A/N Welcome to book twenty of the Jennifer Craw Series, hope you are having a good holiday, and Happy Yule! The series starts with Jennifer Craw and the Phoenix Wand (and it takes a bit of a detour with three short stories in the middle) in which canon and original characters alike have evolved along with the stories themselves. If you don't mind series with tons of in depth original characters and haven't read them before, I hope you'll give it a go. Lately, I've finished another edit on my master copies of these for typos etc especially in this last series, but it will take me some time to get it all uploaded. In the meantime, here is the first promised chapter of book twenty, which is going to end up much larger than the last three books, for it has a lot of character development to cover and a plot line that is going to trickle into a flood through the course of the story. Leu will head to Hogwarts...and so will Quintin! Lucky enters her last year, yet another new DADA professor, and we'll find out why Aurelius has been so concerned about Alex in recent years. But a lot of this book will also be focused on the four villains and their accomplices... the whys and why-fors, and in some ways the differing levels of evil that exists in all men...or wizards... or vampires, as the case may be. This is one of the story concepts I had been considering since the first series, so there will be plenty of cameos and tie-ins. At the very least, I hope you plan on reading it and that you like it. With any Luck, it'll prove to be an exciting and sometimes thought provoking book.

Edit notes 9-2011: General cleanup of language, typos, and the normal first round boo-boos that come from the first time around publish.

Jennifer Craw and the Coming of the Four Horsemen

Chapter One

Snapshots

It was a warm summer day, but the breeze twisting around Azkaban was biting cold. It was bright and sunny, but inside the prison there were cellblocks where light never seemed to travel. Despite all of the changes made over the years to improve its quality, Azkaban was no less a prison than it had been for hundreds of years.

The prisoner heard the locks being unlatched, but continued his game of solitaire. It was not visiting day and he was not interested in visitors anyway. The head guard on that particular shift was also not the friendliest of wizards and wasn't known for giving out any sort of helpful information. In short, as far as the prisoner was concerned, the guard was positively useless.

"Post!" shouted the guard, and the prisoner heard something being slipped under the door. The prisoner kept on playing his game. "You might wanna read it this time," Hinge sneered through the tiny barred window. "I think from the stamp on the envelope that your parole has been denied again."

"Then why would I care to read it? Nothing has changed in the world since I left it nor do I expect it to change," the prisoner said, studying his cards. "So if you're waiting around to gloat, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I am quite content to spend the remainder of my life here."

"If you can call it a life," Hinge snorted. "By the way, the Falmouth Falcons beat the Wasps again." The prisoner let out an annoyed groan, and the guard snickered softly and continued on his rounds.

The prisoner continued playing his until the cards ran out and then pushed the tiny table away from him because he had gotten too big to get out of the chair any other way. Getting to the floor also posed a problem as well, but he found with a little work he could lean on the nailed-down chair and use his foot to get his mail far enough up the wall where he didn't have to climb on his hands and knees to get it. It was a laborious task but anything was better than giving Hinge yet another reason to mock him. Finally he succeeded in acquiring the newspaper and nodded with satisfaction; it wasn't like anything else in that pile was worth reading anyway. He stepped on the letter from the Ministry of Law Enforcement, grinding it a bit with his heel before finding his seat again, muttering to himself.

He immediately began sifting through the pages, looking for the right section. Ever since the ridiculous articles had begun to circulate containing outlandish and unbelievable accounts of "Snape's visit to the Otherworld," he had gotten away from his habit of reading the paper from cover to cover. Rather, he decided that such inconsequential world events were beneath him and went straight for the sports page to find out just how many merit badges he had lost to other inmates this week. But as he was sifting past the social page, he caught the sight of an article that made him raise his eyebrows.

"Oh no, not another one," he said when he saw the birth announcements. But then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, intently studying the photo of wide-eyed baby in the arms of an elated Jennifer Craw, surrounded by other family members. "What is this?" he murmured to himself, studying the picture carefully.

"Say eels!"

Another flash went off and Quintin closed his eyes, not impressed at all with the flashes when Jennifer held him up to the camera.

"Are we quite done with the photos for one day?" Severus sighed disapprovingly from where he stood well behind where Ben and Corey were holding their cameras.

"We did promise Sally Kingler a few photos, Severus. Aren't they brilliant? They really are brilliant, aren't they?" Jennifer said ecstatically when Ben let her see the digital versions of the photos they were taking.

"Now, Severus, you can humor her a little longer," Thomas said in an almost doting tone. "I wouldn't mind a picture with the lad myself."

"Of course we can do that! And then I'll have to change him for his nap. Do you like the robe I made for him out of the glassilk, Dad?"

"I like the baby blanket better. The prism affect is too much to be decent for a boy's robe, Jennifer. I prefer the grey robes I got him," Thomas grunted, gazing at his grandson critically. Quintin simply yawned.

"Oh all right, perhaps after his nap we'll put those on him and sneak one more picture," Jennifer chuckled softly. Corey and Ben both sighed at that, and then grinned at each other's reaction before taking another pair of photographs of him and his grandfather.

Severus turned around in resignation, walking into the kitchen where Alex was busy preparing drinks.

"Are you actually attempting to be helpful or are you simply in here to hide?" Severus asked knowingly.

"I'm surprised Ben isn't back here hiding as well. He says that grandfather has shown up here every single day since Mum brought Quintin home," Alex said, stepping out of the way so he could get himself some coffee.

"I think he deserves some leeway, Alexandria. After all, he didn't really get to hold any of you during your first few months on this planet, and then only through a set of magic fields," Severus said.

"He has Jay and Rus and all his other great grandchildren to make up for that," Alex said with exasperation.

"I would imagine that for him the children of a granddaughter is a different relationship compared to the child of a daughter he himself had a hand in raising… as fond of Jay and Rus as he is, this one is a little more personal. He is hoping that just like Maurice brought new meaning to his life, Quintin will do the same for us," Severus explained quietly.

"New meaning," Alex repeated skeptically. "I think the only meaning I see for the two of you is not knowing when to stop."

"Don't tell me you're trying to reason with her again!" Thomas said in exasperation from the doorway, rolling his eyes as he walked over to the icebox. "She isn't going to listen, you know. She won't be capable of understanding this until she gets another twenty years under her and her children get to the age when they start wondering why they should even bother with her… then she'll get it. Where are the bottles?"

"There's a fresh one made up in the door," Severus pointed out.

"Oh," Thomas said, grabbing the bottle. "Answer me this, Alex. When was the last time you saw your mother this happy before? Have you ever seen her this happy before, outside of a short burst of emotion now and again?"

"Well, no…"

"No, you haven't, and neither have I. I'd even go so far as bet that even Severus hasn't seen her this happy before," Thomas ventured.

"No, I have not," Severus admitted.

"There are reasons for that, you know, countless reasons," Thomas said, holding the bottle in the pan for a few seconds. "There was always a shadow hanging over the four of you from the moment that you were born. Even Corey, Lucky and Leu have shadows they brought with them when they became a part of this family. And those shadows have a way of affecting your parents more than they ever affected you. But this time there is no shadow. After seven losing battles, they finally get a chance to find out what it's like to raise a child without all that extra baggage attached. Can you truly blame her for being happy?" Thomas asked, shaking the bottle a couple of times before taking it into the next room. Alex sighed, watching him leave before looking back over at her father. He seemed to be lost in thought where he stood with his cup in hand.

"Are you happy about this?" Alex asked him bluntly. His eyes shifted back to her.

"Yes," Severus said simply. "Although I do leave room for practicality, such as the fact that we really ought to be getting packed for our trip tomorrow. Moving a baby from point A to point B seems to take hours of prep work. I wonder if Leu has begun packing yet?"

"He retreated to the attic just after breakfast," Alex said.

"Well, that's quite understandable. After all, the house has been teeming with people since we returned home. Come to think of it, if I had the luxury, I'd be hiding along with the rest of you," Severus admitted. Alex chuckled softly at that.

"Where are you going, Severus?' Jennifer asked with exasperation when she saw him cutting down the hall.

"I am going to make sure that Leu is getting packed," Severus said.

"I don't suppose you'd consider leaving this little man home with me while you four are gone on your boating trip?" Thomas asked as he fed the bottle to Quintin.

"Not a chance, Dad. This one won't be leaving my side any time soon," Jennifer said with conviction.

"Not that I blame you," Thomas grunted. "But for right now, he's mine."

Alex stood in the kitchen door, her frown deepening as she looked into happy scene in the living room. As Ben put the camera down and went to grab up Rus, she completely lost the desire to watch anymore and decided to finish the drink and work on what her excuse would be for leaving early that weekend.

Upstairs, Severus made his way up the ladder and rapped his knuckles on the trap door. As he pushed it open, a glossy brown frog stared back at him, croaking a challenge. Severus rolled his eyes.

"Move, Copper. Do I look like an intruder?" Severus scowled. After a long pause, the frog hopped away from the trap door.

"She's very protective," Llewellyn observed.

"That silly frog acts more like a dog than an amphibian. I don't know what they were thinking about at Eeylops when they trained the thing…"

"I didn't get her there. I got her in Hogsmeade," Leu reminded him. "You don't like her, do you? That's why you gave her to me after Christmas."

"I gave her to you to look after, Leu, because I already have two demanding familiars. Anyway, it's the thought that counts, after all, and she does seem to take to you more than she does to me in any case," Severus said.

"I've been reading up on her, and I think I know what breed she is now. I think she's a crab-eating frog. They're from Indonesia, and they can secrete stuff out of their skin to protect them against salt water," Leu said.

"Oh?" Severus said, suddenly showing more interest. "I wonder what sort of alchemist properties that might have…" Copper suddenly croaked with alarm and jumped over to Leu who grabbed her up and held her protectively.

"As if I would do anything to harm a family familiar," Severus sighed, climbing the rest of the way up.

The attic had been finished with plain polished boards that created a large open space in three-quarters of the room, while a smaller section at the far end had been reserved for a small roosting area for flying familiars whether theirs or dropping off messages that needed a place to rest for a bit or get out of the weather. Near the wall of the Owl section were neatly ordered boxes, all labeled with things from 'Yule holiday' to 'Jay's winter clothing' to 'phials, beakers, and bottles.'

The rest of the attic had been made to order; a room all Leu's own. There was a simple bed with unfinished oak shelves underneath for storing folded clothes and linens, and a small matching end table kept neat with only a lantern upon it. A small basic desk housed a puzzle of an old fort that they had bought in Florida the year before, as well as a second lamp with a shade of colored shells. The watercolor shade spun when it was lit, filling the walls with wavy shapes, imitating the movement of the ocean. In the corner in front of the bed, several ropes had been tied at different heights and all of his ironed clothes hung from them (Leu, it seemed, was allergic to closets) and beside it sat two bookshelves; one filled with books, but the other filled with Leu's shells and chipped plates and bells and candlesticks and other curious pieces that he had taken a particular liking to after saving them from the sea.

"Have you all but packed for tomorrow?" Severus asked.

"Mostly. Where are we going? Do we know for certain yet?" Leu asked.

"I believe the Merrows anchored her near the Alboran Sea, off a small island there."

"That's near Spain, isn't it?"

"Yes, and Morocco. I imagine we'll be making stops in both over the next couple of days, knowing your mother."

"Oh, I don't mind playing tourist a bit, although really I'd much rather be offshore," Leu admitted.

"I know exactly how you feel, although I would prefer to spend my solitude on the boat. I'm not fond of crowds, either. Has your potion wallet been filled?" Severus asked.

"No, sir."

"Fine, let me take that downstairs now, then," Severus said, pointing towards his suitcase and making him dig it out. "I am going to put an extra water breathing potion in yours. I know you don't need them, but I would rather have extra stashed in case of emergencies. If your sister goes diving with you, don't forget yourself and go off without her or go deeper than she can handle, and definitely do not lose track of the time. I know that she is older than you and is aware of her limits, but if you go swimming off without her she is more than likely going to forget those limits in efforts to keep you out of trouble."

"We can stick close to shore then," Leu sighed. "But can I do some real diving with the Merrows as well?"

"We will see. I won't promise anything until we know more about the local weather and shark population," Severus said sternly. Leu nodded solemnly in response. "We won't be leaving straight away tomorrow, so don't feel like you need to get up at the crack of dawn this trip. I have a couple of interviews I have to conduct in the morning for a new Defense instructor, and Fortuna is going to work a couple of hours tomorrow at the bank before we leave."

"What a rotten job to have, working at the bank. I'm surprised they let her have the time off," Leu said, handing him the potion wallet.

"They had no choice, really. I made certain this trip was in her contract," Severus said unconcernedly.

It had sounded like a good idea at the time.

Despite her full schedule, Lucky had realized before the end of last term that a summer job was in her best interests. Not only would it get her out of the house and away from possible babysitting duties, but Lucky had been encouraged by Singh to take a hard look at the numbers. It didn't take long for her to figure out that college was going to run her even more than she expected if she planned to live on campus. Not that she had to, of course; but after the hard time she had convincing Jackie she was better off getting out on her own and didn't need all the distractions of trying to live at home, the last thing she wanted to do was change her mind. So Lucky took it upon herself to head to Gringott's to discuss possible short-term investment options for her trust vault… and walked out with a job at the Exchange counter instead. The goblins had discovered a long time ago that it was a lot easier for their 'disadvantaged' Muggle-born customers if they kept a witch or wizard teller available to answer coin conversion questions, and it didn't take long for Griphook to realize that despite her human condition, Lucky didn't miss much when it came to discussing money. Within an hour after she had gone, Severus arrived to negotiate employment.

It wasn't the fact that she had to work hard that bothered her; she had been expecting that. It wasn't the fact that they had a dress code, which, it seemed, was ten times stricter with their human employees than it was with their goblin counterparts. It was the code of conduct that drove her up the wall: to provide customer service with a smile, cater to all clients, especially the rich ones, and never, ever let them know what one's real opinion is on a subject, regardless of what they say, and most especially before they have handed over their money.

It took two salary deductions and an incident that nearly got her fired before Lucky finally adhered to the policy, and even then, it had taken Boulderdash's intervention before she actually agreed to it.

"What might seem hard to you is nothing compared to what some of the goblin tellers have to endure every day behind those counters…why else do you think it pays so well? If you doubt me, I dare you to spend one of your days off observing the tellers," Boulderdash suggested. "And marvel as I often have how they manage to keep their knives from becoming unsheathed."

Lucky knew without even attempting it that Boulderdash was probably right, but she did find herself more aware of it after that. A momentary tension would pass through; and tellers who didn't have customers would often look warily towards certain wizards and witches as they entered and went about their business.

One of them, unsurprisingly, was Byron Nelson, but fortunately he didn't seem to use the tellers often. Nearly always he would send his House Elf or a secretary instead, while he walked straight to the back room away from all the curious glances on the floor. Abraxus Coventry earned an odd glance as well, as polite as he seemed on the surface, as did Dirk Atchison's father on the rare occasion he entered the bank at all. Minister Plumeria Plum always insisted that every receipt be tucked in an envelope so that she never had to touch theirs directly; and many of the goblins would emit soft groans when Amadeus Longbottom entered at the end of the week, withdrawing sizable sums of coins that seemed to vanish into thin air by Monday.

She was at the point where she had to force herself to keep from staring at the clock when a tall familiar figure walked up. With a smug look on his face, he straightened the bill in his hand with a couple of exaggerated tugs and then put it on the counter.

"Another fiver?" Lucky asked, unimpressed. "Why do you always bring me a fiver?"

"Don't know. I like Elizabeth Fry," Dale improvised.

"Don't bring me a Darwin, I might break a nail on the change drawer," Lucky said sarcastically.

"Well, we wouldn't want that," Dale agreed.

"Do you know how little five pounds is worth these days? It's barely worth my time!" Lucky complained, pulling out the change.

"Hm. You know, I'm not sure. Perhaps you ought to explain the exchange rates to me in more detail?" he suggested innocently.

"Miss Snape, are you arguing with a customer again?" a withered but well-dressed witch asked just as Lucky was about to threaten him with bodily injury.

"He's not a customer, Mrs. Box. He's my boyfriend," Lucky snorted.

"I have a vault on level two," Dale confided to the old witch.

"If he has a vault on level two, he is most definitely a customer, and even if he wasn't, one doesn't talk back to a boyfriend who has a vault lower than yours," Mrs. Box said with amusement.

"I don't care about the money!" Lucky snapped.

"Since when?" Dale said with a half-laugh.

"I don't care about your money. I care about mine," Lucky explained.

"If you play your cards right, it'll all be the same thing eventually," Mrs. Box tittered. Lucky turned bright red, while Dale simply grinned from ear to ear.

"Can I help you with anything else?" Lucky said in annoyance.

"Lunch?" Dale suggested.

"We're leaving the country right after I get off work, Dale."

"I know. I bought you something for your trip," Dale said. Lucky sighed.

"You know I hate it when you…"

"Miss Snape? You have another customer," Mrs. Box said sternly. Lucky blinked in surprise and then peered behind Dale to see a House Elf standing there with his arms folded, pretending to ignore the conversation in front of him.

"I'll meet you at the Cauldron," Dale said quickly, excusing himself. Lucky turned back to her work, preparing to count several bags of galleons that the Elf had placed in front of her. Chuckling softly at the discontent look on her face, Dale wandered out of the bank and went to buy a book at Flourish and Blotts to keep him occupied while he waited.

Then he went to the Cauldron and ordered a house brew, making his way to one of the smaller tables. As he sat down, he was a little surprised to see Professor Snape over at one of the other tables speaking to a dark-skinned wizard of the same height but a more muscular build. And although the man wore formal robes, Dale noticed that he wore badges on his arms that seemed to be some sort of military insignias. Military insignias? Since when did the Professor hang out with that crowd?

"Of course we knew about what was going on here, dear fellow, but I was only a cadet back then; and even then it was always considered an internal matter. Our business is on the world stage."

"And Ciardoth wasn't a world threat?" Severus asked calmly.

"And what would you have had us do? Bomb the old girl?" the officer chuckled. "We all have our duties to home and country, Professor. Yours is to protect our interests here, while the Royal Broom Force protects the country's interests abroad. I may not have been able to do much about Ciardoth or um… well, that other problem before that, but the fact that we have flown high and far to defend this country against invasions from other countries must account for something! It isn't easy, you know, breaking into the private sector after so many years… but I do have years of defense and survival training, and experience in passing that training along, sir."

"It isn't your credentials I question, Commander Bellamy. If anything, they contain exactly what I was looking for in a new instructor, and I also admit the idea of seeing a military approach in the Defense against the Dark Arts roll intrigues me. However, I do have some reservations about your being a bit…" Severus made a slight face, trying to find a more diplomatic term but then gave it up. "A bit out of touch, at least as far as what we've been facing on the ground over the last few decades you've been in the service."

"If I am, it is a sacrifice I willingly made for God and Country, sir. But now that I am a civilian and no longer a servant to my broom, I shall do my best to keep my feet on the ground," Bellamy said sincerely.

"As long as your attention is on the ground as well. You'll need to get caught up and fast if you expect to do well at Hogwarts," Severus warned.

"Does that mean you intend to offer me the position, then, sir?" Bellamy asked.

"I like the idea of your adding some of your survival training course into the curriculum, provided it stays within school rules. I am of the opinion that the world in general has been getting complacent of late, and perhaps this will at least insure the students don't get that way," Severus mused.

"Oh, don't worry, sir. I assure you I will be able to keep them on their toes," Bellamy said confidently.

"You also might want to invest in a snoop device of some sort in case they're trying to keep you on your toes," Severus suggested. Bellamy raised his eyebrows at that, but Dale immediately got the hint and tried to concentrate on his book.

"Hey, you," Lucky said when she came up behind him a couple of minutes later, acknowledging her father with a wave before sitting down. "You almost got me in trouble again. If Tornfang hadn't gotten called away at the last minute just before my shift was up, I probably would have."

"Sorry, Marie," Dale said sincerely. "I just wanted to give you a going away present is all," he said, taking out a small jewelry box. Lucky frowned, gazing at him warily. "Oh, don't worry, they're just earrings," he assured her. She relaxed somewhat, reaching for the box and opening it.

"Aw, how cute," Lucky said, taking a closer look at the tiny gold earrings. Each one was shaped like a tiny sandal, with a token amount of diamond dust on them as if they had sand on them.

"I had them charmed so that you can't get sunburned while you're wearing them, but if you put lotion on you will still get a tan," Dale said.

"That's handy. You didn't spend a lot on these, did you?" Lucky squinted.

"No, no, I went to Mariced's for them. You can question them about it if you like," Dale chuckled.

"It's okay, I trust you. I just wanted to be sure, that's all," Lucky said.

"I wouldn't give you anything that I thought you might be uncomfortable with, Marie," Dale reassured her.

"It's not me I was worried about," Lucky said in a much lower tone. It didn't take long to figure out why she lowered her voice, however, for Severus stepped up to the table.

"We need to be going soon," Severus reminded Lucky, squinting at the box.

"Yeah, we know," Lucky said, putting on her earrings.

"Those weren't expensive, were they?" Severus asked bluntly.

"No, sir. I got them at Mariced's," Dale repeated solemnly.

"Hm. Well, let's not get carried away, shall we? Lucky, I am finished with the interviews, so I am going home to get ready to leave. You should be thinking about it as well."

"I'll be home in five minutes," Lucky promised.

"Fine," Severus said, making a point to check his watch before leaving. Lucky rolled her eyes so dramatically that Dale couldn't help but to chuckle at her.

"I guess I'd better go," Lucky said reluctantly. "I need to pop over and turn in some work with Singh too. I wonder if Dad had any luck with those interviews today?"

"It sounded like he found someone for Defense," Dale said.

"Oh, yeah? That was quick. Is it anybody good?" Lucky asked curiously.

"I guess that would be a matter of opinion," Dale chuckled. "Let's just say that I'd be looking for a way to get out of that last year of Defense, if I were you."