Chapter Ten

On a Whim

Jennifer batted Severus away and attempted to cover her shoulders so that he wouldn't bother her again.

"If you go back to sleep now, you're going to regret missing Andrew's message," Severus warned.

"Andrew?" Jennifer repeated, sitting up in surprise. Severus had been expecting it and had already gotten out of the way. "Goodness! If he is messaging us, what are you doing in here?" she asked frantically, taking the offered robe.

"You would have been much more cross if I hadn't awoken you," Severus replied calmly. "I have a dictation pen writing it down just in case."

Jennifer managed to beat Severus to the study, leaning over to stare at the chimes while anxiously listening to the beats.

"Safe! I heard the word safe in there at least!" Jennifer exclaimed with relief. "I thought they'd never arrive!"

"On the contrary, I cannot believe just how fast they managed to Caer Danaan. Aunt Viviane's portal must not take as long to get through as the one at Stonehenge. Either way, they had help getting there, apparently," Severus explained, writing in letters above the morse code. The chimes began to soften and rustle like the wind once more, so Jennifer turned her attention to the message. "'Arrived safely by broom, all accounted. Danaan currently maintaining. Continuing on. Further word sent by messenger.'"

"Is that all?" Jennifer asked with a frown.

"Morse code is meant to be concise, and at least you know they are safe at the moment, barring whatever delays there may be for these chimes to mimic what's going on over there and in our time," Severus replied, opening up his silver watch. "Even taking that into account, I doubt they've even walked down Aepheri's hill yet."

"I would have preferred to have more detail," Jennifer admitted, feeling a bit deflated. She sat down in her chair and Severus brought out the coffee tray. "Do you suppose Aepheri will help them?"

"If she can, perhaps, but she may not be able to under the circumstance. I am certain that she is playing an important part in Caer Danaan's security right now," Severus mused.

"You're right. She probably is busy keeping the area safe," Jennifer agreed. "Well, at least if they have brooms they'll be able to get through the Thornwood faster."

"Some demons and their mounts can fly, as you recall," Severus reminded her.

"True, but if they get into a fix it will give them another escape route. You've always said there can never be too many contingency plans," Jennifer reminded him.

"Then we're in agreement. There's no cause to worry at the moment," Severus said firmly, pouring her a cup before sitting down to sip from his. Jennifer frowned at him. "Perhaps it will also give Bael some peace of mind before his first class this afternoon," he added.

"Perhaps it will," Jennifer agreed distractedly.

"Are you still planning to attend his language class?" Severus asked.

"Yes, Severus. Hermione scheduled it during my conference so that I could. I hope he doesn't get the impression that I'm there to babysit," Jennifer said

"Once he hears your Elvish pronunciation he won't question it further," Severus reasoned. Jennifer stuck her tongue out at him, but instead of reaching for his wand as he normally did, he tapped his clock pointedly.

"I'm awake and therefore I'm in charge of getting him up today, is that it?" Jennifer scowled.

"Since you're already up," Severus agreed, turning his attention back to work.

Hermione held out the class list to Bael. The Fae was busy fiddling with his tie and wondering what the point of it was.

"You don't have much to worry about either of your classes, Bael. Since students had to be fifth year or higher and also had to pass Ancient Magic with decent marks, your class is some of the best behaved students in the school. Well, except maybe that one... I hear she has a record," Hermione amended mischievously, pointing at Jennifer's name.

"Jennifer is in my language class? Is that allowed?" Bael asked, taking the paper from her.

"As it so happens, she took the prerequisite last year. But don't worry. I'm sure she'll behave better than she did in the Headmaster's class," Hermione teased. "Most of us learned the Elvish language through books and memorization rather than learning how to speak it first hand, you see, and Severus told me that her pronunciation is atrocious. So is mine, actually, but I have a class next hour," Hermione grumbled with disappointment. "Maybe I'll pick some of it up by just being around you."

"Oh, um. Thank you. And I'll gladly help you when I have the time," Bael said eagerly. "In fact, I'm sure I would be much better at teaching if it was one on one."

"It's much too late to back out now, Bael. You'll just have to adjust. Maybe you can change the classroom setup so it feels like it's one on one somehow," Hermione suggested, glancing around. Bael looked around as well. "After all, they do have a lot of book memorization you can occupy the rest of the class with if you want to give your students some individual instruction. You'd have to do that anyway if you still plan to give them oral tests on this subject. Give yourself a few days to get used to teaching a class this size and then make adjustments as needed. When I first started teaching, I spent a lot of time fretting the details as well. But I found out the best thing to do is to utilize what you already know and play your own strengths."

"Utilize what I already know?" Bael repeated, wondering how he was going to do that.

"I need to get ready for my next class. Good luck," Hermione said with a sincere smile before leaving.

Bael grew thoughtful. It wasn't teaching that bothered him so much as it was that he was not used to the classroom concept. To him, teaching and learning were both individual skills; every person learned differently and had different starting points. It was teaching a crowd that he didn't know how to handle. The only crowds he ever dealt with were at formal parties, and even then he only had to deal with each guest individually. After all, the guests typically took care of themselves, passing in and out of groups and talking to each other. He was only an extension of the party; stepping in and out only as needed to fill glasses and plates and answer questions about who was there and where to freshen up.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Bael," Jennifer greeted cheerfully. She came into the classroom next to a boy with the same color hair. "Do you care where we sit?"

"Um… no, not really," Bael answered. The two of them sat in the front row, continuing their conversation.

"I do know the language in print, of course, but I've never spoken it other than when Severus and I are discussing something in text," Jennifer was explaining to the boy. "Did Natalie sign up for this class?"

"Yes, she's coming with her friend Emily, I believe," the boy said, nodding to a seventh-year Slytherin girl who had just come in. Beth sat down on the other side of him out of habit rather than for any other reason; Coventry came before Craw.

Since Jennifer was the only student he knew the name of, Bael decided to count heads rather than attempt to find out who was who. For the most part, they seemed to enter in groups; the students who had come in alone chose to search for people they knew to sit next to. As the last one settled into place, Bael realized something quite astonishing; they were all chatting in groups and taking care of themselves very much like people did when going to a party. Apparently, they were entertaining each other until class was ready to start. It was then that he remembered that Jennifer had mentioned she organized her class in groups so they could help each other on labs and halve the amount of cauldrons needed. He didn't need help with reducing supplies but he knew it would help him cope if he only had to work with them a few at a time.

"I would like everyone to study in pairs during this class. Does everyone have someone next to them that they are willing to work with?" Bael asked, his voice sounding strangely hollow in his ears. But most of the students had already situated themselves near their friends, and even Jennifer seemed pleased to have the opportunity to team up with her brother. "I am passing out sheets that have some of our alphabet on them. Our letters represent sounds just like yours do, but as you will see from the English notation, many of ours are typically two or three of your letters combined into one sound. Feel free to chat with your partners during class, as long as it's done quietly," he added.

"Should we suggest he have a breakfast cart as well?" Maurice whispered to Jennifer after they received their letter scrolls.

"Hush, you," Jennifer scolded with a chuckle. "I am as surprised as you are that he chose an informal style, but it's just as well. If he's more comfortable with this format then it'll work out for the best for everyone. Anyway, we really ought to be looking these over. Do you know any of them already?"

"I've seen some of the script on tattoos and the like, but never heard the sound they make. How could these letter combinations possibly be sounds together?" Maurice said, frowning at the one marked "zbl" skeptically.

"There are also two alphabets," Jennifer murmured in a low voice. "This is the common alphabet. Their formal language is even more complicated. They have extra vowel sounds. And their vowels are worked into the letters… here's one….'lah,'" she pointed out to him, tapping it with her finger.

"At least I can pronounce that. This is going to be worse than Cymraeg, isn't it?" Maurice said. Jennifer grew thoughtful.

"Elvish has a fair number of similar words and sounds, at least in their common tongue. I wonder if it'll prove to be an advantage to have been taught Welsh properly?" Jennifer pondered, glancing over to where Natalie was showing Emily some of the script.

"I don't suppose French would help?" Maurice asked with a hopeful grin.

"Not from my experience, no," Jennifer chuckled, pointing at another letter. "What would you make of that one?" Maurice frowned at it.

"Perhaps if I knew what the rest of the word is, then I'd be able to say it," Maurice mused.

"You are on the right track, Mr. Craw," Bael said with a smile as he stepped up to them. "Most of our letters need a companion letter to complete the sound. I'm told it's similar to th, ch, or even qu in your language. Sometimes two letters also become a suffix or prefix to a word to describe the word more fully."

"They don't have adjectives as stand alone words, Maurice. They tack them onto the noun it's modifying," Jennifer explained further.

"Yes, but we won't get into that until later. Right now you only need to understand that our letters need a companion sound. Try adding 'lah' to the end or beginning of each one of these and see which ones seem to fit," Bael suggested.

"Zblah," Maurice said with such an accent on blah that both he and Jennifer started to giggle. "Something tells me I need something in the front of that letter too."

Grinning and leaving them to it, Bael went on to the next pair to see what they were working on.

Just outside the door, Severus watched with fascination as Bael helped a couple of students who were experimenting with Elvish writing. Language wasn't something he believed could be tackled in such a way over the long term, but a short term exploratory could potentially help the students become more interested in the topic and the teacher more comfortable with the classroom.

Suddenly he heard a sound and looked down in surprise to see Quintin standing next to him, mimicking some of the students practicing the words.

"How on earth? Never mind, I'm taking you back upstairs. You need to stay put instead of doing whatever it is you are doing to escape. If you don't, I am going to have to take measures," Severus threatened Quintin, picking him up and carrying him back to the nursery.

Maurice was slightly disappointed when he learned that his sister hadn't also taken Bael's class on culture, but Beth was more than happy to fill in.

"After all, it's only natural that Slytherin team up, just like it's natural they go to the Spectral Ball together when no better options are presented," Beth reasoned.

"Is that some sort of hint?" Maurice asked bluntly.

"Merely a suggestion," Beth said easily.

"I suppose we could go together, if you were a member of the order," Maurice said. "Really, you do need to make up your mind on whether or not to come back. I am going to need to give Leu a new suggestion soon if you don't."

"Well, my father might let me back in if he thought it was in effort to secure a relationship with someone of adequate social standing and wealth," Beth mused.

"Most of my father's wealth is only on goblin scrolls. Everyone in the house knows that," Maurice said.

"And yet you have that lovely new mansion by the sea," Beth pointed out.

"Which more than likely I'll be inheriting the debt and taxes that go with it," Maurice countered.

"Perhaps that won't matter if you get involved with someone with finances more than what exists on paper," Beth suggested. Maurice eyed her warily. "Besides, most boys your age would be thrilled to be dating a seventh year."

"Dating? How did we go from a friendly discussion about teaming up at the ball to dating? I don't have any intention of dating anyone until I'm out of school. I intend to concentrate on my studies," Maurice said firmly.

"What? Nobody waits until after school to start dating. You'll look like a total freak if you did that. You have enough people talking about you behind your back just by being a prefect and a Craw. Do you really want them speculating on why you're not interested in having a girlfriend?" Beth challenged him.

"I don't care what people think," Maurice said vehemently. But even as he said it, he realized from Beth's thin smile that she knew it wasn't true.

"So Craw reputation means nothing," Beth stated calmly.

"Besides, what makes you think I'd want to chose you to fill that role, anyway? Especially considering your brothers' reputations with the house," Maurice challenged her. "And that's not even mentioning that our families aren't very keen on one another, and that's putting it mildly."

"True, but I'm not my brothers or my father, am I? And I'm more accommodating," she reasoned.

"In what way?" Maurice asked, still suspicious of her true intentions. Beth smiled coyly and then whispered in his ear. The action had made some of the other students turn curiously to look at them, having been oblivious to the exchange a moment before.

Maurice maintained his expressionless gaze, despite the fact that his face showed much more color in it when Beth pulled away and smiled mischievously at him.

"Fine, we can engage it on a trial basis, as long as I set the terms," Maurice decided, then nodded to Bael who walked over to them with a smile.

"Are the two of you pairing up for this class? You were both in my other class, I think," Bael said, holding out some study scrolls.

"Yes, Mr. Bael," Maurice replied, accepting it. "Will the format be the same as the last class?"

"Similar for now," Bael decided.

"I like it. It's very non-constrictive," Beth commented.

"It's quite similar to my sister's classes, except that she lets us have snacks off her cart in the mornings," Maurice said. Beth grinned at him knowingly as Bael pondered that.

"Really? Do you know, that is a good idea. I can see about getting some dishes more common in Tir Danaan for all of you to try and learn about," Bael realized. "So what were the two of you speaking about just now, if I might ask? You both seemed quite intent."

"The Spectral Ball," Beth said much too loud for Maurice's liking. In fact, most of the class was paying attention to them now. "Do your people have things like balls, Mr. Bael?"

"Oh, my yes, in more peaceful times. The Lord Aiden of Danaan especially loves formal affairs, and nearly everyone in Danaan welcomes any excuse for a gathering. It will be interesting to see how your ball compares to the ones I'm used to," Bael smiled. "Especially since I've never seen a ball filled with children before. I would guess that your conversations aren't all about politics and philosophy."

"Well, the adults talk politics. A lot," Maurice added dryly. "Or they catch up on family matters if it's someone they haven't seen in a while. There aren't really any discussions in philosophy except for maybe an occasional 'I'm right and you're wrong' sort of conversation."

"Hm, so that's typical then?" Bael asked with open interest. "I always thought it was personality. I mean, there were ever so many of those 'I'm right and you're wrong' sorts of conversations you mentioned when Lord Severus was in the castle." The entire class sniggered, and Bael glanced around. "Your pardon, I meant Headmaster Snape, of course. He went to one of our balls as well, so that we could introduce him to the other Lords and announce his engagement. Of course, things didn't go exactly as planned…"

"Headmaster Snape was engaged? You mean to someone else?" Jessica asked flatly from the far end of the first row.

"Oh, you hadn't heard about what happened? Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned all of that if it's not public knowledge," Bael said, the class immediately protesting.

"I'm sure my brother-in-law wouldn't mind, Mr. Bael, if it was for educational reasons," Maurice said above the crowd. "After all, we are supposed to be studying your culture, and it sounds like that incident shows what happens when they clash."

"Fair enough," Bael replied with amusement. "I suppose I can tell you the formal version, at least."

"How does the formal version differ from the regular version?" Beth asked.

"It means that I tell it without my personal opinions thrown in," Bael explained. "So, let's see! I suppose I'll have to begin when he first was brought in by the Lady Niamh in the first place."

Maurice had already heard the story from Severus' point of view, but even he was quickly drawn in by the level of detail and the different perspective that added a whole new layer to what had happened back then.

After class, Maurice casually wandered into the Headmaster's Study to find Severus calmly working at his desk.

"So how did it go?" Severus asked without looking up.

"Rather well, actually. We ended up spending the entire class listening to him tell stories of you in the Otherworld, starting with Aiden's ball. I hope you don't mind. I told Mr. Bael that you wouldn't," Maurice admitted. Severus waved it off. "And it did go to show the class how messy things can get when a world ruled by Fate gets unexpectedly interrupted."

"If you had been there, you would have found that observation to be a gross understatement," Severus said dryly. "Fate never likes to be interrupted, even in this world… especially if defying it through an act of emotion. Free will works best if you're making wise, thoughtful decisions. Irrational ones seem to do nothing but instigate Fate even further."

"I'll try to remember that," Maurice said, his thoughts immediately applying those words to his own trying situation. "So that happens a lot, doesn't it? Emotions and feelings getting in the way of things… always wanting a different Fate than what you were born with…"

"No, Maurice. Not like that," Severus said with a frown, taking his glasses off and focusing in on him. "Whatever you've been hearing about their world, don't lose sight of the fact that this is a world ruled by Free Will. We're not set to certain destinies from the moment we are born."

"Of course we are," Maurice snapped. "If you're born into a royal family, you don't really have a choice on whether or not you want to become a prince, do you? Or the fact you'll have more obligations and the media following you from your very first baby photos. If you're born in a back alley with a mum that drops you off at Mungo's because she can't take care of you, your fate is in the hands of whoever adopts you. Me, I was born a Craw… the last Craw and the last male Craw descendant. My fate was decided at birth just as theirs were."

Severus gazed at him searchingly for so long that Maurice grew increasingly uncomfortable.

"Sorry. I don't know where that came from," Maurice muttered, then glanced at the clock in desperation. "I should get to my next class. I'll be late."

"Wait," Severus ordered, pulling off two tardy slips. "This one is for your next class," he said, handing the first one out. "I'm not going to put a date on the second one. Get in a habit of putting it in your pocket every morning. If you lose it, let me know and I'll write you another one. That way if you need to get to me during a class time, you can do so without questions asked."

"Thanks, but I really don't think I would ever come to need it," Maurice said, trying not to sound defensive. "Why would I? I report to you often enough."

"I didn't get where I am by not being prepared for every eventuality. Neither have you, come to think of it," Severus added, Maurice smiling softly at that. "It's natural for wizards your age to question yourself. I have simply found over time that some have harder questions to answer than others. You are also not the only student in this school with one of those slips in your pocket. Now get to class."

"Thank you, Severus," Maurice said, getting a nod in return.

Severus watched him leave, pondering the problem a moment. It wasn't one he could influence directly, but he was still more than a little concerned about how it was going to develop.

"Have Sally Scribe join me for lunch the first available day it's convenient for both of us," Severus said, the pen responding immediately. "Any practices tonight?"

"Gryffindor has Quidditch practice and Hufflepuff has football tryouts, both before dinner," Armando said.

"Fine, I can drop by to chat with Eigil then," Severus decided. Putting a note on his work so he wouldn't lose his place, Severus went to the library.

Jennifer and Anna were already huddled with Bael by the time that Severus and Eigil walked in for dinner.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I simply tried to treat it like a large party I was serving and went around the room. It worked out rather well," Bael explained.

"I'm glad it helped you through it, but I'm not sure you're going to be able to do that all term," Anna warned him.

"I admit it was a bit unorthodox, but it did end up working out splendidly," Jennifer offered in his defense. "He did go with your suggestions on the handouts to the letter, Anna, and really, as long as they study the material they're given, it won't matter if the class goes off on tangents now and again. In fact, I think it'll be a good experience for everyone. True, I wouldn't want to do it with first years, but all of his students have good study disciplines. So do the ones in his culture class," Jennifer noted.

"I spent my culture class telling them stories. Although, I admit I got rather annoyed about the tables. The students in the back corner had trouble hearing and I know they couldn't always hear me," Bael complained.

"That can be fixed easily enough with a spell, or you can rearrange the tables if you like," Jennifer said.

"You could probably ditch the tables if you needed to. I have a bunch of portable desks I use when I take my classes outside. You could borrow those if you just want to sit them in chairs or on the floor and push the tables out of the way," Anna said, apparently warming up to the idea.

"Can I teach outside?" Bael asked with increased interest. Anna nodded with a grin. "Oh, but then I couldn't get one of those breakfast carts, could I?"

"Breakfast cart?" Severus suddenly repeated sternly behind them. Jennifer decided it would be a good time to get to her place, but Severus caught her arm on the way past. "Are you attempting to corrupt our new staff member, Professor Craw?"

"Oh, it wasn't her suggestion, Headmaster Snape," Bael protested. "It was a student. Maurice thought it might be a good idea in the culture class so that I could introduce them to our normal diet."

"How strange that he didn't mention it during our conference," Severus said, squinting.

"It was his idea," Jennifer offered, Severus frowning at her skeptically. "He mentioned it to me in the language class, but it never really came up again."

"He probably held back on purpose so she wouldn't get blamed for it," Anna put in, and Severus began mulling it over. "It'd be very like Maurice to try to protect his sister by waiting until she wasn't there, no matter how in favor of the idea she was."

"Very well, I accept it was Maurice," Severus said at last, letting Jennifer go so that she could scramble to her seat. "I suppose I don't object so long as it's strictly used to enlighten them on your diet. But I will get him for omitting it."

"You're using Maurice to spy on Bael's classes, aren't you?" Anna accused her brother.

"Of course. I thought that at least was obvious," Severus said unabashedly before taking his own seat.

"Does that mean that you don't trust me?" Bael demanded, a bit hurt.

"It's not you he doesn't trust, Bael, it's the students. And it's not the first time he's used students to spy on classrooms, not by a long shot," Anna said in a disapproving tone.

"Old habits die hard, so they say," Sally Scribe said as she walked in and took her seat.

"Then this conversation isn't going anywhere," Severus said, sitting down and gesturing for everyone to begin.

"Joining us tonight, Eigil?" Zoë asked. "I thought you normally went home for dinner."

"Staying late. House business," Eigil shrugged.

"I always have to work late, at least thru this first month. Typically there's a budget battle, though," Hermione chuckled.

"Well, there won't be any of that this year," Severus said firmly.

"It is nice for the table not to be lopsided on a regular school night," Jennifer commented. "Typically unless there's a special occasion the right side tends to clear out and go home."

"Of course! They all have families now. How times have changed," Sally said with a smile.

"Well I don't, so I guess you're stuck with me," Zoë said.

"You can always come home and eat with us," Anna said.

"What's Dad doing while you're staying late this week? You didn't leave him by himself, did you?" Zoë asked with concern.

"No, he's helping Harry with something. Don't worry, he's preoccupied," Anna said dryly.

"It sounds as if I should be thankful there's a full table tonight," Bael observed.

"Here's to us, the hard working faculty of Hogwarts," Sally said, tipping her wine glass. "Including Deacon, who just doesn't eat with us."

"Just why doesn't he eat with us?" Zoë asked, taking a drink.

"He's a bit eccentric," Hermione admitted in a low voice. "He likes to make his own food and eat in the kitchen."

"Oh. Well, eccentric means he fits right in at Hogwarts, doesn't he?" Zoë smirked.

"Fair enough," Hermione agreed, sipping her tea. "So how are you adjusting to teaching, Zoë?"

"Well, you can definitely tell that teaching isn't my life's calling," Zoë admitted with a grin.

"True, although she does run a very tight class. She tends to catch potential discipline issues before they have time to actually cause a disruption," Severus observed.

"Got someone watching me too, do you?" Zoë said accusingly. Severus shrugged. "Really, all I have to do is watch out for any student that gets that gleam in their eye that Zack used to get when we were plotting in class."

"He wasn't the only one with that gleam," Severus snorted softly.

"Probably not, but I don't exactly know what mine looked like, do I?" Zoë chuckled. "Still, I'll be very glad when Andrew gets back. Where do you suppose they are over there?"

"With any luck, they're starting on their journey through the forest which runs through the center of the country," Severus said.

"Oh. But wasn't that where the first breach was?" Zoe asked with concern.

"Yes, but hopefully they will make a good impression on the daoine sidhe elves who live there and so they will have plenty of help," Severus said.

"And if they make a bad impression?" Zoë asked.

Severus glanced at Jennifer, who was frowning deeply.

"Then they're unlikely to get through at all," Severus stated evenly.