Chapter Ten

Investigations Here and There

Jennifer opened the last window and stood there for a moment, taking in a deep breath with her eyes closed before looking out as the lake. There was a gentle knock and the sound of someone clearing their throat, and Jennifer glanced around to see Harry at the door with a scroll in his hand.

"You all right, Jennifer?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, just a tad dizzy from the fumes," Jennifer admitted.

"Or the stress," Harry said knowingly, walking further in and checking on her potions. "I see these are about done cooling. How many more of these do you have to do?"

"Just those… I did the majority of them ages ago when I knew I was going to be strapped for time," Jennifer said.

"Here, let me help you bottle these and get them upstairs, then maybe you'll take the night off to relax considering the students get here tomorrow," Harry said.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't want to relax. I would much rather keep busy," Jennifer admitted. "Is that for me?" she added when he attempted to stir with the scroll in his hand.

"Oh… it's the list of alternative spells I need approved for Lucky's defense class… although honestly, I'd like to teach these to all my sixth and seventh year classes if you're okay with it," Harry admitted.

"Sure, I'll just sneak them in about a quarter of the way down the approvals list. The board only reads the top and bottom ones anyway," Jennifer said with a shrug as she looked them over. Harry grinned at her, putting on some gloves and grabbing a rack of bottles.

"Sounds like you've learned a few of Severus' tricks," Harry commented.

"I've sat through a great deal of his war stories concerning conflicts with the board, yes," Jennifer agreed, setting the scroll on her desk before joining him. "I wonder how he's doing over there," she pondered out loud before pulling her gloves over her ring. "I really had hoped he'd be back by now."

"I'm certain he'll take no more time than is absolutely necessary," Harry reassured her.

"Of course not, at least not intentionally," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "Minerva has commented often enough that sometimes it's very easy to lose track of the time when you're living there."

"Well then, that's a good reason to give him a bit of leeway, isn't it? It's not every day someone has to make their way in a whole other world, is it?" Harry said.

"I suppose," Jennifer said with a sigh. "Although I am truly beginning to doubt that old adage that 'no news is good news.'"

"No news is still better than bad news," Harry decided, and then got busy filling bottles.

They had been working for some time and had begun to clean up the lab when there was another knock on the door; but this time it was a rather frantic one.

"Jennifer?" Hermione called out, and the other two looked up. "I'm sorry, but could you possibly spare me for an hour or so?"

"Take as long as you like…" Jennifer immediately answered, nodding as if in agreement.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Oh, someone wrote a nasty letter to the editor about Draco that Ron decided to publish, and when Ron refused to tell Draco who wrote the letter, Draco threw him in the Tower," Hermione explained. Harry rolled his eyes. "I need to go get Richard and make some arrangements for him until this stalemate is over."

"Of course, Hermione, take your time," Jennifer said.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Hermione insisted with a short sigh before disappearing.

"It seems to be a regular epidemic," Harry commented a moment later, filling the last of the bottles.

"What does?" Jennifer asked.

"Well, let's just say that Cedric and Mary were a bit put out when Ginny and I returned early to Hogwarts. With Arthur and Molly off on vacation, I think they finally had to take up Draco's offer of hiring a Nanny for Olivia," Harry explained ruefully. "I heard Danny's having troubles finding a sitter for Gloria as well. Taylor's parents moved over the summer. Did you know?"

"Corey did mention something about that… I know Danny and his parents never did get on well. She isn't back here at Hogwarts yet, come to think of it," Jennifer mused. "Not that she has schedules to do like everyone else, but she's normally back before the staff meeting. Do you suppose she's found someone to look after her?"

"I suggested that she go to Ashley, but I think she's worried about overburdening her," Harry said.

"I rather think that Ashley is getting even more stir crazy right now than I am, she does like to feel useful. Really, I think she'd welcome the distraction," Jennifer insisted. "In fact, now that the children are going back to school and she only has Destiny during the day, I should probably suggest Hermione try that route as well."

"It's an idea. At least they'd have the added benefit of having Gloria and Rich being looked after somewhere near the school," Harry decided. Jennifer stopped mid-motion.

"What do you say?" Jennifer asked.

"I said they'd probably like it if their children were being looked after close to work," Harry said, wondering about the strange expression Jennifer had on her face. That expression changed to one of pure elation.

"Brilliant! Positively brilliant! Thank you!" Jennifer said happily.

"Thank you? What for?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"For reminding me the idea I had just before I broke my neck last year, of course!" Jennifer said with exasperation before getting a devious grin on her face. "And now is just the time to do it. The board meeting is over until late September, Severus isn't back yet and I know we'd go rounds about it, but it is my school at the moment, isn't it?"

"Um… well yes, and Hermione's…"

"Oh, I'm not worried about her, she'll be behind it a hundred percent. Of course, we will need to talk to Ashley, and right away… only where do I put them?"

"Put who?" Harry demanded.

"The children who would be coming to Hogwarts, of course!" Jennifer said with exasperation.

"A classroom?" Harry suggested warily.

"Of course! How silly of me!" Jennifer laughed. "And I think I know just the one! Come on, Harry! Bring the bottles!" she added and picked up a few racks herself.

Wondering if Jennifer wasn't getting a bit balmy from worrying about Severus' absence, Harry reluctantly grabbed up the remaining racks and followed her up to the hospital wing, a bit discouraged when he saw that Ginny wasn't in there to back him up. But Jennifer simply sat the bottles down on the counter and walked back out the door and over to an abandoned classroom across the way, motioning for Harry to follow behind. Putting down his own racks, Harry stepped over and peered into the large dusty room.

"Remember this? This is where Poppy Pomfrey used to hold her nursing and first aid classes. Sagittari handles those down in his office now… this hasn't been used in ages. But I think the fact that this room is a part of the hospital wing might prove to be an advantage, don't you?" Jennifer said, inspecting the room happily.

"Sure, I suppose…" Harry began.

"Severus, are you lurking about?" Jennifer asked, dusting off a painting of a group of three witch nurses. The portrait of Severus stepped out behind them, proving to her that indeed he had been spying to see what she was up to. One of the witches turned around in surprise and hit him on the head with the parasol she had been carrying. "Good, you are. Have John sent up here with a full compliment of House Elves. I want this room cleared and spotless immediately. Also it needs to be painted, something bright, I think. Sunshine yellow, that'd be lovely! Don't you think so, Harry?"

"Well, I'm not really a big fan of y…"

"I had better go talk to Ashley to see if she's up to what I have in mind. And I'm going to have words with Vallid to see what sort of licensing hoops we need to jump for this. I suppose I'll have to pay for all this myself to keep the board from finding out, but I think we could actually maintain this little covert operation with donations if we manage it right. You're in charge of the castle, Harry! I'll be back as quick as I can!" Jennifer said, slipping out the door and over to the Door Lift before Harry could question her further. Still baffled, he turned back to the empty room.

"Yellow?" Harry repeated and made a face of disgust before returning to his office.

How they managed to get the room done and furnished before the Sorting ceremony the next day was nothing short of a miracle. Even with Ashley, Rose, Hermione and Danny pitching in to help, it took all their effort and energy to get the room painted, carpeted, and the furniture and bookshelves all put into place to Ashley's specifications.

"This is brilliant, positively brilliant," Danny said enthusiastically, playing with the winged Pegasus rocker. It flapped its wings and floated just an inch above the ground, just enough to give it a bit of bounce. On the walls were numbers, letters and basic shapes, including stars and moons. A small line of cots were rolled up and a nook of books was spread out, along with a lot of tiny toys that reminded Jennifer of Christmases when her four natural children were babies. She sighed wistfully, nodding to herself in satisfaction. "Boy, am I going to hate to be here when Severus finds out about this daycare of yours, Jennifer."

"Not to mention the board," Hermione agreed.

"Every magic school in America has had one of these for some time now, including Whitebridge, and there are all sorts of studies in scrolls and magazines of how employees are more productive when they have their children close at hand and aren't worrying about them," Jennifer said firmly.

"Well, the board might buy that, but I'm not so sure about Severus," Danny chuckled.

"It isn't going anywhere, I promise you that, no matter how hard he blusters," Jennifer said firmly. "Really, I don't care how much he howls at me. I'll be very glad when he does get back."

"He'll be back soon," Danny assured her. "And even if you don't mind his 'bluster', thanks for sticking your neck out for this."

"It is going to be well worth the trouble," Jennifer said, smiling as she looked around.

"Right in here, John!" came Ashley's voice from the hall.

"Na' I haven't exactly had time t'forget where the room is, have I?" John protested with a chuckle as he came in carrying a large wooden bundle. Ashley came in behind him with several minimized parcels that seemed to pop like popcorn when Ashley set them down, immediately turning to their regular size.

"Well, what's all this?" Hermione asked.

"These are all for that," Ashley said enigmatically, pointing over to where John was pulling out pieces from his pile until it became quite obvious what it was.

"Why, it's a crib!" Jennifer said in surprise.

"Wow, it sure is, and a nice one at that," Danny said.

"Definitely charmed," Hermione agreed. "It's almost a pity that Rich has outgrown his."

"Yes, so has Gloria," Danny said thoughtfully. "Hasn't Destiny started to grow out of hers as well? And Olivia for that matter…"

"There's plenty of room for a crib in here in case we need it," Ashley said unconcernedly. "Besides, I happened to find this in Toby's shop after I convinced him to open up for an hour, so I expect will be needing it soon enough."

"Needing it?" Jennifer repeated thoughtfully. "I don't see how we could possibly need it right now, especially with the staff we have… unless someone isn't telling us something…" she added.

"Oh no, not again. Jennifer, you know we can't have kids anymore," Hermione immediately protested.

"You know I can't," Danny said evenly.

"Well, I can't either, although not for lack of trying," Jennifer said. John coughed loudly, pretending not to have heard it while reminding them at the same time he was in the room.

"I think I'd better be seeing to replacing candles about the castle before the students arrive… tomorrow," he added for good measure before he stepped out the door.

"You don't suppose it's a student again, do you?" Danny asked in a low voice.

"Let's not even go there," Jennifer protested. "Besides, even if there were a student who needed a… well, we certainly wouldn't allow such a thing to be public knowledge, and it'd be obvious if they were looked after in here. No, it'd have to be a staff member."

"Oh come now, you're overreacting, Jennifer. I simply don't think the room would have been complete without it," Ashley said.

"But you wouldn't have found it in there if it wasn't needed," Hermione pointed out.

"Well, I imagine that someday it will be needed in here, and it'd certainly would be missed if there wasn't one," Ashley said.

"I don't suppose Rose would be thinking about having another?" Danny mused.

"I'm sure they would have said something," Ashley said. "And besides, I rather got the impression that they were done."

"That opinion can change with time," Jennifer said distantly.

"You don't need to remind me of that," Ashley chided her. "All the same, I'm positive it isn't her."

"So who does that leave?" Danny asked as much to herself as to anyone else. "I think we're out of likely candidates unless we're talking about Ginny, and I seriously doubt she's having a child at her age."

"Hey, she's not all that much younger than I am, and I just had another," Hermione protested.

"Yes and she has a grandchild already," Danny said.

"Oh, stop digging in," Hermione scowled.

"Hermione does have a point," Jennifer interjected suddenly, the others glancing over. "After all, they did get married young, and after Cedric eloping right out of school, I imagine that Ginny might be feeling a bit old before her time."

"Well…" Hermione began, then instantly regretted it when she saw everyone's eyes were on her. "Maybe she has been a bit restless lately, but who hasn't? She just wants to spend more time with Harry, honestly, but a baby would rob her of that."

"Or entice him to stay home more," Danny interjected. "What do you think, Jennifer?"

"I think it wouldn't hurt to do a bit of honest snooping. After all, if they are thinking of having another child it will affect the school, won't it?" Jennifer reasoned, leaning back a bit to peek out the door. "I wonder where she is? I suppose she's probably down at Sagittari's office."

"We can't barge in if she's down there. What if she's actually there for a check up or something?" Danny protested.

"I think she would tell us if she thought she were pregnant," Hermione protested.

"But she wouldn't necessarily say something if they were trying," Danny said.

"Danny's right, we need to take a more subtle route," Jennifer decided after setting up a charming mobile featuring wizards and witches on broomsticks floating in and around Quidditch rings. "We'll go have a chat with Harry."

"That's a good idea," Danny agreed.

"How subtle?" Hermione asked.

"I'll simply ask him how his summer was. Nothing wrong with that, is there?" Jennifer said brightly.

"I think I'll stay here and finish putting this together," Ashley decided.

"Well, I'm going," Danny decided.

"I'm going just to make sure the two of you don't go too far," Hermione decided, the three witches walking out in a pack and soon descending on the Defense Room.

Harry was in his office, finishing some final touches that he had brought from his office in the Ministry to make it feel like his own before settling in to look over the first few chapters of each book in turn.

"Good morning, Harry! How are you today?" Jennifer asked as she stepped in, the other two women lingering in the classroom.

"Um… fine. Did I miss some paperwork?" Harry asked.

"Oh, no, everything's in order. I just realized that with all the hustle, the two of us haven't really had time to just sit and chat in a long while," Jennifer said, sitting down.

"No, I suppose we haven't," Harry admitted. "Would you like to hear about my plans for the new program?"

"Nothing involving work, Harry," Jennifer protested. "So how have you been? How was your summer?"

"How was my summer?" Harry repeated, wondering why she had that look in her eye again. "Um, fine, thanks, a bit short considering I had to prepare Rel to take over at the Ministry and Severus insisting I arrived early here…"

"Did you do anything fun at all?" Jennifer interrupted.

"Some… Ginny and I went abroad for a few days in early July...."

"Did you really? Where did you go?" Jennifer asked with open interest.

"Oh, just down to Villahexen. I hadn't been in the summer before, actually…"

"I love Villahexen in the summer!" Jennifer agreed. "But did you have enough to do? I rather think it might get boring."

"No, not really…at least I didn't run the risk of breaking my leg wizard skiing again at least," Harry said, and noticed Jennifer was studying him intently as if trying to read him. "Was there somewhere in particular this conversation was going?"

"No, no, just thought I'd stop in and chat," Jennifer said cheerfully. "I really was worried that you didn't get any time off this summer. I'd hate for you to have had little time with Ginny especially."

"Actually, now that I'm here, I'm seeing her a lot more than I usually do at my normal job," Harry admitted. "It's rather nice, actually, although I have found it's quite hard not to talk about work all the time, even more than before."

"Yes, I often have that trouble myself," Jennifer admitted. "I suppose you must miss Olivia."

"Well, now that you have this daycare set up, I was thinking of letting Cedric know we can still take her on our normal visiting days… if it's all right with you, of course," Harry added.

"Of course it is, Harry," Jennifer said with a smile. "There's nothing like looking after a young child that reminds one of their youth, is there?"

"True, but that's nothing compared to how I feel spending the night in this castle again," Harry admitted.

Jennifer smiled warmly at him but then abruptly got up and left the room as if distracted by something. Blinking at both the odd conversation and her behavior, Harry peered out the door to see her walking over to Hermione and Danny who had apparently been inspecting the classroom. Huddling up together for a moment, the three of them walked out the door. Shaking his head, Harry couldn't help but wonder if Severus' absence was getting to Jennifer even more than he originally thought.

"So? Is it her?" Danny asked in a low voice as they backed down the hall.

"I'm not sure," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "If so it wasn't planned... at least not on his end... or I should have picked something up. Still, I don't think I'd rule her out…"

"Maybe not, but perhaps there's nothing for us to do but wait," Hermione protested. "Really, this is getting us nowhere."

"I still think it's her," Danny said.

"And if so, I'll be the first to congratulate them, but until then, we'll have to wait and see," Hermione decided. "In any case, Ashley's right in that we ought to have a crib set up in case it is ever needed… as long as the board doesn't shut this whole idea down, that is."

"Don't you worry about that, because I am going to play this one like Severus would and cover every single angle they might argue before the discussion even starts. He isn't the only person who can have a plan for everything, you know," Jennifer said as they returned to the hospital wing.

Severus rummaged through his bag near the dim candlelight, glad that he had packed a potion for just about every situation. In fact, it seemed to be the only thing going right for him, he thought to himself with annoyance before focusing back onto his objective. He took out an invisibility potion and a phial of Chameleon Power, pondering which one to attempt. Finally he chose the Chameleon Powder and critically measured some out, attempting to save enough that he could use it a second time if needed. He then dusted himself with it in front of the mirror to make sure he had an even coat of the camouflaging agent on him before he slipped out the door.

He had not come even close to memorizing the floor plan; in fact, except for the general directions of the kitchen, dining hall and court, he had gone out of his way to keep himself from becoming too acquainted with both the castle and its residents. With every glance at the ring, he was reminded that at home things went four times faster, and he had no intention of being delayed any further.

It was the middle of the night, and Severus was hoping that the guard's movements about the castle would give him some clue to where anything of value would be kept. He had spent some time watching the guards from the balcony that evening, and now turned his attention to their movements in the corridors.

For the most part, all the main passages seemed to be quite empty and free of guards…then again, it wasn't as if they were expecting any trouble. He walked towards the courts and then noticed a dark, narrow corridor with stairs heading downwards that he hadn't seen before. It was partially hidden by an elaborately carved pillar, he realized, at least if one were heading back and forth to the court proper. Curiously, Severus went down the stairs, reached a landing and saw it took a sharp turn down in the opposite direction. All in all, there were three tight landings before he had gotten to the bottom, but by then he had already guessed that he was walking into the dungeons.

The first room was curiously vacant, but from the basins and wardrobe that were present in the room he gathered it was some sort of staging area to bring prisoners back and forth from the courts. Apparently they preferred their prisoners to look presentable when at court, Severus thought. But what concerned him the most was the fact that there were no guards at all; and he couldn't help but wonder why until he crept further in and realized there were also no prisoners. Four dry, stark cells lay beyond the room of iron and stone, but none of them were occupied. Something wasn't right… surely a castle this size should have some crime, even petty. It was obvious from how kept up the area was that it didn't go unused, and Severus had seen and heard enough about them so far to know that no matter how peaceful their society might be, they'd have their fair share of lowlife. But whatever the reason for its emptiness, Severus knew the dungeons were a dead end and he reluctantly went back up the narrow stairs, skirting around to the back of the court he had been received in.

There should be private corridors there, Severus reasoned, so that the lord could get back and forth to the room undisturbed. And he was fairly sure that any vaults they might have to stow things at would probably be somewhere the lord could gain ready access to when others could not. But whether it was below ground, in a tower nearby, or in the lord's own room for that matter, Severus wasn't certain. It had been a very long time since he had seen a guard, so he decided to keep looking for Aiden's personal rooms and then perhaps start searching any adjacent room near his. Perhaps if he waited a day or two, he could easily map the place, but a day or two was not something that Severus wanted to spare.

Very little light was in the halls, and many were unlit at all with dim lanterns placed only in the main corridor. In fact, the light was so dim that he quickly deduced that the Fae here probably had better night vision than he did. They also seemed to hear better than he did as well, for as he crossed over one of the main corridors, a pair of guards standing at a door at the end of the hall suddenly looked over in Severus' direction as he passed. Swiftly Severus continued across and then immediately put his back to the wall, keeping his breath slow and even to minimize sound as he waited. But after several minutes it became obvious that neither guard seemed in a hurry to investigate, so Severus slipped further down the corridor to search the rooms surrounding those that were now obviously Lord Aiden's.

It wasn't long after he passed that Bael wandered down the main hall, glancing down the side corridors casually before walking up to the guards.

"Have you seen the Lord Severus this evening?" Bael asked.

"More or less, sir," one of them said with a cordial nod. "We could not see him well, only his aura for some reason, but his scent is distinct. We rather got the impression that he didn't wish to disturb us, so we pretended not to notice."

"He does seem to get very restless at night," Bael nodded with a sigh. "May I ask which way he went?"

"Towards the Lady Niamh's rooms," the guard said.

"Oh?" Bael said with bewilderment. "I suppose I had better go offer my assistance, whatever his task."

"If he is heading for Niamh's rooms, I doubt he'll need your assistance, human or not," the other guard said with amusement.

Bael didn't offer a comment; they didn't know the Lord Severus, nor did they need to know such privileged information. He suspected what the real reason was, so he was not at all surprised when he discovered the man well past Niamh's rooms, lingering in front of a heavy door, perhaps studying it.

"That is not what you are looking for, m'lord," Bael said, the glowing figure suddenly rearing up. "Your pardon, I did not mean to startle you. Those are the rooms of Niamh's mother, Aine, who died giving birth to her. They have been closed since the day she was born to wait the day when Niamh is wed, whomever that may be."

"You do not believe it is me?" Severus said in a low, skeptical voice.

"I am your servant, m'lord. It is my duty to believe you," Bael said solemnly.

"I am not interested in your duty," Severus sighed, dusting off the powder. Bael watched curiously as Severus slowly became solid and complete once more. "I am interested in your personal opinion, free from any obligations you may have."

"Everyone's opinions are colored by their obligations, m'lord," Bael said solemnly. "Are your opinions not influenced by your obligations to your own world and the family you left behind?"

"Perhaps, but that is by choice," Severus murmured.

"As is my choice to serve my Lord Aiden, and through his will to serve you as well," Bael said.

"I wasn't looking for a philosophical discussion. I was simply looking for an honest answer," Severus argued. "And despite what Lord Aiden might have declared, I am no more a lord than you are. So when I ask you something, I'd appreciate to hear your views instead of someone simply willing to agree with me because you feel that you are obligated to."

"You want me to act as your advisor, m'lord?" Bael asked slowly.

"If that gives you the right to have an equal opinion, yes," Severus said, shaking out the alchemist's cloth. "Personally, I'd rather dispense with the titles, if you don't mind."

"Has your world dispensed with them?" Bael asked curiously.

"No, although… actually, it's all a bit complicated, and I certainly don't want to get into all of that in the back this dark corridor in the middle of the night. I don't suppose you would do me a favor and go back to bed?" Severus asked bluntly.

"If that is what you bid me to do, I shall, but I should tell you first that you will not find what you are looking for this way. Your sphere is being kept in Lord Aiden's rooms and I do not think the guards would look the other way again if you tried to enter them," Bael said.

"There are other ways in," Severus snapped, more than a little irritated about the idea of having to try to breach Aiden's personal rooms at all.

"His balcony is also better guarded than it might seem," Bael ventured.

"Yes, better guarded than the walls are, I am certain," Severus said. Bael gazed at him curiously.

"What do you mean to do, m'lord?" Bael asked.

"Nothing at the moment, if the guards did see me as you just implied," Severus said.

"They saw a silhouette of energy, m'lord, but guessed who it was from your scent…"

"Scent again? At least I don't smell like primroses and lavender like the lot of you do. It's the Fomorian blood in your race, isn't it? They have a very acute sense of smell as well, to the point they can even narrow it down to a single bloodline."

"You know of the Fomorians, m'lord?" Bael said with amazement.

"They are still alive and well at the bottom of our ocean, although there is only one small community left," Severus explained. "But that wasn't the point. I can hardly try to retrieve my possessions unnoticed tonight if I've already been noticed, can I? I'm only glad that I opted to go with the powder instead of the invisibility potion. I'd rather be caught even in this hideous outfit than in nothing at all."

"Should I lead you back to your rooms then, m'lord, since you do not plan to continue your search tonight?" Bael asked.

"I have had enough of this place," Severus growled, but turned and followed Bael. "Things cannot continue on like this. I must get that sphere and get out of this castle as soon as possible. I have been delayed enough by all this nonsense as it is, and I have no intention of letting this momentary lull in my magic to stop me. I still have some cards left that I can play, and I will play every last one if necessary, although I admit readily it would be a lot easier it there were someone here that genuinely understood that I do not belong here!" Severus snapped. Bael grew quiet for a moment, but then paused as and gazed back at him.

"I do not know," Bael said.

"You do not know what?" Severus asked grumpily.

"I do not know what to believe," Bael said solemnly. "I do not know your intended fate, so I cannot judge what is the truth path."

"I know my fate well," Severus said tiredly, pressing on. "My fate is to preserve the future by teaching the children of the present through my past experiences, while at the same time I must keep learning to adapt to the ever-changing world through the experiences of my own family. It is a fate that never would have come to fruition at all had not a naïve, idealistic witch with an infamous lineage come into my life at a time when I was struggling just to hold on to my humanity. Had it not been for her abrupt arrival and intervention in my life at that point, I am fairly certain that I would not have survived the darkness surrounding me, nor would I have fought for my self preservation as I had in fear that she might blame herself for my demise. My fate, my life, and my soul belong to the woman who wears the match to this ring, Bael, for without her all three would have been lost many years ago."

"It does sound like you know your fate well," Bael said cautiously.

"A very recent development in my life, believe it or not. I know it well because I once fought against it. Fate has been a long time enemy of mine," Severus said.

"Why? I admit that I am not certain that I've understood all you said just now, m'lord, but although you may be duty bound, it does not sound like all that bad of a fate to have," Bael said.

"I won't get into the details, most of which is complicated to explain and a lot of it is rather personal. Perhaps it would be best just to say that humans believe very strongly in controlling their own destinies and in the existence of free will. We are not tied to one fate, Bael, our fates can change because of the decisions we make or even by decisions we don't make. Therefore, by questioning my past decisions, I questioned my fate. But in the process of doing so, I lost sight of who I was for a time, and therefore lost sight of my sense of duty and loyalty and family and everything that was important to me. That is not something I will ever allow to happen again. I chose my present fate, Bael, and I will not let anyone else attempt to change it."

"Except the woman who wears the match to your ring," Bael ventured.

"Yes, well, true enough, and I dare say she does tend to take advantage of that on occasion," Severus admitted. "Always trying to change my opinion of things in a relentless fashion, knowing that sooner or later I'll give in just to see those green eyes of hers light up as they do whenever she gets what she wants." Bael laughed at that.

"It doesn't sound like human women are much different than the women here, then," Bael said.

"Perhaps not in methods, no," Severus admitted. "But among them only Jennifer can truly inspire me to risk my life trying to save the blasted universe time after time."

"I understand," Bael said with a smile and a nod, opening the door to his rooms for him. "And although I am not yet certain of my belief in your fate, I do believe sincerely that you must love her deeply."

"No words could ever measure it," Severus said quietly before stepping inside.

Bidding him goodnight, Bael closed the door and stood watch silently for a few minutes lost in thought before finally retiring to his room.