was sure was the right word. "What's so boring with what I'm doing? And if your idea of not boring is having fights, then I don't want to be not boring at all!"

"Is too," Severus countered, then mirrored the toher boys crossed arms. "You don't talk and you kept looking at my mum like you expected her to tell you when to talk and you're really--" Unsatisfying in an argument, was what he was thinking, but he couldn't figure how to put that into words. "Boring," he finished,

"You can't talk out of turn," said Remus grimly. He was told it wasn't polite and speaking out of turn would make people angry and get you in trouble. It got his Da in trouble for one, and look what happened to Remus because of it. His Da might have been doing the right thing and it's probably the Ministry's fault really, but Remus didn't want to pick unnecessary fights either way. Remus' Mum, on the other hand, was always quiet. "Besides, I can't just be rude to your Mum and it's not like this is my house."

Severus thought that was stupid. His mum talked to him like she talked to anyone else so why shouldn't he talk to other people that way? "Who said anything about being rude?" he asked. "I only said you didn't talk!" Severus slumped down so that he was laying back over the arm of the chair, then pushed himself so that he was hanging off it backwards and upside-down, bracing his hands against the floor and peering into the kitchen from his hanging position. "She doesn't care, anyway," he added.

Remus considered that for a moment. Eileen didn't seem to mind the way Severus spoke to her, and she did seem to expect Remus to tell her what he thought sometimes. She just looked intimidatig sometimes and she didn't smile, but she seemed to forgive quickly. She appeared to be fine with Severus again very shortly after they fought anyway. Remus slumped down against the pillow and watched Severus, then looked at the kitchen himself. "I guess," he said, resting his chin on one hand.

Severus frowned at the reply, then righted himself on the sofa, regarding Remus with an unsure look. "It's Da that cares..." he said, then lowered his voice. "I don't like him anyway, though, so it doesn't matter." He looked over his shoulder into the kitchen to see if his mum could hear, then looked back at Remus. "He says I sound like mum, but I'd rather that than sound like him. He's always angry."

Remus pressed his lips as he listened, imagining what Severus' dad was like. He imagined it would be someone different from Remus' Da, although Nana complained he picked too many fights, he was still nice enough to Remus. Severus did sound a lot like Eileen, only Severus was more quick with the insults. "I think your Mum's nice," he said, pushing a feather back when he saw it poking out of one pillow. "Nothing wrong with sounding like her."

Eileen emerged from the kitchen with a small dish towel on her hand. She eyed the two boys in her sitting room with a curious stare while her hands moved to dry themselves on the plain white cloth. Her eyes lingered on the bits of grass on their clothes and on her sofa, but stayed silent about it. "Lunch," she said simply before turning back to the kitchen.

Severus watched his mum walk out of the room again and turned back to Remus. "She's not nice," he whispered, as if it had been an insult, then he slipped off the couch and bounced into the kitchen.

Remus rolled his eyes behind Severus' back, but slid down the cushions all the same to follow the other boy to the kitchen.