Finally, Brethren...

Disclaimer: Except for OCs, the characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

A rather large crowd was seated at a conference table the following November. Severus could only surmise that it was the living descendants of the Prince family, who were in any way in line for the legacy. He was sure that he had no real standing in the room except perhaps as a family witness. Likewise, he found himself across the table from Sonny Andolini, whom he assumed was there in the same capacity.

Katherine and the baby had been summoned to this meeting as well, but Severus refused to take any chances with their safety. For whatever reasons she or the child had been targeted, he didn't want to take a chance that anyone was still out to murder either one of them. His love for Katherine grew stronger every day, and although he had never liked children, his own son was a completely different story. Instead of bringing the two of them, Severus brought duly notarized documents giving him power of attorney to act on their behalf during this meeting.

He was fairly certain that there would not be much behalf to act on. Katherine had all but proved that Lucius would inherit the entire legacy. The Malfoys were delighted to hear that, and all three sat down the table from Severus. He tried hard not to laugh at the way Lucius fawned over the pregnant Narcissa, demanding that one and all admire her beauty. It was all Severus could do not to observe that she looked rather like a misshapen kumquat. He instead admired the woman who could inspire such love in a man who usually looked only at surface beauty.

A rather fussy-looking solicitor finally came into the room, accompanied by an equally fussy goblin. The two looked at everyone seated at the table as though to intimidate them. Through greed or disinterest, however, no one was cowed. Severus watched the others at the table with curiosity. Who here had been involved in the attempts to kill his wife? Would he ever know?

He hoped it didn't matter. As soon as this meeting was over, his family would be free of the dangers threatening it, and he would be able to bring them back to London. It was not something he'd seen as desirable before, but walking a pushchair through a city park was now something he wanted to do. Children do change everything, he thought.

He realized that he was woolgathering as the meeting was starting. The solicitor cleared his throat, and the meeting began. He read through a sizable document as small bequests were given to various people around the table. It seemed that the charm governing the legacy had been broken enough to allow for small side inheritances along one branch or another of the family tree. The recipients obtained those bequests merely by being next in line along those branches.

"Finally, the bulk of the estate goes to the straightest line male descendant whose blood is more than fifty percent pure."

The air in the room changed as many people leaned in. One man leaned back, confident that he would receive it all, while another leaned back, confident he would get nothing. The latter looked around the table, wishing he could watch all of their faces as the announcement was made.

"The descendant who best fits those qualities is one Lu..."

"Yes!" came from Lucius down the table. Narcissa and Draco started to relax in relief after the worry of the past year.

"...cas Severus Snape."

"Damn!" breathed out Lucius again. Everyone turned to Severus, who had concentrated so much upon watching the others that he hadn't quite understood what was just said.

The solicitor was thanking everyone for being there and the goblin was telling the beneficiaries to stay behind as the others left. Lucius stood next to Severus, who slowly rose to shake his hand. The blond-haired wizard smiled ruefully.

"No hard feelings."

"Pardon?"

"Your kid won the whole thing, Snape. Weren't you paying attention?"

"My son?"

Narcissa smiled. "Weren't you paying attention, Severus? Lucas inherited the legacy. Your son is very likely the richest wizard in England."

"He's not in England," answered Severus, reaching for the surest fact he could verify.

"He doesn't understand it yet," Lucius said to Narcissa. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I've been meaning to thank you. When the vineyard burned, the price of the wine skyrocketed. I've made a tidy bit of money on it while the insurance is rebuilding the vineyard. It will be several years before that section can be made to bear again, but it will be better than ever."

Severus caught the eye of his wife's uncle, whose face seemed ashamed and yet proud. He realized that this was the person who could explain everything. Sonny caught Severus looking and moved toward the door. "Wait a minute!"

He grabbed the sleeve of the older wizard just as the goblin said, "A moment, Headmaster Snape?"

Sonny escaped, but Severus knew he would find him before long.

* * * * *

The train's passengers watched the older lady work her way through the car until she found a seat that suited her. Although her hair was gray and wore an old woman's clothes, she walked with an assurance that made her seem much younger. As she settled herself into her space, she realized she was carrying a ridiculously large handbag and frowned at it. It was as if she didn't know what to do with it.

After debarking from the train in a small southern Italian town, the older woman made her way to a cafe at the edge of an olive grove. She looked until she saw a gentleman of a similar age to her own sitting at a table right under some of the trees. He stood as she walked over and kissed her cheek before seating her.

"I was told you could answer all the questions."

Sonny shook his head. "Not while you look like Gussy." He looked Katherine up and down. "That witch was born to be old, I think. I believe she wore that same hat on the Hogwarts express back when we were fifth-years. Agnes sneered, but we ignored her. She hung around with us way too much, and we never really cared what she thought. Corrine giggled and whispered that it was just Gussy's way."

His eyes wandered somewhere behind Katherine as he traveled a long ago journey. "Even then, Longbottom couldn't take his eyes off of Gussy. Why not? I was the same way about..." Then he shook his head. "Suppose you tell me how the baby is doing." He looked at her fondly.

"I would have brought him, but Severus says he can't leave the island until everyone forgets about the inheritance."

She passed some pictures across the table and the wizard looked at them hungrily. He asked questions and she answered them, showing him the various small events in the baby's life and how different he already was from one picture to another.

"He grows so quickly. Already he's completely different than the tiny baby I held for those first few days." As she smiled, she seemed years younger.

After a while, she shivered, and if anyone could have seen her face or her hair under the hat, they would have seen a sandy-haired woman in her middle to late thirties. She took a long drink from her wineglass and then cleared her throat.

"Now, Uncle Sonny, Severus told me that you knew why the baby inherited the legacy. You know how it is that he's not a half-blood like his parents."

For the first time in her life, Katherine watched uncertainty pass over her uncle's face. "I'm not sure where to start the story, Katie. This, here, is the place where it all started for me." He waved his hand at the grove of trees. "That's the land my father, and his fathers before him worked. This is my family home. Some day, you will own my share in it."

"Oh!" She looked. "But then how were you and my mother cousins? How did you ever meet?"

He smiled. "Her father's sister was married to my mother's cousin. So we are distantly related, but that is not how we met. Papa met Mama on a trip to England and they fell in love at first sight. She came here to live with him, but it was too hot, she always said. So she traveled to England and stayed with family there during the summers. When I was at Hogwarts she came home to be with Papa."

He looked at her and smiled, a little strangely. Then he looked at the pictures again, fingering Katherine's face nearly as much as he touched the small face of Lucas. He sighed and continued. "When I met Corinne, I lost my heart. Yes, we were related, but what pure-bloods are not? Actually, we had fewer family connections than many did. After school ended, we planned to get married. We were sure we would be happier than many couples. We would have been, I think.

"I was talked into one last trip to visit my parents. While I was there, both fell ill and I had to stay and work. I don't know for sure why the letters we sent each other were never received, but I suspect that cow of an Agnes was involved. When I finally returned to England, Corinne was married to that Asher creep and pregnant with you."

Uncle Sonny stopped to take a drink of water. Katherine suddenly had a premonition that the next part of the story was the critical one. She didn't know whether she should stop him or beg him to hurry. She squeezed his hand where they were clasped on the table. He smiled and squeezed back.

"I never really understood why she married him, but it became clear. You were born a few weeks earlier than many people expected. As it happened, it was just about nine months from the time I left to come to Italy. Jack suspected but was never really sure."

"Until the day I did magic in front of him." Katherine winced at the memory of her mother staggering under the blow of her father's...not her father's, she realized with a twinge of pleasure...hand.

"I wanted to kill him then, but Corinne wouldn't let me. I worried so much about you both. I settled for visiting him when you were at school one morning. I was very convincing. He wasn't supposed to touch either of you again."

Katherine fingered the coffee cup now sitting in front of her. "He was actually good unless he'd been drinking, and he never touched me. When he got too drunk to control himself, he would spend the next half day weeping and begging mother..." She drifted off remembering. "He would beg her not to tell on him... to you?"

Tears were gleaming in his eyes. "She wouldn't leave him. Somehow she felt we deserved to be punished. I almost convinced her, right before you were forced into marriage with Cyrus, but again duty called me away when those I loved needed me."

Katherine turned her head. Suddenly she understood a great many things about her Uncle Sonny as well as her mother. Corinne Asher had her share of pride, and could be spiteful at times. Sonny would always follow what he called duty, and Corinne would never have accepted second place from the man she loved. Instead she allowed a man who was nothing to her to abuse her for the latter half of her life. She couldn't explain any of that to the man who was sitting at the table with her. He was perceptive. He probably understood some of it, anyway.

"So I'm not half-blood?"

Sonny shook his head. "Like it or not, you're a pure-blood witch."

Katherine nodded her head as she absorbed it all. Sonny wasn't quite done. "You're also in line for the Prince Legacy, yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

"I understand there was one piece of the family tree you didn't finish looking at."

"The Italian one," said Katherine with a gasp.

"It would have brought you here to this very vineyard. You and Severus are distantly related through my great-great-grandfather, who was the younger brother of his great-great-great-grandfather. Severus is a straighter line, but you are the next nearest. In fact, I believe the only reason you couldn't inherit was your gender."

"It always goes to a male. The Muggles followed male lines when the charms were laid out, so the Prince Legacy was set that way, too," said Katherine absently. "So little Lucas is more than half-blood."

"Yes, that's why he inherits."

"I wish you had told me this before."

"Corinne was adamant, but I've come to learn that Agnes Weatherfield manipulated things greatly. She certainly manipulated your mother. From what I've learned through my contacts over the years, it was Agnes who convinced your mother I wouldn't be returning from Italy. She told your mother that she was traveling here to marry me. She maneuvered events with Jack Asher and Cyrus Stanton, too."

"She caused my marriage to Cyrus?" Katherine asked in disbelief.

"Money changed hands. I now know that it was she who paid off your father's bar bill and told Cyrus he could have you in the bargain. Your marriage was a way for her to punish me."

"How could a woman, a mother, do such things?" mused Katherine.

"I've realized recently that she believed that if she and I ever had a child, he would be the heir to the legacy. I believe now that her family knew or guessed how the Prince Legacy passed from one generation to the next. In fact, her pursuit of me started right before my parents got so sick, when Old Thaddeus inherited it. Much of what she has done has been in an effort to force me into marriage with her. When she realized that wouldn't work, she got married to Gustav's father. For some reason, he died shortly after I was incarcerated at the hospital. She came to me and practically raped me in my hospital bed, suggesting that if I would do as she wished, she would get me out of there. She was older, but I suppose not too old for a child."

"You refused."

"I wouldn't risk it in any case. There were whispers about how Gustav's father died. As soon as she left, I summoned some of my associates, who started making my inquiries for me. When I understood what I thought was everything, I started making my plans. Then you started working on this case and new facets of the situation came to light. You have gotten the greatest vengeance of all, one that hurts Agnes particularly." He pulled her hands to his lips. "You have made me proud and happy, my daughter."

Katherine smiled, and for a while they were both silent. They drank their wine and ate the bread and cheese before them. Suddenly Katherine sat up.

"I still don't understand about Silvia. She seemed to be working with the Weatherfields, but she couldn't have been if they wanted Audrey to have a baby with Severus."

"I believe if you were to look carefully, you would discover that Silvia is Agnes's niece. Her mother was pure-blood, but not a line Agnes wanted. Audrey's mother was in the correct family, but she was a Squib. In any case, they were both witches and not allowed to inherit. Their value lay in producing a boy with the right wizard. Severus was the only one of the straightest line, so Agnes concentrated on him."

"It's like something from the dark ages," Katherine said thoughtfully. "I don't understand all of this concentration on family trees and status. It seems like such a waste of time and effort."

"You sound like a proper blood traitor." He said it proudly.

"Have you explained all of this to Severus?"

"He helped me figure out the last bit about Silvia."

"He wouldn't tell me any of it. He said it was your place to explain it."

"He's right."

"If you feel that way, why did you wait until now?"

He shrugged and looked sad. "I wasn't sure it was my place. You seemed perfectly happy with me as your uncle."

"I could have used a proper father, especially after I got out of school."

"I don't expect you to forgive and forget, not so soon after learning about it all."

"I feel like I need to get to know you all over again, as though Uncle Sonny is somehow gone beyond the veil and a new person is here with me, now."

Katherine clasped his hands and looked at him. He looked so hopeful, and although he looked nothing like Lucas, she suddenly saw the exact facial expression Lucas made when he wanted her to feed him. It was strange and yet it seemed perfectly normal. She suddenly saw her way clear. "Will you meet with me once in a while and tell me about my family? Will you give m a chance to get to know you as my father?"

He looked relieved but then looked worried. "Will Severus let you off your island that often?"

"He knows better than to stifle me, and I think he knows how important this will be to me."

Sonny smiled broadly. "As often as you can manage it, then...I would like that very much."

* * * * *

Two years later

The sun moved lower and a breeze moved over the island. The woman walking along the beach with the tow-headed child near her stretched and took a deep breath, noting the change in the air. She heard a distant cracking sound and smiled. If she waited, the object of her affection would soon some to the beach.

She looked down at her son as he examined a bit of sea-shell on the sand. The shell was actually a small crab walking toward the water. The tot made squealing noises and followed, chattering up to his mother, who understood one word in five but nodded as though she were in Professor Flitwick's class.

An arm circled her waist. She jumped but then relaxed against the body of the man behind her. Turning, she reached around his neck and lifted herself on tiptoe to kiss him. "Did everything go well?"

"All of that infernal money is sitting and growing, if that's what you mean."

"How are the Malfoys?"

"Likely to be peasants soon, if they don't stop catering to every whim of the princess Narcissa gave birth to."

"Severus, I've had a letter from Narcissa. I know exactly how you behaved around that darling baby."

"Hmph. She's nothing compared to my son." He said it with such pride that Katherine smiled.

"How was the travel back? Are you hungry?"

"I only took a couple of hours getting here, and I'm not hungry in the least."

"Well, it's time for his nap soon. Then we can have a nice long talk."

He leaned down and tousled Lucas's hair. "How is my big boy?"

"Dad-dee!" The crab went its way without note as the boy's attention was diverted. He put his arms up in a demand to be lifted. Severus picked the boy up and held him up so that they could look eye to eye. "I think you've gotten much bigger this past week. Have you been taking good care of Mummy?"

The boy launched into a long description of his doings, or perhaps he was explaining something else. The parents understood some but not all of his words. Severus put a free arm around his wife's shoulders and the small family walked toward the house.

As they reached the small grove of orange trees, the child fell silent. Severus stopped and turned to look into his wife's face. "Most of the furor has died down, but I'm not convinced, yet. Therefore, I've figured out another means to protect our son."

She smiled. "I'm sure whatever you have in mind is a marvelous idea. How will we do it?"

"We'll give him heirs, plenty of heirs, until he can create his own."

Katherine giggled. "Are you sure?"

"Why not? If we just keep making more, surely even the most determined of criminals will decide to look elsewhere for a fortune."

"That's probably excessive." She giggled again. "It's funny you should mention that, though."

Severus suddenly had a thought and grasped her tightly by her shoulder. He fixed her with his gaze and said, "Katherine, if I were to take out my wand and say the charm that turned all of those test kits into candles..."

Her smile was shy to start and then knowing as she answered, "You would probably burn down that wing of the house."

finis

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A/N: I'm not sure this is what anyone had in mind when the decision was made to continue this story. So much has happened in RL since the night I couldn't sleep and watched The Thomas Crown Affair on TV, that it has a completely different flavor than I started with. Through it all, many of you have continued to follow the story, which I appreciate greatly. Thank you so much for your kind attention.

As always, I couldn't do it without the help of beta reader Trickie Woo and the admins here at the archive. I'm grateful to all of them, as well.