"Now, Dad, you shouldn't tease about Regulus and Remus that way," Jamie said with a laugh, deciding that turning the descriptor of a Black and a Gryffindor together around to avoid any further conversation about his grandmother was the best. "And I'd hope you can tell, since I've been told I inherited being a smart arse from you."
Unlike his father, Jamie's focus was always and would always be his family, which meant he was more concerned with the fact the two of them might actually be connecting and he put the topic of the tablet aside for a moment.
"Your eyes are closer to her colour now than they were when you were older. More alive," he said, reaching up to put his hand over his dad's briefly before pushing his hands into his pockets. "And, yeah, I did want you to ask. Like I said, I've got a lot of baggage to work through. You haven't been there for a large chunk of my life, always putting the job, the world, ahead of everything else, including our family. You talk about blood magic and powerful bonds, but the last time I felt like you cared...well, you weren't much older than you are now and I could fit comfortably on a broom in front of you. Asking means you're thinking of me instead of the rest of the world. I know it's selfish and I probably sound like a spoiled brat complaining when I've had such a privileged life. But, I need the words. I've had to try to guess what you were thinking, guess if you loved me because you never talk about...anything, for most of my life. And, I know you said you always wanted the family, but it's easy to want what you don't have. Not as much to want what you do. You wouldn't have had to do the right thing and marry Mum if it wasn't for me coming along."
He hadn't meant to admit that. But, if there was anyone who could make him more emotional than logical it was his father, apparently at any age. And it was hard to remember Jamie was actually older when his memories of his father at close to this age were all from when Jamie himself was a small child. "It's not about telling me specifics. I get that your life was crap growing up, moreso after having Uncle Ron's memories. But, we don't talk anymore. About anything. I learned more about my own father in a week of having my uncle's memories than I did in a lifetime of being raised by him and being his son. And those memories still only encompassed half your life. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I haven't felt like much more than another accolade in your life, something you put up with because it's expected, for a long time. And all I've really ever wanted was to feel like I mattered to you for myself and not just as another obligation you tolerated because it was the right thing to do."
Straightening, though he wasn't sure when he'd started to curl into himself, he shook his head. "But, that isn't going to answer any of our questions about this," he said, turning the focus back to the tablet because he was pushing the limits of his own emotional capacity for one day. "First, there are other ways, spells, muggle means, there was even talk out of Germany that they'd created a magical means of surrogacy for purebloods who couldn't have children but who didn't want to jeopardize the bloodline. And, Savannah was right. Most of our generation wasn't interested in settling down in our twenties. What's left of the older lines began making noises about the negative population growth. The Wizengamot was threatening to pass laws requiring people to get married and have kids if Aunt Hermione didn't do something. There were muggleborns in the older generation touting the experiments. Actually, there was a lot of crazy rumor around them, too. Male pregnancy, cloning, real science fiction stuff. Whatever it was, Padma resigned as Deputy Head in a public fit as soon as Aunt Hermione gave the go ahead for the experiments. She wasn't having any of it.But, if the castle isn't bringing us back, how does the memory swap fit in? And why send Teddy and Cho back? And, what really killed us all off? Were there even experiments at all? Or was it all a longer game? Something to explain to the world what really happened?"
He looked up. "Dad, if any of what we're thinking is right, what the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?"