VII. Les enfants grandent trop vite

After supper the last day of summer, at Dumbledore's request, Severus followed him back upstairs to the office beyond the great gargoyle, knowing he was about to discuss more than the impending arrival of students. Hoping the headmaster wasn't going to be too invasive as he seated himself, Severus found comfort in the fact that in addition to never having been hit on by the old wizard, he also did not tend to pry into the most sensitive subjects often. Still, the man's curiosity piqued to the point of a fault at times. Unfortunately, this was one of them.

"Well, Severus," he began almost as soon as they sat down. "I must confess I am intrigued that you neglected to mention the curse's cure. Surely Ms. Dulac, as the victim, deserved to know everything it entails?"

"If you'll forgive me, Headmaster, I hardly saw the point. Who shall she fall in love with here? Me? Malfoy, perhaps?" he questioned sardonically, his face darkening at the thought. "That's the damnable thing about this curse, if you'll excuse me. "

Dumbledore nodded his acquiescence. "You are quite certain Malfoy has been branded with the Mark?"

"Yes."

"Does he know of her sensitive condition?"

"Of that I am not sure, however, seeing as Bella is his aunt, she may prefer to live vicariously through her nephew." Unable to tolerate the direction of their discussion sitting down, Severus rose and started pacing the room. "She may even consider it a gift for him--a first foray into manhood, or something equally depraved. She's the likely type."

"In which case, you must endeavor to shield Ms. Dulac from his dalliances. The boy is both too young and at once all too willing to exploit any power he may have."

"What should I do?" he said derisively, "shackle myself to her in the event that she passes him by in the hall? He's a teenage boy, as such bound to be randy, and she is patrolling the very halls he walks down."

"You sound as though you find this particularly taxing. You know very well that the ramifications of the curse do not require insistent hovering, but merely that she have a much more preferable outlet for her attentions, to put it discreetly." Severus' lip curled at the thought of being an "outlet" for anything. "Am I to take it, Severus, that you do not find her attractive? She's a lovely woman. Well-spoken, intelligent, a highly skilled Auror. Certainly she must have some redeeming value. It should not be such a chore, surely?" He tipped his gaze over the top of his glasses and smiled serenely.

Severus scowled for a moment, feeling all to hemmed in by the potency of the stare. "Certainly there are no ascertainable physical flaws about her person. She has quite a mouth on her though. Almost insufferable at times."

"Indeed?" Clearly taking it as a double entendre, Dumbledore simply smiled. "Passionate and proud, she is. And if you'll forgive me, quite an equal match for you, if I may be so inclined to indulge in an old man's matchmaking fancy."

"Load of tosh," said Severus disdainfully. "That's the point of it being a curse, that she has no choice. What are you expecting of this? Tea and crumpets at Madame Puddifoot's? Walks on the lake? Stolen kisses? Orange blossoms?" He spun on the spot, as if wishing to apparate, fury etched in his face at the old man's audacity.

"Those certainly couldn't hurt by any means--" Dumbledore began.

"Blast it! You do actually expect me to court this woman?" he interrupted.

"She does deserve any amount of recompense for having this foisted upon her, and I do not mean that as a slight to you, Severus. As I mentioned, I believe you both to be more than a match for each other in myriad ways, but the fact remains that her power of choice was completely eliminated. However, you must do what you believe is best."

"How would I even begin?" he wondered aloud.

"You're a resourceful man, Severus," Dumbledore chuckled. "I have faith in you. But give it some time and some thought. It will be a long year, what with Malfoy running rampant and likely any time to attempt to kill me. For now, I must bid you good evening. She and Tonks both will be here soon with their nightly reports."

Hearing this, Severus spun on his heel, clearly intent to be gone by the time the two women arrived.

"Oh and Severus," Dumbledore called, as the younger wizard turned in the doorway, "do not think so meanly of yourself. I have it on good authority that she could very well fall for you quite easily my good man."

"On who's authority, sir?" he questioned suspiciously.

"Hers." The old man's eyes twinkled merrily as Severus turned, saying nothing, and stalked down the stairs, utterly disbelieving.

***

Vivienne, meanwhile, received a nasty blow to her peace of mind the evening of the Sorting Ceremony. She stood, posting in the entrance hall, as the students came streaming out of the double doors on their way to the dormitories when her arm started to twinge. Knowing what the sensation meant, Vivienne looked to the doors expecting to see Severus come through them, only to give way to confusion when she could not spot him anywhere. Surely not, she thought, just as it began to smart painfully. Flexing her hand, and peering closely the faces of the children going by, she met the eyes of one with raised eyebrows and a creeping leer spreading across his pale face. Ce n'est pas possible! she argued. Yet as he drew close enough for only she to hear, he tipped her a lascivious wink and said, "hello, ginger!" whilst two lumpy boys beside him sniggered obnoxiously. Garnering no apparent shock from her, he turned his head and kept walking, only to yelp like a struck dog as her wand suddenly emitted sparks straight to his rear end. A couple of kids who had nearly missed the sparks looked at her quizzically. Vivienne simply smiled. "Must be time for a new one," she said, shrugging her shoulders and shaking the wand as if to make it function correctly. Glancing over to the blonde boy who had stopped with his friends, she simply raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Sorry," she said, completely devoid of any remorse. Muttering to each other, she only caught the words, "my father" before she saw them heading down the dungeon steps. As he did this, and she realized who his head of house was, she simmered even more at the thought that she had not been apprised of this situation. Vowing to get even for this little thorny problem, she stormed through the castle as the great hall emptied, intent on getting through her last rounds of the evening so that she could give Professeur Snape a piece of her mind.

She came upon him doing his own nightly rounds and bore down on him with a vengeance, her cloak flapping behind her. Catching him up as he stopped, watching her warily, she smacked him round the arm and hissed out a breath.

"How dare you not tell me of another Death Eater on these grounds!" she said waspishly. "Of all the idiotic things to neglect to divulge. And I, an Auror! What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking if you hit me again I'll blast you out to the grounds," he said archly as she continued to sputter in a French-English blend of swearing and accusations. "I did not bother telling you about Malfoy--if you'll keep your voice down--because you have now in your possession a fail-proof method for detecting any Death Eaters you come across." Cupping a hand under the irate witch's elbow, he steered her, still steaming, into an empty classroom and cast a silencing charm over the door.

"You know I deserve more warning than this," she yelled, yanking up her sleeve to bare the burning mark. "That--that boy! That whelp, damn him, was taunting me in front of the whole blasted school! How dare you allow him the latitude to even think such a thing. And he, one of your own students!"

"I was unaware that he knew of your...predicament. I shall be having a word with him about his behavior, as well as his father."

"Yes, his father! He was already blathering on about telling his father on me--"

"Why? What did you do?" he asked, feeling a distinct sense of foreboding. Taking it upon himself, he peered into her eyes in an attempt to see exactly what had transpired, only to feel his mind forced back from hers in an almost palpable slap.

"Don't even think about it!" she snapped. "You have absolutely no right to attempt Legilimency on me! I could have you thrown into Azkaban for even attempting." With a toss of her head she turned to pass him out the door, only to have him seize her arm once again and yank her back in front of him.

"I merely wanted to see what had happened that I should be prepared to answer for when his mother comes calling, as she may well do," Severus said, scarcely controlling the urge to roll his eyes. "As you seem to be too...distraught to give any answers, more so shrieking recriminations, I endeavored to see for myself. I must confess I am impressed with your Occlumency skills, however."

"Of course I have nothing but the finest skill in Occlumency. It is of utmost importance for us to protect state secrets, as you well know. You were as likely testing me as you were trying to get information. And it failed miserably. As to your randy pup, he leered, catcalled, and got his pants singed for his troubles--in front of his chubby little friends no less. And serves him right for being such a presumptuous little prick!"

She found herself shaking with rage and embarrassment as the very memory burned, viciously determined not to let the latter show. Wrenching herself loose at last, she stormed from the room leaving Severus winded, infuriated, and more than a little stirred at this tempestuous little chit who seemed to know exactly which of his buttons to push.

les enfants grandent trop vite = children grow up too quickly
Ce n'est pas possible! = that's not possible!