A/N Welcome to book 5 of the Destiny Series (which begins with Diamonds of Time.) In every book, I've tried to have a little bit of a unique quality to it...this book has a couple of unique qualities; one being I had to do more research for this one than any other... the other being that this is a blending homage to several different authors: first, obviously, JKRowling. The second...also obvious in this book, Arthur Conan Doyle...and the third not-so obvious T.H. White.

All writers are influenced by what they read...even unconsciously...fanfiction just gives us a little more room with that. I see a lot of T.H. White's version of Merlin influence in the Harry Potter books...the owls, for example...and the way magic works in general. So, I based my Merlin character on him (although I also must note that Viviane is based on the Morte d'Artur version of that particular character.) In this book, the homage paid is the Questing Beast. In my stories, Snape has always been rather fascinated with the ideas behind the logical reasoning of Sherlock Holmes. This was instituted because I saw a lot of parallels between the character and he and the reason for that is summed up very well in the very first Doyle quote in the book, which is why it's in there. It also helps set the stage for a complex murder plot heavily influenced by Doyle's work as well as a flavor of victorian age adventure stories. Severus is without a doubt the major player of this book, as well as Thomas Craw who, trying to cope with learning how to live outside of being a fugitive, turns to his past for sanctity. It may be strange bedfellows indeed, these three homages, but hopefully you'll enjoy it. Last revision 5-2016

Jennifer Craw and the Riddle of the King

Chapter One

A Study in Scarlet

'His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and squareness which mark the man of determination. His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, as I frequently had occasion to observe when I watched him manipulating his fragile philosophical instruments.'

A quiet hour in the house next door to one of the most famous previous residences in London was nearly unheard of in the summer months when the two Professors and four students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were at home. On what felt like borrowed time, Severus Snape, Defense teacher and security advisor for the school, snuck off to the study for a few moments from one of his favorite books; the Complete Novels and Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But silence invites disruption, and Severus was immediately alerted by the sound of someone walking on the hollow stairs. He quickly put what was in his hand in his pocket, reaching for his strong anise tea and taking a drink of the cold liquid, making a slight face at the flavor.

"Severus?"

Jennifer Craw Snape stepped into the study, sniffing the air. She sighed, shook her head and leaned on his chair, reading over his shoulder. Severus took off his reading spectacles and gazed up at his lovely wife, her auburn hair falling in her face despite her attempts to pile it up, her face deceptively young for her actual age.

"So this is where you've gotten to. My father is driving me crazy. And why is it so hazy? You haven't been making potions in here, have you?" Jennifer asked.

"It must be the fireplace. I'll have the House Elves look into it," Severus said, avoiding her gaze by sticking his nose in his book.

"While you're at it, you might want to ask them if they misplaced some of your memorabilia," Jennifer said, going over to the corner display case.

"What?"

"The pipe I gave you isn't in its case… perhaps you mislaid it? Or more likely, perhaps it's in your Cloak Chest? Still smoking?" Jennifer said evenly. Severus lowered his book. "I hope you don't have anything flammable in there."

"I was merely holding it in my mouth. I was not inhaling," Severus said defensively, taking out his calabash pipe.

"I knew giving you that pipe was a bad idea," Jennifer chuckled. "If I had remembered who I was and who you were at that point, I would have never given it to you. I knew you would be tempted. That is just tobacco in there I hope," she said, sitting on his lap so he would be forced to put his book down and look at her.

"Mint tobacco. Besides, this is only the second time, and I only plan to smoke occasionally when I get some time to myself, and you know how rare that is. And just until I get a nice patina on the meerschaum," Severus said defensively.

"Mm hm. And you've forgotten, it would seem, that your wife is a Truth Seeker?" Jennifer said, smiling enigmatically as she read the thoughts lingering behind his eyes. "Does Doctor Sagittari know you've taken up this nasty habit?"

"It's hardly a habit…"

"And what if the children happen to see you? Pretty soon they'll all be smoking pipes too."

"For some strange reason I highly doubt that," Severus said, putting out the pipe. "Besides, I never criticize you about your bad habits."

"Bad habits? What bad habits?" Jennifer stared at him.

"The way you carry on in front of a mirror and complement yourself no less," Severus said.

"Well I have to get it from somewhere, don't I?" Jennifer challenged. "And I may talk to mirrors, but at least I don't snore loud enough to wake up the dead in Wales."

"And you pick apart your food instead of eating it, rather like a troupe of little birds pecking at a piece of bread."

"And I don't hide my mood swings behind a cloak of "Professionalism,"" Jennifer said, holding up two fingers on each hand for quotation marks.

"You don't try to hide your mood swings at all," he retorted.

"Of course not, I'm a woman. I don't have to," Jennifer said indignantly.

"Yes, and how like a woman to take advantage of her gender. It is no wonder Holmes was never interested in women."

"And what about Irene Adler?"

"That was purely professional," Severus protested. "She was married to another man."

"There, you see? When all else fails, you go professional," Jennifer teased him brazenly.

"Actually, I was still thinking more of taking advantage of your gender," Severus said, drawing her closer with a smile he reserved just for her.

"Mum?"

Jennifer quickly stood up and Severus right behind her as their oldest daughter Alexandria peered in the door, the two of them too distracted to hear her coming up the stairs. She was dressed in Victorian period costume, the auburn-haired blossoming beauty frowning at her parents strangely.

"Oh! Um, so you're off to work?" Jennifer said.

"Yes, Mum. You wouldn't happen to have any Muggle money handy? I haven't cashed my check yet," Alex asked.

"Why don't you just come home for lunch today? The museum is right next door…"

"Because every time I do that everyone at work wonders how I could possibly be getting home and back in time considering that our Muggle postal address is halfway across town," Alex sighed then sniffed the air, spying the pipe on the end table. "Father, have you taken up smoking?"

Jennifer glared at him.

"Of course not. I am merely burning tobacco in it to help the pipe's patina," Severus said, daring her to question his answer.

"Well I hope that's all it is. I hear growing new lungs is a very painful process…"

"Maybe there's some spare paper money under the vase in the living room," Jennifer interrupted quickly, smiling. "Why don't you go check?"

"Yes, Mum. Maybe I'll stop by the Alley later and pick up a bolt for this door after work too," Alex added mischievously as she headed back downstairs.

"Smart ass. How dare she go and grow up on us!" Jennifer sighed, shaking her head wistfully towards the door.

"Yes, I know what you mean," Severus said, coming up behind her and putting his hands on Jennifer's shoulders. "But look on the bright side. In six more years, they'll all be grown and out of school and we can have the house completely to ourselves," he said kissing her neck.

"JEN-GIRL!" A voice bellowed from somewhere above them. Jennifer let out a loud frustrated groan.

"Well… almost to ourselves," Severus amended sheepishly.

"How did I adopt this sixth child again?" Jennifer asked irritably. They went down the stairs and out into the hallway aware of her father leaning over the banister at the top of the other staircase that led to the third floor.

"Those blasted good-for-nothing House Elves of yours aren't listening to me again!" Thomas shouted down at her.

"Probably because I told them not to listen to you until you learned how to treat them with a little bit of respect," Jennifer said.

"What? They're House Elves, for crater's sake! Don't tell me you're on the vomit band wagon!"

"Thomas, language please," Severus sighed as he stepped in behind her. He took a moment to glance in the backyard where their youngest two children, Andrew and Alicia were working on their summer reading.

"It's SPEW, Dad, and no of course not, but I'm not an advocate for House Elf abuse either. Now I'm starting to see just why we never had Elves in America."

"Jen-girl, there are no Elves in America, they have…Brownies…" he said with disgust, shuddering at the thought before stomping down the stairs. "But these Elves are nearly as bad! And now you're supporting them! Do you realize you are supporting the starvation of your own father? Even at Azkaban we got regular meals."

"Well, you could always go back," Severus said calmly.

"Only if I can kill Lucius Malfoy first," Thomas said.

"I think you just need to learn how to open an ice box and make something for himself once in a while," Jennifer said, reluctantly heading for the kitchen.

"I would if I preferred rabbit food but I'm not eating salad every meal, nor am I going to stoop to cooking in or on or under anything that has to be plugged in," Thomas grumbled, looking distant as he stared out in the backyard. "How I miss your mother's cooking, Jen-girl. What a fine cook she was! It's too bad she didn't teach you," he added, earning another dirty look from his daughter from around the icebox door. "Pity that you can't seem to make anything taste decent unless it involves flatbread and sliced olives."

"Perhaps if you hadn't drilled me for eight hours straight on how to kill and maim people, I might have actually gotten to learn something from her besides what she must have gone through married to you!" Jennifer shouted at him, slamming the icebox shut and stomping to her bedroom.

"I'll go eat at the Cauldron then," Thomas said. "Coming Severus?"

"Um… actually, I think I'd prefer not to sleep on any couches tonight, which was what happened the last time I got between the two of you. I believe I'm going to check on children," Severus decided.

"But I'm not entitled to using the floo powder alone yet!" Thomas protested, and then growled. "Fine. I'll walk," he said, storming out without even the slightest consideration of changing his outrageously out-of-date choice in wardrobe.

Outside under the shade of a large maple which 'followed Severus home' just after he bought the house, Andrew and Alicia peered over a roll of old parchment, Alicia with a sketchpad in hand and Andrew with a notebook in his.

"That doesn't look like normal reading. Isn't that Alex's scroll?" Severus frowned as he came over.

"We finished our normal reading, Father," Andrew said, sitting up. His energetic growth spurt had finally evened out after passing his mother's height, although the appetite that went with it was still unabated leading Severus to believe he was still in for another one. His hair was thin and long, pulled up into a tail, and his eyes were blue and gentle in contrast to the long sharp features he had inherited from his father. "Alex lent it to me so I could learn hieroglyphics. I've been comparing the pictographs to her translation to match them up. I thought it might help me get a jump start on Ancient Runes this year."

"I just think they're rather pretty," Alicia said, elaborating on a picture of Osiris upon her sketchpad. Her hair and eyes were similar to her brothers; but her hair was short and wavy instead of straight and at twelve her features were round and still childlike.

"Be that as it may, I don't think the Book of the Dead is appropriate reading at your spell level."

"But Father, its just ceremonies and spells to protect burials, speak to the dead, give them magic…"

"I'm well aware of what it is, thank you, but it's still far beyond your level and purely theoretical. However, it is an important work in Muggle Studies, which neither of you are interested in, so…"

"Why would this be important to Muggles?" Alicia said curiously.

"I'd think because it was also a very sacred book at the time," Andrew answered.

"Besides other things, yes. At the time it was written, priests, embalmers and kings were always said to possess powers of magic, while anyone under them did not…unfortunately, that meant that more often than not that they weren't truly magic, just going through the motions of the spells without actually doing anything."

"Well at least everyone accepted magic's existence then," Alicia said. Severus made a face, thinking about it.

"Sort of. Actually, why don't you ask your sister about it or Professor Scribe when you get back? In the meantime, I think I'll take this…" he said, plucking the translation out of Andrew's hand, "And this…" he added, grabbing the scroll. "And if you would like a book to get a jump on runes, Andrew, I'm sure I can find a book more appropriate for you in the library."

"I think we'll just go to the park for awhile. When will Aurelius get back?"

"Two o'clock, as always," Severus said, stepping out of their way. "Stop by the Cauldron and make sure your grandfather isn't into trouble first."

"Into or causing?" Andrew asked mischievously.

"Either," Severus said. "More than likely one of his support group spied him leaving and met up with him, in which case feel free to head on to… which park?"

"North Broom," Alicia said.

"Fine. Goodbye," Severus said impatiently.

"How about some snack bar money?" Andrew piped in. Severus quickly pulled out a handful of sickles, Andrew and Alicia smiling when he gave them half. "Goodbye."

"Bye," Andrew said and the two of them stepped out to have the door immediately close on them. Andrew quickly counted the contents in his hand. "Boy, he really wanted to get rid of us today," he grinned.

In fact, Severus was already stalking towards the bedroom suite where Jennifer sat in a small sitting room, writing a letter. He leaned against the door, watching her a moment.

"You need not hide from your father anymore. He's gone out for breakfast," he said, Jennifer immediately putting down the letter and looking at him in alarm.

"He went alone? Oh, Severus, really!" Jennifer said.

"Would you have been angrier at me if I had gone or if I had stayed?" Severus challenged. "Don't worry, I had Andrew and Alicia go check on him on their way to the broom park. And if I'm not mistaken, that means that we have the house to ourselves."

"Oh! Well, yes, I suppose so. Going back to your reading, are you then?"

"Perhaps, but not until we finish the conversation we were having in the study," Severus said, his eyes flickering a bit.

"Conversation? What conversation?" Jennifer asked, feigning complete ignorance.

"Well, why don't we go back to the study so I can refresh your memory?" Severus suggested.

"Professional discussion?"

"Hardly," Severus said, smirking softly.

"And completely out of character. I doubt Mr. Holmes would have asked a woman into the study unprofessionally," Jennifer said teasingly.

"Yes, but then he didn't have you, did he?" Severus murmured as the two of them walked back upstairs.