In Search of a Father - pt. I
In Search of a Father
Autumn of 1999
A young man
walked the corridors of Hogwarts, deep in thought. A year and a half
after the great battle he was looking for… he didn’t really know for
whom. Old classmates? Teachers? He’d finished school four years ago, who
could still remember his name possibly?
‘Harry?’ he suddenly heard a voice and quick footsteps. ‘Harry?… Oh, sorry, I took you for someone else…’
A pretty girl with red hair and brown eyes stood in front of him.
‘What
is your name?’ the youth worked his brain frantically, but the
speaker’s face did not bring anyone to his mind. Well, he’d known
Slytherins mostly…
‘Ginny Weasley… oh!’ the woman blushed. ‘I was
going to say, Ginny Potter. I’m sorry… I thought you were someone else,
you look a lot like him. I don’t think we had met each other earlier by
any chance?’
‘Evan Prince. Graduated in 1995’ he paused ‘You said: “Potter”?’
The woman he was talking to smiled.
‘I got married in July. And you remind me of my husband. Same eyes.’
Evan
blinked. The comment about the eyes threw him out of the loop
momentarily. He’d realized instantly who her husband is. Harry Potter,
the Boy-Who-Lived. Only after a while did he register her next words.
‘Oh,
don’t look at me like that! If I hear something more about the
Boy-Who-Lived, you’ll have the pleasure to meet a few bats! I wanted to
see the Headmistress - I’d finished school in June. McGonagall seemed to
be interested in my future career. And madame Hooch certainly was,
too.’ Ginny laughed merrily. ‘And who might you be looking for?’
‘Professor Snape. He was my Potions Master and Head of House…’ he stopped, because the entire blood left the woman’s face.
‘Where
were you for the last year?’ she asked finally in a choked voice. He
noticed she didn’t add “you Slytherin”. ‘Haven’t you heard about the
battle?’
Oh… Evan felt himself go faint. He took a deep breath.
‘I’ve heard, of course. What’s that got to do with… with Professor Snape?’
Ginny Potter’s brown eyes widened even more.
‘You don’t know…’ she whispered. ‘Professor Snape is dead. He was killed during the battle. Hey!’
The
Gryffindor thrust her arm forth to catch him. Evan’s legs failed him.
He couldn’t utter a word. Even if it were to ask an idiotic question
worthy of a Gryff.
‘If you had an important question to ask
Professor Snape, maybe you should go to Professor… Headmistress
McGonagall’ Ginny said when Evan’d caught his breath.
The man shook his head.
‘She
won’t be able to help me. Snape… Snape knew…’ the Slytherin’s fingers
clenched on her arm. Evan looked really desperate. Ginny was intrigued.
‘Maybe
you should go to Harry. That is - my husband. He knew a lot about
Severus… Professor Snape… Besides, Harry’s an Auror. He’d be able to
help you with your problem.’
The boy’s face whitened even further
upon hearing the name “Severus” uttered. He took a deep breath and tried
to calm down. He stared off into space for a long while. Suddenly Evan
turned to face her.
‘Can your husband search for missing people? Now? Or maybe he’s on a mission?’ he asked.
‘He’s free at the moment’ Ginny reached into her pocket.
Evan
stiffened, but she took out just a visiting-card. She gave it to him
and he took a glance. “Harry James Potter, an Auror…” He did not read
further, he just thanked her with a nod of his head.
***
Evan
tapped his wand against a door nervously. He’d spent the entire day
before wondering if he should take her up on her offer. Now the silence
was the only answer. At last the door was opened a crack. To Evan’s
surprise, no one was on the doorstep.
‘Lookie down’ a high, childish voice said.
Evan
looked in this direction. A sweet child stood in front of him, with
unruly black hair and brown eyes. The Slytherin blinked and tried to
remember everything he’d known about Potter. The child looked to be
about two… His thoughts were interrupted by a squeal.
‘Unca Harry! Unca Harry!’
Evan
had only time to wonder why the kid calls Potter ‘Uncle’ before the man
of the house appeared in the doorway. Harry Potter looked exactly like
he’d been described. He had black unruly hair, just like the child at
his feet, green eyes and the famous scar. He seemed to have just gotten
home from work, for he still wore his Auror’s robes. He was pointing his
wand, looking at the guest suspiciously. Evan fought the impulse to
lift his hands up.
‘My name’s Evan Prince. I wondered…’
‘Oh yeah. Ginny’s mentioned you. You’re looking for someone, aren’t you?’
Potter
caught his arm and led him to the drawing room, throwing a few word
along the way (‘Teddy, stop it!” “Gin, we’ve got a guest!”). Evan had
only time to blink before the table in front of him was covered with
various scraps of parchment and newspaper excerpts. Potter sat on the
other side of the table and instantly asked:
‘Who are you looking for, Mr. Prince?’
Straight
to the matter of things. The Slytherin coughed. He seemed to be
embarrassed. Surprised by Harry’s green eyes. He was deep in thoughts
for a while.
‘I was looking for Professor Snape… at Hogwarts. Your wife told me he was killed in battle…’
‘Yeah… like Remus and Tonks…’ Potter sighed.
Evan did not look annoyed by the interruption, saddened rather. He quickly returned to the topic.
‘I’d
hoped he’d answer a few questions for me…’ he swallowed, he continued
though before Potter could interrupt. ‘I am looking for my parents. Your
wife mentioned…’
‘Yeah, yes, that’s right’ the auror nodded his head.
He
seemed to be waiting for more information. Evan noticed he was already
holding a parchment and a quill in his hands. Potter was looking
expectantly at him. The Slytherin coughed.
‘You see, I don’t know
much about them. I was raised in a Muggle orphanage. When I turned 11, I
turned out to be a wizard. I was Sorted into Slytherin. I never learned
whether I am a pureblood or maybe a Muggle-born. I couldn’t understand
for a long time why many people think my presence in the house of the
snake weird. I did a little search in the library and I know the Princes
are an old pureblood family…’
‘That’s died out a long time ago…’ Potter cut in, nodding his head. He was noticeably thinking deeply.
Evan
continued. ‘When I turned 18, they threw me out from the orphanage.
They only gave me one thing - a scrap of paper with my parents’ names on
it. They told me my mother would visit me for the first two years.
They’d never seen my father. I thought I’d search for my parents. But
then the War started. I left England and have returned only recently.
Potter looked at him thoughtfully. ‘I’m guessing you kept the paper?’
‘Of
course’ Evan replied, insulted. Only after a while did he remember that
Potter is an orphan too. ‘Here you go’ he said, passing an old,
yellowed scrap of paper. ‘Not everything is legible, unfortunately.’
Potter
placed it on the table. He furrowed his brows, trying to decipher it.
He muttered a spell under his breath and sighed disappointedly.
‘ “Born 21 September 1978. Evan Prince. Son of Severus…” dammit, I can’t read it… “and-’
Potter
suddenly stopped. It seemed he’d choked on air. Evan bent over the
scrap. He knew perfectly well that his mother’s name was illegible, but
the surname could be read. Evans.
‘Look at me’ Potter said
suddenly. Evan lifted his head, enough for the young auror to stare
intently at him. ‘Yeah, you’ve got her eyes.’
‘Whose eyes?’ Evan
wanted to ask, but was interrupted by Ginny coming in with the tea. To
his surprise, Potter did not even glance at the tray. He was still
staring at the Slytherin.
Finally he started rewriting the data
from the old scrap onto his piece of parchment. The Slytherin noticed he
did not hesitate at all before filling in the mother’s name. Then the
Auror pushed the notes in his direction.
“Lily Evans” was put under mother’s name. Evan glanced, shocked, at Potter.