It Has To Get Worse Before It Gets Better

Of calamity and excellence

Sirius, Remus, Arthur and Apollo were sat in the kitchen at one end of the table, and the adults were about to divulge what they had discussed the day before. Apollo twisted his fingers together nervously and looked between the three in front of him expectantly. Remus cleared his throat and began to speak.
"We'd like to talk to you about something Apollo, well, a few things actually."
"Its nothing to worry about kid, just some things we have to get straight."
At his dad's words, Apollo only felt more jittery and scared. What did they want to talk about? Was he in trouble?
"I promise you haven't done anything wrong." Remus assured his son, whose face showed evident fear.
Apollo nodded, but was not much less worried than he was before.

"So, I think it makes sense to start with the whole going back to school thing." Said Remus, keeping his voice calm as he could see Apollo was becoming increasingly anxious.
"Ron, Hermione and Ginevra will go back on the first of September, but you're going to go back a little later. I don't know exactly when, but it should be about half way into September, maybe towards the end of the month.

"The reason is, you see, there's some business regarding your inheritance and um... the kidnapping when you were younger that has to be sorted at the ministry."
Apollo's face went pale and his eyes widened. Sirius got up and moved to the other side of the table, sitting beside Apollo to make sure he was okay.
"I'm right here, you're okay." He murmured to Apollo, and held his hand.
Apollo glanced to the left to look at his dad for a second, and Sirius smiled softly.
"The thing is, Apollo," Arthur started, "The ministry is rather particular, and they're going to want to get everything absolutely certain so that they can put them away for good. I have been in contact with some nice wizards and have done some negotiating, so you'll only have to go the the very minimum trials and hearings."

Apollo nodded in thanks to Arthur, but was still too stunned to say anything. He guessed he had always known this day would come, he knew he would have to do all the legal stuff sooner or later, but had sort of pushed it to the back of his mind for the last couple of months. Even just thinking about it made his skin crawl. The idea of having to speak about it all in front of a whole room of people almost made him nauseous.

"Apollo? Apollo? Can you hear me pup?" Apollo was snapped out of his train of thought by Sirius shaking his shoulder lightly and calling his name.
"Yeah, um, sorry. Spaced out." He said. Sirius looked relieved.
"If it gets too much, just say okay? We can take this small steps at a time, as fast or slow as you'd like." Remus said quietly, as he could only imagine how hard it must be for Apollo.
Apollo nodded a little and took a deep breath to steady his head.

"I think you'll be happy to hear that I will be returning as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, which means I can keep an eye on you." Remus said with a smile. Apollo's eyes lit up and he raised his eyebrows.
"Really!?"
"Yep. So no mischief making on my watch." Remus grinned, and Apollo jumped out of his seat to hug him. Remus hugged his son back, glad he could make the situation even just a little better.

"I won't be going back until you do though, because I have to attend a lot of the trials too." Apollo nodded and whispered his thanks, to which Remus just chuckled.
Apollo sat back down beside Sirius.

"So, how do you feel? Y'know, about the whole 'going back to school' thing." Sirius asked Apollo.
"I'm kind of scared." Apollo whispered, making himself smaller in his seat, and rubbing the back of his neck.
"That's fine. Totally understandable. It's bound to be hard, there's no escaping it. But I know for sure you can overcome it. Just look at how far you've come. And you have all of us; your dad and I, Ron and Hermione, the twins... so many people care about you. You're not alone anymore Apollo." Remus said with tears forming in his eyes.

Apollo couldn't hold his tears back anymore, and he covered his face with his hands as they started to spill down his cheeks.
He felt himself being pulled gently, and hesitantly leaned towards them. He heard Sirius murmur and hid his face in his chest, trying to make as little noise with his crying as he could. Sirius rubbed comforting circles on his back and pressed a kiss to his head, between his ears. Apollo sniffed, and wiped his eyes, embarrassed for crying in front of both of his fathers and godfather. He still felt uncomfortable expressing his emotions and feelings, especially around other people, as he had to pretend he had none for years.