Chapter One

Life with Jennifer

 

  While fires burned and cauldrons bubbled, and dim candles flickered with the melting of wax, Severus Snape was finally able to secure a quiet hour away from the mayhem in the cottage to write in his journal.  It had been rather neglected of late; in fact, it had been rather neglected ever since Jennifer Craw first came into his life.  Oh, there was an entry here and there, after one close call or the other, and academic notations, of course, but hardly the daily record that he had kept during the darker years of his life when he had no other outlet.  Now seemed like a perfect time to take it up again, as the many aspects of his life were preparing to collide at the beginning of the next school year, and something had to be done to keep his thoughts organized…Pensieves were only useful after the fact.  The trick was to be organized from the beginning.  Dipping his raven feather quill into the ink, he began to write in thin, spidery handwriting.

 

  July 8^th.  The summer has been quite chaotic, lending to a complete halt to anything that might have in the past been referred to as, “Spare time.”  Ever since Alexandria was born on May the 28^th (the same day, in fact, that her mother nearly lost her life in Salazar’s Tomb the year before,) our lives have been turn upside down as we’ve struggled to regain some semblance of normalcy.  My daughter fairs her mother in appearance, which is something of a blessing.  Her hair is the same shade of auburn, although her eyes seem to darken by the day.    Her adopter brother Corey has been surprisingly helpful, and with the help of his own sister Essie has been able to preserve Jennifer’s and my sanity, and allow us a precious hour of sleep now and again, something I wholeheartedly miss taking for granted. 

  Severus paused a moment in thought, gazing at the flickering candles a moment before continuing.

  Not, of course, that I have any regrets in regards to having children.  In fact, both Jennifer and I have agreed to continue on schedule as planned, and not without unsolicited encouragements.  Jennifer’s father Thomas (who has still yet to meet his granddaughter) has already began to inquire when one with a Craw name would be coming, as we had promised the next to be named after someone from his side of the family.

 Jennifer is doing quite well, although I do have some reservations about this modern medicine idea of “natural healing.”  Natural healing indeed.  What good are potions if you’re not allowed to use them?  I’m quite sure the entire concept was made up by a woman.  Fortunately, it has finally been six weeks.  I only hope we can engage a nanny soon and perhaps I can entice Jennifer to get away for an evening away from the constant distraction caused by the everyday crisis of parenting.

  So far the search for a nanny has not gone well.  I warned her last year that not going ahead and putting on Miss Finn was a mistake, although I do believe from the glares I’ve been getting lately that she is getting rather tired of hearing me point that fact out to her.  I am not quite sure why she took such a disliking to Miss Finn.  I, for one, have taken more of a disliking to searching for a nanny, for those who have applied left much to be desired.  One had complained that the Broom Closet was not large enough to suit her, another was strangely fond of hybrid houses and didn’t want to work in a house without electricity.  Quite the eccentric.  At least they weren’t like the majority of witches who seem to be more interested in how working for the famous Jennifer Craw would look on an application rather than the position itself.  But Jennifer’s Truth-Seeking ability has come in handy, and perhaps it will help us achieve the impossible feat of finding someone trustworthy enough to take care of affairs here while we return to Hogwarts.

  Outside of the home, matters are not so trivial.  After the attempt by an insane Muggle last year to unleash the ancient magics, Cornelius Fudge has once again disappeared, taking with him a tome that once belonged to Lucius Malfoy, and which appeared to have spells in it a Muggle could control.  Malfoy, for the most part, has been rather quiet over the last month, which makes me tend to believe that he is probably setting another plan into motion to get even with Jennifer for jailing him three years before.  In the Dark Forest, things have become more and more unstable despite Sirius, Lupin and my attempts to slow it down, making a dangerous and disturbingly close breeding grounds for any evil creature attracted by the dark power unleashed from the tomb.  And my sister Titiana is still attempting to juggle an existence in the Muggle world when she should just be concentrating on ours.  How she ever expects to get a handle on her magic and learn control while traipsing about the Earth in Aero-jets I have no idea.  If it wasn’t for Harry and Vallid, I might have had words with her about it; not that she would listen.  In this way, at least, she is most undoubtedly a Snape.

 

  Severus put down his quill and left it there to dry before turning his attention to his cauldrons, adjusting the temperature carefully and testing the potency with specially treated sticks that he kept in a large glass jar on the table.  There was a rhythmic knock on the door.  After a moment Severus heard the sound of the door opening and then being latched back and something…probably a chair…being dragged across the kitchen floor.  Gentle footsteps tapped down the hollow stairs, stopping halfway to the bottom.  Severus glanced up to see his wife sitting there on the steps, smiling tiredly at him with several letters in her hand.  To say that she was beautiful would have been an understatement, although it had been her keen mind and unshakable spirit that had chipped away the stone wall he had built around himself to try and keep everyone away.  In some ways, she probably knew him better than he knew himself; but then, he knew her better than he knew himself as well.

  “I take it Alexandria is asleep,” Severus said, turning the burners down even more.

  “Finally,” Jennifer chuckled softly.  “And I have Corey out in the garden putting out weeds.  He really wants a new Bludger bat for his birthday.  His old one is pretty splintered after that last Ravenclaw game.”

  “Very well, if you insist.  But after his marks slipped last year I’m not so sure he deserves it,” Severus said, taking out some clean phials.

  “Severus, it’s for Corey’s birthday.  I know we had to be hard on him about the broom and his schoolwork, but he shouldn’t have to earn every present he gets,” Jennifer said, shaking her head and smiling slightly.  “Besides, if he doesn’t keep his marks up, he can’t stay on the team and he knows it.”

  “Have you spoken to him about sparring yet?” he inquired.

  “I thought you were the one who was going to do it,” Jennifer said back.  Severus sighed.  “Oh come on, I can’t be the bad witch all the time.  He’ll argue a lot less if it comes from you.”

  “Was that what you came down here to tell me?” Severus asked, tapping his fingers on his side, slightly irritable at having to be the one to tell him.

  “No, I came down here to tell you that the post came.  We have another person coming for an interview this afternoon…”

  “Wonderful,” Severus said sounding unenthusiastic.

  “A letter from Minerva with next year’s agenda, a letter from your sister, and a letter from the Chocolate Charms Candy Company letting us know we’ve both been selected for premiere cards in their Destruction of the Dark Wizard series,” Jennifer said, rolling her eyes.

  “Me?”  Severus blinked in annoyance.  “You I can understand, but me?”

  “Oh come now, Severus, if it weren’t for you I’d never have made it past my first year here, let alone be able to do anything about Voldemort.  Like it or not you’re a hero too,” Jennifer said.

  “That is the most laughable thing I have heard of all summer.  What right does a candy company have to capitalize on Voldemort’s death anyhow,” Severus muttered.  “Isn’t it about time everyone just moved on?” he asked, walking up to her.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Jennifer agreed, handing him his letters.  “I have to admit I feel a tad sorry for Harry.  What we’re going through I’m sure is worse for him ten times over.”

  “Harry can take care of himself,” Severus shrugged, glancing at the post.  Just then there was a knock at the door, and Jennifer glanced at her watch in surprise.

  “That can’t be the appointment already.  It’s too early,” she mused, heading up the stairs.  Double-checking to make sure none of his cauldrons were boiling over, he followed her up.

  Jennifer opened the door to see Essie Willowby, Corey’s sister, standing there in tears.  Quickly, Jennifer had her come in and sit down, Corey appearing from behind a bookcase, looking alarmed at his sister’s grief.

  “What is it, Essie, what’s wrong?”  Jennifer asked, gazing into her face.

  “An Owl came today.  The Owl.  But Aunt Rebecca isn’t going to let me go,” she sobbed, gazing up at Corey.

  “You got accepted into Hogwarts?”  Jennifer said in amazement.  She gnawed on her lip, glancing over at Severus.

  “She can’t really stop her from going, can she?” Corey asked, looking between Jennifer and Severus.  “I mean, Harry got to go even though his Muggle aunt and uncle didn’t want him to, right?”

  “Corey, those were very different circumstances,” Jennifer tried to explain.

  “Why?  Because he had a scar on his head and she doesn’t?” Corey asked point blank.

  “It was a bit more complicated than that, Corey.  They never legally adopted Harry,” Severus began to explain.

  “I don’t want to go to the regular school.  I want to go to school with you,” Essie sobbed.  “Isn’t there anything you can do?”

  Jennifer headed for the door, and it didn’t take Severus long to figure out where she was going.

  “Wait, let’s not jump into anything we might regret, Jennifer.  Why don’t we talk to Dumbledore before doing anything that’s just going to get us into trouble?”  Severus suggested.

  “Who said anything about we?  I am going to go try and talk to that woman.  You can stay here and watch Alex,” Jennifer said.  But Severus knew very well that if he let Jennifer handle this it would more than likely get out of hand.

  “I have a better idea.  You stay, I’ll go,” Severus said, causing Jennifer to blink in surprise.  “It’s no secret that Mrs. Hunt doesn’t like you.  Perhaps if I go I may be able to get her to listen.”

  “I don’t know, Severus.  I don’t think she’s going to be very willing to listen to anyone,” Jennifer said.

  “You also have to be here for the interview.  I can’t Truth-seek for you.  No, you stay.  Essie, Corey, you’re both with me.”  Severus said.

  “Me too, Dad?” Corey asked, wide-eyed.

  “It is high time that Mrs. Hunt realizes who her neighbors are.  This has gone on long enough, and I’d rather see it over with, one way or another.  You cannot spend the rest of your lives sneaking around to avoid your problems.  Sooner or later you’ll have to solve them and better sooner than later.  Now march,” Severus ordered, opening the door.

  As they walked out onto the road, Corey couldn’t help but notice something lying beneath the large oak, trying to get a better look when he came off of the porch.

  “Did you get a dog, Essie?”  Corey asked.  Severus squinted, turning around.

  “That’s not a dog, that’s a wolf.  Jennifer?” He called.  Jennifer stepped out curiously, and then grimaced slightly.

  “Looks like the interviewee got here early after all,” she said, nodding to Severus.  “Go on, I can handle it.”

  “An Animagus nanny?  How cool would that be?” Corey said to no one in particular, following behind Severus as he headed up the path.

  “I expect you to keep your comments to yourself during this trip, if you don’t mind,” Severus snapped at him, nodding slightly to the wolf as they passed her.  The arctic wolf stood and bowed her head slightly as they passed, then turned her head to the woman approaching.  Jennifer smiled at her softly.

  “Hello again, Miss Finn.  I see you found the place alright,” Jennifer said.  The wolf’s grey and white coat began to shift in front of her, and a moment later a lovely red-haired woman appeared, her blue eyes twinkling merrily.  She appeared to be about the same age as Jennifer, in her late twenties, and was conservatively dressed in a blue-grey dress with fine white embroidery around the cuffs and waist.

  “I apologize that I’m a wee bit early, but ‘twas such a lovely day, I thought I would just sit and enjoy this splendid view of the ocean until it was time,” Carol Finn explained.

  “It’s all right, come on in.  Welcome to the Broom Closet,” Jennifer grinned, walking her to the door.

  “The Broom Closet?”

  “Yes, well, that’s what my husband always calls it,” Jennifer chuckled, showing her in. 

  Carol gazed around the tiny cottage with its bookshelf walls and small open kitchen.  Despite its small size it was tastefully decorated in rich woods and warm colors, just the sort of place any witch might want to come to if they wanted a quiet spot to relax and think.  Light streamed in from the open garden door in the back of the kitchen, letting in fragrant breezes of the salty air mixed with blossoming herbs.

  “It’s bigger than it looks though really.  There’s an upstairs through that bookcase over there where most of the bedrooms are, and Severus has a full potion lab and work area in the basement,” Jennifer motioned at one of the doors before offering her a stool in the kitchen and sat down

  “Ah, but I thought you were the Potion’s master?” Carol asked curiously, taking a seat.

  “I may be the Potion’s master of Hogwarts, but we agreed before we got married that he was the Potion’s master of the family,” Jennifer grinned.  “Just as well, I rather hate the basement anymore, or anywhere else underground.  But enough about me,” Jennifer said quickly, really not wanting to get into it.  “Tell me a bit about yourself.  And just so you know, I’m a Truth-Seeker and capable of reading faces, so if there’s any reason that might be a problem…”

  “Not at all, ma’am, I’ve little to hide,” Carol smiled.  “I grew up in a traditional wizard family in Ireland, me Da runs a small fishing company off the coast.  I went to school at Greenbarrow Wizardcraft…and during one of the first years they allowed witches to attend, might I add, and majored in the Practical Arts.  I also attended some classes at the college in Dublin; me Da thought I needed a more rounded education, and thought some Muggle Humanities would do me some good.”

   “And then you returned home?” Jennifer inquired.

  “Aye, that’s when I began tutoring for wizard families for primary level classes.  But little ones don’t stay little forever, and I felt the need to get away from my roots for awhile,” Carol said.  “So, I decided to come here in hopes of getting another tutor or a nanny position and stretch my wings away from the family.”  Jennifer glanced to look at her references.  Well, so far everything seemed all right, Jennifer thought, but she still couldn’t help but think perhaps she was too good to be true.  There did seem to be some friction when she spoke of her father.  Or had Jennifer just imagined that?  “Pardon, ma’am, but is something burning?”  Jennifer looked up in surprise then glanced at the basement door, seeing oddly yellow smoke drifting in from the cracks.

  “Great stars!  The potions!”  Jennifer said, leaping down the stairs, the door slamming shut behind her.  She took them two at a time, coughing slightly at the fumes as she ran to turn off all the burners, trying not to get any of the boiled over liquid on her as she did so.  Her shoes got stuck in the sticky substance on the floor and she ended up leaving them behind, stepping gingerly back towards the steps.  It was as she got to the bottom of the stairs that she noticed the door to the basement was shut.  Sheer terror gripped her and her head pounded as Jennifer thundered up the stairs, slamming the door back with such force that one of the hinges came loose, clambering past the surprised Carol and out into the garden to get a breath of air, sitting in a lawn chair with a pounding chest.  Gathering her wits about her, Carol looked through the cabinets until she found the tea set and then quickly followed her out with a tray.

  “Here now, have some tea to steady your nerves.  I expect the potions were ruined enough, but those things happen,” Carol said soothingly, handing her a cup.  “I think I heard the baby just now, all the ruckus must have woken her.  First bookcase on the left, isn’t it?  Let me go bring her down, you just stay here and relax a moment,” Carol said, whisking back into the house.

  Jennifer felt like a complete idiot, sighing loudly as she stared at the cup.  Of course the door wasn’t locked.  That door only locked from the inside.  It would have been bad enough had she went into a tizzy with only Severus or Corey at home, let alone a complete stranger.  But Carol seemed quite unconcerned as she made her way back out, Alexandria cooing contentedly in her arms.

  “What a darlin’ princess you have here, Mrs. Snape, you must be very proud of her,” Carol said with a smile.  “And so good natured too.  Now then, no reason to look so glum, potions can be replaced easily enough.”

  “Miss Finn I’m sorry, I…lost myself a moment there.  You see, I…don’t get on well underground, and when the door shut…some heroine I am,” Jennifer chuckled bitterly to herself.  “You know, when I taught Defense, I told all my students that fear was their worst enemy and tried to train them out of it.  Yet hear I am, petrified to even go in my own basement.  It seems like the harder I try to defy it, the worse it gets.  I’m never going to get over this,” she sighed softly, looking slightly depressed.

  “Nae, I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if you never got over it,” Carol agreed, surprising Jennifer, who stared at her.  “After all, ma’am, you’re only human, and what happened to you an’ Harry is no secret to anyone.  But if you think the fact ye’re not fearless makes you less of a person, ye’re more naïve than I would have thought,” Carol said, smiling softly.  “It’s how you chose to deal with fears that matter, not with whether or not you have them.  Now, let me get the wee one a bottle, and you finish your tea, and I’ll be right back out to finish the interview,” Carol smiled comfortingly, getting up and slipping in the door.  Jennifer looked at after the woman thoughtfully, sipping her tea, and realizing she had already made up her mind even before the interview began again.

 

 

Chapter Two

Essie

 

  Corey hurried to keep up with his adopted father, slightly worried about what was going to happen next.  It had been a year and a half since the Death Eaters had murdered his parents in a horrible Christmas raid, and since then his Aunt Rebecca, blaming all wizard kind for that act, turned her back on Corey and anyone else born of magic.  He had always understood why, although he had never agreed with her; he himself couldn’t help but feel a little guilty that perhaps if it hadn’t been for him, they might have not died.  No, Corey thought, shaking himself out of it.  He knew it wasn’t so simple as that.  Had anyone been able to do anything, they would have.  Still, he had forgiven her long ago for her anger.  She and her husband had taken such good care of Essie and the farm since it happened, and had done everything to make things right.  But now all of that was in jeopardy because of a single letter, a letter his sister’s future depended on.

  Not a word was said as Severus headed towards the farmhouse.  Corey, a bit leery about what his aunt was going to do when she saw them, stood back from the door and tried to comfort Essie, who was nervously biting her nails.  It was Uncle Mark who opened the door, gazing in surprise first at the tall black figure looming on the porch and then at the two children standing together a few paces away on the path.

  “My name is Professor Snape, and I would like to have a moment to speak with your and your wife about your niece, if you don’t mind,” Severus said in a voice that indicated that he actually didn’t care if they minded or not.

  “I remember you,” Mark said calmly.  “You were at the funeral standing with Corey, and at church at Christmas.  I suppose you’d better come in,” he said expressionlessly, opening the door wider.  “You two youngins’ hang a bit out o’ the way while we talk to yer aunt,” he added, shutting the door.  Corey and Essie looked at each other as it closed.

  “Well, I’m not missing this, let’s head for the window,” Corey said.  “I hope Dad doesn’t have his necklace on,” he added as the two of them hurried around the corner.

  “Necklace?  What necklace?”  Essie asked, but Corey hushed her, realizing the window was open.  The two of them wedged themselves between the tree and the house just under where the curtains were blowing out of the open window and sat against the trunk.  Corey risked a peek in just as his aunt came out of the kitchen door, wiping her hands off on a towel around her waist, looking none too pleased at finding a wizard in her parlor.

  “I suppose you’re here about Essie.  Well, it’s a waste of time.  She’s not here, and you’re not going to contaminate her with your devil’s powers so you might as well be off and leave us alone.”

  “Becky –“

  “Now, don’t you start, Mark!  Bad enough to let one of his sort in the house, he might’ve come to finish the job and kill us as well!”  Rebecca said,  “He’ll have to if he wants to take Essie!  Because I won’t let you near her!”

  “I’m afraid you’ve already failed at that, just as you failed to keep Essie and Corey apart,” Severus said evenly, although his black eyes were flashing slightly.  “The truth of the matter is that Essie has visited her brother nearly every day this summer, as she did the summer before.  And if any ill has come of it, it would only be the fact that she was afraid to tell you, knowing that you might find another way to try and keep them from seeing each other.  And that I will not have,” Severus snarled dangerously.  “Aunt or no aunt, blood relative or not, you have no right to keep them apart if they want to see each other, and nothing you can say or do will be able to stop it.”

  “How dare you threaten me in my own home!  If you don’t leave at once, I’m going to call the authorities and tell them what’s really going on here!  And I want my niece back this very instant!” Rebecca said, standing toe to toe with the much taller man.

  “Now, Becky, Essie is right outside.  I just didn’t want her in the middle of this,” Mark reassured her.  Rebecca stopped and stared at her husband.

  “You knew about this!”  She accused him.

  “Well, not ‘xactly.  Suspected would be the better word,” Mark said.  “I heard from Brommel about ‘em owning the cottage a while back, and Essie always heads towards the bluff when she’s mindin’ the sheep. “

  “Don’t you realize the danger you’re putting her in getting mixed up with these people?”  Rebecca asked.  “Look at him!  If he doesn’t look like an incarnate of evil then no one does!”  Severus couldn’t help but smirk slightly.

  “Fortunately, we’re not here to discuss me.  We’re here to talk about Essie,” he reminded her, drawing himself up.

  Corey felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back in surprise at who was standing there with a finger pressed to his lips, patting him gently before heading towards the front door.  Corey grinned at Essie, who seemed to have missed the whole thing, then peered expectantly back in the window.

  “Essie is staying here and going to a normal school where she belongs!”  Rebecca said firmly.

  “She belongs at Hogwarts, or she wouldn’t have been invited at all,” Severus said defiantly.  Corey gnawed on his bottom lip.  “Whether you like it or not, she is a witch and she should be properly trained.”

  “Essie is no such thing!  I’ll not have you corrupt her like that Craw woman did to Corey!” Rebecca yelled, glancing out the window wondering where Essie was.  The two children ducked back.

  “Madam, I have been trying to be patient, but if you insult my wife again, I’ll be quite tempted to give you a little demonstration…” Severus growled, pausing at the sound of a knock at the door. 

 Grateful for the distraction, Mark headed over to the door, leaving the two of them to glare threateningly at each other.  He was quite surprised to see the three men who were standing at the door, for although he had known them all fairly well, they had never called there before.

  “Mr. Door!  Father Pachem!  And Sarge?  This is an unexpected surprise, do come in,” Mark said, stepping away from the door.  Still flustered, Rebecca tried to regain her composure while still eyeing Severus, taking off her towel and pushing back her hair with her hand.  Severus, on the other hand, seemed to have his complete attention on the elderly gentleman who had entered first, nodding slightly to him and making an almost symbolic step backwards.  To either side of him was the pastor and the policeman, smiling slightly and greeting everyone around the room.

  “Pardon us for intruding,” said Mr. Door with a quick flickering glance towards Severus before looking back towards Mark and Rebecca.  “But there’s something quite important we’re here to speak to you about, and I think it’s something that everyone listening at the moment should hear.”

  “Actually, this man is not a friend of ours and he was just leaving,” Rebecca said firmly, frowning at Severus.  But Mr. Door held up his hand.

  “No, no.  It’s quite all right, Becky.  I know this may sound strange to you now, but Severus happens to be a trusted friend of mine,” Mr. Door said, “and what I have to say concerns him and his family as well.  Becky, I think it’s time you learned who your friends really are.”

  “What exactly do you mean by that?” she asked tensely, eyeing Severus warily.

  “You have known me for quite some time, have you not?”

  “Yes, of course, since you used to sit with Charles in the Glowing Embers pub house, along with the Sarge and their friends,” she nodded.  Severus looked over at the elder man with a look of mild surprise.  Mr. Door nodded in agreement to her.

  “Yes, we’ve known each other for over three years now, and I’d like to think you have always thought well of me,” Mr. Door said almost questioningly.

  “Of course, Mr. Door,” Rebecca said with surprise.  “Why, with the exception of perhaps the pastor here, there’s hardly a better man that ever lived with everything you do to help here, and abroad.  And of course, most especially all you’ve done to help the families that were devastated that night.  We’re all grateful for your good deeds and compassion, although I must admit I have often wondered why you took so much upon yourself.”

  “Then perhaps it’s time for you to learn,” Mr. Door said.  Taking three simple steps forward, Mr. Door dramatically began to change.  His tidy cropped beard and hair suddenly grew to an astoundingly long length, his large glasses shrank until they sat upon his nose, and his simple suit suddenly burst into golden robes and a matching hat appeared upon his head.  “Please don’t be alarmed,” said the wizard gently as the woman took a staggering step backward.  “You know me as Mr. Door, but most know me by my full name, Albus Dumbledore.  And it was my Deputy Headmaster, Professor McGonagall, and I who sent that letter inviting Essie to the school.”

  “I don’t believe this!”  Rebecca said in shock, “You are a wizard?  All of this time?”

  “All of my life,” Dumbledore said, his lip curling slightly.  “But yes, I sometimes take a more conservative appearance when I am visiting my non-magic friends so not to startle anyone.  And I am sorry that I had to startle you just now, but it was time you knew the truth.  I have worked very hard to put things right, Becky.  You know that as well as anyone.  I only hope you do not think any less of me now than you did a moment ago.  I am hoping that you know me better than that.”

  “So you did this all to make up for what your kind did to us?”  Rebecca asked.  Dumbledore frowned slightly, looking serious.

  “Rebecca, this isn’t about ‘your kind’ or ‘our kind.’  It is about right and wrong.  There are many, many good people in this world, magic or no magic.  And there are, sadly enough, a number of bad people as well, who do everything in their power to destroy everything we’ve worked for.  Voldemort was an evil that could have happened just as easily to ‘your’ kind as mine…an evil of prejudice, persuasion, and corruption.  Warping minds for his own purposes, manipulating people with fear and false promises alike, corrupting those that follow him to believe they are the only pure race, and demonstrating their ‘superiority’ by causing death and destruction.  Does this sound familiar yet?”  Dumbledore asked quietly.  Rebecca had turned unusually somber.

   “Should we judge a race, or a country, or a community, by the evils of one man and his followers?  Magic or non magic alike?” he asked.  “No, of course not.  Do we?”  He paused, nodding sadly.  “Yes, sometimes, we all do.  We’re only human, after all.

  “But,” Dumbledore continued, taking on a much lighter tone, “I can assure you, that as Headmaster of Hogwarts, I will do everything in my power to try and make sure that it does not ever happen again.”

  “As will the staff,” Severus put in expressionlessly, earning a quick smile from Dumbledore.

  “And I can assure you that I will do my best to make sure Essie is well taken care of and taught how to use her magic in beneficial ways…provided, that is, she’s also allowed to see her brother…who, by the way, has proven himself to be a hard working, outstanding student.”

  “Corey?  Hard working?  Now that in itself is a miracle,” Mark putting in with a grin.

  “He had to be nudged a bit,” Severus put in dryly.

  “If you need second opinions on Mr. Door’s character, Mrs. Hunt, I for one would like to point out how often Mr. Door comes to service,” Pachem said with a twinkle in his eye.  “And despite the occasional dozing off, I am quite convinced he is one of the most decent sort of wizards I’ve ever met.”

  “How many wizards have you met?”  Brommel chuckled.  “Before Mr. Door told me who he was after the raid, I wouldn’t have had a clue that I had already met several and just not known it.”

  “True enough,” Pachem chuckled.  “Well, then, he’s one of the most decent sort of people I’ve ever met, and I for one am grateful for all the help he’s given us over the years.”

  “That I agree with,” Brommel said.  “And as for Professor Craw, I’ll speak for her as well.  Seems like the only evil about her is the evil you bring with you when you meet her.”  Severus regarded Brommel thoughtfully, while Dumbledore smiled widely.

  “You always were an insightful man, Sarge, and I thank you both for your kind words.  But the question is, Rebecca, what do you believe?” the Headmaster asked.

  Rebecca sat down a moment, not saying anything for a long time, but looked deeply into Dumbledore’s eyes as if trying to find her own soul as well as his.

  “I wonder where Essie and Corey are,” she asked, her voice sounding distant.  Using that as an excuse to act, Severus suddenly stepped over to the window and with almost lightning speed plucked the ears from two different children, their wincing faces suddenly appearing in the window.

  “Never try to spy on a professional,” Severus told them quietly before ordering them to come around to the front to face the consequences in person.

 

  It was that weekend that Carol moved in, and despite Jennifer being convinced that Severus was going to tell her ‘I told you so,’ he barely commented at all.  But a sinister smile had crept across his face the moment Jennifer had told him she had found someone, and was hardly surprised to find herself being kidnapped by her own husband for an evening the moment Carol was settled.  Essie had come over to visit, and for a change Aunt Rebecca had sanctioned it.  She was even allowed to come to his birthday party a few days later.  The two of them had not been so happy in a long time, and Essie excitedly listened to Corey as they lay on the living room floor and looked over her school list.

  “A lot of these books I can lend you, except the Defense book.  I don’t have that one.  Dad changed them on us when he took over last year,” he explained with a grin.  “Oh, and when we go to the Alley, don’t worry about the Potion kit, I’ll get Mom to pick one up from out alchemist out in Wales.  No reason using that rubbish from Malfoy’s if you don’t have to.”

  “There is so much to learn, I hope I can handle all this,” Essie said, glancing through some of his old books.

  “It’s not that bad, honest.  Piece of cake, you’ll see,” Corey reassured her.

  “Easy for you to say, you’ve got that perfect recall memory of yours,” Essie sighed.

  “Yes, but you were the one who got all top marks in school, I didn’t.  Don’t worry, anything you don’t understand I’ll help you with,” he said.

  “I expect you should leave anything you don’t understand to askin’ the professors, nae your brother, Essie,” Carol said from the kitchen with Alex in one arm and a wooden spoon in the other, which she wagged at them dangerously.  “Teachin’ is best left to the teachers, hear me now.”

  “Are you going to be a Professor when you get out, Corey?” Essie asked.

  “No, thanks!  I’ve seen how much work Mom and Dad have to do.  Besides, that job’s too risky.  You know how many times my Mom and Dad have nearly been killed in the last few years?  I want something a bit safer,” Corey said.  “Like alchemy or something.”

  “Aren’t you afraid you might get blown up?”  Essie asked.  “Doug was telling me there was an alchemist who accidentally turned himself to dust, and a wind came up, and nobody ever found him.”

  “Don’t listen to Doug, Essie, he was pulling your leg because he thought you were a Muggle,” Corey told her.  “Well, he won’t be laughing now.  I already wrote him you’re going to Hogwarts.”

  “I just can’t believe it,” Essie said with a smile.  “I mean, I never showed magic like you did, and I never saw the cottage like it really is until you pointed it out to me.  I didn’t think I’d make it.” 

  Corey smiled at her with a reassuring look that he didn’t feel.  What would happen if she turned out to be a Muggle after all?  No, he thought to himself.  Perhaps she hadn’t wished things when she was young, or saw the cottage when Jennifer moved in.  But there was no way he would believe that she wasn’t magic.

Chapter Three

Encounter in the Leaky Cauldron

 

  It had been decided that Jennifer would be the one to take the two to Diagon Alley, so she and Corey arrived at the doorstep of the farm, Jennifer in a new blue velvet dress she had made in her spare time over the summer.  His Aunt Rebecca was stiffly polite to her, and Jennifer couldn’t help but notice how uncomfortable she still was around the witch.  But that stiffness seemed to end when she greeted Corey, and Jennifer was quite glad to see that the wound that had separated them had begun to heal.  Rebecca might still blame Jennifer to some extent, but it was obvious that she no longer blamed Corey.

  With Essie and Corey in hand, Rebecca watched in amazement as Jennifer stepped into the fireplace and the three of them disappeared before her eyes.  She hadn’t even realized her eyes were watery until Mark came up behind her and patted her on the shoulder.

  “There now, they’ve all got to grow up sometime,” he said reassuringly.  “And follow their own path while they do it.”

  “But who will look after the sheep?”  Rebecca said, and then buried her head in his shoulder.  Mark smiled gently, trying to comfort her, knowing perfectly well it wasn’t the extra hands she was going to miss.

   Jennifer stepped into the Leaky Cauldron to a round of greetings, Corey and Essie following close behind.

  “Staying for a drink, Professor?  You’ve haven’t been around in awhile,” the bartender said, offering her a glass on the bar.

  “Not yet, Tom, but we’ll be back for lunch, I promise,” Jennifer grinned at him.  “How’s business?”

  “Boomin’ as it always is this time of year, although it’d be doin’ even better if you stayed around a bit,” he winked.

  “I have a first year to equip or I would, really,” Jennifer assured him.  “I’ll be back.  Oh, hello, Doris!  Do you ever go home?  Nice robes, Jerry,” she added as she shuffled the kids out the back.

  “Goodness, Aunt Jennifer, you sure are popular,” Essie said, staring confusedly at the brick wall.

  “Popular?  She’s the most famous witch in Europe, you know,” Corey said as Jennifer tapped the wall with her wand and put it back up her sleeve.

  “Honestly, Corey, I get it enough from strangers, don’t you go encouraging it,” Jennifer scolded under her breath as they stepped into the crowd. 

  The trip to Gringotts was short, only stopping at the Muggle money exchange counter before heading back out, Severus having gotten Corey’s money out the evening before.  Corey even had some birthday money on him, but every time he stopped to look in a store window, Jennifer reminded him that he’d be missing that money when he went to Hogsmeade during the year.

  The bookstore was next , and it was the first time Jennifer had actually gotten to look at Corey’s list.  She blinked at it, and then frowned at him.  “Is this all the extra classes you’re taking?  Muggle Studies and Dabblers?”

  “And maybe item’s class, if Professor Flitwick signs my sheet this year,” Corey added hopefully, knowing that she would have to approve him to take it as well.  Jennifer sighed.

  “Oh, all right, we’ll get that one too then, just in case.  But you had better do some serious thinking about what you want to do next year, Corey.  Light schedules now mean back-breaking schedules in sixth and seventh year,” Jennifer scolded, piling his books up in his arms as she went to get Essie’s.

  “You have more classes than I do, how come she thinks it’s light?”  Essie asked. 

  “Some of my classes aren’t as long this year,” Corey explained.  “Actually, I’ll have a bit more free time this one than last.  More time to practice Quidditch.”

  “More time to study, too,” Jennifer said sternly as she walked back over, handing Essie hers.  “Your marks had better not fall this year, Corey, or you won’t have to worry about Quidditch practice,” she warned.

  “Corey!  Professor Craw!”  A familiar voice said from behind them.  They looked up to see Danny standing there; a dark haired vibrant girl with violet eyes.  “Shopping for school, are we?”

  “Danyelle Nelson, this is my sister, Essie,” Corey said.  Danny looked quickly over her shoulder before smiling and shaking the girl’s hand.  “She’s going to Hogwarts this year too.”

  “Splendid!  Hope you’re not listening to his advice on how to do things though.  Corey’s always getting into trouble,” Danny teased.

  “Well, he won’t this year…I hope,” Jennifer said, sounding so doubtful that even Corey had to grin.

  “Nelson!” A harsh voice yelled out so harsh that nearly everyone around the front of the shop jumped out of the way.   Danny whipped her hand back quickly and took a step away as a heavy set imposing wizard walked up, stepping in front of Danny as if putting more distance between her and the other two.  Jennifer nodded to him with a controlled smile.

  “Good morning, Mr. Nelson.”

  “Professor Craw,” he nodded briskly.  “Are you imposing more rigorous standards in Potions this year?  I understand you have a…diverse…class, but I am getting the feeling from your class records that the students aren’t being challenged enough.”  Jennifer felt her face grow hot, but nodded to him.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Nelson, I am keeping them and will continue to keep them challenged.  In fact, if you have taken the time to research the school’s marks, you’ll also note that all of my courses are taught above year level by the end of the term,” Jennifer answered evenly.

  “Hm.  Well, I guess we’ll see,” Byron Nelson said, nodding to her once more before gripping Danny’s shoulders tightly and leading her away.  Jennifer exhaled, glaring after them, trying to control her temper.  How can anyone that purist continue to work in control of a Muggle banking company was beyond her.  Of course, as bad as he treated the Muggleborn, she couldn’t help but notice that he hardly treated his own daughter any better.  She glanced down to see Corey looking at him with intense hatred and patted his shoulder gently.

  “Come on, you two, new robes for you both then we’re off to get Essie’s wand,” Jennifer said gently, heading back out to the street.

  “Aunt Jennifer, how come Danny did that, when he yelled at her?”  Essie asked once they were out.  Jennifer sighed softly.

  “Well, the Nelson’s don’t believe magic-born and Muggle-born wizards should mix, they think they should be in different societies, just like Muggles are,” Jennifer explained.  “So her father was angry because Danny shook hands, since she touched you.”

  “I say, that’s awful harsh,” Essie said.

  “Fortunately, there aren’t many people who are like that these days,” Jennifer said.

  “More than there should be,” Corey grunted, earning a nod from Jennifer.  But he knew that his friend Danny wasn’t the sort that believed it.  He just wished he could do something for her, for it was obvious her home life wasn’t a happy one.

  When they got to Ollivander’s, they found they were the only ones waiting, and Ollivander himself peeked out a tad surprised to see her standing there.

  “Why, it’s Professor Craw of the Grendelbane Merlin owl feather wand, and Mr. Willowby, the Focus Caster.  And who is this?  You have Mr. Willowby’s eyes, Miss, I bet you are his sister,” Ollivander said with a smile.

  “Yes, this is Essie Willowby.  I trust you’ll have more luck finding her a wand than me,” Jennifer chuckled softly.

  “Are you a Focus Caster too, Miss Willowby?”  He asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” she said timidly, stepping up.

  “No, I’d suppose not.  Let me see what we can do then,” he said, turning around.  Corey gnawed on his lip nervously as Jennifer and Essie watched Ollivander look through the wands.  What if he didn’t find one at all? 

  The first one, a willow dragonscale, did not suit her one bit.  It just sat in her hand as if not a bit interested in working for her.  The second was hardly any better, an ebony raven feather, and at thirteen and a half inches seemed a bit awkward for her.

  “Something lighter, I think,” Ollivander said at last, going through a shelf of smaller boxes.  He pulled out a 12 ¼ oak wand. “Let’s see if rabbit’s foot suits you better.”  The moment Essie touched the wand she felt a tingle through her, as she waved it lightly and sparks appeared in the air.  Corey sighed with relief, smiling broadly at his sister.

  “Twelve and a quarter oak rabbit’s foot it is,” Ollivander said contentedly, getting out his ledger.  If Corey had doubted his sister’s ability before, he didn’t now.  After all, if she wasn’t meant to have a wand, she wouldn’t have gotten one. 

  Jennifer, who seemed to not have ever doubted it, gave Essie her money so she could pay for the wand then the three of them walked out of the shop, Essie with a victorious look on her face.

  “Mind you keep it wrapped away until you’re instructed how to use it,” Jennifer told her, knowing the girl was itching to hold it.  “Don’t worry, won’t be long now before you’ll be off to Hogwarts.”

  “Yeah, and only a few more days until I get to stay in my old room at the farmhouse,” Corey said, feeling a tad strange to be heading back home after all this time.  “Although, I am going to miss waking up at night because of Alex,” he chuckled lightly, but sounded sincere.

  “I already miss her,” Jennifer confided with a sigh.  “Come on, let’s get lunch like we promised Tom, then we’re off for home,” she said in a more cheerful voice, leading them back towards the Cauldron.

   “Roast Hog?  Game pie?  Pickled eels?” Essie read the board as they got back into the bar, making a face.

  “The pickled eels aren’t bad, although I can’t speak for the others,” Jennifer whispered with a grin, waving to Tom.  “Three house stews, two Tart Tumblers for the kids and a Brew for me at the table, Tom,” Jennifer called out, guiding them over a long table.  The moment they sat down, they found the seats instantly filled by Jennifer’s admirers, and Essie and Corey listened with interest as they nudged her with questions to try and get her to tell some of her adventures. 

  Jennifer was unusually talkative for a change, so glad to get out of the cottage for a while that she finally agreed to give an accounting of the Azkaban revolt to the locals as she passed the bread around.

  “Really though, I didn’t do a thing, the Unicorns did the work,” she insisted again.  “It’s they who were the heroes, not I.”

  “Oh, but it was you who called them,” a woman pointed out, putting down her brew.  “Not no one else could have called them that was there, or would have even thought of it.  Unicorns haven’t fought in battle for hundreds and hundreds of years.”

  “True enough, Doris, no mistake about that,” Tom said as he went around filling mugs.  “No reason to be modest when credit is due, and as often is the case credit is due to Professor Craw for thinkin’ of it.”

  “And what about what she did for Harry Potter?  I heard him say with my own ears he thought he’d have died if you hadn’t been down in that Tomb,” another local she didn’t recognize pointed out.

  “Maybe, maybe not, but I’m really not ready to talk about it,” Jennifer admitted, earning some protests from the table.

  “Now, now, hear hear!  If the Professor’s not ready, she’s not ready,” Tom said sternly.  Nobody in the bar dared to argue with the man who filled the mugs, and the table soon quieted down.  “No matter what, we’re grateful for all you’ve done, Professor, you just talk about what you like, we’re not ones to pry.”

  “Yes we are,” another person called from the end of the table, and a chuckle went up.  “But we won’t if Tom says we won’t.” 

  At last, the three finished their meal and Jennifer (under another round of protests) decided it was time to go.  But as she got up to leave, she happened to look over to where a hooded figure sat, watching her carefully.  It was as he tilted his head that she got a glimpse of who he was and she froze for a moment before hearing Corey and Essie’s voice.

  “Corey, do you think you can get you and Essie back?”  Jennifer asked, trying to sound calm.  “I forgot something that I need to take care of.  I’ll meet you both back at the cottage.”

  “Sure, Mom,” Corey said, accepting the floo powder bag and heading over to the hearth.

  “I bet she’s going to get into trouble again,” Corey confided in Essie as they stepped into the fireplace.  Quickly Jennifer reached for her watch, waiting until the tiny gold hand with a ‘C’ on it was pointing at “Broom Closet” before she moved closer to the table.

  She sat down then, folding her hands together, frowning at the figure.

  “You and I need to talk,” Jennifer said quietly.

  “Yes, of course.  Why else would I come to such a public place?”  Cornelius Fudge said quietly, trying to keep his face hidden from those watching them from other tables.  “I have many enemies now…”

  “Including me,” Jennifer nodded curtly.

 “Perhaps, but I assure you, I am not your enemy,” Cornelius insisted.  “We do need to talk, but not here.  You are attracting too much attention.”

  Jennifer glanced around and sighed.

  “Not intentionally I assure you.  Look, I want to know why you tried to kill me two years ago,” she said, trying to get a good view of his face, half hidden behind the hood.

  “I wasn’t trying to kill you, I was trying to see whether or not I could kill you,” he explained calmly, getting up.  “We’ll speak again soon.  I’ll be around if you need me,” he added.

  “Wait a minute, I’m not letting you go until you explain to me what you meant by that!”  She demanded, moving to stand in front of him.

  “Jennifer?”  Severus had Apparated in just behind her, looking slightly concerned about what had held her up.  She glanced over at Severus then turned back, but Cornelius was gone, leaving Jennifer cursing to herself.  “What happened?”

  “Did you see him?  It was Fudge, he was right here a moment ago,” Jennifer said.

  “I saw a figure fade into the shadows just as I came in.  He’s probably long gone by now,” Severus muttered.  “What did he want?”

  “Apparently, he wants to talk to me,” Jennifer said.  Severus squinted slightly in puzzled suspicion.  “Whatever it’s about, I guess we’ll have to wait to find out.” 

  “The question is, do we want to know what he wants?”  Severus mused.

  “Well, I don’t intend to listen until he answers some questions first,” Jennifer said.  Severus nodded slightly to her.

  It had been bad enough that he had tried to kill her in front of a Muggle crowd…something Severus might have said just two years before would have been completely unlike him.  But after he had arrived to help save Anna from an insane squib named Lorcan last year, the idea that he had turned against them was not so cut and dry.  And why did he steal the Tome that Lorcan had stolen from Lucius Malfoy?  None of it seemed to make sense.  Was he a friend or a foe?  At one time, he had even helped Malfoy try to get rid of some forged court papers, doctored during the first Death Eater trials to make it look as if Jennifer’s parents had supported him.  Still, Jennifer’s mother had trusted him at one point, and she had been a Truth-seeker.  It was almost as if something must have happened since then, that had made things go awry in him…

  Severus waited for Jennifer to Disapparate back home, taking a quick look around before following her.  He didn’t trust Fudge.  In fact, he hadn’t trusted Fudge even when he was the Minister of Magic…the bumbling fool.  Whatever was going on, Severus was already convinced he wasn’t in it alone…the man could barely cast a shoelace-tying spell on himself without asking Dumbledore’s advice on how to lace them.  The idea that Fudge was on his own now was quite laughable.  One thing was certain, and that was that he had tried to harm Jennifer, and Severus was not about to let him get such an opportunity a second time.  Regardless of his reasons, Fudge was going to have a deadly adversary in Severus Snape.

 

Chapter Four

Getting Back to Business

 

  Jennifer had always enjoyed her birthday for the simple fact that it was often the day she was due back at Hogwarts.  There was always a wonderful anticipation about the new year, new students, heading back to her beloved sitting room with the large windows and comfortable couch, putting her office in order…and all and all returning to the place she considered, even more than the Broom Closet, her home.  But trying to leave this year was different.  For the first time, she found herself not wanting to go, and before she knew it the dreaded day had come when she had to leave part of herself behind.

  Jennifer paced the living room, holding Alexandria close to her as the baby burbled obliviously in her mother’s arms.  Severus, who had just come up the basement stairs and grimaced at them, shaking his head.  He leaned against one of the bookcases, folding his arms.

  “You know you’re just making this worse on yourself by acting like this,” Severus said.  Jennifer shot him a dirty look.  He sighed.  “Fine.  Well, I’ll go send Corey down.  You know, you’ve never had a trouble with leaving him.”

  “It’s only for a few weeks before he comes to join us,” Jennifer snapped.

  “Yes, well, it’s not as if she’s going to be any farther than a pop away,” Severus reminded her, his tone even sterner than usual.  “She and this house have every protection that both we and Harry and Dumbledore could think of thrown on it.  And you’re the one that hired Carol, I’d hope that means you trust her…”

  “Oh, come on, Severus.  This isn’t about that and you know it.  It’s all perfectly well to stand there and say just let her go but it’s a lot harder actually doing it.  Well, I’m damned happy it’s so easy for you, but it certainly isn’t for me,” she said, looking at him angrily.  Severus’ face changed somewhat into a pained look before falling into its normal, expressionless gaze.  He turned and headed up the stairs, but not before Jennifer had read the thoughts behind the actions and immediately regretted losing her temper.  This wasn’t any easier on him than it was on her.

  Sighing, she took out her wand and her trunk and cloak chest appeared on the floor, joining the lab trunk and Severus’s own trunk and chest.  She heard the loud echo of feet on the hollow wood stairs and Severus, Carol, and Corey appeared, closing the bookcase behind them.

  “Well, I’m off to my Aunt’s,” Corey said cheerfully.

  “I had better not hear of you using one ounce of magic while you’re there,” Severus warned him.

  “Make that double from me,” Jennifer agreed.  “Don’t forget you’ll be in the Muggle world then until you get on the train.  Not that you’re allowed to use your magic outside of Hogwarts anyhow,” she reminded him, causing him to draw back his hand before he miniaturized his trunk.

  “Don’t worry so much.  I’m not likely to run into any trouble on a sheep farm, am I?”  Corey asked.  Severus and Jennifer looked at each other dubiously.

  “Perhaps I might drop by now and again to check up on you before I see you to the train,” Carol suggested with a smile.  “I can’t say as I’m not a tad curious about how Muggles live.”

  “Essie and I will be by to visit Alex at any rate,” Corey assured her quickly.  The last thing he wanted was to have a nanny check up on him during his two weeks from home. 

  “Well, of course you will,” Carol nodded.  “But I should drop by and meet your aunt and uncle at least.  Now, then, there’s nothing for the two of you to be worryin’ about today,” she said turning to Jennifer and Severus.  “Such sour expressions!  When all I’ve heard abou’ from either of you since I stepped foot in the cottage was Hogwarts this and Hogwarts that.  You’re worse than the children, both of you,” she chided, trying to coax Jennifer to give up the baby.  “We’ll be all right, now, don’t you be worry none, Mrs. Snape.  I’ll write every day if you like, and you’ll be here every weekend right enough, I’m sure,” Carol said.  Reluctantly Jennifer gave in, handing Alex gently over to the nanny.

  “Send an owl or an Elf if you need anything,” Severus said.

  “I’m sure I’ll have everything under control, it’s only one babe after all,” Carol clucked softly.  “You’d best be off.  Professor Dumbledore’s expectin’ you by now, I’m sure.  Off with you now, see you in a week.”

  “After you,” Severus said quietly to his wife.

  “See you at the Sorting,” Corey said cheerfully.   Jennifer couldn’t help but notice that everyone’s eyes were on her, so with a heavy sigh and a wave, she Disapparated. 

 

  As usual, Minerva McGonagall was there to greet them at the gates, smiling warmly at them and leading them up towards Dumbledore’s office.  She chatted cheerfully to them as she walked, informing them on various events over the summer they might not have heard about.

  “All members of the staff returned this year, I’m happy to say,” she smiled, “So there won’t be any major schedule shuffling this year, except for adding in a few more Muggle classes, which shouldn’t affect either of you any.  Speaking of schedules, are you both planning to stick with yours still?” She inquired, smiling slightly at Jennifer.

  Jennifer, who was hardly in the mood to even think of adding another after just leaving one behind, peered quizzically at Severus, who met her gaze evenly so she could read his thoughts on the matter.

  “With any luck,” she said at last.

  “Well, do try to wait a bit so that it’s more likely to happen after finals?  I mean, losing one teacher at finals is bad enough, but when I lose one of you I also end up losing the other as well.   I certainly don’t want to spend my entire last week marking both of your classes’ tests again,” she scolded, her tone stern although there was a teasing glint in her eyes.  “But enough of that, we can talk about it all later.  Dumbledore is waiting for you in his office.”

  It was when she stepped up the spiral stairs that Jennifer truly began to feel at home, waiting as Minerva pushed open the door and let them in.  Dumbledore, who had been sitting behind his desk, stood up with a smile and greeted the two Professors.

  “Welcome back,” he said, “No delays getting here, I trust,” he inquired with a slight twinkle in his eyes.  Severus glanced at Jennifer, who looked uncomfortable.

  “It wasn’t as easy leaving the Closet this year, if that’s what you mean,” Jennifer said.

  “That’s as it should be, I would worry if it were otherwise,” Dumbledore reassured her.   “I’m sure you’ll find time to get away now and again to check on things at home.  However, there are some special assignments I would like to ask the both of you this year.”  Severus squinted suspiciously at him, but Jennifer just looked at him intently.

  “Jennifer, what I would like for you to do is spend some extra time with Anna.  As I’m sure you’re both aware, I’ve been helping her get used to her magic for some time, but she is at the point where what she needs now is focus and discipline.  So, now that we have some idea of what her magic is capable of, I want you to teach it how to use it.”

  “Me?”  Jennifer blinked.  “But how?  I mean, I don’t know much about Aethermages…”

  “I’m sure you’ll manage,” Dumbledore said.  “You’ve taught a Focus Caster, and I have a feeling you’ll soon see similarities.  I’d like to see her learn some of the standard ways of using magic as well.”  He glanced over at Severus.

  “Now, so you both know, the situation in the Dark Forest has grown over the summer.  The Centaurs have done their best to stay on top of the situation, but unfortunately I don’t think they will be able to keep up much longer.  If something isn’t done soon, we may find that even the spells protecting this school will not be strong enough to hold out what lies beyond it.  I am also beginning to sense a strain between the Centaurs and us,” he added.  Severus looked slightly surprised.  “Some of them blame the school for what happened at the Tomb and with the banshee, and others are not particularly happy with me for allowing Sagittari back at Hogwarts,” he said, his tone somehow serious and yet slightly amused at the same time.

  “Sir, they usually listen to me, perhaps I can attempt to alleviate that some,” Severus volunteered.

  “Yes, Severus, they do; your logic has always served you well there, for it is something they have always understood over Human irrationalities,” he said.  “While you’re at it, I would like for you to also to see if you can talk them into accepting Sagittari back into the Constellation,” Dumbledore went on, noting Severus’ doubtful look.  “Well, no one said it would be easy.  Remus will be here working with you as well…he will be staying in the cabin during the school year to help make sure nothing gets through our Forest border and onto the grounds.”  Severus looked even less pleased about that.  Didn’t Lupin have anything better to do than hang about the school all the time?

  “I cannot stress enough to either of you how dangerous things have gotten.  We have had everything from wraiths to trolls in the Forest, and I don’t want any Professor going in there alone,” he said, eyeing Severus knowingly.  Severus grimaced and nodded.  Dumbledore then smiled warmly at both of them.

  “Well, I’m sure I’ve kept you long enough.  I trust this is the beginning of another exciting year at Hogwarts,” he said.  Jennifer forced a grin on her face and she and Severus headed for the stairs.

  “Do you think for once we can do without the exciting part?” Jennifer whispered to Severus on their way out.

  “My sentiments exactly,” Severus murmured back, closing the door behind them.  Dumbledore chuckled softly, shaking his head before he getting back to his paperwork.

 

  The next morning, Jennifer opened all of the windows and rolled up her sleeves, heating up every burner in the lab.  Tying a small string to two hooks, she rolled out the pre-term potion lists and got straight to work on the dozens of prescriptions and the hospital wing order, casting a spell over the lists so that they would read off the ingredients as she needed them.   Her shipment of components from Witolf had arrived the day before, and having borrowed a House Elf to check off her supply lists had matters well in hand.  It was as she had just reached into a barrel of slime passed her elbows to pull out some Slugmucks that a shadow appeared in the open doorway, making her look up with surprise.

  “Harry!” she exclaimed.  Harry grinned broadly at her as she quickly tried to shake some of the slime off, walking over and giving her a cautious hug.  “What are you doing here?  Stars, I must be a sight at the moment!”

  “Nonsense, you wear slime much more becomingly than your husband does,” Harry said mischievously.  “It even matches your eyes.”

  “Oh, you’re very funny.  Seriously, I thought you were off to America with Ginny and Vallid,” Jennifer prompted, wiping her arms off with a towel.

  “We’re leaving tonight.  Vallid had to shore things up with Anna first so we dropped her off at the school.  Anna is up talking to Severus now.  And I had to come speak to Dumbledore,” he said, stirring one of the cauldrons.  “You’ll never guess who paid me a visit the other day.”

  “Cornelius Fudge?”  Jennifer inquired.

  “You know, you’re really no fun at this game,” Harry scolded, putting down the mixing stick.  “Dumbledore at least acts surprised.”

  “I didn’t use my talent this time, Harry, honest.  I guessed it because I spoke with him myself the other day,” she said, carefully adding a bit of powdered frog to the cauldron in front of her.  Harry looked up at her in complete interest.

  “Really?  Did you find out anything?  What did he say?”  Harry asked.

  “He was sitting at the Leaky Cauldron of all places, hooded.  When I noticed him and tried to talk to him, he said he wanted to speak with me and that he’d get back to me,” Jennifer explained.  “I demanded to know why he tried to kill me, and all he said was, he wasn’t trying to kill me, he was trying to see if he could kill me.”  Harry blinked at her then sat down.

  “I see.”

  “That’s all you have to say?  I see?”  Jennifer asked, looking over at him.

  “Did he seem truthful?”

  “Yes, he meant what he said, although I don’t see any distinction.  Trying to kill me is trying to kill me.”

  “Anna was with you that day, wasn’t she, Anna and Sirius?”  He asked.

  “Of course, Harry.  I wouldn’t have even been in Merchant Square if Anna hadn’t been there,” Jennifer chuckled.  “You know how I am with Muggles.”

  “If that’s the case, I’m not sure he did mean to kill you,” Harry said.  “I think that somehow Fudge must know exactly what she is.”

 

  It had been almost exactly two years since Anna Hughes Snape had arrived at the school, following a train ride that she or none of the other passengers would ever forget.  Her life had been turned upside-down nearly overnight when she went looking for a brother whom she hadn’t seen since she was a child.  She could never have expected that he could have led such a troubled life, let alone have turned out to be a professor in a magic school, something that Anna had thought reserved for fairy tales.  But as hard as that had been to adjust to, it couldn’t possibly compare to finding out that she herself had been magicborn as well, and not the squib that everyone had thought her to be.

  An Aethermage, Dumbledore had called her; one who actually was magic instead of someone just capable of using it.  Very much like a Unicorn or a faerie or even a House Elf, magic at a thought or whim.  They had once thought she had been immune to dark magic, but the events of last year had proved what a deadly assumption that had been.  A Muggle, who had gotten hold of an extraordinary cloak, nearly killed her and himself by trapping her in a capture globe, using her magic to attempt to rid the world of magic forever. 

  Anna shuddered at the thought.  As much as she disliked trying to deal with her new abilities, the idea of seeing it gone forever was just as troubling.  Yes, perhaps there would be a lot of evil things that would be gone as well, but the memory of running with a herd of Unicorns convinced her that it was not something she wished to see.

  Lunette Vallid cleared her throat, bringing Anna back into her office from where she gazed out the dusty window.

  “Sorry, you were saying something about your Jersey case?”  Anna said.

  “That was five minutes ago,” the judge said, a lopsided smile creeping across her face.  “I thought you said you wanted a briefing before I left?” she asked, drumming her fingers.

  “Sorry,” Anna said sheepishly.  It had been her decision to keep up a steady Muggle job despite taking on a position as Muggle Studies instructor.  Working as a legal assistant for Vallid had helped Anna keep in touch with her Muggle side, giving her an excuse to take trips abroad to visit her friends and family, and making it so all of her years in sociology and profiling didn’t go completely to waste.   At home, she could allow herself to completely forget about this side of her life, with only the occasional owl post to remind her that she had another part of her elsewhere.  Of course, now that she was engaged to a wizard, running home was getting more and more difficult to do.   Not that she would have given up Sirius now for anything.

  “Thinking about your fiancé again,” Vallid said matter-of-factly, sitting down.  “You know, you’re not going to be much use to me until after the wedding if you keep this up.  You sure you don’t want to take a few months off?”

  “No, no, I’m fine,” Anna said, slightly annoyed that the Truth-seeker picked her up so easily.  “It’s just that things are moving a lot quicker than I thought they would.  I know I agreed with Sirius to be married the following Christmas after we got engaged, but now it’s only four months away, and I still don’t know how Severus is going to react to my wedding plans yet.” As if on cue, there was a quiet knock on the door.

  Vallid smiled in resignation, opening the door to Severus, who looked between them quizzically.

  “Why are my ears burning?” Severus inquired.

  “Guilty conscience?”  Vallid grinned.  “Paranoia?  Or maybe someone was talking about you?”

  “Probably all of the above,” Anna put in, grinning at her brother who didn’t look amused.

   “I just came to make sure you were settled, but I’ll gladly wait until you’re alone,” Severus said.

  “Actually, I think I’m on my way out anyhow,” Vallid reassured him with a smile, picking up her folders.  “As for you, call my office when you get to your flat this weekend and I’ll fax you.”

  “All right.  Have a safe trip, Lunette!  Harry too,” Anna said, showing her out and closing the door behind her.

  “Don’t you have enough to do now that you’re teaching?”  Severus asked.

  “Not you too,” Anna glared at him.  “I can handle it.  It’s not like I have a full schedule here.  I have plenty of time to do research on top of teaching and the school paper.”

  “So, what was it you were talking about that involved me?” he asked, folding his arms.

  “Actually, it didn’t precisely involve you.  Actually it has to do with my wedding.  I’ve decided to have it at home, as in, back in the States.”  Severus blinked at her.  “I want a Muggle wedding so I can invite my old friends.”

  “You cannot possibly be serious,” he said.  Anna waited patiently for the shock to wear off, knowing what was going to follow.  “Are you trying to tell me that my own sister would rather go off thousands of miles away and pretend as if we don’t even exist during her own wedding?”

  “No, not exactly.  You can come if you want,” Anna said in a calm, almost defensive voice.  “Any of you can easily deal with going to a Muggle wedding.  Well, maybe not Jennifer, but I’m sure someone can help her through it.  The point is, my normal friends can’t possibly deal with all of this, and I’m not about to exclude them.  It’s expensive for them to get here, where it’s just an inconvenience for any of you to get over there.  I grew up with them, Severus.  Not you, and not this world.  They have as much right to go as you do and if you think I’m backing down for one moment, think again,” she said, feeling her temper start to rise.  “This is my life and my wedding and I’ll have it as I see fit.  Advice is always welcome of course, but don’t expect me to take it.  I’m not going to let you ruin this, brother.  So don’t try.”  The two of them glared at each other defiantly for a long time before Severus finally turned around and left, storming down the hall.  Normal friends?  As if not having magic wasn’t normal!  How could Sirius agree to this?  Of course, he was half Muggle himself, Severus thought with annoyance.  He pushed his way to his office, still fuming as he sat in his chair and looked sightlessly over his notes from last year.  Tossing them angrily out of his way and scattering them across the floor, he propped his head in his hand, brooding.

  “Severus?”  Jennifer’s voice called from the classroom, sounding concerned.

  “In here,” Severus said, not moving.  Jennifer entered, followed by Harry, who looked around at the rejected paperwork thoughtfully.

  “Is this a bad time?”  Harry asked carefully.

  “Did you know they were planning a Muggle wedding?” Severus asked Harry.  Jennifer blinked at that for a moment then sighed, gathering up the class notes.

  “Oh that,” Harry said, earning a scowl from Severus.  “Yes, Anna’s been talking about it for a bit now.  I wondered when she’d get around to talking to you about it.”

  “How come I’m always the last one to know these things?” Severus demanded.

  “Because everyone’s afraid how you’re going to react?”  Harry suggested.  Severus glared at him.  “Anyhow, I came up to warn you about a potential problem.  Fudge knows that Anna is an Aethermage,” he said, immediately getting Severus’ attention.  “In fact, I think he might have also been behind the attack on Anna before school last year when she went into Cosmic Sleep.  I think Fudge might have been testing her to prove to himself that she and Black were connected, just as he tried to kill Jennifer to see if Anna could protect her.”  Severus held up his hand.

  “Even assuming this is correct, I highly doubt Fudge was doing this to prove it just to himself.  He’s not the type to work alone.  And why would he have done both attacks in a crowd of Muggles?  Bumbler or not, he was a Minister of Magic, and he knows the impact spells can have on their world.”

  “Some of us are more vulnerable out there in their world,” Jennifer admitted quietly.

  “Not Titiana.  She knows the Muggle world better than most of us,” Severus said.

  “Perhaps he was more trying to avoid a situation where he was surrounded by wizards, rather than purposefully attacking them in Muggle areas,” Harry suggested.  “Jennifer and Anna nearly always have people around them who could have stopped an attack from someone like Fudge.  In non-magic areas, those protecting them might hesitate.  Apparently protecting his own skin was more important than the impact it would have on the Muggles.”

  “That at least would be like Fudge,” Severus agreed, glancing at Jennifer.  “And what if he had been wrong, with either of these “tests.”  What makes him think that what he was doing was so important that he had to risk both my wife and my sister’s lives for?”

  “We need to find out what he’s up to, and the sooner the better,” Harry agreed.  “I happened to run into him the other day when I went to visit Tom in Azkaban.  He was hanging about in front of the prison as if waiting for someone, looking quite uncomfortable.  When I approached, he seemed almost relieved to see me, and said he was going to have to talk to me soon.  I didn’t want to tell him I was heading out of the country, so I asked him to leave a message with Dumbledore.”

  “I would think that would be the last thing he would be willing to do,” Severus said.

  “He still wants to talk to me as well,” Jennifer pointed out.  “And I’ve every intention of meeting him.”  Harry nodded.

  “Try and keep me informed if you can,” Harry said.  “I have the feeling there’s a lot more to this than any of us realize yet.”

 

Chapter Five

Twists and Turns

 

  Jennifer put a stopper on the last of her phials with a triumphant look on her face, gazing over her syllabi and paperwork, neat as a pin, and called her familiar Ratfly the fruit bat to her to deliver the paperwork to Minerva.  Grinning victoriously, she tipped her wand at the labels that dutifully wrapped around each bottle, which then floated into the cabinets, shutting and locking behind them.  Taking one last look at her spotless office, she glided through her immaculate classroom and up the stairs until she reached the Defense rooms, walking unceremoniously into Severus’ office.

  “Ha!  All done, every last prescription and lesson plan with two hours to spare, and no help from you, no, not one finger of help from anyone,” she declared, beaming at him.  Severus didn’t look up from the preliminary test he was composing, dipping his quill in his inkwell.

  “Finished and delivered Poppy’s order?”

  “Yep.”

  “Restocked the ingredients and marked inventory discrepancies?”

  “All done and ready to go.”

  “Finished maintenance on the equipment and reported any broken pieces?”

  “Yes, and I even had time for a full cleaning and polish,” Jennifer said, gazing at her nails.

  “Did you remember there was a full moon tonight?”  Not hearing an answer, Severus looked up to see Jennifer disappearing down the hallway.  He couldn’t help but smirk, then went back to his chore of getting another week ahead in his work before the student’s arrived.

 

  She had barely had time to slip the potion to Remus and speak with him a few moments before she had to make the dash upstairs to the Great Hall that evening, taking her place at the high table just as the last of the upper classmen were seated.  Severus gave her a quick, subtle look of amusement, and she felt her cheeks grow warm, turning to watch Dumbledore walk in with Minerva.  Minerva then made her way down the aisle towards the door as the students whispered to each other excitedly.  Corey watched the door with anticipation from where he sat by Doug, looking a bit nervous, his fingers were crossed in every direction the could think of.

  A moment later the first years came in, shuffling ahead in their robes, some of them waving to brothers and sisters as they passed.  Essie hung towards the back, an expression of awe on her face, but stopped to smile at Corey when she passed by.  She soon found herself getting a glimpse at the odd hat in front of them, biting her lip.  How she hoped she’d be a Gryffindor like her brother!   Then they could be together more than ever.  Dumbledore stood just then, and Essie couldn’t help but smile, remembering him she’d known him as Mr. Door.  He was grander now, and much more, well, himself, although she never would have known anything had been missing had she not known the truth.

  “Before we begin, I would like to speak to you about one of the school rules, that most of you already know about.  The Dark Forest is, without question, restricted to all students.  And although most of you should know this by now, I also know that some of you are inclined to bend on break them on occasion.  But this rule will not be broken this year,” Dumbledore said in a voice that breached no argument.  “Any student, for any reason found disobeying this rule will risk immediate expulsion,” he said, his eyes gazing directly at Corey, who shifted uncomfortably.  “The evil influences in the Dark Forest have gotten more and more powerful, and I can not stress enough how dangerous it is at this time.”  As if in answer, the howl of a lone wolf sounded from somewhere outside.  “Very well, let’s start.”  Minerva nodded to the Headmaster and took the Sorting Hat from the table near Dumbledore, placing it on the stool.  It was then that the Hat began to speak, making half of the first year students’ jump back in surprise.

  “Four houses there are, four houses there will be,

   After I have determined your destinies.

   But once long ago it was not always this way,

   For the four first had apprentices so they say.

   O’laren, kind and courageous to the core,

   Was loyal to the honorable Gryffindor.

   Dusthorn, dedicated and honest enough,

   Guided others on the counsel of Hufflepuff.

   Ravenclaw the prophet who many admired,

   The wisdom of his mother was all he desired.

   And last was Craw, both cold and reasoning,

   His ambitious mind drawn to Slytherin’s seasoning.

   Down different paths you now must divide,

   But what you do once on them is for you to decide.

   So mind your step and take a turn on the stool,

   Your thoughts will determine where you go in this school.”

 

  Jennifer turned and looked at Severus, who was returning it with the same puzzled expression on his face.  She knew the Hat always did a different rhyme every year, but she’d never heard anything quite like that before.  Severus was thinking the same thing, as well as wishing it had said something about the apprentices the year they had to search for their names.  Jennifer then glanced over at Minerva and Dumbledore, who also were looking slightly surprised at the Hat.  Recovering, Minerva unrolled the list, and began going down them.  One by one, from Ames, Angela to Scott, Tony was called, and Jennifer began to see a pattern to the Hat’s choices, often able to pick which student was going where before they even put a Hat on.  Of course, there were surprises, like when Tyrone Ire ended up being a Ravenclaw (she had him pegged for a Slytherin for sure,) but all and all, Jennifer could tell from one glance before they turned around where they were headed.

  At last, Minerva called out the name of Willowby, Essie, and the young girl stepped up.  Hoping, wishing with all her heart she was going to go to Gryffindor. Essie really didn’t seem to be the type, but maybe, if she wished hard enough, maybe it’d put her in.  She sat down, and Minerva put the hat on her head.

   “Ah, another young Willowby, I see,

    And hoping to join her brother’s party.

    But just being related isn’t enough,

    Not when you’re obviously a HUFFLEPUFF!”

 

  Jennifer clapped and smiled at her with a nod, knowing it was probably the right choice.  But Jennifer couldn’t also help but notice Corey’s somber face when she walked over to join the other table.  He had so hoped she’d be in his house.  Still, the Hat was hardly ever wrong, and she herself could see that the hardworking girl fit right in with the dutiful Hufflepuffs.  With a wave and a few nonsensical words, Dumbledore started the feast.  The moment he sat down, all the teachers in the Headmaster’s range asked him a version of the same question at once.

  “I don’t know, yet, I’ll ask the Hat after we eat,” he said, smiling at them.  “You know how the Hat is.  It was probably bored this year and decided to give them a history lesson.”

  “I hope it doesn’t decide to go and replace me while it’s at it,” Alvin Archibald, the History professor joked.

 

  Corey was quite glum the rest of the evening, and quite disappointed.  He had been so looking forward to spending all that extra time with her.  He had promised to help her study too, and although that meant spending extra time in the library, he really wanted Essie to do well.  As he got to the common room, a crowd of Gryffindors had already gathered, greeting the first years and talking about the strange rhyme the hat told.

  “Every year the Hat tells another rhyme, usually about the Houses or the founders,” Juniper said.  “But I’ve never heard of it telling of any others.”

  “My father is the Chairman on the board, and I heard him say once that if it hadn’t been for some items left to the school by the apprentices, you-know-who might not be dead now.  Maybe it’s the Hat’s way of showing them some respect?” Perry Dalance said.

  “It still seemed rather odd,” Doug said, sitting beside her companionably.  “It was almost as if it meant something more than just the rhyme.”

  “Well, I think that Hat has just been used a few times too many,” Corey grumbled.  “Maybe it needs replaced.”

  “You’re just sore because your sister is in Hufflepuff,” Gail said, earning a glare from Corey.  “Well, I am sorry.  She seemed rather nice.  But I’m sure the Hat is all right.”

  “If that’s true, then how come all the professors were so surprised?”  Corey asked.  “Even Dumbledore seemed puzzled by it, didn’t you notice?”

  “Come to think of it, I do remember seeing all the professors jump him with questions the moment after it happened,” Perry mused.  “But regardless of what is going on, we have more important things to think about, like how are we going to get the cup back from Slytherin this year.”

  “Well, if a certain two people wouldn’t keep losing so many points that the rest of us end up trying to make up for, we might have a better chance,” Katie pointed out, looking directly at Corey and Doug.  Doug mimicked her facial movements in annoyance.

  “Katie’s right.  Can’t you both put a cap on it this year?  You’re only going to lose your Hogsmeade privileges if you keep it up, and you heard what Dumbledore said about the Dark Forest thing,” Dennis Creevy, the seventh-year Prefect, folded his arms and looked at them both sternly.  “And Corey, stop taking a back seat to that Nelson girl.  I know she’s pretty, but that’s no reason to let her take top marks when we all know you should be acing everything.  Bad enough she runs circles around everyone on the Quidditch Pitch.”

  “She’s just a friend!”  Corey protested.

  “Good, then as a friend, she’ll understand when you get top marks in the classes you deserve them in,” he scolded.  “Come on, Corey, we’re not as thick as all that.  I know your adopted father is the head of Slytherin House, but we’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t help them win this year.”  Corey looked uncomfortable.

  “Speaking of Quidditch, I hope we’re having early tryouts this year,” Perry said.  “We’ve lost a Beater and our Seeker.”

  Doug couldn’t help but grin to himself.  Wouldn’t it be something if he got Seeker?  Maybe then Danny Nelson wouldn’t constantly ignore him.

 

  The next morning, Doug and Corey got ready for their first class of the day, Muggle Studies.  They had talked Taylor into taking the class that semester as well, and so they, along with Danny Nelson and a dozen other students, stepped in the classroom together, sitting in a group with Doug and Taylor to either side of Corey and Danny sitting right behind them.

  “This class is going to be cake,” Corey said, trying to get comfortable.  He hadn’t even cracked open his book yet.  After all, he was a Muggleborn.  Why on Earth didn’t they just require the class for Magicborn students?   Well, Corey grinned, at least he finally had a chance to be in a class with all of his friends at the same time.  Just then, Corey felt something slap his leg, and he quickly put his feet down as his aunt walked by, frowning at him.  He really hadn’t seen her frown that way before, and he suddenly saw a clear relationship between his aunt and her brother, even though she was dressed like a Muggle in business slacks and a casual suit. 

  Anna got out a piece of chalk and began writing her name manually on the chalkboard.  Most of the class looked at each other, even whispering slightly until she looked back around, squinting at them.  The class quieted down.

  “My name is Anna Hughes-Snape, but you can refer to me as Madame Hughes,” Anna said, a smile finally appearing.  “In this class, we will be covering world history, sociology, economics, and of course, practical knowledge, as well as some comparative looks at the sciences; in other words, how things work in the non-magic world as compared to this one.

  “Every week, we will look at a specific aspect of any one of these, and your homework will be to turn in for the next week, a one page essay on each topic on 3/8ths scored paper.  At the end of the term, you will be required to write a ten page paper on one subject I will assign to you.”  Corey’s jaw dropped.  An essay a week?  She had to be joking!  “Now, I have a few field trips planned to for this semester as well, and your parents have been notified and have signed permission slips so that you can go.  However, I have a set of class rules that you must follow.  If you don’t follow them, you don’t get to go on any field trips,” she said.

  “First rule; no magic is allowed in this class, on fieldtrips, or for any assignment you are given in this class.  Second rule, all essays will be turned in on time and complete or it’ll be counted as an incomplete.  Also, half of your test score will be derived from how well you do your homework, so not turning one in will undoubtedly effect your marks.  And third rule; there are no Muggles, no Muggleborns, no squibs, no wizards, witches, pure-bloods or half-bloods in this class.  You are all students, and I am your teacher, and we will refer to each other as such or by name.  If I hear any use of any of those terms on your papers or from your mouths, expect point deductions.  We are here to study how the majority of Humans live, and how to adapt to different cultures, and that is that,” Anna said.  The classroom had fallen into complete silence.

  Corey walked out an hour later, looking at his notes in disbelief, and back at his gloomy friends.

  “Do you believe this?  An essay a week?  Is she insane?  I might as well have taken journalism!”  Corey said.

  “Whoever heard of a Muggle Studies class where you can’t even say the word ‘Muggle’ in it?” Doug asked, rolling his eyes.  “Corey, I thought you said your aunt was nothing like your dad?  They’re two peas in a pod if you ask me.”

   “I wonder how some of the other Slytherins will react to that,” Danny wondered.

   “Those Snake-year students are going to give her a hard time, I bet,” Taylor agreed.

   “I can’t believe I have to take this,” Corey muttered.  “Why am I starting to think this is going to be a long year?”

  “Cheer up, Corey,” Danny said with a slight smile.  “At least you can look forward to me trouncing you in sparring and Quidditch again this year,” she winked.  But that made Corey look even glummer.

  “I can’t be in sparring this year,” he said.  The rest of the group stopped short in surprise, so he turned to look at him.  “Craw and Snape didn’t want me to, because I could never keep myself from Focus Casting, and because of us going into the Forest last year.  In fact, I didn’t even bring my wand to school.”

  “No wand?”  Taylor said in surprise.  “None at all?  Won’t Flitwick have a cow about it?”

  “No, he already knows about it.  All the teachers do,” Corey explained.  “They only wanted me to use a wand the first two years to learn some casting discipline, now I am allowed to go without.”

  “Well, that’s splendid, isn’t it?   That’s what you wanted,” Danny reminded him, “Although I am sorry you won’t be in sparring club.”

  “What are you going to do with all that spare time?”  Doug asked.  “You’ve got less classes than us.”

  “How about joining the school paper with me?”  Taylor suggested.

  “No thanks!  I’ve already got enough writing thanks to Snape the second,” Corey said.  “Professor Craw wants me to take more courses, so I’m thinking of taking Magical Creatures.  I bet I won’t have any essays in there,” he grinned.  “Between that and taking Items this year, I think that’ll be enough to keep her placated and I can still have more free Quidditch time.”

  “I got to hand it to you, Corey Willowby,” Danny said, sounding slightly sarcastic, “you always have your priorities straight.”

  It was lunchtime before Corey had a chance to catch up with his sister to find out how her first day was going.  As everyone began to leave the tables, Essie had stayed behind, her head propped up in her hand looking as if the world had ended.  Another first year Hufflepuff, Angela Ames, Corey remembered, was sitting beside her, trying to cheer her up.  She looked up with surprise as Corey came over, blushing slightly and looking away.  How come nobody his own age ever looked at him like that?

  “Essie!  What’s wrong?” Corey asked, sitting across from her and looking concerned.

  “I don’t think I’m cut out to be a witch,” she sniffled, picking at her full plate.  “Maybe Aunt Rebecca was right and I should have just stayed home.”

  “Rubbish!  Of course you’re cut out to be a witch,” Corey said.  “Who says you aren’t?”

  “When I came out of class, Victor Greisley told me that I probably wouldn’t have been able to go to Hogwarts at all if you hadn’t been adopted by the Snapes.”  Corey felt a tingle down his spine, shaking it off.

  “Essie, Greisley is a Slytherin, and one thing you need to understand straight off, and that’s you never can trust a Slytherin,” Corey told her.

  “Corey Willowby!”

  “Except for Nelson, that is,” Corey corrected quickly.  The dark haired girl stepped up from behind him, eyeing him a moment before nodding.

  “That’s better,” she said.  “Why aren’t we trusting Slytherins this time?”

  “Badmouthing my sister,” he explained.

  “They ought to know better than that,” Danny snorted.  “If Snape got wind of it, they’d probably have him breathing down their necks right enough.”  Essie started to sob again.  Corey grimaced at Danny, who wasn’t quite sure what she did wrong.

  “Don’t worry, Essie.  Tell you what, I have a bit of free time this year, I’ll help you study.  You’ll be spelling circles around them in no time,” Corey reassured her.

  “You will?” Essie brightened slightly.  “I’m sure that would help.  It was always to easy to do magic with you teaching me last summer.”  Danny’s eyes suddenly grew wide, staring at Corey.

  “Essie, I wouldn’t repeat that again if I were you,” Danny said, looking pale.  “It’s better to keep that between you and your brother.”

  “Danny, what’s wrong?” Corey asked, and she pulled him away from the others.

  “Did you teach her before she got accepted?”  Danny whispered.

   “Well, yeah, I have been trying for the last couple years now, why?”  Corey asked.

   “Don’t you know it’s illegal to teach someone magic until they’ve been accepted into a school?”  Danny hissed.  “And even then only by someone licensed to teach.  Do you realize how much trouble you can get into for that?  Did your parents know?”

  “No, of course not, I knew they wouldn’t approve, but other than that, what’s the big deal?  I mean, Craw taught me before I got accepted, and it worked out all right,” Corey said.

  “Corey!  She nearly lost her job over you, and she’s got a mark on her record because of it!  If it’d been any other Headmaster, my father says she and Snape both would have been long gone by now.  Not to mention she was fined for more than a year’s worth of allowances for me, and that’s no bronze Knuts!”  Danny whispered.  “If they had caught you, they might have kicked you out for good, and if you’d used magic after that, obliviated into Muggledom!”

  “You’re just trying to scare me.”  Corey said, but his stomach felt sick.

  “I am not saying this to scare you, Corey,” Danny said, trying to calm down.  “Just make sure you’re sister doesn’t say anything again, okay?” Corey nodded slowly, watching Danny walk away.  If she had only known the extent of what he had done, he sighed.  His stomach churned again, remembering what his next class was.  He couldn’t go in there now, Corey thought.  His mother would see what he had done in a heartbeat.

Chapter Six

Confessions

 

  After a grueling double session with the first year Gryffindor-Ravenclaw class, Jennifer was quite glad to see the third year Gryffindor-Hufflepuffs.  Of course, being the first class it was merely review and component testing, but Jennifer knew she could always count on Corey to get everything right the first time.  But as the class filed in, Jennifer couldn’t help but notice that Doug came in alone, and there was no sign of Corey.  Frowning slightly, she looked over at him with a questioning look on her face.

  “Corey wasn’t feeling well, so he went to the hospital ward,” Doug explained as he took his place.  Jennifer blinked.  Corey?  Sick?  Corey never got sick.  She stood rocking on her feet a moment, before nodding to the youth, resisting the urge to go up and check on him.  She was sure he wouldn’t appreciate his Mom bursting in there in front of who knows who, and they would surely let her know if it was something major.  Of course, she did promise herself to check up on him later.

  In the ward, Corey curled up on his side, despite Madam Pomfrey’s Kwikfix Stomach Solution, not looking any better.  Pomfrey, who was now quite sure there was nothing truly wrong with him, was about to give him a Dose of De-Stress when Professor McGonagall came in.

  “Madam Pomfrey, once you are done with Mr. Willowby, Professor Dumbledore needs to see him in his Study,” she said.  Corey groaned loudly and doubled over again.  Pomfrey made an ‘mmmhmmm’ sound and clucked her tongue softly.

  “You can go ahead and take him, Minerva.  I’m afraid I’m not good at curing guilty consciences anyhow,” she said.

  “Well, I’m not sure what this is all about, but I suspect you’re quite right in any case, knowing Mr. Willowby,” Professor McGonagall said, reaching out to take his arm and help him up.  “Come, come, Willowby.  Don’t keep the Headmaster waiting.”

  Feeling a sense of impending doom, Corey followed behind the Transfiguration teacher, wondering what his parents were going to do when they found out.  It had been bad enough how they reacted when he got caught in the Dark Forest sparring last year, but this was worse than that.  It might even mean not only sending him home, but his sister as well. 

  McGonagall stepped up to the gargoyle and said “treacle on toast,” and it opened to reveal the spiral staircase.  He had been in the office several times before.  The one time he remembered all too well, when Dumbledore had told him his brother and parents had been killed.  He gulped slightly as McGonagall nudged him forward and up the stairs, letting him in then closing the door behind him.  Reluctantly Corey peered up at the desk where Dumbledore sat, motioning him over to take a seat. 

  Dumbledore had paused to clean his glasses; an odd occurrence, Corey mused as he sat down.  Surely Dumbledore knew the spell to do that.  He took his time about it, polishing him to a shine, and Corey watched him nervously as he finally put them on his nose, and then looked over the rim at Corey from where he was sitting.

  “Well, Mr. Willowby,” Dumbledore said, finally folding his hands.  “I just wanted to know if there was anything, anything at all, that you wanted to tell me?”  Corey stared at his steady blue gaze nervously for a very long time.  Could he let this go on any longer, really?  It was going to be bad, he was sure, if Dumbledore found out the truth.  He would be disappointed, and so would Mom and Dad.  And what about Essie?  It was all his fault.  But if he never told, even if she did get through school, even if she did graduate, would he ever stop wondering if he did the right thing?

  “S..sir,” Corey stammered, “yes, actually, there is something.”  Dumbledore’s expression suddenly changed, almost as if seeing the boy for the first time and rather surprised to find that he was sitting there in his office.  The Headmaster got up and came around to the other side of the desk, taking the chair next to him, a thin smile on his face.

  “Very well, Mr. Willowby I’m listening,” he said, noticing him hesitate.  “It’s all right, I’m here to help you, not to punish you,” Dumbledore reassured him with such conviction that Corey couldn’t help but believe him.

  “It’s about Essie.  You see I…I taught her magic over the summer, and last summer too,” Corey admitted.  “I didn’t know it was wrong, I was just told that, today.  I mean…it wasn’t like she wasn’t allowed in the magic world like I was, so I thought, I thought it would be all right.”  Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, his gaze never leaving them.

  “And did your parents know of this?”

  “Oh, no sir!”  Corey said insistently.  “Honest, they weren’t involved in this.  We just kept her in her room because I was afraid…uh…okay, I suppose I did know I would get in trouble,” he said, thinking about it.  “But with them, not with, like the Ministry or school or anything.”

  “Might I ask then, why you did it, despite the fact you might get in trouble for it?” 

  “Sir, I…I was afraid that Essie might not be magic like me,” Corey said, looking positively miserable.  “I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her behind, when she sees all the marvelous things I’m doing.  I knew she wanted to go to school with me, and I remember how I felt when I was hoping to get accepted to Hogwarts and I thought I got passed over.  It was like having every dream I ever had crushed all at once and tossed away,” he said, blinking a bit from the burning sensation coming to his eyes.  “But that wasn’t the worst thing I did, and I know it.

  “Last year, I happened to be alone for a few minutes in McGonagall’s office when I noticed a book and realized it was the school register, and it put a name in the book, so I was curious and took a peek,” he said, feeling his throat clench.  “I went to Essie’s year, to make sure she was there, and…and she wasn’t.  So I added it, Sir.  I wrote her name in myself!  She wouldn’t have been accepted at Hogwarts at all if it hadn’t been for me, she wouldn’t have made it!   I know what I did was wrong, but I’m not sorry I did it.  Please don’t send Essie away, Professor, please!  Expel me, I deserve it, but don’t send her home.  She’ll be a good witch, really!”  Corey said, brushing angrily at his wet cheeks.

  “Now, now, calm down, Corey,” Dumbledore said, and Corey suddenly realized with surprise he was smiling warmly at him.  “Of course I will not send Essie anywhere, or you either, for that matter.  No, I think I had better keep you both close at hand where I can keep an eye on you.”  The boy stared at the Headmaster.  “And, while we’re on the subject, I suppose I should thank you for adding that name, for it obviously did belong there.  You see, if you had added her name and for whatever reason she was not capable of going to school here, the Book itself would have rejected it, and the ink would have faded on the page as if it were not even there.  The fact that it had stayed was a sign that it should have been.  There are many wondrous items of great magic in this world; but none of them are completely perfect, not even that Book.  There have been times when I myself have had to add a name.  In fact, I added a name myself of a boy not three years ago that one of my professors discovered, and I must confess that if I had not, the school would have lost a very talented…if not a little bit troublesome…student, that quite a few of the staff and students have become very fond of.”

  “Sir?  You mean, you were the one that put my name in the book?”  Corey said in disbelief.  Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled amusedly.  “But…but that means, if you hadn’t, or my name hadn’t stuck, Professor Craw…”

  “Yes, well, I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention this conversation to her or anyone else for that matter.  I’ll make sure she doesn’t find out from your thoughts, so don’t worry about that.  But I think it would be better if the circumstances about these two names that were added were kept solely between you and I, if you don’t mind,” Dumbledore said.

  “No, Sir, I definitely don’t mind!”  Corey said.

  “And as for teaching her beforehand, we will not speak of it again, so long as you promise me that from now on, you do not do so outside of this school.  Helping someone with her homework is one thing, taking it outside of these walls is another matter,” he said sternly.

  “I promise, Professor.”  Corey said emphatically.

  “Now, is there anything else I can do for you?  Are you feeling better?”  Dumbledore asked mischievously.  Corey blushed slightly.

  “Yes, sir, I’m fine now.  Thank you,” Corey said, getting up.

  “You are quite welcome.  Just remember, all of this is between us.  Except for one thing,” Dumbledore said as he got up to go back to his desk.  “I think twenty points to Gryffindor is in order,” he said.  Corey’s jaw dropped.

  “Twenty points, Sir?  What did I do to deserve that?”  He asked in complete surprise.

  “If you only knew how rare it was that I get a ‘yes’ answer when I ask a student that question,” Dumbledore said.  “I’d say the bravery and honesty it took you to confess to that deserves some recognition.  Now, as long as there isn’t anything else, I suggest you start getting ready for your next class.”

  “Well, I do have one other question,” Corey grinned.  “How exactly do you keep a Truth-seeker from finding something out, because I sure would like to learn that.”

  Dumbledore smiled cryptically.

  “Honestly, of course,” was all that he would say.

 

  Severus tapped his fingers as he stood in the hall, scowling at the students who quickened their pace as they passed him.  Finally, he saw the one he was searching for and moved in like a panther, coming up behind Corey with a quick hand on his shoulder turning him directly into his office, shutting the door.

  “And just why exactly did you cut your Potion’s class this afternoon, Mr. Willowby?”  He asked, standing over him expectantly.

  “Oh, I wasn’t feeling well, so I went to the hospital ward.”

  “I went to the hospital ward to make certain you were actually there, and you weren’t,” Severus said, his eyes flashing.

  “I was there!  Ask Madame Pomfrey, she gave me a potion!”  Corey protested.

  “Then why didn’t you return to class after you were feeling better, since you obviously are,” he said suspiciously.

  “Professor Dumbledore wanted to see me,” Corey said.  “Really, Dad.  Why in the world would I skip my favorite class on purpose?  Don’t you trust me at all?”

  “No, as a matter of fact,” Severus said curtly.  “Not after that stunt you pulled last year…” a knock interrupted his sentence and he growled softly in annoyance answering the door.  Minerva was standing there, holding a rolled slip of paper out to him.

  “Professor Dumbledore suddenly remembered he had forgotten to give Mr. Willowby a note to explain his absence from Potion’s class and thought I might find him here,” Minerva said, a smile sliding on her face when she saw that once again he was right.  “And also, I’m to tell you that if you have any questions about it, Professor Snape, that you should speak to Dumbledore directly, because the matter was strictly something between the student and the Headmaster,” she said firmly.  Severus squinted at her, then at Corey and back again.  “Now, Severus, you know as well as I do that we don’t tell parents everything that goes on at this school.  We probably would have been closed down years ago,” she added with amusement, peering behind him at Corey.  “I hear you started the year off on the right foot and earned twenty points for Gryffindor, Mr. Willowby.  I hope this created a continuing trend for you, especially considering the last two years.”

  “Yes, Professor, thank you.  I’ll do my best,” Corey said with a grin.

  “Good, we don’t want Slytherin to get cocky just because they had a lucky year,” Minerva said, smiling at Severus mischievously.  “Don’t get too attached to that cup, it’ll be back where it belongs this year, I think.”  Severus smiled in an almost threatening sort of way.

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” he said to Minerva before frowning at Corey and ordering him to get back to class.

 

  The week sped by swiftly, and Jennifer was glad to see the Broom Closet again as she spent most of Saturday at home with Alex, giving Carol the morning off.  The evening was as always spent at her veterinarian’s hut, Doctor Sagittari.  Ron, Remus, Hermione, Anna and Sirius had all come along with Corey’s friends.  But even with so many there, it seemed rather odd for Harry and Ginny to not be there. 

  She had every intention of taking it easy the next day, perhaps relaxing in her room while going over the formulas for next week, and get caught up with the post.

  She slipped quietly out of bed the next morning, attempting not to wake Severus, and went into her sitting room, getting comfortable on the couch and lighting a small fire in the fireplace with a flick of her wand.  Every day she had sorted the post into three piles:  one to be opened immediately (usually notes from family, staff, or the Ministry,) one to be opening eventually, (invitations and other such annoyances) and the burnables.  But it was the ‘eventually’ stack that kept getting worse as every day went by, and it had been steadily getting worse for years now.  The more renowned Jennifer got, the more the pile grew, until she was beginning to have to tackle it every couple of days else she would not be able to see her table at all.

  The first one proved to be a set of free passes to this year’s national Pegusi race, in appreciation for her help in destroying the Cloak of Icarus.  Jennifer shook her head.  It wasn’t as if she had done anything.  In the end, the Cloak and its owner destroyed themselves, and she wondered who might have dropped her name for this one.  Dumbledore probably, she mused.  Still, she wouldn’t mind going, even if it probably would end up being a media circus.   The next was a reminder from the chocolate company to sign her bio for her new series card.  Jennifer sighed.  Well, if she didn’t answer it, they’d put in what they like, and she had little intention of letting them put in ‘likes to look in mirrors,’ again.  Hastily, she scribbled in answers and sealed it, setting it in the Owl pile.  That was when she came to a curiously plain envelope with her name and nothing else, nor was there a name written on it as to who wrote it.  She had intended to open it when she had gotten it on Friday, but as all things do when the lab is filled with smoke and the entire class has broken out in warts, it entirely slipped her mind.  Carefully she lifted it up from the seal and a small note emerged.

  Meet me at the train station at half past eight on Sunday.  Come alone.  –C. Fudge.

  Glancing at the time, Jennifer went into the bedroom to try and nudge Severus awake.  But as she came near and reached over he suddenly pounced.  Jennifer yelped in surprise as she found herself being pinned down a look of mixed suspicion and mischief played across his face.

  “What are you doing up this early?  Don’t tell me you’ll already sneaking off to find more work for us to do?”  He asked.

  “I got up to do the post and it’s a good thing I did, one of them was for a meeting in half an hour…”

  “You never said anything about any meeting last night,” Severus frowned.

  “I didn’t know last night,” Jennifer said, somehow managing to grab the note where it lay and handed it to him.  Severus glanced at it, his face turning serious as he sat up.

  “Well, don’t expect me to allow you to actually go alone.  I expect Chameleon Powder will do,” Severus said, reaching for his robe.

  “You could just take an Invisibility Potion and go as you are,” Jennifer suggested with a teasing grin.

  “Yes, I’m sure you’d enjoy that, but I need my cloak in case anything goes wrong,” he said, shaking his head at her.  “We’d better get going if we’re to be there on time.  It’s a long stretch around the lake, and I’d rather not show him we can get out any other way,” Severus said.  Jennifer nodded and got up, taking the note back and going out to check her Chest-pocket cloak to make sure the phials were full before putting it on.

  “You know I never did get all my labs set up for next week,” Jennifer said as she waited beside the door.

  “Then we’ll just have to work on it again tonight, I suppose,” Severus said giving her a sideways glance as he donned his cloak and opened the door.  Jennifer chuckled slightly, wondering whether or not she was going to get it all done before Monday rolled around.

  Heavy dew coated the grass that crept around the path heading towards the station as they set a quick pace through the morning fog.  Jennifer stepped up to the platform, barely hearing Severus’ footsteps behind her.  Standing below a lamppost pacing was the cloaked figure, looking up like a startled deer when she approached.

  “It’s just me,” Jennifer said, taking a few more steps toward him. 

  “Thank you for coming,” he said, removing his hood.  “I am glad to see you came, and alone.  I wasn’t sure you would.”

  “One is never truly alone at Hogwarts,” Jennifer said carefully, but Fudge only nodded.

  “Yes, yes, I suppose that’s true,” he said, glancing up at the castle.

  “Actually, I’m not quite sure why you want to see me at all, instead of Dumbledore, or someone else?  If you need to arrange a private meeting…”

  “No, no.  It is you I want to speak with,” he said insistently.  “You see, I have a confession to make.  I did something wrong, albeit for the right reasons, and since you are directly involved, I wanted you to be the one to hear it,” Cornelius said, sitting on the station bench.  “You see, I…I am partially responsible for what happened last year with Lorcan Dougal.  I was the one who let him out.”

  “You what?” Jennifer said, staring at him in disbelief as the man held up his hands.

  “Please, wait.  Hear me out,” he said, his eyes looking at her both pleading and sincere.  “I didn’t do it to allow him to cause harm again, let alone to follow Anna back here.  I did it because I was hoping to follow him to the place he had hidden the chest that belonged to your mother.  Unfortunately, he had upon him a ring that protected him from being tracked directly, and I lost him before I had a chance to recover it.”

  “What in the world were you thinking?”  Jennifer said, her anger finally finding its footing.  “Surely if you knew what he had there were other ways of finding it than letting out a deranged murderer!”

  “There wasn’t enough time.  I had to get there before someone else discovered where it was!”  Fudge said.  “Someone who had been hounding me about it for years!  Someone who would have done anything to get his hands on it.”  Jennifer stared into his face, unsurprised at what she saw there.

  “Lucius Malfoy,” she said.

  “Exactly,” Fudged nodded.  “Malfoy has been breathing down my neck for years.  Threatening me, threatening my family,” he said, pacing again.  “That is why I left, you know.  With V…with the Dark Wizard at large again, I knew it was only a matter of time before I ended up on a headstone, and I just couldn’t take it any more, I had to leave,” he said, stopping.  “Your mother worked for me for several years.  When we thought Thomas died, she turned to me, entrusted me to send this chest to her.  So I did.  But in so doing so, I think I tipped Malfoy off to her exact whereabouts, not realizing what would happen.”  Jennifer’s face turned stony, staring at him, trying to keep eye contact with him to make sure he was telling the truth.

  “Why didn’t you step up and report all this?”  Jennifer asked.  “You could have helped us keep Malfoy in jail.”

  “I dared not,” Fudge said.  “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t, and can’t.”  Jennifer frowned as if seeing him for the first time.  She never thought she’d meet someone with less backbone than Francis Pyther, but she quickly realized that this man was anything from courageous.  She also understood now why her husband disliked him.  “But I am willing to offer you information, information you don’t have.  Many things happened while I was Minister you know, many dark things that no one knows about, and more,” he said with a nod.

  “And what do you want in return?”  Jennifer asked cautiously.

  “Your forgiveness, for starters,” Fudge said.  “Later, we will see.  But you must see that what I am doing I do for everyone’s own good, not just our own.”  There was something odd in his face, and Jennifer knew there was more to it than that but wasn’t sure what question would bring out the truth behind it.  “First, I want you to understand we have common enemies, you and I, and not just Malfoy,” he said glancing around, before turning back to her with a serious expression.  “Many of them would like nothing better to get rid of you, but they can’t, you are normally too well guarded.  They fear Dumbledore, and they fear your husband.  They cannot even fathom attacking the Headmaster of course, but Severus is another story.  Warn him that his enemies are upon him, and may show themselves at any time.  Someone might even try to kill him before the end of the school year.”  Jennifer looked at his face carefully in disbelief before he spun around as if startled by a noise.  Exhaling in relief he turned back.  “I must go, it’s too dangerous.”

  “Wait a moment, what about you trying to kill me?  What does that have to do with Anna?”  Jennifer demanded, grabbing onto his sleeve.  Fudge turned back to her, hesitantly.

  “We suspected.  The Ministry and I, and her parents…we suspected what she was, from the time she was three,” he whispered.  “I’m sorry for what I did.  I’m sorry to have had to risk one woman’s daughter over another, but you do not yet understand how important it was that I knew for certain what she was.  She doesn’t belong here, you know,” he added, putting the hood back over his head and taking a step back.  “She’s a time bomb that could go off at any time.  Mark my words, Professor Craw, Dumbledore knows it well.”  Jennifer slowly turned and stepped off the platform, trying to digest what she heard.  Severus’ face appeared beside her as he began to dust off the powder, his stony expression no mask for the worry in his eyes for his sister.

 

Chapter Seven

The Star-crossed Destiny

 

  The Centaur of Hogwarts smiled softly as he began his third week of classes teaching grooming techniques, having pairs of students brushing down the Pegusi, Slumber Sheep, Griffon, Hippogriff and Badgemera cubs while he lectured them on other class material.  Corey and Taylor brushed down Babe, Severus’ huge black winged horse who stood nearly twenty hands high, tossing his head restlessly from being woken up in the middle of his morning nap.

  “Now, does anyone remember the names of the groupings of each of the animals we’re taking care of today?”  Sagittari asked.  He walked around the different groups, inspecting their work and seeing that each was being carefully tended.

  “Pride of Griffons,” Corey said, slightly bored and wondering if this class wasn’t just a way for the school to not have to hire caretakers for the school menagerie.

  “Very good.  Gail?”  Sagittari inquired.

  “Flock of sheep and flock of Pegusi?”

  “Both correct,” Sagittari nodded.

  “A pack of Badgemeras and a flight of Hippogriffs,” Taylor put in.

  “Very good.  Now, does anyone happen to know what a group of Centaurs are called?”  Sagittari asked, pausing near where Doug and Gail were rubbing down Babe’s mate, Ruby.

  “A herd?”  Corey guessed, but knew it was wrong the moment Sagittari winced.

  “A constellation,” Taylor said, and Sagittari looked over at him.

  “Very good, five points for Ravenclaw.  Yes, that is quite correct.  We refer to many things in our daily lives according to the stars, for they are guides to our past, present, and future.  Yes, Doug?”

  “What are a group of humans called?”

  “A mob, probably,” Corey put in, getting a slight chuckle from the other students.

  “Actually, at one time they often were called a mob of humans,” Sagittari smiled thinly.  “But crowd of humans is much more correct.  Now, if you’re done rubbing them down, you may now feed them.  I trust you remember from last week what creature eats what,” he said calmly, gesturing slightly to the shed behind the pen.

  “Some class, this is free labor, this is,” Corey whispered to Taylor as they headed over to the shed.  “I should have stuck to my instincts and not added any more classes.”

  “You’d have had to have taken a year in it anyhow,” Taylor pointed out, “might as well get it over with.”

  Sagittari was quite aware of the grumbling, but urged them firmly over to finish, knowing full well they would learn more respect of the creatures if they realized how much effort went into taking care of them.  Doug came back over and set his bucket down in front of Ruby, taking a step back into what he thought was Babe, giving his side a friendly pat.

  “I beg your pardon, Mr. Brim, but that’s hardly necessary,” Sagittari’s voice said from right above his ear.  Jumping back in surprise, the class began to laugh while Doug blushed furiously as he realized he just pat the teacher’s side, trying to get out an apology.  The doctor moved out of the pack, not a bit angry about the occurrence, gently encouraging them to get back to their duties before it was time for class to end.  At last it was lunchtime, and the students gladly headed back towards the school, many of them still nudging Doug a bit for his mistake.  Even Corey couldn’t help but rib his friend a little, but stopped short when he saw Sagittari watching after them.

  As Sagittari turned to head back into his house, he spotted two figures standing near the lake.  He squinted thoughtfully at them a moment before heading into his hut, coming back out with a basket.

  Jennifer fixed Anna’s hand position on the wand once more, then stood back, trying not to get frustrated.

  “All right, let’s try again.  Remember, you’re just focusing the words through the wand, don’t try to do it the other way…”

  “How do I stop myself from doing it the other way?”  Anna asked irritably.  “I mean, I can’t exactly turn it off and on.”

  “That’s the whole reason we’re doing this.  Control, remember?”  Jennifer said, trying not to sound impatient.  “You need to stop thinking about how badly you want it to move.  You need to let the spell do it for you,” Jennifer explained.  “Concentrate on making the spell work instead.”

  Anna sighed.  It’d be so much simpler if she could just do it instead of all of this extra stuff, but Dumbledore had asked her to cooperate with Jennifer, and she supposed he had her reasons.  If only she didn’t sound so blasted patronizing.  Pointing at the scarf with the wand, Anna practiced the wand flick one more time.

  “Windgardium Leviosa!”  Anna said, pointing at the scarf.  One oend of the scarf suddenly rose up, the other end curling like an angry serpent.  Suddenly it lashed out, wrapping itself tightly around Jennifer’s neck who grabbed something out of her cloak, pouring it quickly over the scarf.  Anna, who was attempting to get it loose as Jennifer’s face began turning blue suddenly lost her grip as the potion began to work and the wool became harder and harder until finally Jennifer was able to rip it free from her neck, falling on her knees, panting.  “Jennifer, are you ok?  I am so sorry,” Anna said, flustered.  Sagittari suddenly galloped up, looking concerned, helping Jennifer to her feet.  “This wand thing I think is a bad idea.”

  “No, it’s all right, I’m okay,” Jennifer protested.  “Fortunately, I still had some potion left from when I starched Severus’ robes from this morning.  I don’t know, Anna, perhaps it’s your accent or something.”

  “It’s a bit more complicated than that, Jennifer,” Sagittari said.  “Might I join you?  I brought along some lunch for all of us.”

  “In that case, absolutely,” Jennifer grinned.  “After all, we’ve not many warm days left to enjoy, do we?”  Sagittari opened the basket and a checkered cloth danced out and placed itself of the grass, filling up with a wonderful arrangement of pita sandwiches and pasta salads.  The doctor gathered his legs under him and sat beside them.

  “I had similar problems as these myself when I was a foal and first came to this school,” Sagittari explained.  “For we Centaurs are also a part of magic instead of just using it, much the same as you, Anna.  Of course, our magic is solely of wild magic; the magic of the fae and of nature, where you also have power over ancient magic as well, which governs the elements and everything that nature is based on.

  “Despite my talent for the magic of my people, I had always known from the moment I was old enough to gaze into the heavens that fate held another path for me, and that path was not the path of my people.  I spent much of my youth playing by the eastern borders, talking to the professors that often walked there, including Professor Dumbledore himself, although at the time I had no idea that he had just been appointed the Headmaster of the school.  He knew as I did that I was unlike the rest of my kind, and that I wished to learn the modern magics and become a wizard myself.  That decision cost me the respect of my Constellation, and even more regretful, the respect of my father and brothers and sisters.”  Sagittari sighed softly, picking up a tall glass of nectar, looking over at Anna.

  “When I began learning modern magic, I had to learn how to block out some of my natural ability to do so.  This is what you need to learn to do.  The best advice I can give you as you begin is to approach each challenge with indifference.  If you do not care whether or not the spell works, your natural magic will not interfere with what you are doing,” Sagittari explained.  “Once you get used to the different sensations of controlling different types of magic, the indifference will be replaced with reasoning, and you will be able to control which magic is used and decide for yourself which will work best.”

  “He definitely has a point,” Jennifer agreed, “It’s probably not helping that you’re using a borrowed wand either,” she added.

  “Well, I’m going to try one more time, just watch out in case in backfires,” Anna said, trying not to seem nervous.  She pointed at her glass with the wand, she tried to clear her mind before flicking the wand at it.  “Windgardium Leviosa!”   The glass shot into the air and hovered several feet above as Jennifer cheered and the doctor rewarded Anna with a nod and a smile.  Anna smiled triumphantly, taking a bow.  Jennifer gasped and called out her name in warning, but it was too late, the glass tipped over and fell, spraying all three of them with juice as it toppled to the ground.

  “Don’t forget you have to keep the wand on it until you set it down,” Jennifer muttered, wiping off her robe.  Sagittari began to chuckle, the sound of him doing so unusual enough that it began a rolling laughter between them that lasted until the bell rang and the three of them had to dash off to teach their next classes.

 

  The winds turned chill that evening, and as the last class left the grounds heading into the school, Sagittari dutifully checked on several creatures that he had been tending before turning to the grounds.  It grew cold quickly for it was a clear night, and Sagittari paused to glance at the stars.  He frowned, a growing concern in his eyes for what he saw.  How different it was since the last time he truly studied them, the night Alexandria had been born.  It had always been customary for a centaur to commemorate their own foal’s birth with a reading of the stars, and Sagittari always did the same for any he delivered.  But those warm signs did not seem to be in the stars tonight.

  He suddenly began to feel as if he were no longer alone, and found himself glancing behind him into the shadow of the Forest itself.  But Sagittari like all of his kind had keen sight in the dark, and he found himself gazing into the eyes of another Centaur.  As he gazed into the amber eyes, Sagittari almost felt as if he were a foal again, and remembered the night he had left his friends and family forever.  How could it be, when it was written so clearly in the stars that he must do this thing, to live among the wizards and learn their ways that it so contradicted the destiny that had been given to him by his birth?  How different things would it have been had he stayed, and forsaken the world that called to him, the world that logic and reasoning had told him to deny?  But, he had been young, and idealistic.  A wizard had he wished to be, so a wizard he became.

  Had he had any regret at all about the decision, it was not because of anything written in the stars, or any obligation he could no longer fulfill.  It was, undeniably, the loss of his father’s wisdom and guidance, and it was his father who even now watched him thoughtfully from the Forest.  Sagittari dared not speak; it was not his place to do so, and it was obvious from his mannerisms that Ronan had little desire to start a conversation.  Instead, the older Centaur glanced up momentarily at the stars…an acknowledgement that he knew the troubles that awaited them, before fading back into the trees.  Sagittari continued on his rounds, but couldn’t erase the picture of his father from his mind.  If only he could get him to understand, perhaps the others would learn to accept him as well.

 

   Remus sighed loudly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, knowing full well even in this darkness, Severus would probably call him on it.

  “Severus, I thought you told me you and Sirius had come to an understanding?” he said, walking beside the soured man as they walked through the Forest.

  “That was before he agreed to my sister’s request for a Muggle wedding.  I’d think he’d have more sense than that,” Severus muttered.  “What do they want us to do, hide in a back corner all night as if having magic is something to be ashamed of?”

  “Oh, come now, Severus, you don’t think your sister feels that way any more than I do,” Remus said.  “You know full well we can’t tell them what we are.  But considering that Anna was raised a Muggle, you can’t expect her to not include her friends just to suit your comfort level, do you?  She didn’t interfere with your wedding.  What makes you think you have a right to interfere with hers?”

  “She didn’t have to change her appearance or lie about who she is at my wedding,” Severus muttered.  “Fine.  If she insists on doing this, that’s her decision, but I’m not getting ‘Muggled’ for it.  I’m going as I am.”

   Remus sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue…at least, not without Dumbledore there to back him up.  Instead he turned his attention back to their patrol, pausing at the sound of hoof beats, sniffing at the air thoughtfully.

  “Centaur,” he said at last, and the two men waited for the figure to appear.  Firenze stepped into view, nodding to them slightly.

  “The stars warn of great danger coming again to the Forest,” Firenze said in a low voice, “Has no more been done to stop the great evil bleeding into the Forest from the Tomb?”

  “Dumbledore has done what he can to contain it,” Remus said.

  “It will not last,” Firenze said, gazing through the trees.  “The Forest itself is crying in pain, and many of my own kind wish to leave.  Even the spiders begin to move from their lair.  The great beasts in the sky are converging with the planets, and soon their power over this land will be greater than ours.”

  Another Centaur approached, gazing warily at the two men.

  “Firenze, the rest of the elders have gathered,” Ronan told him.  “Come, we must go.  These wizards of Hogwarts are not our friends.”

  “Even if the Constellation declares them not our allies tonight, I will decide for myself who my friends are,” Firenze said.

  “Is the wizard of Hogwarts that is your son not your friend as well, Ronan?” Severus challenged.  Ronan met the wizard’s eyes with a disapproving gaze.

  “How I see the outcast is not the business of wizards either, Professor, no matter how much you wish to make it so,” he said.  “I have warned you of the portents in the sky, my duty to your kind is done.  Good night,” Ronan said, disappearing into the woods.  Firenze looked back at the two men thoughtfully but didn’t speak, following the older centaur dutifully.  Severus grimaced slightly, shaking his head, and Remus turned to him with a concerned look on his face.

  “So, they would take away their words of friendship and alliance…one that has lasted hundreds of years,” Remus said in disbelief.

  “It is only words,” Severus said after a moment of silence.  “They are thinking that by keeping to themselves they are protecting themselves.  They’ve been frightened by something,” he added, folding his arms thoughtfully.  “But by what, I’m not sure.  I do know, however, that repairing ties between Sagittari and his Constellation will be impossible unless we find a way to repair this.”

  “Then perhaps we should try and find out what exactly pushed them over to this decision,” Remus suggested.

  “Lead the way,” Severus said, feeling for his wand to make sure he could get at it.  “You’re the one with the nose.”

  “You mean I’m the one with the good sense of smell,” Remus said, not being able to resist a jibe at the hawk-nosed man.  “Guess that’s proof positive that size isn’t everything,” he grinned.

  “If that’s true, how come you keep looking up at the moon,” Severus muttered, walking further of the path.  Shaking his head grimly and deciding to himself once and for all that the man had absolutely no sense of humor, Remus went to join him, but didn’t discover anything out of the ordinary the rest of the evening.

 

Chapter Eight

The Painting in the Trophy Room

 

  Halloween was upon them again, and with it the approach of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match.  Corey and Doug, who were having a smashing year as Beaters, were proving to be a perilous duo on the Quidditch Pitch, contributing in a 180-20 loss for Ravenclaw.  They too were the first to receive the copies of the Veritable Wizard on the game, thanks to the sports writer, who just happened to be Taylor Brittle.

  “Smashing article, Taylor!  If this doesn’t convince Gail Sisna to go to the Spring dance with me, I don’t know what will,” Doug said.

  “You’re already making plans for the dance?”  Corey said, rolling his eyes.  “They just started talking about it two days ago, and it’s not until early March.  I don’t know, but I think we’ve got better things to do than fawn over girls for half a year, not that there’s any worth going with.”

  “Really, Corey?”  Taylor asked cautiously.  “I mean, I’d have thought you’d be going with Danny for sure.”

  “Danny?  Oh, go on, Taylor, we’re just friends.  It’s not like she’s the dating type.  And she’s a Slytherin.  I mean, I agree she’s nice and all that, but date a Slytherin?  Let’s not get carried away,” Corey snorted.  “What I meant was, we need to think about that Slytherin game.  We have to beat them.  If we don’t, they might take the cup again.”

   “Think about it all you like, Willowby,” a voice called out behind him.  Corey and the other two turned around to see Amadeus Longbottom standing beside Casper Wyatt and Roger Baylor.  “The chance of either of you coming out of that game still standing, let alone winning the game, is next to none,” Amadeus said. 

  “I always knew you were a loon, Longbottom, but you must be denser than I thought, threatening Snape’s son,” Doug said.

  “Adopted son,” Amadeus retorted, stepping up to Corey.  “If you think that makes you any less than a mudblood, you’d better think again.  You’re still just a poor Muggle sheepherder who just got lucky because that mudlover Craw took pity on you.  To think, if it hadn’t been for her, you’d probably still be cleaning barns somewhere, or perhaps share the same fate as your family.  Pathetic how easily they all fall when exposed to real magic.” 

  Taylor and Doug grabbed a hold of Corey just as he stretched out his hand, yelling out his name and trying to force them back down.

  “Don’t do it, Corey, he’s trying to get you riled on purpose!” Taylor hissed at him, “you’re going to get in trouble.”

  “What’s the matter, Willowby?  Did I offend your Muggleborn sensibilities?  If you can’t take a Bludger now and then, get off the Pitch,” Amadeus grinned as the other two snickered at him.

  “I’ll show you offensive,” Corey said, wrenching his hand away from Doug and pointing.  “Acridios aromus!”  A thick green cloud appeared around Amadeus smelling like a hundred skunks, his face looking ill as he held his nose and tried feebly to get at his wand.  Everyone else, including his too companions, backed far away from him as Amadeus crawled out of the cloud, the stench following him.

  “Mr. Willowby!” A voice yelled from behind him.  The three boys turned and cringed as they saw McGonagall rushing down the hall.  “What on Earth….” her words were cut short when she got too close to Amadeus and had to step back.  “You…house lavatories…bath…now!” She coughed out before grabbing a hold of Corey’s arm.  “You…office.  And you two as well,” she said, nodding to Doug and Taylor.  “Baylor, Wyatt, go to Professor Craw and ask her for a bottle of Air De-pungent.  This corridor smells like a field after a dragon convention!”

  McGonagall was in no mood to hear excuses, for no matter who had instigated it the fact was Corey was still casting spells in the hall.  Taylor and Doug, at least, got off for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, (although she did tell them she planned to keep an eye on them) but Corey was to sit detention with Filch the next day before the Halloween Feast.

  He had been afraid that he was going to get bathroom duty, but as it turned out that was the day to clean the second floor, so the caretaker set him up in the trophy room with tiny brushes and other manual equipment, squinting at him threateningly to make sure he was doing it right before he and his cat left the room.  He hadn’t even gotten through the first case before he heard laughter at the door and looked up to see Amadeus standing there.

  “Serves you right for cursing me, Willowby!  Oh, and I’m writing up a bill for my robes, since you completely ruined them.”

  “I’ll show you what you can do with that bill, you purist pig!”  Corey said, getting up.

  “Temper, temper!  I don’t think it’d be good for you to get in trouble again already, do you?  You might get suspended from the Quidditch team, and I was looking forward to our match.  After all, anything can happen on the Pitch, you know,” he said, smiling threateningly.  “Anything.”

  “If you’re trying to scare me into not playing, it’s not going to work, Longbottom,” Corey said.  “I have every intention of going in there and helping Gryffindor gain a victory, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it.”

  “I don’t have to do anything,” Amadeus said.  “You seem to be doing well enough getting into trouble on your own.”  Without another word, he turned and continued down the corridor as Corey slumped back to his knees.  There was no way he was going to miss that game, despite anything Amadeus had in mind.

  “What are you doin’ Willowby?”  Filch asked, squinting at where he sat in front of the first case.  “This isn’t tea time, keep cleanin’.  I’m not lettin’ ya go tonight ‘til yer done with the whole room, so if ya want to go ta the feast ya best keep goin’.  Missed a spot,” he added, pointing at a smudge on of the trophies accusingly.  Reluctantly, Corey went back to work, looking gloomy as he finished the first case and started on some of the plaques.  “That’s better.  Don’t dust the paintin’s tho, just the plaques.  I’ll do those myself if ya don’t mind,” he said, looking at him as if he didn’t trust him with the task.  “I’ll be down the hall doin’ the gym floors if ya need me,” he said, walking back out.

  “I didn’t want to dust no bloody paintings anyhow,” Corey muttered, glancing up at the portraits above the door.  Most of them were Quidditch players, standing beside broomsticks or riding them, and quite a few of them were giggling and pointing at where he glowered.  “Oh, right, and tell me you all didn’t ever get into trouble!”    He dared the paintings, sticking his tongue out at them as he reached for another plaque to polish. 

  As he did so, he gazed thoughtfully at the middle portrait.  An elderly, rather plump blonde woman in gorgeous gold robes with green trim was sleeping in an ornate chair.  He recognized that chair from somewhere; and after a moment he realized it was the same chair that Dumbledore sat at in the Great Hall, and Corey couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t once a Headmaster herself.  Perhaps she was…and just like all of the portraits that he had seen in Dumbledore’s office of Headmaster’s, this one too was sleeping.  But why was she in here instead of with the rest?  Corey shrugged to himself, placing the plaque back up on the wall.  If only he could ask her. 

  He went over to start on the large wall case, turning the handle.  It was locked still; apparently, Filch had missed that one when he unlocked all the cases to be cleaned.  Rather than having to deal with Filch again, Corey pointed at the door, intoning alohamora at the case, expecting it to give.  When it didn’t, Corey sighed.  Well, it would make sense that such a thing would be protected from basic student spells.   It was just then that he remembered a spell they had just began studying in Transfiguration class that changed any liquid into another liquid.  Well, technically, glass was a liquid, Corey mused as he thought of the book he read over the summer.  So, all he had to do was change it to something else.  Raising his hands, he concentrated on the glass.  “Transforme eu liquidius!”

  The glass began to ripple as it attempted to change to its new form, bubbling like a cauldron.   But just before it completed and turned to water, the glass suddenly began to solidify as if it were fighting back, and in the tug of war the glass suddenly shattered loudly, echoing down the hall.  Corey winced as if in pain, waiting for Filch to come in yelling, and slowly he turned around, expecting the worst.  He stood there listening, but oddly enough, didn’t hear anyone coming.  Relaxing slightly, Corey sighed and turned to try and figure out how to clean up the mess.

  “I say, can’t you be just a wee bit quieter while making your mischief, young man?  You woke me up,” he heard a woman’s voice say.  Corey swiftly turned back around, not seeing anyone, then slowly veered his eyes upward to see that the woman in the chair was gazing straight at him with such a searching gaze and amused smile that he knew without a doubt that she was the one who spoke.

  “I…sorry.  I couldn’t get the case open,” he stammered, wondering how much trouble he was in now for disturbing a sleeping painting.

  “What is your name, young Gryffindor?” she asked kindly.

  “Corey, Ma’am.  Corey Willowby,” he answered.

  “And the current Headmaster’s name?”  Corey was slightly surprised by that.

  “Professor Albus Dumbledore, of course,” he said.  “Who are you?”

  “Well, I suppose I’m nobody anymore.  After all, I’m only a painting,” the woman said slyly, “But if you’re asking who I’m a painting of, I am the painting of Professor Caprica Dusthorn, first appointed Headmaster, and it is very good to meet you.  So tell me, why are you trying to get into the case in any case?”  She said, and then began to giggle at her own wording.

  “I got in trouble for casting a spell in the halls,” Corey said, hearing her tsk.  “Well, it wasn’t like that!  Amadeus Longbottom insulted my family, and my adopted mother.  I wasn’t just going to stand there and take it,” Corey said, clenching his fists.

  “Calm down, it’s all right, I was only asking,” Dusthorn said.  “I’m afraid I don’t know much of what’s going on these days.  Perhaps you can tell me?  I admit I’m quite curious, and I’d like to hear more about you and your family.  And this Longbottom fellow, he’s another student, yes?”

  “Willowby!”  A voice barked from outside.  Dusthorn winked and put a finger to her lips, closing her eyes as Mr. Filch appeared in the doorway.  “Who are you talkin’ ta?  An’ what happened to th’ case?”

  “No one, and it broke when I tried to open it,” Corey said, moving out of the way as the caretaker came over to the case.

  “Ya balmy, it was locked, no wonder you couldn’t get it open,” he said, rolling his eyes.  “Clean it up then, and hurry up about it.  Yer going to miss dinner for sure now,” he added, sneering slightly.  “I’ll tell yer classmates not to wait up,” he added as he left.  Corey sighed and beginning picking up the glass, as one of Dusthorn’s blue eyes flickered open. 

  “Nice friendly chap he is, isn’t he?” she said in a low voice with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  Corey grinned at her.  “I knew a professor a lot like him once, only a lot more sour.  Ruddy way to live if you ask me.”

  “If you keep talking you’re going to get me in trouble again,” Corey said, grinning in spite of himself.  He was beginning to wish he would have known the real Dusthorn…they probably would have gotten along together very well.

  “I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me, you seem to have enough trouble all of your own,” Dusthorn agreed.  “Let’s keep your waking me our little secret for now, hm?  No need for us to go worrying professors about it just yet,” Dusthorn decided.  Corey wasn’t exactly sure what she spoke of, or why the professors would be worried about it, but there was definitely something irresistible about an ex-Headmaster that didn’t want anyone to know she was about.

  “It’s all right with me,” Corey agreed.

  Delighted that he agreed and very eager to find out what had been happening at Hogwarts since she had been asleep, Caprica kept Corey company as he cleaned the rest of the evening, listening to stories of his friends and how he came to Hogwarts.  She was most especially interested in hearing about what he knew about Voldemort, Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Jennifer Craw, although Corey knew more about his mother than the rest.  He even found himself talking about his real parents, for her soothing voice, patient ears and kind words making her so easy to speak to. 

  It was Filch who came to find him again after the feast, a pane of carefully cut glass wrapped in paper in his hands, looking at the boy oddly when he saw him sitting in the spotless room as if he had little desire to leave it.  He shooed him off to bed, shaking his head, taking a moment to put the new glass back into the case, none the wiser for the pair of eyes that kept peeking open to watch him.

 

   Jennifer was always nervous of Halloween, but was much too preoccupied to think about that now.  Minerva hadn’t told her the details of what happened, but Jennifer was easily able to glean it from Doug’s face at dinner.  Drumming her fingers on the table and quickly replying to Severus’ questioning comment, Jennifer couldn’t get out of dinner fast enough, joining Hermione on patrol to make sure everyone got back to their rooms.  It wasn’t until the fourth pass by the Fat Lady that Jennifer spied Corey coming down the hall, his eyes suddenly widening when he saw her, then quickly speeding up, greeting her quickly as he passed her, tucking his chin in vain attempt of hiding his face.

  “Don’t you expect to get past me that easily, Corey.  I want to know what really happened down there today,” Jennifer said, folding her arms.

  “I just lost my temper, that’s all.  Sorry, won’t happen again,” Corey muttered, turning towards the painting.

  “Corey,” Jennifer sighed putting a hand on his shoulder.  “Look, I know you wouldn’t do something like that unless you were provoked.  Not that that makes it right,” she added quickly.  “But if there’s anything you want to tell me?”

  “Can I still go to Hogsmeade?” He asked, turning back around.

  “I don’t know, you know we said no detentions,” Jennifer said, watching the pleading look grow in his eyes.  She sighed.  “I’ll talk to your Dad about it.”

  “Thanks Mom…Professor Craw, I mean.  If anyone can change his mind for him you can,” he added, saying the password and hurrying in the door.  Jennifer shook her head as the door shut again, heading back down the stairs.  It wasn’t long before she arrived in the Defense office, Severus glancing up from his desk unsurprised.

  “Do you believe how quiet it is?  Not one problem, not one surprise and it’s nearly midnight, you’d almost think it wasn’t Halloween at all,” Jennifer said casually.

  “So?  What did you find out?”  He asked.

  “Is it that obvious?”  Jennifer said sheepishly, walking over to the desk.

  “You mean is it obvious you can’t help but sticking your nose into things?  Of course, I’ve known that since we’ve met,” Severus said evenly.

  “Yes, almost as obvious as how much you like to taunt me,” Jennifer challenged, and was rewarded with a roguish smile.  “I didn’t get much, he was trying to avoid my gaze,” she admitted with irritation.  “Nobody ever wants to look me in the eye anymore!  But he seems to think Amadeus is trying to keep him from playing the next Quidditch game.”  Severus looked up at that.

  “Really?  Interesting choice in strategy,” Severus mused.

  “Is that all you have to say?”  Jennifer said, slightly annoyed by his calm reaction.  Severus sighed and put down his pen.

  “I probably would have done something similar in the same position.  Consider, everyone knows how much trouble Corey gets into just as well as everyone knows how eager he is to push his luck.  I’ve always said that boy’s lack of control over his emotions would get him into trouble if he wasn’t careful, so if he allows them to push him over the edge, it is his own doing,” Severus said.

  “So you’re saying, we should let them go through with it,” Jennifer sighed.

  “Us interfering would cause Corey more harm than help,” Severus said bluntly.  “Ever since we adopted him, all of Slytherin has been on pins and needles.  And, they do not come to me as often as they used to,” he admitted, folding his hands together.  “I have no intention of straining that situation any more than it already is, and if you were wise, you would be worried about the same, considering how many students believe you play favorites.”

  “I do not play favorites.  All right, so I admit I speak to certain students outside of class, but inside class, I’ve always treated them all alike,” Jennifer said, feeling her temperature rising.

  “Jennifer, I know that and the school knows that.  But whether you like it or not, appearances do mean something.  I don’t have to remind you that’s why you nearly got sacked,” he pointed out.  Jennifer forgot what she was going to say, falling into silence.  “Like it or not, you are constantly in the spotlight.  Perhaps it is time you should think about how you want everyone else to see you, and discipline yourself to let them only see what you want them to see.”

  “I can’t do that, Severus!   Hide who I am?  Under a mask?  Like you do?”  Jennifer stood up and walked around her chair in pure disbelief.  “How can I do that and not betray who I am?  I’ve never needed a mask before…”

  “Only because your friends have always supplied the mask for you,” Severus said calmly.  “But you’re no longer the young, naïve teacher that first entered this school, and it’s high time you thought about it.”

  “I’ve never really wanted anyone to see me but for who I really am,” Jennifer said defensively.

  “What about your first year here when you tried to play Lucius Malfoy with an act and I had to come bail you out?” Severus said.

  “That was different,” Jennifer said uncomfortably.  “I wasn’t doing it to protect how I was being seen.”  Severus gazed starkly at her, drumming her fingers as he impatiently waited for her to realize she was wrong.  “Besides, I’m a Truth-seeker, remember?  Honesty first, and all that.  What sort of Truth-seeker goes around wearing a mask to who they really are?”

  “Dumbledore does,” Severus said simply, ending the conversation.

Chapter Nine

The Price of Victory

 

  Danny poked at her sandwich with a fork, glancing over at where Amadeus, Roger and Casper were huddled.  They had been doing nothing else all week, apparently more concerned about the game than class, and Danny watched as they fumbled through their spells and potions as if they’d never had a lesson.  Janders Box and the Starling twins sat beside her, shaking their heads over at them.

  “You’d think we were on separate teams, the way they’re acting,” Janders said.  “Who do they think they are, anyhow?”

  “Longbottom thinks he’s the captain, and unfortunately, we’re stuck with him,” Danny said, stabbing the sandwich again and taking a bite off the rim.  “Don’t worry, I’ll find out from Wyatt what’s up, he normally listens to me.  This game is too important for us to lose.  We came way too close losing last game,” she pointed out, looking at Janders who shifted uncomfortably.  “And try to make at least one stop this time?”

  “Well, we don’t have to worry so much about the Gryffindor Chasers, it’s their Beaters that will be brutal.  You saw what Willowby is capable of from the Ravenclaw game.  He’s amazingly better than last year.”

  “Yeah, but they have a weak Seeker, and that’s everything in this game,” Lisa pointed out.  “Katie just barely caught up last time, and only because the ‘claw ended up sun-blinded.”

  “Well, it won’t do us any good if they knock me out of the sky, will they?”  Danny said.

  “You don’t think they’ll go easy on you, being their friend and all that?”  Lisa asked.

  “What, you mean Doug and Corey?  They wouldn’t dare pull punches.  I’d not speak to them the rest of the year,” Danny said.  Lisa and Liam exchanged looks.

  “I thought that was the whole point that you made friends with them in the first place,” Liam admitted.  “You can’t actually enjoy hanging around their sort, can you?”

  “I hang around whoever I like,” Danny shrugs.  “I don’t need to maintain any peer status.  As long as I come out on top, that is.”

  “In other words, she’s a control freak, everything by her own rules,” Amadeus said as the rest of the team joined them.  Amadeus sat beside Danny, smiling unpleasantly at her.  “Like father like daughter, I suppose.”

  “Well it’s obvious you don’t have much control.  Your waistline alone is proof enough of that,” Danny sneered.

  “Laugh all you like, Nelson.  While you were busy over here gloating over test scores like a Ravenclaw, we were busy hatching a plan to make sure we win this game,” Amadeus said.

  “Which is what?”  Danny asked, raising a brow.

  “Which is none of your business yet,” Amadeus said firmly.  “You four just do what you do best…play Quidditch.  We’ll take care of the details.”   Danny sighed softly but didn’t say anything.  The details were precisely what worried her.

 

 

    Severus Snape glided over to the Slytherin gate just before the game, looking over the team with a nod and a thin smile.

  “Mr. Longbottom.  Miss Nelson.  I doubt any of you should find any trouble today.  After all, we have without question the best Seeker this year,” he pointed out, slipping a glance to Danny who smiled in return.  “Don’t disappoint us, now, Longbottom, the entire house is depending on your leadership skills today.”

  “As you said, Professor, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble,” Longbottom agreed.

  “Good, see that you don’t.  I’ll be sitting with your parents in the Slytherin box so we can celebrate your easy victory,” Severus said.  “We’ll be back in the lead in points soon enough,” he said, nodding to them in turn before heading to the stands.

  “How do you like that?  I figured he’d sit in the teacher’s box this game like he did last year,” Liam said.

  “Wonder who he’s trying to impress,” Amadeus asked, the dislike evident in his eyes.

  Severus climbed up into the box, glancing around before he spotted Byron Nelson, who was sitting beside Alvin Archibald, in deep discussion about Durmstrang.  As he approached, Alvin stood to make room, looking slightly surprised to see him.  He nodded to Byron politely, who did the same in return

  “Professor Snape.  I wasn’t sure if you would be joining us this game,” Byron said, sitting back down.

  “I wouldn’t miss the chance to see my house best their greatest rival,” Severus said, sitting on the other side of him.  “Your daughter is the best Seeker that we have had in a long time.”

  “I hear she is doing well in sparring club also,” Byron said.

  “Yes, without question,” Severus nodded.  “In fact, she was quite instrumental in our winning the House cup last year.”

  “Of that I have no doubt,” he said, glancing over the field.  “And she will continue to be, inside and outside of the classroom.”  There was something odd about his tone…a finality that Severus couldn’t help but note.

  It had been no secret to Jennifer or himself that Danny Nelson was under a great deal of pressure to excel at home, but to what extent that pressure went neither were quite sure.  Jennifer especially had been concerned over it, but McGonagall had carefully warned her not to jump to conclusions, and Danny had chosen not to speak to any of the teachers. 

  Still, Severus wasn’t about to let his guard down on the man…Jennifer hated him with a passion, and that in itself was enough to give anyone who knew her a reason to pause.  In fact, there was only one other man that Jennifer had ever despised that fervently was Lucius Malfoy.

  A roar went up as the teams entered the field, and Severus turned his attention to the Pitch just as the Slytherin team received a standing ovation, Danny stopping to do a knot-loop maneuver for the crowd before continuing on.  Corey, not to be outdone, threw his bat into the air and did a full loop before catching the bat on his way down, leaning back to on his broom and waving towards the student stands below.   Glancing ahead, he yelped in surprise and brought his broom up as he nearly hit one of the towers, turning about and into position as Doug came up beside him. 

  Rolanda Hooch had the entire stadium’s attention now as she released the balls, quickly getting out of the way as Liam grabbed hold of the Quaffle just a second before Juniper Lydian could get there.  Doug wasted no time, getting control of one of the Bludgers to smack it towards Lisa just as Liam threw it to his twin, diving out of the way in the nick of time.  Corey, glancing around for the other one, turned in time to see Amadeus hit it towards Katie, who leaped up with her broom, hopping out of the way in complete surprise. 

  So, he was trying to get their new Seeker off balance, was he?  Corey growled, leaning forward and shooting towards the other side of the Bludger.  If he could get Amadeus on the defensive, he wouldn’t have as much time to pick a target.  Corey wound up his bat, and took a hard swing to hit it back to hit.  Suddenly, he realized he felt only air, somehow missing the Bludger completely as it kept on going passed him.   Caught off guard, Corey slowed down to regain his balance, glancing at the Bludger in disbelief.  Wyatt had gone and hit it back in, and Corey kicked himself back over into the field as they neared the Slytherin rings.  It wasn’t but a moment later before Corey noticed the other Bludger in his direction, and determined to take advantage of the opportunity to break up the passing between the Starling twins, Corey got in position to whack it towards Lisa’s broom as she sped by.  With another powerful swing, Corey attempted to hit it again, and again he missed, falling into such a panic that he tried to keep up with it, making a series of desperate swings, never seeming to get anywhere near it.

  “What’s the matter, Willowby?  Lost your eyesight?  Or just your nerve?”  Longbottom sneered as he flew by to grab it.

  “He’s definitely lost something at any rate,” Wyatt said, coming up on the other side.  Corey, furiously trying to figure out exactly how they managed to curse him, realized they somehow must have managed to get a hold of his bat.  Well, there was no way he was going to let it stay that way…

  “No, Corey, stop!  What are you doing?”  Doug said, coming up beside him just as Corey raised his hand.  “You can’t cast a spell in play during a Quidditch game, you’ll get us disqualified!  Hang on,” he said, crossing his bat with his arm.  A time out was called, and the Gryffindors alighted on the field, gathering together.

  “What’s up?”  Juniper wanted to know, slightly irritated since she had the Quaffle and was making a good run.

  “My bat’s cursed, it couldn’t hit anything if it wanted to,” Corey said.

  “Did you try purposefully missing it?  Like the balls at the fair few years back?”  Doug suggested.

  “Nothing worked, I was just going to try and dispel it,” Corey admitted.

  “I wouldn’t try that if I were you, there might be something on it that traps for certain spells used against it,” Perry sighed, “and we don’t have time to work it out now.  You’re just going to have to hang back out of the way, Corey, or not go up at all.”

  “Not go up at all?  During the biggest game of the season?”  Corey said.  “I’d rather just try to wing it.”

  “If you get in trouble, land,” Perry advised.  “We can always lodge a complaint later.”   

  Corey, knowing how rare it was for any game to be overturned for this sort of thing, nodded somberly to the team captain, taking back to his broom.  At the last moment, Doug stopped him, pulling up beside him with an idea in mind.

  In the box, Severus watched the team calculatingly, frowning slightly as Corey came back up with the rest of them.  On the other side, he noticed that there was a rather obvious argument between Danny and Amadeus that also didn’t look promising.

  “Longbottom seems to have a severe problem maintaining team discipline,” Nelson couldn’t help but point out.  “If I recall correctly, he had some problem maintaining the team last year, if it hadn’t been for my daughter pulling them together.  Perhaps it’s time he be replaced as team captain.”  Severus nodded slightly to him in agreement, although not exactly for the same reasons.  The teams retook their position, and the game began again, picking up at 30 - 20 Slytherin.

  If Corey was worried about his bat he didn’t look it as they headed back over the Pitch, and Amadeus seemed all the more delighted about him coming back in.   As Juniper and the other two Chasers headed up the field Corey was ready, smacking the Bludger right across their path so they had to dodge it, giving Roger ample time to get along side the Gryffindor girl as if daring her to try to pass.  Corey sped to the front, taking aim and cracking the Bludger so hard with the bat that everyone in the stands heard it, soaring towards the back of Roger’s broom and hitting it hard, causing it to spin like a bottle on its side.  Roger Baylor finally got it to stop, his head still spinning as he dizzily watched Juniper throw the Quaffle in the top ring.

  Growling, Amadeus pointed an order at Casper, who slapped it back at Doug.  Doug saw it coming a mile away, but instead of trying to hit it, he dodged, shouting something at Corey.

  “Blast it, they must have switched bats,” Amadeus said, speeding over to Casper’s side.   “Doug has the bad bat, we’ll have to make him the target.”

  “Forget about them, pay attention to their Chasers!”  Danny shouted at them from above.  “Your idiotic plan didn’t work, get over it!”

  “Shut up, Nelson, and find that Snitch!”  Amadeus said back, and the two Beaters took off, leaving Danny fuming.  But all of that suddenly had to be put in the back of her mind as she caught a glint out of the corner of her eye and she sped into action.  Amadeus and Casper teamed up to get the Bludgers again, having missed the movement from the Seekers behind them, batting them hard towards Doug.  But Doug, facing the Seekers, did not miss a beat, veering the Bludgers off towards Danny just before they passed over his head.

  “They must have gotten both bats working,” Casper told him, but Amadeus noticed Corey moving over close beside Doug again, looking over at the two of them defiantly.

  “No they haven’t, the buggers have just been switching off,” he said before the sped towards the Bludgers.  “Let’s go to plan B,” he said.

  Casper glanced at him worriedly but nodded, not quite sure he wanted to go through with it.  As they reached the balls, Casper hit it back towards Corey, while Amadeus hit his straight up in the air.  Hardly in position to figure out what they were up to, Corey went for the Bludger closest to him hoping to get one good hit on Danny before her hand had time to close around the Snitch.  Just as he hit it, the Snitch turned upwards and the Bludger nicked Katie’s leg as they tried to follow the Snitch’s path   But Corey had barely had time to cringe at the bad luck, for the moment his back was turned to monitor the progress of the first Bludger the second had come back in range from above Amadeus who smacked it hard, and Corey felt a sudden sharp pain in the back of his head before falling unconscious.

   It had happened just seconds before Danny finally got a hold of the Snitch, unaware that anything was wrong right away until she realized that the sound of boo’ing was louder than the sounds of cheering coming from the stands.  She turned to see the ground covered in marshmallow and a great deal of people making their way onto the Pitch.  It was then she looked down and saw Corey lying on the field below.

  Jennifer had gotten there a moment before anyone else; Essie not two steps behind her and followed by McGonagall, Pomfrey, and Dumbledore.  Above them in the Slytherin box, Severus leaned over the rail grasping the wand he just used with whitened knuckles, his eyes glancing between his Dragonheart ring and the mayhem on the field below.

  “Well, it looks as if I was wrong,” Byron Nelson said cheerfully, stepping to his side.  “Perhaps Longbottom has what it takes to be a good leader after all.  Rotten luck for your adopted son, I suppose.  But then, no one ever said Quidditch was safe,” he added, peering down at the field and the crowd that had gathered there.

  “I’ll meet you downstairs if you want to congratulate the team,” Severus said, his face expressionless although a definite strain could be heard in his voice.  “If you’ll excuse me a moment.”  Severus headed quickly down the stairs as others made way for him to pass, heading out to the edge of the Pitch to get someone’s attention.  Rolanda, still on broom, hovered over to him.

  “You and that marshmallow,” she said as she came close, “although I can’t get angry at you for it, you probably saved his life the way he fell, he’d have broken his neck.”

  “How bad is he?”  Severus asked in a low voice.

  “Too soon to tell, still knocked out.  Jennifer and his sister are pretty frantic, you’d better get over there.”

  “I need to go deal with the ‘winning team,’” Severus said, unable to mask the anger in his voice.

  “You know that last play was technically a legal play, right?” Rolanda said.

  “The cursed bat wasn’t.”

  “McGonagall has already confiscated it to run tests, but I’m sure we can guess who did it,” she said, glancing at the Slytherin gate as the team walked inside.

  “That is exactly what I intend to find out for certain,” Severus said, before walking back to where Nelson stood.

  Amadeus strode through the doors, ignoring the boos and waving to the other Slytherins who cheered from the stands as they headed through the gate.

  “Do you believe it?  Two years straight and two Gryffindor Beaters down, I think we have ourselves a new tradition,” Amadeus grinned.  “Didn’t even know what hit him, how dense can you get?”

  “I’ll show you how dense,” Danny said furiously, taking out her wand.  “Cockatrix videre!”  But Amadeus, already knowing how angry Danny was about the cursed bat had been expecting something like that and blocked the spell with his bat, which immediately turned to stone and fell to the ground.

  “What’s your problem, Nelson?  Your stupid sense of fair play got you in a bind?  Or is it just because you’re so in love with the Mudblood that you’ve suddenly lost your interest in winning.”

  “I already had the game won, despite your irresponsible preoccupation with hurting Willowby.  You weren’t out there to play, you were trying to kill him!”  Danny said, her wand still pointed at him threateningly.

  “Well, maybe not kill,” Amadeus shrugged.  “Discouraging him from playing, yes.  And for your information, I was out there to win.  You’re the one who’s always accusing me of not putting in what it takes for us to maintain the cup.  Dear Nelson, always the one ‘getting all the points’ and sucking up to the professors, and ‘making up’ for the rest of us.  When the truth is, you just can’t stand to see someone else to be the one who gets off the final punch.  It’s a rough game, and if you can’t take the heat, I suggest you get out of the way for someone who can.”

  “I have a better idea,” Danny said.  “Step down as Captain.”

  “Step down?  That is a laugh.  You hear that team?  Miss Nelson wants to oust me!  So let’s have a vote, shall we?”  He suggested.  Danny squinted at him, tucking her wand in her belt so she could get back to it if she needed to.

  “All in favor of having a captain who shows off in class and makes us all look bad, who hangs around with Gryffindors like a puppy, let’s see hands, now…” Liam and Lisa put their hands up, while Casper and Janders looked uncomfortable.  After a moment, Casper nearly put his hand up only to have it stopped by Amadeus with a threatening look, the boy putting it back down.

  “All in favor of having a Beater who is always loyal to his house, doesn’t hang out with riff-raff, helped us win the game today, and is always willing to help out a Slytherin who needs a little cash for Hogsmeade, hands,” he said, as the rest of the team’s hands went up.

  “Oh, so that’s it.  Although how you’re able to obtain bribe money on your income is beyond me,” Danny said.  “Well, I’m not going to put up with your leadership any more, because this is not the way anyone should be captaining a Quidditch team, even if they intend to win.  I quit.”  Danny said, turning to walk away.  As she did, the blood in her face drained away in sheer terror as she realized that her father and Snape had walked into the gate.  Byron’s eyes suddenly flashed at hearing a word uttered from her mouth, and charged up to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her up by the shoulder until his face was an inch away from hers.

  “Did I hear you correctly, did you just attempt to quit from this most esteemed Quidditch team, and without my direct permission?”  Byron said in a quiet voice.  “Perhaps I just misunderstood, walking into the conversation as I did.”

  “Sir, I…didn’t truly mean to quit.  I was trying to manipulate my way into the Captain’s position by pretending to quit,” Danny explained quickly.

  “Well, I have decided that I rather like Longbottom’s captaining style,” Nelson said, flashing as thin smile to the boy, who grinned back.  “So I had better not hear of you attempting to undermine his authority again.  Is that clear?”

  “She tried to turn me into stone just now,” Amadeus put in, picking up his bat with effort.  “Ask any of them!  They all saw it!  Cast a dark spell right at me!”

  “Is that true?”  Nelson asked her, tightening the grip on her arm.

  “Sir, there’s no reason for you to concern yourself with this,” Severus suddenly interceded, coming up behind Danny with his arms on her shoulders.  “After all, we’re on school property, and these students are under my direct supervision while they are here.  Danny, you are to go straight to my office.  Now.   We will discuss your punishment for your actions there,” he snarled at her.  Quickly Danny excused herself, walking rapidly towards the door.  “As for you six, you should be heading to your common rooms, I’m sure there will be plenty of people there to congratulate you.  Hurry along,” he said, passing them a warning glance.  “Oh, and there will be an investigation about who tampered with the bat.  It’ll be a pity if any of you are involved, for I’m sure you’ll be seeing the inside of my office as well.”  Amadeus never missed the fact that Snape didn’t congratulate them himself, nor did he miss the icy gaze that the Housemaster had given them as they left.  He had wanted them to be certain that the matter was far from over.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Nelson, I had better get back to school affairs.”

  “Very well, Professor,” Byron said, nodding stiffly.  He was not used to having someone interfering when he was speaking to his daughter, but she would be home soon enough for the holidays, and then things would be different.  “Let her know to expect a letter from me soon, and remind her that she’s two days overdue in reporting her weekly marks to me as well,” he added.

  “Of course,” Severus said, nodding stiffly back.  He could barely contain his pure dislike for the man as he watched him leave, closing and locking the gate behind him before striding down the corridor and back inside, taking a moment to step into his office.  Danny sat in the chair in front of his desk, her face pale and eyes haunted as she looked up at where he stood in the door.  “Very well, I see you’re here.  Good.  You may go.”

  “Sir?”

  “I don’t have time for conversation or explanations right now, just go.  Consider yourself absolved.  Feel free to tell anyone you like that it were otherwise.  Now get out of my office,” he ordered.  Danny knew better than to argue with Snape, scurrying out of the room just a step in front of him as they both made their way to the hospital ward.

 

  Had Corey been awake he might have been quite surprised to find himself surrounded as he was by so many supporters.  Jennifer sat beside on his right, holding his hand worriedly, while Dumbledore sat beside her, talking to her quietly.  Anna and Essie sat on his other side, and McGonagall paced the floor next to where Hermione and Ron sat, the stern gaze Corey was normally accustomed to seeing replaced with concern.  Even Professor Archibald was there, guarding the door to keep out concerned students, with Doug and Taylor hovering near the door.  Even Cheshire, Corey’s familiar, appeared to stand guard, sitting at the foot of his bed, looking at him expectantly.  But Sagittari and Poppy looked unusually somber, the two of them stepping away to take a few minutes to consult.  That was when Severus got there and was let in, and Danny tried to get a glance from the door.  Dumbledore smiled sadly at him, patting Jennifer comfortingly on the shoulder as he got up.

  “I hope you don’t mind, I’ve been saving your spot for you,” Dumbledore said quietly.

  “Corey?”

  “He will pull through, without my intervention, I think…although I have their word they will come search for me if it worsens,” Dumbledore said, his eyes unusually serious.  Severus nodded in understanding, sitting down next to Jennifer.    Her eyes were filled with a grief even more revealing than the color of the ring, and he wished he could have done something to fix it.  Odd that none of his good wishes seemed to work, he thought bitterly, looking over at the boy.   They glanced up to see Poppy and Sagittari coming over.

  “I gave him a potion for the fracture, but I doubt it’ll be tonight or even tomorrow when he wakes up,” Poppy said quietly.  “What the boy needs right now is rest and quiet.  Sagittari and I will be here but he’s going to need a set of eyes on him until comes to.  I imagine I’ll find enough of those, considering the reception he’s getting,” she said, clucking softly.  “Honestly, I’d expect most of you should be heading out and getting your own rest, I’m sure you’ll all hear if there’s a change.”  Reluctantly the visitors began to leave, and Anna somehow managed to coax Essie out for a bit to eat, leaving Severus and Jennifer to watch over him.

Chapter Ten

The Chimera

 

  Jennifer was awakened by a flash of light across her face, lifting her head off Severus’ shoulder to gaze out the hospital window, wondering if there was a storm.  Then she saw the flash again, a bright mix of white, red, and blue flashes across the sky.  Rising quickly from the chair she stood and went over to look out over the grounds, realizing at once that the flashes seemed to be coming from inside the Forest, and softly glowing smoke billowed above the oddly shadowed trees.

  “Severus?  Severus wake up,” Jennifer said, giving him a quick nudge where he dozed in the chair, awaking with a jolt and instantly alert and looking around to see where she was.  He only looked out a moment before he grabbed the coat on his chair, Jennifer right behind him.  He frowned slightly as she moved to get her own, and he met his gaze steadily, as if having a quiet debate.  After a moment he sighed.

  “Fine.  But someone needs to look after Corey,” he muttered.

  “Let me go wake Poppy, and you can go wake Minerva and we’ll meet at the pens,” Jennifer suggested.

  “If you’re thinking about taking the Pegusi, don’t.  I haven’t forgotten what happened the last time we went that route,” Severus said in his stubborn tone that let her know he would not be persuaded otherwise.

  “I think Sagittari should be told something’s going on in any case,” Jennifer said.

  “Fine,” Severus nodded, heading quickly down the hall as Jennifer turned to the next room and knocked on the painting of a Badger tending her young.  Within moments, Poppy was alert and appraised of the situation, and Jennifer dashed down the stairs, hopping over a staircase to catch the next one down as it moved to change position below.

  In no time she was out the gate, taking only a moment to tell Filius where she was going before heading across the grounds and over towards the hut.  A light in the barn let her know someone was in the pens, and she headed straight over.  Ruby and Babe were neighing restlessly and pawing at the ground as she approached, and the Slumber Sheep skittered around the pen nervously.  Inside the sounds of animals were even louder, and even the firm but gentle voice of Sagittari was not enough to settle them.

  “Sagittari!  Sagittari, there’s something going on in the Forest, part of it appears to be on fire!”  Jennifer said, trying to yell above the noise of the barn.

  “Yes, another evil has come to the Forest.  A monster of great power, to be sure,” he said calmly, heading over to her.  “The animals are frightened, as they should be.  The stars do not favor us tonight.”

  “Please, Sagittari, don’t get vague on us now,” Jennifer said with frustration.  “Severus and I are going to take a look.  Would you come and speak to the creatures for us?”  Sagittari hesitated, glancing up at the stars.  “You are the Groundskeeper of Hogwarts.  Constellation blessing or no, you have every right to be in that Forest if there’s trouble.  In fact, it’s your duty,” Jennifer said in an almost scolding tone.  Sagittari knew she spoke from impatience more than reason, but that didn’t change the fact that she was right.

  “Very well, I’ll go,” he said at last.  “Let me get my wand.”

  It was just as they were coming out of the pens that Severus arrived with Alvin Archibald, and the four of them headed in, wands ready as they headed towards the glow.  It wasn’t far before they realized that the lights were coming from the direction of the centaur glen and raced along the path, Sagittari galloping ahead of them.  He stopped abruptly and began to back up, taking out his wand and shouting at the others behind him.

  “Chimera!” He warned, casting a spell creating a shield of force just as a bolt of lightning shot towards him, deflecting off the shield.

  “A Chimera?  Here?”  Jennifer said in surprise.  “How on Earth…”

  “No time for that,” Severus snapped.  “Alvin, see if you can’t contain the fire before it gets out of hand.   Sagittari, neutralize the Goat head.  Jennifer, Lion.  I’ll take the Dragon,” Severus said and the three of them headed forward. 

  The beast was even more massive than Jennifer had imagined, standing twelve feet above them with a large body that seemed made up of an odd conglomeration of animals with its lion paws between a goat-like body that had large dragon wings on its back and a serpent tail.  It had its back turned against them, the cabin and the glen, blasting instead out into the woods with ice, fire, and lightning.

  The sound of barking alerted Jennifer, and she looked over see Sirius ran around the creature’s legs in Padfoot form, trying to draw its attention away from where Remus Lupin stood near the cabin, attempting hold off the beast.  A soft white light was glowing around the big black dog, and seeing that Sirius was being protected, Jennifer turned her attention to the task at hand.

  “On my signal,” Severus said, raising his wand, the others following his lead.  “Now!” 

  “Aquarius pugnus!”  Jennifer cast at the same time that Alvin and Severus cast their own spells.  But as fire and ice blasted the goat and the dragonheads, Jennifer’s wand suddenly let out a thin mist of water, hardly enough to dampen the air or skin let alone electrocute the lightning head of a Chimera.  Attempting not to panic as the lion’s head turned towards them to launch an attack, Jennifer scrambled for a potion from her cloak, chucking it in the beast’s mouth just as he opened his maw to attack.  It choked for a moment, trying to get the phial out of its throat then suddenly swallowed.  It slowed then but made a futile attempt to attack again before stumbling forward. A blast of water hit the head from the side where Lupin stood, the lion’s head suddenly turning grey as it died.

  Jennifer couldn’t help but notice the expressions on both Sagittari, who had his arms folded, and Severus, hands on his hips, staring at her with accusing looks on their faces.

  “Jennifer, is there something that you perhaps neglected to tell us that you probably should have before I agreed to take you along on this little outing?”  Severus asked, tapping his fingers in irritation.  Jennifer cleared her throat.

  “Oh yes.  By the way, Severus, I think it might be possible, although I’m not quite sure yet, that we might be right on schedule,” Jennifer said, smiling meekly.  “But I certainly wasn’t expecting my magic to go out quite this early…”

  “Jennifer, you all right?  What happened back there?”  Remus ran up from where he was standing.

  “Nothing that concerns you,” Severus snapped defensively.

  “Oh, Remus, thank you for jumping in,” Jennifer said quickly.  “Are you and Sirius okay?  What happened?  Where are the Centaurs?”

  “The Centaurs,” Remus said with an unusual tension in his voice, “upon seeing what was happening, decided that the Chimera was here because of our carelessness and quite bluntly let us know it was our problem.  They went off to try and contain the fire.”

  “Well, we were warned that they no longer considered us their allies,” Severus said, putting away his wand.

  “Perhaps I am to blame for that,” Sagittari said slowly.  “I should have never come back.  I should have known how they would react to my being here.”

  “No, Doctor, the situation between us and the Constellation has been going downhill for quite some time now,” Severus said, sighing softly.  “Although I find it rather disturbing that they would leave something of this magnitude to us when it is their sworn duty to protect this Forest for it’s own sake and not for ours.”

   “Jennifer, what are you doing?”  Sirius asked, who had just come over to join them.  Jennifer had wasted little time getting over the carcass, pulling out equipment that seemed much to bulky to have even come out of the cloak kneeling beside it, with gloves that came all the way up her arm.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?  I’m siphoning Chimera blood.  Do you know how hard it is to get this stuff on the market?”  Jennifer said with a grin.

  “It’s also toxic,” Severus growled, “Here, let me do that.”

  “Oh, great stars, Severus.  You’ve only known I was pregnant for two minutes and you’re already turning protective on me.  I know what I’m doing,” she protested.  Sirius and Remus blinked at her.

  “I want you in my office first thing tomorrow, Jennifer.  No excuses,” Sagittari scolded her. 

  “I need to go check on Anna.  Mind if I tell her?”  Sirius asked.

  “Why not, the whole damn school will know by morning,” Severus muttered, crouching by Jennifer’s side to help.

  “Let me get a message to Dumbledore about what happened and I’ll come back out to help,” Remus said.  “Come to think of it, I’d probably better tell him about the Chimera too.”  The glances from Jennifer and Severus indicated to Remus that they didn’t think that was very funny.

 

  It was not long after Dumbledore got back the next afternoon that he called them all together to hear what happened in detail.  There was no question to anyone there that the Centaur’s choice not to protect the glen from the Chimera disturbed him greatly, and he seemed unusually tired as he mused over the consequences of that.

  “The Centaurs of the Forest have always stayed away from things that they felt didn’t concern them.  That is how they protect their culture, their knowledge, and up to this point, the Forest itself.  But it does not seem like them at all to allow such a creature so deep into their own territory and not driving it away,” Dumbledore said.

  “If I may, Sir.  I would not be surprised if the Centaurs did not herd the beast into that area on purpose,” Sagittari said slowly.  “I believe, perhaps, it was meant as a warning.”

  “A warning?”  Jennifer said in surprise.  “I don’t understand.  Are you saying that they purposefully led such a powerful beast into the glen, knowing it would damage their own meeting grounds, just to prove a point to us that they’re not going to interfere any more?”

  “It’s a bit more complicated than that, I think,” Remus mused.  “The glen itself is quite wide, and the trees on the outskirts are young and green, less likely to burn.  It’s quite possible they chose the spot just because it would do less damage there than in other places.   It had probably wandered in on its own, attracted by the dark power of the Tomb, and the Centaurs decided it was high time we realized just how bad the situation in the Forest was getting.”  Sagittari nodded to him in agreement.

  “I’m well aware of how bad the situation is getting, as I know all of you are,” Dumbledore said.  “But it appears that the Centaurs believe otherwise.  Regardless of where the blame lays, we cannot possibly get to the bottom of this entire situation without their support.  Something must be done soon to convince them that we must work on the same side,” he glanced over at Severus and Jennifer.  “And I think the two of you should attempt it.  The Constellation of Centaurs meets at every solstice.  It is time that you…and you, Sagittari,” he added, “tried to reason with them.”

  “They will not listen,” Sagittari said grimly.  “Not to them, and definitely not to me.”

  “Do not be so sure,” Dumbledore said, smiling gently at the Centaur.  “We still have some supporters in the Constellation yet, and I have faith that you can, with all of your good senses of logic and reasoning, come to some sort of terms with them before the situation gets even more out of hand than it already is.”

  “You want me to go along to help?”  Sirius asked, then immediately got punched by Anna in the arm, ‘owing’ in surprise and rubbing it gently as he glared at her.

  “I think Anna’s trying to tell you that you had better be more concerned with preparing for your wedding,” Dumbledore said, a sparkle of amusement playing in his eyes.  “But don’t worry.  I’ll make sure these two aren’t late for the wedding either.  In the meantime, don’t forget to keep up with your studies with Jennifer,” he smiled at Anna.  Jennifer grimaced slightly at that, wondering how she was going to manage to teach Anna when her magic was going in and out all the time.  Well, Dumbledore never said she couldn’t get help when needed, she mused.  “Well, I expect I should better let you go, for we all have things to do and people to take care of.  Speaking of which, Poppy informs me that Corey is doing better and he should be awake any time now,” he smiled.  Jennifer’s expression turned to one of relief, smiling at Severus, who gazed gently back at her.  “In fact, I think I’ll go see the boy myself after dinner.”

  “I have to leave it to Corey,” Sirius chuckled, “He definitely doesn’t lack from supporters for all the trouble he gets into.”

  “Typical Gryffindor,” Severus muttered, earning a warm smile from Dumbledore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eleven

Longbottom Gets His Due

 

  Corey began to hear someone from somewhere outside his aching head.  It was a soft woman’s voice; her tone very gentle but also firm, making him strain to hear her, knowing that he shouldn’t ignore it.

  Corey, Corey, come on boy!  Time to wake up, now. 

  He opened his eyes to a white plaster ceiling, with a few lanterns lighting up the room.  Tall windows had long covered drapes with each of the House Symbols upon them, and several other beds, all empty, were in front of them.  He couldn’t help but smell the aroma of food, and guessed that it must have been close to dinnertime.  But it wasn’t until Corey noticed Madame Pomfrey sitting beside him asleep that he realized he was in the hospital ward.  As he tried to figure out exactly how he got there, he heard the voice again, and looked around to see a picture above his head.

  The painting was of a rolling field of wildflowers in the countryside; all the flowers and blades of grass swaying gently with the passing breezes that drifted out of the picture and into the air around him.  But strangely enough, and looking rather out of place there, was Caprica Dusthorn, gazing down at him with a warm but concerned smile.

  “There now, keep still, Corey, just lie back.  You’ve had a nasty knock from a Bludger, and you’ve been knocked out for nearly twenty-four hours.  You had a great deal of people worrying about you, so I thought I’d return you a favor,” she said mischievously.

  “Favor?”

  “You woke me up, so I woke you up,” she said amusedly.  “You know, I used to be a healer myself in my day,” she added.  “Of course, that was a long time ago.”

  “How did you find out I was hurt?”  Corey asked.

  “Oh, that was the easy part.  Walls have ears, you know,” Dusthorn winked.  “At least, they do when there are paintings on them.  But don’t you worry.  Everything will be all right, now.  Don’t forget to come see me when you get better.  And bring your friends,” she added with a smile.  “I’ve been listening to them quite a bit while you were asleep, and I’d rather like to meet them.”

  “I will,” Corey promised.

  “Good, then do be a good boy and wake Madam Pomfrey up so she might fuss over you, and I’ll see you later.  And don’t forget…” she added, putting her finger to her lips.  Corey nodded to her just before she walked out of the frame, and Corey sat up enough that he could nudge Pomfrey awake.

  “Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey?  Did we win the game?”  Corey asked when he finally got her awake.

  It wasn’t long after that his parents arrived, a beaming smile of relief on his Mom’s face when they saw him.  Madam Pomfrey, who never did answer him about the game, was busy trying to convince him to get down some broth, which Corey didn’t want to have anything to do with.

  “Come, now, Corey, I know you’re hungry but your stomach won’t be ready for real food yet, open up,” Pomfrey coaxed.

  “You’d better just do it and get it over with,” Jennifer advised, still grinning at him as she sat down.  “It doesn’t do to argue with Madam Pomfrey, even Dumbledore knows better than that.”

  “Oh, all right, but I can feed myself, really!”  Corey protested, finally convincing her to put down the tray.  “A little bump on the head and everyone acts like I’m dying.”

  “Since you’re feeling that much better, I suppose we should send up your homework tomorrow,” Jennifer said. 

  “On second thought, I’m not sure I can even get this broth down,” he said, coughing experimentally.

  “Yes, well, you’re getting homework anyway,” Severus warned with a mocking smile.

  “So isn’t anyone going to tell me who won?”  Corey coaxed.  “At least tell me that Longbottom got in trouble for what he did to my bat!”

  “Now, Corey, Madame Pomfrey doesn’t want you worked up,” Jennifer began, glancing over at Severus who leaned over.

  “I don’t suppose you have any proof that he was the one who cursed your bat?” he asked seriously.

  “No,” Corey admitted, “But he did it.”

  “I need a bit more evidence than gut instinct,” Severus said dryly.

   “What about Mom?  She can tell, can’t she?”

  “Corey, don’t worry, we’re taking care of it, and that’s all you need to know,” Jennifer said firmly.  “All you should be concerned with right now is getting better, and if you have any desire to go to Hogsmeade next week, I’d listen to Madam Pomfrey if I were you, because you can’t go unless she releases you first.”  Corey looked glum, stirring his broth with his spoon unhappily.  Madam Pomfrey came back with Sagittari, and Jennifer got up.  “We’re going to go eat.  I’ll let Essie know you’re awake, so I expect she’ll be up after dinner.”

  “Can I see my friends too?”  Corey asked, looking up at Pomfrey and Sagittari.

  “Oh, I suppose, but only if they promise not to get you excited.  You need to relax.  And if I have to I’ll give you Snape’s improved Subtle Slumber potion to do it,” Pomfrey threatened.

  “That reminds me, when are you going to give me that recipe, anyhow?”  Jennifer asked Severus on their way out.

  “Let’s not start that again,” he smirked slightly at her as they went out the door.

  It was Dumbledore who made it to the hospital ward first that evening, staying only a few minutes to tell him how glad he was to see him awake, and advising him to listen to Pomfrey so he could be back to his old ‘mischief’ again.  As he was about to leave, a sudden movement in the painting above caught his eye and he looked at it thoughtfully.  He then smiled to the boy and said good night, heading straight up to his office with unusual haste, pausing in the center of the study to gaze intently at each painting on the wall with intense scrutiny before finally walking over to his desk.

  Not long after he left, Doug and Taylor arrived, followed close behind by Essie.  After reminding each one individually not to get him excited, Madam Pomfrey went to eat her own dinner, leaving the five of them alone to talk.

  “When I asked how you were doing, Professor Craw said, ‘hungry,’ so I smuggled you out some rolls,” Doug grinned, peeking at the door before bringing them out.

  “Thanks, everyone seems to think my stomach can’t take more than broth,” Corey said, taking a big chomp out of the bread.

  “I just hope they aren’t right,” Taylor teased.

  “Never mind about that.  I want to hear about the game.  I take it from the fact nobody wants to talk about it to me Slytherin won,” Corey prompted.

  “Danny didn’t know about Longbottom beaming you with the Bludger,” Taylor said, “She caught the Snitch only a second after it happened.”

  “Is that why she’s not here?  She should know me better than that,” Corey sighed, gnawing on the roll some more.  “I think we all know who’s responsible for what happened.  And I’m not sure the Professors are going to get solid evidence for it.  Well, solid evidence or not, I’m not letting him get away with it.”

  “What are you going to do, Corey?”  Essie asked, frowning.  She had already heard about how much trouble he’d gotten into in the past, and had a feeling that he was heading for it again.

  “I’m not sure yet,” Corey said, putting the roll aside, not feeling so well.  “Whatever it is, it has to be enough to convince him not to try anything like that on me again, and yet hopefully not set us up for retaliation.”

  “Might I offer a suggestion?” a voice said from above them.  The other three students looked up in surprise at the painting above Corey’s head, while Corey grinned widely.

  “Everyone, meet my friend, the painting of Professor Dusthorn.  Professor, my sister Essie, and my two best friends, Doug and Taylor.” 

  “Professor Dusthorn?  As in Headmistress Dusthorn?”  Taylor said, looking pale.

  “Yes, dear, and it is good to meet all of you,” she smiled, winking at Taylor mischievously.  “Now, perhaps we ought to get down to business.  We can’t have students going about trying to kill other students, can we?” she said, getting their immediate attention.

 

  Amadeus Longbottom headed to the common room shortly after dinner, challenging Wyatt to a chess match while Baylor was busy writing Amadeus’ essay for Muggle Studies.  Marle DuBois, a girl from Amadeus’ year was sitting nearby, reading the Daily Prophet while trying to think up something interesting to talk about in the Slytherin column of the school newspaper, the Veritable Wizard.  Suddenly, she smirked, flashing Amadeus a grin.

  “Seems your cousin has made the paper,” she said.  “Local Herbologist Neville Longbottom has announced that attempts to develop a new strain of dragonroot has been successful.  The hybrid version of the root is being praised by several famous alchemists, including Glen Witolf of Carmarthen and Professor Jennifer Craw Snape, for its improved potency and its added resistance to harsh temperature changes.”

  “Incredible.  That fool pulls weeds out of the ground, gets his hands dirty, and they find it worth reporting.  I swear he should have been a Hufflepuff,” Amadeus snorted, moving his knight.  “And everyone knows Craw would praise a Gryffindor for crossing his eyes.  I notice nobody mentioned Draco Malfoy.”

  “Ron Weasley wrote it,” Marle added.

  “Well, that explains everything doesn’t it,” Amadeus smirked, drumming his fingers impatiently, waiting for the other boy to move.  “I swear, ever since he joined the paper, they’ve printed nothing but rubbish, I liked it better the way it was before Craw’s counselor stuck her nose in.  Isn’t there anything newsworthy in there at all?”

  “Not really…except maybe this bit about the Order of Merlin is reorganizing and is looking into going back to stricter standards than they have in the last hundred years.  They want to ‘restore the order to the same standards that Merlin himself set when he started it twelve hundred years ago,’” Marle said.  “’The movement, lead by Dalance, Dumbledore, and Vallid, will eliminate class status and all members will be based on their merits and accomplishments, and will need the vote of all members of the Order’s council.’  I say, that’s going to make it rather difficult to buy one’s way in now, isn’t it?  If the council have to approve it, that means at least four bribes for a majority.”

  “Difficult?  Impossible, you mean!  The fourth seat is Archimedes Muse.  Then you have Shea and Shea, and who knows who they’ll put in the empty seat.  What is Dumbledore concerning himself with it anyhow?  I thought he had his own order these days,” Amadeus growled, taking Casper’s queen.

  “So does Vallid, but you know how these elitists are,” Marle said, putting down the paper.

  “Oh, who wants to be in their Mud-loving order anyway?  I’m going into Equinox,” Amadeus decided.  “Checkmate,” he said with a frown.  “Wyatt, were you even trying?  Good lord, I swear I beat you quicker every game.”  Casper was still staring at the board, trying to figure out how he got trapped.  “Isn’t anyone here capable of giving me some real competition at this game?  Hey Nelson, put those books down and come over here and see if you can entertain me for awhile.”

  Danny, who had been studying quietly at a small table near the fireplace, gazed up coldly at him.

  “I’m not one of your paid servants, Longbottom.  I’m busy.   If you want a challenge, why don’t you do your own homework for a change?  That is, if you know how,” she said, turning back to her book.

  “Oh, I know how, Nelson,” Amadeus said getting up and walking over to her.  “But some people know how to delegate responsibility, while others think they’re too good to trust anyone else with anything.  What’s the matter, Nelson?  Is your father’s ‘Perfect Princess’ slipping in the marks again?  You know, you should be thanking me right now.  If it hadn’t been for me taking out Willowby, you’d still be in second place in Potions.”  Danny stood up and several wands were pulled on both sides with only Casper hesitating, not wanting to pick sides.

  “Look, we got better things to do than fight among ourselves, don’t we?  If there’s a row in here, we’ll lose points for sure, and why give Gryffindor any more lead than they already have,” Casper said. 

   “Shut up, Wyatt,” Longbottom said, rolling his eyes.  “Nelson, you had better think twice about using that wand, because I assure you, your father will hear about it if you do.”  Danny stared at him in pure hatred for a long time before finally putting away her wand and gathering her books up, heading to her room, purposefully knocking off the chessboard on the way, and knocking out a House Elf that apparently been perched under the table.

  “I wouldn’t play chess with Longbottom again, if I were you, Wyatt,” she added calmly before heading down the stairs.  “He was just touching the pieces…his House Elf was moving them to make sure he won.”

  “I play to win,” Longbottom said, looking around as if daring anyone to say something.  “Tell me one person in this room who doesn’t?” He challenged.  The rest of the students suddenly became busy with what they had been doing a moment ago.  Deciding he had more than enough company for one night, Amadeus headed down to his dorm to settle down for the evening.  It was getting very cold now with snow expected any day, and a fire burning in the stone fireplace in the center of the room.  He watched it comfortably for a while, finding himself mesmerized by the flames, when he suddenly heard a hiss.

  Blinking, he sat up slightly.  If he hadn’t known better, he would have sworn the sound might have come from the Slytherin crest that hung above the mantle.  Studying it suspiciously for a moment, he sighed.  Perhaps he was just tired tonight, he mused.  He put his wand under his pillow and leaned back, looking at the ceiling, and it wasn’t long before he began to doze off.  Just before he was completely asleep, he heard voices outside of the door and sighed.  A fine time for everyone else to decide to go to bed, now he would have to wait until everyone was settled before it would finally quiet down enough for him to try to sleep again.  But instead of coming in, the voices lingered by the door.  He was just about to get up and yell at them, when he suddenly realized that it wasn’t student voices at all.

  “Poor dear, I doubt he even felt the Bludger that hit him in the end,” a woman’s voice said.  Amadeus couldn’t make up his mind if it sounded like Pomfrey or Sprout more, but then he couldn’t imagine Sprout having any reason to be up here.

  “Has the boy been told about his death yet?” a male voice, Professor Archibald’s perhaps, said.

  “No, Professor Snape says he’ll do it in the morning.  Snape is not taking it well, and that’s a fact.  But he did say if the student doesn’t come forward about that cursed the bat soon, they’re going to hand it over to the Ministry, and if they find out it was a planned murder and not an accident, the person responsible will find themselves in Azkaban for sure,” the woman said.  Amadeus’ eyes went wide, backing over to his bed.

  Corey…dead?  And they’re investigating for murder?  Amadeus choked, pulling his blankets over his head.  The entire stadium saw him smack that ball.  Granted, he had every intention of hurting him.  Maiming him and taking him out of the game, maybe, but kill him?   Amadeus fidgeted uncomfortably.  Danny must not have heard yet, he thought, else she probably would have followed through downstairs.  What if someone told on him?  How much would he have to pay to cover this up?  Amadeus suddenly didn’t feel too well, turning on his side, his mind going over and over the event.  Would they believe him if he told them it was an accident?  But then, Snape was in charge of the investigation, and Amadeus had little doubt that Snape would not be to kind to the person responsible for his adopted son’s death.

  It was hours later before Amadeus drifted off to sleep, tossing and turning as he heard voices from all around him as he fell in and out of his slumber.

  “He was such a good boy, everyone loved him,” said Pomfrey.

  “Everyone, it seems, except Longbottom,” said Archibald.

  “How could he do such a thing?  Where did we go wrong?” Asked another woman’s voice.

  “If only he would have come to me about the bat, perhaps I would have believed it was an accident.  But we all know now it wasn’t an accident,” the voice of Severus said.  “Drag him out and we’ll take him to Azkaban now.”

 

  “NO!”  Amadeus yelled sitting up in his bed, sweat pouring off of his face.  He flung away the covers and grabbed his robe, struggling to get the door open as he headed up the stairs into the common room.  One of his dorm mates sat up from where he was asleep on the couch, rubbing his eyes.

  “I say, about time!  Why did you lock the door?  And where are you going?” he asked.

  “None of your business!  Leave me alone!”  Amadeus yelled at him, heading out the door.

  Had his dorm mates been surprised at his actions, they were not half as surprised as Severus and Jennifer when he came banging on Severus’ office door just a minute later.  Severus was just about to go into his spiel about wondering the halls at night when the panic in Longbottom’s eyes caught him off guard.

  “It was an accident!  I didn’t mean it to happen!  Really!  I admit it, I cursed the bat, but I only did it to slow him down, not to try to make him defenseless or anything!  Sure, I wanted him out of the game, but I wasn’t trying to kill him!  You have to believe me, it wasn’t murder, it was an accident!”  Amadeus pleaded.

  “Mr. Longbottom, what are you talking about?”  Severus demanded, trying to make sense of that.  But Jennifer, who had been studying his face carefully, suddenly went over to Amadeus and gave him a slight hug, puzzling Severus all the more.

  “It’s all right, Amadeus, calm down!  You didn’t kill anybody, Corey is fine!”  Jennifer told him, putting her hands on his shoulder gently and looking him straight in the eyes.  “In fact, he woke up just after dinner.  You must have been dreaming.”

  Amadeus stared at her for a long moment.

  “No, it wasn’t just a dream.  I heard voices…” he said, thinking back with a frown.   “It didn’t sound like students…”

  “Well, whatever you heard, the fact is that Corey is fine and there’s no need for you to get worked up about it,” Jennifer said.

  “Oh.”  Amadeus said, backing up slightly, trying to regain his composure.  “Well, then.  Sorry to have disturbed you,” he said, turning around.

  “Just a moment, Mr. Longbottom,” Severus said sharply, leaning a hand against the door to keep him from opening it and frowning down at him with his disapproving black eyes.  “What exactly were you saying about you being the one that cursed the bat?”

  Jennifer quickly excused herself, taking her paperwork up to her sitting room while she waited.  She had learned quite a while ago not to get tangled in a room when Severus was disciplining a Slytherin, and spent the time feeding her familiar and settling back down to finish marking her test scores.  It was nearly an hour later before Severus arrived, shaking his head as he sat down and drumming his fingers on the chair rest.

  “So you suspended him from Quidditch, did you?”  Jennifer asked.  Severus grimaced at her.

  “Yes, if you must know, for the remaining two games this year.  Who has the next detention shift, anyhow?” he asked, kicking off his shoes.

  “Sagittari,” Jennifer said brightly.  “Do you think the doctor would let me come watch when he cleans up the pens?” 

  “Don’t enjoy your work too much,” Severus said expressionlessly, earning another mischievous grin from his wife.  “What I want to know is about those voices he heard.  Surely it wasn’t just a guilty conscience, he’s a Slytherin, after all.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Jennifer frowned thoughtfully.  “There was something there.  You know, it could be as simple as some students playing a joke, but it wouldn’t be like them to pull that on one of their own.  And I know it couldn’t be Danny, she’s been walking on pins and needles since the game.”

  “If you saw how her father behaved after the game would understand why,” Severus said.

  “I didn’t have to see, I see it in her face every day she’s in my class.  Won’t you talk to McGonagall about it?”  Jennifer asked.

  “Jennifer, that may seem like the sensible thing to do, but these situations are always a bit more complicated than that,” Severus said.  “If the school attempts to step in, it is more than likely that her father’s response will be to pull her from the school.  So we had better be sure from the outset that we have enough indisputable evidence of abuse for the Ministry before we get to that point.”

  “If only she would talk to someone,” Jennifer sighed.

  “Jennifer, there’s something else about Danny you should probably know before we attempt to do this, and that’s who her next of kin is,” Severus said grimly, gazing over at her.  Jennifer took one look in his eyes then slumped back in her chair.

Chapter Twelve

Regrets and Warnings

 

  The last full week in November was the first Hogsmeade trip, and as it happened it was also Jennifer’s week to visit her father.  It was always so gloomy at Azkaban this time of year; the little greenery that dared inhabit the island was covered with snow and the waters churning and grey, the heat from the water causing a dense fog around the prison.  She had gotten there especially early, but ever since she had been called in to find her father the year before, Jennifer had found that the guards had come to give her more leeway than was normally given to visitors.  The inspections and questionings at each gate had long been dismissed, and she had little guards around her except for having Thatcher Boltin, the enchanter responsible for her father, accompanying her through the high security area.  Still, for the most part Jennifer had earned quite a bit of freedom now in the prison proper. 

  She frowned slightly as she walked down the long passages, making sure none of her packages had escaped her arms.  They never had found out who was behind her father’s unusual disappearance last year.  Her father still swore up and down that Ederick Thurspire, Deputy in investigations, was responsible for his entombment in the crypts below Azkaban.  But Minister Brown, Dumbledore, and even Thurspire himself had convinced here there was much more to it than that.  What would anyone have to gain by it?  Sure, her father had many enemies, and no one knew it as well as he did.  But given the opportunity, most of them would not have been so lenient as whoever did this to him had.

  Word of her arrival preceded her, and Jennifer and Boltin arrived to find Thomas already waiting patiently in the visitor’s room on the other side of a magical force field.  She smiled warmly at him, handing the packages over to Boltin, who crossed through the magical field and handed them to the elder wizard.

  “I brought your tea and worm mints, and there is a new album with pictures of Alexandria in them, and Severus I think put in a crest patch for you to look at.  Oh, and your medicine of course, made it up myself,” Jennifer said, folding her arms across the table as she watched him go through everything.  He spent quite a long time looking at the album before glancing up. 

  “Well, she didn’t get those black eyes from our side of the family,” he grunted at last, “But no one can mistake that hair as anything but Craw.”

  “She’s getting big,” Jennifer said wistfully.  “Every time I see her, there are a dozen new things to discover about her.  She’s really gotten attached to Carol,” she sighed.

  “Is that jealousy I hear?” Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow at her as he reached for the newspapers.

  “Yes, of course it is,” Jennifer nodded.  “She gets to see her every day, and I’m lucky if I get to spend more then eight hours a week.  But, it’s almost the holidays, and I intend to cherish every moment of it.  Speaking of the holidays, what do you want for Christmas this year, Dad?”

  “To hold my granddaughter,” he said evenly.  Jennifer grew quiet, not quite knowing what to say as he gazed at the album again before unrolling the paper.  “You may envy her, Jen-girl, but you still spend more time with your daughter in one week than I probably will ever get to in the rest of my lifetime.  Can’t you bring her here?”

  “Now, Thomas, you know children aren’t allowed back in this section,” Boltin said quietly, a tinge of regret in his voice.  “I seriously doubt the Warden would make an exception, even for you.” Thomas waved his words away irritably.

  “Yes, yes, rules, rules.  Jennifer, promise me if you do manage to kill Malfoy, do it in a way you don’t have to be in here.  I don’t think you’d like it.  There are just too many damn rules,” he grumbled.  Jennifer gazed at him wide-eyed, but Boltin ignored the comment, suddenly finding interest in a loose thread in his uniform.  “Well, if I can’t have what I want I suppose I should ask for something practical.  More books, of course, something less boring, if possible.  Hell, at this point I might even be willing to read one of those Muggle novels Severus is always attempting to get me to read.  The Doyle thing.  And a chess board perhaps?  I play the guards from time to time, but I say, the pieces here are biased against the prisoners and I don’t think they like me too well.  What is with this motto?   It looks like a watered down version of both of ours,” he suddenly said upon seeing the crest.

  Jennifer was suddenly glad that she had opted to be the one to have shown him considering the mood he was in.  Severus wouldn’t have put up with it, and probably would have left until he was in a more amiable mood.

  “Actually, we took the best of both parts.  ‘Vengeance before Death,’ well, it makes sense for a Craw perhaps, but I’m more than that now, and Severus wanted it to reflect both of us, and our way of thinking.  And his family’s was ‘Beware the dragon within’…so we went with Beware of vengeance; for it awakens the dragon within.   And that’s something both Severus and I have strived to overcome,” Jennifer said, smiling softly.

  “I like Veritum pro Mortem better,” Thomas said, and Jennifer sighed, knowing it would do no good to argue with him.  “What’s the news on your next edition?  You promised the next one would be named after our side of the family.”

  “So I did,” Jennifer said with a smile, “and I am on schedule and due in mid June.  As for names, we were thinking of going with Alicia Corsiva Snape if it’s a girl,” Thomas nodded in approval of that, “And Andrew Craw Snape if it’s a boy.”  Thomas suddenly stopped mid-nod and his face went pale, and Jennifer suddenly realized that perhaps she hadn’t told him that before the fact.

  “Jen-girl, I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, or what you heard, but there are no Andrews of any sort in our family, Craw or otherwise, and nearly any name would be preferable to that one.”

  “Look, Dad, I understand why you might not want to recognize him as a family member, being half Muggle, but there was an Andrew in our family, Francis Pyther told me all about him.  He was a good man…”

  “There are no Andrews recognized in our family history,” Thomas said stubbornly, his eyes flashing.  “How dare you even think of putting that name with Craw?  There was nothing Craw about the one you refer to, and I’ll not have you sully the name that way!”  He snarled getting up.  Boltin got up as well, standing next to him.  “I’d rather you not have any named after us at all!”

  “Fine, if that’s how you want it,” Jennifer said, suddenly angered by his outburst.  “After all, this is our child, not yours.  We were just trying to do the honorable thing and name them after people who deserved them to be named after, not like most of our family who were malicious cold-blooded killers.  Andrew at least tried to help people instead of harm them.  How many other Craws can say that?” she snapped.

  “Sometimes killing people is the only way to help them,” Thomas snapped back.  “Or at least save innocent lives.  Something you should know quite well since you were the one who killed Peter Pettigrew to save Harry and your own.”

  “All right, I think that’ll do,” Boltin said firmly.  “If you don’t calm down, I will have to take you back to your cell.”

  “Take me back then!  I’ve nothing more to say anyhow,” Thomas said, turning around and refusing to look at her.  Jennifer sighed in frustration, getting up.

   “Fine, I’ll leave.  I need to get ready for the school trip anyhow,” Jennifer said.  “I suppose this means that you don’t see Corey as your grandson either, being Muggle-born and all, or does being adopted make that all right?” she asked.  “A wizard is a wizard, no matter who his parents are.  If my grandmother hadn’t married a Muggle, my mother would never have been born either.  But of course, you killed them too, didn’t you?   You say you murdered the Death Eaters for the evil they’ve done, but the real reason you killed them was because they reminded you of your own shortcomings.  You were no better than they were then, and you aren’t any better than them now.  The only pathetic part is the fact that you don’t even seem to realize it!”

  Jennifer turned on her heels and left, storming down the hall.  How could he still be like that, after everything that happened?   She brushed at the tears that were threatening to leave her eyes with anger, taking deep breaths to try to control her emotions as she reached and passed the first guard post.  Her face must have still been quite distraught when she finally made it to the front, for not even Icarus, who had been lingering near some of the guards in the break room, dared to comment when she went by, only looked thoughtfully after her with a concern Jennifer might have been surprised of had she noticed it.   With a dash of powder, a flick of the wrist and a clear tone in her voice, Jennifer had herself whisked into the chimney, stepping out of the crackling hearth that stood in the center of one of the friendliest and most welcoming places she knew…The Three Brooms.   Glancing around with a slight shiver as if to try to shake off the chill of the prison, she suddenly heard her voice called and turned around to see an unexpected pair of faces in the crowd.

  “Harry!  Ginny!  What are you doing home, I didn’t expect to see you here this early!”  Jennifer said, walking over to their table as Harry pulled a chair up for her.

  “This is a Holiday weekend in the States.  We’ve been here visiting her folks for a couple of days,” Harry grinned.  “Have to go back tonight though.”

  “Short holiday, if you ask me.  How do you like Whitebridge, Ginny?”  Jennifer asked with a smile.

  “It’s definitely no Hogwarts,” Ginny grinned.  “And things over there take a bit of getting used to.  “Like everyone wearing Muggle clothes all the time except when they’re on campus.  And most the magic shops are by post orders.”

  “I always hated that, all the pre-made magic stuff out there and their Muggle-style electric shops.  My parents never let me go off campus at all, come to think of it, except on my trips home,” Jennifer said.

  “I met some of your old teachers too.  At least, Mrs. Carmody remembers you rather fondly,” Ginny grinned.

  “Dear old Mrs. Carmody, what a great potion instructor she was, especially on healing solutions.  It was my best class,” Jennifer grinned.  “What about Mr. Elk, the old Items and Enchantments teacher?”

  “Why, he’s the Dean now, didn’t you know?”  Ginny grinned.  “I like him very well, he’s a wise man.”

  “Does he still go around with charmed feathers around his neck?”

  “And that stinky old medicine pouch.  What does he keep in that thing anyhow?”  Ginny grinned.

  “I don’t think anyone’s ever been able to figure that out,” Jennifer admitted.

  “So where’s Severus?  And how’s Corey doing, I heard about his bad knock from Ron,” Harry asked.

  “Oh, they’re still at the school, and Corey’s doing a lot better.  He’s coming today.  I had to stop and see my father this morning, and I’m a bit early, but they’ll all be here shortly, I’d imagine.”

  “We’d better be looking sharp then if we’re going to get to Honeydukes before the crowd then.  The new frogs are out, and Ginny wants to take a case back with her,” Harry said, getting up and throwing a few Sickles on the table.

  “Haven’t you both grown out of those silly things yet?”  Jennifer laughed, following along.

  “Oh, the case isn’t for us, it’s for the students.  They’re not releasing them in the States for another two weeks, and I can make a profit on them.  Healing courses aren’t cheap, even on a scholarship,” Ginny said.  Harry’s face quickly informed Jennifer that he had wanted to chip in, but was quickly turned down, despite his protests.  After all, they weren’t married yet.  Jennifer chuckled quietly to herself.

  “No, I suppose not.  Actually, I do happen to be a little curious myself.  I hope they got a decent picture of me,” Jennifer grinned.

  “I wouldn’t think you ever took a bad picture,” Ginny said.  “Now, me, that’s another story-“

  “You don’t take a bad picture either, now hush.  Stop fishing for compliments in front of our friends,” Harry chided at her as they stepped up to the candy shop.

  “Well if you were smart you’d compliment her enough she didn’t have to fish,” Jennifer said, winking at Ginny.  Several clerks were behind the counter, counting the cases that had just come in, their eyes going wide when they recognized the three standing at the door, greeting them warmly.  Ginny got her case and a dozen more for herself, with Harry getting a dozen as well.  It was just as Jennifer was paying for her own case that they heard a loud “AHA!” from behind them, turning to see Anna and Sirius Black in the doorway, Sirius with his arms crossed accusingly.

  “So, you thought you could get a jump on me on this frog thing, did you?  Well, I’ll have you know, I’m actually in this series, and I want to make sure they got my best side,” he said, stepping up to the counter while Anna, Harry, and Jennifer rolled their eyes at him.  “So how many cases are you willing to spare?”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but Mr. Honeydukes said no more than two cases per customer, and no more than twelve individual for students.  They have to go around, you know.”

  “Two cases?  Is that all?”  Sirius muttered.  “Well, maybe I’ll get lucky.  Two cases it is then.”

  “Are you going to actually eat all those?”  Anna asked as they headed out.

  “Well, not right away,” Sirius grinned as they hurried to secure one of the larger tables by the fireplace.  “I’ll just open them now for the cards and then put them in the ice box for later.  I’m sure some of the House Elves with a sweet tooth would love to have some.”

  “Hey, wait a minute, I thought Anna didn’t approve of House Elves,” Jennifer said, putting her hands on her hips, the box in her hands nearly wriggling away in the process.

  “Ours are freed, actually…sort of a compromise.  We pay them a Galleon a week for their services, and they pay room and board, so they don’t feel like they’re obligated to do more than they’re paid for.”

  “How much do you charge them for board?”

  “A Galleon a week,” Sirius said.  Jennifer stared at them blankly as they walked in the pub.

  “It was the only way they’d agree to it,” Anna explained.  “Once they’re used to the idea of earning they’re own money, we’ll give them raises.  And we’re picking up new ones all the time, so hopefully we’ll get enough of them used to the concept it’ll catch on.  We’ve already convinced Harry to do it at his place here.”

  “Well, don’t look at me, I like the way it is now, and I think you’re making it more complicated than it needs to be,” Jennifer said, opening her case of frogs the moment they found a table.  “Gosh I hope I get a Severus one so I don’t have to trade for it.”

  “If I get one of you, will you sign the back of it?” Ginny asked with a grin.

  “Honestly,” Jennifer said, catching the frog as it tried to escape, peering at the card.  “Hey, I got your father, Ginny.”

  “I got Counselor Vallid,” Ginny said, “Here, let me see!”

  “Can I see Vallid’s card?” Anna asked.

  “Here’s a Dumbledore,” Harry said.  Before long the table was covered with frogs, and Rosmerta appeared with an exclamation, giving them each a bag to put them in so they wouldn’t invade her bar.  It was halfway through Sirius’ first box when he finally found a Severus Snape card, refusing to let anyone see it until he had a chance to read it.

  “’Severus Snape played an integral part of tracking the movements of Voldemort and his followers since their return, and his testimony was instrumental in convicting many of the Death Eaters after Voldemort’s Death.  He is currently teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, and his interests include reading, giving students detention, and spending time marking homework with his wife, Jennifer Craw Snape.’  I say, I knew he was dull, but what sort of interests are those?  Doesn’t he ever think about anything but school?”  Sirius asked, glancing up at Jennifer, who had a peculiar look on her face.  In fact, she was doing everything in her power to keep her face from turning bright red, and was failing miserably.

  “You all right, Jennifer?”  Anna asked.

  “Yes, er…just a wee bit hot in here,” Jennifer explained quickly, contemplating how to get even with Severus.  She knew quite well he meant more with that last ‘interest’ than what it said.  Cards were still being passed around a few minutes later when the students arrived and the pub begin to fill, and the moment Jennifer spotted Severus coming over to them she grabbed the card on showed it to him accusingly.  Severus broke into a sinister smile that startled some of the students, who began to edge farther away.  Jennifer broke into another blush, turning back to the table as he came forward.

  “Here’s one of yours, Jennifer!”  Ginny said excitedly.  “Last one, too.  Will you sign it?”

 “Oh, I suppose, but I certainly don’t know what all the fuss is about,” Jennifer said, reaching out for the card.

  “What’s her interests say?  Looking in mirrors?”  Sirius teased.  Severus came up to stand behind Jennifer, glancing over her shoulder.

  “Mediterranean cooking, Gardening, and spending time with the family,” Jennifer smiled, handing Ginny back the card.

  “Oh, not those cards again.  Really, aren’t you all getting a bit old for those?” he asked.

  “I bought them as an investment,” Ginny grinned.  “I get Harry to sign all of his, and Jennifer signed hers, and that doubles their value.”

  “All of that fuss over a piece of cardboard,” Severus shook his head, sitting down.

  “This from the man who finds student detentions and marking homework interesting,” Sirius chuckled at him.

  “Definitely more interesting than running around on all fours, chasing your tail and drinking out of the l–“

  “Severus!”  Jennifer said holding onto his arm in exasperation.  “That’s quite enough!    Both of you try and be civil, there are students about if not at the table.”

  “Do they normally act like this?”  Ginny asked Harry quietly.

  “No, actually, you’re getting them on a good day,” Harry explained.  “They’re usually much worse.”

  “Oh, it doesn’t bother me any more.  actually think he’s starting to like me,” Sirius said daringly, grinning at the suspicious squint of the man sitting across from him.  “Of course, he won’t admit it.  But then, for a man that took thirty years to learn how to wash his hair, I figure it’ll take at least another ten years or so before he does.”

  “Sirius!”  Anna grabbed his ear before Severus could react and whispered something in it Severus snickered and was about to say something else when Rosmerta came up to them and leaned over the table, looking at Jennifer.

  “There’s someone here who wants to talk to you and Harry,” she said in a low voice.  “He’s cloaked and all that but I’d know his voice anywhere, it’s old Corny Fudge.”

 “Oh really?”  Severus said, glancing nonchalantly over his shoulder.  “I wonder what he wants this time.”

  “Wait a minute, I want to see him too.  I have some questions to ask him,” Anna said.

  “We can’t all go over there.  He’d probably just leave.  He’s truly gotten paranoid over the last few years,” Harry said.  “Jennifer and I will go.  Severus will keep an eye us, I’m sure, and Sirius, you stay here with the girls,” he said, getting up, Jennifer right behind.

  “Don’t worry, Anna, I’m sure you’ll get your chance to talk to him,” Sirius said.  “More Snitches in the Mud, Rosmerta.”

  “The usual for me,” Severus said, tapping the table where he was sitting before heading towards the restrooms.

  “Black Anise wine, coming up,” Rosmerta said, shaking her head.  “I swear he’s the only one that drinks it,” she said before heading over towards where the other Professors were sitting.

  Fudge was at one of the tables on the balcony overlooking the main floor, which had a good view of the entrance and everyone coming and going below.  He looked up as the two of them sat down, his hands folded on the table, gazing to see if anyone followed them, out of curiosity or otherwise.  His shadowed face had the same nervous look that she had noticed before, but there was a danger in his eyes that got Jennifer’s immediate attention.

  “All right, we’re here.  What did you want to speak to us about?”  Harry asked.

  “Malfoy is planning to make a move soon, he and his…circle of friends,” Fudge whispered quietly.  “In fact, they’re after me as well.  He suspects that I have the Tome, and perhaps even suspects that I had something to do with what we spoke of before,” he said, nodding to Jennifer.  “But that’s not what he’s most concerned with at the moment.  Word has gotten to him about the dark magic that has been seeping out of the ruins of the Tomb, and I believe he’s become increasingly interested in what may still lie underneath.”

  “If he has some odd idea about bringing Voldemort back, he might as well forget it,” Harry said calmly.  “His soul was destroyed at the time of his death.”

  “I doubt Malfoy would go near the place if he thought there was any chance of that,” Fudge said grimly.  “I think rather, he believes that several relics might have been buried with the Tomb that now may hold even more power than before because of its destruction.”

  “Even if that were true,” Jennifer said, growing more concerned by the minute, “there isn’t anyone who could possibly control an item that badly corrupted.  The greatest item enchanter in the world wouldn’t try it, he’d be mad to do so.”

  “And trying to dig at the ruins will most probably result in more damage, which means the Forest itself, and maybe even spread out to this town,” Harry added.

  “Then you agree with me that something must be done to stop him.  I’ll leave it in your capable hands then,” he said, getting up.  “Be wary, he is here now, in this town.  Whatever you do, don’t be caught here alone.  Oh, and one other warning,” he said, leaning over the table.  “It is imperative that you not allow Anna to get anywhere near the Tomb again.  The evil there is too strong even for her to handle, and if it overtook her…” he shuddered slightly.  “If you have need of me and cannot, seek the Warden of Azkaban, he’ll know where to find me,” he said.  With that, he promptly left again, heading down the stairs and Apparating the second he was outside the door.  Harry turned to Jennifer thoughtfully.

  “I couldn’t see his face all the time, but I think he believes what he says about the Anna part,” Jennifer told him.  “Whether or not the Malfoy thing is true I don’t know.”

  “Well then, the first order of business is to figure out if he’s here or not.  If he’s in town, I’d like to know exactly where he is,” Harry said, nodding to Severus as he approached from a dark corner.  “And we should go make double sure nobody’s been messing with the fields around the Tomb.”  Jennifer nodded slowly, feeling unwanted memories creeping into her mind.  If only it were as easy to bury the past as it was easy for it to bury her.

Chapter Thirteen

Unwelcome Arrivals

 

 

  Corey and Doug raced into the Honeydukes with Taylor and Danny following more leisurely behind, knowing it’d be packed no matter what they did.

  “I’m going to do some of my Christmas shopping while we’re here,” Corey said.  “I bet Essie will love stuff from here, and I’ll get Dad some black cauldron licorice.  Mom always gets him some, but he’s always out before Christmas.”

  “Professor Snape with a sweet tooth?  Now that I can’t see,” Doug said.

  “I can, that stuff is nasty,” Taylor said, scrunching up his nose.

  “I say, what’s all the fuss about up front?”  Danny wondered, peering at the swift exchange of bags of small boxes.

  “Don’t you know?  The new series of cards in chocolate frogs, and there’s a ton of people I know in it personally, too,” Corey bragged as they stepped into line.  “I suppose I should get some.”

  “Corey, look sharp!”  Doug hissed.  “Look who’s at the door!”

  “Who?”  Corey asked, turning about.  He had glanced over just in time to see a well-dressed man with an ornate cane peering in the door, as if searching for someone.

  “Don’t you know who that is?  That’s Lucius Malfoy!  You don’t think he’s looking for your parents do you?”  Doug whispered in frantically.  Corey suddenly turned at the stranger with a surge of sudden hatred, wondering what he was doing here.  Lucius had spotted them looking at him then, frowning slightly at the glare the boy was giving him but his eyes moved on.  A moment later he glanced behind him, making a slight gesture.

  “Excuse me for a moment.  And don’t worry, it’ll be all right,” Danny said in a firm tone.  “Just save my place, or get me some of those card things if I’m not back,” she said, walking over towards the door.  Doug and Corey watched in surprise as she walked over to the man.  He paused to ask her something, and as she answered, he looked back at Corey with a look of realization.  A very unpleasant smile creeping onto his face as he nodded at the boy, putting his hand on Danny’s shoulder as he led her out.

  “Did you see that?  Did you see that?”  Doug said in such a panic they had to hush him to try to keep it down.  “Shouldn’t we, like, go after her or something?”

  “Danny said to stay here, I think she probably knows what she’s doing,” Taylor said, trying to calm Doug down.

  “Taylor, this isn’t like her going off with one of Longbottom’s gang, this is serious!” Doug said.

  “Doug’s right, this is not good at all.  You guys stay, I’m going to go have a look,” Corey said, moving into the crowd.

  “No, wait!” Doug said, following him out.  Sighing loudly, looking longingly at the front counter, Taylor turned and followed the others.  The three of them stopped in the middle of the street, looking through the droves of students.  “Where did they go?  They couldn’t have gone far.”

  “The Three Brooms, maybe?”  Taylor inquired.

  “He wouldn’t dare go in there, not with half the professors of Hogwarts inside,” Doug said,  “Come on, let’s look in some of the shops.”

  “Look, there they go into the sports shop, come on,” Corey said, the two of them following behind.

  “What’s the plan?”  Doug asked.

  “Plan?  I need a new bat, I have the right to go in and look if I like,” Corey said, opening the door.  Several tall wooden shelves filled with equipment sectioned off the shop, and the three boys sectioned off to look around.  Looking down each aisle, Corey finally spotted them standing by a case in the very back of the shop, and Corey swiftly pushed his way through on the other side of the shelf, trying to get close enough to hear.

  “Come, now, Danny,” Malfoy said in a low voice.  “You know better than to lie to me.  I want to hear the truth about what’s going on, and without the intentional stalling or subject changing that you normally do.  I know the game well, much better than you do, and I will not allow you to try and play it with me.”

  “It’s not what you think, really,” Danny’s voice insisted.  “I have everything under control.”

  “You have nothing under control.  Do not fool yourself into believing it,” Malfoy said.  “It’s time that you faced the fact that I am the only one capable of helping you, and if don’t start keeping me informed, you will have to face the consequences of that mistake on your own.”

  “Whatever trouble she’s in, she’s not facing anything on her own,” Corey said angrily, appearing from around the corner.  Danny turned around and gasped in surprise, while Lucius, standing close beside her, squinted darkly at him.

  “Corey!” she said, sounding angry.  “I thought I asked you to stay in line!”

  “It seems that Mr. Willowby has taken up with his adopted father’s habit of spying,” said with threatening smile.  “I suggest you rethink your career decision if I were you.  Most people are rather protective of their personal affairs, and you may end up getting hurt.”

  “Hello, Lucius.”  Corey felt a firm hand on his shoulder as Dumbledore came behind him with Doug and Taylor close behind.  “I wondered how long it would take you to turn up on one of these little trips.”

  “You didn’t exactly leave me any options,” Lucius said coldly, his smile brimming with dislike.

  “No, I believe it was you that didn’t leave me any options,” Dumbledore said calmly.  “We may not be at Hogwarts, Lucius, but my range of influence exceeds far beyond the borders of the school grounds.  Do not think for a moment that I am not watching you.”  Just then, several faces appeared on the other end of the aisle; Severus and Jennifer, looking rather horrified to see Corey standing there in front of Lucius, and Harry, who was looking at the man with the same calm but wary expression that Dumbledore was giving him.

  “Call off your hounds, Dumbledore, before I have to send for the Ministry for Craw violating her restraining order,” Lucius said.

  “You are quite free to leave whenever you like,” Dumbledore said.

  “Come along, Dannyelle, there must be somewhere in this town not crawling with Snapes,” Lucius said as he passed them, smiling mockingly while they glared at him with pure hatred.  “Then again, at the rate they’re breeding, I doubt it,” he added, giving Jennifer one last disgusted look before opening the door and ushering Danny out.

  “Professor?  You’re not going to stop him?  But Danny’s in danger he said…”

  “Whatever he said was not for your ears to hear,” Dumbledore said quietly as the three adults came up.

  “Corey, are you all right?”  Jennifer said.

  “Me?  Who cares about me?  What about Danny?”  Corey demanded.

  “Sir, I don’t think Miss Nelson is in any immediate danger, although I am quite interested to know exactly what Corey heard,” Severus said, eyeing his son steadily.

  “Yes, I’m sure, but now is not the time and here is definitely not the place,” Dumbledore said, turning them in to how many students who had been shopping were now peering around the corners to try and see what was going on.

  “Sir, Jennifer and I have reason to believe that there may some attempt at a security breech near the Bansidhe Mound,” Harry said in a low voice.

  “Then, by all means, the two of you should see to that.  Severus, would you see to it that Danny safely returns and joins her friends when she is through speaking with her uncle?  I will be in the Three Brooms if you need me,” Dumbledore said.

  “Uncle?”  Corey repeated, feeling his heart jump in his throat.

  “Corey, would you mind walking with me?  I’m sure your friends would be glad to run ahead and grab you a table while they wait,” the Headmaster added.  Doug and Taylor, looking unusually somber, nodded and walked out of the shop, and taking the hint, the rest of the students around them suddenly became unusually busy with shopping and looking at items they had little intention of buying.  Still with his hand on his shoulder, Dumbledore led the stunned boy out.  “Are you all right, Corey?” He asked in a low voice, looking at him intently.

  “Yes, it’s just…uncle.  Him, of all people…I always thought Danny was my friend.”

  “What makes you think she’s any less of your friend now?” Dumbledore asked.

  “Well, she came to Hogwarts late, out of the blue, and she’s always trying to hide stuff.  I mean, she won’t talk about her home life at all and she’s always acting odd.  And…well, Lucius said something about her telling her things or she was going to be in trouble.  What if she’s spying for him?  Trying to get at my parents or something…” Corey said, looking up at the wizard who had a doubtful smile on his face.

  “Or perhaps, what is going on has little to do with your parents at all, and you might have heard something out of context that you didn’t understand,” Dumbledore suggested.

  “I was only trying to protect her, Professor, honest!  I thought she was in trouble!  She told me not to worry and stay put, but what was I to do?  She’d never mentioned he was her uncle before to anyone.  All I knew was what I heard from my parents.  I just didn’t want her to get hurt, that’s all,” Corey said, stopping as they stepped in front of the pub.  Dumbledore looked steadily at him for a moment as if contemplating exactly what to say.

  “Sometimes it can be very hard to know whether or not it’s prudent to butt into a good friend’s personal affairs,” he said at last, “Most of the time…nearly all of the time, the best course of action is to stay out of it unless they ask.  My advice to you is, if you are not sure whether or not it’s a good idea, I would say don’t.  However,” he added, looking him over the rim of his glasses, his face very serious.  “If you have good reason to believe that a friend is in great peril and you know you should butt in despite countless protests from them, despite any trouble it might cause, do not hesitate.  Do what you have to do to be a good friend and make sure they get the assistance they need.”  Corey felt uncomfortable all of the sudden, wondering if he were talking about something more specific than it sounded.  “You best run along in, and try to enjoy the rest of your trip.”  Corey nodded and headed in with Dumbledore pausing only briefly to look up the street as if listening to something.  Frowning, the Headmaster stepped into the Three Brooms.

 

  Jennifer shivered slightly as she and Harry walked towards the Forest, wand in one hand and phial in the other as they approached the area steeped in dark magic.  Perhaps the magic in itself was not altogether bad, but dark magic attracted creatures of evil nonetheless, and already even outside the barrier, Jennifer began to feel the pull towards her darker thoughts as she did the night she had gone into the Tomb itself.

  “Dumbledore’s right…it seems that the more time passes and the more things feed here, the stronger it’s getting.  This barrier isn’t going to hold it much longer,” Harry said in a low voice as they approached the mound.

  “Then what are we going to do?  I mean, if this keeps up, it’ll contaminate the entire Forest,” sighs Jennifer.  “It’s really no wonder why the Centaurs are so angry.”

 “Look, what’s that over there?”  Harry said, stopping suddenly.  Jennifer looked over the frost-covered ground with a shrug, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.  “On the other side of the barrier, looks like a hole, or a burrow of some sort.”  Harry muttered something under his breath  He stepped through the barrier and headed over, his face suddenly showing strain as his thoughts started to muddle.

  “Wait, take this,” Jennifer said, rummaging around in her pocket and pulling out a clear gem.  Her mind wandered a bit as she remembered the last time she used it, slowly handing it through to Harry.

  “Thanks.  Wait here…you certainly don’t need to try and handle this much dark magic in your condition,” Harry said.

  “Pish-posh, I’m a Craw,” Jennifer said indignantly, “But I’ll stay back here just in case something goes wrong.”

  “Good idea,” Harry agreed amiably, and walked over to where he saw the hole.  Carefully he dug out some snow from around it, it was over a foot long and looked rather deep, the sides packed mud, hardened by the frost.  “Looks like some sort of creature made it, and there’s more than one hole.  I can see at least a couple more from here…if it wasn’t so big, I’d think it was a snake hole,” he said, as much to himself as to Jennifer.  Pausing a moment in thought, Jennifer suddenly heard an odd hissing noise, and realized it was coming from Harry.  She covered the hole cautiously with her wand, wondering if she could even get a spell off, watching as Harry paused to listen, leaning down closer to the opening.  After a moment of silence, he looked up at Jennifer with a shrug, and started to stand. 

  Suddenly there was a low rumble that began to spread outward from under them, and the ground began to shake, making Jennifer suddenly wonder if there weren’t still parts of the structure that hadn’t collapsed yet.  Harry suddenly ran for the barrier, tumbling just inside of it as Jennifer reached in, calling his name and trying to help him out.  That was when she felt a cold chill creep up her spine and a large, looming shadow draw up from behind them.  Harry, recovering from the sight of the wraith a split second faster than Jennifer, pulled her in with him as the creature attempted to wrap around her.  It cried out in frustration, drawing up all of its energy to fight the barricade, draining every plant nearby of its life force as it did so.  Trees already void of leaves suddenly turned grey and shriveled and evergreen wilted as the creature forced itself forward, trying to push its way through. 

  “Harry, cast sonorous shield on yourself!”  Jennifer said, focusing in on her wand.  There were few things that could turn away a wraith, and the cry of a banshee was by far her best bet.  Its partial immunity to light magic made it difficult to overcome by those means, but Jennifer was a master of the dark.  And through her vibrated the carefully intoned Shrieking Death spell, and a wave of sound blasted at the terror in front of her, causing it to wince back in pain.  But just as the spell began to show signs of making it back off, it began to weaken and falter, and even as Jennifer desperately tried to maintain what little power she had left, it failed completely. 

  Before she or Harry could move, Jennifer heard a blast coming from beside her and scrambled behind the sonorous shield as Severus took over, grim determination lined on his face as the Wraith turned in his direction angrily.  But Severus was not alone, and Jennifer was soon aware that Dumbledore had come up beside him, casting a spell of his own that seemed to bathe the Wraith in a pure prismatic light.  Harry joined in with a spell as well, and Jennifer got enough courage to try again, adding her spell’s power to the others.  Screaming and wailing in anger, the Wraith suddenly drew itself up as if to attack, then turned its shadowed form about and fled, darting into the Forest. 

  Exhaling in relief, Jennifer followed Harry back out and towards the crowd that had gathered, a loud commotion rising as they all began to discuss what happened.   She smiled over at Severus to let him know she was all right; the look of concern slightly subdued enough that he put away his wand.  Rosmerta was beside Dumbledore as were several other townsfolk and students, while Lucius stood a few feet away staring at Severus in such an odd way that it took Jennifer a moment to realize that it was an alarmed uneasiness, triggered by Severus’ use of one of the Forgotten Death spells.  One of those that was only thought to be known by one person; Jennifer.  Well, Jennifer thought, it was bound to come out sooner or later that she had passed them on to Severus.  Once Voldemort had learned the Plague spell, Jennifer had known that she had had to, for if anything had happened to her, no one would have been able to defend against it.  Besides, had Severus not acted when he had just now, it was quite possible that things could have gotten a lot worse.

  “Madame Pomfrey, if you would, see that the students got back to their shopping…including Miss Nelson…the excitement is over now,” they heard Dumbledore say as they came near.  “Jennifer, would you keep an eye on things here for me?  Make sure everyone stays where they’re supposed to, and away from what they’re supposed to as well,” he said very pointedly so that everyone lingering nearby heard him clearly.  Lucius glowered at him darkly, but didn’t say anything, glancing over his shoulder and nodding to Danny as she left.  “Harry, why don’t you see if you can’t round up Sirius, and if you have the time would you please help Severus and I try to track down the wraith and make sure it doesn’t linger?  I doubt that it’ll be back here soon in any case,” Dumbledore said as if musing to himself.  “We will have to see about some way of either driving it off permanently or destroying it altogether.  In the meantime, let’s be off, shall we?”

  Jennifer was a tad annoyed about being left behind as they went in, even though she saw the sense of it.  Trying to fight a Wraith right now she’d only be in the way, but there she could easily be useful keeping track of things as well as making sure Lucius didn’t get into trouble.  In fact, she suddenly realized she enjoyed the idea of her having an excuse to put him in his place if need be, and turned a wary eye to where he stood.  But now that he was finished talking to Danny, Lucius had little intention of sticking around, not that he could have gotten any closer to the Tomb now if he wanted to.  Of course, he had noticed the holes as well, Jennifer realized, and might have even had some idea to what had caused them.  But before she could get a good look at him, he nodded to her with an icy but dignified glance, Disapparating.  Sighing softly, she made doubly sure that everyone had made their way back to town, stopping to inform a Professor to what was going on when she passed them, then headed into the Three Brooms to rejoin Anna and Ginny and relax for a moment.

 

  It was the middle of the night before Severus arrived back at Hogwarts.  Jennifer woke just as he was attempting to slip in and sat up before he could dim the lights, regarding her for a moment before he tiredly sat on the edge of the bed. 

  “What are you doing awake?  I thought you’d be asleep like now,” he asked. 

  “No, I couldn’t really sleep, it was too stuffy in here,” she said.

  “Oh, is that why all the windows are open?  And every candle and lantern in the place is lit as well,” he added, looking at her questioningly.

  “So how did it go, did you find the Wraith?”  Jennifer said, quickly changing the subject.  The last thing she wanted to do was worry him about her nightmares again.

  “No, we lost track of it.  But if it’s in the Forest, it isn’t feeding.  There were no signs of disintegration or unexplained damage to anything after it left.  It has always waited a long time in between attacks, as you know, so Dumbledore thinks it might rest for a while.  It’s a miracle nobody has gotten killed, as powerful as that thing has gotten.”

  “Sirius almost was,” Jennifer pointed out, leaning back.  “If only I could have held that spell.”

  “We also found more signs of those holes around the mound itself.  Whatever creature is living there, it didn’t show.  I can’t help but wonder how deep the thing has dug underground,” he mused.  Jennifer gazed at him thoughtfully.

  “You’re hoping it’s a snake of some sort, so that perhaps you or Harry can convince it to bring up those artifacts?”  Jennifer said, not sounding too happy about the idea.

  “Certainly not to use them…only so that they can be destroyed so we can be sure that they won’t fall into any other hands.  Even Dumbledore had to admit that there is a possibility that the concentration of dark magic surrounding the area may lessen if it was partially caused by one or more dark artifacts Fudge seems to think might be down there.  Of course, this is all just speculation.  We have no way of knowing what is or isn’t down there, unless you recall seeing anything while you were there.”

  “No, not really,” Jennifer sighed, drawing the covers around her, shivering slightly.  “It was just too dark, and I didn’t get into the Tomb itself until after I was injured.  There was a side passage we hadn’t gone down though, who knows what it could have led to.”

  “I wonder if Icarus might have some idea what might have been put in there,” Severus mused, getting up to shut some of the windows.

  “Oh, no, please don’t try to talk me into speaking to that dreary ghost again.  Besides, I’m so mad at my father right now I’d rather avoid speaking to anyone in that prison for awhile if you don’t mind,” Jennifer said.  “Don’t close all the windows!”  She added in protest.  Severus brushed the snow off the ledges and shut the last window, ignoring the look on her face as he latched it.

  “Let’s not forget how sick you got doing this last year,” Severus said, frowning deeply as if daring her to try to argue with him about this.  “You’re in no more danger of suffocating in here than I am dying of heat stroke in this room,” he said, kneeling down to try and get something out from under the bed.  “Now, tell me what happened with your father.  I hope it wasn’t over the new crest.”

  “No, I told him about the names,” Jennifer sighed.  Severus looked up, giving her his ‘I told you so’ look.  “I know, I should have listened to you.  He didn’t want to have anything to do with the name.  Fine, if that’s the way he wants it, we’ll pick another name, perhaps another one from your side of the family.  How about Augustus?”

  “No!  That’s my uncle’s name and I despise him nearly as much as he does me,” Severus said with a scowl.

  “You never told me you had an uncle!”  Jennifer exclaimed, folding her arms.

  “I haven’t seen him since I was eleven when he washed his hands of us after my father died, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s not important except that I don’t want that name.”

  “Well, after all I’ve heard about aunts and uncles from Corey, Harry, and now you…let alone poor Danny, I am quite glad that both my parents were only children,” Jennifer decided.

  “I suppose I should have told you sooner that her mother was Lucius’ sister.   Iris used to be best friends with Narcissa at Hogwarts, both Slytherin of course, that’s how she and Lucius met.   Lucius always told me Nelson married her for her money, and when Iris died giving birth to Danny, he took the girl and left to who knows where.  He was probably afraid that the Malfoys might use their influence with the Death Eaters to persuade him to give the girl up, and decided to wait until things settled down before returning,” Severus explained, leaning on a very large, brown-wrapped frame he had gotten out.

  “I just hope she’s going to be all right,” Jennifer said.  “If only we knew for certain what was going on.”

  “Well, I am going to attempt to talk to her before she goes home for the holidays.  But Danny is a very strong-willed girl.  I don’t know if she’ll listen,” he admitted.

  “If any teacher can get her to open up, I’m sure you can,” Jennifer said, watching him unwrap the frame with growing curiosity.  “Whatever are you doing?”

  Severus smiled cryptically before turning around and moving a small picture of Jennifer’s mother and father to her dresser, and hung up a very large painting of a harvest moon rising over the ocean.  A fresh, salty breeze began to blow through the room, and the soft sound of seagulls could be heard at times over the lapping waves.

  “There, fresh air as you please.  This was supposed to go in your office as a part of your Christmas present, but I thought maybe if I brought it out I might actually get an hour of rest tonight,” he said grumpily, but Jennifer could tell he wasn’t truly annoyed with her.

  “It’s lovely.  And it’s a Francis Pyther too?”

  “Yes, well, don’t rub it in.  There aren’t many good painters around, and he happened to have a few landscapes in his studio at Hogsmeade so I picked one up,” Severus said, dimming the candles low.  Jennifer didn’t protest in the slightest, watching the dark water move in the moonlight until she finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

 

Chapter Fourteen

The Swampwart Flu

 

  The pre-holiday meeting took place just before breakfast on Monday morning as sleepy professors wandered into the staff room, getting their rolls and coffee and settling around the table.  As usual, Minerva had been the first to arrive, looking over her notes and smiling at each staff member as they joined them.

  “Good, it looks as if we’re all here,” she smiled thinly, looking about.  “Midterm results are, as always, due the day after the students leave, so let’s get them on time so everyone who’s leaving can get out of here.  Let’s see, anyone staying this year?”  Sagittari, Rolanda, and Archibald raised their hands.  “Good.  We’ll have just over a dozen students as well, I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t manage,” she said, her eyes twinkling.  “Now, for those of you going to the wedding, don’t forget yourselves in front of the Muggles…I know it goes without saying, but I want you to be especially careful since we’ll be quite a ways from home, and we want to set the school a good example.  Anyone who doesn’t feel quite sure of themselves in that environment, I would recommend hanging with someone who does, so we don’t have any incidents.”  Anna and Severus both looked directly at Jennifer.   Jennifer blinked in surprise.  After all, she wasn’t all that bad with Muggles, was she?

  “Now, I believe Rolanda had some sort of news about the spring dance she and Filius were organizing?”

  “Yes, actually,” Rolanda said cheerfully.  “I had been thinking it’d be nice to have something a little more exciting this year for music…not to slant Filius’ enchanted band, of course, we just thought the students would appreciate something more their style,” she grinned, earning suspicious looks from several of the Professors, including Severus and Jennifer.  “So with some help from Sirius Black who happened to know Donaghan Tremlett’s home owl address, I arranged to have the Weird Sisters come and play!”  Filius and Hermione clapped excitedly, and several others congratulated her on her good work.

  “Yes, I’m sure the students will appreciate it, at least,” Minerva said with a reserved smile.

  “That’s great, Rolanda,” Jennifer said, “Although I have to admit I rather like Filius’ band myself.”

  “The stuff that Weird Sisters ‘play’ is hardly anything but noise if you ask me,” Severus put in.

  “Oh, Severus, don’t be such a Snitch in the mud, there’s nothing worse than a dull professor.  Keep it up and you’re going to turn into another old man Binns,” Rolanda said, rolling her eyes at him.

  “All right, that’ll do, Rolanda.  Now, let’s all do what we can to make this dance work and let everyone have some fun without too much trouble.  Only students with even or a positive number of points will get to go, so feel free to remind them of that when they get out of hand, and I’m sure you’ll see an improvement in most of them,” Minerva said, her eyes twinkling.  “And if all goes well, we’ll be doing it every year.”

  After the meeting, Jennifer went straight to work getting her reviews in order before her first class and spent an uneventful week drilling students on everything from the proper way to gut a horned toad to the bubbling point of slug slime.  Corey seemed a lot more distracted than ever with the holidays and the trip, let alone his friends, and Jennifer couldn’t help wondering if he wasn’t going to end up in the negative points after all.

  Danny seemed more fervent than last year, writing down everything with more passion than ever.  But Jennifer knew it was all going to come down to the potion itself, and Danny just didn’t have quite the subtle touch that Corey did.  At lunch, Jennifer slipped over to Severus’ office, peeking in the door.  He looked up from the desk quizzically, but already had an idea what she was going to say.

  “Well?  Have you talked to her yet?”

  “No, as a matter of fact, she seems to be purposefully avoiding me.  I’ll corner her, don’t worry, just stop pestering me about it,” Severus said.

  “Just ask her in your office, no reason to make it complicated,” Jennifer said.  “She is getting worse by the day, you know.  It’s starting to affect her work.”

  “Yes, yes, I know.  Minerva has noticed it as well,” Severus frowned.  “And Minerva also noticed that Corey’s work is slipping too, and I’m not sure it’s all because of Danny.”

  “No, I think not,” Jennifer admitted, sitting down.  “He’s just too excited about going to the States.  Oh, and if I read him right, he’s gotten himself a bit preoccupied talking to one of the Hogwarts paintings.  I’d think he’s a bit old for that, but I suppose they all go through it,” Jennifer grinned.

  “Well, you still talk to mirrors, and how old are you?”  Severus said evenly.

  “Very funny.  You know that’s different…well, perhaps not entirely,” Jennifer admitted sheepishly.

  “Not to mention he was Muggleborn so he’s never seen them before.  Which one is it, anyhow?”  Severus asked.

  “I don’t know, didn’t look that far.  Should I?”

  “No, I seriously doubt it’s important.  I’m sure he’ll grow out of it,” Severus said, proofreading his test thoughtfully.  “I have to admit, the older he gets the less trouble he seems to be getting into.  He hasn’t been in detention since Halloween.”

  “Ugh, don’t jinx him by pointing it out,” Jennifer chuckled.  “You know, though, even with him intentionally missing questions now and again, I don’t think Danny’s going to make first in potions midterm.”

  Severus nodded grimly to Jennifer, putting down the paper.

  “Then let’s just hope that doesn’t mean what we think it means,” Severus said.

 

  Midterms started the next week, and so far Corey thought he was doing well with perhaps the exception of Muggle Studies.  Each student had been given a different subject to write about and was told to write a one to two page essay on the topic.  After writing half a page on the differences between the Council of Wizards and the Parliament, Corey ran out of ideas, and spent the rest of the period inserting extra words where he could and rewriting it to look neat.  Danny, annoyingly enough, had finished hers before he was even ready to recopy it, handing Madam Hughes two pages and exiting out of the classroom with a relieved smile.  And why shouldn’t she?  There was little doubt who was ahead in that class, especially having been tutored on Muggles and Muggle economics before she’d even gotten to Hogwarts.  Finally getting his paper recopied he headed out to find Doug waiting for him.

  “Come on, don’t take all day about it, I’m starving!”  Doug said.

  “You’re always starving.  What about Taylor?”

  “He’s still at it, on the second page from what I saw,” Doug said.  “Let’s go to lunch though, we’ll just meet up with him afterwards.”  They had just settled into place when Taylor came in, signaling so frantically that Doug waved at him in understanding.  “Guess he wants to talk to us anyhow.  But not right now, don’t want to miss lunch,” Doug said.

  “Doug, how come your leg is on the bench?”  Corey said, not buying it for a moment.

  “What?”

  “You didn’t rush here just because you’re hungry did you?  Who are you saving a seat for today?”  Corey asked.  Doug grimaced slightly.

  “Oh, all right, you have me.  I thought it’d be nice if Gail joined us.  And Katie too…she likes you, you know,” Doug grinned.

  “I hope you’re not trying to set me up for the dance already,” Corey rolled his eyes at him.

  “Aw, come on, Corey.  Humor me, here.  It’s hard trying to be smooth with the girls when you’re always about…they hover to you instead of me,” Doug said in annoyance.  “I figure, if I get you set up with one, maybe then I can have a break with the rest of them.”

  “So you picked the one that turned you down to sit with me,” Corey said, chuckling.  “I swear the older you get, the worse you get with this girl thing.”

  “So, you’re telling me you don’t like girls?”  Doug asked, folding his arms.

  “No, it’s not that.  I just want to wait for the right one, that’s all,” Corey said, watching his glass fill up thoughtfully.

  “I’d think you’d know better,” Doug tsked at him.  “Besides, what’s wrong with playing the field while you’re waiting for the right…hi Gail, hi Katie!   How are midterms going?”  Corey smiled and shook his head slightly at him, making room for the girls as they talked about classes.

  He found himself longing to get back to the trophy room and talk to Caprica again.  After all, it would be weeks before they saw her again.  Oh, Taylor, Doug and Danny had all told him it was nothing but an elaborate picture, without true thought or feeling.  But something in Corey had made him doubt that from the beginning.  It was no ordinary painting…an ordinary painting wouldn’t have been able to get Amadeus off of his back.

  Taylor met up with them as they headed towards the Trophy Room after lunch, looking a bit concerned.

  “Hi Taylor!  We’re heading up to see our friend upstairs,” Corey said.  “Where’s Danny?”

  “Danny’s not coming,” Taylor said.  “She said she had to do something and went outside.  Corey, I’m really worried about her.  She doesn’t want to go home.”

  “Would you relax?  I’ll just do what I did last year and mess up a couple.  It’s not like my parents care if I come in first or second as long as I do my homework,” Corey said.    “Don’t get so worked up, Taylor.  I mean, if he’s as bad as all that, why wouldn’t she have told us about it, or my parents, or Dumbledore?  I think you’re just overreacting,” he added as they entered the room.

  “Corey, you don’t know her like I do.  I study with her every day and I’m telling you it’s not normal for a person to be getting this stressed out over marks,” Taylor said.

  “Well, I can’t argue with you there,” Corey chuckled.  “But it’s not like she’s the only person in the school like that.  Madame Granger was like that.”

  “My sister is like that,” Doug said, rolling his eyes.  Corey nodded.

  “And who is the topic of conversation today?” A voice asked from over their heads.

  “It’s Danny.  I think something’s wrong,” Taylor said.  Caprica suddenly looked unusually serious, nodding to him.

  “Yes, I do think you’re right, Taylor dear,” Caprica said.  “And you’ve tried talking to her about it?”

  “That’s just it, she won’t talk about it, not to me, not to anyone,” Taylor said with frustration.  “It’s like her life outside of Hogwarts doesn’t even exist to her.  Well, except for these frantic pushes for top marks.”

  “Sometimes parents tend to push their children a bit too far when it comes to such things.  They so want them to succeed, they don’t realize how much pressure they’re putting them under,” Caprica said.

  “Yes, but I think there’s more to it than that,” Taylor said.  “I think he’s wanting her to succeed just for himself.”

  “Well, that is always true of those sort,” Caprica smiled sadly, but then nodded.  “But I think I understand what you’re trying to tell me.  The girl is in pain, no question.  And apparently she’s too afraid to confide in anyone about it.  Well, I’m going to talk to her.  Many people find it’s easier to talk to a painting.  After all, we’re not real,” she smiled with a wink.

  “You’re real to me,” Corey said so fervently that she smiled at him.

  “When are you going to talk to her?  We’ve only got today and tomorrow left before we head out,” Doug asked.

  “I know, Doug.  I’ll talk to her tonight once you all finish your midterms.  Perhaps I can catch her alone in the Slytherin rooms after dinner.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and have a chance to visit Amadeus while I’m there,” she said, the three boys grinning at each other at that.  “I rather want to see if he’s behaving himself.  By the way, don’t the two of you still have a Transfiguration test?  And you a Potion test, Taylor?”  She asked, pointing at the clock then putting her hands on her hips.

  “Oh great, we’d better book it,” Corey said, heading out the door.  “You know how McGonagall is about being late.”

  “Worse, I know how your Mom is,” Taylor said, waving at Caprica on his way out.

  Danny was already in her place, tapping her pencil as Taylor came into the class just as the bell sounded, Craw giving him a stern look as he headed to his seat, out of breath.  He smiled at Danny softly, but she wasn’t looking at him, her eyes intent on the front of the class where Professor Craw was handing out tests.  He couldn’t help but notice that Danny looked rather tired, probably from all the late night studying, and quietly hoped for her the best of luck.  Craw cleared her throat as she came around and he looked back towards the front as the paper arrived on his table as well as the rest of the back row, as Craw headed back to the front of the class.

  “Very well, you may begin the written section of the test now.  Please pay special attention to the lab directions, I’ll not be held responsible for what you might turn into if you get them out of order,” Craw said with a mischievous smile.  Taylor peeked at the back long enough to see it was a transformation potion and sighed.  It meant fresh ingredients and temperature sensitive components for sure, but at least he was fairly confident on the formulas.  As he started down the column of the written part of the test he heard a soft sound from the left of him and risked a glance up, wondering where it came from.  Professor Craw, still sitting at her desk marking papers didn’t seem to notice, so Taylor looked back down.  As he was trying to work out his calculations on altering potions for differing time delays, there was a loud thud, and Taylor looked over to see Danny on the floor as the rest of the class gasped.  He dove to the girl’s side, trying to figure out what was wrong as Craw rushed over, kneeling on the other side of her.  Her skin was slightly green in tone, and odd welts had begun to appear on her face that Taylor didn’t remember seeing there just a few minutes before.

  “Taylor, step back!”  Craw snapped,  “The rest of you too!  Get back to your seats!”  She quickly called up a stretcher, gently laying the girl on it, a worried look on her face.  What terrible timing for the girl to come down with something!    Craw’s bat Ratfly, who had been sleeping on a perch in the corner, suddenly woke up and sat on the table.  “Finish your tests, and put them on my desk.  And don’t try to cheat, I’ll find out if you do,” she ordered, whisking the girl to the hospital ward.  What could have possibly happened?  She had been fine that morning in Muggle Studies, Taylor remembered.  He raced through the rest of his test, perhaps a little faster than he should have, starting up his cauldron for the lab before anyone else.  But labs couldn’t always be rushed, and it was all Taylor could do to keep himself from adding the ingredients too soon after it boiled, finally stoppering it and hurrying out to check on his friend.  A crowd had already gathered outside of the hospital ward, including Professor Snape and McGonagall, who had been called from their classrooms as well.

  “Don’t fret, Professor.  Sagittari is just making sure that Craw doesn’t have any ill effect from the dose,” Madam Pomfrey was saying.  “We need to give one to the entire class to make sure they don’t get sick as well.”

  “Give us what?  Is Danny all right?”  Taylor asked.  McGonagall looked around with surprise.

  “Goodness, they’re starting to finish already, I thought Jennifer said they had a complicated lab,” Minerva said.

  “They do, but it would seem that some of them are a bit more concerned about Miss Nelson,” Severus said, squinting slightly at Taylor.  “I will go down and make sure none of the others have left.”

  “Come inside, Mr. Brittle,” Madam Pomfrey ordered, ushering him in.  “You need to take a preventative dose straight away.  Swampwart Flu is highly contagious, you know.”

  “I’m going to need to go make more antiflu doses, Doctor, I’m sure there’s not enough to go around,” Jennifer said from where she sat on one of the other beds.

   “Not so fast, Jennifer.  You stay put for awhile until I’m quite sure you’re not infected,” Sagittari said sternly.  “I’m sure someone else can get that if we need more.”

  “How’s Danny?”  Taylor asked again as he was sat down on a bed while Pomfrey poured out another dose and handed it to him.

  “She’s resting comfortably.  Here now, drink that,” she said sternly, not saying another word until he downed the whole thing, trying not to gag.  “She’ll be under quarantine for awhile.  There’s not much we can do once someone has it.  She’s just going to have to sleep it off until she gets better,” Poppy said, glancing up at where McGonagall stood guarding the door.  “Someone will need to send a note to her father, she won’t be able to be moved for awhile.  I doubt she’ll make it home for Christmas, poor girl,” Poppy sighed, heading over to the back door to the other room to check up on her.  A strange expression came over Jennifer’s face and she looked towards the back room.  Then she glanced at Taylor in such a way he was quite sure she was trying to read him.

  “Taylor, did you notice Danny acting odd at all today?”  She asked.

  “She’s been really nervous, and stressed about her tests,” Taylor admitted.

  “Anything else?”  Taylor thought a moment.

  “Well, she didn’t want to meet up with us after lunch like she normally does.  She said she had something important to do,” he said.  Jennifer nodded and suddenly went over to the shelf along the back wall, combing through medical books as Sagittari went over to her.

  “You don’t think this was a random occurrence?” he asked her, causing her to look up from the book.

  “No more than you do,” Jennifer said.  “I remember something in one of my dark potion books about people being infected with the disease through harvesting warts off of infected toads and using them in an altered healing draught.”

  “It’s possible, but who made it?  I know Nelson is very good with potions, but one of that complexity?”  Sagittari asked.  Jennifer shook her head.

  “No, I don’t think she could, honestly.  Someone would have had to do it for her,” she said, feeling a sudden fear creeping in.  “Surely it couldn’t have been Corey,” Jennifer said, just as much to herself as to the Centaur.  “No, he wouldn’t do anything like that, even if he could probably pull it off.”

  “You are probably right,” Sagittari agreed, waving his wand across her for a moment.  A bright aura of color surrounded her for a moment, fading into blue before dissipating altogether.  “Very well, you may go.”

  “Good, because I have got to find out how she got that flu, or who gave it to her,” Jennifer said, heading towards the door.

  “Just try to not overdo it,” Sagittari said with a sigh, knowing his advise would probably not be adhered to.

 

   It wasn’t until the next morning that Danny, feeling worse than she ever could remember feeling, woke to the sound of a train whistle in the distance.  She suddenly felt more at ease, looking around the heavily shaded room, wondering where everyone was.  But then she heard a noise that paralyzed her…the sound of her father’s voice.  She stared at the closed door with dread, wishing she could hear what was going on.  Caprica, who had been watching over her from the painting of a famous healer on the opposite wall, suddenly wandered out, risking a peek in the next room from behind a tree in the landscape she had been in before.

  “I’m sorry, Sir.  You can bellow all you like, it doesn’t change the fact that Miss Nelson is under quarantine and can’t be moved,” Poppy said sternly.  She and Sagittari were standing in front of the back room door, while Severus and Jennifer stood near the front door, none of them looking too happy.  “She’s a health risk not only to the school but anyone outside of it, and if you doubt my and Doctor Sagittari’s right to quarantine, you can speak to the Ministry, but I doubt you’ll have any more luck going through them.”

  “Fine, but I want a doctor of my own choosing to come in here and see for himself,” he growled.  “And I want to know how, if this flu is so contagious, that my daughter was the only one to be exposed to it!”

  “We’re working on that very problem, Mr. Nelson,” Severus said in an even tone.  “The best guess we have right now is that she might have been exposed to a contaminated potion, but we’re investigating to find out for certain if that was the cause.”

  “A contaminated potion,” he snarled, turning towards Jennifer.  “And what careless soul allowed that to happen, I wonder?”

  “If you’re attempting to imply it came from out stock, it didn’t.  In fact, the school happens to use the same source of ingredients as your daughter does.  We go to Witolf,” Jennifer said calmly.  “But whoever made it must have known exactly what they were doing if it were a potion, for the simple fact that if they hadn’t, we’d have at least two infected people, not just one.”

  “So, was your adopted protégé tested for the flu?”  Byron asked.

  “It wasn’t Corey if that’s what you’re implying.  He was not in the class, and I spoke with him myself just afterwards,” Jennifer said firmly.  “He hadn’t seen Danny since his Muggle class, and I’m quite convinced he wasn’t involved in any way.”

  “I am hardly going to trust the word of someone who is obviously biased in favor of her adopted son.  You don’t truly expect me to believe that a Muggleborn who can barely keep up an average mark in Muggle studies could possibly be the top student in two of the three classes he has with you, and second in the third, without a little motherly help,” Byron said angrily.  Jennifer stared at him a moment in disbelief.

  “Potions has always been Corey’s best field since the beginning.  In fact, he was in advanced Dabbler’s class since his first year here, as any teacher can attest to.  I’m sorry if your daughter has to take an incomplete on the test because of what happened, and she’s quite welcome to make it up once we get back.  But the fact is, as brilliant as Danny is, all the money in the world can’t buy raw talent,” Jennifer said.

  “Was it truly talent, or was it that you let him in that Dabblers class to get another easy mark?”  He asked.  Severus suddenly stepped between them, his dark eyes flashing slightly.

  “I don’t know where you’re getting your information from, Nelson, but I’ll have you know it was I who was Potions master his first year, and I was the one who put him in Dabblers.  Furthermore, how we judge other students’ abilities is truly none of your concern regardless of who the student is.  Now, shouldn’t we be talking about your daughter’s health, which is a bit more important than her marks?”  Severus said with a stony expression.  “Or is it, to you?” he added in a low, cold voice.

  “Well.  I see I am not going to get anywhere speaking to either of you,” Byron said, looking at them condescendingly.  “I will be back to deal with you later, with a real doctor, might I add,” he said, shooting distasteful looks at both Sagittari and Poppy who glared at him with pure distain.  “Let me be clear on this, however.  If I find that either of you had anything to do with this illness, you will both be out of a job,” he said, turning towards the door.

  “If the board of governors are foolhardy enough to think we’d poison a student, I wouldn’t want to work here anyway,” Severus said evenly, following closely behind him with a dangerous glint in his eyes.  “Allow me to show you out.  Not that you have any true choice in the matter.”  Jennifer watched them go then walked back over to Poppy and Sagittari, finally letting her frustration show through.

  “Are you alright, Jennifer?”  Poppy asked.

  “No, of course I’m not alright.  The man could care less that she’s in there terribly ill!  There was no worry, no remorse, or anything of the sort in his face.  He only came here to yell at us for keeping her here against his wishes.  It’s no wonder Danny never wants to go home.  I’d hate to think what it might be like living with that man,” Jennifer said angrily, sitting down.  “We have got to do something.”

  “I wish we could too, Jennifer, but we don’t have any proof that anything’s wrong,” Poppy said.

  “I think I’ve seen enough to make a case for it, that is, if I were registered,” Jennifer muttered.

  “Bother the registration, Jennifer, go to Arthur anyhow.  He’ll listen to you, he always does,” Poppy said.  “Or head on over to talk to Minerva about it.”

  “Oh, I already tried that route, and Minerva gave me the ‘we may only make it worse’ speech.  Not that that’s not a valid argument, but things have gone much farther now.  If Danny’s desperate enough to try something like this, we can’t be blind to it anymore,” Jennifer said, the other two nodding in agreement.  “Because I don’t think her getting sick was an accident.”

  When Caprica finally slipped back into the other room and Gunhilda allowed her the use of her painting again, Danny was awake, her head turned to the window and looking out in a daze.  Her skin was covered with green blotchy patches, and her violet eyes seemed unusually grey as they looked over to try and figure out who was calling her name.

  “Is that you, Professor?”  Danny asked quietly, afraid that someone outside the room might hear.

  “Yes, Danny, it’s me.  Or rather, the painting of me,” Caprica said, chuckling softly.  “You can go back to sleep now, if you like.  Your father’s gone for now, and there’s not much he can do to break a quarantine.”

  “Did he seem very angry?” Danny asked expressionlessly.

  “Yes, but not at you, so don’t fret about it.  Anyhow, I came over the minute I heard you weren’t feeling well.  Since nobody else is allowed to see you except the doctors, I thought you might like some company.  Yes, yes, I know I’m just a painting, but I promise you I can be more entertaining than a still life,” Caprica winked, giving her a smile.  “I even know where there’s a painting of a chess game if you want to play.  I might be able to borrow it.  And I know all sorts of stories about when the school was founded that I bet you never heard of,” she said.  “You just let me know if you need me and holler…when nobody else is around of course…and I’ll sneak right in from the Trophy Room.  It’s really only a few frames away, you know,” she giggled.  Danny smiled slightly.  “No one should be without a friend or two this time of year, sick or not.  And while we’re at it, perhaps you can help me think up a fun prank to pull on Amadeus Longbottom.  I hear his father had to go out of the country on business.”  Caprica said, grinning mischievously.  Danny returned the grin as Caprica rubbed her hands together.  Perhaps Christmas wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Chapter Fifteen

Back to Myrkinbrek

 

  The aroma of gingerbread, cinnamon and licorice rose so persistently from the kitchen that Jennifer and Carol soon found they had visitors.  Severus had emerged from the basement and took up residence at the kitchen bar, while Corey creeped out of his room to sort out frog cards on the living room floor, with Alexandria scooting across the floor beside him and gnawing on a Dumbledore card.  (The card didn’t seem to mind too much, although it did pull out an umbrella to protect himself from the raining drool.)  The flour-dusted bar had suddenly become clean just a moment before Severus put the papers in his hand down, spreading them out and piecing them together like a jigsaw puzzle.

  “I certainly hope you don’t have the gingerbread in with the springerle again,” Severus said.  “There wasn’t one that survived it without being broken last year.”

  “Well if you’re going to be so picky, why don’t you put on an apron and lend a hand?”  Jennifer said.

  “Yes, I’m sure you would find that amusing.  But I’m quite busy studying the star charts that Sinistra put together for us for the night of the Constellation,” Severus said.  “If you want, I’ll write all the significant events down for you.”

  “Centaurs are always fussing about the stars,” Carol tsked, peering in the oven.  “I imagine the heavens were there long before Centaurs and will continue long after, nae doubt.”

  “I can’t help but agree with you,” Jennifer chuckled, lining a two-story gingerbread house with gumdrops.  “We did have a star reading done for Alexandria the night she was born when Sagittari offered to do one though, Centaur tradition and all that.  Besides, I do believe in fate, and who’s to say the influences of the heavens don’t pull us one way or the other at times?  Just as good of an explanation as any,” she said, earning a skeptical smile from Severus.  “Oh, nonsense, Severus.  There is nothing naïve about it.  Tell me truthfully that you don’t think there wasn’t any fate involved in us being together.”

  “Actually, I blame it on impeccable taste.  Oh look, here’s my horoscope for solstice.  It appears that I’m about to leave you and fall in love with another woman.  Strange, that.”  Severus said expressionlessly, tapping the chart. 

  “Surely it wouldn’t be sayin’ that!” Carol said in surprise.

  “Ignore him, Carol, he’s just trying to be funny,” Jennifer said, glaring at him.  “All right, Severus, I get it, you win.  That still doesn’t change the fact we have to know all of this stuff before the Constellation, because there’s no telling what they might bring up.”

  “Which is why I’m doing this,” Severus said simply, snatching up a biscuit off the tray Carol brought out before she could stop him.

  “Now, then, wait ‘til they cool like everyone else!” Carol said, shaking a mitt at him.

  “Biscuits done?” Corey asked from the living room, peeking around the corner.

   “Oh, all right, you can check the ice box and see if the gingerbread men have cooled off, and get Alex a shortbread,” Jennifer said, opening the door to the house carefully.  Corey got his and Jennifer took out the rest, setting them each by the door of the house as they walked inside one by one.  Finally she shut the door and hung a “Do not open until Xmas” sign on the front.

  “I really don’t know why you’re making all this fuss, considering we’ll be in the States for most of it,” Severus said, writing down another notation.  “By the time we get out of the reception Christmas eve, even if we return straight home, Christmas day will be nearly half over.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that,” Jennifer grinned.  “McGonagall pulled some strings and gave us all Christmas for a Christmas present,” she said, pulling out a chain from around her neck with the Time-turner on it.  “I’m not going to let Alexandria lose her first Christmas because of Portkey lag.”

  “Well, now that we’ve all but caught up on the bakin’, would you mind terribly if I headed to Myrkinbrek for a spell?  I’ve a bit of shoppin’ to do and haven’t had the time for,” Carol said.

  “Come to think of it, I haven’t picked up Anna and Sirius’ wedding present that we ordered.  It’s sitting at the shop, I’m sure.  Mind some company?”

  “Not at all, ma’am.  Just a moment while I smarten up a bit,” Carol said, heading upstairs.  Severus looked up, slightly puzzled.

  “You’re both leaving?  At the same time?”

  “Well, you never want me to travel alone these days, and I do have to go pick that up,” Jennifer said, taking off her apron.  “I’m sure you can handle things here…there’s a bottle already made up and just ask Mercy if you don’t know where anything is.”  Severus gave her such a blank look she sighed at him with exasperation.  “Severus Snape, you handle nearly a thousand students every week, how is it that the thought of a couple of hours sitting for your daughter terrifies you?”

  “She does not terrify me,” Severus declared indignantly.  Corey suddenly grinned at Jennifer and picked Alex up, holding out the crumble-covered baby towards her father.  Alex looked at him balefully.  “She just doesn’t like me,” he said, looking at her warily.

  “Nonsense. Of course she likes you.  You just need to get to know her better is all,” Jennifer said, shaking her head.

  “Oh, all right if you insist, but right now I need to get this done, so take her back to wherever she was a moment ago, Corey,” Severus said, shooing them away.  Jennifer sighed softly.

  “Very well, I’ll stay, I’m sure there’s more baking or something…”

  “No, go if you must, I’ll manage,” Severus said, waving her away grumpily.  “I’m sure Corey will be more than enough help, thanks.  And take your cloak in case of emergencies.”

  “I’ll be watching the ring, so if you get in too much trouble I’ll head back,” Jennifer promised, grabbing the cloak.  “And don’t you dare eat all the springerle, that’s for Christmas!”  She said as she went to the living room to join Carol at the chimney.  “See you later, Alex, Corey!  And Corey, if he makes you do all the work, you be sure to tell me when I get home,” she said, making sure Severus heard her.  Severus glanced over his shoulder just as a puff from the fire signified they had left, immediately reaching for another springerle.  He had barely bit into it when Alexandria started to cry.

   Jennifer and Carol brushed off the soot and entered the grand entrance plaza that lead into the merchant district of Myrkinbrek.  It was a chill, but there was no wind or snow on the ground, and Jennifer couldn’t help but wonder just where Myrkinbrek was.  Well, let the Goblins have their privacy, she shrugged, she had more important things to think about, like how to get in and out of the town with the least bit of hassle and the least temptation of buying anything frivolous.  Carol had brightened immediately upon entering the crowd, a smile appearing on her rosy cheeks as she noticed the holly and ivy vines strewn across the busy walkways.

  “Isn’t this splendid?  Just the thing to get one in the Christmas spirit, if they weren’t already,” Carol said, glancing over at Jennifer.  “Now, then, don’t you be gazing at that ring already!  I’m sure she’s perfectly fine.”

  “It’s not her I’m worried about,” Jennifer admitted as they turned towards the bookshop.

  “Don’t you be worryin’ now, Mrs. Snape.  This will be good for them.  It’s high time they got to know one another better, and this little jaunt will give ‘em a chance for it,” Carol said.

  Webstring’s Bound and Rare Books was by far one of the most prestigious bookstores around, and was known for its guarantee of finding nearly any book written after the time of the Library of Alexandria.  A rich tan carpet with a design that changed every day covered the floor, and expensive walnut and mahogany cases lines the walls, filled with ancient tomes and new works alike.  Several finely robed wizards and witches sat in chairs or perused the shelves, and Jennifer thought she recognized several of their faces from the Council.  As Carol stopped to point out a new potion book to Jennifer, a very familiar-looking clerk stood up from where he was crouched stacking books on the other side of the table, nearly dropping the books from his hand as he spotted them.  He was a fairly handsome wizard although apparently a tad disorganized, and his blue eyes glittered as he stared at Jennifer with astonishment.

  “Good heavens!  You’re Jennifer Craw!  It really is you, isn’t it?” he said excitedly.  “I say, I don’t suppose you’d sign my card?  I really am an admirer of yours!”

  “Well I…”

  “I have it right here, just a moment,” he said going over to the counter.  Jennifer sighed and looked over at Carol, who was doing her best to hide her chuckle.  “Here we are,” he said cheerfully, handing it and a pen to her.  “If you could just sign it to ‘my dear friend Roy,’ I’d be most appreciative.”  Rather embarrassed and also very aware that they appeared to be drawing attention, Jennifer quickly acquiesced, signing it and handing it back to him.

     “Mr. Lockhart!  What are you doing?”  A female Goblin in a horrid (but very expensive) print dress and silver globe earrings appeared from behind the counter, giving him a stern look.

  “Why, don’t you see?  It’s Professor Jennifer Craw of Hogwarts!”

  “Yes of course I know who it is, she has a book on order.  Why aren’t you fetching it?” she asked sternly.

  “Oh, of course!  I’ll be right back!”  He winked at her, before scurrying back to the back room.  The Goblin shook her head, muttering something about Human ‘help.’

  “Excuse me,” Jennifer said, stepping up to her, her eyes following the figure that just left.  “But…Roy Lockhart?  As in Gilderoy Lockhart?”

  “Yes, yes, but he doesn’t write anymore if that’s what you’re asking.  Not that he doesn’t want to; he just doesn’t seem to write anything worth reading now that he doesn’t know anything.  You’ll have to excuse him for his behavior.  He’s not been himself at all since an unfortunate accident with the memory spell.  Wouldn’t even taken him in if Dumbledore hadn’t asked for a favor and all,” she grunted, heading back over towards the counter.

  “Here we are!” Roy said cheerfully, coming back from the back a few moments later.  “The Shakespearean guide to Potions and Poisons.  Including several actual recipes, I believe,” he said, bowing and handing it out.  “Will there be anything else for you?”

  “Could you wrap it?  It’s part of someone’s Christmas gift…”

  “Oh, of course!”  He said cheerfully.  “For your husband Professor Snape, I’d imagine.  I say, he still dabbles in potions then?” he chatted, going over to the counter to fetch some paper.  “You know, I believe I knew him once, although I don’t remember much about it.  A touch of amnesia, you know, I’m still recovering,” he explained, barely giving either woman a chance to reply.  “I’ve read some of my books, and I think I must have been something, although I must admit I find talking about myself rather boring these days.  I mean, it does get old after awhile listening to someone go on and on about themselves, don’t you think?” he asked, getting out the ribbon and barely noticing them nodding.  “What interests me really are other people.  Other people do such fascinating things.  Well, like you for instance!” he said to Jennifer, leaning on the half-wrapped book.  “You know, I’d like to hear more about your adventures.  In fact, I bet everyone would!  Leading the Unicorns against the Dementors, facing unbeatable odds against Pettigrew and you-know-who.  I’ve an idea!  Why don’t you let me write down your story!  You could just tell me about things and I’d ghostwrite it for you.  I bet you it would be a best seller!”  He smiled, looking between both women.

  “Thanks…but…I don’t really think I’d make good book material,” Jennifer said carefully, not really wanting to hurt his feelings.  “I know, why don’t you ask Harry?  Maybe he’d be interested.”  Roy looked at her with a puzzled expression.

  “Odd, he’s the one that suggested I should ask you when I saw you,” he said.  “Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be more than happy to help…”

  “Mr. Lockhart!  Are you not through yet?”  Webstring said in a raised voice from where she stood trying to help several customers at once.  Apologizing to both his boss and Jennifer, he finished the parcel, and nearly rushed off before Jennifer stopped and reminded him she needed to pay for it.  Finally she and Carol stepped back out of the shop again, and Jennifer exhaled loudly while Carol began to laugh.

  “Remind me to send Corey in the next time I need to pick up something,” Jennifer said.

  “Now then, was it really all that bad?  So you have a fan or two, you’re the famous Professor Craw, after all!”  Carol said amusedly.

  “And writing a book about me, good heavens!  And to think someone would want to write about me!  Who would want to read about me?” Jennifer laughed as they walked down the street.  As they wandered through the shops, it didn’t seem long before the time began to tick away, and Jennifer realized she was going to have to move if she were going to pick up the gift today.  That was when they made the rather fateful decision to split up, so that Jennifer could head to the jewelry shop and Carol could finish her Christmas shopping.

  The magical jewelry shop, Tassels and Panning, was on the far end of the merchant district where the oldest businesses were, just across from Grendelbane’s Wand Shop.  Warm greetings rose up from the clerks as she entered, and even those busy with customers stopped to wave at her as she headed up to the main display counter.  A pair of identical Goblins in matching vests, chained watches, and even rings, walked up to the counter with toothy grins as she approached.  There was little wonder as to why, and for once it certainly wasn’t about her deeds at Hogwarts.  Rather, it was about the fact she was Mrs. Snape, for Severus had come to frequent the place for every birthday and holiday, and also had the habit of spending more money than Jennifer would have liked on any of the things he had custom crafted there.

  “I’m here to pick up the enchanted silver tea set Professor Snape and I ordered?”

  “Ah, yes, with the custom engraving,” the goblin brothers said.  “We believe it’s ready.  Please feel free to look around while we get it from the back for you.”  One of the brothers (Tassel, Jennifer thought) left, while the other folded his hands upon the glass counter and continued to grin at her as she peered into the cases and flipped through a small catalog listing some of the customized enchantments that could be added to items in the shop.

  As she was waiting, there was a sudden flurry at the door and a tension in the air as clerks excused themselves from what they were doing to line up and greet the customer that had just come in the door.  Who else could it have been but Lucius Malfoy, with Draco not two steps behind.

  This was the last thing she needed right now, Jennifer thought to herself, wondering which phial she should pull first should it come to that.  The two men spotted her at once as they removed their cloaks as if planning to stay for a while, both regarding her with the same wary gaze that she was giving them.

  “Well,” Lucius finally said as they walked into the shop.  “If it isn’t the sow and her piglet.  Busy spending your pathetic little fortune, I see.  And all alone?  I didn’t think he let you out of the barn by yourself these days,” he inquired, smiling thinly.

  “If by he you mean by husband, he’s well aware that I can take care of myself, thank you.  It’s not as if there are any real threats anymore,” Jennifer said calmly, aware of the dark look creeping in Lucius’ eyes.  “Hello, Draco, how is your apothecary doing?  I hear you are opening another location.”

   Draco nodded and was about to answer when his father waved a hand of protest.

  “Please, spare us the trivialities, Craw,” Lucius said in a condescending tone.  “We are not friends here, nor do I intend to stomach pretending it were otherwise.  If you do not think you are in danger this very moment, you are fooling yourself.  And such foolishness can often prove to be…fatal.”

  “Excuse us, Mrs. Snape,” said one of the goblin brothers.  “Your pardon for keeping you waiting, Mr. Malfoy,” said the other.  “Here is your order Mrs. Snape, if you’d just sign?”   They both said together.  Jennifer quickly turned around and signed for the box, attempting not to show her reluctance to turn her back. 

  “Could you miniaturize it for me?”  Jennifer asked them quietly.

  “Magic trouble all ready?” Lucius said, tsking.  “My, my, my.  The great Jennifer Craw without magic again, and all over a child that she will hardly ever see.  Left behind with his forgotten sister while their parents abandon him for months on end to their nanny.  I almost pity them.”

  Jennifer turned back around to him, barely able to contain her anger, and furious to see her own reaction causing a smile to curl on his lips.

  “Draco, did you have a nanny?”  Jennifer asked, looking at him unquestionably in the eye.

  “Yes, of course, but he wasn’t gone all the time…”

  “I spend eight hours a week with my daughter, can you truthfully tell me he spent more than that with you a week while you were growing up?”  Jennifer asked bluntly.  Draco looked at her for a moment, then at his father.

  “No, I can’t,” Draco said, his father staring at him in surprise.  “But I’m quite sure you couldn’t possibly have as many servants looking after them as were looking after me.”

  “More is not always better,” Jennifer said, picking up her miniaturized parcel and smiling triumphantly as she headed towards the front.  “Happy Christmas, Draco,” she added, ignoring Lucius completely as she passed by him

  “Oh, by the way, Craw,” Lucius said as she got to the door, his voice filled with venom.  “I just wanted to commend you for how well you are learning to cope with being underground after being buried alive, suffocating in that Tomb for so long,” he said.  “It must be hard for you down here, a quarter of a mile underground with all that rock above our heads…but of course, it’s perfectly safe, although I wouldn’t want to be here in a sudden tremor.”

  Jennifer blinked slightly, turning to look Lucius in the eyes again.  What did he mean underground?  They weren’t underground!  But something in his nasty expression chilled her to the bone…he was telling the truth, and somehow, he had guessed that she had not known.  Barely able to nod, Jennifer stepped outside, her eyes turning upwards at the blue sky and fluffy white clouds that were above her.  She stared at it a long while before gathering enough energy to cast a disillusion spell on herself.  Then she saw it for herself; above the now faded enchantment of the sky was a roughly chiseled rock.  Her head started to pound and her heart tried to escape her chest but she couldn’t tear her eyes away until a wave of dizziness hit her, and she suddenly found she couldn’t breathe.  Desperately trying to get out of the crowd and to a fireplace, she ran across the street towards Grendelbane’s, gasping for air.  It was just as she reached the door and pushed it open that she fainted, hearing a wave of exclamations just before she hit the ground.

  Lucius and Draco, watching from the other side of the street headed towards her, a delighted look on Lucius’ face while Draco was expressionless.

  “Well, it seems as if the famous Professor Craw has an Achilles Heal after all,” Lucius said, pushing through the concerned crowd and moving to kneel down beside her.  Suddenly, a rumbling noise came from the other side of the door and a willow wand appeared floating in air, its tip down and unmistakenably aimed at Lucius.  Well aware of what the Beard Wand was capable of, Lucius began to back away, watching as the Wand seemed to tremble with anger.  Just as he began to turn to disappear into the crowd, a thunderclap sounded from the Wand as a bolt of lightning exploded out of it, hitting Lucius in the rear.  Smoke poured off of his cape and sparks flew as Lucius picked up the pace away from the Wand as it got ready to strike again.  Rather then face another volley decided to Disapparate, soon followed by Draco who decided perhaps it would be a bad idea to stick around.  Several chuckles from the crowd were quickly hushed as the Wand began pointing around at the rest of them, backing them away with each threatening wave.  With a quick flick upwards, a flare shot up from the Wand, bursting into a firey crest of Hogwarts, lingering in the air as the amazed crowd looked gazed at it in awe.

  “Anyone here from Hogwarts?  Maybe that’s a sign that it’ll let one of them through to help the professor,” an elderly wizard said, looking about.  Just then, a haggard blonde haired man pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the wand completely as he rushed to Jennifer’s side.  A moment later a red-haired woman arrived as well, dropping her packages in surprise as she hurried to help the man sit Jennifer up.

  “Good heavens, it’s the Mrs!”  Carol said, patting her hand, “What befell her?” She demanded of the man she didn’t recognize.

  “I don’t know, I just got here myself after I saw the flare,” Remus said. “Perhaps we’d best get her inside,” he suggested, struggling to pick her up.  “It’s alright everyone, she’s expecting and just fainted,” he improvised, getting an excited reaction from the crowd.

  “You don’t look too well yourself, sir,” Carol said, “Are you alright? Perhaps I…”

  “I’ll manage,” Remus said gruffly, picking Jennifer up at last, “thank you,” he added, before heading in.  Carol wasn’t about to leave Jennifer to a stranger, especially such an odd one as this, and followed close behind.  The Wand, waving as if it giving a satisfied nod, suddenly floated up to the door and began marching across the doorway like a sentry, not allowing anyone else to enter.  Grendelbane came out of the back room and looked out into the shop in annoyance to see what the fuss was about.  Seeing the professor his demeanor suddenly changed, rushing back to fetch a cloth and some water.

  Jennifer opened her eyes, wondering if all of this were a bad dream and hoping to wake up in her comfortable bed at the Broom Closet, or perhaps even at Hogwarts.  Instead, she found herself sitting up and in the Wand shop, her throat immediately clamping with the realization she was still in Myrkinbrek.  She closed her eyes again, trying to convince herself otherwise.

  “I need to get out of here,” Jennifer said.  “Can’t breathe…too dark…need fireplace.”

  “Oh, I should have guessed!  She’s terribly claustrophobic!”  Carol said to Remus, who nodded in return.

  “Yes, I know.  Hang on, Jennifer, let me get you to the cabin, it’ll be all right,” Remus said, holding out a Portkey. Within moments they were sitting on the doorstep of the cabin, and Jennifer suddenly wrestled free and took several steps out from the structure, falling again to the ground.

  “She’ll be needin’ somethin’ to steady her nerves surely, might this be your home, then?” Carol asked.

  “For now,” Remus said.

  “I’ll just step in and fetch some tea while you keep an eye her, I’ll be but a moment,” she said, slipping inside before Remus could stop her.  He groaned to himself softly for what he knew she would find inside, but it was too late now.  Instead he went over to Jennifer, crouching beside her concernedly.

  “Feeling any better?” He asked gently, as she stared into the forest.

  “I feel like a proper idiot,” Jennifer said after a moment, angry at herself.

  “Hm,” he said, a soft smile on his face.  “I know how you feel.  If you only knew how many times people have picked me off the ground at one time or another.”

  “Yours wasn’t caused from fear,” Jennifer said.

  “True enough,” he said quietly.  “But we all have our weaknesses, don’t we?”  Jennifer turned and looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and nodded.

  “I suppose.  Thank you for getting me out of there,” Jennifer said, and Remus held up a hand.

  “Just returning the favor,” he smiled.  “Besides, it wasn’t just me that helped.  That Wand from Grendelbane’s shop was guarding you when I got there, and I had some help from an Irish woman,” he said, biting his lip and looking at the cabin uncomfortably, “who happens to be in there, right now.”

  “What happened to Malfoy?”

  “Malfoy was there?”  Remus asked, turning to her with a frown.

  “Who do you think told me I was underground,” Jennifer said miserably.  “Why didn’t anyone tell me?  I wouldn’t have ever gone down there if I’d known that.”

  “Perhaps that’s why,” Remus suggested, getting up as Carol came over.  “But I saw no sign of him when I got there.”

  “I managed to find a cup that wasn’t broken,” Carol said with a smile that indicated that that had been a major achievement.  “It is a wee bit chipped, but I expect it won’t hurt the tea.  There now, it’s all better now, isn’t it?” She asked reassuringly handing Jennifer the cup.

  “I’m sorry about the condition of the house I…something broke in and I hadn’t the time to clean it up,” he explained, glancing over at Jennifer who was eyeing him steadily.

  “Ah, what a terrible spot of luck before the holidays and all!” Carol said sympathetically.  “From the look of the furniture I’d suspect it was wild dogs or the like, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t have such troubles in these woods.”

  “Or wolves?” Jennifer said mischievously, ignoring the alarmed look Remus was giving her.

  “Nonsense!”  Carol said indignantly.  “Wolves are very intelligent animals, they wouldn’t go about getting that close to man if they could help it.”

  “If you’re feeling better Jennifer, perhaps I should be seeing you and your friend home,” Remus said suddenly, helping Jennifer up and taking her cup.  “Come along, you can use my fireplace, just ignore the mess.”

  “What happened, did one of my potions not work?”  Jennifer asked concernedly as they stepped in.  Broken furniture littered the carpet, along with broken dishes and shredded cloth, but Remus cleared a quick path for them.

  “I’ll tell you about it later,” he said, offering some floo powder.  “And I’ll see you at the wedding, if not before.  It was nice meeting you…?”

  “Carol Finn,” Carol smiled at him, taking some powder.

  “She’s our Nanny,” Jennifer explained, stepping up and taking some herself.  “And this is Remus Lupin, friend of the family, as well as Dumbledore.”

  “It’s a pleasure, Mr. Lupin, I’ll be seein’ you again at the weddin’ too I imagine,” she smiled.

  “Take care, Remus, let us know if you need anything,” Jennifer said, stepping into the hearth.  As the two disappeared in the smoke, he looked around the room again with a sigh at the bad timing, and sat down exhaustedly in a three-legged chair, sipping at the tea in his hand thoughtfully.

  Back at the Broom Closet, Jennifer exhaled in sheer relief at being home, dusting herself off and wondering about the quiet house, peering in the kitchen.  Severus was still sitting at the bar as if he had never moved, a plate of crumbs at his side where the springerle once was.  Shaking her head at him she went over to him, and nearly fell over with surprise when she noticed the sleeping infant curled in his left arm while he wrote with the other.  Carol smiled at her with a wink, but tapped the empty tray beside him accusingly.

  “Sorry,” Severus said in a low voice.  “But it was the only thing nearby and I didn’t think it was wise to get up.  Corey went to Essie’s.”

  “So you didn’t have any problems?”  Jennifer asked quietly with a smile.  Severus nodded at her with a scowl.

  “Yes, I had one problem,” he said, putting down the quill and getting up.  Carefully he tried to lay Alex in the pen in the living room, and immediately she awoke and began to scream.  Severus tapped his fingers in pure annoyance and watched her for a moment before picking her back up.  In seconds, the little girl had settled back down again, and before he made it back to the bar was fast asleep, despite Severus’ grumpy glare at the baby.

  “By the way, Jennifer, do you happen to know where I put that book that had the potion in it that grew extra limbs?”  Severus asked.

Chapter Sixteen

The Constellation of Centaurs

 

 Sagittari opened the door and immediately shot Jennifer a stern look before letting her and Severus inside.

  “So, now you arrive, not until the afternoon of the Solstice,” the Centaur said with slight annoyance.  “Why didn’t you come see me after your fainting spell at Myrkinbrek?”

  “How do you know about that?”  Severus asked.  “Oh, I suppose Lupin told you before he left for the States.”

  “No, I found out about it the way the rest of the school did, in the morning paper,” he said, walking over to the table and handing her the back page.  Jennifer groaned slightly as she saw the gossip column.  Couldn’t she do anything without someone reporting it?

  “It wasn’t anything to do with the pregnancy, Sagittari, honest, I’m fine.  I’m sure Remus just told them that to get them off my back,” Jennifer said.  “Shouldn’t we be going?  It’s getting late, and I really don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Very well, but I don’t think you should keep secrets from your doctor,” he said, taking off his robes and tossing them aside as they headed out the door.  “You’ve both studied the star charts, I trust?”

   “I have, and Jennifer has a list of the important events to look at on the way,” Severus said, and Jennifer scrambled for the notes, nearly having forgotten about them.

  “Well, we still have some time, so we’ll take it slow so you can go over them,” Sagittari said, glancing quickly up at the skies for a moment.  It was a clear night, and Sagittari scanned them for only a minute or two before his thoughts returned to the two beside them, leading them into the Forest.

  Jennifer couldn’t help but notice a difference to the feel of the wood.  It was, somehow, even more menacing than the last time she’d been in there.  The trees themselves seemed to be regarding them with pure dislike as they passed, and Jennifer couldn’t shake the feeling they were being closely watched.  She glanced up at Severus, but if he noticed anything it didn’t show on his face, rather he fell into step behind the Centaur with disinterest in his surroundings, his feet barely making a sound as they walked through the snow.  Reluctantly, Jennifer turned back to her notes before she noticed something missing, gazing at Severus thoughtfully.

  “Severus, I don’t see any notes on my own star chart.  Is there another sheet somewhere?”  Jennifer asked.  Sagittari glanced back at them then at Severus before facing forward again.

  “No, I had planned to talk to you about that,” Severus said calmly, “I just didn’t want to alarm you.  I know you tend to take these things too seriously at times…”

  “All right, Severus, out with it, what do they show?”

  “Well, if I read them correctly, they seem to indicate that you will suffer from a great loss of someone close to you,” Severus answered quietly.  “But I wouldn’t hold much stock in all that if I were you.  After all, what are they really but a lot of hot gas that have nothing to do with anything.”

  “You’re just saying that so I won’t start to worry,” Jennifer frowned at him.  “You know as well as I do that there are still many forces out there we don’t understand, and saying we don’t believe in them is about as silly as not believing in magic.”

  “Yes, well, I have every intention of controlling my own destiny if you don’t mind…except perhaps for a little nudge every now and again from a rather strong-willed wife,” he added, getting a warm smile from Jennifer.  

  Jennifer heard hoof beats and music before they had even passed the cabin, and as they reached the edge of the glen, she couldn’t help but be slightly amazed at how many of them there were.  Before then she had only met several of the male elders on occasion as they patrolled the Forest, but here women and foals were also gathered, comfortably settled in swiftly constructed branch hutches with small campfires.  On the other side of the glen, a great bonfire was being constructed by what appeared to be the younger males in the constellation, while some of the elders stood nearby as if supervising the process.

  “Let’s stop by the camp before we head to the meeting, there is someone I’d like to try and speak with,” Sagittari said.  As the three of them headed onto the glen, several Centaur foals playing a game with silver circlets and rods suddenly stopped to watch them, until a few of the braver ones came over.

  “Hello, there,” one of the youngest of the group, a filly with braided wheaten hair, said as they approached.  “Are you all right?  What happened to your legs?  And what are you wearing?”

  “Step back Francie, I think they’re wizards,” an older foal said.  “You know we’re not allowed to speak to wizards.”

  “Do you think I should get my bow?” asked a dark haired foal, looking at them suspiciously.

  “It’s all right, children,” Sagittari said with a smile, “Is Star Peregrine in the camp?”

  “Yes, of course, by the matron’s fire,” the older foal said.  “Are you from another Constellation?”

  “No,” Sagittari said, walking forward, “But she’ll be expecting me, I think.  Follow me, Professors.”

  “I didn’t know there were so many Centaurs in the Forest,” Jennifer said.

  “That is as it should be,” Sagittari explained softly, “We Centaurs are an isolated folk.  Others normally only see our guards and scouts while the rest of the constellation is hidden.  Four times a year they meet in the glen, and none is more important than tonight, the longest night of the year, and therefore the most revealing of nights in the heavens.  It should be a very good event tonight.  The skies will be quite clear.”

  Sagittari led them past several of the smaller campfires and over to a much more carefully laid one with rocks painted and etched with differing symbols encircling it.  One of the older Centaurs standing beside the fire, a woman with long grey hair that matched her grey coat suddenly broke off her conversation with several other Centaur mares and looked over at them. 

  “So, the stars tell true as ever,” she said, taking a few steps away from the fire.  “The eldest son has returned.”  She was very solemn in her words, but Jennifer couldn’t miss how glad his mother was to see him, nor did Sagittari miss it either.

  “These are my friends and comrades, Peregrine.  Professor Snape and Professor Craw.”

  “I remember Severus Snape well, he has been here before,” Peregrine said, nodding to him before looking at Jennifer.  “Well met, Jennifer Craw.  Every foal in our Constellation has heard of you and the respect you have earned among Keki’s Unicorn herd.  You have come in an opportune year, for I believe the skies will shine tonight.”

  “And what of Ronan?  Do the stars still cloud before his eyes when he asks them of me?”  Sagittari said quietly.  “Or does he ask at all?”

  “He has not told me his thoughts on the stars since your return,” Peregrine said cautiously.  “Perhaps this is something you should ask him tonight after counsel is taken.”

   “Perhaps I should see him now, so that I can be sure I will be allowed to stay to hear the counsels,” Sagittari said.

  “The stars have spoken of your return.  He cannot dispute that,” she said simply.

  “He disputed them quite fervently enough when they told of my leaving,” he said in return.

  “It was not your leaving that was the problem, but your casting off your responsibilities to do so,” Peregrine said sternly.  “When you cast aside your destiny, you cast aside the living legacy of our people.  Why else do you think we now debate about why we should still vow ourselves to the lost cause of saving this Forest from the evils that now abound?  Your selfish act now inflicts the entire Constellation, and it is your responsibility to either make it right, or live to watch us be destroyed,” she said.  There was no anger in her voice, no threat of any kind, but there was a deep sadness in her eyes that Jennifer couldn’t even begin to fathom. 

  Whatever it was that Sagittari had done to be cast out was much more than just his decision to become a wizard as everyone had been led to believe, Jennifer realized.  Rather, it must have been something that happened along with it, something that even now Sagittari was not willing to do.  As the matron stepped away from them and went inside a nearby hutch, Jennifer found herself studying Sagittari carefully, hoping for more insight.  His thoughts, however, had already turned to the Constellation itself.

  “It’ll be sunset soon.  We should probably head over,” Severus suggested quietly. 

  “Yes, so we should,” Sagittari agreed.  “Come, walk beside me.  There should be no doubt that I come with you as emissaries from Hogwarts, and not for any other reason.”

  “Like for what other reasons?”  Jennifer asked, falling into step beside Severus and the centaur.

  “Coming back to the Constellation, for one,” Sagittari said.  “I am what I’ve always wanted to be, a wizard, and I’m quite content with that.”

  “Yes, but are you happy with just that?”  Jennifer pried.  Sagittari suddenly smiled at her knowingly.

  “All right, Truth-seeker, that is quite enough.  Spare your friends and save it for the Elders,” he chided her.  Severus gave her a sideways glance but didn’t say anything, and Jennifer gave up for the moment.  All of the older male Centaurs had begun to gather as the sun began to descend, some of them regarding the three with suspicion as they approached, but none of them challenging their right to be there.  As they entered the circle, Jennifer heard someone calling their names, and looked up to see Firenze trotting towards them.

  “It is well that you have come.  The stars foretold of the Messenger bringing outsiders to the Constellation,” Firenze said.  “Come, we are about to start.  Stand with me, I’ve no quarrel with wizards,” the Centaur said, walking to one side followed by the other three.  As they approached, Franz regarded each one before nodding to them, although he wasn’t altogether pleased that they were standing there.

  At last the circle was nearly complete with only one spot remaining open, and it was that spot which Ronan stepped into, a rope of silvery circlets around his waist, signifying to all there that he was the chief Elder, the Stargazer.  His eyes had quickly turned to the three and he frowned slightly, turning to look at the Elder beside them.

  “Franz?  These wizards are hardly your family, and yet they stand with them.  Is it your will to speak for their presence in this our most sacred of nights?”  He asked.

  “It is the will of my son to support the wizards, Ronan.  And it is my will to support my son’s decision, as any father should,” Franz said bluntly.  Several of the Centaurs around the circle stirred, especially Sagittari and Firenze, who were regarding Franz with open surprise.

  “Would that I had a son, I might agree,” Ronan said coldly.  “But now is not yet the time to discuss such things.”  He removed one of the circlets, and stepping back so that everyone could see the sun setting behind the mountains to the west.  “Witness the falling of the sun on this longest night!” he said, holding out the circlet.  Beams of light, escaping weakly from the sun as it continued its decent suddenly streaked through the circlet, its energy focusing through it like a magnifying glass and bursting through the other end, igniting the bonfire in a sudden burst of red firelight.  “May the light of the sun guard our grounds as we hold each other’s counsel over the night.  For as the way of things, the sun will grow and nights will shorten once more.  But for now, we shall conclave, and then celebrate with our families, even as our fates are held in the balance by the evils that plague us.”

  Even with the notes that Severus had given her, Jennifer had a hard time keeping up with the details of the ritual that followed.  First, the newest members of the Constellation that were allowed to join the circle were welcomed with a reading of their charts, followed by the reading of those who had passed on.  Births were announced, along with who their intended mates were to be, and Jennifer suddenly became fascinated with how organized the entire society was.  Everyone had a place, everyone a duty, and none made a move without first considering that which the heavens had mapped for them, using it as a guide to calculate each move.  It was no wonder to her now that Severus got on well with them with his keen since of forethought and order, nor a wonder why Sagittari, and even Firenze to a smaller extent, had so much trouble following the strict codes that governed their lives.  The fire was burning down by the time Ronan turned his attention to the three again, his brown eyes subdued only by the dimming light.

  “Now is the time for those of us seeking to counsel or be counseled by the Constellation to come forward and be heard.  Let us bring forth then the outsiders, our former allies the wizards, so that they may finish their business with us and be allowed to join the festivities in the camp proper,” Ronan said.  His formal politeness was more show than actual hospitality, for Jennifer and the others instantly understood that they were not welcome to hear the business of the rest of the meeting.  It was Severus who stepped forward.

  “I recognize Severus Snape, born under the Scorpion the night the Dragon wept,” Ronan said solemnly.  Severus, who had spoken to them for Dumbledore before, had become quite adept at their way of speech, taking a step up and nodding slightly to Ronan.

  “The stars show signs of descent among your people, as well as a great change in the times ahead.  This night should not be of mere counsel for your people, but of decision,” Severus said.  “Darkness falls not only on this Forest, but on others as well.  It would be wise for us to join forces once more, so we might end the great wrong still continuing long after the death of the Darkened Aries.  Isn’t it time that the evil he caused be put to rest forever?  You may say that you believe that this problem lies with us alone, for he was one of our kind, but this is not so.  For it was you who did turn your backs when his presence first returned to this Forest.  We were not even aware he had yet returned,” Severus said, gazing around at each one.  “It has been the duty of this Constellation to protect this Forest, and yet now you ponder abandoning that duty; to spite an ally who you believe did you injustice when they worked along side you to protect this land.  It is not your way to break such traditions anymore than it is our way to leave things to their own design.  In this, the stars point that our paths cross, and it is of our opinion that this meeting would signify that the change will be in our favor, but only if we put aside our differences and meet on common ground.”

  “Well spoken…for a Wizard,” Ronan admitted grudgingly. “Who wishes to speak regarding this counsel?”

  “I hear his counsel,” Firenze said loudly.  Ronan smiled thinly.

  “Of that we had no doubt,” Ronan said.  “But who does not hear it?”

  “I do not hear it,” said a very large built centaur with black hair and coat.

  “I recognize Rigel, of Taurus passing the Hidden Moon,” Ronan said.  “What counsel do you give that differs from the outsider?”

  “The wizards have strayed from their intended path as written in the stars,” Rigel said.  “Would that we do the same by following them?  We have already strayed too far because of the choice of one of our own,” he said, looking pointedly at Sagittari.  “It is true that we have lived to serve this Forest, but are we to be held responsible for those that caused the evil?  It was the wizards who first built the evil in our lands, at the time when we first began to serve it.  It was they who allowed the Darkened Aries to rise, and they who caused the destruction that unleashed the darkness onto the Forest and us.  It is my counsel that we treat these Wizards with the same measures as we treat the invasion of that they caused.  They are to be guarded against, and should not be acknowledged in our counsels at all.”  It took Jennifer a moment to realize by the Darkened Aries they meant Voldemort, sorting out the rest of the speech in her mind.

  “And who hears this counsel?”  Ronan inquired, and the majority of them acknowledged that they heard it.  Only Franz and his family remained quiet, and Jennifer found herself sighing softly.  It was hard enough to understand what they were saying, let alone understand how that was good counsel.  Don’t Centaurs have any heart at all?  No, she knew better than that, she thought, gazing up at Sagittari’s stony expression and Firenze’s disapproving one.  No, this was…fear, perhaps, and resentment, but there was something else, as well…suddenly she heard a voice behind her, a strong woman’s voice, along with the sound of hoof beats.  It was Star Peregrine, Jennifer realized, who pushed her way passed them and entered to the circle as a disapproving rumble began to sound off around the Constellation.

  “I have heard enough!”  Peregrine said, stomping her front hooves in apparent anger.  “I wish to be recognized.”

  “Star Peregrine, what is this?”  Ronan said, looking at his mate with open surprise and anger.  “You cannot be recognized.  It is not your job to hold counsel of the stallions but yours to hold counsel of our history and our young!”

  “If Keki’s Rider can hold counsel with the Constellation, so can I,” she said defiantly.

  “We pay common courtesy and honor the customs of outsiders to include Witches in their meetings, but their way is not our way, and you should be holding your own counsel.  The stars have not granted you a place here tonight,” Ronan said.

  “Have they not?”  Peregrine asked.  “For I too am an outsider when it comes to seeking and giving counsel, and I have as much of a right if not more so to speak than they.  Will anyone not listen?”

  “I will listen to the Star’s counsel,” Franz said, and for once the majority followed him, leaving Ronan to frown at him in disapproval.

  “Very well, I will not go against the Constellation in this.  I recognize Peregrine daughter of Leo and Virgo, Star of our people.”

  “The logic of our good Rigel’s counsel is faulty, good stallions.  For one must remember in our histories why it was that we protect this Forest in the first place.  Who did ask this of us, which we have all pledged our lives to carry out, but the wizards themselves?   Did they not respect our wishes to handle it in the way that we choose?  Did we not take this responsibility willingly?  It is not our way to turn our backs on the vows of our people, except when the stars and our hearts dictate a different path,” she said, glancing over at Sagittari.  “I say also, it is time that we put past our differences, and accept the choices that others made in good faith.  I ask for counsel concerning the recognition of Sagittari of Sagittarius, destined to answer our highest call.”

  “A call that he chose to forsake when he left our people to become one of them!”  Ronan said angrily.  “No counsel on this matter will be taken.  We speak now of our duty with the Forest and of the wizards, and nothing more.”

  “Then I wish to hear the counsel of Keki’s Rider, daughter of Leo with the rising of Mars, for they say she speaks but truth and I would hear the truth of wizards,” Peregrine said.  “I yield my recognition to Jennifer Craw Snape,” she said, pointing over at her.  Jennifer was only too aware of all the eyes on her, responding to Severus’ gentle nudge by stepping forward, gazing around at the Centaurs nervously until she saw Peregrine’s encouraging nod.

  “I’m afraid I’m not well versed in the formal speech of Centaurs,” Jennifer said slowly.  “So I ask that you bear with me as I have to say this in my own words.  First off, I want to say, I feel responsible for a large part of the rift that’s happened between our peoples, since I was one of those in the Tomb at the time of its collapse.  It is an event I see with clarity every day of my life, and no Pensieve could hold the effect it has had on me.  But even as I acknowledge that I was partly responsible for that event, I must also acknowledge that it was something I had to do, and would do again.  Voldemort had to be destroyed, and although the place and way it happened was unfortunate, it does not change the fact it had to be done. 

  “You curse us for the evils that are on you now, and wish to turn your backs upon it, but what do you think it would have been like if we had turned our backs on Voldemort?  Do you think that the Forest would be in any less danger?  He hated this Forest, and everything in it, and tried more than once to have it destroyed.  Had we not acted, he probably would have succeeded, and not only lost our own lives, but your lives, and the herd, and all other denizens who depend on this wood.  He would also have access, I think, to whatever it is you are protecting, for I believe you must be protecting something of great importance besides just the Forest yourself, and I see even now as I look at you that my guess is correct.

  “And it was in protecting this thing that you believe that Sagittari turned his back on when he sought his path?”  Jennifer asked looking at Ronan, who regarded her silently.  “A path that was even marked in the stars, that no one wanted to see,” Jennifer nodded, looking around again.  “But isn’t it high time you put that matter behind you?   It isn’t your job to choose anyone else’s path, it’s their choice alone.  Our only choice is how we ourselves choose to recognize that right.  And if you think this is something I can’t understand,” Jennifer said, looking directly at Rigel’s face, “My father is an outcast of my people, and is seen as a criminal by most for his choice to kill any who once supported Voldemort.  I may not agree with what he did, but he is still family, and I love him, even when we quarrel, and no choice either of us made could ever change that for me.

  “Is it not one of the duties of your people to preserve your families, the same as it is ours?  From how I’ve seen Sagittari treated here tonight, I doubt it.  A leader should show compassion and mercy to his people, and if he can’t even show mercy to his own son, what sort of example do you think that sends to the rest of the Constellation on how they might be treated, if they do not agree with his counsel?”

  “Are you implying that they would vote with me solely because they wish not to go against me and may not be following their own reasoning?”  Ronan asked, walking over to her and standing over her with a frown.

  “Perhaps not entirely,” Jennifer said quickly.  “But can’t you see it’s likely that it could be a factor when it is you that picks and chooses who can be recognized, and can favor to hear one side of an argument over another?”

  “She may not speak with our tongue, but she does speak with wisdom, Ronan,” Peregrine said.  “I hear her counsel, and I believe she is right in that this evil might have been worse had they not done what they did.  I think they are sincere in wanting to help us.  That they are willing to sacrifice much in order to do so can be plainly seen in the stars themselves, and I do not believe we should turn away assistance when it is readily offered.

  “You spurned our son for the sake of our duties, Ronan, and yet you and the Constellation have been debating whether or not to continue following our greatest duty…protecting this Forest.  The stars look down upon us, as if waiting to see their next move, our choice will be recognized in the heavens, for good or ill I know not.  But I would that we acknowledge our family and return to our duties, rather than spiral away from everything we had once held dear to our hearts.”

  Ronan looked at his wife long and hard.  Nothing could be heard but the crackling of the dying fire and the laughter of children from the camp on the other side of the glen.

  “My wife has very strong opinions and gives strong counsel,” Ronan grunted.  “Beware of matching your sons with Leo’s, my friends, for as we can see they have wills of their own,” he said, getting a chuckle from around the circle.  Even Severus smirked slightly, earning a dirty look from Jennifer.  “Very well, who listens to the counsel of the daughters of Leo?  And pray, answer with your own counsel with no fear of my own.  I will listen only to the truth tonight.”

  One by one, beginning with Franz and Firenze, the Centaurs around the circle acknowledged that they heard, with only Rigel and Ronan not answering in kind.  At last, reluctantly, Rigel also gave in, leaving Ronan to regard his wife and the wizards with a calculating look.

  “Very well, it is the will of the Constellation to follow their counsel, and retain our duty as guardians of the Forest, as well as reinstate our alliance with the Wizards…for the time being,” he added.  “Provided that they in turn respect our own laws pertaining to the protection of the Forest.”

  “The stars shine with clarity, Stargazer Ronan.  We thank you for the Constellation’s judgment,” Severus nodded.

  “Then it is time for you to join the others.  And you as well, Star, for you neglect your own duties,” Ronan said sternly.

  “Then I shall have the three wizards join me for the festivities,” Peregrine said reverently, raising one of her fore knees in respect.

  “No…Sagittari of Sagittarius may stay,” Ronan said gruffly.  “For I wish to give counsel to him after the Constellation.”

  “As you wish, Stargazer,” Peregrine said with a smile, gesturing for Severus and Jennifer to follow.

  “So I guess that means it went well?”  Jennifer asked Severus quietly.

  “I never doubted it for a moment,” Severus said expressionlessly.  “It was written in the stars, after all.”  Jennifer shook his head at him with a chuckle as the two of them joined the camp and were soon surrounded by curious young Centaurs.

 

Chapter Seventeen

Party of the Bride

 

  Anna might have been nervous, had she had any nerves left.  It was the day before the wedding, and between the Ministry hovering about in somewhat odd arrangements of clothes (Sirius and Audi were on the task force of going around to the ones that were terribly off and finding something more workable) and excited Muggle relatives and friends offering to help out at odd times and places, Anna began to question her sanity at attempting the mixed company wedding.  Her best friend since school, Megan, was sitting in the middle of the bed in just a slip, buffing her nails and watching reruns of Bewitched.  She had told Megan everything, of course, although she wasn’t quite sure just how much of it all she believed.  But Anna knew she wasn’t about to be able to keep herself from going nuts without someone to rant to.

  “So, what’s it really like?  I mean, do people really pop in and out like that?”

  “Sometimes,” Anna said, not really in the mood to talk about it at the moment.  There was a scratching noise at the door and Anna groaned.  “It’s him again.  See if you can’t make him go away.”

  “I got an idea,” Megan said, rummaging around in a sack she brought in with her.  She took out a large plastic hambone squeaky toy and opened the door, shoving it his mouth and closing it again.  “There, that should keep him busy,” she grinned evilly.  “You know, maybe one of these days we should tell him…about me knowing, I mean,” Megan suggested.  Anna and Megan looked over at one another for a moment.

  “Nah,” they both said, going back to getting ready for rehearsal.  Just then there was a knock on the door.

  “Oh, good grief, I bet that’s him trying the other route,” Megan said with a sigh, zipping up her dress.

  “Well if it is, throw something at him,” Anna suggested.  Megan peeked out the door to see Sirius’ hopeful face.

  “Go away!  If you come back again, I swear you are going to regret it!”  Megan told him, slamming the door.  “I have to admit, Anna, your fiancée sure is persistent.”

  “I know, how do you think I got stuck with him,” Anna grinned, putting on her makeup. 

  “Well, I’m gonna teach him how to take no for an answer,” Megan decided, grabbing a pitcher off the vanity and heading to the bathroom to fill it up with water.  She was just about to tie back her hair when the there was another knock at the door.  “That’s it,” Megan said getting up.  But Anna suddenly thought about the odd rhythm of a knock, realizing suddenly whom it was that always knocked that way.

  “Megan wait!”  She cried out, but it was too late.  Megan had popped open the door and tossed the water before Anna could stop her, and slammed the door with a petrified look on her face, locking it and putting her back to it.

  “Ohmygod!  Anna, that wasn’t Sirius!  It was big man that looked like death warmed over, and I think he’s gonna kill me!”  Megan said.

  “Megan, that was my brother!”  Anna said, getting up and heading for the door.

  “Um, tell him I’m sorry!”  Megan said, “Excuse me,” she said and hastily locked herself in the bathroom.  Groaning loudly, Anna opened the door to see Severus standing there, dripping wet and looking unquestionably annoyed, while Jennifer was standing behind him, covering her mouth and waiting for him to react.

  “Severus!  It’s um…good to see you!”  Anna blurted out.  “Sorry about the water, Megan thought you were Sirius.”  Jennifer, who had been watching Anna’s face, suddenly burst out laughing, and Anna could barely stop herself from joining in, apologizing through her chuckles as she let them in the room.  Severus glared at his wife as Anna handed him a towel.

  “So how was the meeting?  And how was your trip?”  Anna said.  She was aware of Megan peeking out the door to see if she could make a run for it, and closed it again.  Jennifer grinned and walked up to Anna, knowing Severus would follow suit.

   “The Constellation went quite well, and the trip was tolerable, up to the point Audi drove us from her house to here in that contraption of hers this morning,” Severus scowled.

   “She does drive awful fast,” Jennifer agreed.  “I’m glad she had Alex strapped in that chair thing.”  Megan tiptoed out of the bathroom and out the door of the bedroom before anyone could turn around.  “How come Megan was trying to clock Sirius with a pitcher of water?”

  “Oh, he’s been pestering me about stuff all morning and we got tired of it,” Anna said.

  “Well, next time, maybe she’ll look first,” Severus muttered.

   “Aunt Tony has your rooms all set up here, and your clothes for the wedding should be already there if you want to go look before rehearsal.  Where’s Corey and Alex?”  Anna asked.

  “With Carol and Mercy downstairs,” Jennifer said.  Anna stared at her.

  “You brought Mercy?”

  “Well, she wanted to come.  I hope you don’t mind.  She’ll stay in our rooms and out of trouble, she’s very dependable,” Jennifer reassured her.

  “Oh all right, just don’t let anyone else catch your glasses filling up on their own or anything,” Anna sighed.  “I’m having a party tonight if you want to go, Jennifer, just us girls, and Sirius is having one for the guys.  Grandmother already said she’d babysit if Carol wants to go too.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Jennifer said, although Severus didn’t look as enthusiastic about the idea.  It wasn’t long before Sirius knocked on the door again.  But as Severus opened it, it was fairly obvious that Megan had finally caught up with him, for he was dripping wet as well.

  “I heard you guys got in,” Sirius said, ignoring the sneer on Severus’ face.  “Come on, I’ll show you up to your rooms.”  It wasn’t long after they left that Megan reappeared with Audi at her side.

  “Just stepped over to the mailroom, and it’s getting full again,” Audi said cheerfully.

  “Alright, let’s head over there since we still have a few minutes,” Anna decided, slipping on her shoes.

  “Was your brother really mad?”  Megan wanted to know, looking nervous.

  “Not so much after he found out who it was intended for,” Anna reassured her.  Audi cackled at that as they walked out.

   “Don’t worry, someday you’ll all look back and laugh at the whole thing.  I just doubt it’ll be today is all,” Audi grinned.

   The ‘mailroom’ was actually a small room next to the kitchen with a joint fireplace where they could sort the magic gifts from the non-magic so that none of the more surprising gifts would startle the Muggle guests at the reception.  Tables were set up of gifts to be opened there or later and who all were sending, and as Audi warned it had become piled up again since last night with packages sitting by the floo and at the window, and even more sitting just inside the door.

  “I hope they don’t expect me to go through all of these by tomorrow,” Anna sighed.  “I mean, none of my magic guests will be offended for my waiting on theirs, but I can’t say the same about the non-magic ones,” she said, picking up a stack of envelopes from the regular mail.  The swinging door opened and Vallid stepped in, smiling around at them.

  “Hello everyone!  Just dropping mine off.  Which table is which?”  She asked, holding up two packages.

   “Magic, not magic,” Audi pointed out, and Vallid put one on each.

  “Hope I remember which wrapping paper was which,” she smiled, double-checking.  “Ah yes, it moved. This is definitely the magic one,” she said, putting it back down.

  “You didn’t have to get two,” Anna told her.

  “I know,” Vallid smiled.  “Going through cards?”

  “Just looking through them,” Anna nodded, reading the return addresses.  As she got halfway through, she noticed an envelope without a return address, but only had a local postmark, the letters formally typed.  Frowning thoughtfully at the oddity, Anna decided to open it, putting down the rest and slipping it open.  As she broke the seal a shimmering light began to pour out of the envelope and Vallid and Audi whipped out their wands, Vallid shouting something to Audi over the whining that had erupted.  Suddenly, everything was back to normal, and Anna looked up slightly dazed at the point of Audi’s wand, still pointed at the envelope.

  “Give me that,” Vallid snapped, grabbing it out of her hand.  “Anna, you know better than to open strange envelopes, especially after what happened last year!”

  “It was in the regular mail!  I thought it was probably just a local friend,” Anna said.

 “Audi, go through all the packages regardless whose address is on it and check for curses,” Vallid said, and the older woman nodded grimly.

  “Are you alright?  What was that?” Megan asked.

  “I’m fine,” Anna said.  “And I want to know what that was too.”

  “I can’t read this,” Vallid mused, looking over the note that was in the envelope.  “It’s made from a treated paper which, if I am correct, only you can read.  That means whoever made this must have been close enough to get something from you, hair or blood or something, to create the treatment.”

  “There aren’t any curses left on the note that I can tell, Counselor,” Audi told Vallid, who nodded.  “Here, Anna, read it, and we’ll cover you in case something odd happens.”  Anna slowly took it with a nod, only too aware of the wands pointing in her direction as she gazed at the paper. 

  Only death and destruction await you in the magic world.  Return to your Muggle life and give up your powers before those close to you pay the price of your existence.

  The paper suddenly disintegrated in her hand, but when Anna looked up and saw Audi and Vallid’s faces studying her she knew that they had figured out what it said.  They turned at and looked at each other then, not saying a word, although Anna had little doubt they were talking.

  “I don’t believe this.” Anna said after a moment, feeling her anger starting to rise.

  “What is it, what did it say?” Megan demanded.

  “I mean, I don’t need this now.  I just don’t believe this.  I didn’t want this life!”  Anna said to no one in particular as she paced the room.  “I wanted anything but this life.  And what do they do?  They wait until I can’t go back to start threatening me with this stuff.  Leave the magic world?  How in the hell am I supposed to do that?  I’m just now starting to control my magic.  I’m just now figuring out how to cast spells the normal way.  And they want me to go back to a Muggle life?  After I’ve gotten myself tangled with someone I’m not willing to give up?  Why couldn’t they have threatened me with this sooner, and why does it have to happen now!” 

  “Someone wants you to leave the magic world?”  Megan echoed.

  “Well, it’s not like I can.  It’s not like magic’s something you can turn on and off like a light switch.  I mean, nobody can stop being magic, what do they expect me to do?”  Anna ranted.  But there was something in the way that Audi and Vallid were looking at each other that made Anna stop cold.  “There is a way to make someone stop being magic, isn’t there?”  Vallid sighed and nodded.

  “Yes, but it is very rarely done.  Sometimes to criminals, or people that too often misuse their magic, especially in front of Muggles,” Vallid admitted.  “But the technique doesn’t work well unless the person wants it done, so it’s nothing to fear.”

  “Nothing to fear?  Why wasn’t I told about this before?”  Anna said.

  “Well, none of us wanted you to do anything drastic, dear,” Audi said.  “We knew that it would take you some time to get used to your magic, and then perhaps once you learned to control it…”

  “I see,” Anna said, her face turning expressionless.  So, they waited until she basically couldn’t do without out it before telling her.  “Come on, Megan, we’d better get to rehearsal.  Threat or no, I’ve got a wedding to go through with,” she said, walking out the door with Megan close behind.

  “You don’t think anyone is going to stop it, do you?”  Megan asked her.

  “They had better not try,” Anna said.

  Vallid and Audi looked at the door thoughtfully.

  “So, are we gonna tell anybody about this?”  Audi asked, looking over to her with her arms folded.  Vallid glanced down at her, then back to the door.

  “No reason to get everyone worked up about this just yet,” Vallid said.  “But perhaps we should tell Severus.  After all, he is her brother, and he was a way of keeping things subtle enough that if anything does happen, perhaps it isn’t going to rile up the guests.”

  “So much for an easy security job,” Audi grunted, turning back to the gifts table to start going through each one.

 

  Jennifer slipped out of the packed parlor and tried to clear the ringing from her ears from the loud music.  She had just begun up the stairs when she noticed Severus, briskly heading down them, peering at her quizzically.

  “I thought you were at the party,” he inquired.

  “Believe me, it wasn’t my kind of party,” Jennifer said.  “Carol, Rolanda and Minerva seemed to be enjoying it though,” she chuckled to herself.  “What about you?”

  “You know how I hate parties,” Severus scowled.  “I was about to take a walk, if you want to go.”

  “Is something wrong?”  Jennifer asked, turning around and heading down the stairs with him.  “You’re stressed about something.”

  “Oh, I told Audi I would help her with security.  She’s worried someone might try to cause trouble,” Severus said quietly as they headed outside.  “I doubt there’s cause for any real alarm.”

  “Actually, I’m half tempted to stop the wedding myself considering the dress they want to put me in,” Jennifer blanched.

  “Well, if they expect to get me in that thing they laid out for me, they have a surprise coming.  I am not wearing anything that has more parts than a sleeping potion,” Severus vowed.  Jennifer chuckled softly at that, having a feeling that Dumbledore would probably be the one to talk him into wearing it.

  “Oh well, it’s only this once,” Jennifer reminded him.  “After all, how many times do sisters get married anyhow?”

  “Please, only once,” Severus muttered.

  “See, I always knew you wanted them to succeed,” Jennifer smiled at him.

  “No, it’s just that considering her first pick, I would hate to find out who her second choice would be,” Severus said, trying not to think too hard about it.

 

Chapter Eighteen

The Mugglish Wedding That Wasn’t

 

  Jennifer was in the kitchen the next morning when Rolanda emerged, holding her head as if there were a ton of bricks stacked uncomfortably upon it.

  “Good morning,” Jennifer said.

  “Not so loud,” Rolanda protested with a groan.  “Do you happen to have a Dry-out Potion with you?”

  “Rolanda,” Jennifer chuckled.  “I only carry potions with me for emergency situations.”

  “Believe me.  This is an emergency situation,” she said, sitting down. 

  “Well you got what you deserved after that display last night,” Jennifer said.

  “What do you know, you missed the fun part, leaving so early,” Rolanda said.  “I wonder if anyone ever got Hermione off the roof.”

  “Off the roof?”  Jennifer said, wide-eyed.

 “Yeah, we had a dare going, and she was the first to pass out so we turned her into a Christmas decoration.”

  “In front of all those Muggles?”  Jennifer said so loudly that Rolanda cringed in pain.

  “Don’t blame me, I didn’t cast it, it was, no…I’d better not say,” Rolanda decided.  “Doubt anyone was sober enough to notice anyhow.”

  “Oh good grief, I swear I’m the only one who has any sense these days,” Jennifer said, heading up to the attic, and climbing up on the roof.  It didn’t take long to figure out which one was her, for there was only one girl tin soldier there.  Praying that no one was watching and doing what she could to keep from slipping off the ice-covered roof, Jennifer took out her wand and concentrated.  For a change the spell got off, almost instantly turning the stiff figure back to flesh.  Yelping out in surprise at where she was, Hermione slipped, grabbing at the lights around her.  She slid down the shingles as Jennifer called out her name in surprise.  Just then, the other end of the lights got tangled around a chimney, and Hermione found herself dangling halfway down, quite wide awake and quite wishing she were anywhere but in her current predicament.  That was when they realized that several people had gathered outside to find out what the commotion was, and not all of them of them were magic.

  “Um.  Could someone get me a ladder?”  Hermione suggested before anyone could say anything.

  Anna, upon hearing of the incident, decided to tell everyone to go away, and her grandmother began organizing car rides to the church.   Megan sighed with relief and closed the door, already in her velvet green bridesmaid dress, glancing in the mirror a moment before turning back to Anna.

  “Do you think everyone bought the explanation that she was up there fixing a light?”  Megan asked.

  “I don’t know.  I don’t even care at this point,” Anna muttered.  “Especially after that row when my brother found out that Jennifer was up there ‘without her barrette’ and going on and on about it, and all my old friends deciding he was completely out of his mind.”

  “Well I didn’t get it either until you explained to me about her barrette being enchanted and all,” Megan grinned.  “Relax, it’s perfectly normal for the wedding party to break out in complete chaos before the wedding.”

  “Chaos is one thing.  Bedlam is another.”  Anna said.  There was a knock at the door and her Grandmother looked in with a smile. 

  “Sirius, Harry, Remus and Ederick have left so it’s quite safe for you to finish getting ready now, Anna.  Your grandfather wanted to speak with Severus, so he’s going to take the Snapes in his car,” she said, suddenly looking behind her.  “Oh, dear!  Is that your dress?”  Anna looked up curiously as Jennifer entered in a light spring organdy formal looking positively miserable.

  “It doesn’t fit, do you have something else?”  Jennifer asked hopefully.  The screech that emerged from Anna’s lips shuddered the house.

  ‘That’s not the dress you’re supposed to have!  They’re all supposed to be green velvet!”  Anna said.

  “They are?”  Jennifer said with relief, sticking her head out the door.  “MINERVA!  Are you still here?”  Within a flash, the Transfiguration teacher was found and brought in to see the problem, and before Anna could finish getting ready the dress was the right material and shade of green and loosened around the waist to compensate of Jennifer’s condition.

  “I hope this doesn’t seem too odd with her coming in with one dress and out with another,” Minerva said, finishing the last stitch and zipping her up, putting her pins away.

  “We’ll just say we had another dress and she was given the wrong one,” Megan shrugged, helping Anna with her coat.  “Are we all ready now?  We’re running late.”

  Just then there was a pounding on the door, and Megan opened it to see Corey standing there in a nice Muggle suit.

  “Is my Mom in there?  Dad still refuses to get into the tuxedo,” Corey said.

  “Oh, great,” Jennifer sighed.  “I was afraid this would happen!”

  “Leave that to me, Jennifer,” Minerva said, putting on her stern face.  “I’ll make sure he puts it on and is there on time, why don’t you head out with Anna?”

  “Well, I hardly think anything else could go wrong,” Megan said cheerfully.

   That was when Alex began to cry.

  Jennifer hurried over when it didn’t stop after a few minutes, looking quizzically at Carol, who seemed quite puzzled herself.

  “I don’t know what is wrong, Mrs. Snape.  She’s clean and fed and not bubbly,” Carol said.

  “Perhaps she’s just tired,” Jennifer suggested, taking her from her.  “She’ll probably fall asleep before we get there.”  But Alex didn’t stop crying on the way or even when they arrived, and Jennifer and Carol took turns trying to hold her to no avail.  “I don’t get this, she’s usually so well natured,” she said while they stood in the back.

  “Don’t fret, Mrs. Snape, you just let me have her, and I’ll see she’s alright,” Carol insisted.

  “What is going on back here?”  Severus said, stepping in looking annoyed.  Jennifer’s eyes went wide at the image of Severus in a tux, then could barely keep herself from laughing, knowing it would only make him want to take it off.  His collar was pulled high around his neck and had no tie, and his expression dared anyone to say anything funny.

  “My, don’t we look striking!”  Carol said, gratefully allowing him to take Alex from her.  Alex immediately settled down, looking sleepy.  “Well, look at that, now.  I’m supposin’ all she wanted was her father all the while.”

  “I am certainly not going out there like this,” Severus scowled.  “Bad enough having to wear this miserable straitjacket without a baby in my arms.  My only consolation is that Sirius looks even more ridiculous than I do.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Anna, Sirius looks fabulous,” Megan said.  “But nobody looks as good as you do.  Why, you’re practically glowing.”

  “Wait a moment,” Severus said, squinting at her. “She really is glowing.”

  “Well, this is going to complicate things, isn’t it?”  Jennifer said, earning a dirty look from Severus.  He passed the sleeping Alexandria back over to Carol.  “I hope nothing’s really wrong.”

  “I’d think Audi and I would have found out by now.  Let me see if I can play with the electric.  Perhaps I can get it to seem like it’s the lighting,” Severus said.  Ginny walked in from the side corridor, passing Severus and falling in beside Megan and Jennifer.

  “Nearly everyone’s in place now, but we’re running late,” Ginny said.

  “Bad luck for a wedding to start on time, you know,” Jennifer pointed out.  “Don’t worry, it’ll all be brilliant.”

  “Just as long as I’m not the one being brilliant,” Anna muttered.

 

  Sirius rocked back on his heals, chewing on his lip and wondering what was taking so long.  Harry, his best man, stood by his side, trying to be silently supportive, as was Lupin, standing beside them gazing at his watch.

  “Where in the devil is Severus?”  Sirius scowled.  “I should have known better than to ask him to stand up here, but after all, he is her brother.”

  “I’m sure he’s not far, he just went to check on Alex,” Harry said.

  “I don’t think he’s checking on Alex,” Lupin said thoughtfully, looking at the reflection in his watchcase.

  “What makes you so sure?”  Harry asked curiously.

  “Well, don’t look up because it’ll attract attention, but he seems to be above our heads, messing with the lights,” Lupin said, showing Harry the reflection in the case.  It was all Harry could do to keep from looking up, gazing worriedly over at Sirius who was growling softly.

  “If he’s doing anything that will mess up my wedding, I am going to kill him.”

  “I’m sure Severus has a good reason for whatever if it is he’s doing,” Harry reassured him.  “If he was going to mess up your wedding, I seriously doubt he’d do it wearing a tux.”

  “There she is,” Lupin said out of blue while Sirius was still trying to get a quick nonchalant glance up to see what Severus was up to.

  “There who is?”  Harry asked.

  “The woman who tried to make tea in my cabin,” Remus said impatiently.  Harry glanced over to see a rosy-cheeked red-haired woman in a simple brown dress come in with a baby.  Corey coming in directly behind her, waved at them cheerfully.

  “Oh, Carol?  Yes, I’ve met her.” Harry nodded, looking over thoughtfully at Remus.  Would he really ever truly consider getting involved with someone, considering his situation?  

   Just then, the lights changed suddenly flickered, and everyone looked up to see a row of lights down the center of the aisle, while dimmer lights dangled across the rows.  It was then that Severus finally strode in and took his place, looking a bit dusty and his hair was loose, but otherwise no worse for the wear.

   “Do you mind telling me what that was all about?”  Sirius asked him.

  “Not now,” Severus hissed.  But before Sirius could insist, he had noticed the procession had started, and a suddenly chill suddenly entered from the top of his head and shot straight down to his feet as realization of where he was and what he was doing sunk in.  Harry’s hand went to his shoulder, smiling softly.  He was getting to be an old hat at this, although he hadn’t remembered Severus being quite this unsteady, even before he saw Anna appear in the doorway.

  Heavy lighting drew out the sheen in creamy white dress, simple but elegant with gently puffed sleeves and hems embellished with lace.  Anna, looking a lot more confident then she actually felt, glided up the aisle on her grandfather’s arm.   Megan, just in front of her had an almost lopsided smile on her face, glancing over into the crowd and winking at someone before taking her place as the rest of the procession neared.

  Jennifer looked up to see Severus watching her with an intense gaze, and smiled warmly at him, sharing a memory.  But as they turned their attention to the front, Jennifer heard a familiar cry as Alex awoke, and after a moment of trying to settle her, Carol whisked her out into the hall.  Jennifer was all too aware of her crying even at a distance, sharing a grimaced expression with Severus.  But there was little time to act, for Lunette Vallid, dressed in formal judge’s robes, and Dumbledore, who strangely enough was dressed as himself in flowing white and grey brocade, had suddenly took a step up, looking at the two before them with gentle, nearly identical smiles.

  “In the beginning, God made man,” Vallid began, “And from man, God made woman, because every man needs a manager,” she said, getting a slight chuckle from the crowd.  “On this night before the birth of our Lord in this holy temple, we have gathered to witness the marriage of Titiana Severa Hughes Snape and Sirius Jonathan Black.  And marriage is a very serious commitment,” she said, eyes twinkling.  “For it is more than a joining of two people, it is a joining of families…”

  “And a joining of cultures,” Dumbledore continued.  “A celebration of each other’s strengths and an acceptance of each other’s weaknesses.  It is a learning process that will stay with you for the rest of your lives.”

  “No greater gift can be given in the eyes of the Lord as the giving of yourself to another,” Vallid continued, “and no greater gift can he bestow upon you above the ability to love and be loved.”

  “No power of light or darkness alike can withstand a love selflessly and freely given,” Dumbledore said, “nor can any outside power truly ever break the promises of the heart.  And so with these thoughts in mind, it is time at last to take that vows that will seal those promises into one promise shared by two individuals of the same mind,” he smiled.

  “Titiana Snape, do you promise to love, honor and cherish this man, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for all eternity?”  Vallid said solemnly.

  “I do,” Anna said, glancing at Dumbledore.

  “And will you promise to love him in good and bad temperament, to be understanding and kind, to never take him for granted, to graciously accept all complements with sincerity, and to not make him sleep outside in the doghouse when you quarrel?”  A smattering of chuckles could be heard while Anna couldn’t help but stare at the mischievous smile on Dumbledore’s face, wondering exactly how he heard about that.

  “I will,” Anna said after a moment, looking over at Sirius, who was watching her with adoration, not seeming the least bit embarrassed about it.

  “Sirius Black, do you promise to love, honor and cherish this woman, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for all eternity?”  Vallid said solemnly.

  “I do,” Sirius said loudly, as if making a point he’d been waiting all day to say that.

  “And will you promise to love her in good and bad temperament, to be understanding and kind, to give her space when she needs it and to always willing to be there when she doesn’t, to allow her to share in your failures as well as your triumphs, and to never ask her to choose sides when you are fighting with her brother?”  Dumbledore said.  Sirius smirked and glanced back, but oddly enough Severus wasn’t there.

  “Well, I don’t know about that last…oh all right, I will,” Sirius said mischievously, and Anna couldn’t help but shake her head at him.

  “If anyone knows any reason why these two should not be married speak now or forever hold your peace?”  Vallid asked, gazing over the crowd.  The door opened and everyone turned to look as Severus and came in, and also noticed Jennifer, a few steps ahead of him trying to sneak back into place.  Alex, perfectly content and giggling for the first time since the ceremony began was sitting in her father’s arms, sucking on her fist and looking around as if wondering what all the fuss was about.  Severus grimaced then, clearing his throat.

  “Sorry.  Please continue,” he said, heading back into place as he whispered to his daughter.  “I hope you realize you’re destroying my reputation, just wait until you get older and bring your first boyfriend home, I’ll get even,” he said.  Jennifer, who happened to hear him as he passed, couldn’t help but smile as he sheepishly stepped back into place, completely aware of all the grins directed at him.  Corey stepped up then holding out the ring tray, winking at his Aunt as Vallid took the rings.

  “These rings are the outward symbol of the love you have pledged to each other, and a reminder of your devotion, and with their exchange you seal your vows.” Vallid said, handing them the rings.

   “Now Anna, place the ring on his finger, and say, ‘By the power of this ring, my heart, and my soul, I pledge my life to thee.’” Dumbledore told her.

  “By the power of this ring, my heart, and my soul, I pledge my life to thee,” Anna said, exhaling softly as she put the ring on his finger.  Dumbledore nodded to Sirius.

  “By the power of this ring, my heart, and my soul, I pledge my life to thee,” Sirius said with a smile, nearly dropping the ring but catching it and slipping it firmly onto her finger.

  “Then, by the powers invested in us, and in the presence of God and the servants of the Light, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife,” Vallid said.  “So, kiss her already.”

  As Sirius moved to kiss her, the glow that had been around them began to glow even brighter as the crowd began to applaud, and Severus nodded up to the light above until it flooded brightly over them as the light from the rings joined in.  He sighed then, loud and long as he watched them, his mixed sadness and contentedness for his sister too difficult to explain.  Jennifer moved to his side then, smiling warmly at him and breaking into his thoughts, as they watched the couple head up the hall to greet the guests.

  “I finally got my sister back and now I’ve lost her again,” Severus brooded.

  “Don’t think of it as losing a sister, think of it as gaining a –“

  “Don’t even say it,” Severus scowled, earning a grin from his wife as they headed up the aisle.

 

  Jennifer and Severus had little intention of staying very long at the reception.  It was getting late, and they were already going to have to go quite a bit back on the Time-turner so that they could get some sleep as well.  By the time they had gotten a ride and arrived at the reception hall it was already bustling with people.  Corey and Carol quickly got lost in the crowd, while Jennifer took Alex, who was now content to be with anyone so long as she could see what was going on.  Arthur, standing along the back door, greeted them as they came in, a glass of punch in his hand.

 “There you are, I’ve been looking for you.  I suppose you didn’t see who came to the wedding and was sitting behind me?” Arthur said, as the two shook their head.  “Cornelius Fudge!  I asked him what he was doing here and he said the Hughes invited him.”

   “Cornelius Fudge!”  Jennifer said in alarm.  “Why in the world…”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” Severus mumbled in Jennifer’s ear, slipping into the crowd.

  “I say!  Is that little Alexandria?  But she’s gotten so big!  Molly will want to see her,” Arthur said with a beaming smile, offering the baby a finger to hold.  “And how are you feeling these days?”

  “Tired,” Jennifer admitted.  “And so are my feet, after all of this…”

  “Oh, goodness, where are my manners?  Come sit with us a spell until Severus gets back,” Arthur said, ushering her over to the Weasley table.  Ron and Hermione were already sitting there off to one corner, talking quietly to each other.  Bill, George and Fred who all greeted her warmly and passed the baby around.

  “Molly’s off talking to Harry and Ginny, she’ll be about shortly, and Penelope and Percy couldn’t make it, they’re off visiting her family,” Arthur said.   Just then she felt a hand on her chair and she looked up to see the Minister of Accidental Magic, Arnold Peasegood, tapping the table to get Arthur’s attention.

  “The trackers are picking up a magical creature in the area,” he said in a low voice, leaning over the table.

  “So what?  Let the locals take care of it, I’m sure they can handle it,” Arthur said unconcerned.

  “Well, normally I’d agree, but whatever it is, it appears to be on the premises,” Arnie said, “and we promised them we wouldn’t cause them any unnecessary headaches, remember?”

  “On the premises?” Arthur repeated in puzzlement.  “Oh, all right, check with Auror Belle first, but look into it.  I say, I hope no one got conjure happy, wouldn’t want an international incident.”

  “Are you going to need some help?” Jennifer said, suddenly concerned.

  “Now then, Jennifer, just sit back and relax,” Arthur insisted, handing back the baby and standing up.  “Let me see if I can’t go find Molly.”

  “Come on, Hermione, let’s go dance.  Wouldn’t want you to turn into an ornament or anything sitting about too long,” Ron suggested, getting up.

  “Very funny, Ron,” Hermione glowered but got up.

  “Hey Jennifer, that woman dancing with Lupin, is that your new nanny?”  Bill asked, leaning over the table. 

  “Yes, that’s Carol,” Jennifer nodded.

  “Is she seeing anyone?” he asked again.

  “Not yet,” Jennifer chuckled.  Fred and George looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

  “Here we go again.  What sort of bet do you want to put down this time?”  George asked Fred.

  “The usual I suppose.  Still, she’s a redhead, maybe this one will last longer than miss platinum blonde,” Fred answered.

  “Oh, cut it out you too,” Bill warned.  “I can still pin you both to the ground if I have to.”

  “Not likely,” Fred said.

  “Haven’t either of you gotten involved with someone yet?”  Jennifer asked them, folding her arms.  They both nodded.

  “Fred did once, and it lasted for a few weeks,” George answered.  “Unfortunately it went belly up after that.”

  “I swear, she had no sense of humor whatsoever,” agreed Fred.  “See, I got to working on this new invention of mine for the shop, and got tied up one night when we had a date, and so George went in my place.”

  “She hasn’t spoken to either of since she found out,” George admitted.

  “You know, if you had any sense at all, you’d open another shop in a different part of the globe so you’re not tempted to do stuff like that,” Jennifer chuckled.

  “Well, what’s the fun in that?”  Fred wanted to know.

  “I give up, you two are going to stay eighteen forever,” Jennifer decided, getting up.  “I had better find Severus, I’ll be back in a moment.”

  It wasn’t long before she spotted the lanky figure standing in the center of the room looking over the crowd, going over to him.

  “Well?  Any luck?”

  “He doesn’t seem to be here,” Severus frowned, “But apparently he used to be an ‘old friend’ of Anna’s mother when she and my father were married.”

  “Who isn’t he an ‘old friend’ of,” Jennifer muttered.  “But we have other problems.  Arnie says there’s some sort of magical creature here somewhere.  They’re trying to track it down.”

  “You did leave Mercy in our room, right?”  Severus frowned.

  “Yes, I was afraid if I brought her something would happen I’d have to explain,” Jennifer chuckled.  “Do you think that’s all it is?  A wayward House Elf?”

  “Not really,” Severus admitted.  “Wait here for a moment while I find Audi.”  It was just as he turned and took a few steps away that Jennifer heard a loud noise like a crack above her head.

  Anna, who had been jumpy ever since they had gotten to the reception for no apparent reason, had just turned around after talking with the DJ on the stage when she saw the huge brass and crystal chandelier above the main floor start to sway.  When she glanced up, she saw a horrible grey creature barely a yard tall flapping above it, biting ferociously at the chain.  That was also when she realized that Severus, Jennifer and Alex were standing right beneath it.

  Just as the creature finally bit through the metal and the chandelier came crashing down, Anna reached out with her mind and a great rush of magic went through her in a bright light, holding the chandelier in mid-air.  Severus suddenly looked up from where he was standing and made a dash towards Jennifer and Alex, grabbing them and pulling them out of the way.  Just then the light faded and the chandelier came crashing to the ground.  That was when Anna realized that every eye in the room, magic and Muggle alike, were fixed on her as the glow around her slowly faded away.

  Before she had time to react or say anything towards the scrutiny, the bold creature suddenly jumped down into view and onto the reception table, picking up the punchbowl and tossing its contents on the guests, laughing wildly.  Jennifer sat up from where she had been knocked on the floor, looking around at the creature with surprise.

  “An imp!  How did that get in here?” Jennifer said, scrambling to her feet and trying to calm Alex down.

  “Never mind that, the damage is done, I’m going to go get rid of it,” Severus said, taking out his wand.  Several other wizards in the room had also pulled out their wands, while the Ministry was working to try to get everyone else to back away from it.  Spotting Carol standing over by Bill, Jennifer hurried over to her with Alex.  But just as she was handing the baby over, she heard the maniacal laughter erupt from right overhead as the imp reached out and snatched Alex away amid screams from those nearby.  Not wasting a second, Carol leapt forward and turned into her wolf form.  Letting out an angry growl she grabbed onto its leg, preventing it from flying away.  Jennifer yelled at everyone to get back and took out a phial, but was too petrified to throw it, afraid that she would hit Alex instead.  Looking across from her she saw Severus standing there as well, also at a complete loss as to what to do.  The imp cackled and looked between them, grasping its prize, and trying to free its leg from the Carol’s jaws.  Suddenly Alex disappeared, and the imp stopped cackling and looked around in confusion.  A spell shot out of Severus’ wand and the creature suddenly took on a stony look and fell to the ground, landing on Carol’s paw.

  “Alex?  Where’s Alex?”  Jennifer said in a panicked voice, putting away the phial.

  “It’s all right, Jennifer,” Dumbledore said with a calm voice, appearing from the crowd.  “She’s right here with me.”  In fact, she was busy pulling his beard, looking around as if nothing had happened.  Sighing with relief, Jennifer turned to help Harry and Remus roll the stone imp off of Carol’s hand as she returned to her normal form.

  “Ederick, could you please take care of that creature?”  Arthur said, “And ah, make sure nobody leaves?”

  “Arthur, you really don’t intend to make them all forget, do you?”  Dumbledore said gently.

  “What other ruddy choice do we have, after all?” Arthur asked.

  “Let them know.”  Everyone suddenly looked at Anna, who had an unusually calm look on her pallid face.  Sirius came up beside her, looking concerned, putting an arm around her.  “I can’t do this anymore.  I can’t live two completely separate lives all the time.  I’m just going to have to face the fact that both worlds are apart of my life and there’s just no way of shutting one out of the other,” she said, looking around the room to see that all eyes were on her again.  “I’m a witch.  That’s what I am, and there’s no denying it.  My brother is a wizard, my husband’s a wizard, and as I’m sure all of you are discovering by now, half of my friends are witches and wizards.  But that doesn’t make me any less Anna Hughes…well, Anna Hughes Black.  And I’m sorry if this is a bit overwhelming and I’m sorry if it’s a bit scary, but believe me it’s just as scary being on my side of this mess.  Now if you don’t mind, I think I need a few minutes alone,” she said, walking numbly towards the back as everyone moved out of the way.  Sirius was about to follow her when Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Let me talk to her a moment first,” Dumbledore said, and Sirius nodded.  Jennifer sighed softly handing Carol a phial and coaxing her to drink it, the room still bathed in silence.

  “Excuse me, ma’am,” a man she didn’t recognize suddenly spoke up, crouching down.  “Might I ask what it is you are giving her?”

  “Oh, it’s just a standard Healing potion,” Jennifer admitted to the man.  “She’s got a broken wrist, but she’ll be alright in an hour or so.”

  “Really?”  The man asked thoughtfully, looking over at Carol.  “Can someone without your abilities make one?”

  “Honestly, I doubt it,” Jennifer said, “there’s certain parts of the formula that need spells cast to make the solution react.”

  “Perhaps I could have a sample of it to see how it reacts to standard lab tests?”  The man asked.  “You see, I’m a doctor, and I wonder what the chemical makeup might look like.”

  “Sir, sir?  What exactly was that creature you just put down?” Another man asked Severus.

  “An imp, not a very common occurrence,” Severus replied warily.

  “Are there many other creatures like that?  That we don’t know about?”  The man asked persistently, “And is the Loch Ness monster one of them?”

  “How exactly did you get on that roof, anyhow, was there something magic about that?”

  “That glow wasn’t just the lighting, was it?”

  “Can you turn into any other animals?”

  “How exactly do you manage to keep all of this quiet?  It would drive me insane knowing I could do something like this and not tell anyone.”

  “I say, I’ve wondered if there was anything to this crystal power business, could you enlighten me?”

  Jennifer could never quite remember the rest of that night, except for the knowledge that Audi and Vallid took a post by the door, making sure that anyone incapable of dealing with the events that had occurred could have a peaceful, uneventful ride home from their peaceful, uneventful trip.  And in the meantime, Jennifer, although overwhelmed with questions, felt for the first time in her life completely comfortable surrounded by Muggles.

Chapter Nineteen

Gifts and Well Wishes

 

  With Sirius and Anna finally underway and most of the staying wizard born on their way to Vallid’s New York penthouse for Christmas, Severus, Jennifer, Corey and Alex quietly made their way back through the key channels and back eight hours to enjoy a peaceful Christmas at the Broom Closet. 

  It was not long into the morning after presents were opened and Corey and Alex had the small living room torn apart that Jennifer’s thoughts began to wander.  She looked towards the small stack of packages left for her father while she played with the birthstone charm bracelet that Severus had given her.  There were five charms all told but only two filled with birthstones; one for Corey and one for Alex, enchanted to glow if they were in danger.  It was a peace of mind that meant even more now after what happened to Alex abroad. Severus always was one for trying to keep track of things and people he cared about, and Jennifer found that, even though it seemed a tad nosy, she was finding out she was the same way.  In a world of so many perils, a little reassurance that everyone was safe and sound went a long way.  Severus looked up from his book and gazed at her thoughtfully.

  “What are you thinking of?”  Severus asked, grabbing a gold snake out of his pocket that slid into his book and solidified as an ornate bookmark.

  “Severus, do you think Boltin would let us in with Alex?” she asked.  Corey craned his neck up from where he lay on the floor playing with the model of the Hogwart’s Express (complete with a flight mode and a complimentary bag of popcorn), wondering if that meant he was going to get to go as well.

  “Doubtful.  I know how he tends to bend the rules a bit as far as you’re concerned,” he said, emphasizing “you’re” since Boltin never seemed to bend the rules for him, “but ultimately, he still wouldn’t allow something like that without direct permission from the Warden.”

  “Who is the Warden, anyhow?  I mean, everyone talks about him, but I’ve never seen him,” Corey asked, putting the copy of The Three Musketeers that Taylor had given him out of Alex’s reach.

  “No one has,” Severus answered, putting down his own book.  “Who the Warden actually is has been a secret for years for security reasons.  No one can try to bribe, threaten, or cause harm to someone when they aren’t sure who he is.”

  “Well, surely the guards know,” Corey said, looking at Jennifer.  “So if the guards know, you know who it is too, don’t you?”

  “Corey, you may not realize this, but there is a sort of ethics code to Truth-seeking,” Jennifer said sternly.  “Not that everyone follows it, but there are things we usually don’t try to pry into, like government affairs.  Actually, it’s almost less about morals and more about self preservation,” Jennifer chuckled.  “I don’t think many officials would think kindly of us, knowing that we might know what’s really going on behind government walls.  They’d probably never let us into another building or council meeting again.”

  “I’d hate to see what happens when a Truth-Seeker goes bad then,” Corey said.

  “You have, actually,” Severus said curtly, getting up.  “They cease to see the real truth after awhile and begin to see a colored version of their own.  But he’s dead now and let’s not speak any more of it, especially not today.  All right, Jennifer, if you want to try and see if we can’t get her in, let’s go…yes all of us, Corey,” he added.  “We need to get back in time for Corey to head to his Aunt’s for dinner.”

  “Hurray!  I hardly ever get to go!”  Corey said, running up to get his coat.

  “I hope he’s in a better mood today, especially with the kids around,” Jennifer sighed, grabbing her cloak.

  “He had better be if he ever expects to see any more of them,” Severus said, putting on his own.

  In no time the four of them had popped out of the chimney like Father Christmas with packages in hand, standing in the bare entryway of the prison of Azkaban.  Jennifer handed Alex over to Severus and gathered all the parcels, knowing they’d be less likely to question her about them than he or Corey.  The first guard post looked quite surprised to see them but decided to let them pass, and it wasn’t until they got to the maximum security post that Boltin, who had just settled down with a nice cup of cocoa, succeeded in pouring the whole thing on himself when he saw them.

  “Professors?” He said looking between them and at the baby.

  “Happy Christmas, Boltin!”  Jennifer said, handing him a gift as Corey muttered a cleaning spell and cleaned the poor guard.  Severus frowned sternly at Corey but didn’t say anything.

  “Thank you,” he said, standing quite close to them before whispering.  “You’re not really planning to take her in there, are you?”

  “Boltin, please?  It’s Christmas, and he’s never seen her,” Jennifer said.  “What better Christmas present could there be for him than seeing his granddaughter?  Come on, just this once?”  Boltin sighed at the pleading smile on her face, looking at it for a long time before looking behind them to make sure no other visitors were around.

  “You know you’re really getting my neck in a noose this time,” Boltin muttered.  “Jennifer Craw or no Jennifer Craw, children under twelve are not permitted in the restricted area, and if anyone else sees her, we’ll all be in trouble.”

  “See who, Boltin?” Severus inquired.  Jennifer looked at him in surprise as he noticed that Severus was standing there with his arms folded.  She stared at his face for a long time before she understood where she was.

  “Fine, if you can keep her hidden...but only this once.  Don’t you dare ask me to do this again,” Boltin said, letting them in and taking the lead.

  “Boltin, if he were just in the regular section, he would be allowed to see her?”  Jennifer asked.

  “Yes, but I don’t think that he’ll ever be downgraded, not with what he says and how much of a pain he can be at times,” Boltin chuckled.  “There hasn’t been a day where he wasn’t plotting against someone or another.”

  “I seriously doubt that Craw would ever act on those,” Severus said calmly.  “If he truly wanted to, I have little doubt as resourceful as he is that he’d find a way out of here.”  Boltin looked at Severus thoughtfully for a moment.

  “Perhaps,” Boltin said.  “But it isn’t up to me in any case.  I’m just a guard.  It’s up to the Council, the Magistrate and the Warden.”

  “Who is the Warden, anyhow, do you know?”  Corey asked, and Jennifer turned to him in surprise.

  “Corey Willowby!”

  “It’s all right, Jennifer, it’s not like I don’t get asked all the time,” Boltin said, not turning around.  He opened the door to the visitor’s room and let them in and went to get Thomas.

  “Alex?”  Jennifer asked.

  “It’s all right, I had my hand on her the entire time,” Severus reassured her, somehow managing to fit his other arm in his cloak pocket.  “I remembered when we got here I still had my chest open from this morning and decided to take advantage of it.”  He pulled the giggling baby out and handed her to her mother.

  “Well don’t scare me like that again, she’s been disappearing enough lately,” Jennifer said.

  “Nonsense, Jennifer. Surely you can trust me,” Severus said.

  “Well, we all know she doesn’t trust me,” a voice said as Icarus materialized halfway through the wall, entering and going over to them.  “Smuggling babies into the prison, are we?”  Icarus tsked.  “The Warden won’t like that.”

  “Oh, Icarus, please stay out of this!  After all, it’s Christmas.”

  “Ah, yes, so it is!  I don’t suppose any of those are for me,” Icarus said glumly.

  “What could anyone get a ghost for Christmas?” Corey wanted to know.

  “What indeed?”  Icarus nodded soberly.  “So, I am forgotten, left alone to spend a dreadful holiday…”

  “Harassing visitors,” Jennifer finished, earning a frightful pout from the melancholy ghost.

  “I see how it is.  Well, if you expect me to do so, than I think I’ll stick around.  I wouldn’t want to disillusion you by being nice,” Icarus said, floating into a corner out of the way.  It was then that Boltin came back with Thomas Craw, who was very surprised indeed to see the entire family there, especially Jennifer, who he gave a rather wary gaze towards.

  “Happy Christmas, Father!”  Jennifer smiled.

  “Happy Christmas, Grandfather!”  Corey said cheerfully, handing the gifts to Boltin.

  “Hello, Thomas,” Severus greeted simply.

  “And this is Alexandria,” Jennifer said, uncovering the wriggling baby and sitting her on the table.  Alexandria, who had just learned to sit up, began kicking at the magic field experimentally, not quite sure why her foot couldn’t go there.  Thomas, who had bit back the words he had been planning to say to Jennifer, sat down in front of the child and wistfully reached for her foot from the other side of the field, not able to quite touch it.

  “She definitely has the Craw hair doesn’t she?” he said quietly, “and your nose too.  How in the devil did you get her in here?” he asked, glancing up at them.

  “Yes, I was wondering that myself,” Icarus said.  Boltin grimaced at the ghost.

  “Please, Ick, don’t get Boltin in trouble, I did rather press.  If anyone should get blamed it’s me,” Jennifer said.

  “Oh, very well, I suppose I can be nice one day a year,” Icarus said reluctantly.  “I promise I won’t tattle, but you owe me one, Professor Much-too-good-to-speak-to-ghosts-Craw.”  Jennifer glowered at him but didn’t comment, deciding not to push her luck.

  “I suppose holding her would be out of the question?”  Thomas asked.

  “Yes,” Boltin said quickly.

  “Oh now, Boltin, in for a penny, in for a pound.  Do you really think you could get into more trouble at this point?” Icarus said drolly. 

  “Thatcher, I’ll promise I won’t be any trouble for…oh, at least a month.  Besides, you know I will not harm her,” Thomas said, looking at him sincerely.

  “I think you all are going to be owing me favors for awhile,” Boltin grumbled, picking up the baby and muttering a spell before bringing Alex through and handing her out to him.  Alex regarded him balefully.

  “Goodness, I hope I don’t scare her,” Thomas said, taking her gingerly.  His face took on a softened look that Jennifer had never seen before.  Alex for her part grabbed a hold of his greying hair and held on tightly, otherwise looking rather disinterested in the entire situation.  Instead, she kicked and tested the air in front of her to make sure there wasn’t anything blocking her feet.  “Do you suppose she minds me holding her?  She doesn’t know me at all,” Thomas asked quietly.

  “If she didn’t want you holding her, she’d let you know it,” Severus said dryly.  Jennifer and Corey laughed and soon found themselves retelling the events of the wedding, while a thin smile slowly crept on Thomas’ face.  Jennifer, her quarrel over the name all seeming petty now couldn’t help but smile, realizing she finally got the family Christmas that she had wanted.

 

  Danny awoke to a frosted window and fluffy snowflakes beyond that sparkled in the morning sun.  Presents sat near the foot of the bed, and she slowly sat up to try and reach them.  She was feeling much better now although the spots hadn’t completely gone away, and was quite glad when a moment later Sagittari entered with a tray, smiling at her.

  “Happy Christmas, Danny.  I see you have more color in your cheeks today,” he smiled, setting her breakfast tray across her lap, moving two presents sitting on top of it before removing the lid.  “I hope you’re hungry, Dumbledore thought you might be.”

  “Professor Dumbledore is back?”

  “Indeed, returned early this morning.  And these two presents are from myself and your uncle…I hope you don’t mind, Dumbledore wanted to take a quick look at your uncle’s before it was delivered, but he believes you’ll like it,” Sagittari smiled, putting them down.

  “I understand,” Danny said, nodding slowly.  “I mean, what happened between he and Professor Craw isn’t much of a secret, and I’m sure there’s much not publicly known about all of it either.”

  “Yes, true enough,” Sagittari agreed, looking at her thoughtfully.  “How do you feel about that, Danny?  Is that why you never told any of the students about your family?”

  “You mean about Uncle Lucius?”  Danny said.  “Well, my father doesn’t like him and, well, I didn’t want to influence anyone who knew my cousin into thinking…it’s complicated,” Danny finally said, nodding, picking up one of the warm scones thoughtfully.

  “But do you like him?”  Sagittari asked.  Danny sighed.

  “Look, I know…I don’t disbelieve what all I’ve heard about him from Corey and the others, and I know what my father’s thinks, but my uncle has always been good to me,” Danny shrugged.  “He hates my father.  I know he does, that’s why we left Britain.  He blames my father for his sister dying,” Danny admitted.  “But he wasn’t trying to hurt me at Hogsmeade, really.  We were just talking.”

  “Was that the only time you’ve seen him since you got back?”  Sagittari asked.  Danny grew unusually quiet, then nodded.

  “He’s not allowed to come to the school, you know,” she explained.

  “Yes, I know,” Sagittari said solemnly.  “I need to go check on Longbottom.  He had a few scratches and bumps this morning and I need to see if he’s done mending so I can release him.”

  “What happened to Amadeus?”  Danny said with curiosity.

  “Apparently he received a small box this morning with a piece a coal in it and a card that said, ‘A piece of coal for every unkind thought; may it warm your soul and heart.’  He had the misfortune then of chucking it over his shoulder, and when the box turned over it poured out a rather large amount of coal and he ended up partially buried in it.  Professor Archibald came in to find out what the noise was and pulled him out.  I don’t suppose you know what that was all about?  No?  Well, I doubted that you did, but I had to ask.  Still, if you find a tiny box with a lump of coal in there,” Sagittari said, perusing through her packages thoughtfully.  “Whatever you do, don’t turn it over, and come get me,” he winked.  Danny nodded, chuckling softly as Sagittari left the room.  It was echoed by another chuckle from above her head, and Danny looked up to see Caprica peeking in, wearing a red stocking cap she stole from who knows what painting.

  “Do you think Amadeus liked his Christmas present?”  Caprica winked mischievously.

  “You?”  Danny said with surprise, “But how did you…”

  “Oh, I have my ways, but never mind that, there’s one for you too.  Don’t worry, it’s not coal,” she giggled.  “Don’t just sit there, you have presents to open!”

  Danny was glad she had a sweet tooth, because most of the presents from her fellow students included Chocolate Frogs, Bertibotts and jelly Snitches.  Taylor got her a tiny wind-up music box, and several of the Professors got her books on different subjects, with notes to get well soon.  It was when she found the small flat box that had no labels that she suspected she found the one she had been looking for.  Opening it up, she took out a delicate silver chain with a silver heart pendant, and dangling from it suspended from thin wire was a glistening crystal, clear as ice.

  “That, my dear, is a Faerie Tear,” Caprica said.  “They were already getting rare when I was a girl, I can’t imagine how rare they are now.  But my mother gave it to me when I was your age, and I never had a chance to pass it on.  It’s just been collecting dust in this silly old school,” she smiled.  “So now, I’ll pass it to you.  It will help protect you, and perhaps bring you some luck.”

  “Oh, Professor,” Danny said, not exactly knowing what to say.  “If there were a way to hug you I would.  Thank you!”

  “Tut, tut.  Just put it on and take good care of it, and it will take care of you,” she smiled.  “It’ll make me feel better knowing you have it.  Happy Christmas.”  Danny put in on with a grin, adjusting it so it centered on her chest with a smile.

  “You have one left, I see.”

  “Yes, Uncle Lucius’ present, I was saving it for last,” Danny said, reaching for it and sitting back in her bed.

  “Your father didn’t send you one?” Caprica asked thoughtfully.

  “Oh, no, but I wasn’t expecting one.  He doesn’t really believe in presents, he says everything in life has to be earned or paid for,” Danny said, trying to wave it away.   “It doesn’t matter.  I have all the way until summer to make up for how lousy I’m doing so far this year.”

  “Lousy?  But you’re the top third year student!  Nothing lousy about that.”

  “But I wasn’t top student in Potion’s or Dabbler’s.  I came in second in both, and to a Muggleborn…sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way,” Danny said, seeing the look on Caprica’s face.  “Corey is a good friend of mine, you know that.  It’s just, well, it’s no excuse for me to be letting my marks slip,” she said, opening the gift.  She frowned then as she looked in the small box and twisted the piece of wood inside, grabbing a hold of it and pulling it out, as little by little the broom, a Skymaster Pro Series, came out of the box.  A slip of paper nestled in the bottom came out with the last tug, floating down in the air until Danny caught it and read:  Win for yourself and lose for no one.  Caprica moved to the painting behind her to read it, chuckling softly.

  “Well, it’s Slytherin advice to be sure, but it’s true.  Sometimes you just have to put yourself first,” Caprica smiled.

  “Strange, I always feel as if I spend entirely too much time doing things just for myself,” Danny said.  “Not that I don’t want to succeed, I do.  And I want to win too, but…”

  “Everyone has their limits, Danny, even overachievers,” Caprica nodded solemnly.  “It’s all a matter of figuring out when to throw in the towel, and when it’s worth fighting back.”  There was a knock at the door then, and Danny looked quickly around to the painting but Caprica had already vanished, as the old Healer stepped uncomplainingly back into her frame.

  “Come in,” Danny said, and the door open.  Dumbledore stepped in with a smile.

  “And how is our recovering swampwart patient doing?” he asked, shutting the door behind him and sitting down beside her.  “You have found your Christmas presents, I see…well, most of them, anyway.”

  “Most of them sir?”

  “It had occurred to me that you do not have a familiar yet, and since it’ll still be a few days until you can leave quarantine…” he said, turning to a window that opened with a glance.  “I thought perhaps you could use a friend,” he finished, as a reddish-feathered horned owl flew down to the perch.

  “For me?”  Danny said with amazement.

  “Redwing is a daughter from one of my most dependable post owls, Sagittari had been training them for the Owlery, but she seemed rather lonely.  I thought the two of you might do well together.  Oh, but don’t let it get out who you got her from, we can’t have students getting sick on purpose expecting special treatment,” Dumbledore said.  Danny suddenly felt a pang of guilt as Redwing came over at Dumbledore’s command, introducing them formally.  Redwing, already satisfied by that immediate took up a perch on the headboard as if she’d always been there.  “Well, it seems our feathered friend has already adopted you.”

  “Professor, I couldn’t possibly accept her, really, but thank you…”

  “It appears it’s already too late for that.  She likes you,” Dumbledore said with a thin smile, the window closing silently behind him.  “Anyhow, I wanted you to know that we are still continuing our search for who it was responsible for your being sick.”

  “You’re looking for a person?”  Danny said with alarm.

  “Well, considering how highly contagious it is and you’re the only one who has gotten sick, we believe that it might have been a potion that perhaps was put into something you drank,” Dumbledore said evenly.  “Do you have any idea who might have wanted to harm you in such a way?”

  “No,” Danny said quickly,  “No, of course not, I really doubt that anyone else is involved, I’m sure it’s just one of those things,” she said, with a shrug.

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Dumbledore said thoughtfully.  “But it would be irresponsible of us not to make sure, for your own safety,” he explained.  “We do worry about your safety, you know,” he added, looking at her over the rim of her glasses.  Suddenly he paused, noticing her necklace for the first time.  “What a lovely necklace,” he said in an almost surprised tone.  “Did someone just give that to you for Christmas?”

  “Yes, a friend of mine,” she admitted, touching it with her hand.  “It was hers, but she said I should have it.”

  “That must be one good friend you have there,” Dumbledore said with a slight smile.  “Make sure you take good care of it,” he said, getting up.

  “I will,” Danny said.  “Thank you, for Redwing.”

  “You’re welcome, and I hope you feel better.  I’ll be back some other time to discuss the potion again,” Dumbledore said, glancing above her head with a quick but searching look.  He then turned and left, walking casually but quickly to the Trophy Room and gazed at the pictures above the door.  He stared at Caprica for a long time at where she sat sleeping with her arms crossed over her lap in her chair, snoring softly.

  “Hm,” was all he said before heading back up to his Study.

 

  As much as Jennifer despised leaving Alex again, she couldn’t help but be glad to get back into her old routine at Hogwarts, stocking the shelves, and preparing paperwork for Minerva.  Even Rolanda seemed glad to be back, catching Alvin up on everything that happened and giving a rather embarrassing rendition of Hermione’s predicament on the roof.  Only Severus seemed out of sorts, waiting impatiently for Anna to get back, drumming his fingers as he set up for some tests and even started preliminary work on this year’s Gauntlet.  Finally she arrived the same night as the students did, not answering any questions that her brother asked but just smiling enigmatically and went to her place, ignoring him.  Jennifer, for once, was not supporting his nosiness, so Severus had to settle with just knowing she was back safe and sound.  Corey, too, was glad to be back, showing off his wedding pictures to his friends.

  “We didn’t really have time to go anywhere else, the Professors really wanted to get back, but it was fun anyhow,” Corey was telling them.  “I’m gonna try and talk Madam Hughes…Black, I mean, to let me do my next paper on it, with all the Muggles there and all.  But then it all got strange when the imp got in, and it tried to steal Alex from Professor Craw in front of all those Muggles even.  She’s all right now, of course.  Everyone is.  But lots of Muggles that went to the wedding knows what’s what, now.”

  “But how did an imp get in?  Did anybody get in trouble?”

  “I don’t think so, considering Vallid’s one of their highest officers and all, and it was clearly not our fault.  But I heard Snape talking to Craw later, and he said something about there’d been a threat earlier against Madam Black…the family’s got loads of enemies, no mistake about that,” Corey said.

  “Including Malfoy,” Gail said, looking at him, “What do you think of your Slytherin friend now, Corey?  I mean, do you think she’s all right, considering who she’s related to?”

  “Nelson’s all right, it’s not like we can pick our relatives,” Doug defended.  “And she never wanted to talk about it, probably not to upset Corey.  Just because she’s a Slytherin doesn’t mean she’s all bad.”

  “I know that,” Gail said defensively.  “Lisa’s all right, I sit by her and her brother in Charms class.  I just mean, I’d hate to be her, she’s probably stuck in the middle pretty tight there.”

  “Well, I’m going to see how she’s doing after dinner,” Corey said.  “Doctor Sagittari told Craw she wasn’t contagious anymore and will probably be returning to class tomorrow, so long as she isn’t still running a temperature.”

  True to his word, Corey and Doug met Taylor and Essie for a quick run up to the hospital ward before bed check, and after a bit of pleading with Pomfrey were allowed in for a few moments.  Danny couldn’t be happier to see them, putting down her half-eaten dinner and her third year Potion book as they came in.

  “Oh, don’t tell me you’re studying already,” Corey said, making a face.

  “Professor Craw said I could make up the Potion midterm whenever I felt ready, and I’d just as soon get it over with,” Danny admitted.  “I suppose you aced it as always.”

  “Well, not aced,” Corey said.  “I did miss a couple.”

  “I missed a lot, and I guess the rest of the class didn’t do well either,” Taylor told her.  “We were all too worried about you.”

  “What exactly happened to you, anyhow, Danny?”  Doug asked.  “I mean, that morning you were fine, and next thing I know, I hear you’ve passed out on the floor and turned spots.”

  “Just one of those things, I guess,” Danny shrugged.

  “Well, I don’t think so.  In fact, I know exactly who we have to blame for it, one of the other member’s of the Dabbler’s class.  Amadeus Longbottom,” Corey said, nodding at Danny’s surprised look.  “He’s been angry at you ever since that last game and I know it, I bet he slipped something in your drink at lunch, I know you always sit with the team.”

  “Oh, come on, Corey,” Danny snorted.  “Longbottom’s potion craft is as flat and lifeless as he is.  I doubt he’d be able to come up with a potion like that.  Besides, why would he bother?  We already know poisons from class that’d put me out of commission for nearly as long that would be much simpler to construct.”

  “Whoever did it probably just wanted to make it look like it was a normal occurrence,” Doug said.

  “Oh, you’re all letting your imagination run away with yourselves,” Danny sighed.  “Typical Gryffindors.”

  “Not just us.  Taylor, Essie, you don’t think that could have been just one of those things anymore than we do, do you?”  Doug asked him.

  “I don’t really know enough to make an opinion,” Essie shrugged.  “I stink at potions.”

  “I think perhaps we should just leave the whole thing up to the Professors,” Taylor suggested.  “I’m just glad that Danny’s getting back to her old self again.”

  “Welcome back, Corey and fellow troublemakers,” Caprica said, stepping into one of the paintings.  “How good it is to have you all back!”

  “Hello, Professor!”  Corey grinned.  “What have you been up to?”

  “Oh, just hanging around,” Caprica said, “a little this and that, and keeping Danny company.  I did miss all of you though, you’ll have to come up and visit me…when you’re not late for turning into your dorms that is.”

  “Oh, no, we’re going to get in trouble, aren’t we?”  Essie asked, jumping up.

  “Now, don’t panic.  Caprica isn’t going to snitch any more than Sagittari will, but we’d best get moving I suppose,” Corey said.  “See you in the morning, Danny, glad you’re feeling better!”

  “Goodnight Corey, Taylor, Doug and Essie.  I am glad you’re all back,” Danny said as they left.

  “They really care about you, you know,” Caprica said thoughtfully, looking down at her.  “They’re only trying to help, about finding out about the potion, I mean.”

  “I know,” Danny said, picking up her books again.

  “You could try confiding in them, at least, if you won’t speak to the Professors,” Caprica suggested.

  “No, I wouldn’t want to worry them.  I can manage, I have things under control now,” Danny reassured her.

  “Yes, well, I’ve heard that before,” Caprica sighed.  “Don’t stay up too late, dear, don’t forget you have class tomorrow,” she said before moving out of the frame.  Danny sighed with irritation, not even wanting to think of what Caprica was hinting at.  All she wanted was to head back to class and pick up where she left off.  With any luck, it’d be awhile before she had to worry about going home again.

Chapter Twenty

Extra Curriculum

 

  It was a snowy but fairly warm afternoon several weeks into January when Anna found herself dragged to the Quidditch Pitch with her broom in hand by Jennifer and Danny.

  “Don’t worry, Madame Black, riding a broom is the one of the most fundamental uses of item manipulation,” Danny coaxed, heading out to the middle of the field.

  “Craw can’t do it either,” Anna pointed out, “And she’s a Physical Arts major.”

  “I can ride one, I’m just not any good at it,” Jennifer said.  “Now, we have the whole field to ourselves for a few hours, practice won’t start up officially until next week, so we shan’t be bothered.  Just relax and have fun with it.”

  “What about you, Professor?  You want a few lessons too?”  Danny inquired seriously.

  “Oh, no, I’m just here to supervise Black’s training.  Besides in my condition…”

  “If you can ride a Pegusi, you can ride a broom.  Corey told me about your barrette to protect you from falls….”

  “Falls, yes.  Crashes, no.”

  “So what you’re saying is, you’re trusting a thirteen year old to teach me, but you won’t let her teach you,” Anna challenged.  Jennifer glared slightly at her, for there were other reasons she had asked for Danny, but sighed.

  “Fine, but you realize if Snape founds out about this, he’s going to kill all three of us,” Jennifer said, detouring to the shed to pick out a docile-looking school broom.

  “Don’t worry, you need not fly high at all.  Just stay within a broom’s length from the ground, Professor, then if you get into trouble, just lean so the bristles touch the ground and it’ll stop on its own,” Danny advised.

  Nervously, the two women mounted their brooms as Danny nodded approvingly.  She started them both off barely above the snow, practicing turns and stops.  It didn’t take her long to realized that a majority of Craw’s problems were overcompensating and panicked movements, while Black seemed to be trying to will the broom where she wanted to go instead of actually turning it.  Sighing softly at the work at hand and shaking her head, Danny could see there was a lot of work to be done.  Danny was a meticulous perfectionist that reminded Jennifer a bit of Severus, and wondered if perhaps he hadn’t been somewhat like that at this age.  Completely absorbed in the matter at hand, their time was nearly up before she was satisfied enough to let them go a bit higher, starting them on speed runs, practicing straight shot flights from one end of the Pitch to the other, allowing them to fly at their own comfort level.  Anna and Jennifer even tried racing a few times, but it was soon obvious to Anna that Jennifer’s comfort level for speed was entirely too low to make for a good race, and they contented themselves to just taking turns, pulling up easily before reaching the end of the field.  Rolanda Hooch, who had come out to clean the shed looked out with surprise at the three on the Pitch, walking up to where Danny sat on her broom.

  “Is that Craw on that broom?” she asked in amazement.

  “Yes, Madam.  And Madame Black,” Danny said.

  “Incredible,” Rolanda said.  “And I’d given them both up for lost,” she chuckled.  “Listen Nelson, if you can get them both riding safely at a decent height by term end, I’ll give you twenty-five points,” Rolanda said appreciatively.  “Oh, but don’t mention it to Snape, or the deal’s off.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Danny grinned, nodding to her knowingly.

 

  Next on the list was Transfiguration, and with a little wheeling, dealing, and a promise to help Minerva get caught up on some of her sewing projects, Jennifer managed to secure some time that afternoon for Anna.

  “Once you learn some basic rules, the process itself is rather easy.  And considering you’re an Animagus as well, I’m sure you’re find it quite simple to understand.  

  “Transfiguring anything doesn’t change what it truly is…it will have the properties of the item or beast; it’ll behave like it, sound like it, conduct like it, but it will know what it truly is.  For example, when you’re a Unicorn, you do not forget that you are human.  An animal that turns into an inanimate object retains knowledge of what it is, even though some animals will not remember the occurrence itself, as a sort of safety mechanism for their psyche.  In the other direction, if you turn a desk into a pig, even though it behaves like a pig and moves like a pig, it has no true conscious awareness.  Liquids have entirely different rules, and you shouldn’t try to transfigure anything, especially creatures into a liquid, for liquids are truly not one ‘item’ but many droplets, each one with different properties.  Any questions so far?”

  “One,” Anna nodded.  “Why would anyone want to turn a desk into a pig?”

  “You’ve been talking to Corey, haven’t you?” Minerva asked, earning a chuckle from Jennifer.  “It’s just a common classroom exercise, to work towards bigger things.  But let’s just start out turning something simple into something very similar.  The closer the properties are, the easier they are to transform,” Minerva said, looking around.  “Ah, here we are,” she said, picking up a quill.  “Now, you must consider all the properties of what you’re going to be turning it into, and focus on them when you’re saying the spell.  Now, there may be hidden properties you may not be aware of at times, but that shouldn’t be the case for this exercise.  Reference books will help you with that; it’s mostly memorization.  Also, you can speak it either in Latin or English whichever your comfortable with,” she said, putting the quill down and pointing at it with her wand.  “Quill to stylus!”  With little fanfare, the quill changed into the stylus and she allowed Anna to look at it for a moment before putting it back down.  “Very well, your turn to try.”

  Anna got out the wand she’d been using, trying to think of the quill she had seen a moment ago.  The feather of the quill was white and long, perhaps a goose feather, she thought, with a rather off-color metal tip, heavily stained from heavy use.  Pointing at the stylus, Anna intoned, “stylus to quill!”  Suddenly the stylus grew and changed in a rather warped shape, and before either Minerva or Jennifer could move, a flapping, honking duck emerged onto Minerva’s desk wearing a discolored quill tip around its neck.

  “Yes, well,” Minerva said, trying to formulate what to say as she looked at the goose in obvious surprise.  “Good try, Anna.  But perhaps concentrate more on the properties of the quill and not where it came from?”

 

  Severus frowned testily as he kicked his sister’s foot into place, nodding slightly as he passed Corey.  Jennifer, who had taken a break to rest her sore feet, watched from a chair near the back of the gym.  Anna, admittedly, felt a bit silly, wondering if she could talk Dumbledore into getting out of this part of her ‘training.’  But Jennifer was quite unconcerned with Severus’ snarling, and did it not seem to bother Corey either. 

  “Alright, run through it one more time, and this time attempt to pay attention to your stance?”  Severus said, drumming his fingers on his folded arms.

  “What does it matter how I stand?  I seriously doubt anyone would be paying attention to my feet, and I know I won’t be doing any ‘forms’ in a battle.  Besides,” Anna continued, ignoring the glaring look on her brother’s face.  “I don’t really want to hurt anyone, and haven’t shy of Dementors.”

  “Anna, none of us really want to hurt anyone, but sometimes there are no other options,” Jennifer said.  “The best defense is being prepared for any type of attack, and if a wizard attacks, you need to be able to defend yourself as if you had no other protection.  We saw what happens last year when your magic gives out.”

  “My magic doesn’t give out,” Anna retorted.  “It just steps out of the way, sometimes.”

  “How you stand is important for both balance and speed, both of which you want to block attacks.  And Jennifer is right, which is why I agreed to teach you.  Now, do it again, and let’s try to get it right so we’re not here all day, shall we?”

  Jennifer got up to join them, patting Anna encouragingly on her shoulder before taking a stance beside her.  Even four months along, Jennifer somehow managed to do the exercise with the grace and ease of years of practice, and Anna couldn’t help but let her stubbornness take over.  Anna might not have wanted to learn it on principle, but learning it to prove to herself that she could was an entirely other matter.

  Finally Severus decided to let them go for the day just as Anna was beginning to get the hang of it, even suggesting that next week she could start sparring with Corey.  Anna wasn’t quite so enthusiastic about the idea as Corey.  Corey, not being allowed to be in the regular sparring club, was missing his practice time with his friends, and his training lessons with his Dad had been the next best thing.  Having someone else there to practice with was going to make life a lot easier on him.  As Corey ran back to his dorm and Anna debated a long hot bath, Jennifer and Severus found their way to their rooms, Jennifer stopped in her room for some paperwork, a bored bat following her in as she then went into Severus’ sitting room.  She plopped down into a chair with a long sigh as Severus looked over at her with slight concern.

  “I’m all right, just tired,” Jennifer smiled.  “I’ve really been pushing Anna kind of hard since we got back to Hogwarts, and I think it’s starting to catch up with me.  But she’s actually putting effort into it, I don’t think she really took it seriously before the wedding.”

  “Weddings have a way of affecting people in strange ways, they find themselves doing all sorts of things they might not have considered before.”  Severus said seriously.  Jennifer grinned at him.

  “Well, yes, that too but I think it was more because of that imp and all that.”

  “Yes, and that odd threat.  I still don’t know what Fudge was doing there, either, perhaps he was behind it.”

  “Did he speak to anyone at the wedding?”

  “I don’t know.  Between the lights and Alex I hardly had time to look around let alone pay attention to what was going on,” Severus grumbled.

  “Well, I’m not so sure Fudge did it,” Jennifer said.  “He’s worried about what she is, frightened of her even.  But I don’t see him as the type to write a threatening note.”

  “Then it’d almost have to be someone from the Ministry, they’re the only ones that knew who and what she was.”  Severus mused.

  “Yes, and ‘knew’ is the key word.  A witch or wizard would have had to be blind at that wedding not to see that that wasn’t modern magic she was using.  At least, maybe if she learns our style it won’t be so noticeable?” Jennifer pondered.

  “Normally I would have said that I wish she would learn to curb her instincts,” Severus said.  “But considering the circumstances I could hardly be anything but grateful.”

  “Have you told her that?”  Jennifer asked.

  “No, but I shouldn’t have to, I don’t think,” Severus said.

  “Well I’m sure I was grateful enough for all of us,” Jennifer said, shaking her head at him and smiling, knowing what was really on his mind.  “You know, her being married doesn’t make her any less your sister.  You needn’t feel like you can’t talk to her anymore.”  Severus tapped the papers in her hand, handing her a quill.

  “Catch up on your homework, so we can catch up on ours,” he said, going back to his work.

  “Oh, all right, since you don’t want to talk about it,” Jennifer said.  “But sooner or later, you are going to have to tell her the truth, the whole truth about what happened the night your parents died.  She’s not going to think any less of you than I did,” she added gently. Severus sighed, nodding curtly to her.

  “When she’s ready,” he said, turning back to his work.

  But Severus, as always, had other things on his mind, and other things to do, spending a lot of time in the Forest with Sagittari and Remus, making plans with the Centaurs, and trying to find out more information on the burrows they had found.  And although the Centaurs hadn’t seen the creature either and even the stars didn’t reveal what it was, it was no secret that the holes had started to grow larger as time went on.  Harry’s feeling that it was a reptile of some sort began to grow on Severus’ mind as well.  After all, Slytherin had left an ancient basilisk to guard his chamber…could his followers perhaps have left something similar in the Tomb, perhaps subdued by Voldemort when they had gone down there, and somehow survived the collapse?  The thought was so disturbing that the next weekend he went back down there with Rasputin under his arm.

  “It’s cold.  I want to go to sleep by the fire.” Rasputin complained.

  “Well, you’re just going to have to wait.  I very seldom ask anything of you, you can help me out this once,” Severus hissed back in parseltongue.

  “Very well.  But none of that chopped meat tonight.  I want a mouse or two.”

  “Don’t you think about anything besides eating and sleeping?” Severus sighed, sliding a bit down the hill.

  “The eye patch itches,” the monitor basilisk added.  Severus slipped into the barrier warily and over to the nearest hole, putting the basilisk down.  The lizard tested the air experimentally, sticking its head down into it.  “It doesn’t taste like a basilisk of any sort,” it hissed after a moment, rubbing its head on the top of the hole.  The eyepatch slipped off and Rasputin scurried down a bit farther.

  “Don’t go too far,” Severus hissed in warning, kneeling down so he could listen.  “And warn me before you come back up or you might have a very long walk home.”

  “The tunnel is much larger in here, and it’s warmer, but I’m still sleepy,” Rasputin said.

  “It’s too cold.  Nothing moves.  I taste something, but it is too far.”

  “Warm blooded or cold?” Severus asked. 

  “Cold.  Like me.  I want to go home.”

  “All right, all right,” Severus said, taking the eye patch in his hand and turning it away.  “Come on up then.”  It was just as Severus managed to get the patch back on him and pick him up that a gentle tremor shuddered below them.  Rather then get caught by another wraith or other unexpected surprise, Severus dove through the barrier and towards the woods, turning quickly around when the tremor stopped.  It was then he noticed that all of the holes had collapsed a bit, leaving a large opening than before.  Tossing back his hair and waiting for a few minutes to see if anything else occurred, Severus then headed back to the school.

  “So, whatever caused the holes, if anything, isn’t necessarily growing, but the holes themselves are growing bigger because of these odd tremors, which is either caused just by stress as further caves collapse, or some thing underneath it is causing them,” Severus told Dumbledore when he got back.  “I gather from what little I was able to discern from Rasputin that the passages are fairly large, perhaps even enough one could crawl through without transforming into something else.   However, regardless of what’s down there, it’s not worth the risk, since it’s more than likely that more cave collapses are immanent,” Severus said.  Jennifer shuddered slightly.

  “And you were unable to determine whether or not there was a creature present?”  Dumbledore asked.

  “Rasputin smelled something, something he didn’t recognize, but reptilian I believe,” Severus said.  “But it’s hard to say if it has anything to do with the collapses or the wraith coming, or if it’s just a natural creature.  We seem to know even less now than we had before.”

  “Even if it were just a natural creature, I’m not so sure it would be so now, after spending who knows how long in that darkness,” Dumbledore said.  “Perhaps you should start trying to narrow the field a bit, so we may begin to put the clues together and see for certain what we’re dealing with.  Hopefully, it’ll prove to be nothing, and the wraith itself will be our worse adversary.”

  “The Centaurs have started watching for the wraith to come back, guarding the darker recesses as well as looking for signs of its return,” Severus said.  “However, if they were forced to face it alone…”

  “They would be no match for it.  I know, Severus,” Dumbledore nodded.  “One thing is certain, it cannot catch us by surprise again, for I do not think we will all be able to survive another attack,” he said somberly.  “Our strength is in our numbers.  No matter how much power it has absorbed, it won’t be able to defeat us as a group.”

  “But the wraith always seems to catch us when there’s only one or two of us, and it’ll take more than that to actually destroy it, let alone drive it off,” Jennifer pointed out.

  “Yes,” Dumbledore nodded.  “Perhaps we can use that to our advantage,” he added thoughtfully, taking a step back.

  “We need to set a trap,” Severus said, getting a nod from Dumbledore.

  “All we need now is suitable bait,” Jennifer said.

Chapter Twenty-One

Getting Baited

 

  “Absolutely positively out of the question.”

  “Oh, come now, Sirius, do you seriously think that if there were any danger that I would go along with it?  We’ll all be there, including Dumbledore.  It’ll be no more dangerous than her having to go home with you every night,” Severus said, rolling his eyes at Sirius.  Sirius glared at him.

  “In that case, how come you’re not using Jennifer as bait?”

  “Isn’t that a bit obvious?” Severus said, pointing at Jennifer’s stomach.

  “Look, even if we did use me, I’m not so sure the wraith would be attracted to me considering my magic energy level is so low right now,” Jennifer said calmly.  “The fact is that nearly every time the wraith shows up, Anna is somewhere nearby.  Her energy level is different from a normal witch and is probably attracting it.  And she’s quite capable of defending herself, especially after the last few weeks of training.  Besides, if you ask me, it’s not your decision, it’s hers.”

  “She’s my wife,” Sirius said.

  “Please, don’t remind me.” Severus said, rubbing his temples.

  “Would you all just stop bickering?”  Anna said, glaring at all three of them and debating to throw them out of the office.  “Tell Dumbledore I’ll do it.  If it is attracted to me like you say then the chances are that either me or someone around me will get hurt even if we don’t try it,” she said looking over at Sirius stubbornly.  “I’m not going to risk losing you again.  Discussion is closed.”  Sirius gave her a look that indicated he thought this discussion was far from closed, but Jennifer, picking up on the exchange, quickly got up.

  “Good, I’ll let him know and we’ll talk to the Centaurs about how we’re going to go about this,” Jennifer said.  “We’d better get going anyhow, sparring club tournament continues tonight, and Doug and Danny are sparring, should be a good match.”

  “For Slytherin, at any rate,” Severus nodding, allowing himself to be coaxed out of the room.  Sirius closed the door behind them.

  “The more he changes, the more he stays the same,” he muttered, turning his attention back to Anna.

  “Sounds like someone else I know,” Anna said, turning back to her work.

  Jennifer was glad they were finally over with the first eliminations, for the first few weeks of the tournament ran incredibly long for the referees.  However, this was the first night they didn’t have extra judges, so it would probably prove to be a long night.

  It was just as Jennifer finished lining everyone up for sparring that she heard a soft knock on the open doorway.  Minerva walked in just ahead of Byron Nelson, who looked about the room thoughtfully.

  “Mr. Nelson has requested to come watch the club tonight, if it’s quite alright?”  Minerva said, getting a nod from Severus.

  “Of course, he’s more than welcome,” Jennifer said, smiling with a warmth she really didn’t feel.  He walked over to take a seat near the front, his Muggle style dress abandoned in favor in well-tailored black robes with an ornate gold clasp.  As Jennifer moved to her place she couldn’t help but glance at Danny, who hadn’t reacted to him being there at all.  Well, it wasn’t as if he could do anything to her here, especially with Severus and herself on the watch, Jennifer thought.  But there was something in his look that disturbed her; a hatred for both she and Severus that had blossomed over the holiday.  Did he actually blame them for what happened to Danny?  No, Jennifer mused, glancing at his face again, he seemed to think it was –

  “Professor?  Are you alright?”  Jennifer’s eyes darted up to Severus, feeling Nelson’s eyes suddenly turned to her as well.  She had missed a signal, she realized, clearing her throat.

  “Sorry, go ahead,” Jennifer said.  Severus frowned slightly but didn’t say anything, turning his attention to running the students in the club through their sparring forms, practicing block and attack stances while Jennifer watched the back lines to make sure everyone was doing them properly.  It was a short routine, for Severus had no intention of having to stay up any longer than necessary, rather just long enough that everyone was warmed up and ready to enter the ring.   The two of them took only a moment to glance over the charts when Severus leaned over, lowering his voice.

  “Let’s switch the third match.  I’ll take the Nelson Brim match, and you can take the Wyatt Brittle match,” Severus said.  Jennifer nodded and their two names switched on the ring chart.  Wyatt and Doug groaned softly, alerting others to the change, including Byron, who raised an eyebrow at them as they turned to head to their places

  “Any particular reason you decided to change my daughter’s ring at the last moment?”  Byron asked as Severus walked by.

  “Yes,” Severus said, nodding to him.  “Because I’m the head supervisor of this club and I wanted to.  I often judge some of the more interesting matches myself.”

  “Surely this match of my daughter’s is truly not going to be all of that interesting, not against a Brim,” Nelson chuckled slightly.  “I doubt it will last long enough to make it worth refereeing, and I wouldn’t want you to change your schedule just on my presence here.  Or is there something about your wife’s judging skills that you don’t want me to see?” 

  Jennifer decided to pretend she hadn’t heard, stepping up to her position before meeting Severus’ gaze again.

  “On the contrary, she’s more strict than I am in this matter, however…”

  “In which case, if you would indulge me, I would much rather that the match go on as intended with Craw judging, for I expect my daughter to follow the most stringent standards. Provided that the standards are to be applied to everyone, of course,” Byron said.  Severus looked at him steadily for a long while, quite sure that no matter which way he chose, Nelson would find a way to twist it. 

  “Very well.  Professor, our previous schedule then,” Severus said, and Jennifer nodded, easily picking up the look of warning.  “Enough chatter, we’ve got a lot of matches to cover.  Begin.”

  Her first match of Baylor and Julie Brim proved to be a good one, for the Hufflepuff girl had had to learn how to hold her own against the outnumbering Slytherin “Snake-year” students.  The tough defense she had learned from the halls and classrooms transformed to pure energy in the sparring ring, and she was on her guard for any tricks that he might try.  Jennifer had seen that more and more among the non-Slytherin fourth years…the members of the other three houses seemed unusually sharp and aggressive in both schoolwork and sport, and it was slowly beginning to balance out the larger house.  It was with satisfaction that Jennifer awarded the match to Julie when she was able to pull off a Phantom Gust seconds before he got off his Queasy spell.  Perry then achieved a quick win for Gryffindor in the next match, helping them tie Slytherin for overall wins in the tournament so far.

  Jennifer took a moment to glance over at Severus, who was still concentrating on his second.  She called Doug and Danny over, wishing them both good luck as they took their positions.  Danny, with the grace of a cat, easily dodged Doug’s first move as it began.  Jennifer wasn’t surprised when Danny quickly got Doug on the defensive, for although his technique had improved a great deal over the last year, he was no match for the professionally instructed girl.  Yet just the match was quite nearly won, Danny made a terrible move that perhaps Jennifer would have overlooked in hindsight had she known the consequences.  So determined was Jennifer to play the rules straight that the moment that Danny spoke out “Cockatrix videre!” and Doug’s stony form hit the mat with his wand falling to his side, Jennifer stood up quickly before anyone could cheer.

  “Bench penalty on Nelson for using dark magic in the ring.  Match awarded to Doug Brim,” Jennifer said as Danny grimaced, realizing her mistake.  But before she could turn and counter the spell, Byron Nelson was standing beside Jennifer looking furious.

  “What do you mean by penalizing my daughter for using that spell?  It’s quite legal in nearly all the sparring…”

  “This isn’t a professional sparring club, Mr. Nelson,” Jennifer interrupted him.  “Hogwarts rules states that no major dark magic spell may be cast by students outside of defense class, and that rule applies to this club also.  They are all well aware of that, including your daughter.  Stone Gaze is by all accounts a major dark spell, and there are many much less harmful spells she could have used that have similar but less dangerous results.  The ruling stands.  Danny, if you would help Doug out of the ring, please?”

  “So, what you are saying is that because my daughter’s strength lies in the less subtle arts she is to be penalized for her talents?  As well as many others in Slytherin who I’m sure possess the same qualities?  How ironic, coming from a Craw,” he snarled.

  “Learning to discipline one’s talents is not discouraging them, Mr. Nelson.  As someone who is obviously a strict disciplinarian in his own right, you should know that.”  Jennifer said coolly back.

  “Strange how your brand of ‘discipline’ always seems to fall so much more harshly on students who either oppose your son or give him too much competition.”

  “I’m not going to listen to you on this subject again,” Jennifer said.  “Your daughter’s match is over, she lost, so you might as well leave now.”

  “I’m not leaving until you retract your decision,” Nelson said, gazing at her threateningly.  “That boy was no match for her from the start, and the only reason you called her on the spell was because he’s your precious son’s friend.”

  “Danny is my son’s friend as well,” Jennifer said.  “And it wouldn’t matter who cast it in any case, I’d still have thrown them out.”  Gritting his teeth to try and control the intense anger and hatred that was boiling to the surface, Nelson grabbed a hold of Jennifer’s arm in a tight, painful grasp as he leaned over to talk to her.

  “My daughter would never stoop to befriending someone of that ilk, Professor.  And it’s time that you and the rest of this school realized that some of us parents will not tolerate this sort of behavior anymore, and I suggest you do as you’re told before you find yourself and your husband without a job and your family out on the streets.”

  Suddenly a shadow appeared over them as Severus had quietly but rapidly moved in front of them.  His face was more pallid then normal as regarded Nelson with a cold hatred that surprised even Jennifer.

  “Mr. Nelson, I suggest you take your hand off my wife immediately, before I decide to remove it for you,” Severus said in a calm, deadly voice. 

  “Your wife seems to have a lot of trouble with keeping an unbiased opinion.  My daughter won the match and yet she found a way to give it to Brim on a technicality,” Nelson accused, loosening his grip slightly but not completely letting her go.  Jennifer stared at him in disbelief.

  “Casting a dark spell is hardly a technicality!”  Jennifer snapped angrily.

  “And if your daughter had won, what other excuse would you have come up with to justify yourself into trying to instigate us against you?”  Severus asked bluntly.  “You didn’t come up here to see your daughter, Nelson.  You came up here because you have some strange notion that we were behind your daughter’s illness and you wanted to get even.  Now for the second and last time, remove your hand.”

  As Byron and Severus regarded each other as if waiting for the other to move, Jennifer was aware of a shuffle of students backing away reminded her of where they were.  Jennifer managed to shrug herself away and take a step back, resisting the urge to rub her aching arm as she looked around for Danny.  The girl was standing off to the side next to Taylor, watching the scene with a pale face, attempting with some difficulty to stay as expressionless as possible.

  “Jennifer, please continue up here, while I escort Mr. Nelson back to the gate,” Severus said, not taking his eyes off of him.

  “Certainly,” Jennifer said, stepping over to where the students were lingering by the wand stands, going over to Danny.  Before she had time to ask her if she was all right, Jennifer heard Byron mutter something she didn’t quite catch.  But whatever it was had an immediate reaction as Severus turned around and belted him in the face, hard enough to send him flying to the floor.  Wasting no time to figure out what happened, Jennifer whipped out her wand and pointed it at Byron and was surprised to find that nearly all the students on her side of the room had done the same, having grabbed their wands a moment before.  Even some of the Slytherins, including Wyatt and the Starling twins had also grabbed their wands, and Jennifer wondered if Danny perhaps might have disclosed more to her housemates than she had previously thought.

  Severus, holding his right hand with his left in a way Jennifer was quite sure he’d injured it, was breathing hard and doing everything he could to try to get a leash on his temper.  She went and stood beside him then, wand still pointed at Byron whose face was red with anger as he got to his feet.

  “How dare you strike me, and in front of my own daughter?”  Byron shouted.

  “Actually, I’ve been wanting to do that for months,” Severus said starkly back.  It was then that Minerva hurried in with a wide-eyed look on her face as she surveyed the situation.

  “What is going on in here?  Mr. Nelson, good heavens what happened to you?”

  “McGonagall!  I want that man discharged at once for striking a parent, and in front of students, as well!” Byron said, glaring at Severus furiously.  Minerva turned to Severus in complete shock.

   “Professor Snape?  Is this true?”

  “Professor, while I do admit that I believe I broke my hand on Mr. Nelson’s jaw, I would like to officially deny that I struck anyone who even remotely resembles a parent.”  Severus said icily.

  “Why I’ll…”

  “Gentlemen, please!”  Minerva said firmly.  “I think we’re quite done with the tournament tonight, and I’m sure you could all do with some rest after this excitement,” she said to the students.  “Please return to your dormitories…and if I hear of any of this matter in the halls or classrooms tomorrow I warn you there will be still point penalties for the guilty parties.  Good night.”

  “Danny, you stay,” Byron said as the girl turned to the door.

  “Mr. Nelson, I hardly think that’s necessary, I’m sure I can discuss this with her in the morning,” Minerva said.

  “The matter concerns her as well, since part of the reason this entire situation got out of hand was because after my daughter won her spar, Craw gave the match to her son’s best friend on a technicality,” Nelson glowered.  “This gross bias favoring Willowby and his band has got to be stopped, in and out of the classroom.”

  “Professor McGonagall?” Danny said, stepping up beside Jennifer.  “Professor, this is all my fault.  I forgot myself and cast a dark spell at the end of the match.  I was trained using them, and sometimes I cast by instinct.  Professor Craw was right, and even if she wasn’t every student knows the judge has last word on benching a student.  If anyone should be blamed it’s me, not them,” Danny said, looking at her father.  The look he gave back chilled Jennifer to the bone and found herself stepping slightly in front of the girl.

  “I hardly think you can blame yourself for what happened, Miss Nelson, but thank you for clearing up the dispute about the match.  Mr. Nelson, major dark spells and curses are forbidden to be used in Hogwarts outside of Defense class with direct supervision, which means Craw was perfectly right to bench her.  As for favoring Mr. Willowby, as you can see, he’s not here, nor is he allowed in sparring club.  But since we’re on the subject, ever since you filed a complaint with the board, I have been monitoring Craw’s work quite carefully.  It’s not the first time this has been brought up, by the way.  The first complaint came from your brother-in-law, Mr. Malfoy,” she said.  Jennifer didn’t miss the spark of hatred that came into Byron’s eyes upon hearing the name.  “And just like then, I found that if anything, Craw seemed to be unusually hard on the boy, but otherwise found no justification for favoritism under any circumstances in official school business.  Oh, and that was already filed with the board, so if you wish to check with the governor’s I’m sure they’ll be happy to show you the copy.  Your daughter is a brilliant girl, Mr. Nelson, but nobody is perfect in everything.  Of course, if anyone were I doubt we would even be having this conversation,” Minerva said.

  “Be that as it may, it doesn’t justify his violent response to our argument over it.   Snape still had no right to attack me in front of the students and I demand that he be released at once!”  Byron said firmly.  Minerva looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

  “Mr. Nelson, would you still be demanding for his being let go if he attacked you on school property without the students being present?”  She asked.

  “Of course, he had to right…”

  “Then, let’s just leave the fact that the students were here out of it, shall we?  That concern falls upon the responsibility of the board, Dumbledore and I to decide, and really doesn’t concern you at all,” Minerva said, ignoring the dark look growing on Nelson’s face.  “Now, your side of this is that Professor Snape attacked you for arguing with Craw?”

  “Yes, as I was leaving, at his insistence.”  Byron said.  Minerva looked over at Severus, who was listening with an almost expressionless face.  Only a sliver of disgust appeared in his dark eyes.

  “Mr. Nelson isn’t telling you the entire story of the argument itself, as I’m sure Jennifer will be happy to tell you.  As for my actions, I was provoked, and I felt, and still feel, under the circumstances it was a very restrained response.”

  “How were you provoked?”  Minerva prompted.

  “I do not want to discuss it in front of a student,” Severus said.  Jennifer looked up at him curiously and quickly turned her head back around with his working hand.  Apparently he didn’t want to discuss it in front of her yet, either.  “But I was provoked intentionally in hopes that I would react in such a way that it would get me sacked, and although I do regret allowing myself to be baited I do not regret the action I took.  In fact, I also rather regret that I hadn’t broken his jaw as well as my hand.”  Minerva sighed softly, shaking her head.

  “Jennifer, anything to add?”

  “Only that Byron nearly wrenched my arm out when he yanked me over to discuss Danny’s match, which is really what started the entire thing rather than the argument itself.  Not that I couldn’t have managed,” Jennifer admitted, “but Severus was already wary that Mr. Nelson was after more game than the one his daughter was in so stepped in right away.  That’s when he was asked to leave.”

  “Preposterous!  I only came to monitor my daughter’s progress after this school had her quarantined over a matter they have still yet to solve!” Byron snarled.  “How dare you make such accusations?”

  “How dare you make accusations about Professor Craw?”  Severus retorted.

  “That’s quite enough, I’ve heard all I need to hear,” Minerva sighed, shaking her head.  “Professor Snape, you will report to Dumbledore’s Study first thing in the morning to discuss the consequences of your actions.  Professor Craw, if you would escort Danny to her dorm, that’d be most helpful.  I’ll walk Mr. Nelson out myself.”

  “Consequences?  The consequences should be plain, I want him dismissed now.”

  “Mr. Nelson, Professor Snape is a senior staff member, therefore only the Headmaster himself can make such a decision.  You do, of course, have the right to file a complaint with the Ministry or the board of governor’s, but the initial decision is up to him,” Minerva said sternly.

  “This is ridiculous!  I will not support a second rate school which allows staff members to recklessly behave in such a way!” Byron said, grabbing onto Danny’s arm and pulling her to him forcefully.  “I wouldn’t have even let her stay this long had my brother-n-law not been condemned from the place.  Well, she’s not staying another night here, not as long as either one of them are teaching!”  He said, storming out the door with Danny in tow.

  “I’ll make sure he doesn’t take any detours,” Severus said, quickly tailing them.

  “No, wait!”  Jennifer said, running out into the hallway just as they disappeared down the stairs.

  “Jennifer, you can’t stop him,” Minerva warned.  “We can’t force him to keep her here, you know that.”

  “I’ll go to the Ministry and file a blasted injunction tonight!”  Jennifer said, “We can’t just stand here!”  Just then, Jennifer heard Danny, calling out a name in a panicked voice.  As she ran out to the hallway, she heard another voice, calling Danny’s name in return.  Looking in the Trophy Room, Jennifer didn’t see anyone, and was about to brush it off when she heard an eerily familiar voice.

  “Jennifer, you’re not going to be able to help her tonight, no matter what you do.  Save it until the morning.  Don’t worry, she’s not going unprotected,” the woman’s voice said.  Jennifer looked around curiously, not seeing anyone but Minerva, standing in the hall, looking at her with a puzzled expression on her face as well.  “I’m right here, child, right above you.  And don’t think I’m not worried about the girl as well, she’s told me things I doubt she’s told anyone else.”  Jennifer took a few steps back looking above the door, her face turning as white as a sheet as she saw who was speaking.  “Whatever you do, don’t you dare give up until we’ve got her away from him,” Caprica finished, a spark of determination in her eyes.

  “M…Minerva?”  Jennifer rasped out,  “MINERVA!”  She yelled as the other woman rushed in, looking up at where the younger Professor was and turning just as white.

  “Gracious heavens, she’s awake!”  Minerva said, with the same surprised shaky voice that Jennifer had the moment before. 

  “Dumbledore…must tell…”  Jennifer said as Caprica sighed softly, and shook her head at them.

  “There’s no need to panic…”

  “Stay here, don’t let her out of your sight!  I’m going to go send for him right away!”  Minerva said, rushing out the door.

  “Honestly, I swear that any time any of us wake up it’s scream this and panic that.  I am so glad I asked those children to keep it quiet for awhile so I could get up to date on the goings on of this place.  But I just have to say, my goodness, you’ve been busy, haven’t you, descendent of Janus,” she said with a look of such mischief that for a moment she reminded Jennifer of Dumbledore.

  “Children…you mean, there were students that knew about…oh no…you’re the painting they’ve been talking to, Corey and the others…” Jennifer said.  “Great stars, how long have you been awake?”

  “Since Halloween, to be perfectly honest.  Now, Jennifer, please don’t get upset with the boy, he meant no harm, and I think I might have woken up on my own soon anyhow, I really was only dozing…”

  “Craters!  Corey was the one that had to clean the Trophy Room that night!”  Jennifer said with a groan.

  “Goodness, no need for that sort of language, dear.  It’s not the end of the world.  That only comes when all of us are awake,” Caprica laughed.  “No, dear, please relax.  Pull up a chair and put your feet up, no need to wear out the floor.”  It wasn’t long after she bit off the last of the nails that she heard footsteps running down the hall and Severus turned in with a watch in hand and a concerned look on his face.

  “What’s wrong, what is it?  The ring has been flashing grey and white ever since I left,” he asked.  Jennifer simply pointed up and his eyes followed, widening when the portrait smiled at waved her fingers at him.

  “Hello, Severus dear, I’m Professor Dusthorn, first appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts.  I suppose this means Danny’s gone?”  She said in a much more sober voice.  “She and I spoke quite a bit when we were in quarantine.  If only I weren’t just a painting.”

  “Wait, she knows Danny, how long has this thing been awake?”  Severus demanded.

  “This thing?  Well, I like that,” Caprica sniffed.

  “Halloween,” Jennifer said, looking at him with dread.  “A student woke her.”  Severus blinked at her once then groaned knowingly, covering his face.

  “I should have known,” Severus muttered under his breath.  “Yes, Danny and her father left, Professor.  He got exactly what he wanted, and I played right into it.”

  “Don’t blame yourself, Severus, it’s not your fault he’s the way he is,” Jennifer told him gently.

  “What’s done is done, you’re only human, after all, and professors at that.  Oh, we might be able to pull off a miracle from time to time, but there are limits,” Caprica said.  “Now all that’s important is to find a way to get her back to Hogwarts and into a safer home.”

  “What are we going to tell the students when they ask where she went?” Jennifer asked softly.

  “Oh, I’m sure they’re figure it out soon enough after what had happened,” Severus said with a scowl.  “What we need to be doing now is pulling all the information we’ve collected and hand it over to the Ministry.  It’s really out of our hands now, all we can do is offer what we know and hope it’s enough.”

  It was then that Dumbledore arrived, looking quite calm and unsurprised while Minerva followed behind him, looking much more worried.

  “I had a feeling when that necklace showed up again that it was you, Caprica,” Dumbledore said, looking sternly up at the painting.  “It certainly explains some of the odd events that have been happening in the school over the last few months.”

  “I’m sorry, Albus, but there were things I had to do before I spoke with you.  I’m not here for you, you know.  I woke up for entirely different reasons,” she reassured him.  “But in the process I’ve made some friends, and one of which you well know is in danger right now.  Not that her alternatives are that much better, since I assume you know by now where she got the potion from.”  Dumbledore nodded to her.

  “Yes, I learned that when I went to visit her the other day.  The day she had gotten sick she had gone to the station, and met her uncle there.  He was the one who gave her the potion, to give her an alternative to going home should she choose to drink it,” Dumbledore said.

  “Malfoy was at the station?”  Severus scowled, thinking that was much closer than he would have liked.

  “What was he thinking, giving Danny a potion like that?”  Minerva said.

  “The point I think was that she decided for herself to take it,” Jennifer said.  “Probably knowing full well what the potion did…if that’s not a cry for help, nothing is.  We can’t just leave her there.”

  “Jennifer, I know what you’re thinking,” Dumbledore said, shaking her head at her.  “But I can’t possibly give you permission to go after her.  We’re not her parents, and like it or not, we’re going to have to do it by the book this time,” he said gently.  “I suggest you prepare statements for the Ministry.  I will talk to Arthur myself about this matter, and I think I’ll take Anna with me, she has quite a bit of experience with this sort of thing in the Muggle courts.  In the meantime, perhaps the two of you should head to the medical ward to get that hand looked at while I discuss some things with Professor Dusthorn.  Oh, and Severus…seven o’clock tomorrow, and I expect you shouldn’t be making any extended plans for the next few months,” he said, looking at him over the rim of his glasses.  Severus grimaced slightly and nodded, following Jennifer out and down the hall.

  “Don’t be too hard on them, Albus.  Those two still have a long road ahead of them,” Caprica said with a slight smile.  Minerva frowned at the painting puzzled, but Dumbledore nodded. 

  “That much, I think, is certain,” he said.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tight Spaces

 

  On the first of February, ice-cold rain washed over the snowy grounds and crisped the windows in a coated haze, filtering grey light into the Great Hall.  It matched the moods of the three boys sitting there who were not really interested in their books or even games let alone their warm spiced ciders.  Instead, they propped their heads in their hands and stared out the windows and at the fireplaces with lost expressions.

  “I got my first high mark ever in Muggle Studies, and I can’t even gloat,” Corey sighed.  “What’s the point in studying?  No one there to come in second to.”

  “I shouldn’t even be in the tournament.  By all rights, I’d have been out of losses right now,” Doug said.  “I think I’ll cancel my study time with Gail.  I can’t concentrate enough to put on charms with a girl.”

  “Stop it, both of you,” Taylor said, putting down his hand angrily.  “All you’re thinking about are yourselves, when one of our best friends is in real danger.”

  “Calm down, Taylor.  The Professors are doing what they can.  My aunt said she’s worked with abuse cases before, she’ll get her out of there.  Besides from what I hear, they’ve been corresponding with Vallid about it too.”

  “But it’s been a week,” Taylor said.  “Something awful might happen to her before they ever get around to doing anything.  You know how the government is.  If only she’d speak up.  But she’s too afraid.”

  “Sounds to me as if she’s been talking more to you than either of us then,” Corey said.

  “Maybe it’s because I’m the only one who’s actually listening,” Taylor said.  “I’m going up to the Owlery to feed Redwing.”  Doug shook his head at their friend as Taylor left and turned back to watching the cinnamon stick in his drink stir itself around in circles. 

  “I wonder why she left her familiar here, anyhow?”  Doug wondered.

  “She left everything here,” Corey answered.  “Liam said they had Lisa pack up her things and had them sent back.  Dunno why Redwing wasn’t sent.  Maybe her father doesn’t like owls either.”

  “Is there anything he does like besides money?”  Doug asked.  “My Dad really hates him…when I mentioned this summer I studied with Danny sometimes he recommended I steer clear from him.  He went to school with him, and I guess he was already pretty bad then.”

  “Well, I think the whole school knows how my Dad thinks of him,” Corey said, getting a grin as a response from Doug.

  “You should have been there, Corey, I wish Taylor had been near his camera at the time.”

  “I just wish we could do something to help Danny,” Corey said with a sigh, propping his head back up.  Suddenly he was aware of a shadow behind him and Doug was looking above his head, slightly on edge.   Severus frowned at Corey with a distinct look of disapproval before glancing across at Doug and back again.

  “Isn’t there anything more productive you could be doing, Mr. Willowby?   Homework, or your term paper perhaps?” he asked in a warning tone.  “And you, Mr. Brim.  Considering how much time you’ve been spending ‘studying’ in the library lately, it’s amazing that you’re managing to pass my class at all.  I suggest that the two of you had better work on your marks and minding your own business for a change before you find yourselves any more over your heads than you already are for waking up and speaking with Professor Dusthorn,” he said, leaning over to look straight at Corey.  “And let’s try to be a bit more discriminative about our wording in the future, shall we?”

  “Yes, sir.  Sorry,” Corey said and made a show of gathering up his books.  Giving them both one last cursory look, Severus headed over to speak to the Starling twins at the Slytherin table.

  “I swear every time I look around he’s hovering over you,” Doug said in a low voice.  “What did he mean by that last bit, anyhow?”

 “Oh, that.  He meant that if we were at home instead of Hogwarts I’d have just got in a lot more trouble for a word I just used,” Corey said.  Doug tried to go over their conversation in his head with a puzzled look on his face, not seeing anything wrong with what was said.  “Never mind, but we better head out before he comes back, I’m really not in the mood to talk if he decides to ask me in his office.”

  It was as they were leaving that they met Taylor, looking a bit concerned.

  “Redwing’s gone.  She wasn’t up there, and didn’t even come when I called,” Taylor said.

  “So what?  She was probably off somewhere, it’s not like those owls ever stay in one place, even when they’re not running letters,” Doug shrugged.

  “You don’t know her like I do, she’s extremely picky about being on time, especially about when she eats,” Taylor said.

  “Then she’s probably out hunting,” Corey said.  “Don’t worry so much, Taylor.  She can take care of herself, you know.  Familiars are anything but stupid.”

  “What about Gail’s cat?” Doug chortled.

  “Alright, most familiars aren’t,” Corey said.  “Especially Cheshire, he’s ten times smarter than that old Bixby of hers.  Her stupid cat would get lost chasing its tail,” he said.  “I suppose we won’t get into any trouble for running up to the Owlery before it gets late, and I happen to know Redwing’s mother from sending letters to Essie last year.  Perhaps she can give us some clue where she’s gone.”

  It was a long way to the tower following a narrow hallway and a winding stair, and the farther up they went the colder it became.  Soft winds howled outside from the miserable weather, and the air was full of icy rain that occasionally dripped in from the open windows.  Still, the owls seemed comfortable enough in their nests and perches, especially those on the higher perches.

  “Hello Hethren, Hermes, Greywinder!  Zephyra, do you have a moment?”  Corey asked, stepping over to the head owls.  A large brown tawny owl lighted on Corey’s arm in response, looking at him expectantly.  “Would you happen to know where Redwing is?  Taylor’s worried about her.  Is she hunting?  No?  Carrying a letter maybe?”  The owl turned its head around and back.  “No to that as well.”

  “I’m not surprised about the last one, I can’t even get her to take a note to Danny.  She leaves, but she keeps returning it,” Taylor said.

  “Maybe she just can’t get to Danny,” Doug said.  Zephyra suddenly hopped over to the other boy’s shoulder, bobbing her head.

  “So, Redwing probably has been trying to get to Danny for awhile, but can’t do it, and can’t even get any letters to her,” Corey said, earning another enthusiastic nod from the owl.  “Is where Danny’s at Secret-kept?”  The owl turned its head again.  “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to take a look and see if you can’t get a letter to Danny?”  The owl didn’t respond for a moment before raising a talon.  Corey looked at the others.  “I think she’s willing to give it a go.  If any owl here can manage to get a letter to Danny, Zephyra can, she’s one of Dumbledore’s favorite owls.  All we need now is a note.”

  “Hang on a minute, I think I got some paper here somewhere,” Doug said, shuffling through his pockets and pulling out a folded sheet looking at it to make sure it was blank.  Taylor sniffed at it.

  “It stinks like cologne.  Don’t tell me it’s your love note paper.”

  “Well, girls like that kind of stuff.  Unless either of you want to climb all the way down the tower and get more,” Doug said, taking out a Never-dry quill.

  “Just ask her how she is, tell her about the owls and ask what the situation is,” Corey said, Doug nodding as he leaned against the top of the stair rail and wrote that down. 

  “And tell her I’ve been trying to write her every day but I couldn’t get through,” Taylor added, earning a thoughtful look from Doug.

  “Is there something about you and Danny we oughtta know about?”  Doug asked.  Taylor’s face pinkened slightly.

  “No!  No, don’t be silly, we’re just friends, same as you guys.  All for one and all that, remember?”  Taylor said.

  “Actually, that’s a gives me an idea…don’t sign it by our normal names, Doug, just in case her father finds it,” Corey said.  “Sign it by the code names we worked out for passing notes.”

  “Check,” Doug said, finishing the note and folding it up, handing it to Corey who handed it to Zephyra.

  “All right girl, you know what to do, just make sure nobody else in that house sees you,” Corey said, giving the owl the message.

  “You sure you’re not going to get in trouble for using one of the head owls?”  Taylor said worriedly, as Zephyra headed out.

  “Don’t worry, I think Dumbledore will understand,” Corey reassured him, going over the window to watch her go.  The rain had finally stopped, but it was still quite cold and breezy, the stars covered by thick grey clouds with only wan streaks of moonlight sifting through from time to time as they moved past.  A warm flash of light appeared down below near the border of the Forest, and Corey gazed at it thoughtfully for a moment, realizing it was some sort of spell.  Professors going into the Forest for patrol, Corey guessed, wondering how it had gotten so late.  “We’d best be getting back down,” he said, turning around.  “Don’t worry, Taylor.  I’m sure we’ll hear news soon.  Leave your windows open just in case we hear something tonight.”

  “And if not?”  Taylor asked.

  “Then we wait,” Corey sighed.  “What else can we do, after all?”

 

  Jennifer felt her chill leave her as the spell took effect, smiling gratefully as Severus called up a wisp light.  Severus wished he could have convinced Jennifer to stay closer to home, but knew from experience that arguing the point would do little to persuade her.  At least over time she had become a lot more cautious than she had been when she had first come to Hogwarts, and better prepared to deal with any situation.  Still, that offered little comfort knowing how questionable her magic was right now, only having her concocted arsenal of potions to protect her from the evils that now clung to every dark crack and shadow of the Forest.  If Jennifer noticed his concern she didn’t show it, her mind wandering over other things as they walked.

  “We should probably stop off at the cabin first and drop off the draughts for Lupin, considering how late it’s getting,” Severus said, glancing at his watch.  “Then Dumbledore wants us to find a suitable site to lay the trap for the wraith, somewhere far enough from the mound that it won’t be able to pull from it but close enough it might be attracted to us if it’s near.”

  “What about that open area just past the mound where Anna and I were attacked last year?”  Jennifer suggested.  “It may be far from the castle, but it is close enough to Hogsmeade that if something goes wrong, we won’t be too far from help.”

  “That reminds me.  I’d like you to take Ruby and act as point.  From the air you’ll be able to keep track of movements we may not be able to on the ground and seek help before we’re even aware we need it.”

  “And conveniently get me out of the line of fire as well,” Jennifer said knowingly.

  “Jennifer, we’ll need a point regardless, and you’re the most logical choice for the position,” Severus said testily.  “Your magic is too weak to do any good below, potions can just be easily thrown from above, and you know how to handle a flying mount under pressure.  Not to mention it’ll be the easiest way for you to get in and out since you cannot Disapparate.”  Jennifer looked at him thoughtfully.

  “You’re mad at me,” she accused him.

  “Frustrated would be a more accurate.  You have nothing to prove to anyone, Jennifer, especially not to me,” Severus said sternly.  “There’s no reason to take unnecessary risks just to convince everyone that you’re not a complete coward when the only one who actually thinks you are is yourself.”  Jennifer stared at him a moment before turning away, not saying anything.  “Alright, perhaps that was a bit harsh, but I spent too many years doing the same thing to not recognize it.”

  “I don’t take unnecessary risks.  Anymore,” Jennifer said.

  “Good, let’s keep it that way.  You’ll take point.”

  “Fine,” Jennifer said.  “As long as you’re not just doing it because you don’t think I can take care of myself.”

  “I wondered when you would pull out that line again,” Severus scowled at her.  “If I thought you’d be a liability, I’d put you to sleep in the castle until it was over.”

  “You would not, I can’t take sleeping potions while pregnant, you know that,” Jennifer said.

  “I wasn’t talking about potions,” Severus said evenly.  Jennifer stopped in surprise.

  “You wouldn’t dare!”  Jennifer said, folding her arms.  Severus stopped and turned to look at her, folding his arms as well.

  “Is that a challenge?”  He asked.

  “Jennifer?  Severus?” The two of them looked up to see Remus approaching, shaking his head at them.  “You know I heard you coming almost before I even smelled you.  You really need to be more careful out here.  I was starting to get worried you were going to be late…”

  “Nonsense, moonrise isn’t for another hour,” Severus said.  “But let’s get moving, shall we?”  Remus turned around and headed towards the cabin, while Jennifer met Severus’ gaze defiantly for a moment. Finally she turned and walked ahead of Severus, earning a swat to her backside, letting out a short ‘ow’ in surprise.  Remus turned to look at them, but they both just looked back at him expressionlessly.  Shrugging, Remus turned back around just as Jennifer stuck her tongue out at Severus, hustling to get out of range.  Shaking his head at his wife, Severus followed them into the cabin.

  Tape, glue, and lots of magic had been used to patch up the broken furniture, and from the looks of it, it had been patched up countless times, so that one could hardly tell the true wood from the patches.  Finding a stable surface, Jennifer unloaded the draughts, finding one still steaming to hand to him.

  “No signs of the wraith yet?”  Severus asked.

  “No, but then, being winter the symptoms of a wraith in the area isn’t quite as easily seen, the land is bare and there aren’t many signs of their passing.  They don’t even have a smell,” Remus said.

 “Something I’m sure we’re all grateful of,” Severus said.

“Unlike whatever that foul stench is wafting in from the North.  I swear it’s getting stronger by the hour,” Remus said, shutting the door to bar out the wind.

  “Stench?  I don’t smell anything,” Jennifer said.

  “To the North?  You haven’t looked into it yet?”

  “I wasn’t about to go exploring without a draught,” Remus said, downing the rest of it.  “There, now I’ll look into it.”

  “Wait, not alone.  We’ll go as well,” Severus said quickly, earning an inquisitive look from Jennifer.

  “Severus, I know Dumbledore’s orders, but I don’t think under the circumstances teamwork is really necessary, I am not going to be much company tonight,” Remus said.  “Whatever’s out there I’m sure I can handle it.”

  “No,” Severus said after a moment.  “Something doesn’t feel right.  I’d rather that we stay together,” he said, heading out the door.  “Lead on, Lupin.”  So unusual it was for Severus to have such an impulse without being able to explain it that neither Jennifer nor Remus was inclined to argue.  The icy rain had begun to pelt down again and Jennifer raised the hood of her cloak, her eyes on Remus’ back as he walked through the shadows of the trees.

  “I’ve never been in this part of the Forest before,” Jennifer said thoughtfully.

  “No, I daresay you haven’t, we tend to avoid it whenever possible.  It used to be home to a nest of Arachtrop spiders.”

  “What in the world was a species like that doing so far up North?”  Jennifer asked in surprise.

  “Hagrid,” Severus said simply.

  “Ah,” Jennifer said.

  “But the Centaurs claimed that they suddenly stopped seeing signs of them about, apparently they’re not too fond of wraiths,” Severus said.  Ahead, Remus had suddenly stopped, bringing their attention up to him as he stood on a large rock.

  “I think from the looks of things that it was the wraith that didn’t care for them,” Remus said.  As the other two worked their way onto the rock they fell into silence as they looked out onto a field of thousands of giant spider corpses, their legs curled up and their bodies on odd shade of grey, as if all the color drained out of them as surely as their lives were.

  “So, now we know what it’s been feeding on,” Severus said grimly.

  “So many,” Jennifer said in awe, “How can we possibly ever defeat this thing now?  If this happened after Hogsmeade, do you realize how big it may be?”

  “The spiders had no defenses that would have been capable of hurting a wraith,” Remus said, “They became easy prey.  I doubt it’ll find us or the Centaurs quite as easy to attack,” Remus said, climbing down and continuing.

  “Wait, where are you going now?” Severus frowned.  “This was the source of the smell you were speaking of, isn’t it?”  Remus shook his head.

  “No, it’s further in.  It’s a fowl smell…”

  “The entire area smells foul,” Severus muttered.

  “I meant more like a bird coup, nesting on rotten eggs,” Remus said thoughtfully. “I wonder if something took over the nest when the spiders were destroyed?”

  Jennifer grimaced at the thought, trying to contain her nausea at the scents around her.  What sort of revolting creature would possibly do such a thing?  But then as she thought about what Remus had just said the answer became incredibly clear, suddenly on guard.

  “Harpies,” Jennifer said, glancing at Severus.  He grimaced and took out a potion, drinking it down.

  “Remus, get back over here and take an anti charm potion.”

  “No reason, I’ll be changing soon now.  Just let me try and get a better look to see how many of them there are,” Remus said.

  “Why do I have a feeling we don’t want to know the answer to that?” Jennifer asked, taking out a misty yellow phial in case she needed something to throw.  Severus got out his wand; his eyes steady on Remus. 

  Remus carefully picked his way quietly across the field, moving like a cat to try and get a better look, stepping carefully over each skeletal body.  A shadow flickered against one of the trees, movement, perhaps, as well as a warning of the lightening sky.  He knew he would have to hurry then, then picked up the pace to take a quick look into the nest before turning back around.  But perhaps he went just a bit too fast, for as he moved to step back he lost his footing, his leg coming down hard on one of the remains that broke under his weight with a very loud snap.

  A horrible, ear-piercing squawk suddenly sounded, followed by several other cries, and Remus made a run for it as dozens of vulture-bodied creatures with grotesque women’s heads suddenly took flight.  Scrambling for his coat, Remus suddenly took out a long curved horn and blew it, the noise rippling in the air.  But the sound seemed to make the harpies even angrier, as one of them suddenly dove towards them and snatched Remus up in her claws.

  A blast of light shot from Severus’ wand, but the harpy who had Remus suddenly soared upward, the spell barely missing Remus as it shot underneath them.  Jennifer in the meantime had one of her own to contend with, soaring down with its talons ready for a grab, shrieking in rage.  Jennifer waited until the harpy was nearly on top of her before tossing the phial in the creature’s mouth, falling to her knees as the drowsy beast suddenly veered into a sturdy oak behind her.

  “Head into the brush!  We can’t take them all,” Severus ordered, rolling out of one’s grasp before casting an ice spell at it and freezing its wings, causing it to come crashing to the ground.

  “We can’t leave Remus!”  Jennifer shouted as she charged forward, intent on following the harpy who had latched onto him.  The harpy, however, was finding it had more than it had bargained for in trying to carry the wizard, who was attempting to ignite its feathers trying to make it let go.  The creature’s filthy plumage was not easy to catch fire, and the angry harpy dug its talon’s deeper into Remus’ side.  Crying out in pain, Remus dropped his wand, feeling his blood rushing in his head and heart beating rapidly as he tried to pry the claws away.  Suddenly the world began to spin, and Remus quickly realized it wasn’t his injury that had suddenly made his body react.  Looking down at his hand, he found proof enough that the moon had risen.

  “Jennifer, come back here before you get yourself killed!”  Severus said, cursing beneath his breath.  Jennifer, who had been running towards the struggling harpy, suddenly stopped short as a heart-rending howl sounded as Remus’ great claws began tearing at his captor’s talons.  The sudden weight he had gained had taken the harpy by surprise and within seconds they were tumbling to the ground. 

  Just then, as if answering the howl, a chorus of horns could be heard through the trees, and before Jennifer could move a volley of arrows and silver circlets moved past her towards targets above.  From just behind her, one of the harpies fell victim to the onslaught; while above the rest of them began to regroup.

  “Get on my back!”  A Centaur beside her ordered.  “Hurry!”  Jennifer, looking up and seeing Sagittari, moved quickly to do as she was told as he slung another circle at a harpy that had gotten too close, crashing through the wings and sending it spiraling to the ground.

  “We have to get to Remus!”  Jennifer said.

  “Heed your own skin and your child’s at the moment, Jennifer, this isn’t over yet,” Sagittari warned, pulling back towards the woods.  At the edge of the brush where the archers stood, Jennifer slid off, turning her attention back to the field.

  “Watch for my signal,” Ronan warned them as he paced the line,  “If it turns ill, we will head towards the caverns.  Even if they fear not the trees, they will not risk fighting us on our own terms.”

  “Look, over there!”  One of the Centaurs pointed where Firenze stood with Severus on his back, the flash of a magic wand and the circlets of the Centaurs streaking by as they tried to fend off numerous targets, backing up slowly as the onslaught continued, unable to keep up the pace.  Centaurs broke through the brush to help, charging like a stampede, and Jennifer desperate looked around until she saw what she was looking for.

  “Here, let me use that…” she said, pointing at the leather sling at one of the archers’ sides.

  “The circlets are a sacred symbol of our people. I’m sorry, but you cannot…”

  “Not those, just that,” Jennifer insisted, coaxing the archer into handing it over.  Getting into her cloak she grabbed hold of a phial and settled it back in the sling, hurling it at one of the harpies still hovering around Remus.  The phial exploded and the harpy suddenly took on a stone appearance, falling to the ground with a thud.

  “Brilliant device,” Jennifer said cheerfully, taking aim and launching another phial.  “Can I have one?”

  “Halt!  Hold fire!”  Ronan said suddenly, “Beware!  Get back!”  But for many, Ronan’s warning came too late.  The harpies, seeing their luck was turning had suddenly stopped their attacks and had begun to sing; an eerie, luring song that had already begun to work on the Centaurs along the front line.  Their hands went limp to their sides, calling out different names, as if suddenly seeing loved ones lost.  Firenze as well had been affected, and Severus had gotten down to help his friend while the harpies began to one by one pick up their helpless victims.

  “To the caverns!  To the caverns at once!”  Ronan ordered, firing circlets into the fray.  “Pull as many as you can with you, but heed your own lives first!”  Severus, who had managed to give Firenze a potion and get him away from the diving creatures, ran back to the lines out of breath and obviously relieved to see Jennifer already there.  “Come, wizards, we will fight from within where we can tend our wounded and protect from their foul charms.”

  “A few dozen less and I think I’d have the situation under control,” Severus commented to Jennifer as he shot a flare up from his wand.  “This is the last time I go exploring just because Remus says he smells something.”

  “Move, wizards!  Hurry, inside!”  Franz said insistently as he passed near them.  They followed behind him as quickly as they could, but Jennifer felt herself slowing when she saw the rough cavern entrance, barely wide enough to allow the greater Centaurs to pass through.

  “Come on, Jennifer, it’s a wide cavern on the other side, we’ll be safe there,” Sagittari insisted.

  “Safe?”  Jennifer said in disbelief.

  “Jennifer, we can’t stay out here,” Severus hissed.  As if in response, several brave harpies had plunged down passed the trees to get to them, clawing at the centaurs with their talons and trying to sing again.  “Quietus mute!”   Severus’ voice rang out, and the noise suddenly stopped as the harpy looked about in surprise for the culprit.  As they turned to lash at them, Severus and Jennifer dove in the opening, barely escaping the talons that had tried to reach in after them.

  Immediately several of the Centaur guards closed back in around the opening, now able to take them on one by one, the harpies realized they were at a disadvantage.  After several more minutes of constant screeching, they suddenly pulled back.

  Jennifer then had a chance to look around at the cavern.  It was almost circular, although slightly slanted in one direction, with a smaller corridor leading into darkness, perhaps to other caverns.  Torches had been lit, and the floor had been laid with overlapping rugs.  Pegs lined the walls, and Jennifer realized they were meant for weapons.  So, they were in a Centaur guard post of some kind, Jennifer realized.  Perhaps set up long ago when the spiders were here…the spiders, Jennifer shivered, all drained of all energy, and just empty shells for the harpies to consume.  It was little wonder that the harpies couldn’t resist such an effortless feast.  Or perhaps not so effortless, Jennifer thought.  They certainly hadn’t expected to meet anyone here.

  “Jennifer, Severus?  I could use a hand,” Sagittari said from across the room.  Jennifer looked up to see Severus watching her very carefully.  Ignoring the stare as well as the throbbing sensation returning to her head, Jennifer headed over to where Sagittari stood with several centaur doctors, looking over the charmed and wounded.  It was not long before Jennifer found herself digging through her cloak for potions and handing them out.  She was just starting to really wonder when she was going to get out of the cavern when suddenly there was a noise and a jolt as if something had crashed against the hill outside and a rain of dust fell off the ceiling above them.  Paralyzed with fear, Jennifer felt as if her lungs were collapsing, her head swimming dizzily when she finally remembered to breathe.  Just as she began to get up, another jolt happened again, causing another rain of dust to fall down.  Not wasting another second Jennifer went back over to the guards at the opening, who were standing speaking to Ronan.

  “…Just large rocks sir, nothing serious.  Doubt they’d do any real damage, they’re just hoping to collapse the entrance so they don’t have to worry about us.”

  “How long should it hold?”  Ronan asked calmly as another jolt hit.  But Jennifer had made up her mind not to wait around to find out, pushing passed the surprised guards without another thought and bursting through the entrance before anyone could stop her.

  Severus, still helping with the patients, heard her name called and immediately guessed what had happened and dove towards the cavern opening, ready for anything…or perhaps, almost.

  Jennifer had come out with complete intentions of fighting with whatever magic she could muster.  But when she came out she also saw that the harpies had attracted other enemies, and Unicorns were charging through the area, unaffected by the harpies’ cries.  As she reappeared outside the cave, a loud round of squawks of alarm went up and suddenly several of them came towards her at once, their talons poised as if to shred her to pieces.  Jennifer had little intention of going down with a fight.  Her heartbeat was calm now, and her head was clear as she brought her wand up, ready to make a last stand.

  That was when she heard a loud, defiant neigh, and Jennifer saw Keki, reared back with her head high standing on top of the hill, her horn glistening with a bright light.  Then, in a burst of colored light like Jennifer had never seen before, she was suddenly aware of an apparition taking shape around her in a coil.  She found herself surrounded by the largest snake she had ever seen, white and ghostly.  But the incorporeal snake didn’t seem concerned with her.  Instead, its head was titled towards the sky, and with lightning speed its mighty jaws struck the hideous creatures that came towards Jennifer, snapping their wings and brutally tossing them aside.  None that tried at getting close to her succeeded, but before Jennifer had time to really understand what was going on, several rays of flashing light flickered across the sky.   The harpies’ cries turned to ones of panic and terror for Dumbledore had come.

  Not only Dumbledore, but Archibald, Flitwick, Hooch, and Granger were there, picking off the harpies that stayed while many others turned wing and fled.  The ghostly snake, watching the scene carefully until the last of the creatures were driven away.  Without even giving her a glance, it suddenly uncoiled and turned into the semblance of a young woman, who walked over to the Unicorn Keki, putting a hand on her forehead.  The woman’s eyes were focused on Sagittari, who had burst out of the entrance a second after Severus, both of them standing quite dumbfounded at what had just occurred.  The woman suddenly dropped her hand, and with it dropped a long spear, clanking loudly on the ground at her feet.  Her eyes did not leave Sagittari for a long time, a slight smile appearing upon her face.  With a wave of her hand, the spear moved to the feet of the Centaur before the apparition disappeared completely.

  The abrupt disappearance of the woman had the effect of making everyone look around to get their bearings, and Severus wasted no time in getting to Jennifer’s side, face lined with worry and eyes flashing with anger.

  “What in the blazes were you thinking, going out there on your own?  Have you gone completely mad?  So much for your not taking foolhardy risks anymore!  Do you realize if that thing hadn’t shown up you’d probably be dead right now?”  Severus snapped furiously.

  “Better out dead here than in there,” Jennifer said back in a low, cold voice.

  “We were in no danger in there!  The cavern -“

  “Severus,” Dumbledore said.  His voice was barely above normal level, but had such a firm tone that everyone paused what they were doing.  “We can discuss this when we get back, there are other matters to attend to.  Stargazer, we will help you clean up this area, so that no other carrion driven creatures show up on our doorstep,” he said.

  “A controlled burning would be the most effective solution, Professor,” Filius suggested.  Dumbledore nodded, then turned to the Centaurs.  Ronan had nodded in return, but his eyes were quickly directed back at his son.

  Sagittari had very solemnly picked up the Spear, staring at it with a mixed expression of reverence and despair.   Neighing loudly, Keki suddenly dipped her head in a bow towards Sagittari, and the Centaurs quickly followed her example, their great fore knees bent as they each knelt in turn to the veterinarian. 

  “If there were ever a doubt that you were the one the fae had spoke of so many years ago, that doubt has now ended,” Ronan said, standing proudly before his son.  “It is high time that you cast away these wizard notions and take the responsibilities destined to you.”

  Sagittari looked at the Spear and then to Keki before returning his gaze to Ronan.

  “A wizard I am, and a wizard I’ll stay,” Sagittari said, loud enough for all to hear.  “I accept this Spear because I must, but I will not take back what I have already given away.”

  “But the one who wields it does not deserve this burden,” Ronan said sternly.

  “Neither do I,” Sagittari said.  “I deserve it less than anyone.  I follow the ways of wizards, and it is their magic I seek to understand, not the magic of the wild.”  Keki’s tail whipped to the side as if swatting at an invisible fly, before suddenly rearing and charging off to the Forest.

  “Stargazer Ronan, Wizard Dumbledore, I have found the Werewolf,” Franz announced. Everyone looked around to see him carrying an unconscious hulked form over his back, and Jennifer and Severus quickly rushed to his side, followed closely behind by Dumbledore.

  “He’s taken some bad injuries, and I’m out of healing potions,” Jennifer said, using cloth from her pocket to bandage Remus’ bleeding head.

  “We need to get him back to my office,” Sagittari said as he trotted forward. “Follow me, Franz.”

  “The rest of you to work,” Ronan said, as the Centaurs and the wizards turned their attention back to cleaning up.

 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Choices

 

  Jennifer woke the next morning still feeling exhausted from the long hours following the harpy attack.  She had been too tired to even dream, which was somewhat of a blessing, and even though she still felt weak on her feet she couldn’t stand looking at the closed windows a second longer and opened every one, stopping to take a breath out of each before pausing at the last to look out upon the wispy black smoke still rising from deep within the Forest.  She thought back on the strange events, trying to sort them out of her mind when the depression set in.  How could she have allowed herself to once again be overcome in that cave?  Had she just sit tight only a few moments longer the Professors would have been there, and it would have been over without incident.  It was bad enough when it was just her making a fool out of herself, but now it was starting to take over her life, and she knew it.

  The fire in the fireplace behind her suddenly burst into flames, and Jennifer saw movement from the corner of her eye.

  “Do you mind if we at least close one or two of the windows?”  Severus asked, his voice sounding strained.  Jennifer glanced over at him, but already knew the reason behind it, turning back to the window.

  “You know, Severus, I think maybe you were right,” Jennifer said, brushing snow off the windowsill so that she could lean on it.  “Maybe I have gone completely mad.”

  “I didn’t really mean that,” Severus said somberly, getting up and throwing on his robes.

  “You may not mean it now, but you did at the time.  You’ve never said anything to me you didn’t mean,” Jennifer said.  “Over the last two years, this fear thing has done nothing but become more and more out of control and I know it.  I’m so tired of the nightmares.  So tired of the memories that haunt me anytime I go into my own office, or into any dark space.  I tried to put it in the Pensieve, but it didn’t work…the fear kept gnawing on me until I had to take it back again.”  Severus put his hands on her shoulders thoughtfully, his solemn expression mirrored in the open windows.

  “Jennifer, you are the one of the bravest people I know, and someone never willing to give up without a fight.”

  “But I have been fighting it, Severus, I’m just losing every battle,” Jennifer said with frustration.  Severus gazed thoughtfully at her a moment.

  “Just what are you fighting, Jennifer?  Are you actually facing the fear itself?  Or are you only fighting your reactions?”  Severus asked.  Jennifer turned around and met his gaze, wondering if he wasn’t close to the mark.  Before she could think too long on it there was a knock on the door, and Severus excused himself to answer it.

  “Professor Dumbledore’s called a meeting to go over yesterday’s events,” Jennifer heard Minerva’s voice say.  “We’ll be joining him in his study in a half an hour.”

  “We’ll be there,” Severus said, closing the door and turning his attention back to Jennifer.  But Jennifer had already turned over the tea tray and headed in to get ready, her mind already focusing back on her work again.  Frowning slightly, Severus went over and closed the windows, getting his own things together.

 

  Dumbledore smiled warmly as the two of them arrived and took their seats next to Minerva, while Sagittari stood nearby, the Spear carefully wrapped with leathers and strapped to his back.  Jennifer couldn’t remember the Cntaur ever looking quite so solemn as now, and Jennifer’s curiosity on the matter was increasing by the instant as she noticed Caprica Dusthorn sneaking into one of the sleeping Headmaster’s frames, watching quietly.

  “Now that we’re all here and settled, we should start with an update on Remus’ condition,” Dumbledore said, looking over at the Centaur.

  “It actually looked worse than it was, Professor.  Werewolves do have some healing ability while they’re in their form, and most of the wounds were broken bones, and a head injury was from the fall.  He does some very serious talon wounds on his shoulders that are infected, and I’m monitoring those, but right now he’s much too exhausted from his transformation to be in any pain from it.  I suspect he’ll be staying with me for a few more days,” Sagittari said.

  “I’ll bring over the rest of his potions and anything you need then,” Jennifer offered.

  “How many Centaurs were lost?”  Dumbledore asked quietly.

  “Three of Ronan’s younger guards fell pray to the charms and were killed,” Sagittari sighed.  “But most were saved and brought in before any more harm could be done to them.  It is lucky that Jennifer and Severus carry so many potions with them, or we might have lost some of the worst injured.”

  “Yes, they do seem to make a point of being prepared for about anything, don’t they?’ Dumbledore said, noticing the private exchange of glances between the couple.  “How did you discover the nest, Severus?”

  “Actually, it was Lupin who discovered it, although at the time he was only tracking a scent and we didn’t realize what we had found until it was too late.  The spiders themselves I think have been dead for some time, however I doubt the harpies had been there long or we probably would have noticed sooner.”  Severus replied.

  “Yes, I also doubt they had been there long, but it is just as well you got there before we had a brood on our hands,” Dumbledore said.  “Of course, it’s possible the wraith might have disposed of the problem eventually, but the last thing we want is to see it get any bigger.”

  “Sir, if the wraith is after easy prey, perhaps we should check with the Muggles and see if there are any farms in the area suffering from any odd losses?”  Jennifer suggested.

  “Yes, we should.  See if you can’t get with the Ministry about that,” Dumbledore agreed.  “The Centaurs shall be working to restore the area of the Forest that was damaged, and Professor Sprout will need an escort out there to help them, Severus.  I’m sure between Sagittari and yourself you can get her there safely.  Now, lets see, what else do we need to cover?”  Dumbledore asked.

  “I, for one, would like an explanation about what or who stepped in and saved Jennifer yesterday, and why did it give you a Spear, and why, exactly, did all the Centaurs feel that the event was so significant?”  Severus asked, giving Sagittari an almost accusing look.  Dumbledore sat back and folded his arms, looking at Sagittari thoughtfully.  Sagittari sighed then, looking at everyone in turn before nodding slightly.

  “Very well, I suppose there are some things I should tell you, things that are connected to what just happened in many ways, although I admit there are parts of it that I myself don’t understand,” Sagittari said.

  “A long time ago, in the day when faerie folk were common, the Centaurs did as they always had upon the winter solstice and looked to the stars.  But the stars had changed in a way that no one of that time had foreseen, for the constellations that once housed the secrets of the greatest of the fae races had disappeared from the sky.  It was on that day that we knew they were leaving our lands forever.  The seal that had once released them in this world was complete again, and with it, all of the pure faeries went with them to escape the lands of man, which had become destructive in its endless wars.

  “But there was some consideration to make for what would happen when they left, for many creatures which still possessed in whole or in part the wild magic would need counsel when they were gone.  So, it was decided to name the next Sentinel of wild magic from those they would leave behind, to watch after those that still followed the old ways and kept the balance in this world.  The woman that they had chosen was half pooka, who they say had often walked among the centaurs as one of us.  It was from her that we first became allies with the Wizard folk, for everyone respected Caprica Dusthorn.”  Jennifer blinked at surprise, looking back at the painting in amazement.  The painting winked and put her finger to her lips, turning back to watch the Centaur.

  “For many long centuries, we have lived under the guidance of the Sentinel of Wild Magic, each choosing a worthy descendant, and so it continued until several decades ago, when the current Sentinel grew ill with a sickness none of our kind or wizard kind could cure.  In his final words he promised that it would not be left empty for long, that a Centaur would be born that would possess the powers necessary for one to take over this position, and restore the balance that Merlin had set out so carefully to preserve.  And, it is of the opinion of most of my people,” Sagittari said with a sigh.  “That the Centaur he spoke of was me, for I was born the night he died, and the stars under which I was born foretold of greatness.”

  “And what about you, Sagittari?  What do you believe?”  Dumbledore asked.

  “I believe any greatness destined for me I would like to acquire in my own way, and in my own time.  They expected me to become like my father and head the Constellation.  I have only wanted to be a wizard from the time I was old enough to travel to the Forest border.  It is my chosen destiny, and I will not let them take it away from me,” Sagittari said firmly.

  “Wait a minute, there’s something I’m not sure I understand,” Jennifer said.  “I thought the Sentinels of Magic are all wizards, including the Wild Magic Sentinel.  So why can’t you be both?”

  “Not all Sentinels are wizards,” Sagittari said.

  “But they’d have to be, to do their job well, wouldn’t they?  If Merlin established them to keep the balance, wouldn’t they all then have to have a working knowledge of the other three magics to be able to perform it correctly?”  Jennifer asked.

  “Yes, Jennifer,” Dumbledore said before Sagittari could respond.  “If all was as it should be, each Sentinel would, or should, be capable of just that.  Each guardian must share the full responsibility for their position with the others, as well as be able to perform whatever duties happen to come with their particular branch of magic.  But sometimes things get turned around over time.  It may take years, even generations, to put things back to the way they should be.”  Sagittari gave Dumbledore a hard look in the silence that followed.

  “You would have me take this destiny placed on me, if it were up to you,” Sagittari said to him.

  “Sagittari, it is not for anybody but you to decide that,” Dumbledore said, shaking his head.  “But I will say that the one who holds the knowledge and the title now is not someone who ever should have had it placed upon her, be she willing to take it or not.  She is wise, it is true, and quite powerful for one of her kind, but it is not her nature to make her own decisions in the way of the world; her purity prevents her from ever being able to touch that which she has been forced to rule.”

  “Wait a moment,” Jennifer said, looking between their faces to confirm her suspicious.  “It’s Keki, isn’t it?  Keki was given the knowledge of the Sentinel of Wild Magic.  And it was she, the glint off her horn…she was the one who called the snake apparition to protect me!”

  “Yes, although she has not the power of the wizard within her, she has the knowledge to call great sources of wild magic to her aid should she need it.  But the one she had attempted to call is quite far, long passed from the borders of this world, and if it hadn’t been St. Bride’s Day, I doubt she could have summoned her at all.”

  “Of course,” Severus whispered amazement, continuing in a low voice.  “It was a manifestation of Brigid that came to her aid.”

  “In this, Jennifer’s pregnancy, and her past relationship with Keki probably saved her life,” Dumbledore said with a slight smile.  “Amazing how the choices that we make ever seem to come back over and over again when we least expect it.  But if I do say so myself, you seem to be doing a good job of making the right decisions,” he said with a wink at Jennifer.

  “And I have not,” Sagittari challenged.

  “I believe that’s something only you can decide, Sagittari,” Dumbledore said simply.

 

  After spending the rest of the day at the Broom Closet with Alex and Severus, Jennifer hurried over to Sagittari’s hut to help with the Saturday dinner.  Both were unusually quiet, neither really wanting to talk about what had happened, concentrating only on the baking lesson and the promise of company.  Hermione and Ron were the first to arrive, their laughter announcing their presence before they even knocked.  Jennifer let them in with a smile.

  “Mmm, something smells wonderful,” Hermione said as she often did as Ron hung up their coats.

  “Well, hopefully it tastes like it smells this time, it was my turn to make desert again,” Jennifer chuckled at herself.  “I don’t think I’m cut out for pastry.”

  “Oh, go on, the last baklava you made wasn’t bad.  At least, it wasn’t as heavy as Hagrid’s old rock cakes,” Ron teased.

  “Well, we’re ready to celebrate tonight, Ron just got a promotion,” Hermione said proudly.

  “Congratulations!  What did you get promoted to?  Obituaries?”  Jennifer asked with a straight face.

  “Touché, Jennifer.  No, I’m on the second page, government column,” Ron said.

  “I thought you were already doing that column?”  Sagittari inquired.

  “I was, just not officially assigned to it,” Ron admitted.  “I guess they got tired of calling me out of those silly sentimental stories to poke about the Ministry, so went ahead and moved me.  Percy wasn’t so keen on it, but he realizes he won’t be able to get rid of me in any case.”

  There was another knock, and this time Ron made it to the door first, opening it wide to let Sirius and Anna in.  Jennifer couldn’t help but give Sirius a long look; he so different was from when they had first met.  The haunted expression in his eyes had completely been swept away, and there was somehow a new sincerity in the complements he had always thrown out so easily before.  His arm rested comfortably on Anna’s shoulder as they came in, and after whispering something to his tired wife settled her into her chair, taking the one beside her.

  “Hello, again, Anna.  Finally able to pull yourself away from the Ministry, were you?” Ron inquired.  Anna, gratefully accepting the tea Sagittari handed her nodded to Ron, taking a sip.

  “It’s been a long frustrating two weeks,” Anna admitted.  Jennifer looked over at her with concern.

  “Danny?”  Jennifer asked.  Anna nodded.

  “Oh, the signs are all there.  I’ve no more doubt about that, but the signs are all based on second hand accounts by teachers who’ve had only token educations in psychology if any at all…”

  “I think experience with students should count for something, Truth-seeking aside,” Jennifer said.  “Many of the other members of staff who gave statements have been here over a decade or more.”

  “Surely you have enough evidence to at least have someone talk to her,” Hermione said. 

  “Hermione, if she’s living with him, she’s not about to risk saying something and have to face the consequences when she returns home with him again,” Anna said, “and knowing Nelson, he’ll insist on being present at any talk.”

  “This is ridiculous.  If he were using a silly cursed item or something the Ministry would be on him in a moment, and yet here we wonder if he’s a fit parent and can’t even look into it,” Jennifer said.  Sirius looked at her thoughtfully.

  “You know, Jennifer has a point,” he said, looking over at Anna.  “The Nelson’s probably have quite a few heirloom items in the house…if someone suspected that there might be illegal devices among them, the Ministry might consider a raid…and that might uncover something.”

  “At the very least, it’ll let Danny know she’s not forgotten, since we’ve had little luck getting any word to her,” Jennifer said excitedly.  “I think it’s worth a shot, what do you think Anna?”

  “I think you might be onto something.  I’ll talk to Ederick about it first thing tomorrow,” Anna agreed.  Jennifer grimaced slightly, but Anna ignored it.  “If we’re really lucky we might find some illegal items to boot.  Since Nelson seems so fond of money, it’ll be nice to see him lose it for a change.”

  “Fond of it?  The man doesn’t value anything that has no profit in it,” Sirius grunted.  “I wonder what price tag he puts on his daughter when he adds her into the books.”  Anna stared at Sirius for a long time, before an enigmatic smile crept across her face.

  “I think I might have an idea,” Anna said.  “Mind going to London with me tomorrow?”

  “Sure,” Sirius shrugged.  Jennifer looked over at Anna carefully for a long time before nodding approvingly.  It was time to try and strike Nelson where his heart was.

 

  The Ministry was already bustling the next day when Jennifer arrived in the Muggle Affairs’ office, going over the newspapers with one of the clerks.  A loud commotion erupted across the hall in the Protection office, and suddenly several operatives came in, as well as Minister Peasegood, who grinned broadly at her.

  “Well, yours and Sirius’ tip paid off, Jennifer.  We were able to confiscate quite a number of illegal artifacts from the Nelson manor, most of them designed for charming or manipulating people against their will,” he told her.

  “Why am I not surprised?”  Jennifer said, putting down her paper.  “What about Danny?  Did you see her at all?”

  “She has a room in the basement…no fireplace, no windows,” he said grimly.  “I couldn’t really talk to her, though, he kept her under thumb when we insisted going down there.  In fact, we pulled several items from that room, hidden in a cache in the wall.  Unfortunately, I also found something that I don’t think Nelson was meant to see,” he added.  “A letter that somehow managed to get through from Hogwarts.”

  “A letter?  Just one?”  Jennifer frowned.  She herself had sent quite a few, and she was quite sure others had as well.

  “Yes, but he seemed quite furious about it being there.  But I think I’ve seen more than enough to convince myself things aren’t right.  I’m going to ask Arthur for a Ministry order to allow her to be brought in for questioning,” he said.

  “Oh, Arnie, that’s the best news I’ve heard all week,” Jennifer said, hugging him with relief.  “How did she look, is she alright?”

  “She looked overly pale but otherwise seemed all right,” Arnie said, patting her reassuringly.  “Don’t worry, Professor, we’ll get her out.”

  “Minister Peasegood!”  Jennifer and Arnie looked up to see Penelope in the door, slightly out of breath.  “Minister, I just let Mr. Nelson in upstairs, he’s quite furious and demanding to see Minister Weasley.”

  “Well, that didn’t take him long did it?” Arnie grinned.  “Come on, let’s see what the old bugger has to say.”  Jennifer put down her work and followed, slipping into the back of the Ministry office beside him.

  “Mr. Nelson, surely you can not deny that these items were found in your house…”

  “I am not here to deny, I am here to find out just exactly who accused me and what evidence you had to confirm it!”

  “Mr. Nelson, I’m sure you’re quite aware that these raids go on from time to time, and with all the incidents that occurred last year involving illegal artifacts…”

  “Minister, I hope you’re not trying to imply that you think me guilty on the mere coincidence that these started the year that I arrived.   I returned for practical business reasons, and if you will look at my records, you will find that the devices in question are actually licensed in Germany.”

  “And yet you did not choose to do the same here…perhaps because you knew that you would be asked to hand them over,” Arthur said.  “I used to be the one in charge of conducting these raids, Mr. Nelson, and something about someone who deals with Muggles every day in and around their manor and possessing so many devices designed to control them makes me wonder.”

  “Wonder all you like, Minister Weasley, but unless you have the evidence to prove that I have done any wrong except for collecting a few trinkets over the years that you don’t approve of, I suggest you drop it and return to the subject at hand.  I want a list of your informers,” Nelson snarled.

  “Pardon me, Minister, I hope we’re not interrupting,” Arnie said almost cheerfully as both men glanced back at them.  “I just got back and was going over some things with Professor Craw when I heard that you arrived.  What’s wrong, Nelson, did I miss something that you would like to go ahead and turn in so I don’t have to do another raid at your house?”

  “I want a copy of the warrant!  And I want that woman out of here, what is she doing here?”  Nelson said, his eyes flashing at her.  “You had something to do with this, didn’t you?”

  “I happen to be here looking over some school business concerning adjacent property and its recent effect on Muggles, not that it’s of any interest to you,” Jennifer said calmly.  “Minister Peasegood asked me along, and I have to admit I couldn’t help but be a bit curious as to why you were here.”

  “Here’s a copy of the warrant,” Arnie said calmly, handing over a folded paper to him, “As you can see, it was signed by Deputy Minister Thurspire and the Head Magistrate Archimedes Muse himself.”

  “Thurspire?  That insult to the Department of Investigations?  I’ll have his job for this…”

  “For what?  It can’t be false accusations,” Arnie challenged.  “In point of fact, it was the most profitable raid I had all month.  Oh, and while we’re on the subject, Minister Weasley, I had a great deal of trouble getting past Mr. Nelson to ask his daughter anything about her knowledge of the cursed items, and from the looks of things in that household, it appears that there is sufficient enough evidence to suspect a cover up of some kind.  I also find it particularly odd that her accommodations at home are but one unheated basement, sparsely furnished, and filled only with what appears to be accounting ledgers.  She might be doctoring the books, Minister.”

  “How dare you!  The girl is barely thirteen years old and you accuse her of such illegal activity?  Outrageous!”

  “Oh, I’m not accusing her of illegal activity, Mr. Nelson.  If there is any going on in that house, I am quite sure, regardless of whose handwriting it is, the blame lies strictly on yourself,” Arnie said.

  “She may help me with the books, but there is no crime in a daughter helping with the family business, and you will find that the numbers will all match up,” Byron said coldly, gritting his teeth slightly to control his temper.  “As for her room being in the basement, she was moved there to protect her from all the unsolicited letters from her former school,” he said, turning on Jennifer.  “And I was appalled to find out after I had turned back countless posts that someone was able to sneak one in despite my wishes, and even urged her to write them to see if they couldn’t try and find a way to get her back to the school,” Byron said, holding up the note.  “I am enraged that the someone would go to such lengths as to try and brainwash my daughter into thinking that the school is better for her than her own father!  And I may not know this Athos, Aramis and Porthos by name, but I have little doubt who probably influenced them to do something like this, and she happens to be standing right in front of me.”

  “Mr. Nelson, at Hogwarts we encourage our students to think for themselves,” Jennifer said.  “We don’t restrict them from post or try to control every moment of their lives, and we certainly don’t try and stick them in places just in case they might try to run away,” she said, looking in his eyes with a steady gaze.  “Who are you more afraid of, Nelson?  The school, or the truth behind the child you took from it?”

  “I fear nothing,” Byron said coldly,  “But then, coming from a coward who can’t even stand in the middle of Myrkinbrek without fainting dead away from fear certainly can’t be taken too seriously when speaking of it.”  He turned around to Arthur, who was eying him with unmasked dislike.  “I’ll be back, Weasley, to talk of this again, and with my lawyer,” he said, turning back to Jennifer.  “I will find out the source of the inquiry, and I assure you, whoever is responsible will soon regret setting me up.”

  “Yes, well, we’ll see about that, Nelson.  You can always bring it up to the judge when you pay your fees,” Arthur said.

  “Oh, and I might want to think about tidying up the house, if I were you,” Arnie said evenly.  “For the next time I decide to call,” he added.  Nelson glared at him icily before finally leaving, Arnie quickly closing the door behind them.

  “By the way, under the circumstances, I’d like to officially request permission to question Danny Nelson…about the items, at least.”  Arnie said.

  “Of course, go ahead and see about getting a warrant.  And make sure you bring her here, don’t try to question her anywhere near that man,” Arthur advised.

  “You can count on that, Arthur,” Arnie agreed.

  “Jennifer, about these students who got the letter to her?  I don’t think I recognize the names, but I’m curious to find out how they got a letter through.”

  “Oh, I recognize the names,” Arnie chuckled.  “And I can guarantee that they’re not their true names.”

  “That’s alright,” Jennifer sighed.  “I already have a pretty good idea who they are.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Hunt

   

  It wasn’t long after Taylor had retired to his Ravenclaw dorm that night that there came a tapping on the window.  Jumping out of bed with surprise, he opened it to see Redwing and Zephyra sitting on the ledge, carrying a small piece of ledger paper.  Buffing his glasses he put them on and took the note, looking it over carefully.

Aramis ~ In trouble, need help badly.  I am going to run away.  Please meet me near the creek south of mansion next Saturday, at about 2 o’clock.  Redwing will show you where. Don’t tell anyone! Don’t write again!  D’artagnan. 

   Taylor could barely wait until morning to meet up with the other two to show them the note, let alone the interminable week to come.  But after consulting the other two boys, the three of them decided that perhaps they should tell someone where they were going in case something went wrong, but someone they could trust not to try to stop them.  And for that, who else could they go to but Caprica Dusthorn.

  The Trophy Room had long been made off limits to students, but Corey had learned right away that he could always talk to Caprica when he needed to.  So late Friday night just after dinner, the three made their way to one of the old classrooms in the back of the school, where a sleepy old wizard who reminded Corey of Dumbledore sat in a painting, quietly reading a book.

   “Might we speak with Caprica Dusthorn, please?”  Corey said when the wizard looked over at them, “She said that it would be alright to come here and ask if we needed anything.”

  “Ah yes, you’re the Willowby boy, aren’t you?” The wizard smiled, getting up.  “Wait here, and I will go fetch her.  I am quite sure she will be very pleased to hear from you,” he added as he walked out of the painting.

  “Nice chap,” Corey commented as they waited.  “Pity he’s been put back here in the middle of nowhere, it must get boring.”

  “Corey, he’s just a painting,” Doug said, rolling their eyes.

  “I don’t think any paintings in this school are ‘just paintings,’” Corey replied with a shrug.

  “Right you are, Corey, my boy!” The cheerful voice of Caprica said as she walked into the painting.  “What’s on your mind?”

  “We got a letter from Danny, asking for help,” Corey said.  “We’re going to go rescue her tomorrow, but she told us not to tell anyone.”  Caprica’s eyes flashed slightly and her face looked serious.

  “How are you going to get there?”

  “Broom, I imagine.”  Doug said.

  “Then take a spare for Danny in case she doesn’t have hers, and some floo powder for emergencies.  You should pack a medicine kit as well.”

  “How are we going to manage that without telling Mom or Madam Pomfrey what we’re up to?”  Corey asked.  Caprica looked thoughtful then nodded.

  “I’ll have a chat with the painting of Professor Craw in Snape’s office and see if she knows the password.  Then you boys will slip down into her office when I open the door.  Now, don’t look at me like that, if they try and get you for it I will take the blame, what could they possibly do to a painting anyhow?” she said at their wide-eyed expressions.  “This is an emergency, one of our own is in danger.  Make sure you all have your wands, of course, and if I were you, I’d think about a disguise in case you get caught.  Do you know the spell?”

  “I do,” Corey nodded.

  “Something inconspicuous. And don’t forget if you have to travel through Muggle areas to go above the cloud line, and pack some air potions.  Where are you going to go once you’ve got her?” Caprica asked.

  “Well, actually, we were thinking of just bringing her back here and hiding her,” Corey said.

  “Corey, dear, one cannot hide in this school.  The more you want to stay hidden, the more likely it is that someone will find you,” she said thoughtfully.  “On second thought, if she’s ready to admit now that she needs help, I think it’s time for the direct approach.  Once she’s safely away from that house, you should take her to Dumbledore.”

  “You’re not going to tell him, are you?”  Doug said worriedly.  “I mean, he might try to stop us…”

  “No, dear, I wouldn’t do that to him, the Headmaster needs options in times like this,” Caprica chuckled, smiling at their puzzled faces.  “Someday dears, you’ll find that when you know something can be just as important as just plain knowing something,” she said.  “Now come, I’ll meet you down in the Potion’s lab…don’t worry, Dewhurst tells me they’ve already headed to their rooms with books in hand.  I doubt they’ll be back downstairs tonight.”

  Even with Caprica’s reassurances, Corey felt rather guilty about entering the office without permission, let alone taking potions off of the shelf.  Caprica stood on the rocks in the scenic ocean painting, making suggestions on what to take.  Filling the last one, Corey finally broke down and left a note, despite Doug and Taylor’s insistence not to.

  “We’re already going to be in trouble no matter what,” Corey explained, “I’m definitely not going to worry Mom by thinking someone else broke in her office.  We’ll be gone before she gets up,” he assured them, putting the note under the bottles on the shelf.  “We’ll leave before sun up.  Try to get a few hours of sleep and we’ll meet at the Owl Tower at four.”

  “Good luck kids,” Caprica said from where she sat in a small picture frame on the desk.  “Be careful.”

  “Don’t worry, Professor, we’ll bring her back,” Corey said, and the three of them left the office.

 

  Danny shivered slightly, but it was not from the cold.  The unexpected thaw the week before had inspired her father to hold an event that Danny usually dreaded.  She hated it with a passion, more than any punishment, more than the backbreaking chores and hours of ledgers and the curses thrown in rages she had little control over.  But today, things would all change, one way or another.  This off-season hunt would be, without any doubt, the last.  She filled her pockets quickly as she heard her father coming down the stairs, and stood stiffly as he appeared, pulling on her gloves, his best riding clothes on.

  “Don’t just stand there, change.  They’ll be here any moment,” he said with irritation.  “And make sure you watch my signals this time.  The last time you nearly cost me a thousand pounds.”

  “I can’t help it, Father.  Rocky and Canter are getting too good.  They nearly got me last time, can’t they stay behind?” Danny complained.  Byron took out his riding crop threateningly.

  “If you can’t outsmart a pair of dumb-witted animals you deserve what you get.”  Byron said.

  “And when they kill me, who are you going to get to cover for you when an investment goes into the red?”  Danny asked.  Byron’s eyes flashed as he pulled out his wand, and before Danny could say another word cast the Cruciatius curse on her.  Danny fell and doubled over, even though she felt no pain.  The necklace that Caprica had given her had spared her that much, but still she knew she had to act as if it had for fear of him uncovering it.

  “How dare you talk back to me?  I should have known better than to let you go to that school, you’ve been completely worthless to me ever since.  Do as your told and change now, or I will throw you in the dog cage!”

  Trembling slightly, Danny changed into her fox form, hoping she hadn’t overdone her protest, afraid that perhaps he had become suspicious.  But without another word, Nelson put down the fox cage and she climbed in, the door snapping tight behind her.  She relaxed slightly then, realizing suddenly that even had he wanted to, he couldn’t risk putting her in near the dogs right now…too much was at stake.  No, she thought, it was time for the game…a game Byron had learned not to lose.  But he would not win this time.

  Several Muggles had gathered out front in their riding clothes chatting merrily away with glasses in their hands, greeting Byron warmly as he came out, sitting the cage down as several of the others peered in to look at it.

  “Well, Byron, I never thought the weather would clear up in time.  I’d thought this would be a mud ride for sure,” one of them said.

  “A bit cold still, but the dogs could do with a bit of a run,” another said, “and I for one, am anxious for spring, so let’s welcome it in shall we?”

  “Are you sure this scrawny thing you call a fox is truly as crafty as you say?  She doesn’t look like much,” another said dubiously.

  “You’ll never catch her, no matter how well bred your dogs are,” Byron said. 

  “Careful, Charles, I hear he’s never lost a hunt.  Best not put too much faith in those hounds of yours,” another man said.

  “We shall see, won’t we?”  Charles said.  “Although I’m quite tempted to double my wager after seeing the quarry.”

 “Done,” Byron said, eyes sparkling.

 “Without even inspecting his hounds?  You are as mad as everyone says you are Nelson,” another man laughed, putting down his glass.

  “We shall see,” Byron said calmly, picking up the cage.  “To the kennels, gentlemen, I believe it’s high time we began.”

  Corey, Taylor, and Doug came down from the clouds, looking over the ground while Taylor checked his maps for the third time, his strangely older face perusing them with a scrupulous look as he tossed his feather cap back out of the way.  Each one looked to be in their thirties and wearing swords and strange garb they had gotten out of Corey’s copy of the Three Musketeers.

  “We should be getting close,” Taylor said.  “It has to be one of these over here.”

  “But which one?  They all look alike,” Doug asked, pushing back his cape and shaking his head.

  “I don’t know, the Muggle address really isn’t that clear,” Taylor sighed.

  “Wait a minute,” Corey said, taking a closer look.  “Look, the grounds over here aren’t like the others.  They’re too green for this time of year.”

  “So what?  I’m sure these rich Muggle sorts have gardeners and such too,” Doug shrugged.

  “No, no it’s too perfect.  I think this is it,” Corey said.  “Porthos, hand me those Omniculars of yours.”  Doug handed them over and Corey took a closer look, scanning the grounds.  “There’s no one by the brook, but I see some people on horseback near the house.”

  “Well, we still have a good half an hour,” Taylor said.  “Perhaps we should go down and wait.”

  “I don’t know, Aramis.  I think that may be just asking for trouble.  We don’t know if those other riders are friends or foe.”

  “No one is going to recognize us in this getup,” Doug said, taking the Omniculars back.

  “Well we can’t just stay up here.  There is a chance someone will see us, and we’re going to be in enough trouble without having to worry about the Ministry,” Taylor pointed out.

  “Your call, Athos, what do you want to do?” Doug asked.

  “Let’s go down,” Corey decided, “Let’s head to the trees above the stream and use the Chameleon powder and wait for D’artagnan.”

  “What if she doesn’t come?”  Taylor asked worriedly.

  “Then we go after her,” Corey said.  “We’ve come this far.  We’re not leaving without her.  All for one…”

  “And one for all,” The other two said as the three brooms sank down to the tree line.  Carefully they dusted themselves with the powder, making sure to get a healthy coating on, and Doug even coated his Omnioculars, nearly poking and eye out trying to use them.

  “Shh, not so loud,” Taylor hissed at him nervously.  In the background, the sound of dogs barking had suddenly started to echo in the distance.  “What’s going on?”

  “Considering the amount of horses and dogs, I’d say they’ve decided to go for an early hunt,” Doug said, peering through the Omnioculars.  Corey suddenly felt a chill go through him.

  “Oh no.  He wouldn’t.  Please, someone tell me he wouldn’t,” Corey’s voice said, sounding unusually frightened.

  “What a horrible, horrible beast!”  Taylor said, a rustle coming from his tree.

  “What is it, what’s wrong?”  Doug asked.

  “Don’t you see?  Danny’s an Animagus and she turns into a fox!  He’s using her as dog bait,” Corey said.

  “No, I can’t believe that, no father would be that cruel,” Doug said.

  “Believe it,” Taylor said.  “Let’s just hope she’s able to get here before those dogs do.” 

  “Porthos, try to get a lock on her so we can try and get to her if she gets into trouble.”

  “We won’t be able to do anything up in these trees, there’s no way we’ll be able to react in time,” Doug pointed out.

  “Then we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way,” Corey said, his tree rustling and a thud hitting the ground as a broom came into view.  “Equestrius transformus!” he called out.  Suddenly the broom lurched and grew, turning into a rearing white steed that settled back to the ground with a neigh as the reins floated into the air.

  “Athos, I can see the horse, you need to powder it,” Doug said.

  “Nope, actually, I think I’m going to come out,” Corey said, brushing off the powder to show his disguised self again.  “If we’re going to do this we might as well do it with style.”

  “But, I don’t know how to ride a horse!”  Taylor protested.  Doug had already jumped down and transformed his own broom, leaping onto a white horse of his own.

  “Come on, Aramis, just ride it like a broom,” Corey said.  “It’s really a broom after all, it’ll understand if you try and move it like one.”

  “I don’t ride a broom very well either,” Taylor pointed out, climbing to the ground and brushing the powder off.  “But I’ll do it for D’artagnan.”

  “I think I got a beam on her, Athos,” Doug said, “Are we going to do this or what?”

  “Lead on, Porthos!  We will win this day or die in the attempt!”  Corey said, nudging his horse forward.

  “No need to go that far,” Doug complained, but kicked his horse into gear.

 

  Danny jumped into the hollow of a tree and out onto a branch, leaping onto the next and scurrying down into a water puddle, taking a moment to catch her breath before heading out over the rocks.   She had lost track of the time, wondered if ten minutes passed or ten hours, with only the ringing of the barking dogs to keep her moving.  She had had close calls before…snared in holes with few options, and not more than once had she to face the jaws of one nipping at her tail.  It was always to the same result…either she let her father’s dogs catch her, or the others would, and that would almost assuredly mean her death.  A howl could be heard over the barks and Danny realized she was running out of time.  She was going to have to find a hiding spot they couldn’t get to and fast, and the hollow she normally hid in was not an option this time, for she did not wish to be found by her father’s dogs either.  No, her only chance now was to get to the stream and travel along it until she could find a safe place to change back and join her friends.

  But the barking had started to get closer, and her path along the trees apparently hadn’t fooled one of the packs of dogs.  Striking across a muddy patch she decided her best chance was now to run for it, for there was only open rocky grounds between her and the stream.    A horn blew in the distance over the howls and Danny picked up the pace, wishing not for the first time that she could cast in this form.  She could have thought of much better endings for herself than this, but she could also think of much worse things continuing.  The thought began to ebb away at her energy, and she realized that only part of her wished to go on.  She suddenly lost all feeling inside and only retaining the knowledge of the game.  She also knew wasn’t going to make it to the stream in time.

  Across the field, Byron Nelson pulled slightly back, cursing to himself as he saw her chosen path.  She knew better than that, he had taught her better, and she was about to cost him dearly.  The idiot girl, he growled, pulling the wand out of his riding crop, he glanced at it a moment as if weighing the odds of whether or not to intervene, then suddenly put it back.  She had made her decision, and it wasn’t as if anyone would find out what happened to her.  Besides, it would finally get the blasted school off of his back.

  “Nelson?”  Charles called, his gallop slowed to a trot as he stared off in the distance.  “Who in bloody hell is that?  And why are they wearing those ridiculous clothes?” 

  Byron looked up in surprise just in time to see three white steeds racing over the field, realizing with sudden clarity what was at stake.  Taking out his wand again he kicked his horse into a thundering gallop and raced to head them off.  But Byron soon noticed that the horses they rode were going at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible, and he watched in pure fury as one of them cut off the hounds, while another leaned over and grabbed the girl that had suddenly appeared there, pulling her onto the horse before turning back the other way.  In front of him, the other riders stopped in completely confusion, while Nelson raced passed them.

  “Boy am I glad to see you!  Who are you anyhow?”  Danny shouted as the three of them steered the steeds towards the trees.

  “It’s me!  Aramis!”  Taylor said cheerfully.  “Do you know how to ride this thing?”

  “Hand me the reins,” she answered, quickly taking over and matching her speed with the others. 

  “Once we’re passed the trees change to broom form and get above the cloud mark,” Corey shouted.

  “We’re going to be seen,” Doug shouted back.

  “Can’t be helped, look behind us!” Corey shouted back.  The others looked back to see that the steed had suddenly began to catch up, fire burning in its wake as it was spurred forward, its eyes glowing an unnatural red as it thundered towards them.

  “Nightmare!”  Danny said.  “We’ll never make it, we have to change now!”

  “You first, Aramis, we’ll cover,” Corey ordered, falling in behind them.  Taking a deep breath as he got out his wand mustering up a confidence he didn’t altogether feel, Taylor cast at the steed before him.  As the steed turned back into a broom he barely managed to stay on without falling, grabbing wildly at Danny as she pulled up on the handle, shooting into the air.  As Nelson cried out in fury, the other two transformed and pushed their brooms forward, angling upwards out of wand range before joining the other.

  “Hooray!  We did it!”  Doug laughed as he looked down passed the clouds before turning his attention forward.  “All for one and one for all!”

  “Welcome back, D’artagnan,” Corey grinned.

  “Back, back to where?”  Danny asked, suddenly sober.  “We can’t go back to Hogwarts, he’ll find me for sure.”

  “We have to go back, Danny,” Taylor said.  “You’ve got to tell Dumbledore the truth, the truth about everything,” he said insistently.

  “Yeah, Caprica says you have to,” Doug added, knowing that that had some sway with her.  “Dumbledore will make sure you never have to go back there, ever.  But you have got to tell him.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?  What if he says I have to go back?”  Danny asked.

  “He won’t,” Corey said.  “I know it isn’t going to be easy, but you have got to trust him.  What have you got to lose at this point?”

  “Everything,” Danny said, but soft enough that only Taylor had heard.

 

  Those passing in the halls would come to see perhaps the strangest sight they had seen all year as Athos, Porthos, and Aramis stood before the gargoyle with their hats in their hands, and a young girl they knew as Danny Nelson standing between them.  They spoke not a word as the door open of its own accord, and the four of them glanced at the spiral stair then at each other.

  “I could be wrong, but I think you need to go up by yourself D’artagnan…Danny, I mean,” Corey said.  “We’ve done our part, the rest is yours to do.”  Danny looked at each one of them, and then turned around to face the staircase again.

  “Go on, Danny.  Just know that no matter what happens, we’ll be here for you,” Taylor said.  Danny nodded and started up the stairs, and just as they expected, the door closed right behind her.  It was something best handled alone.

  “Come on, guys, we’d better get out of these costumes before anyone else sees us and figures out who we are,” Corey said, heading down the corridor towards the back of the school.

  “Oh, go on, Athos, nobody is going to figure out who we are,” Doug said as the turned the corner.  Suddenly the three of them stopped short when they saw a lone figure leaning on the wall with his arms folded as if he had expected them.  Severus looked the three over thoughtfully, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

  “I should deduct points off of you three just for lack of originality,” he said expressionlessly.  “Office.  Now.”

  “So much for happy endings,” Doug said as they headed down the back stairs.  “Bet we’ll be scrubbing cauldrons for weeks.”

  “As long as Danny’s safe,” Taylor said.  “I can think of worse things in life than being expelled.”

  “Having two irate professor parents comes to mind for some reason,” Corey muttered as the three of them turned into Snape’s office.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Lesser Evil

 

  Sunday morning was positively a brilliant one in the eyes of the three young boys who lingered at breakfast, as the Ravenclaw boy snuck over to the Gryffindor table with a note in hand, grinning from ear to ear.

  “I just got a note from Danny!” He told them, sliding onto the bench.

  “Well, go on then, what’s the news?”  Doug asked.

  “She says after she got done talking to Dumbledore he took her to the Ministry, and she’s staying at Minister Weasley’s house,” Taylor said, passing the note to Corey to see.  “She’s going to be staying there for a few days, and she might even be back at school soon, but no matter what, Dumbledore promised her she wouldn’t have to go back.”

  “’I guess I should have listened to you guys to begin with.  There are a lot of things perhaps I should have said a long time ago, but I will never forget that you three stuck by me regardless.  Please give my love to Caprica and let her know I’m safe.’” Corey read.  “Does that not beat all?  First Dumbledore goes and overturns our detentions, and Danny is finally safe and sound.  I love this school.”

  “Well, it’s not over yet.  Don’t forget who her next of kin is,” Gail pointed out from where she sat next to Doug.

  “Yeah, Malfoy.  You don’t really think she’ll have to live with him, do you?”  Doug said.

  “I don’t trust him,” Corey admitted.  “I wonder what they’re going to do.”

  “I don’t know, but Danny always seemed to like him,” Taylor said.  “Remember how she went on about the new broom he gave her.”

  “There’s more to life than money and good presents,” Corey said.

  “Yes, but I think it’s more than that.  After all, she’s family, and if there’s one thing I’ve noticed is that pure bloods pride their families above everything,” Taylor said.

  “You might be right, Taylor.  But what if she changes?  I mean, to be more, well, Malfoyish,” Doug asked.

  “Not Danny,” Corey said, shaking her head.  “No matter what happens, she’ll always be D’artagnan to me.” 

  “A toast then,” Doug said, raising up his pumpkin juice.  “To the Slytherin, our missing number, a girl in a class by herself…’cuz nobody else can keep their marks up with her anyhow…may she return soon,” he said as the others raised their glasses.

  “And, may she return soon enough to win the final Slytherin game and bounce the Gryffindors back to second place after that gross fifty point gain they received for breaking every school rule imaginable,” said a stern voice behind them.  Corey grinned broadly and looked up to where Severus stood behind him.

  “If she does, I’ll be the first to congratulate her,” Corey said with exaggerated dignity.

  “No you won’t.  I’m allowed on the Pitch before you,” Severus said with an almost imperceptible smirk before heading out the back door.

 

  After a quick run to Minerva for an alteration, Jennifer squeezed into her wintergreen dress and grabbed her cloak, meeting Severus at her office.  He was tapping his hand thoughtfully against his arm, looking slightly irritated.  A smile crept onto Jennifer’s face, and he caught it, sighing slightly.

  “I still think they should have at least gotten detention for breaking into your office.”

  “Come now, Severus, you heard what Dumbledore said, it was Caprica’s doing, not theirs.  Besides, aren’t you the one who is always telling Corey to never go anywhere without the proper equipment?”

  “Where in that line does it say ‘breaking and entering’ is allowed to accomplish that?”  Severus glared.

  “Well, telling me about it doesn’t do any good.  Talk to Dumbledore, he’s the one who overruled you,” Jennifer said gently.

  “You would have gone easy on them too, wouldn’t you?”  He accused her.

  “Absolutely,” Jennifer said.  “Just like Dumbledore went easy on you for hitting Nelson in the first place.”  Severus frowned but said nothing as Jennifer grabbed a handful of powder and entered the fireplace.

 

  Jennifer and Severus hadn’t waited long in front of the office of Archimedes Muse before Molly and Danny came out, Molly patting her shoulder encouragingly.  Danny looked up and smiled when she saw them, and Jennifer couldn’t help but give the girl a warm hug.

  “I am so glad to see you, are you all right?”  Jennifer asked her.

  “I will be, I think,” Danny answered, slightly reserved but smiling nonetheless.  “Did…that is, did anyone come forward for saving me?” She asked.

  “No,” Severus said quickly before Jennifer could reply.  “I suppose they’re going to get away scot-free, despite their obvious display in front of Muggles,” he said disapprovingly.  “By the way, Miss Nelson.  About what occurred that last night at Hogwarts…”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Danny said, shaking her head.  “He would have taken me out no matter what happened, I don’t have any doubt of that.  And I wouldn’t have missed seeing you deck him for anything,” she added with a grin.

  “Are you two coming in, or are you just going to keep us waiting?”  Dumbledore asked from the door of the office.

  “Yes, well, we’ll be running off to get something to eat.  We’ll be back in a bit,” Molly told everyone with a smile.  Jennifer waved to Danny and Molly and went inside with Severus close behind.  Sitting companionably beside the judge, Lunette Vallid waved cheerfully at them, while Arthur stood up with a smile, offering Jennifer a seat.  The Magistrate glanced over some papers in front of them while they got settled, then looked over at Jennifer, folding his hands.

  “Professor Dumbledore and Counselor Vallid suggested that you might like to attend this meeting, and since you both turned in such strong and well thought out statements as to the welfare of the child in question I myself was interested in hearing your input in what I have before me.  Especially considering the circumstances,” the Magistrate mused.

  “Right now, Miss Nelson is a temporary ward of the state, until which time the matter of her custody is settled.  Her father, of course, is expected to protest, but considering the evidence I am hoping to get it settled as quickly as possible, so not to cause Miss Nelson any more grief,” he said.  “But my true concern at the moment is that of the one who is now…and has been for some time…seeking custody of her.  Lucius Malfoy,” the Magistrate looked over at Jennifer and she nodded slowly.  “In the eyes of the court, Malfoy is a guiltless man,” he said, “But as the court’s guardian, I am concerned about handing this child over to him.  Miss Nelson has already expressed her desire to be with her aunt and uncle, and I have heard a very strong opinion against this from Minister Weasley and mixed opinions from Dumbledore and Vallid.  But after our dealings together, and knowing your history with him as well as your reputation for integrity, I would also like to hear your opinion on this subject, Professor Craw.”  Jennifer couldn’t help but be a bit surprised at the request.  The Minister’s opinion definitely she could see, as well as Dumbledore’s as the school Headmaster and Vallid as a fellow judge.  She wasn’t even a Counsel member, and although she had often given advice to the Ministry as a friend, those were entirely different circumstances.  She glanced over at Dumbledore, who nodded encouragingly, and then at Severus, who looked back at her steadily a moment before she finally looked back at the judge.

  “You want my opinion on Lucius Malfoy,” she repeated, getting a nod from the judge.  Jennifer thought quietly to herself for a moment before she spoke.  “My opinion of Lucius Malfoy is he is a murderer and a liar, who delights in destroying lives and torturing those who come against him, and will do anything in his power to see that it happens.  But,” she added, taking a deep breath.  “I would say exactly the same thing about my father, and my father would never lay a hand on me or my children and would do anything in his power to protect us.  A Malfoy would no more turn on one of their own family than a Craw would.  His son Draco may not have been the most friendly of students, but he didn’t turn out too badly, under the circumstances.  I also know that what he did to help Danny before Christmas was quite questionable, but considering what we have learned since then, what would any of us do knowing a child we cared for might die unless we take desperate measures to keep them safe?  So, I guess what I’m saying is, that if Danny wishes to stay with Lucius and Narcissa, I think we should trust her judgment.  She’s finally learned to speak up when something’s wrong, and I seriously doubt it’s a lesson she’ll forget if this doesn’t work out.  She knows she has friends now, and as long as she has access to them, I think she’ll be alright.”  Muse leaned back thoughtfully, looking over at her, and then at Dumbledore, who was smiling approvingly at her.

  “Then, I think I have made up my mind on how to proceed.  We will go with your suggestion, Dumbledore,” the Magistrate said, looking back over at Jennifer.  “If Jennifer with all she knows and can not legally say does not think he will harm her either, Professor, that is enough to convince me.  In any case, I do think Narcissa can manage in the event that we can finally nail something solid on him.  I think she’s proven that already for how she handled herself with Draco during his first time in jail.”

  Jennifer looked back over at Dumbledore, wondering what plan they were referring to, but he only smiled reassuringly at her, not revealing his thoughts.

 

  Anna and Sirius had been waiting for him to arrive, standing on one side of the reception talking to Ederick.  Nelson had stridden up to the desk with a lawyer at his side, hovering over Penelope menacingly while she merely raised an eyebrow at him.

  “I demand to speak with Minister Weasley at once!”

  “Minister Weasley is in a meeting with the Magistrate and can’t be disturbed right now.”

  “If it’s concerning my daughter, I think I should be included.”

  “Is there anything we can help you with, Mr. Nelson?”  Ederick asked from across the room.

  “Thurspire,” Nelson growled, walking over to them.  “I should have known you had something to do with this.”

  “Oh, perhaps a little bit, here and there,” Ederick said cheerfully, “although I can’t take most the credit, or blame, whichever way you want to look at it.  Do you know my acquaintances, Mr. and Mrs. Black?  Anna Black works with our Muggle division.”

  “Yes, and I’ve been doing a bit of research on you, Mr. Nelson,” Anna said.  “Seems you’ve developed quite a few tidy Muggle investments over the years, and even served on the board of several major banks, quite impressive.”

  “Is there a point to this, Mrs. Black?”  Mr. Nelson said testily.

  “I just think it’s going to be a shame when you lose it all because of your poor bookkeeping,” Anna said.  “After all the hard work and all the backs you had to break to get where you are today,” she tsked, shaking her head.  “But, I’m afraid I’ll have to turn this into the commission in any case,” she said.  Nelson’s look grew dark as she handed out the papers in front of her, snatching them away and looking over them.

  “You can’t report this!  Those aren’t even actual losses!”

  “Oh, aren’t they?  According to these figures, there’s at least fifty million pounds missing from your accounts, mysteriously, it all just disappeared right out of the bank’s net,” Sirius said, tapping the paper.  “Now what do you think would happen if we got a hold of your exchange records and took a look in your personal vault at Gringotts?”

  “There is no way you can prove by Muggle means that it was me,” Nelson said, throwing the papers back at her.

  “Well, even so there will be an investigation, and the stock holders will be told,” Anna said.

  “An expensive investigation.  Not to mention how many investors will pull out, fearing a corrupt banking system,” Sirius added.

  “More than likely they’ll call for an entirely new board if it’s not found,” Ederick mused.  “Of course, if some accountant from our side does happen to decide to step in, you’ll be in jail, out of a job, and completely penniless.”

  “Enough,” Nelson growled, lowering his voice.  “What do you want?”

 

  After a brisk lunch at the cauldron, Molly cheerfully escorted Danny back to the Council Building to find her husband waiting for them, greeting his wife with a kiss on the cheek and a whisper in the ear.

  “Well, I’ll be off now Danny.  Take care now,” she said, turning to Arthur, “and mind to remember yourself around the girl’s uncle.”

  “Don’t worry, dear, I know how to handle myself.  I’m the Minister after all,” Arthur said, putting an arm around Danny and escorting her up the hall.

  “My uncle’s going to be here?”  Danny asked.

  “Yes, the Magistrate sent for him just a bit ago,” Arthur acknowledged.  “He’s talking with your father at the moment, but you need not worry about that.  He’s probably just trying to set up a court date for the custody hearing.”

  “Hearing?”  Danny repeated.  “You mean I still might have to go back?”  Arthur stopped and took her shoulders in hand, looking at her seriously.

  “Now I don’t want you worrying about it. It’s just a formality to hear your father’s side of things, but there isn’t any way you’re going to go back there, you be sure of that.  Now be a brave girl and it’ll all be all right,” he told her.  “Come on, they’re probably waiting on us,” he said, heading back over to the office.  Just as they arrived, Nelson was coming out of the office with a grim expression on his face, followed by Ederick and Anna, stopping long enough to grin at Jennifer, who broke into a wide smile herself, leaning over to whisper something to Severus.  Nelson paused as he saw Danny, regarding her with open disdain.

  “You were always too much like your mother.  She was expensive too.  So be it, I was better off without her, and I am certainly better off without you.  Let your uncle put up with your disgraces if you like, you have failed me for the last time,” Byron snarled heading for the door.

  “Who failed who?”  Arthur said, glaring at the man’s back.

  “Let that be a lesson,” Nelson said, glancing at Arthur coldly.  “Never trust anyone, not even family,” he said.

  “Especially when that family happens to be you, Byron,” a familiar voice said from the doorway.  Byron took a step to the side to prevent having his back to Lucius Malfoy as he stepped in gazing at Byron with a challenging look in his steel blue eyes.

  “At least I didn’t grovel like a servant the moment I felt outmatched,” Byron retorted.

  “At least I didn’t run like a sniveling coward,” Lucius replied back.

  “Well, I’m sure this has been a nice loving little family reunion but I think Magistrate Muse is expecting you in his office, Mr. Malfoy.  Mr. Nelson decided to go ahead and waive his custody rights so the sooner we get this straightened out the better.”

  “Oh he did?”  Lucius say with a slightly surprised smile.  “What ever sort of information did you sloppily allow them to get their hands on that would cause you to do that?”  Byron looked at his brother-in-law darkly, but before he could reply, Lucius had gently nudged Danny towards the office and followed behind. Barking at his lawyer to follow, the two left, and Jennifer leaned back into Severus out of pure relief, while Sirius kissed Anna gently.

  “You know, that was positively brilliant, digging up that embezzlement charge on Nelson,” Sirius told her.

  “I knew that if it were a choice between his money and the girl, he’d chose the money,” Anna shrugged.

  “Well, at least she’s safe now,” Sirius said.  “But I’m not all that sure Malfoy will allow her to go to Hogwarts, what with not being allowed on the premises and all.”

  “We’ll probably end up having to let him back in if she does,” Severus agreed.

  “Why is it that every time we make life easier for someone else we always seem to make it complicated for ourselves,” Jennifer said, only half joking.

  “It’s the price we pay for being professors at Hogwarts,” Severus replied.

 

  Lucius nodded curtly to Dumbledore as they walked into the room, and glanced warily over at Vallid, who looked back at him expressionlessly before smiling warmly at Danny.  Magistrate Muse went over to this desk, flipping out the appropriate pages.

  “Lucius Malfoy, it is come to my attention that you have petitioned for guardianship of this child, and have here notarized copies of your means to prove your ability to provide for her.  Is it still your wish to pursue this petition?”

  “It is, Magistrate,” Lucius nodded.

  “I have had a lengthy discussion with Miss Nelson as well as some of my advisors, and have come to the decision to grant the petition, provided,” he added, holding up his hand, “that the previous decisions made about her welfare while she was a ward of the court be honored as well.”  Lucius squinted slightly.

  “Which are?”

  “Her guaranteed education, in a local school where the court may keep an eye on her; namely, Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” Muse said, “And her right to decide for herself which courses and sports she wants to enter into, regardless of whether or not her guardian is allowed to attend.”  Lucius clamped his jaw shut and looked over at Dumbledore accusingly.  So, Dumbledore had guessed that Lucius was planning to make his allowance on school property a condition of her returning and made sure he didn’t have that leverage.  Dumbledore smiled thinly at Lucius, who frowned at him before nodding reluctantly to the judge.

  “Good!  Then it’s settled, all that’s left now is to sign,” Muse smiled at Danny, who smiled back happily in return. 

  “Please, use my pen,” Dumbledore offered, putting the Veritaquill on the table.  With only a cursory look, Lucius signed it, followed by Danny and the witnesses.  “Now Danny, I expect you back in a week or so once you’ve gotten settled, we can’t have you falling too far behind.”

  “Don’t worry sir, I will try to be back in time for Quidditch practice,” Danny grinned happily.  “Can’t have the best Slytherin Seeker in fifty years come up missing on the most important game of the season, can we?”

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Wrath of the Wraith

 

  Jennifer spread out the Muggle papers from where she sat at one end of the table in the staff room trying to make herself comfortable, wriggling her toes in potion-treated hot water.  Hermione sat beside her, looking over some of the print and munching on a croissant.

  “There seems to be more news about the localized tremors than about the missing farm stock,” Jennifer said, pointing out another article.  “Apparently, they’ve chalked up the deaths as some sort of hybrid disease of some sort.”

  “Yes, here’s another one on the tremors too,” Hermione nodded.  “Seismologists surveying the area couldn’t pinpoint an exact source, but state that the tremors are probably a result of a soft strata of stone or layer of silt eroding beneath the surface, causing and unstable terrain that will likely collapse in the future.  Local residents have been asked to report any unusual depreciations in their land and to check their foundations for land level.”

  “What in the world does all that mean?”

  “They’re blaming it on a sink hole.”

  “Oh.  Well, why don’t they ever just say so?”  Jennifer wanted to know.

  “People feel more comfortable when they think that scientists know what they’re doing,” Hermione said.

  “Ah.  Well, I suppose that make sense.  And it isn’t like they are far from the mark…the ground is collapsing, it’s just there’s no way it’s happening by itself,” Jennifer said.

  “According to this, the tremors have been occurring a lot more frequently lately, they’re blaming it on the warming weather and the ground unfreezing,” Hermione said with an odd look on her face.

  “What is it, Hermione?”  Jennifer asked, looking over at her face.

  “Severus said that Rasputin thought there was some type of reptile in there,” Hermione said, getting a nod from Jennifer.  “So what if it was just hibernating?”

  “Hibernating?”

  “Yes, and the tremors are getting worse because whatever it is that is down there is starting to wake up?”  Hermione asked.

  “You may have something there,” Jennifer said.  “We’d better take a look.  We can go after dinner tonight.”

  “Go?  Where are we going?”  Severus asked from where he stood just inside the staff room door.  Rolanda and Alvin came in behind him, taking seats at the table.

  “Back to the Tomb. Hermione thinks that whatever it is down in there was hibernating and is probably starting to wake up.  Now might be the best time for us to find out what’s down there.”  Severus gave her a long hard look, before darting his eyes towards Hermione and back again.

  “No, I don’t think that’s wise.  Besides, there are other things to think about.  Jennifer, why don’t you make yourself useful and help Rolanda and Alvin with security arrangements for the dance.”

  “But Severus, remember what happened at Hogsmeade?  There may be some sort of connection between the wraith’s activities and whatever’s down there…”

  “My memory is as good as ever, thank you, Hermione,” Severus snapped.  “I don’t suppose in all your time spent reading those you had time to look at our own print this morning, did you?”  He asked, taking out a copy of the Daily Prophet and tossing it in front of them.  Jennifer picked it up and looked it over thoughtfully.

  “Someone broke into the Ministry of Artifacts and stole the Staff of Eyre!  But I thought they had that sealed away when we got it!”  Jennifer said with growing concern.

  “Yes, well, obviously it wasn’t as well protected as we thought.  I warned Dumbledore that we should have kept it at Hogwarts, but he was convinced that a student might get hold of it.  It would have been a lot more secure here than anywhere else,” Severus muttered.

  “Oh, you mean like the Philosopher’s Stone?”  Hermione inquired challengingly.  Severus turned and glared at her.

  “Well, there’s no point talking about what-if’s now in any case,” Jennifer said quickly.  “You know, there’s no reason we should suspect that anyone stole it to control whatever’s in the Tomb.  Come to think of it, we should have thought of it ourselves.  We could have possibly gotten control over the creature down there, and perhaps even talked it into making sure there wasn’t any other artifacts or anything that we wouldn’t want people to get their hands on.”

  “It might be just a coincidence,” Hermione said, nodding to her.  “But considering the Staff is gone, and it is a possibility that that’s precisely why someone took it, shouldn’t we be taking precautions against someone trying to use it?”

  “Well, it’s not like there are all that many parselmouths out there who could actually use it, and we know, obviously, it’s not Harry or Severus who stole it,” Rolanda said.

  “Yes, but there are potions that give people a temporary ability to talk to animals,” Jennifer pointed out.  “In fact, Sagittari uses them all the time.”

  “There’s also the possibility that the creature down there is clever enough to understand more than one tongue,” Hermione said thoughtfully.  “I need to go look something up,” she said, putting down her half-eaten breakfast and heading out of the room.

  “Well if it’s that intelligent it certainly would explain how it’s gone so long without anyone knowing about it,” Jennifer said.  “I wonder how it’s communicating with the wraith?”

  “Jennifer, didn’t you hear me a moment ago?  I don’t want you going down there,” Severus said firmly.

  “Yes, of course, we’ll discuss it later then,” Jennifer said, getting up and gathering up her things.

  “I didn’t say anything about discussion I said…”

  “I’m sorry, Severus, I need to get going, early class and all that, can’t be late, I’ll get back with you about dance security later…”

  “Jennifer…”

  “I’ll meet you at lunch.  Oh, wait, you have a double, maybe I’ll stop by during your conference time,” she said walking swiftly to the door.

  “Jennifer,” Severus sighed, walking over to meet her.

  “No, really, you know how it is, labs, and equipment, checking stock and all that, so I’ll see you…”

  “Jennifer!!!!”  Severus barked, making her jump.

  “What?”  Jennifer snapped back, glaring at him defiantly.

  “Do you really want to teach your ‘snake year’ Slytherin Potion’s class in your bare feet?”  He asked, folding his arms.  Jennifer looked down at her feet, still damp and prunish from soaking in the water, her face turning bright red.  A titter came from across the room, probably from Rolanda.

  “Oh,” Jennifer said, walking back over to her chair and slipping on her shoes, the tub already having been dragged off by industrious House Elves.  “Well, then.  Goodbye,” she said, heading for the door.

  “Poor Jennifer, barefoot and pregnant again,” Rolanda couldn’t help herself but say, earning an upturned nose from Jennifer as she left and a stark glare from Severus.

  

  That evening when Severus and Remus had their patrol, Firenze was waiting to meet them, greeting them warmly.

  “We’ve discovered some new damage on the eastern border,” the Centaur told them.  “On the far side, away from your wizard settlement there.”

  “Probably leery of Hogsmeade after the last incident,” Remus said.  “Any guess on how long since it had been there?”

  “We travel that particular patrol route every other day,” Firenze said.  “And it was not something that could have been missed by an earlier patrol.”  Remus looked over at Severus.

  “If we’re going to try to trap it before it gets bold again, it’s going to have to be now,” Remus said.

  “Agreed,” Severus said, “I’ll go speak with Dumbledore and see how quickly we can get organized.”

  “We’ll be ready, but I urge caution,” Firenze said, glancing at the early evening sky.  “The stars will weep tonight, but for who I know naught.  May it not be for one of our own number, for our path is perilous.”  His face was so serious in his prediction that even Severus felt slightly wary by it, nodding respectfully as the two men turned, heading back towards the castle.

  “I’d have expected that sort of prediction from any of them but Firenze,” Remus mused.  “Perhaps we should hold off.”

  “This will probably be the best chance we have to strike it before anyone does perish.  We cannot afford to wait,” Severus said, glancing at his watch.  His face immediately turned pale and he stopped dead in his tracks.  “Why?  Why now?” He said, tapping his watch fervently hoping the compass would fix.  But no matter how much he shook and tapped, Jennifer’s arrow still said “Forest” and pointed behind them.  “She’s gone again!  I swear, I am going to shackle her in the dungeon this time!”  He growled.

  “Alright, alright, calm down.  We need to get Dumbledore first and let him know what’s going on before we even think about going to look for her.  Do you suppose anyone is with her?”  Remus asked.  Severus thought a moment than nodded.

  “She wouldn’t have gone by herself, especially after Dumbledore’s strict orders not to go in alone.  My guess would be that Hermione is with her,” Severus said, picking up the pace considerably.  “They were investigating the tremors this morning, but I told her to stay away from it.  I should have known better.” 

  The moment they were on the grounds, Severus dashed up the stairs taking them two at a time all the way to the study with Remus lagging behind considerably.  The way was already open and Severus climbed swift up the last staircase and knocked, the doors swinging wide as he strode in the room.  Dumbledore and Vallid looked up from where they sat conversing, and Vallid leapt to her feet the moment she saw his face.

  “The Centaurs found some signs that the wraith was back in the Forest, and I would have recommended that we try our plan tonight, however, we seem to be missing at least one professor.  Jennifer has gone off into the Forest, and I believe perhaps to the ruins of the Tomb.”

  “Not by herself, surely,” Vallid said, glancing at Dumbledore.

  “My guess would be Granger is there as well, although I haven’t gone to confirm that yet,” Severus said.  There was another knock on the door, and Remus entered as well as Sirius, who looked unusually concerned.

  “Has anyone seen Anna?  She sent me an owl she’d be working late, but I keep getting the feeling she wasn’t telling me everything, and she’s not in her office,” Sirius said.  Severus’ eyes flashed slightly, exhaling in pure annoyance.

  “That settles it.  I am shackling both of them in the dungeon,” Severus said.

  Carrying bright lanterns and wisp lights to guide the way, Anna, Hermione, Ron and Jennifer picked their way carefully through the Forest.  The warmth of a spring day had all but given out leaving a chill wintry breeze that clung to the air and echoed in the wind.

  “Tell me one more time what we’re looking for and why?”  Anna asked.

  “It’s called a Dreadbiter Serpent,” Hermione explained patiently.  “Legend has it that Dreadbiter serpents were spawn of a serpentine Norwegian dragon, Nidhogg, but that’s merely speculation, and no one really knows if the dragon is anything more than a myth.  But Dreadbiters themselves are real; they’re earth dwellers that feed on any buried corpses they can find…”

  “Another good reason to be cremated,” Ron put in dourly.

  “And can grow very large, depending on their age.  They’re also quite intelligent, and can learn to speak languages just by hearing them, and often manipulate other creatures to find new burial grounds to feed from.  They are also hard to kill because they regenerate very fast.  There aren’t many known weaknesses, though, except for the fact that they despise birds of all kinds, especially eagles, as well as dragons.”

  “So that means it’s possible if this one is old enough, it can speak English,” Jennifer asked.

  “Possible, although I really don’t know why it would want to talk to its food,” Hermione said.  “If I spoke bovine I doubt I’d ever eat beef again.”

  “You have a conscience though, there’s no guarantee this creature would have,” Ron said.

  “Actually, you’re right, everything I’ve read has said otherwise, and that they’re ruthless, self-serving beasts,” Hermione admitted.  Just then there was a soft rumble, and Ron stopped short.

  “Did you feel that?”  He asked.

  “We must be getting close,” Jennifer said, looking around.  “Yes, we should be just a few acres west of the mound by now.”  Just then there was a loud whinny as a Unicorn charged into view, standing in their path with her horn down, her nostrils flaring in the cold air.  “Keki?  What’s wrong?”  Jennifer asked as the Unicorn took a step forward.  Ron and Hermione quickly stepped back, and when it became clear that she was not going to back down, so did Anna, looking slightly puzzled.  “She doesn’t want us to go any farther.”

  “I could have told you that,” Ron said, looking at the irate Unicorn warily.  “I think we’d better do as she says,” he added, remembering how ferociously the Unicorns had attacked Voldemort’s men several years ago.

  “But this isn’t like her.  Keki, why can’t we go on?”  Jennifer asked.

  “Jennifer!  Get back!”  Anna suddenly shouted in a loud echoing voice.  Jennifer suddenly became aware of a growing presence behind the Unicorn and felt something cold touch her, draining away her strength where she stood.  Reaching into the shadow that had grown around them, Anna grabbed a hold of Jennifer and a blast of light burst around Jennifer and knocked her back, blinding her momentarily. 

  “Wraith!”  Ron shouted.

  “Anna, what are you doing?  Get back!”  Hermione shouted, pulling out her wand.  “Ninfaminus!” she said, pointing at the looming horror standing over Anna.  But Anna had no intention of getting back.  Instead, she moved forward towards the wraith itself, which had suddenly stopped as if it had forgotten what it was doing.

  “Anna, don’t tempt it, get back!”  Hermione warned, “I’ve made it not hungry but I don’t think it’ll last long, we need to run!”

  “No!  We have to help Keki!”  Jennifer suddenly shouted, standing back up with her wand out.  But Keki wasn’t moving or even fighting anymore, completely engulfed in the shade of the wraith, her color turning grey.  Anna, bathed in a strange white light, forced her way forward with a burst of energy that shoved the wraith back until the Unicorn stumbled forward and collapsed in a heap.

  Enraged, the wraith turned on Anna, its distorted arms reaching out for her as the light around her began being pulled into the black mass, like a star into a hole in the sky.  It was then that Jennifer heard from behind her a voice so powerful, so horrible in tone and so dark in incantation that she did not recognize it until she turned around.  It was Lunette Vallid, as most had never seen her before, her eyes filled with a focused intensity and her wand cutting through the air like a knife as she flung her strength into the spell at hand and cast it at the wraith.

  Jennifer knew the spell well, but was quite surprised that Vallid knew it, and even more surprised that she was using it, for the spell was one of the most powerful of dark magics, draining the power off of one human being and funneling it into another.  She was also surprised when she realized the person she was draining was Albus Dumbledore, who stood quietly beside her, watching the wraith as it suddenly found itself dealing with more power in one instant than it could ever manage to consume, screeching in a horrible, high-pitched voice that never seemed to settle to one tone.  It was almost as if all the screams of its past victims had suddenly come to the surface and burst its way out.  The shadowy form of the wraith began to dissipate, slowly eating away to its center until finally in the end there was nothing left.

  Footsteps broke the silence, and Jennifer found herself surrounded by friends and Severus beside her, speaking to her in a concerned voice.  She couldn’t hear the words…she couldn’t hear anything now.  Pulling from his grasp, Jennifer walked over to Keki’s fallen form and knelt beside it, putting a hand on her neck as she had not been able to for so many years.  She was vaguely aware of Anna standing nearby, sobbing softly into her husband’s arms, but everyone else seemed distant.

  The Unicorn’s breathing was shallow and strained, her coat and eyes an unnatural grey, and Jennifer knew that only her strong willpower had kept her alive this long.  Keki whinnied softly, and at Keki’s prompting and with a shaky hand, Jennifer slowly reached up and touched the unicorn’s horn.  It fell into her hand as if had never been attached at all.  A moment after, Jennifer knew she was gone.  A terrible grief like which Jennifer had never felt before suddenly consumed her, and she burst into tears over the fallen form.  Centaurs appearing from the cover of the trees each knelt in turn, as did several dozen Unicorns who had appeared out of seemingly thin air as they bowed their heads in mourning.

  Severus stood as if made of stone and watched.  Never had he felt so helpless, nor had he ever seen Jennifer cry like that before.  But before he could bring himself to begin picking up the pieces of him that had shattered seeing her in such grief, he felt a hand on his shoulder.  Dumbledore moved passed him and over to Jennifer, helping her up and walking her over to the others.  A moment later, Jennifer found herself in Severus’ arms, still immersed in her grief but hearing his voice now, reassuring her that everything would be all right.

  “What she needs now is rest,” Dumbledore said quietly after a long moment.  “In fact, I think we all need our rest.  I believe I for one, could sleep for a year,” he said, looking over at Vallid who gave him a sympathetic nod.  “The wraith is gone, but the one it took with it will never be forgotten.”  Jennifer clutched onto the horn tightly, trying to brush away the tears, unable to wash away the pain that went with it.  “Come, it is time to go home,” Dumbledore said.  As the Centaurs prepared the ceremony to assure the Unicorn’s place in the heavens, shooting stars fell across the sky and wept at her passing.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Rites of Spring

 

  News spread quickly throughout the school the next day, and as usual when anything exciting happened the center of conversation seemed to boil faster around where Corey sat, so convinced were the other students that he had the inside story on everything.  But this time he shook his head, glancing up at where Severus and Jennifer sat at the table.  She poked at her food disinterestedly while Severus spoke to her, but even her short answers, whatever they were, were vacant of her normal enthusiasm.

  “I haven’t been able to talk to her yet, but Doug’s sister said she seemed rather listless in class today,” Corey said.  “And Essie said Professor Snape was in a frightful mood today, and I even heard one of the seventh years say that they haven’t seen him this bad in years.”

  “I hope he cools off before our test next week then,” Gail said nervously.  It was no secret that she and Katie didn’t care for Snape’s style of teaching at all.  “Especially since it’ll be our last test in his class before the dance,” she said, glancing almost expectantly at Doug before looking back at her plate.

  “I’m more worried about Professor Craw.  I wonder what I could do to try and cheer her up,” Corey sighed.

  “I doubt there’s anything we can do.  You heard what Doctor Sagittari said this morning.  A Unicorn and rider share a very rare sort of bond, it’d be like losing a hand or leg or something,” Doug said.  “It’s going to take time, that’s all.”

  “Time might dull the pain, but it’s still there,” Corey said softly.  His friends grew quiet, looking over at him somberly, knowing that he was thinking about his family and not knowing quite how to answer that.  Suddenly there was such a murmur that erupted around the tables that Corey and his friends had to look around to see what was happening. 

  “Look!  She’s back!”  Doug said with a grin, and Corey glanced over at the door where McGonagall came with a slight smile on her face as she escorted in a student to towards the Slytherin table.

  “Danny!”  Corey said leaping up excitedly and hopping over the table, followed closely behind by Doug.  Taylor had reached her first, but Danny suddenly found herself in a mob of students as Casper, Lisa, Liam and Roger joined in welcoming her back, some with hugs and others with handshakes.

  “How are you doing?  Are you back to stay?” Several asked her at once.

  “I am back to stay,” Danny said happily.  “So I hope you Gryffindors didn’t make any plans at winning the cup this year, because am here to foil them.”

  “Yes, but you have some catching up to do,” Taylor said, “And it so happens that Ravenclaw is tied with Gryffindor at the moment.”

  “Not here even an hour and already she’s trying to win the cup single handed,” Amadeus snorted.

  “Oh, shut up, Longbottom,” Casper said, shaking her hand.  “At least give her a chance to settle in before you start.”

  “Oh, he’s going to have to learn to mind his tongue more than that,” Danny said, smiling warningly.  “I had a little chat with my cousin while I was getting settled at the mansion.  You wouldn’t believe some of the things a person could learn about another in such a short period of time.”  Amadeus’ snide look suddenly slipped off of his face, eyeing her warily.  But before he could think of a response, the students made way for Professor Snape, who walked up to her, smiling thinly.

  “Miss Nelson, the center of attention again, I see,” he said, sounding slightly amused.  “Will you be rejoining the Quidditch team?”

  “Yes, Sir.  That is, if I haven’t been replaced as yet,” she added almost questioningly.

  “Replace you, and miss our first chance in ten years of winning the cup two years in a row?”  Severus said, shaking his head with a sour expression.  “Welcome back, Miss Nelson.  It’ll be nice to have someone in my class who actually knows how to pay attention again,” he said, glowering at Corey.  Corey grinned at him, then looked back over at Danny.

  “It’s good to be back, Sir,” Danny said, taking her place at the table as the others headed back to their seats.

  It didn’t take long for Danny to catch up with the class, especially as spring blossomed after a thundering rain, bringing forth the promise of Quidditch and the dance and even of the summer to come.  She did surprise quite a few people, including Corey, when she decided to drop out of Dabbler’s class, although she maintained a comfortable, undisputed second in third year Potion’s and Herbology behind Corey.  In the subjects she had had to study the least in before; Transformation, Defense, and Charms, she suddenly excelled even above what she had previously, feeling free at last to pursue the subjects she actually enjoyed.  She also was completely surprised at how many people had tried to ask her to the dance, including Doug, Casper and even Liam, having to tell them she had already had a date since before Christmas.

  Doug went on to ask Katie, who as usual turned him down flat, and then finally Gail.  But Gail had already heard from Katie that he had already tried to ask her and Danny out, and turned him down on account of having been his third choice.  In desperation he asked Essie to go, who was positively delighted to have even been asked.

  Before they knew it, the evening of the dance was upon them, and excited students barely even touched their plates as they rushed to eat their dinners so they could get ready.  All afternoon, guests of the school had shown up to attend, for it had been decided to invite select alumni and former staff as well, making for a large event indeed.

  Jennifer stood in front of the mirror for a long time, speaking softly to herself until she saw another reflection standing in the doorway behind her and blushed slightly.

  “I’m not sure I like this dress, it makes me look huge,” Jennifer said, frowning at the ivory lace dress.

  “Rubbish, you are as beautiful as always,” Severus said, coming up behind her and placing her Nightshroud on her shoulders.  “I, on the other hand, am starting to show my age,” he decided, glancing in the mirror.  Jennifer got a better look at him and turned around, realizing he had on the robes that were made for their wedding, his hair tied back in a tail much as it was then.

  “Rubbish, you look the same as the day I married you,” Jennifer said, gazing at him lovingly.

  “Well, it seemed a pity to leave this hanging in there never to be worn again,” he said gruffly, “although, I admit I did have some doubts on whether or not you’d notice,” he admitted, meeting her gaze.  Taking a deep breath as realization set in at how she’d been over the last few days, Jennifer fell into Severus’ arms while he hugged her tightly, breathing a soft sigh of relief, kissing her forehead gently.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just…I feel as if a part of me died with her,” Jennifer said, struggling to keep from weeping again.

  “Yes, I know,” Severus said softly.  “I feel as if a part of me died watching you go through it.”  Jennifer looked up at him then, studying his dark eyes for a long time.

  “I’m sorry I shut you out like that,” Jennifer said softly.

  “It isn’t as if I haven’t done the same from time to time,” Severus shrugged slightly.  “Come, we should be getting down there.  I’m sure Rolanda and Filius are beside themselves wondering where we are right now.”

  As it turned out, Rolanda had made it a point to help assist the band, while Filius was minding the doors, the Great Hall transformed in a matter of an hour into a starlit dance floor.  After helping set up the dais and speak with a few minutes with the band, Rolanda came down to meet Jennifer and Severus, waving cheerfully. 

  “Well, don’t we look smart tonight?  Jennifer, come on, I want you to meet Donaghan.  Oh, you can come too if you want, Severus.”

  “We’ve met,” Severus said dryly.  “But I’ll go if Jennifer is going.  I thought we were going to watch the door?”

  “Come on, it’ll only take a moment.  Well, Jennifer, I guess he still proves you can dress them up but you still can’t take them anywhere,” Rolanda taunted.

  “Good thing we just stayed at Hogwarts then,” Jennifer chuckled, stepping up to the dais.  Rolanda called out his name and a tall man with a dark complexion looked around, putting down his bass guitar and stepping forward.  He had dark brown hair done up in a mass of tight curls and a trim beard, wearing a rather flashy purple coat.

  “Here she is, Donaghan!  Jennifer Craw, meet Donaghan Tremlett, bass guitar for the Weird Sisters.”

  “So this is the famous Jennifer Craw!   I was hoping to meet you tonight.  Why, you’re even lovelier than in the pictures I’ve seen of you.  Hello, Severus.  I see sticking close to the school paid off in spades.  And none of us thought you would make it.”

  “None of us thought you would either,” Severus admitted, getting a gentle nudge from his wife.  “I’m sure the students will enjoy your band’s performance, since most of them like that sort of thing.”

  “We’ll have to talk more later,” Donoghan smiled at Jennifer, “But I have a feeling we’re about to be invaded.”  Jennifer and Severus looked around to see Filius valiantly guarding the door, letting in the guests while shooing back the students who were peering in the door.  Excusing themselves quickly, Severus and Jennifer headed to the door to relieve him as the small Professor cheerfully took his place at refreshments.  While Severus stared down the students, Jennifer let in the rest of the guests, welcoming old friends and complete strangers with warm smiles, meeting each guest’s gaze before letting them pass.  Those who had not met her were exhaustingly glad to meet her, but fortunately there were more people that she knew rather than not; the Weasleys and others from the Ministry, Thatcher Boltin and Lunette Vallid, and even Audacious Belle, who had to stop long enough to introduce Jennifer to her date.

  “Jennifer, may I introduce the first man I couldn’t read…never could manage to meet him straight in the eye,” Audi cackled.  The odd looking man beside her chuckled; obviously unoffended and obviously rather fond of the bodacious old woman.  “This is Alastor Moody, a fellow Auror, we go way…way…back together.”

  “The real one this time I hope,” Severus smirked.

  “If I’d been here I’d have known,” Audi grunted.  “This is Jennifer Craw Snape, of course.”

  “I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.  What?  From Audi of course, don’t trust the papers at all, not much truth in ‘em,” he said, gently shaking her hand.

  “Audi, I like him already,” Jennifer grinned.  “And you look wonderful tonight.”

  “And you look radiant,” she smiled,  “Oh, and I have some news you might be interested in…I’ve decided to move back here.”

  “Move back?  After all of these years, really?”  Jennifer said with surprise.

  “Well, the main reason I left to begin with was to watch you and Anna, so now that you’re all grown up and back here, I figure there’s not much interest in staying.  Besides, my farm is too small and too crowded, and I need a nice quiet place to retire.”

  “Bite your tongue, old woman.  Aurors never retire, they just go into hiding from time to to time,” Alastor told Audi, winking at Jennifer as they passed.  Jennifer chuckled again, looking over at Severus.

  “It’ll be wonderful having her here, I can finally catch up with her about some things I’ve wanted to ask her over the last couple of years,” Jennifer said.

  “Yes, if she can stay out of trouble that long,” Severus said in a voice that sounded as if he doubted the possibility.  Just then he heard a baby cooing and looked up with surprise to see Remus, Carol and Alex coming in, Alex immediately reaching out for her mother who took her up in her arms with a smile.

  “I hope you don’t mind.  Dumbledore thought it might help cheer her up,” Remus explained to Severus. 

  “You sure it wasn’t just a way to convince Miss Finn to come with you?”  Severus asked bluntly, getting a look of surprise from Carol.

  “That too,” Remus admitted cheerfully.  Carol shook her head at her admonishingly, stepping off to the side.

  “Now then, pay him no mind, we didn’t come to be a burden, we came for visitin,’” she clucked.  “Would you like me to take her, Mrs. Snape?”

  “Oh, no you don’t.  You get her all the time, I’m not giving her up,” Jennifer said, hugging the wriggling girl.  “Go have fun,” she insisted.

 Severus shook his head slightly, but Jennifer could tell much of his grumpiness was just for show, glad to see Jennifer in better spirits.  As the last of the guests arrived, Severus finally let the students in and they filed in with excitement.  Corey, who had chosen to go by himself, walked in with Doug and Essie, while Danny and Taylor lingered behind.  Only Corey seemed comfortable in his dress robes and not in the least bit awkward, stepping up to his Mom and bowing flamboyantly.

  “If you’ll allow me, I would like to dance with the cutest girl in the Hall,” Corey said.  Jennifer shook her head with a smile, gesturing to the baby when he held out his hand.  “No, no!  I said I’d like to dance with the cutest girl in the Hall, not the most beautiful Witch in the Hall, there’s a difference,” he explained, stealing Alex away with a grin and heading out onto the floor.

  “Well, I like that,” Jennifer huffed, folding her arms.

  “Don’t worry, I have my eye on them,” Severus said in Jennifer’s ear.  “And you are the most beautiful Witch in the Hall.” 

  Dumbledore and Minerva were the last to arrive, and Dumbledore paused to smile at Jennifer warmly before turning to the band with a nod.  Filius tapped his wand and the enchanted band on the ceiling suddenly floated down into their instrument cases as the Twisted Sisters got warmed up and began to play their smash hit “Spellbound in Amsterdam” as the students began to clap loudly.  It wasn’t long into the ear-splitting tune that Jennifer decided she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the modern wave, and was rather glad when Severus brought Alexander back out of the crowd and back into her arms again.  Severus’ own pained expression matched hers, but Jennifer couldn’t help but notice out on the dance floor that Anna and Sirius were enjoying themselves immensely, along with Audi and Alastor and Rolanda, who was dancing first with Alvin, and then a little later with Dumbledore, who, it appeared, was quite an expert at the Hippogriff Hop and the Sorcerer Shuffle. 

  Severus found them a small table in the corner farthest from the music while they watched the antics with mixed expressions.  It wasn’t long before Corey joined them, after dancing with every Witch professor that had been brave enough to get out on the floor.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me Wizards had their own rock style?  I thought people all listened to that boring stuff you guys listen to,” Corey said.

  “Boring stuff?”  Severus exclaimed.  “At least you can call it music!”

  “Well, this does have a beat to it, sort of,” Jennifer admitted, “But why does it have to be so loud?”

  “I like it!”  Corey said.  “In fact, I think maybe I’m going to try starting my own band!  How hard could it be?”  He asked, getting up and going back out to find his friends.  Severus and Jennifer looked at each other with a shared sense of dread.

  It was a long, friend-filled night, so active that Jennifer had little time to think of anything but what was going on around her and who had a hold of Alex at any particular time.  Corey, who chose not to take a date, had all but made up for it by dancing with everyone else’s date at one point or another, making Doug wonder if perhaps he shouldn’t have taken the same route himself.  But Danny, Jennifer noticed, barely left Taylor’s side, often standing to the side away from things and talking as they watched others passing by.  And after spending a little time dancing and then sitting and chatting with Anna and Sirius, Carol came back to retrieve Alex, who got last minute hugs from her mother before finally being carried away, her worried parents checking bracelets and watches to make sure she arrived safely home again.

  It was then that Jennifer and Severus finally slipped away after a practically incident free night and headed back to their rooms, Jennifer opening up a few windows as they entered.  Her faithful bat Ratfly went out to stretch his wings as Jennifer watched him fly away, looking out at the walls and the shadowed mountains.

  “We’d better be getting some rest, what with that big Quidditch game tomorrow,” Severus mused, looking at her thoughtfully as he got out his journal and made a few notes.

  “Do you think we should say something to Corey?”

  “You mean about the band idea?  I should think so…”

  “No, I mean…I think it’s fairly obvious why he didn’t ask anyone to the dance tonight,” Jennifer said.  Severus nodded soberly, finishing his entry in his journal and casting a spell to dry the ink, snapping it shut.  “How can I advise him not to wait around for the ‘one and only,’ considering what he knows about us?”

  “I’ll talk to him,” Severus said standing up, “But you know, in some ways he is as stubborn as we are.  I doubt it’s an idea he’ll be willing to give up on easily.”

  “He is quite an idealist, that’s for certain,” Jennifer said.

  “Yes, a lot like you were when we first met,” Severus said.  “But he’ll grow out of it as well.”

  “I didn’t grow out of it,” Jennifer sighed, lying down.  “That’s the part of me that died with Keki.”  Severus, not knowing quite how to respond to that decided not to at all, dimming the lights and closing all but one of the windows.  Jennifer couldn’t sleep immediately and instead lay awake for quite some time, going over the last few years in her mind.  She might not have missed the naivety she had had, but she did miss the strength that had come with it, and the power not to have to think twice before doing anything.  Even after four years, wizards she’d never met would come and ask about the Dementor Revolt in awe, when all she had done…all she had thought she had done…was leap on a Unicorn’s back.  It seemed ironic that it wasn’t until now that she realized how much more there was to it than that.

 

  Only a few hours later, Jennifer woke with a start after a nightmare left her gasping for breath.  She had been in the cave with the Centaurs again, and the ceiling was slowly coming down on top of them, and as she struggled to climb out of the cave, she looked up to see Keki standing there in a fury, stamping on the earth above and making it fall.  Seeing Jennifer come out, the Unicorn had leapt down, trying to force the witch back into the cave, but in her panic she had forced herself awake and leapt out of bed, waving her hand frantically towards the windows to open them.  A loud noise pierced the air as they shattered and Severus sat up, instantly awake, looking at the windows then at his wife with open concern.

  Jennifer read his face in the dim light as she tried to catch her breath, looking then towards the windows as pieces of glass suddenly disappeared one by one underneath them.  Finally she turned around and grabbed her robe and her cloak.

  “What are you doing?  Where in the world do you think you’re going?”  Severus frowned.

  “I can’t do this anymore, Severus.  I want my life back.  I think I’m going to go take a walk in the castle,” Jennifer said as she got dressed.

  “Very well, but perhaps I should go with you…”

  “No.  Sorry, Severus, but, I’d just rather be alone right now,” Jennifer said, heading out the door to her sitting room.  Severus looked at the door for a long time, trying to decide what to do, if anything at all.  At last, he made up his mind, throwing up his robes and heading up the stairs, even as Jennifer made her way down the back.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Legacies

 

  With only the red-wisp light to guide her way, Jennifer went deeper into the dungeons, slipping down a narrow corridor to a molding door and passing through it down a long, limestone stair into the cavern below.  Pipes of all sizes worked their way across the cistern cavern, a roughly hewn, damp area just below the lake level.  Jennifer’s head was already pounding but she refused to acknowledge it, sitting down on the cold stone with her back to the wall, staring out into the darkness.  Dripping water echoed in the background, breaking the silence every now and then while Jennifer, trying to keep her breathing even, pulled her cloak around her.  She wasn’t sure how long she had been there, sorting out her memories and continuously reasoning with herself how perfectly safe she was, when she heard soft footsteps approach. 

  Tapping her necklace, the light brightened to reveal where Dumbledore was standing a few feet away, still in his dress robes from the evening, looking at her with a gentle smile as if it was a completely natural place to be for either of them.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you, Jennifer.  I just was just taking a little walk and thought I heard someone nearby,” he said casually.

  “A little walk?  In the cistern?” Jennifer said skeptically.

  “Well, I might have perhaps been a bit persuaded which direction to take for a walk to after a short chat with Severus,” he admitted, looking around at a large rock which suddenly took the form of a great stone chair.  “Mind if I keep you company for a bit?  I could use a rest after all of those stairs,” he said.  Jennifer nodded and he sat down.  “I didn’t have a chance to tell you tonight you looked quite radiant in that dress.  That’s the one you and Minerva had been working on lately, is it not?” He inquired, getting another nod.  “And Anna’s as well, I believe.  Ah, yes, Anna.  She’s really come a long way this year, understanding modern magic and learning to focus her abilities.  You have really done a very good job at training her.”

  “Professor, to be perfectly honest, I’ve hardly done anything at all with Anna,” Jennifer said slowly.  “I had Sagittari help her with her wand craft, since he understood from what he knew how to train how not to use that sort of magic.  Minerva helped with Transfiguration, since honestly it’s never been my best subject, and I asked Severus to help her with her defense, because he’d already been working with Corey privately since he didn’t need a wand,” Jennifer admitted.  “I even had a student helping her with riding a broom since I certainly wasn’t capable of teaching it.”

  “Yes, I know,” Dumbledore smiled.  “But tell me, what was it that made you choose to go to them?”  Jennifer shrugged.

  “Just paying attention to what she needed, and who could help her with it.”

  “Exactly,” Dumbledore smiled.  “Teaching isn’t always about standing up in front of a classroom and expecting them to learn it, you know.  Sometimes the best teaching that you can give to someone is through other people.  However, I have always been of the opinion that the most effective teaching of all comes from finding ways to get the students to teach themselves.  Of course, that can be risky at times…the world is a perilous place.  Experience can be a very harsh teacher indeed.”

  “So I’m learning,” Jennifer sighed, leaning her head back.  “It’s been two years since the Tomb and I still can’t get over it.  I don’t dare close my eyes for a second down here because I know my lungs will clench and I’ll remember what happened all over again.  I know there’s little chance that Hogwarts will fall on my head, and it definitely won’t fall on your head,” she added, getting a slight chuckle from Dumbledore, “But for some reason…reasoning itself isn’t enough.  It’s taken control of my life, Professor, and I hate it, and I’m beginning to hate myself for not being able to get a handle on it.”

  “Tell, me, Jennifer,” Dumbledore said, gazing at her steadily.  “Why have you never brought this up to me before?”

  “Sir?”

  “You’ve been feeling this way for quite some time, ever since it happened in fact, but you’ve never once asked for your office or classroom to be moved.”

  “Sir, I’m well aware what sort of protections are placed specifically on that room to make sure things don’t get out of control in the lab.  I certainly wouldn’t want to risk any accidents on my account,” Jennifer said.  “And moving just the office just wasn’t practical, or I’d have taken Severus up on exchanging them last year.  Instead, I just leave the windows open and grit my teeth and bare it because I must.”

  “And last year, when Rolanda was in danger, you helped go after her in the old caverns under the cottage, even knowing that parts of them were unstable,” Dumbledore said.

  “Don’t think for a moment I wasn’t suffering,” Jennifer chuckled bitterly.  “But I wasn’t about to abandon a friend when she needed us.”

  “Yes, it seems that in any circumstance where you have to do with things that make you uncomfortable, you still manage to do them anyway.  That doesn’t sound to me like something that is actually controlling your life,” Dumbledore said.

  “Well, what about this year when I fainted in the middle of Myrkinbrek just because I found out I was underground, or several weeks ago when I ran out of the centaur cave because I would have rather faced harpies than stayed in there a moment longer,” Jennifer said.

  “And what about now, where you came down here all alone to sit to find the answers to those questions?” Dumbledore said.  “We all have fears to live with, Jennifer.  How we deal with them is part of what makes us who we are.  Although really, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re willing to put your fears on hold for others but not for yourself.  You’ve always put others above yourself.  But, sometimes, you have to learn to put yourself above others.  And I really think that’s what your being down here is truly all about, don’t you?”  Jennifer looked over at him for a long time.

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Jennifer sighed softly.

  “It’s one thing to carry burden, but it’s quite another to take it all on unnecessarily when there are so many here willing to lighten the load, not the least of which being Severus, who has been at odds with everyone and everything lately worrying about you.”

  “I know, it was just…I almost feel guilty about talking about it with him.  When I was with Keki, it was just us, and I so completely forgot him, and then he got injured…I felt so horrible.”

  “Somehow I doubt that you truly forgot him.  In fact, I don’t think you could have,” Dumbledore said.  “When you had fallen into Cosmic Sleep and the Unicorns drove off Voldemort and the Death Eaters, not one of them even attempted to fight Severus.  How did they know the difference?  How were they so sure he was with us?  I don’t think it was mere instinct, Jennifer.  I believe Keki knew without a doubt that you loved him, and that is why he was left untouched.”  Blinking thoughtfully at his words, Jennifer reached into her cloak and took out a box lined in purple velvet, opening it to look upon the horn, brushing it gently with her finger.  “Keki will never be forgotten, Jennifer.  She was not only a great Unicorn, but a Sentinel as well.  Although, if you don’t mind my suggesting it, whatever you decide to do with that horn, might I suggest sending a small sliver to Ollivander’s?  I am sure a wand imbued with her healing magic and desire to do good might inspire others as well someday.”

  “What’s going to happen now?  I mean, now that there’s no Sentinel of Wild Magic?”  Jennifer asked, carefully covering the horn again.

  “That responsibility will be passed onto another, of course, should he finally be willing to take it,” Dumbledore sighed.  “But I have a plan to help convince him that it is time that he did just that.”

 

  Jennifer got herself dressed and stepped out of the back room and over to where Sagittari stood by the desk with Madame Pomfrey. 

  “All done?”

  “Yes, of course, you’re doing quite well.  In fact, you’re a bit healthier this time than the first,” Sagittari commented with a smile.

  “She’s definitely been eating better,” Pomfrey said approvingly.  “Although she needs to stay off her feet more.”

  “Have you ever tried to stay off of your feet in this school?”  Jennifer asked her.

  “Well, that’s definitely a point, but do try,” Pomfrey insisted.

  “The swelling creams don’t do you any good in the jar,” Sagittari added with a knowing smile.

  “Well thanks for letting me having my appointment here today, I’ve had a tight schedule with everything going around lately,” Jennifer said.  “By the way, Doctor, do you have a moment to come up to the Trophy Room with me?  There’s someone I think you should meet,” Jennifer said enigmatically.

  “Certainly,” Sagittari said, finishing up his notes, following behind her.

  It was then that Sagittari first met the painting of Caprica Dusthorn.  He recognized her instantly as he turned around towards the door, bowing his head reverently as he smiled warmly at him.

  “Professor Dusthorn, this is Doctor Sagittari, the Centaur wizard.”

  “It is an honor indeed to meet the semblance of the woman my people remember so well,” Sagittari said. 

  “Well met, Doctor.  You may not realize it, but I’ve had my eye on you for quite some time now,” she said with a twinkle of amusement.  “I see you’re still wearing the Spear.”

  “It means nothing, except for the fact I do not feel it safe in other hands so choose to keep it on me,” Sagittari answered evenly.

  “I beg your pardon?  It means nothing?”  Caprica said with open surprise.  “You can not possibly believe that, Sagittari.  Such a relic as the Spear of Lugh is not something any one should take lightly, especially when your people had been chosen to guard it.”

  “The Spear of Lugh?”  Jennifer repeated in awe.  “But that is incredible!  That something like that would just be handed out by a phantom…why would anything so powerful be showing up now?”  Caprica paused for a moment as if thinking how to reply, nodding to herself.

  “I suppose it’s best by starting at the beginning,” Caprica decided, looking between Sagittari and Jennifer. “It’s something that started a very, very, long time ago, before even I were born…when a very wise man was forced to make a very hard decision. 

  “You see, he was one of those born from a Human and Faerie…not only that, but a descendent of Tuatha herself, who fought the ancient magics of the Formorians long ago.  He had gone to seek the land to seek the Faerie lands and the Western Isle, leaving behind him a future he had helped to build, one of justice and higher thinking, led by a king he trained himself and that he thought capable of uniting the island kingdoms of a central rule and a central council.  But time flows differently in the faerie world, and when he returned he found that his faith was misplaced and that the kingdom had failed, breaking down once again into warring neighbors.  It was then that he decided that the world such as it was, was too busy warring with itself to accept those they saw as Outsiders; the Fae and the Fae born, and the Humans of magic ability to seek their wisdom.  So, he undid the actions of the kings of old and reformed the seal that kept Tir Na Nog hidden, and bade to those that stayed to keep their identity a secret, else face the fear and persecution.”

  “You speak of Merlin,” Jennifer said, and Caprica nodded.

  “Yes, I do.  But Merlin still had hope that someday the non-magic folk and magic folk would be able to live together and help one another, playing on each other’s strengths to make a better world.  So, he took steps to assure this, as well as steps to assure that the magic left behind her would not fall out of balance.  He established the Order of Merlin, made up of a group of wizards, sworn to protect both wizards and non-wizards alike, who would monitor the progress of both in hopes that one day they might live together peacefully, and he established the Sentinels of the four primary magics; the first ones being his four children.”

  “I didn’t know he had children,” Jennifer muttered, thinking not for the first time she should have paid more attention in History class.

  “Yes, two from one woman, and two from another,” Caprica nodded, “and each one was particularly powerful in one type of magic, although all of them could use all four. The only daughter inherited the fae magic, while her twin was adept at light.  The other two, of course, were adept at ancient and dark, and all four went on to establish their own families and own lines. There really are very few old wizard families today that don’t have some of that blood mingled in their past somewhere.  Every now and then, a child is born with all four bloodlines, and it is said they exhibit powers all their own.  Legend has it that one day one of them will open the gate and Merlin will return to see if the world is ready.”

  “I have read other wizard literature that predicted that opening the gate would end all magic in this world were it to happen,” Sagittari said.

  “In the wrong hands, in the wrong way, perhaps, and without the four items there that protect the Seal,” Caprica said, glancing over at Jennifer.  “From what I understand from Albus, that prophecy was tested last year, but as fate would have it, the evil that attempted it destroyed itself.”  Jennifer nodded soberly at that then stopped, wondering something.  “But, the four items came to represent more than just the gate to Tir Na Nog; they also came to represent the four Sentinels that were sworn to protect them.  The Sword of Nuatha represented the Sentinel of Light; The Stone of Destiny the Ancient, The Cauldron of Dagda the Dark, and last but not least, The Spear of Lugh, for the Wild magic.  It was mine to wield once, very many years ago.  And now it is yours, Sagittari.  Just be careful with it and keep it in poppy oil, it can have a mind of its own at times.”

  “I do not wish this thing, nor do I wish to take this responsibility.  You, who first made the pact of my people, surely you are wise enough to pick someone else to guard the wild magic.  I have spent my life spurning it, fighting my family over it, and cursing the stars over it.  I am a wizard, and I will not be a Sentinel,” Sagittari said.  But suddenly Caprica’s eyes let up with sheer amusement, shaking her head slightly with a lopsided smile.

  “Dear, Sagittari.  I have a very good friend, whom I once owed my life and allegiance to, and the most powerful Diviner and Visionist that has ever walked these halls or will likely to again.  His name was Icarus Ravenclaw,” Caprica said as Jennifer looked up in surprise.  “And one of the things he always used to say was that the more someone runs away from their destiny, the greater chance it is that they meet it.  And so you have, dear Doctor.  Sagittari, I cannot ask you to be something that you already are, whether you accept the title or not is of little consequence.  You are the Sentinel of Wild Magic.”

  “That can not be so, I served no apprenticeship,” Sagittari said, whipping his tail defiantly.

  “The apprentices aren’t always told when they’re serving the apprenticeship, nor do they always know the one who entrusted them” Caprica smiled, “But you, Sagittari, have been told all of your life, from the stars, from your own people, from your teachers, and your friends.  All that is left now is for you to decide is if you want to use that power for good, for evil, for balance, or to not use it at all,” Caprica told him seriously.  “But whatever you choose, it is still yours alone to decide.”

  “I am not sure what to decide,” Sagittari said after a moment.

  “Good, that’s a start,” Caprica said.  “I think I’ll let you ponder that for awhile.  But, I’m always here if you need me.  And you can always ask the other Sentinels, once you figure out who they are.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pester Dumbledore for a moment,” she said, stepping out of her picture.  “Good luck.”

  “I should probably be going too,” Jennifer said, awkwardly pushing herself back on her feet from where she sat on a bench.

  “What would you do, Jennifer, if you were made a Sentinel?”  The centaur asked her.

  “Me?”  Jennifer said in surprise, shrugging, “I suppose it depends on which magic I ended up serving, I would guess.  If I were the Sentinel of Light, I suppose I’d be the one to try and encourage everyone to get along and fulfill Merlin’s dream, although I really don’t know much about Muggles.  I don’t know much about Ancient to really guess what I might do or have to do for that either.  Of course, my strength is in Dark magic, but if I were Sentinel, I doubt I’d do all that much at all, at least not directly…” Jennifer said suddenly stopping short, her eyes widening.  “I gotta go.  Excuse me.”

  “Wait, Jennifer!”  Sagittari said, peering out the door after her.  “You never said anything about wild magic!”

  Jennifer wasted no time, heading down to her office without a second thought and grabbing a handful of floo powder.

  “Coven Suites,” she said, disappearing into the ash.  Within a moment she was in the lobby and walked straight up to the door lift without even bothering to check at the desk, as the doorman respectfully showed her up.  She knocked on the door insistently before it opened and she stepped into Lunette Vallid’s hotel suite, striding over to the desk where Vallid sat writing a memo, not even glancing up.

  “Hello, Jennifer, what brings you here?”  She asked calmly.

  “There’s something I have to ask you,” Jennifer said, “and I hope you’re willing to give me a straight answer.”

  “Sure, Jennifer, what is it?” Vallid asked, glancing up a moment.

  “Are you the Sentinel of Dark Magic?”  Jennifer asked.

  “What makes you think that?” Vallid asked with a smile, signing the memo and setting it aside.

  “All the time I have known you, everyone has always said you were a great Witch, but it occurred to me that I had never noticed you doing any magic at all except for transforming into your other form,” Jennifer said.  “Except once, the other night when you cast a dark spell that I probably wouldn’t have dared to use, especially the way you used it, overloading the wraith with Dumbledore’s energy, which was so much more than it can drain at once that it destroyed it.  Only a dark witch of extreme power could do that.  And yet, the fact that you never use it makes me wonder if you don’t feel the way I do in that the greatest power you can have over magic is not to use it.”

  “You know, when you put that as the answer to what the greatest power was on your achievement test, a lot of people took notice of that,” Vallid said with a smile.  “Including me, which was one of the reasons I was so interested in testing your Truth-seeking ability myself.  It was a very good answer, and quite understandable from someone such as yourself who was trained solely in dark magic for long and then forced to let it go in favor of the more subtle arts at Whitebridge.”

  “I wasn’t meaning to talk about me, I just want to know the truth,” Jennifer said, earning a very amused look from Vallid.  “You are the Sentinel, aren’t you?”

  “Besides other things,” Vallid said with a nod and a smile.  “Yes, Jennifer, you’re right.  I wondered how long it would take you to put that together.”

  “And what about…I mean, with all this talk of apprentices, I was wondering if you had an apprentice yet?”  Jennifer asked.

  “Of course, Jennifer,” Vallid said, pulling over the next sheet of paper.

  “Who?” Jennifer asked when Vallid finally met her gaze.

  “I think you already know the answer to that question,” Vallid said.   

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Serpent and the Staff

 

  Jennifer could hear the fans cheering in the distance as she hurried across the grounds to the Quidditch Pitch, glancing at her watch and then at her ring.  Severus was, the ring indicated, rather irritated, and Jennifer could hardly blame him.  She had barely gotten to the bottom of the stands when there was a buildup from the Slytherin section, and Jennifer stopped and walked up between the gates to watch.  Danny and Julie Brim were twisting in mid-air, cutting through the charging Hufflepuff chasers as the Snitch took a dive in front of them.  But as phenomenal a Seeker Julie Brim was, Danny was a tad more agile on her new broom, and as the Snitch suddenly veered upward, Julie’s speed widened her turn and cost her priceless inches in distance.  With uncanny grace, Danny quickly seized the opportunity and forced her broom up in an almost hop, grasping her hand around the golden ball.  The stands suddenly burst with a roaring cheer the likes of which Jennifer couldn’t remember ever hearing before, realizing almost at once that nearly all of the other houses were standing and cheering with just as much intensity.  Even several Hufflepuffs were standing and applauding enthusiastically.

  Danny, kneeling on her broom with perfect balance, spiraled around the Pitch with one hand on the broom and the other on the Snitch, a glorious smile on her face as she reached the field.  Severus had arrived even before the last of the team set down on the ground, along with Draco Malfoy, wearing his Canadian Sentinels cloak and smiling proudly at his young cousin.  He made a comment to Severus, who nodded to him, and the two of them congratulated Danny before stepping back as the students made their way to the field.  Jennifer was quite content to stand on the sidelines and watch the bedlam that followed, nodding to herself happily.  It was, after all, Danny’s moment, and the first time she had truly been able to win for herself.  She had been through a terrible ordeal with such strength, and Jennifer had even less doubt now than ever that Danny had a great future ahead of her.

   As March began to wear on, the students thoughts began to turn to finals as Professors began to lay out their final agendas for the rest of the year and what was expected of them the last few months.  Although it finals were not yet a pressing in most classes, it was not true of Muggle Studies class where they were expected to turn in their first rough draft on their term paper in a few short weeks.  Danny and Taylor, who had noticed early on that Corey and Doug were struggling with theirs, offered to help them out, and with a bit of arranging on Danny’s part with Snape to adjust one of her advanced classes to a later time, they managed to find an afternoon a week where they could all work on it.  Books were piled high on both ends of the library table as the four of them wrote, Taylor looking over Doug’s paper and helping him with grammar, while Danny took the more onerous task of helping Corey with his content.

  “There, done again,” Corey said, handing it over to Danny, who sighed at him.

  “That’s only a paragraph more than you showed me last time.  It’s still only two and a half pages. It’s supposed to be ten.”

  “But I don’t know what else to write.  I already told every thing that mattered.  The wall went up.  The wall came down.  What else is there?  I’m not writing too much on that whole Cold War thing, that’s Doug’s topic not mine.  Besides, he won’t let me see his paper,” Corey complained.

  “I’m not going to let you steal my paper!  I’m almost two thirds done!  You’ve barely gotten started,” Doug complained.

  “Besides, it’s not as if the Berlin Wall necessarily did anything.  I mean, of course wizards got in and out without a blink if they wanted, and there were all sorts of stories in these books of regular folk escaping in the old days, and later there were parts so broken up people could just walk across.  The whole thing ended up nothing more than symbolism,” Corey complained.

  “Strange, I didn’t read anything like that in your report,” Danny said.

  “Well, no, I’m just saying…”

  “Don’t say it, write it,” Danny said, shaking her head at him.  “Put that in there.”

  “I don’t know if I should.  Every other class I’ve tried stating my opinions in I’ve lost points,” Corey said.  “And you all are already quite ahead of everyone after that last game.”

  “My sister is still mad at me after that last game,” Doug said.  “So I sat with you guys near the Slytherin stands.  You’d think I’d have committed a major crime.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t have even been here to win that game if it weren’t for you three, and I’m not ever going to forget it,” Danny said, writing another line on her own paper.

  “Odd,” Taylor said.  But he was not looking at what they were doing, he was looking across the room.

  “What is it, Taylor?”  Corey asked.

  “Madame Granger, she just passed by on her way to the restricted section with a stack of books…”

  “What’s so odd about that?  She is the librarian,” Doug said, rolling his eyes.

  “She looks worried,” Taylor said, watching her come through the books, shuffling quickly through the last one with a frown.  She sighed and looked around, noticing them and they quickly got back to looking busy on their papers.  Quickly she walked over to them.

  “Mr. Willowby, do you happen to remember when Professor Craw’s free period starts today?”

  “Yes, ma’am, in about a half an hour,” Corey said.  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, no. At least, nothing you need to worry about,” she reassured him,  “I hope,” she added, heading over to where Dame Rachel was sorting books.

  “I have the oddest sort of feeling that she’s about to get my Mom into trouble again,” Corey said, shaking his head and turning back to his paper.

  As Severus came down the back stairs after his class, her heard footsteps above him and paused to see whom it was.  A moment later, Hermione came into view with several books carefully marked.  She had one open and was reading through it when she looked up with surprise at seeing Severus standing at the bottom of the stair.

  “And just where do you think you’re going?” he asked her suspiciously.

  “I wasn’t aware I had to inform you where I was going,” Hermione said back in annoyance.  Severus grabbed the open book out of her hand before she could protest, glancing over it.

  “You were going to take this down to Jennifer, weren’t you?”

  “Well, yes, if you must know,” Hermione said.  “I was working on discovering a weakness, then found something very disturbing and thought I had better warn Jennifer in case she wants to try again…”

  “Jennifer isn’t going anywhere right now.  She’s already been taking off far too often than it is good for her in her condition.  Perhaps it’s time you let me on your little research project, especially since Remus and I are the ones in charge of Forest security, not Jennifer,” Severus scowled.

  “Fine,” Hermione said, looking over his shoulder and pointing.  “Read this.”  Severus began to scan the passage then stopped, reading it more carefully, becoming more alarmed by the moment as he looked up at her searchingly.

  “How sure are we that this creature in the Tomb is a Dreadbiter serpent?”  He asked.

  “Just speculation at the moment, that’s where we were trying to go that night when the wraith caught up with us,” Hermione admitted.  “But I just found this passage this morning.”

  “Then it’s a good thing you hadn’t gotten any farther that night than you did,” Severus said curtly, rereading it.  “If this is correct, we may be sitting on an even bigger problem than we thought.”

  “Should I write Harry?”  Hermione asked.  Severus looked at her thoughtfully.

  “No,” Severus said.  “And I don’t think you should tell Jennifer about it either.  I am going to deal with this myself…but first, I think I want to find out more information on who might have stolen the Staff of Eyre.  It looks as if we may need it.”

 

  Ederick Thurspire looked about as thrilled to have Severus Snape in his office as Severus was to be there.  He was a tall, lanky, younger man with golden hair and sharp features, wearing formal Ministry robes that looked as if they had seen better days.  There had been a time when he was sure that Severus was working for Voldemort, and that suspicion nearly cost Jennifer her life when he acted on it.  Severus had never forgot it, nor was ever likely to, and Ederick, despite the events of the last few years, still didn’t trust Severus for a moment.

  “So, you want to know who stole the Staff of Eyre?  You’re not the only one, so do we.  There were no signs of break-in, no signs of any forced entry and no one saw anything suspicious.  It’s as if someone just strode in and took it and forgot to sign a release form,” Ederick said.

  “So what you’re saying is, it must have been an inside job,” Severus said slowly, squinting thoughtfully.

  “I don’t see how it could have been anything else, there were too many alarm spells and guards protecting that area.  What’s more is that there were several other equally powerful artifacts there that might have been stolen but weren’t.  Whoever took it knew exactly what they were looking for.  And, we have not been able to track it, so it’s either not being used, or whoever has it knows how we track magic impulses and knows how to block it.”  Ederick said, looking at Severus with a keen eye as the dark man paced the floor broodingly.  “This sudden interest in the Staff wouldn’t have anything to do with the tremors around Hogsmeade, would it?”

  “The school is partially responsible for the Staff, of course we would be concerned if it came up missing,” Severus said.

  “Yes, but we spoke with Dumbledore about it the first night.  You’re here because you’re concerned that someone might try to gain control of whatever it is that has turned the ruins into a lair, aren’t you?”

  “Must you always jump to conclusions like that?” Severus snapped irritably.

  “Well, I’ve been thinking about that myself, and my suggestion is to try and flood the Tomb,” Ederick said.  “Going down in there would be a death trap for anyone, but perhaps we can flood out the creature out on our terms, it would be a lot easier to deal with.”

  “Do you realize how much water that would take?  We’d have to siphon off all of the water out of the lake to do it as many passages as there are.  Not to mention risking further collapse of the Tomb itself from the pressure.  And, if that thing is what Madame Granger believes it is, a Dreadbiter Serpent, it’d be extremely dangerous for it to come to surface so near to the town.”

   “Dreadbiter, sounds familiar,” Ederick said,  “Scandinavian, right?  Corpse devourers?  I thought those were only a legend.”

  “If only they were,” Severus said dourly, turning to face them.  “Because if it is one, the situation may be more grave than even you realize, for according to what we’ve just found out, Dreadbiters have the ability to abstract the memories of those whose corpses they’ve consumed.”

  “Good lord,” Ederick said, a chill of horror running through him.  “But that means this one might have the memories of Slytherin…. and Pettigrew…”

  “And Voldemort,” Severus finished grimly.

  “Who knows about this?”  Ederick demanded.

  “As far as I know only Granger and I so far, although I am willing to assume that whoever was responsible for the Staff disappearing might also know.  And for the record, I do know that Lucius Malfoy was poking about the site before Christmas last year, he showed up on one of the school’s Hogsmeade excursions,” Severus said.  Ederick squinted.

  “How very interesting,” Ederick said.  “I’ll see if I can’t set it up with Minister Peasegood to conduct a few more raids, keeping a special eye out for the Staff.”

  “Good,” Severus nodded to him.  “And if it is found, I would like to officially request borrowing it.  I’m sure you see I have good reason.  But I’m not going to wait long,” he added, adjusting his cloak as if ready to leave.

  “Wait, what are you going to do if we don’t find it?”  Ederick asked.

  “I’m going to go down there after it anyhow, of course,” Severus said.  “If that beast does retain even a hint of the evil that Voldemort had, I intend to destroy it, one way or another,” he vowed, before heading out the door.  Ederick looked after him worriedly for a moment then sat down in a slump, wondering what else he could do to help.

 

Chapter Thirty

A Question of Lineage

 

  A few days later, Jennifer arranged to have lunch with Anna in her office to talk about her progress and get some idea of what other things she might need to learn.  The office itself had come a long way from when it was a storage room.  The last of the books that had been packed there had little by little found other homes, and along with the Muggle-style paintings and tiny potted plants had really began to look like somewhere a person might retreat to get some quiet work done.  The had been talking for some time when Jennifer began to get distracted, nibbling on olive bread and looking over at her sister-in-law thoughtfully.

  “Anna, there’s something I’ve been wondering about, and I hope you don’t mind if it’s a bit nosy,” Jennifer said.

  “You can ask me anything,” Anna shrugged.  “We’re family now, after all.”

  “Well, I was sort of wondering about your family?  How much do you know about them, their history, I mean?”  Jennifer asked.

  “You mean, about the Snapes?”  Anna asked.

  “Well, not just the Snapes.  But the Hughes, and your mother’s family?”

  “I don’t really know anything about the Snapes except what Severus has told me.  The Hughes are an old family in America, they were Dutch colonists I’m told.  And my mother’s family came from Ireland I believe, moved there in the eighteen hundreds or so.  I don’t know any great detail, though, and you know, I’ve always wanted to.  I just never had the time,” Anna said thoughtfully.  “Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, just curious,” Jennifer said, picking at her bread.  “Being a Craw and all, we’re pretty much smothered in family history since we’re kids.  Who did what famous thing, who married who, that sort of thing.”

  “Well I seriously doubt any of my family are half as colorful a family as yours,” Anna chuckled.  “Still, now you’ve got me curious.  I think I’ll use some of my spare time this summer to go look it up,”

  “If you find out anything interesting, I’d love to hear about it,” Jennifer said.  There was a tap at the window and Jennifer put down the bread, opening the small window to let in two owls, one handing Jennifer a small bundle of letters and the other dropping Anna’s on her desk.

  “Oh look, there’s a Muggle posted letter on top of mine, labeled Air Mail.  I still want to know what they mean by that.  What other kind is there?”  Jennifer asked, as Anna chuckled softly.

  “Well normally they’re delivered by trucks,” Anna said.  “You know, large cars.”

  “Sounds rather inefficient,” Jennifer said, sitting back down.  “It’s from Doctor Linde again, we met at your wedding.”

  “Doctor Linde?  He used to be my pediatrician when I was growing up.  I didn’t know you two were writing,” Anna said, surprised.

  “Yes, after that whole mess at the end when all of us starting talking to the Muggles and answering questions and all, he, Severus and I started chatting about how potions work, and we really hit it off,” Jennifer said.

  “Wait a moment, you told him about potions?”

  “It’s all right.  At least, I think it is,” Jennifer assured her.  “After you left, some of the Muggles stayed behind and we all started talking, and they started asking us all sorts of questions and some of us, namely the Ministry folk, started asking them questions back.  It was actually a lot of fun, even though I admit I was so glad to get home to my nice comfortable cottage again.”

  “Now I know why Corey wanted to do a paper on my wedding.  I wish someone had told me about that sooner!  Wait ‘til I go home for Easter,” Anna said, glancing over her post.  Suddenly she stopped and put them down.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Another letter with no labeling.  The last one I got had a curse on it,” Anna said.  Jennifer got up, getting her wand out.

  “Hang on, let me take it.  I doubt that any cursed letters would get passed Hogwarts post, but better safe than sorry,” Jennifer said.  “I may need your help in a moment in I can’t get this spell off,” she added, pushing the envelope aside with a quill.  Concentrating for a moment beforehand, Jennifer cast the identify spell on it, waiting for the grey aura around the envelope to change colors.  When it didn’t she took out some glove and put them on, opening it carefully, muttering another spell under her breath before looking at the writing.

  “It’s not cursed,” Jennifer said, paling slightly, “but it’s not friendly, either.”

  “Let me see it,” Anna said, taking the letter from her and reading the text.

  This is your last warning.  If you value your family and the welfare of their future, you must rescind your knowledge of magic, else those you care about will meet a bitter fate.

  “Who do they think they are, asking something like that?  Threatening my family like that?”  Anna said angrily.

  “It was sent through the Muggle post again, probably so we couldn’t trace it,” Jennifer said.  “Whoever is sending these must have some idea what you are, and I think…I think that it’s scaring them.”

  “Scaring them?  Me?”  Anna stared at her.

  “Yes, Anna, you,” said another voice.  Jennifer glanced up at one of the paintings to see Caprica standing there.

  “Oh, hello, Professor,” she waved, receiving a smile from Caprica in return before she gazed back over at Anna.

  “Anna, haven’t you observed before that many of the prejudices that have grown over the years in our world all are rooted in fear?”

  “All prejudices are rooted in fear,” Anna said.  Caprica smiled then and nodded.

  “True enough.  Well, let me assure you, even in the magic world, humans are not comfortable when certain things fall out of what they consider the natural order of things.  And you, although very much apart of this world, also have powers that many others do not.”

  “Jennifer can cast dark spells that no one else can, and yet they don’t seem to fear her,” Anna said.

  “Not fear Jennifer Craw?  What makes you think they don’t?”  Caprica asked.  Jennifer looked up at her curiously.  “I may have only been awake for a few months, but I might be so bold, I believe she is probably feared almost as much as Dumbledore or Harry Potter, and rightfully so.  I certainly wouldn’t want to be on her bad side myself if I was alive.”

  “Well, they never threatened you, did they?”  Anna asked.

  “Yes they did, from the moment I arrived, actually,” Jennifer admitted.  “I’m not sure I agree with Professor Dusthorn that anyone fears me all that much now, but when I first came, it was different.  Of course, they didn’t want my powers to end, they just wanted me dead.”

  “So what does that say to the two of you about this person, then?”  Caprica asked.

  “They don’t want you dead, they just want you out of the way, so it’s someone that must care about you on some level, but are still so frightened they feel compelled to do this,” Jennifer said.  “Or, maybe, they think they aren’t capable of killing you.”

  “They’re not willing to threaten to harm me, but they’ll threaten everyone around me,” Anna said, angrily.   “I’ve had about enough of this.  I need to find out who’s doing this.”

  “I think I know how,” Jennifer said cautiously, looking at Anna. “In fact, I might even know who.”

 

 Jennifer couldn’t help but be slightly annoyed the way Severus waved her off with a simple, “Have fun, be careful,” when she announced she and Anna were going to run some errands near London, especially after the row they had had when she had been late to Danny’s game.  True, he hadn’t known exactly where she was since the hotel wasn’t listed on the watch, but still, now he hadn’t even bothered to look up from his work.  Huffing slightly, Jennifer stepped out, heading over to her office where Anna was waiting.

  “That didn’t take long,” Anna grinned at her.

  “Do you believe he didn’t even blink an eye?”

  “Neither did Sirius.  I wonder if they’re up to something,” Anna mused.

  “Well, it can’t be half as important as what we’re doing,” Jennifer said, closing and locking the door, double-checking her cloak to make sure she had everything.  “Let’s go.”  After taking the floo to Diagon Alley, Jennifer stopped at the Craw vault and quickly removed a dusty tome from it, blowing of the dust when she got upstairs and showing it to Anna.  “This is it, this is what we’ve been looking for,” Jennifer said rather loudly, looking serious.  “With the Spear at our side, it should be safe enough.”

  “I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” Anna said, playing along even though she wasn’t quite sure what she was playing along with.

  “We’d better get going then if we want to make it by sunset.  That’ll be the best time to try it,” Jennifer nodded as the two of them left the bank.  Getting out their brooms, they took off straight up into the cloud line, pausing momentarily when they were at a good height and were sure they couldn’t be seen.  “I feel a sense of déjà vu coming on,” Jennifer grinned, gently nudging the broom towards Salisbury.

  “You sure you’re going to be able manage that thing all the way there on your own?”  Anna asked her.

  “If you can, I can,” Jennifer said, “Just no fast dives, ok?”

  “Definitely not,” Anna said, as the two of them pushed forward.  It wasn’t all that far to the downs, and Jennifer had remembered enough to get them going in the right direction.  Strangely enough, it was Anna who seemed to know the way as they got closer to the Stonehenge, even though she had been encased in crystal the first time.  Just as they reached the site, Anna pulled the broom to a stop, hovering on the edge of the clouds as she looked down with a grimace.

  “You know, there’s something I think you forgot about when you planned this thing on the Spring Equinox,” Anna said.  “Tourists,” she said somberly, looking down at the crowd of people camping Stonehenge.

  “Hang on a moment, nothing’s moving,” Jennifer said, leaning to one side to try and get a better look.  “Let’s land a bit away from them and walk up.”  Cautiously the two witches landed, picking their way cautiously across the hill and over.  Everything was eerily still, the sky beginning to color as the sun made its descent.  Taking out her wand, Jennifer stepped closer towards the first group, looking at them carefully before relaxing.

“They’re asleep.  All of them,” she said.

  “Asleep?  So many?”  Anna said, stepping up to take a look.

  “By someone who knew what they were doing, apparently,” Jennifer said.  “I guess you must have learned a trick or two working in the Ministry all of those years, didn’t you Fudge?”  Anna looked at her with surprise, and then began to look over the crowd as Jennifer stepped into the ring, looking around.  Cornelius Fudge stepped out from behind one of the monoliths warily, nodding to her.

  “And just how, might I ask, did you know I would be here?”

  “I knew you were keeping a careful eye on Anna, and I had a feeling if we went somewhere public like Diagon Alley that you might have taken notice, wondering what we were up to,” Jennifer said.  “And when you discovered we were coming here, I knew you would come to stop us, especially now that you know that at least of two of the four items used to safely open the gate are at Hogwarts.  It was also you who was sending her the messages, although I have a feeling you had some help with that, since I doubt you truly have the know-how to make the curse that was on the one letter.”

  “But I have no doubt at all that it was you who called the imp.  You of all people knew what sort of trouble someone can get into for casting spells in public, and you were betting that Anna, being new to our world in many ways, would make that mistake.  Of course, the plan backfired, everyone saw the imp after the chandelier fell, especially after it grabbed Alex, and instead of the political nightmare it might have been, it instead opened a door, in many ways, between several of the Muggles and us, and the incident was quickly swept under the rug.”

  “What makes you so sure it was me?”  Fudge asked warily.

  “Because for one thing, you’re one of the few people that actually had a real motive…the same one that prompted you to keep obliviating her memories and sending her home.  Everyone knows that to be an Aethermage, you have to have strong faerie bloodlines on both sides of the family.  But what if the main source of Anna’s faerie blood stemmed from the same source, from differing branches of the same tree that stretched in different directions for centuries.  And the only way to tell for sure if someone possesses this bloodline is that they all have certain traits, such as being an Aethermage, and possessing strange immunity to certain types of spells, and so forth.  And of course, most revealing is the fact that according to legend they, the descents of the four children of Merlin, are the only ones who can open the gate to the Faerie world.  And the only one here last year who possesses any of those qualities that might have spurred the chain of events that happened here, is Anna,” Jennifer said, looking over at her gently.

  “No, this can’t possibly be right,” Anna said, shaking her head, her face growing paler by the second.  “Why do these things always seem to happen to me?”

  “My dear, Jennifer just explained exactly why all of these things happen to you,” Fudge sighed.  “And also just explained why I can’t let you go now,” he said, casting the Earth-bind spell on them before they could react. “I had long promised your parents when you were little I would do my best to look out for you, but that was before I knew that you possessed the power to destroy our world forever.  I am sorry, but it’s much too great a risk.  We didn’t survive the torment of Voldemort only to be taken down by one of his defeaters,” he said sadly.  Suddenly from all around them snakes began to slither into view, and Jennifer knew at once from their diamond-shaped backs what they were.

  “Don’t move, Anna.  Vipers.  And our friend Fudge seems to have the Staff of Eyre as well,” Jennifer said.  “I should have guessed it was you, come to think of it…with Voldemort around the Ministry wouldn’t have had all that much time after you had left to worry about changing codes and procedures and I bet some were completely overlooked.  You probably still have a friend or two in the building willing to help you out as well, didn’t you?”

  “I would keep very quiet if I were you, Professor.  Vipers don’t normally attack for no reason but you never know; they’re not too fond of being controlled and might have gotten temperamental.  A bite might not normally be fatal under normal circumstances, but under your condition, I’d take time to pause and consider what it might do to your child,” Fudge said.  “I was very fond of your mother, Jennifer, we were good friends, and I’d rather not anything happen to you either.”

  “He was at Hogsmeade too the day the Wraith came,” Anna said softly, “I remember you telling me about it.”

  “So you, not Malfoy, was the one who wanted to find out what was left down there, and you were trying to steer us to think it was him,” Jennifer said, “What were you looking for?”

  “One of the missing pieces of the gate, of course, the only one nobody seems to know where it is…Dagda’s Cauldron,” Fudge said.  “I knew, if I could just get a hold of it and destroy it, then there would be no chance of the seal ever being broken again, and it would end the temptation of ever wanting to open it.  But as it turned out, it wasn’t down there, but I left the Dreadbiter there to see if it could get a hold of one of the other pieces, as well as discourage anyone from wanting to go back down in those caverns,” Fudge said.  One of the vipers made a play at biting Jennifer’s leg, and she stopped her movement towards her wand, letting her hand fall back to her side.

  “We seem to be in a bit of a stalemate here,” Jennifer said.  “After all, you yourself said you don’t want to hurt us, only to make sure we can’t open the gate, and yet we can’t stay here all night, your spell on these Muggle friends of yours isn’t going to last forever.”

  “Not at all, you are both going to take a little Cosmic nap now,” Fudge said, “and since my other pet is busy at this moment looking for Sirius and Severus, it might actually be a very long nap indeed,” he admitted, putting away his wand and taking out a bloodstained spindle.

  “Hey, that’s a family heirloom,” Jennifer complained.  “I see the chest wasn’t the only thing you took out of the vault.”

  “I suppose it’s only fitting then that you be the next to use it,” he said, taking a step towards her.

  Suddenly there was a loud hissing sound and the snakes suddenly coiled back, hissing in confusion as if not knowing whom to attack.  Fudge, seeing he was losing control of the vipers dropped the spindle to grab the staff with both hands.  But the Staff had suddenly jerked away, and in a panic he began to fight for control of it while the snakes around them started to scatter angrily.  Quickly Jennifer reached over and grabbed the spindle, ignoring the prick sensation in her finger as she did so, thrusting it down in her pocket while sucking on her finger.  Anna in the meantime had run over to Fudge and pulled back his arm away from the Staff as it was finally ripped away from his hands, floating in mid-air as another hissing sound, loud and persistent, was heard.  The vipers, suddenly subdued by the staff again, turned around to look as a head suddenly appeared next to the staff.

  “Harry!”  Anna and Jennifer said at once.

  “Hello girls, fancy meeting you here.  All right, Jennifer?”

  “Fine, it’s a family heirloom, it wouldn’t have worked on me anyway,” Jennifer explained.  “And I officially charge Fudge with possession of stolen goods, abuse of attorney privileges against my family, being a Muggle public nuisance, and whatever the hell anyone else can think of for all of this mess,” she said as Harry gladly put him in Auror cuffs.

  “Harry, what are you doing here?” Anna said.

  “Well, Ginny’s home on Spring break.  I had stopped by to see Severus after the game and he seemed to think Jennifer was into trouble again, so I promised I’d keep an eye on things,” he said cheerfully.  “I didn’t know this would be a working vacation, but I guess I should have known better.”

  “Wait a minute, what about Sirius and Severus?”  Jennifer said, glancing at her ring and fumbling for her watch.  “Severus is the Forest now, they might be in a lot of danger, we have to warn them.”

  “I can’t Disapparate, or I already would have,” Anna said with frustration, “And this isn’t exactly the best place for me to drop off,” she added, glancing at the tourists.

  “I need to get Fudge to the Ministry and let Dumbledore know what’s going on.  You girls better run ahead and find them, I’ll catch up,” Harry said.

  “Right,” Jennifer said, pulling out her broom, Anna following suit.

  “You both came here on your own brooms?”  Harry said surprised.  “Boy things have changed around here since I’ve been gone.”

  “We’ll tell you all about it later,” Jennifer promised, kicking up from the ground.

  “Be careful, you two, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Harry told them, watching them go before turning to Fudge.  “I don’t envy you.”

  “I wouldn’t plan on me being in there for any length of time if I were you,” Fudge told him.

  “I didn’t mean about that,” Harry said, taking out his Ministry port key.  “I don’t envy the chat Dumbledore is going to have with you when he finds out about all of this.  Come on,” he said, whisking them away. 

Chapter Thirty-One

Dreadbiter

 

    Sirius Black slipped down into the hole, landing in shallow mud.  Reaching up to grab the lantern that was being handed down, Sirius lit up the ceiling and walls, inspecting it carefully, before holding it up to each end of the corridor.

  “Well?” Severus’ voice said from above.

  “I wouldn’t call it safe,” Sirius said, taking out his wand.  He pointed at the ceiling and a warm ray of light came out, hardening the soil layer above them.  “But it’s stable for now.  Come on down,” he said.  Severus slid down and glanced around before noticing Sirius’ face looking unusually pale and drawn.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, it’s just…I haven’t felt anything so saturated in darkness since I was in Azkaban,” he admitted.

  “It’ll get worse the farther down we go, I imagine,” Severus said.  “If it gets too unbearable just say so.  Which way?”

  “There seems to me a heavier rock layer to the left, probably a lot more stable, although it looks more narrow as well.  We may have to resort to shrinking to pass it…”

  “Sirius, there is a worm of questionable size down here, let’s not become any more of a morsel than we already are if we can help it,” Severus said.

  “For once you have a point,” Sirius agreed.  Beaming the light around the cavern, the two wizards cautiously started down the path with their wands out, Sirius stopping now and again to check the stability before continuing.  It wasn’t long before the tunnel began to slope downwards, and then suddenly took a sharp turn downward.  The two of them looked at each other grimly in the lamplight for a moment.  “How come we keep getting into these spider parlor situations?” Sirius muttered.

  “The deeper it is underground the less chance of it killing innocent bystanders,” Severus said, taking out his Indian rope and tossing it down the hole so that the high end was just within reach.

  “Innocent?  Bystanders?  Guess that leaves us out,” Sirius joked dryly.  Without further comment, Severus slid down the rope still holding tightly onto his wand, Sirius climbing down after him.  A rancid smell was in the air, putting the two men on guard as they tried to look further down another two-way corridor, Sirius glancing up at the ceiling.  “It seems to be more stable here, now that we’re further underground.  Better packed too, probably much older tunnels, and more often used.”

  As if on cue, a tremor struck, and the two men quickly stepped back to the rope, holding onto the walls.  Thin layers of dust pelted down from the corridor above, and Sirius made a temporary shield, a tad nervous it was going to come down on them after all.  Slowly it rocked to a stop, but Severus stayed still as if trying to hear something.  Searching for a phial, he took out one filled with a glowing clay-like substance.  Taking a small bit out on his fingers, Severus rubbed it on the wall, making a phosphorescent mark.

  “This way,” Severus said, “I believe I heard it.”

  “If you can hear it, I wonder if it can hear us,” Sirius said, following close behind, keeping his eyes on the structure.  Suddenly he noticed a strange dark rip in the corridor and asked Severus to hold up, cautiously clearing out pieces of layered stone bricks from the opening to get a closer look in.  The stone jagged out in odd directions and he ended up cutting his hand, but finally made a big enough opening to get the lantern into.  “There seems to be a wizard-made corridor in here.  It looks like when this tunnel was made it weakened the wall beyond it…there’s a stone-paved corridor, and a carved arch in the center of it.”

  “That, at least, gives me some idea where we are,” Severus said grimly.  “But we won’t find the serpent in there, we need to press on.”  Another tremor hit, forcing them up against the wall.  It was a lot more violent than the first, but fortunately, as Sirius had predicted, the corridor they were in was a lot more stable than the one above.  Again Severus listened intently afterwards.  “I definitely heard it this time.  It said that it smelled blood,” he said in a low voice.  “The tremors seem to be caused when the serpent moves, which means, it is quite large indeed.”  Sirius, who had stopped to wrap his hand, grimaced slightly at Severus’ words.

  “It smells me, then, I just cut my hand on the rock,” Sirius said.  “It’ll probably be coming this way.  Severus took out a phial from his cloak, passing it to Sirius.

  “Here, take a sip, quickly.  It’ll stop the bleeding,” he ordered.  Sirius didn’t argue, taking a sip and handing it back as Severus handed him a canteen.  “Wash your hand off.  And ditch the cloth you just used.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t pack a kitchen sink,” Sirius muttered, carefully washing off his hand.

  “I’d rather not become a meal, if you don’t mind,” Severus said, taking back the canteen and putting it away, carefully making his way down the corridor again, sighing softly as he gazed around the damp tunnel, the air beginning to turn heavier by the step.  “At least the girls aren’t along on this trip,” Severus muttered, more to himself than to Sirius.  “I can’t even begin to imagine what Jennifer would be going through if she were down here right now.”

  As the air became even thicker with stench, Severus passed around another potion to relieve them from the smell as they crept down into a bone-laden passageway.  Above them a dark tunnel twisted out of view, while below their feet the skeletons of all sorts of Forest creatures were picked clean of anything that might have been left on them.  Tunnels lead off in every direction, and Severus stood to listen, trying to hear any sounds of movement.  He shook his head slightly at Sirius.

  “Wait here, and I’ll scout a bit down the corridors,” Sirius said, turning into his dog form.

  “Don’t go to far, the last thing we need right now is to be separated, and we can’t Disapparate from inside the Tomb, don’t forget,” Severus said.

  Sirius gingerly worked his way across the bones and down the first corridor, and Severus decided to take a moment to glance at his watch.  He frowned, seeing that it was pointed to “Forest” and checked his ring to see that she was worried.  He sighed then, realizing that somehow that Jennifer and Anna must have found out what they were doing.  Sirius appeared again, slipping down the next corridor, and Severus put away his watch, hoping they didn’t try anything stupid.  It was as he was wondering whether they should call the entire search off that he heard the voice again.

   Severus.

  Immediately on guard, he whistled softly for Sirius, taking out his wand again, stepping cautiously towards one side of the room where he thought the voice might have been coming.

  Do you not sense the darkness around you?  It is strong, yes, stronger than you, stronger than I.  It is calling to you, Severus.  It always has.  Why don’t you answer it?

  Severus gritted his teeth slightly, knowing that answering back would probably give away where he was.  What was taking Sirius so long?

  You have powers that others only dream about, Severus, do you not see that here they can be even stronger?  All it would take is you to reach out and grasp that which no other, not even Voldemort, had the strength to bear.  You would become the greatest wizard in the world, and all you would have to do is acknowledge your desire for it.

  Severus had heard such words before, and knew the tone well.  Had there been any doubt that it was the accursed Dreadbiter, there was not now.  The words spoken to him were cold and manipulative, and the serpent had known his name.  Cautiously he attempted to step across the bones in attempt not to make a sound, trying to get to the corridor that Sirius last went down.  Suddenly a bone cracked beneath his feet, and a giant tremor tossed them around as the Dreadbiter moved, its head shooting out of the top of the corridor and taking a snap at Severus as he dashed down the nearest corridor, turning around and casting, “Expecto Patronum!” 

  Birds of pure light suddenly shot out of the wand and at the serpent, who paused angrily to snap at them, momentarily distracted.  It was enough time to allow Severus to take out a vial of silvery viscous liquid and pour it into a puddle on the ground, stepping out of range while downing another potion for himself, leaping up to another tunnel above his head.  He paused a moment to look down as the serpent tried to go through the puddle and it bubbled into a thick gooey gelatin, covering its head completely, trying to smother it.  The serpent’s powerful jaws began to gnash and the gelatin burst, covering the corridor as it broke free.  But Severus was far from done, speeding quickly down the tunnel he was in before the serpent had even figured out what direction he had gone.   As he stepped into the next intersection he reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of nails, quickly wedging them in a line pointed straight up

  “Come and find me if you dare,” Severus hissed down the tunnel, then stepped back, muttering a spell.  His face turned dark and perilous as the serpent rumbled through the corridors, so intent on its prey that at first it didn’t notice the points digging at its scales beneath its head.  Suddenly, like the sudden dropping of a portcullis, the nails shot up into great iron spears several hundred times their normal size, decapitating the great serpent’s head like a crude blade, its body still trembling until finally everything was still.  Exhausted, Severus slumped to the ground, panting slightly, relieved that it was finally over.  He wondered where Sirius was then, and wondered whether or not he should hope he was all right or not.

  So consumed was he with relief and his thoughts of what he needed to do next, he didn’t notice that something strange indeed was occurring right next to him.  The serpent’s head was not completely immobile yet.  In fact, it was eyeing him with open hatred, even as behind where it had been severed a new body was already beginning to form, coiling slowly out as it formed.  As the serpent finally rose to strike with a challenging hiss, Severus suddenly looked up, completely caught off guard as the beast’s jaws snapped around his midsection and kept charging down the tunnel, knocking the lamp down as it passed and leaving them in darkness.  Barely able to speak or move, Severus, still holding onto his wand, managed to get off a small burst of fire that shot out at the serpent’s eyes.  Wincing back involuntarily, the Dreadbiter smacked its head into the ceiling, letting go of the injured wizard in the process and leaving him doubled in pain on the ground.  Severus knew he was done for, his strength was quickly ebbing away, and in the dark corridor he had little chance of getting off another spell.  If only the stupid thing would just finish it.  If only that stupid barking would stop in the distance.

  “Hey, you overgrown worm!  Pick on somebody your own size!  Or at least someone who is not as ugly as you are,” a voice taunted from down a side corridor.  A flash of light hit the creature’s midsection, and in annoyance it slipped back to snap at Sirius like a gnat.  Just as it opened its mouth, Sirius threw something in, and part of the snake suddenly began to crystallize from the inside.  Sirius nodded smugly to himself, taking out is wand as the bulge worsened, ready to finish the serpent off.    But the serpent suddenly made a strange motion with its jaw, and the crystals slid further down into its body, its attention turning back to the one who had caused it.  Deciding that this might be a little harder than he had thought, Sirius turned back into dog form and took off down the tunnel he had just arrived from.  The serpent wasted no time heading after him but was slowed by the bulge in the stomach.  Even with that, Sirius knew that he wouldn’t be able to outrun it for long…it knew the corridors too well, and it had a strength beyond what he had.  But as he turned into another tunnel wondering not for the first turn if he had went the right way, he suddenly noticed a well-lit corridor off to one side and he scrambled over to it barking with the Dreadbiter still hot on his tail.  As he passed into the light, he couldn’t help but be surprised at who was standing there with his wand out, urging him on.  It was Ederick Thurspire.

  Snow and ice burst out of his wand as Sirius passed, filling the corridor between them and the Dreadbiter as Ederick yelled at him to head up.  Spotting a ladder that had been staked to one of the holes leading out, Sirius changed form and scrambled up just in front of Ederick.

  “Sirius!”  Anna’s arms was wrapped quickly around him, and instead of trying to explain, Sirius took the faster route of picking her up and throwing her over her shoulder, while Ederick yelled at Jennifer and Sagittari to run.

  “Severus, where’s Severus?”  Jennifer shouted as Ederick grabbed her and moved her out of the way.  But before anyone could answer, the Dreadbiter serpent was on the surface in a terrible fury, launching itself at where Anna and Sirius stood.  Anna, glowing wildly turned around to face the thing, the light becoming much too bright for the underground creature, closing its thin eyelids and reared its head away.  It was in that moment that Sagittari unslung the Spear from his back and threw it with amazing strength and speed at the back of its head, hitting it solidly just above its eyelids.  The Dreadbiter’s movements paused completely, as still as a statue for the instant after it struck, then finally it collapsed across the ground as one last tremble rumbled over the ground, collapsing several of the holes closest to it and leaving another impression in the earth.  A great wave of relief hit the four standing there, as Anna hugged Sirius again, and Ederick and Sagittari looked closer at the beast to make double certain it was dead.  Solemnly Sagittari retrieved his Spear and stared at the serpent as if lost in thought.

  “Where’s Severus?”  Anna asked when she looked around a second later.

  “He was injured, he’s still down there, I’m not sure how bad,” Sirius admitted, “We have to go down and get him.”

  “Wait a minute,” Ederick said, looking around with alarm.  “Where’s Jennifer?”

 

  Jennifer tapped her wisp light up as bright as it would go as she picked her way across the rubble.  Had she left only a second later, she probably would have been caught in that last collapse, she knew, but she tried to put it out of her mind, knowing that the arrow on her watch still marked Severus in mortal peril.  It was then that she realized what true fear was, and it had nothing to do being in the Tomb again.  So many corridors, so many ways to go, she thought, wishing that she had had a compass made on her watch as well.

  “Severus?”  Jennifer shouted.  A smattering of dirt came down on her and she gnawed on her lip, wondering if she might have accidentally sent it on his as well.  Pushing through the corridors, she finally saw something that looked familiar.  Leaning down and touching it cautiously, she realized it was Seal Gel, a powerful waterproofing sealant.  There was little way it could have got down here on its own, it had to be brewed, and this was fairly fresh.

  “Severus!  Please, answer!”  Jennifer said again frantically.  That was when she noticed there was a corridor just above where the sealant was splattered, and taking a hunch he might have gone that way, took out her broom and slowly floated up to it.  The large body of a snake blocked most of the corridor, but Jennifer knew now that she was definitely going in the right direction. Wishing she weren’t quite so huge right now and feeling very nauseous from the smell, she worked her way past until she reached a row of closely spaced iron bars, looking at them puzzledly.  “Severus?”

  “Jennifer?” she heard a voice say in the distance, faint, and sounding rather weak.  “What the devil are you doing down here?”  Wasting no more time, Jennifer poured out a bottle of corrosive acid on her bars and impatiently waited for it to take effect.  Kicking it with her boot as hard as she could it finally gave in and she scrambled across to the opposite corridor until she spotted his fallen form.  Rushing to his side and biting her lip at seeing how badly he was hurt, she pulled out a Healing Potion, propping up his head in her lap and making him drink it.

  “Jennifer, I don’t think the potion is going to be able to work fast enough to help me now,” Severus whispered softly.

  “Don’t say that!  You’ll make it.  You have to,” Jennifer said.  “I won’t let you go, Severus.  I need you.”  Jennifer said, working to bandage his chest.  Severus coughed slightly as if trying to laugh.

  “You don’t need me.  You never did.  Always so strong willed, so independent.  Always so willing to rush out and take on the world.  All I could do was stand there and watch.”

  “You can’t really believe that!  Of course I need you, I’ve needed you since the very day we met!  I’d have been dead my first year here if it hadn’t been for you!”  Jennifer said, tears streaking down her face.

  “You wouldn’t have faced death so many times at all if it weren’t for me,” Severus said weakly.  “But we don’t have the time to discuss it.  I only wish that we had,” he added softly.  “I have been happy these last few years, something I would never have thought possible in the past, and I will rest well, knowing you and our children will live on.”

  “Two, two!  You promised me four,” Jennifer said.  “I’m not going to let you die, there’s got to be some way to slow your body down enough to give you time to heal,” she said, patting herself down.  Suddenly she felt something in her cloak pocket, and a spark of hope came to her face and she kissed his forehead then gazed in his eyes.  “Promise me you won’t give up.  Please, if you love me, promise you’ll hang on!”

  She could tell from the look in his eyes that he still didn’t believe he was going to make it, but so much did he want to see the grief leave of her face that he nodded.

  “I have always loved you,” Severus said.  “I will try.”

  “And I have always loved you,” Jennifer said, putting something in his hand.

 

   Everything was a blur for Severus after that.  He had felt a warmth around him and knew it was his sister’s doing, although she didn’t seem to be anywhere near.  He remembered hearing Ederick and Sirius voice as they came down into the cavern, thinking he was dead, and hearing his wife’s insistence that he wasn’t.  Wait, perhaps he was dead, he mused, and only a part of him thought he wasn’t.  Perhaps he would end up as a ghost, haunting the Tomb forever more, harassing curious idiots that came to poke about.  But then, his view changed, and he realized he was in the school.  Well, there were definitely worse places to haunt than Hogwarts, and from there he could sit and watch his wife as she worked, and perhaps see his children arrive and get Sorted, and their children, and their children’s children…Severus suddenly felt a pang of remorse, realizing that this wasn’t something he wanted to do second hand.  And how was he going to keep Jennifer out of trouble from here when she was always out and about?  Even now he could see her messing about with that Unicorn horn, using it for who knows what purpose.  Maybe death wasn’t all it was cracked up to be after all, he decided.  If only he could wish for life as easily as he could wish for death.  Perhaps then he could at least comfort Jennifer, hold her again…she felt so near, and yet so far, it was quite frustrating indeed.  Yes, perhaps truly he was cursed after all, or he was in hell, and this was his punishment for his wrong deeds, tempting him endlessly with the life he had been so afraid to have, and anguishing him knowing he could never have it back.  But the figure of Jennifer sitting above him had not gone away as he had feared.  Instead she came closer, and to his great surprise, she leaned over and kissed him, the warmth so real that he felt for a moment that perhaps he wasn’t dead after all…

 

  Jennifer smiled at Severus as he opened his eyes with a look of total bewilderment on his face, a round of relieved sighs going up around the room.  Dumbledore, Sagittari and Pomfrey were all there, and Dumbledore was beaming happily.  Squinting slightly he turned back to his wife whose smile had suddenly turned mischievous.

  “I wonder if this means you are Prince Charming after all?” she asked wickedly.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Many Joyous Recoveries

 

  It wasn’t until several days later when Severus was sitting up, eating, and starting to sound like his regular old self again that they finally found time to talk about everything that had happened, Severus listening intently to what happened at Stonehenge, his face darkening noticeably when he heard of Fudge’s idea to put them both into endless sleep, expecting he and Sirius to be killed by the Dreadbiter.

  “To think of both of you having to go through the endless thoughts as I went through during Cosmic Sleep…that is a fate I wouldn’t want happen to anyone.  Well, except maybe Fudge for thinking of it,” Severus snarled.

  “I have a feeling Fudge doesn’t understand how bad that side-effect of the spell is.  I went through the same experience myself when you put me under it all those years ago,” Jennifer told him gently.  “But you know, if he hadn’t had that silly spindle with him I might not have been able to save you…I never want to have to face another future without you in it again.”

  “I felt the same way, the first time you went down in the Tomb,” Severus admitted soberly.  “I am still amazed that you went down there after me.”

  “Severus, you mean more to me than my own life.  If that means getting buried alive, falling from a broom or walking to hell and back I’m still going after you,” Jennifer said, putting his hand on her stomach.  “Besides, this baby needs a father.  And I wasn’t about to let you get out of things that easily.  So, knowing how quickly the curse works and how quickly it slows your metabolism, I used it.  Of course, Dumbledore asked me to have the thing destroyed afterwards so that it didn’t get misused, and I agreed…it’s gone now,” Jennifer said.  “Small price to pay when I have you back.  And I do need you,” she said defiantly, daring him to argue it.

  “Perhaps, at least, to keep you out of trouble,” Severus acknowledged with a nod.  Jennifer couldn’t help but chuckle at him.

 

  Much to the student’s dismay, Severus Snape soon returned to class with a grueling list of things to study for finals.  Despite the anxiety of upcoming tests, the morale in the school had hardly been better.  Danny, although studying quite responsibly for her tests, still took time off to spend time with her friends, as well as give Anna and Jennifer some secret last-minute flying lessons to secure the points needed for another Slytherin house cup win.  Corey actually finished his homework, and even more impressively got a passing mark on his term paper.  And Sagittari, after having a very long talk with Caprica and an even longer talk with Dumbledore, decided to stay on as Groundskeeper and Creatures instructor, as well as personal doctor to several professors and students.

  It was rather late in the year, about the time when Jennifer’s walk had turned into a waddle, that she and Sagittari came into Dumbledore’s Study, Jennifer with a box in her hand.  And it was that same day when the three of them along with Harry, Ginny, Anna, Sirius, Lupin, Hermione, Rosmerta, Severus and the Centaurs gathered and walked to the remains of the Tomb.  The land had been filled in over the last month by the Centaurs, and trees had been planted over the area, the saplings tiny sprigs of green around tiny blades of grass bravely pushing up through the dark soil.  Without a word, Jennifer uncovered the Unicorn Horn and stepped over the field where an older tree, moved there from the heart of the Forest, stood.  Jennifer dropped it in the soft soil under the tree and covered it with dirt, stepping back over to the others as Sagittari stepped forward.

  “The horn of Keki, Herdleader and Sentinel, has been freely given to the land which she loved with all her being, and fought to preserve.  It is whole save two small shards…one for a wand; so that she may continue to do good in the restless world may it guide its owner’s path well.  The other was used to save the life of one of the men who chose to risk their own lives beneath this land, to preserve the safety of all of us.  May the rest of her blessing heal the wrong that was done here, and restore the balance to the Forest, and to our lives,” Sagittari said raising his wand.

  “Horn of power, hear our plea, heal this earth, and set the darkness free!” Sagittari chanted as a white light beamed out of the wand, striking the ground where the horn was.  A phantom wind rose; blowing back Sagittari’s hair, curling around him and blowing against Harry, Jennifer, and Severus.  Suddenly, the white suddenly burst into prism lights floating out from beneath the tree, spreading out over the entire field and twinkling like the stars.  “May the heavens watch over this land and protect it from evil forever more,” Sagittari added, unusually solemn.  Jennifer leaned on Severus’ arm, watching as one by one the lights went out, filled only with a sense of peace.

 

  Severus slipped down into the basement of the Broom Closet, pausing a moment when he heard the baby cry.  Hearing Carol’s voice and Jennifer’s a moment later, the cry quieted again, and he descended the rest of the stairs and to the corner where his desk was, tiredly sitting down with a hot cup of anise tea.  He looked on his desk at his journal, flipping through the pages. Grimacing at the last time he made an entry, he picked up his quill, dipping it in ink and turning the page.

 

 June 9^th.  I suppose I should first start by announcing that just short of a week ago on June the 3^rd and on a practically perfect schedule our second child and first son, Aurelius Craw Snape was born, accompanied by a pair of lungs that could wake the living dead.  McGonagall and Dumbledore were the first to know, having had watched the book quite carefully since Jennifer went into labor, and fortunately it seems that all went well.  Jennifer is tired but happy, and I am grateful to our Nanny, Carol Finn, for without her a doubt we would already have been collapsing with exhaustion by now.  Of course, Corey and Essie both help as well from time to time, but with Alexandria getting more mobile by the day she by herself is getting to be a handful.  She is very intelligent and always into trouble, and always trying to take off on her own, just like her mother.

  The Forest is doing well.  Sagittari has been working with Ronan on security, but I am happy to report there have been no major problems there since Keki’s Grove was dedicated.  In fact, it appears to even have begun recovering from the damage done even before the Tomb was open, when Voldemort had lurked there.  Now that Sagittari has begin to come to terms with himself and the task at hand, he is proving to be a good leader and counselor, not to mention the only Centaur I’d trust to deliver my children.

  As for Fudge, he is being held on several theft charges and use of illegal items, thanks in part to Harry, and also to Fudge himself, for forgetting that Craw heirlooms never work on Craws…he always was a bungler, and there is still a part of me that believes that he was not working alone.

  Titiana has been spending the summer visiting her relatives in America, hoping to discover more about her family bloodline.  I have not even begun to sort out in my head the implications of all we have found out so far; perhaps because I know there is more to come.  But then, I also have no doubt there is more is store for Jennifer, and perhaps even me, in the years to come.  However, I can also say that the more time passes with Jennifer in my life, the more I look forward to the future ahead.

  Severus looked up as he heard a knock on the door, yelling back a short answer as he drank down his tea, picking up his quill.

  In any case, I do not know when I will write again; the Broom Closet is hectic once more, although I doubt I would have it any other way.  It is rather like Hogwarts in that something’s always going on…someone’s always in trouble, and someone almost always seems to need me.  Until next entry, ~S. Snape.

  Getting up, Severus waved out the candle with a gesture and headed up to stairs to find out what sort of disaster was in store for him this time.

 

 

 

End of Book 5