Wrong, All Wrong

Part title

Following the incident, Harry appeared to be warming up to the adults, asking Lily and Severus more questions and learning how to cook with Sirius. Still, any implication of ignorance, inferiority, or incompetence led to fierce anger. The anger never lasted long, and its short length always came as a surprise.

One theory was that Harry reacted in this fashion since the beginning and this was only apparent now that Aster disappeared. That theory felt incorrect to Severus and the lack of concrete evidence bothered him. His other theory, though...

"Potter's here, Aster," Severus whispered. The gall of the Ministry to tear these twins apart–! Yet, the former Death Eater felt ice cold guilt drench his thoughts as his past mistakes contributed to the twins' current pain. In their letter, the Ministry outright blamed his and Sirius' presence for their decision to grant James custody of Aster.

Aster held his unconscious brother in his arms on the floor, one hand petting Harry's hair. "Can you wake up my brother? Or at least let him sleep?"

Eyeing the wreckage of bookshelves off to the side, Severus let out a soft sigh. "Risking his ire goes against my instincts."

"Please." The whisper alerted Severus of an added complexity to the situation. He spelled the door shut.

"Is something wrong, Aster?" He ignored Lily calling out from the hallway.

Aster took a deep breath. The small act sparked a wave of tension through Severus. The boy lifted his head and locked eyes with the taller man. Red and gold met onyx eyes and Severus' thoughts froze. The red eye was not slitted as Harry's was, but the image of a red iris still evoked fear in the Potion Master's heart.

The twins appeared connected to each other's presence, and separation brought about significant side-effects. At least, that was the development in Harry's case. As there were no major articles about the Boy-Who-Lived suffering a similar panic attack, nor was there James pounding on the door demanding if anyone bewitched Aster, Severus could only assume Aster was not as deeply affected by the twins' separation.

Perhaps Aster was affected by the twins' reunion...

Severus gathered the parchment on his desk and waved it away with his wand. He would look through it thoroughly later. He needed to speak with Lily.

He found Lily in the library, researching her next Charms project. A small smile curved his lips. One good thing that came out of Aster's disappearance and Harry's accident was that Lily needed to distract herself. Harry's curiosity in all things magical and his inquiries into Lily's work inspired her to start a new invention.

Magical Properties of Precious Gems was open in front of her, her emerald eyes slowly roaming down its pages. Her right hand held the pages down while her left hand rolled around a few gems as vibrant as the woman's own jewel-toned eyes.

Looking at the orange-colored gems in her hand he lightly scoffed. "Amber... really, Lily?"

Severus let out a chuckle as Lily jumped in her chair, the gems flying into the air. With a flick of his wand Severus brought them down safely onto the table and sat down in front of her.

Lily swatted at the air in front of her, her other hand on her heart. "Severus I never hear you walk in. Can't you wear a bell or something?" At his glare she laughed. "You know I'm kidding. Anyway, these aren't amber they're actually Sphalerite, a lesser-known gem. I was wondering if I could make use of the fact that its dispersion is high yet it's quite malleable. I'm still experimenting with colors as well, and it comes in a few other colors." Suddenly Lily blushed and pushed her materials away. "You didn't come to hear me babble about my work, though, right?"