A/N: Strange how a character who was simply supposed to be a one line irony (a wizard studying Muggle-induced global warming) turned into a vibrant supporting character. I was thinking of Tennant's Who when I wrote Jacob Greencastle, so don't be surprised when you see it mixed in with his personality. Ultimately, however, although Jacob plays an important part, this chapter is truely about Alicia and Zoe. Thanks for the reviews...and always in the market for an igloo like Jacob's... JCWriter.

Chapter Three

Northern Lights

July melted into August, and August into September while Alicia Snape gazed from icy glacier mountaintops to never-ending skies. It was a landscape that helped fine tune her shades and shadowing in her painting and at the same time gave opportunities for momentary diversions as she reached for her sketchbook in time to capture a mother polar bear with her cubs, seals migrating to distant shores, and even an occasional whale, cresting above the waves below the research center. But lately, there seemed to be a lot less movement where she was. The skies had become hazy, and the mountains more prone to chilling winds. Every now and again there would be an Inuit fisherman with his sled that she would stop to sketch, although knowing only rudimentary words made it difficult for her to capture.

It wasn't why she had come anyhow; and she was starting to get impatient. Perhaps she should have gone to Polaris Town with Zoë and take a break from her painting, she mused, beginning to regret agreeing to stay up here with them until Yule, especially now that Zoë was showing signs of boredom with her new husband. Maybe she could sneak off to the Riviera for an afternoon? She grinned at that idea, liking it better the more she thought of it, especially when she looked down at her palette and realized she had run out of a particular shade of grey for the third time. Making up her mind, Alicia stood and stretched, commanding her easel to follow as she climb up the path. At the end of the rocky path was a large, but otherwise unremarkable looking igloo…at least it might have been considered unremarkable if it hadn't had an astrological telescope sticking out the top of it.

She crawled inside and worked her way out of her mukluks, sticking them on the rack just on the other side of the opening, walking in her stocking feet across the scattered rugs that crisscrossed the main dome floor. A warm fire near the living and sleeping area kept the room nice and snug, with carefully placed spells on the walls to keep them from melting. It was, in fact, not at all an unpleasant a place to live, although there were times when Alicia felt much too alone with her thoughts.

To the left of the entrance and opposite the living area was the 'kitchen', while to the right, tons of equipment was scattered on the floor surrounding the telescope. Even after living there for three months, Alicia wasn't completely sure that she had figured out what all did what. She scanned the work area a moment with a frown before taking a few steps closer.

"Jacob? You here?" Alicia asked, and immediately a young, handsome, brown-haired wizard appeared from behind the telescope, smiling brightly.

"Good! You're back!" he said, attempting to work his way out of his cluttered research area.

"I was thinking of heading to the beach for some drinks, actually…"

"I would put that on hold if I were you," he said with an enigmatic smile, making a quick adjustment to one of his instruments before stepping away. "I have some good news. The solar winds are picking up, and both my weather readings and the local prediction say the haze should clear in an hour or two, and if I'm not mistaken we should be expecting a visit from the merry dancers tonight."

"Really? The Aurora Borealis? Are you sure this time?" Alicia asked, trying to contain her excitement.

"Yes, quite sure, I had some tests hooked up to my Magimagnet Reader and it's already starting to behave erratically. Of course, if you want to go to the beach…"

"No way, I'm staying, I've been waiting for this for weeks!" Alicia said firmly, running over to her footlocker and pulling out some fresh canvas.

"Good thing the peak season is starting a week or two early this year then," Jacob said with amusement, heading over to the kitchen area. "The best viewing will be around midnight, so you have a bit to wait still. Did Zoë say when she'd be back?"

"Not really," Alicia admitted.

"Hum, well I guess I'll just assume she'll be home for dinner at the moment," he said, digging into an icebox – one that was actually made out of ice – and then started preparing something.

Alicia frowned slightly, deciding best not to say anything and turned to her work, ripping off a piece of canvas and picking out a stretcher frame from ones she had made earlier. As much as Alicia cared for her cousin, she also couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Jacob…he was a very nice guy…too nice, she had to admit to herself, for Zoë.

Zoë was constantly in love with the idea of being in love; so when that first rush of excitement began to fade, Zoë found herself looking for the next greatest thing. The cycle had all started when she was a costume designer and married a director; and when he went on to his 'next greatest thing' had left her with a tidy divorce settlement. After that, Zoë realized perhaps it wasn't that bad of a racket, although privately Alicia thought what Zoë was doing was worse than Andrew's refusal to commit to anything.

Alicia sighed to herself as she watched her charmed stapler move around the side of the frame as she kept the canvas taut. Actually, neither Zoë nor Andrew made all that much sense to her, but then, she wasn't sure either really understood her position either. No one did, especially not her parents…her mind got lost as she thought about it. Jacob, who had seen her get that brooding look before, stepped away from the counter and waved a hand in front of her face.
"Wake up, Cuz! This is no day to go into one of your artistic moods! I thought you were looking forward to this!" Jacob chided her. She grinned wanly.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. Hope Zoë gets back in time."

"Well, it's not as if she'll miss it from Polaris Town, but we will have the better view if she does dawdle," Jacob grinned. "I'd better go work on getting my cameras set up." Jacob took out his wand long enough to reinsulate himself and his equipment against the extreme temperature and headed outside, leaving Alicia to change her easel and palette out and tend to dinner. Finally he came back in and the two of them sat down with the stew and Alicia listening quietly as he talked of weather observations and the perfect conditions enthusiastically. He paused suddenly, looking at his equipment, hurrying quickly over to check the Magimagnet Reader again.

"Aha! Here it comes, it's changing polarization! Come on, Alicia!" he said excitedly, running to the telescope for a moment as she snapped at her easel to follow and renewed her own protection spells, following him out to the side of the hill. But after that, Alicia needed no more prompting. She couldn't help but gape at the beautiful green color that was breaking over the sky.

For some time neither of them spoke, only the sound of the lens of Jacob's camera clicking every now and again. Alicia stood there a long time, gazing at it, unsure of the curious emotions going through her, feeling both distantly alone and yet connected to the scenery as if it were a part of her somehow. At last she picked up her brush, not quite sure in the strange light if she even was getting the colors right, even though it was easily bright enough to paint by. Not long after she had started, Jacob had stopped, leaning on his camera as he stared at the sky.

"Isn't it absolutely amazing?" Jacob said in a quiet voice, his smile wistful and full of awe. "Here we are in the middle of this frozen jungle of ice and snow, and nature reveals one of its most beautiful of spells, out in the open for anyone to see; Muggle or Wizard, native or scientist, human or giant, oilman or fisherman…crisp and clear and connecting all of us with its charm. It's magic like no other, a rainbow without rain and light without sun, hooding the earth in stardust. Would that everyone could see it, and see it for what it really is, perhaps the planet wouldn't be in such disarray all the time."

"If everyone just saw the world like you do, I think we'd be at least a step in the right direction," Alicia said with a smile.

"No, I'm just a scientist really, I call it like I see it, you're the one with the artistic vision," he said with a shrug. "But I can still appreciate art, and this I think is of the highest order."

"I'm starting to believe that science can be an art too, in a way, from how I've seen you get when you're working on a project," Alicia said. "Besides, I bet everyone doesn't see it like we do. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who are so wrapped up in their own lives to notice it more than a passing glance. Survival must come first, after all."

"Surviving, that's just the point, you definitely wouldn't be living," Jacob said. "We need to take advantage of the moments as they are given to us, there's so much darkness in the world…I'm not sure it's wise to pass up those brief instances where goodness finally gets to shine through."

"Hey guys!" the two of them looked around to see Zoë walking up, putting her arm around Jacob's. "Aren't you done with your photos yet? I know this is going to take Alicia awhile, but…"

"Stay out with us and enjoy the view," Jacob coaxed her.

"I've seen it, I saw it in town," Zoë sighed impatiently, slipping away from his side and walking back towards the entrance. "Anything to eat in there?" Alicia didn't miss Jacob's shoulders slumping a bit as he took off the camera and started disassembling the tripod.

"Coming," Jacob assured his wife, despite taking his time to put it all away. He gave Alicia a strained smile as he headed back inside and the solitude of the moment closed in, leaving her feeling more disconnected than before.

Alicia rolled out of bed the next morning, kicking the layers off and stretching, knowing that she had probably overslept. It was quiet except for a light whirring from a couple of Jacob's instruments, but there was a pot of coffee on the stove still half-full, so Alicia poured herself a cup and drank it black, wincing a bit from the burn in her throat from drinking it too fast. At last she went to her studio area, pulling her jumper on as she stared at the easel with a frown.

The painting was terrible.

She stared at it as if wondering if it was her own work. She hadn't felt like this about one of her paintings since she was ten. The color was off. The texture was flat. The image was two dimensional, and there was barely any movement at all; none of the shimmer or the wispy trails of light, stretching out in different directions, nor did it seem to have anywhere near the luminescence that it had last night. She debated if it was fixable, but the more she looked at the mistakes, the more she didn't think so. For some reason, she knew that trying would somehow only make it worse.

She was still standing there when Jacob came in from taking his morning readings, tossing his charts off his desk as he stopped to take off his mukluks and gloves.

"Good morning, Alicia! Nice and clear out there, today," he said cheerfully. "Is that your painting from last night? Mind if I take a look?"

"Don't expect much," Alicia said broodingly as Jacob came over to study it. After he stood there with a slight frown on his face for a minute or two, Alicia looked over at him.

"Well, it's…that is to say it's…well, after all it was your first try at it," Jacob said apologetically.

"I can't remember the last time I failed so miserably at capturing a moment," Alicia said glumly.

"Well, maybe it's just not the sort of thing one's meant to capture?" Jacob mused.

"Or I just don't have the skill to capture it," Alicia sighed.

"Oh, now, I wouldn't say that, Alicia, you're the most brilliant painter there is…"

"Not quite," Alicia said curtly, her own voice sounding a little off to her. "I wonder what I did wrong? Perhaps it was just not having enough light to see my palette by."

"I know, why don't you look off some of the photos I took?" Jacob suggested.
"Photos don't really seem to have the same level of soul to me…"

"I understand that, Alicia, but perhaps it'll give you something to practice until the next one. This is the eleventh year this year; magnetic storms come in spurts, but this is the best year and best part of the cycle to see it. I'm sure you'll have many more chances," he reassured her.

Steam billowed in as one side of the ice block wall opened like a door, and Zoë stepped in, her hair still wrapped in a towel as she stepped in wearing ski pants over spandex. She walked over to them to see what they're looking at.

"Oh, the aurora. Great job on that Alicia, looks great," Zoë said, kissing Jacob briefly before heading over to the fire to put her thermal socks on.

"Didn't it seem like to you there was anything missing?" Alicia asked her with a frown.

"Missing? Not really, it's not like you can see much over that ridge except the glacier," Zoë shrugged, glancing at it thoughtfully. "I know, maybe next time you should put Jacob in it or something too."

"I think you're missing the point," Alicia sighed.

"Maybe, but personally, I don't see anything wrong with it the way it is. It's fine, Alicia. Anyhow, I'm heading out to do some snowmobiling with Xavier and some of his friends. I'll try not to be too late for dinner," she added as she threw on her boots and overcoats and Disapperated.

"Well," Jacob said a moment later, pulling himself out of his own thoughts. "Another cup of coffee for me, then I should get some work done."

"Jacob…" Alicia began, but he quickly held up a hand, leaning an arm on the counter almost tiredly as he got his cup.

"If it's all the same, I'd rather not talk about it, especially since I know even under the circumstances you care about your cousin deeply. I'll always be a scientist, and despite our strong attraction to each other, she'll never be happy as a scientist's wife. Suffice it to say I'm not blind to it, and let's just leave it at that. Besides, I still have quite a lot of work to do here, and I can't really blame her for looking for distractions," Jacob said, getting his coffee and pouring in a healthy dose of sugar and cream.

"Well I can," Alicia said firmly. Jacob didn't answer; instead he went over to his equipment and pulled out a set of photos, handing them over to her.

"I hope it helps," Jacob said sincerely. "If anyone can learn how to capture what we saw last night, you can."

"Thank you," Alicia smiled, glancing over them. "You know…no matter what happens with well, personal issues, I've really enjoyed getting to know you over the last few months."

"Thank you," Jacob said with a warm, cheerful smile. "I've enjoyed it as well, and I'll always consider you to be a good friend. Rather nice to be understood on a professional level for a change."

"I know exactly what you mean," Alicia grinned at him, going back to her area and pulling out some sketchbooks as he headed over to his wind charts.

She was soon absorbed in her work, attempting everything from pencil to chalk pastels to try to get even a rudimentary picture to gel…even if she could capture enough to imitate the movement and contrast it would be progress. But even though she didn't doubt on the techniques she used, it still wasn't coming out quite right.

Zoë arrived home late that night, Apparating straight into the entrance tiredly. She frowned then, her eyes darting from Jacob huddled over his desk, barricaded with books as he inked out some scrolls, and then to Alicia who was curled up in her canvas fold-up chair and surrounded by discarded drawings that blanketed the floor.

"Haven't either of you moved all day?" Zoë asked with exasperation. "I take it you haven't eaten either!"

"Zoë, back already?" Jacob said, getting up with a stretch.

"It's after eleven," Zoë scolded him.

"Sorry, didn't realized I'd been sitting there so long, you know it's always so hard to tell the time here," he said, peering out the observatory window.

Zoë simply glanced over at the clock on the wall and shook her head, heading into the kitchen to pull out some Cast'N'Consume dinners out of the icebox.

"Ah! Good idea, dinner! You didn't take the last spaghetti meal, did you?" Jacob asked, working his way over.

"Perish the thought," Zoë said dryly, peeling off the spell seal and grabbing a fork. By the time she had found a place by the fire, the food was hot, if a little on the small portioned side.

"What about you, Alicia?" Jacob asked.

"Is there still a pumpkin casserole left?" she asked, reluctantly putting down her paper and rubbing her hands.

"One 'home-style' pumpkin casserole coming up," Jacob said cheerfully. "Although I swear whoever named that certainly didn't know my mother."

"Xavier said something about the company putting that on the flavor list this year," Zoë said, scrunching her nose up.

"Too bad they aren't as nutritious as they taste, then maybe we wouldn't have to stop working and eat so much," Alicia chuckled jokingly, accepting the offered tray from Jacob.

"Not only that, but it'd probably go a long way to solving world hunger at the same time," Jacob grinned, putting up a stool. "Although I imagine that just eating beans would get a bit dull after awhile."

"Not as dull as you two working all the time. Don't you ever want to take some time off?" Zoë asked them.

"What? And mess up months of work by not getting my daily readings?" Jacob said in surprise.

"Well, you took plenty of time off when we met in the Galapagos," Zoë pointed out, and Jacob cleared his throat, his eyes darting to Alicia with embarrassment before looking back at his wife.

"True, but the work wasn't quite as intense there…" Jacob protested.

"As intense as what?" Zoë asked playfully.

"I wasn't tracking magnetic storms," he said.

"You weren't?" Zoë teased.

"Maybe I should go take a walk," Alicia said quickly, stacking up her papers.

"No need to go that far," Zoë immediately protested. "I'm simply pointing out that he can get away from his work if he's motivated enough. He tans nice too…"

"I'm going," Alicia said firmly, and Jacob suddenly sat down his tray and went over to help her with her sketches.

"No need," Jacob said in a low but pleading voice as he knelt by her, stopping every now and then to look at a sketch.

"When she starts carrying on like one of my parents, there's a need," Alicia murmured back.

"Well, at least the coloring seems to be improving," Jacob said in his normal voice.

"It's really hard to get good perspective from a photo though," Alicia commented in kind.

"Oh wait, I have an idea!" Zoë said cheerfully, getting up and gathering the trays. "Why don't I stay here and take the weather readings, Jacob, and you two can take tomorrow off and relax in Polaris Town? I feel guilty always being the one who gets to run off while you both are stuck here working all day. Besides, Alicia, couldn't you use some change in scenery? I know I could."

A creeping suspicion began to grow in Alicia then, hoping Zoë didn't mean what she suspected she meant by that. From the look on Jacob's face, he guessed that Zoë was up to something as well, but Alicia wasn't sure if he fathomed just how dastardly his wife could be if she got in the mood for mischief.

"If I need a change in scenery, I can pop out anytime to anywhere I like through a painting, so I'm in no rush," Alicia said with a shrug. "But you know, you're right that Jacob could use a break, relax, ponder life…I have a better idea. I know Jacob's instruments pretty well now. I'll stay here and look after things tomorrow, and the two of you can go out together for a change. It'd give you a chance to introduce him to your friends too, Zoë, what do you think, Jacob?"

"Um…I suppose…if you think you can handle it, thank you, Alicia," Jacob said with an unsure smile. "Well, I had better check winds and the magnet reader so I can turn in…might be nice to get to town for a change, at that."

"Fine," Zoë said, but for some reason sounded more irritated than excited now. "I'm going to bed."

Alicia sighed and sat on her own bed as Zoë covered up her head, dimming her light but still keeping the sketchpad on her lap, distractedly drawing a picture of a bicycle with three wheels.