Chapter Twenty-One
The Secret of Madame Mirth
Lucky slowly opened her eyes, feeling quite disoriented about her surroundings, focusing in on Madame Brittle, who put down her book and smiled warmly at her.
"Good evening. How are you feeling?" Danny asked.
"Headache," Lucky grunted.
"Not all that surprising, you've slept all day," Danny explained, helping her sit up a bit and handing her some water. "Count yourself lucky," she added with a wink. "I'm afraid poor Humphrey is going to be out a lot longer."
"Humphrey?" Lucky asked in confusion.
"Humphrey is the boggart you happened to run into," Danny said, watching as Lucky squinted, thinking back over her last year's class. "I'm afraid you blundered into what Professor Aurelius had planned for his third year test, but now that Humphrey is under Doctor Sagittari's care, he'll have rethink his strategy now. You know what a boggart is by now, right?"
"They're empathic changelings that feed off fear," Lucky said stonily, sounding very much like she was quoting something out of a textbook.
"Yes," Danny nodded, watching the girl's waxy expression. "It can instinctively pull out your worst fears and then manifest it in some way to get a response, only this time poor Humphrey bit off more than she could chew. She wouldn't have truly hurt you, you know," Danny added gently.
"Ya, well, you didn't see your father coming out of there, either," Lucky snapped angrily.
"Actually, I did in a way," Danny said calmly, ignoring the sudden temper. "Considering it was my father's dogs that scared me more than any of the others. Sure, any of the countless hounds owned by one Muggle client or another that my father brought in to 'gamble' with could have ripped me apart, not knowing me as anything but a fox. But my father's dogs would have done it even knowing what I was… they knew all the places that I liked to hole up, and they knew how to find me when I didn't want to be found, and they were always at his beckon call. Of course I still fear them, even now so many years after the fact, when I truly have no logical reason to. I still find myself paralyzed by the sight of them, even knowing they'd never harm me. It's tough sometimes, to get over stuff like that," Danny admitted quietly.
"I don't wanna be scared of him all my life!" Lucky said with obvious dread.
"No, I don't blame you," Danny sighed. "But he's dead, Lucky, long gone. He can't hurt you anymore, Lucky, not if you don't let him."
"I don't wanna talk about it," Lucky suddenly decided, but Danny simply nodded with complete acceptance.
"Me either, really. It reminds me that my father is still around," Danny said dryly.
"Maybe that's why you're not over it yet," Lucky suggested.
"Maybe," Danny said quietly. "Or maybe some things you just don't get over completely, you just learn how to live with it."
"I don't want to live with it," Lucky murmured.
"Yeah, I know," Danny agreed. "I don't either." Neither of them said anything for a long time.
"Hey, tell me about the time the Professor belted your father again?" Lucky suggested. Danny grinned at her with amusement and then told her the story once more, slipping in a little more detail than the first time around.
Aurelius frowned and shook his head when he glanced over the damage to his classroom the next day. Not only was the cabinet missing, the incident had left deep scorch marks over the walls and ceiling on that side of the room and had blown a window out.
"You have only yourself to blame, you know," Severus said when he saw the look on his son's face. "You never should have tried to keep a boggart locked in your office in the first place."
"I was attempting to save myself the chore of trying to find the thing again," Aurelius said. "I didn't think it'd manage to get past that barrier."
"Well, don't worry. The damage is mostly superficial, other than the loss of the items in the cabinet, and Sirius has already agreed to help John put things in order. You may use the old art room for your classes for a couple of days," Severus said.
"So much for demonstrations," Aurelius grunted. "How's Lucky?"
"She is upstairs with Andrew doing forms, pretending as if nothing happened. As is Jennifer," Severus added distantly, Aurelius gazing at him questioningly. "Make up a list of anything that you need that was in the cabinet and send it to Hermione so we can sort that out."
"All right," Aurelius said with a sigh, then looked up along with Severus as Jennifer walked up, giving the room only a glance.
"Hi. That's a mess, isn't it?" Jennifer said, ignoring her son's scowl as she turned to Severus. "Severus, are you going to let Sagittari take his classes to the Glen? He mentioned something about that when I was checking on Humphrey this morning."
"Some of them, yes, why do you ask?"
"Well, if you must know, I'm not sure I feel comfortable with it right now. Can't he just hold all his classes on the Pitch?" Jennifer asked. "After all, it is winter. Perhaps it's best to hold off until the spring."
"We always went in the winter," Aurelius put in.
"Yes, only because we couldn't keep you out of there in February," Jennifer said knowingly.
"It also helps that some of the nastier creatures in the forest tend to hibernate, or are at least less active in the winter," Aurelius pointed out. "I'm sure Sagittari can handle anything that comes up."
"I can ask him to bring the Spear with him, Jennifer, if you're concerned," Severus said.
"Actually, I'd rather another staff member go along on these trips," Jennifer said. "Even in winter, the Forest isn't the safest place. What if there's some sort of emergency, and a student gets injured or wanders off or something? I really think there needs to be a second person on hand so that Sagittari doesn't have to choose whether or not to leave the rest of the class behind if something happens to one of them."
"It almost sounds as if you're expecting something to go wrong, Mum," Aurelius said with a frown.
"Aurelius, I'll remind you that I am the head of security in this school. It's my job to expect things to go wrong," Jennifer retorted.
"You definitely have a point," Severus nodded in agreement, ignoring Aurelius' suspicious squint towards his mother, who had pushed up her spectacles again. "Sending only one professor into the Dark Forest with a slew of rather unpredictable students is doing nothing short of tempting fate." He gazed thoughtfully at Aurelius, apparently missing Jennifer's purse-lipped expression. "You said earlier you had planned tests for all of your classes this week, correct?"
"Right, last ones before reviews start," Aurelius nodded.
"Let's get with Hermione then to have someone sit in with you during the days that Sagittari is going. No one else here knows that forest as well as you do, and I'd rather not leave anything to chance," Severus said evenly. Aurelius glanced at his mother and then back to him again.
"All right. They'll have a better chance meeting up with the herd if I'm with them anyway," Aurelius sighed. Jennifer broke into a smile.
"Can I assume then that I can tell Hermione your conferences are open for schedule changes if needed?" Severus asked Jennifer.
"Oh, absolutely," Jennifer said. "In fact, I think I'll go make certain my classes are in order so I'm not missing the extra time," she decided, Severus simply nodding in response as she hurried down the hall. Aurelius watched her go, shaking his head.
"Let's walk over to see Sagittari," Severus suggested. Aurelius nodded with a sigh.
"At least Mum sounded sincere about staying here and filling in. I don't suppose it's too late to install shackles in the classroom to keep her there?" Aurelius asked wryly.
"I hardly think that'll be necessary," Severus said calmly. "Her request was hardly unreasonable."
"No, but I can't help but wonder about the timing, or the fact she had her glasses pushed up, which always means she's up to something," Aurelius said. "Oh, wait a minute. Do you suppose she's trying to get rid of me for some reason?" Severus stopped short and stared at him.
"That is the most preposterous conjecture I have ever heard of. How could anything like that even come out of your mouth?" Severus asked.
"Well, it'd explain a lot, wouldn't it?" Aurelius said.
"Aurelius, I believe now is a good time to remind you that right now you're a professor, and not an Auror, and even if you weren't speaking as either at that moment, your mother would do nothing of the sort," Severus said.
"Oh, yes she would, and it wouldn't be the first time, either. Remember when she handed me that gaseous sleeping potion and left me in the secret passages under this castle?" Aurelius said.
"Yes, in an attempt to find out what was going on and to try and save your life, as I recall," Severus reminded him.
"The point is she is capable of it, Father."
"No, the point is that she will do whatever it takes to preserve her family and this school," Severus said, his resolute voice waning curiously until it was barely audible, "no matter what the personal expense is to herself."
"Which is exactly why she can't be trusted," Aurelius concluded. And even though Severus hadn't missed the subtle joking tone in his voice or the wry grin that had gone with it, Severus was too busy digesting the ironic truth in the statement to appreciate the intended humor that had gone with it.
Ambrose leaned heavily over the table in the Owl Room and tried to read the numbers upside down as Lucky tallied the last of the Zonko's money.
"So how we doin', Lucky?" he asked at last.
"Well, we got enough to start it, just not enough to finish," Lucky grunted, double-checking her work.
"We still have that bake sale before we break for the holidays," Ambrose said, trying to cheer her up.
"I don't think we're gonna make enough dough to make up for this kinda deficit," Lucky sighed. Ambrose sighed too, but then realized what she had said and chuckled at the pun. "I dunno, Bill, we're just gonna hafta come up with somethin' else without a miracle."
Just then, Delia wandered in, glancing around then letting out a sigh.
"Good, it's just you two," she said. "I've just finished my investigations."
"Investigations? Of what?" Ambrose asked.
"Of what rumors are floating in the school about what happened last weekend, of course," Delia said with exasperation. "Of course they have no clue what really happened, but there is a danger of the wrong things being said. You can never be too sure what rumors are running around the school."
"Sure I can. They're all following you," Lucky snapped. Delia grimaced at her, stuck up her nose, and walked indignantly out of the room.
"She's just trying to help, Lucky," Ambrose said quietly. "We may not know what you saw in there, but it's obvious to us what happened to the boggart. She's just trying to be supportive in her own way."
"Well, if she wants to be supportive she can learn to keep her trap shut so I'm not tempted ta put a fist in it," Lucky snapped, getting up. "I'd better go get ready for Magical Creatures."
"All right. Have fun, Lucky!" Ambrose said cheerfully.
"Ya right, thanks," Lucky said unenthusiastically, dropping the ledger off on Boulderdash's desk before wandering out the door.
Despite the fact that there was no snow on the ground, the air was quite cold and there was an almost painful glare coming from the sunny blue sky that hurt the eyes and made her squint as she walked over the grounds, quite relieved to join the others in the shadow of the forest's edge. Shoving her hands in her pockets, Lucky walked over to where Gary, Helena and Pimra were waiting, chatting softly between each other and making room for her when she came over.
"This is all rather exciting isn't it?" Pimra said, glancing around to see if all the students were there yet.
"Anything is more exciting than cleaning out the stable," Lucky snorted.
"Well, I definitely agree with that," Helena said.
"Oh no, is he going along?" Gary scowled. The others looked over to see Aurelius striding over the grounds to join him.
"That's good, though, we're sure to see Unicorns with Aurelius along," Pimra said.
"Big deal. All they are are horses with horns on them," Gary snorted.
"They're much more than that, Gary," Pimra sighed. "Have you forgotten how they once saved the school from a Dementor attack? Unicorns are so pure they're immune to their attacks, and if it hadn't been for the fact that Professor Craw was pure enough to ride one, a lot of people might have been killed."
"Riding one doesn't take purity," Gary snorted. "You just need to be a virgin. Point being Professor Aurelius rides one, and there is nothing pure about him." Suddenly he felt his air cut off as his collar got yanked backwards, coughing and rubbing his neck while looking sheepishly at the irate-looking Auror standing behind him.
"And just when did Professor Snape hire you as the Magical Creatures instructor, Mr. March?" Aurelius asked irately.
"I was just expressing an opinion," Gary said defiantly.
"Be glad this isn't my class, or you would be finding yourself with a test in your hands… or better yet, out in the middle of the forest alone somewhere so you can prove just how knowledgeable you are, so your classmates can laugh at you when you come out of there with missing limbs. Either way, I suggest you had better get over there and line up with the others. And ten points off from Gryffindor, for not paying attention if no other reason," Aurelius snarled, pointing them over at where the rest of the class stood with Sagittari, all of them gazing over at the small group of students from where they had lined up by the path. Lucky simply sighed and walked over to the end of the lines, while the other three were a bit more wary about having to pass the scowling professor, hurrying past and looking nervously back at him as Aurelius took his place at the back of the line. Gary shifted a bit, and Pimra blinked when she realized she was the one standing last just in front of him.
"Apparently being mental isn't a problem with Unicorns," Gary murmured under his breath as he was passing Helena and Lucky to get further up the line as the walked into the Dark Forest.
"Gimme a break, he isn't that bad," Lucky muttered.
"Well, no, not to us, but he does seem to be a little hard on Gary and some of the other Gryffindors," Helena pointed out from beside her. "Rather like all those nightmare stories my parents used to tell us about Snape, only this time it's for real."
Lucky gave her a dirty look and decided to move up herself, using the pretense of trying to hear Doctor Sagittari better as an excuse to get closer to the front.
"Once we arrive at the Glen, I expect everyone to stay behind me at this edge of the forest. The space is open, and we should be able to get a good view of any number of the forest's denizens from there without disturbing any of them," Sagittari was saying. "If the herd decides to come out, stay behind me and do not approach on your own. They are curious creatures and are more than likely going to approach on their own to see what you are doing. Allow them to establish their own comfort zone as to how close is too close, and I'm certain we'll have a productive outing," he advised.
Just then, Pimra worked her way over to them, coming up beside Helena.
"Finally got away from him, did you?" Helena murmured.
"He left," Pimra whispered back. Helena and Lucky both looking behind them to see that Aurelius was indeed nowhere to be seen. "Slipped off without a word. Didn't even realize he was gone, really."
"Take heed when you cross the stream, please. It has gotten a bit icy," Sagittari warned.
Lucky then turned her attention to where she was going, carefully crossing the icy rocks, wondering why they never bothered to put a bridge over it. The path then narrowed dramatically, and even with the reduced brush that came with winter, it was impossible to travel more than single file. A side path that they passed made Lucky look up curiously to see the silhouette of a structure in the distance. That must be the cabin Aurelius had been living at, Lucky mused, for she had never been out there before. In fact, except for Keki's Grove, she hadn't been out in the Dark Forest at all, let alone seen…
Her thoughts were interrupted when she found the area in front of her getting lighter as the students stepped out onto the Glen. The sighs of appreciation alerted her to the fact there were already Unicorns in sight, several in fact, standing on the other side and nuzzling the ground in hopes that more than the coarse grass of the Glen survived the recent frost. Lucky froze in her tracks and stared at them, losing all color, while the students behind her had to shuffle past to get a look at them.
"It's almost like looking at pure light, isn't it?" Pimra said watching them wistfully, the Unicorns watching warily back.
"They are quite beautiful," Helena agreed.
"They do seem to be put off by something, though," Gary said with a frown when it was obvious that the Unicorns had no intention of getting any closer, snorting and stamping their hooves a bit as they watched them beside the tree line. Sagittari, who was noticing the same thing and puzzling over it, caught movement out of the side of his eye and looked up just as Aurelius arrived on his steed along with several other Unicorns from another side of the Glen.
"Ah, here are the others," Sagittari said with a nod. "We have one of the largest herds in Europe, I've been told, outside of French reservations. Professor Aurelius rides their leader, Pali, who is also the oldest Unicorn in the herd."
In fact, Pali was very much starting to show his age. The scars of his youth had become more visible over time, making his coat look more dappled than white, and his weight had dropped in the last year, not that the students would notice such things, Sagittari mused.
"He has a very beautiful horn," was what Pimra said when Pali and the rest of the herd went to join the others. "It isn't like the others at all, is it?"
"It was broken when he was younger, and the angle of the break caused it to grow so," Sagittari explained.
"How long do they live if he's the oldest?" she asked.
"Twenty to twenty-five years on average," Sagittari said. "Pali and his two sibilings have already surpassed that." Helena and Pimra both frowned at that, exchanging glances. "But even though Pali is the oldest, he is also the most resilient, and is still quite strong," he added, more for Lucky's benefit than any true conviction on the matter, wondering if she realized yet what that would mean for her brother. But Lucky wasn't even aware of the conversation. She was too busy staring at the beasts with complete hatred, clutching her fists in restraint to keep herself from acting upon burning them out of existence.
Suddenly the restlessness of the Unicorns became even clearer. Several reared and faded into the trees, some baring their horns down at the students as they backed away, and even Aurelius found himself hard pressed to keep Pali from backing up, stepping sideways to keep from going any further forwards.
"What is wrong?" Aurelius asked, trying to settle him with his hand.
The pained girl, Pali thought, stamping his hoof. She doesn't like us. She is angry with us. I don't like her either. I don't want to go any closer. Can we not go galloping through the trees instead? I don't want to see them. Riding would be more fun.
"The pained girl?" Aurelius repeated, but out of his riding haze somehow realization set in, and he found his eyes focusing in on Lucky's face just as Lucky got to the point that she couldn't stand it anymore and bolted into the forest. "But that is my sister!"
That? That doesn't smell like your sister. And she certainly doesn't feel like one.
"It's not her fault, Pali," Aurelius snapped, climbing off and trying to clear his head.
Are you leaving me already? Pali asked, distressed.
"Unless you want to help me find her, yes, because I am going," Aurelius said.
Well I don't want to go. But I don't want to leave you either. Pali stated with an irritable flick of the tail.
"Then follow behind, and bring Kesa with you," Aurelius said.
Kesa! But I don't want to bring Kesa…
"Either way, I'm going," Aurelius said firmly and hurried off, glancing over at Sagittari who had been watching the exchange and wondering whether or not to go after her. "I've got it Doctor. Feel free to go ahead with the lesson."
"Very well, Professor," Sagittari said with a nod of the head, then glanced back at the others, many of them whispering to each other. "Now, where was I?"
"The evils, of poaching, sir," Helena said dutifully. Gary gave her a dirty look for reminded him.
"Oh, yes, that's right," Sagittari said with a nod.
"Oh, look!" Pimra said excitedly. Everyone followed her gaze to where Pali suddenly trotted towards them with a golden filly close beside him, trotting very close to the students as they passed into the forest near where Aurelius had gone.
"Look at the others!" Gary exclaimed in spite of himself, and they all turned around to see that the rest of the herd was finally beginning to spread out, several of them looking over at the students with perked ears and obvious interest now while others ignored them entirely.
"Seems they've calmed down now, doesn't it?" Helena asked in a questioning tone, while Sagittari gazed over them solemnly before continuing his lecture.
Lucky scrambled down the side path she had noticed before and ran behind the cabin and sank with her back to the woodshed, closing her eyes to try and block out the thoughts behind them and futilely tried to hold back her angry tears. She couldn't have possibly stayed there watching those horrendous beasts for another second, but the castle was the last place she wanted to go. In fact, in that moment she didn't want to be anywhere; there was nowhere she could go to escape her own thoughts, and she found herself thinking of something that Madame Brittle had told her and shook her head, another wave of anger and tears erupting to the surface as she buried her head in her arms and tried to shut the world out.
But it wasn't long before she heard movement as a large log suddenly lifted out of the pile and stood on its end like a stool, and Aurelius sat down with an audible sigh, but didn't say anything at all until the sobbing stopped as she attempted to pull herself together now that she knew she was being watched.
"Glad you picked somewhere sensible to bolt off to," Aurelius commented at last, leaning back against the shed. "Good to know you chose a spot that you would be able to get back on your own from if you're ready. Keki's Grove would have been another good place to go, even if it is quite a ways farther… assuming you can get in, of course. Not everyone can, you know."
"Yah right. If the twins can get in, anybody can," Lucky said in a muffled voice, refusing to look up and betray any of the thoughts in her face. Aurelius snorted softly.
"Well, how those boys behave isn't really all of their own making, and somehow I think the Grove senses that. As they get older and more responsible for their own actions, it will start to make a difference, but it wasn't really their fault that their parents decided to spoil them rotten. And none of what happened to you is your fault either, Lucky," Aurelius said firmly.
"Leave me alone. I don't wanna talk about it," Lucky snapped at him.
"Fine, I will, but I want you to meet a friend of mine first," Aurelius said, holding his hand out to the filly, who had been standing with her grandfather in the brush. Gingerly the filly came a little closer, unsure but curious, swishing her tail rapidly. "This is little Kesa." Lucky looked over at the golden filly skeptically.
"You called her cheese?" Lucky asked flatly.
"No, not quesa. Kesa, with a K," Aurelius said with exasperation. "And I don't name them, the centaurs do. Put your hand out, Lucky. She'll probably come to you."
"No thanks," Lucky said, putting her head down again.
"It's all right, you know. Baby Unicorns are incorruptible… in fact, they're practically indestructible from what I've seen. You won't hurt her," Aurelius reassured her softly.
"I hurt everything!" Lucky snapped. "Get that thing away from me!" Kesa, taking that as a challenge, let out a high whinny and put her horn down to try to answer it. "I don't like them!" There was a distinct snort from the shadows of the trees and Kesa immediately galloped towards it, bucking playfully on the way.
"I noticed," Aurelius sighed, trying to ignore Pali's irritable protests at Kesa's treatment. "Please don't feel too badly about this, Lucky. You're not the only one I've known whose had trouble with them, though. They didn't like my best friend when I was growing up, either. Of course the difference is he deserved it."
"I bet he didn't murder his whole family either," Lucky retorted.
"It was an accident, Lucky, everyone knows that," Aurelius said firmly. "You were simply trying to defend yourself from your father. You had no way of controlling that blaze once it got started, especially at that age…"
"Well then maybe I shouldn't have been trying!" Lucky shouted. "He always said they'd get hurt if I fought him, and he was right! They're all dead because of me!"
"No, Lucky! It's his fault, not yours," Aurelius said firmly.
"He didn't start the fire! I did!" Lucky snapped.
"You had no choice, Lucky! You had no choice in any of it!" Aurelius said.
"Oh, forget it! You don't understand! Nobody does!" Lucky said and broke into tears again. Aurelius sighed softly and put an arm around her, ignoring her flinch.
"Someday, Lucky. Someday you're going to wake up and realize that what we've been trying to tell you is the truth and you'll wake up from this nightmare," Aurelius said, attempting to reassure himself as well as the girl, who simply shook her head numbly. "Come on, let's get you back to the castle."
Jennifer dismissed her class early and walked out onto the parapet, watching the Dark Forest fixedly until at last she spotted Aurelius coming out with an arm around Lucky, walking her back inside. Jennifer's shoulders relaxed and she let out a deep sigh.
"I see the girl managed to get out of that mess in one piece," said a voice beside her, despite the fact that no one was there.
"Yes, apparently I accomplished that much," Jennifer murmured. "But it's so horrible at times, Icarus. Even when I see things where I know I must intercede, I feel like I'm trying the chose the lesser of two evils rather than actually improving the situation."
"Yes, I know what you mean better than anyone, although personally I think you've been guiding the situation with your daughter very well," Icarus reassured her quietly. "Fortuna's path to recovery was bound to be rough, Jennifer, nothing you could have done would have made it easier. But what you have done is made certain that things don't get any harder; you've been able to prevent several disasters now, and I for one think you've done the right thing."
"Yes, well, you would," Jennifer said dryly, opening the door to her office. "For some reason I doubt Severus would agree with us."
"It isn't Severus you have to worry about, Jennifer. He at least will be forgiving, but Viviane would not be if she weren't distracted by other things at the moment. Still, I doubt she'll turn a blind eye to it forever, Jennifer," Icarus warned.
"I won't do anything that she'd be concerned about, Ick," Jennifer sighed, for she had heard him on this subject before.
"As far as fate is concerned, she thinks everything concerns her," Icarus said. "Whether it's true or not," he added for good measure, earning a thin smile from Jennifer. "I had best get to my next class. Let me know how things turn out."
"Sure, Ick," Jennifer said with a nod and walked through her office into the classroom, fingering the Obol in her pocket thoughtfully before setting up for her next demonstration.
How Lucky managed to get to her History class after that, she wasn't quite certain. Connie looked at her somewhat swollen face questioningly but didn't say anything as she took her seat. Lucky tried to concentrate on Professor Scribe's scribbling on the blackboard in attempts of ignoring Gary's hissing as he tried to get her attention from behind her.
"You'd be better off copying down these notes rather than raising a fuss, Mr. March," Scribe said calmly, while Ambrose risked a glance back at Lucky, frowning and wondering what was wrong. As much as he loved History, he couldn't help but be distracted, and for a change was one of the first ones out the door when class got out.
"All right, Lucky?" he asked.
"How you feel about eating in the Owl Room?" Lucky asked.
"Sure," Ambrose said, having to hurry to keep up with her rapid walk.
"Lucky, wait up!" Connie said with exasperation, and Lucky sighed, slowing a bit.
"Yeah, Lucky, wait up!" Gary said, and Lucky looked even more annoyed as he and Delia caught up with them. "What happened today? Why did you take off like that? Did Professor Aurelius find you?" he asked.
"Ya," said Lucky flatly.
"How many points did we lose? Did you get in a lot of trouble?" he asked.
"No," Luck said in the same tone.
"Really? Man, if I took off like that, he'd be raking me across the coals. Must be nice to be family," Gary said. Lucky stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Gary icily.
"Never mind dinner. I think I'm gonna go upstairs and work on some stuff," Lucky said, turning smartly around to head up another corridor.
"Anything I can help with, Lucky? Do you want to study?" Connie asked.
"Nah, I'm gonna go write to my pen pal," Lucky said, waving them off.
"Does she write him a lot?" Ambrose asked thoughtfully.
"Yes, actually, more than I write to mine, at least," Connie said, sounding a bit guilty.
"I write to mine all the time," Delia put in. "It's really nice to finally have someone who understands me for a change. Her parents work for the media, but otherwise, she and I are a lot alike."
"Now there's a scary thought for you. Two Delias," Gary said.
"As if two Garys would be any better," Delia snorted as they walked off to the library.
When Connie got upstairs that evening, she was more than a little surprised to find Lucky still at her desk, glumly looking at her stationary. Frowning, Lucky covered it with her Transfiguration book as if she had been working on it instead.
"Are you really still writing?" Connie asked with exasperation, closing the door behind herself and tiredly putting down her books. "Professor Craw was asking about you at Sparring Club. You've been skipping that an awful lot lately, considering you're supposed to be taking it."
"Ya, I know," Lucky sighed, reluctantly opening up her book.
"And I see you haven't even started on your homework," she added, Connie shaking her head again before she started to get undressed. "Well, I'd get to it, if I were you, or you're going to be up so late you won't want to get up in the morning."
"Don't worry about me. Just feed your owl," Lucky sighed.
"At least I see you took time to take care of Houdini," Connie said as she check on the cage and got ready for bed. "Sure you don't want to talk about it? From what Gary told us, it sounds as if you've had a rough day."
"I've had a rough everything," Lucky snapped, but then immediately slumped. "Eh, just forget it. Maybe I'll leave this until the morning and just finish my letter."
"Probably for the best," Connie readily agreed, glad that she wouldn't be woken up in an hour by flicking light.
She climbed into bed, pulling out a magazine from under her pillow to look at. Seeing that Second Chance was on the cover with the rest of the band making symbols behind Dale's head, Lucky rolled her eyes and went back to her letter, thinking carefully over each and every line before finally sending it. Sighing, Lucky wet her fingers and snuffed out the candles before climbing into bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time until she finally felt Houdini curled up against her, the warmth enough to finally lull her to sleep.
Ambrose woke early and hurried down to the Journalism Room as he did every Friday, to look over his copy and make sure everything looked good before they set up the printer in the evening. His mind was more on Hogsmeade than it was on what he was doing, for part of him didn't really even want to go. His mother's letters seemed to be more and more about Bart since last visit, and he found himself becoming increasingly worried that he may soon have a stepfather whether he wanted one or not. Why did it feel so wrong? Didn't he want his mother to be happy? He sighed at the thought, wondering if he were being selfish as he unlocked the room and stepped in, locking the door behind himself before going over to his desk. But as he unlocked the drawer to take out his planned article, he paused when he noticed the letter on the top of the pile on his desk, for he had recognized the handwriting at once.
His own problems were immediately washed out of his mind as he opened it and read it, feeling his heart lump up in his tightening throat, slowly sinking into the pit in his stomach as he took a breath and read it one more time. Shakily he folded it up, slammed down the roll-top on the desk, and made a mad dash to the staff room, knowing that Madame Weasley was most likely to be there.
Within a flash, Ambrose found himself following her up to the Headmaster's Study, having to take the back stairs by twos to catch up until finally they arrived to find the study doors open.
Severus glanced up only briefly when he saw Hermione, assuming she simply had come to drop off paperwork, but then did a double take when she realized she had Ambrose with her and had quickly closed the doors behind them.
"Sorry to bother you, Professor, but we have a rather urgent matter to attend to," Hermione said. "Ambrose has a student emergency, and I really don't think it can wait."
"What sort of student emergency?" Severus frowned.
"I received this letter on my desk this morning, Professor," Ambrose said, handing it over. Severus immediately squinted at it.
"This post is addressed to Madame Mirth," Severus said flatly.
"Yeah. That's me," Ambrose said. Severus gazed at him fixedly for a moment. Then he stared at Hermione.
"You let a ten year old answer an advice column?" Severus asked disapprovingly.
"Well, no, actually he's been doing it since last year. In fact, it was his idea," Hermione explained. Severus looked even less impressed then before.
"I did it to try and fill an Owl Goal I had, Professor, to help others learn to help themselves," Ambrose explained. Severus flinched slightly, glancing up at Hermione who simply smiled apologetically.
"For some reason, I highly doubt this was the sort of thing the person who gave that to you intended for you to do," Severus said crisply.
"He has been doing a splendid job up until now, Professor," Hermione quickly put in. "But he did think this one was over his head and came straight to me with it. I think you'd better read it."
Letting out a short sigh, Severus opened it and put on his glasses, his frowning expression suddenly turning stony as if fixed into place as he read it. Finally he sat it down and leaned back in his chair, a strange haunted look in his eyes.
"I don't know what to do, Professor," Ambrose said quietly when he hadn't spoken in a long time. "I just want to help her."
"That's all any of us want to do, Ambrose," Hermione assured him gently.
"But she doesn't believe it," Ambrose said. "We've all tried to talk to her, but she won't talk. It's like she doesn't even know we're there. She doesn't even see us."
Severus gazed thoughtfully at him for a moment.
"Perhaps we simply need to show her where we are, then," Severus said thoughtfully.
As was typical of a Saturday before Hogsmeade, very few actually made it to breakfast. But after the last trip where she ended up in jam-packed stores thanks to having to wait until she had gotten there to eat, Lucky wasn't about to do that again. She piled up her plate then glanced at the end of the table, expecting copies of the Veritable Wizard to be there waiting.
"I suppose they must be still working on it," Connie said, noticing the glance as she sat down beside her. "Dale and the others never did make it to the Owl Room last night."
"Eh, forget it. It's not like it's important," Lucky shrugged.
"Personally, I think the only reason you want it is for a shield anyhow. You have been very quiet in the last couple of days, Lucky," Connie sighed, earning yet another freezing look in response.
"Can we just concentrate on the trip and just pretend we're not even goin' to this school for a day?" Lucky complained.
"Sure, if that's what you want," Connie agreed, glancing up briefly. "I need to take care of something real quick. I'll be right back."
"Fine by me," Lucky shrugged, rather glad to have a moment alone with her food. But the moment didn't last long, for Ambrose suddenly appeared kneeling on the bench beside her with a rolled up paper in hand.
"Here, Lucky! Fresh off the presses," Ambrose said cheerfully. "I saved this one especially for you. We haven't started handing them out yet."
"You're gonna be late for the bus at this rate," Lucky complained. "What took you guys so long?"
"Oh, well, it's on account of the fact that Madame Mirth decided to change her column to include another letter at the last minute," Ambrose explained. "Not that anyone minded staying over to do it, I mean, if it helps someone out and all."
"Since when does that advice column do anything but give common sense answers or tell jokes?" Lucky snorted.
"Well, sometimes people don't listen to common sense," Ambrose explained. "Anyhow, I gotta go. See you in a few minutes."
"Just don't be late," Lucky sighed.
"Well, hopefully it won't be," Ambrose said, leaving the paper in front of her. In fact, he put it on her breakfast.
Lucky sighed in annoyance and brushed the egg off the back of the paper, scowling when she saw that the animated crossword puzzle (which changed the placement of certain words to make it more 'interesting') had been completely ruined. Scowling in annoyance, Lucky pulled open the paper, wondering what exactly had compelled Madame Mirth to change her column, partially hoping and partially dreading that it might have been her letter. The moment she found the column, both of those feelings took hold as she saw indeed it was her letter. It was also the only letter presented in the column that week.
Dear Madame Mirth;
The last few years have been really bad for me. In fact, they've gone from bad to worse, with no end in sight. Every time I think I might see a way out, something else happens and it comes crashing down on me, and more of it is piling up all the time. Lately I can't get by a day without something bad happening, and I guess I'm finally figuring out the past is one trap I can't escape from. I don't want to live like this anymore, and I am sick of fighting a losing battle. Everyone seems to be working against me, digging on every wound. I just want it to stop, but I feel like I'm running out of options. I was hoping things would be better when I came here, but nothing seems to be better at all. No one understands me here, and I don't know where to go anymore. Please help.
Signed, Nowhere to Turn.
Dear Nowhere to Turn; Turn Around. ~Madame Mirth
Lucky stared at the newspaper completely baffled for a moment, trying to figure out what in hell it was supposed to mean. Surely it couldn't be meant literally, Lucky thought, snorting softly at the notion, but it was then that she realized that the Great Hall seemed to be strangely quiet. Feeling very awkward and a little silly, Lucky glanced over her shoulder, and was so surprised but what she saw that she knocked off her plate as she jumped to her feet. For standing behind her and spread out in three rows stood all fifteen members of the Order of the Owl, her five brothers and sisters, as well as Rose, Francis, and Ben, and along the back, the entire Hogwarts staff, including a teary-eyed Jennifer and a solemn Severus standing center in the back row. But standing in front of them all was Ambrose, gazing at her with an unusually serious expression.
"I didn't know what to write you back, Lucky, so I hope this'll do," Ambrose said apologetically, a wide range of emotions crossing the girl's face. "But you have a lot of people here you can turn to and who want to listen, even if you don't think we can understand, we do care, and we don't want you to feel like you have no one to turn to. We all want to help. So pick somebody. Anybody. It doesn't matter to us who you choose, but you've gotta talk to somebody, Lucky!" Ambrose said pleadingly.
Lucky took a few deep breaths to keep her emotions in check, despite the fact she knew that Jackie and Aurelius was bound to see what she was really going through in that moment. She gazed fixedly at Ambrose, who looked back at her with an expression strangely resolute for his age, and somehow quite familiar. But she knew she couldn't burden her best friend with what she had been going through… definitely not at his age. It was also not something she wanted to go to her new family with, despite their knowing more than anyone else. Lucky's eyes then glanced searchingly at the back row past Severus, Hermione, and Boulderdash until they landed on a pair of violet ones. Danny waited a moment to make certain the girl's gaze didn't falter, and then smiled thinly and stepped forward.
"How about coming to my office for some Danish or something, Lucky? Considering that your breakfast didn't seem to make it," Danny suggested.
"Will it come with coffee?" Lucky asked.
"I'm sure something can be arranged," Danny said with amusement, waiting for Lucky to step over to her side before the two walked to the back.
"A rather odd choice, wasn't it? Considering?" Dirk mused, wondering why a Gryffindor would chose the head of Slytherin House.
"On the contrary, I think it's a brilliant choice," Jennifer said, her relief apparent in the tone of her voice.
"The girl has a very sensible head on her shoulders," Boulderdash agreed.
"Yes, but what was it that got Lucky so upset to make her write such a letter?" Laura asked.
"That is best told by Fortuna, Miss Lupin, and in her own time and in her own way," Severus said firmly, making eye contact with the rest of the Owls as well.
"We wouldn't do or say anything that'd upset Lucky, Professor. At least, not on purpose," Lindsay said, while Gary felt uncomfortable and looked at his feet.
"Perhaps you can help most just by remembering that, and encouraging those around you to do the same," Severus advised. "Perhaps we can even arrange that to be a secondary overall goal of yours."
"Can you make a goal out of minding one's own business?" Boulderdash chuckled.
"As a matter of fact, for some of us, I can see that as a very good goal," Severus said, and although Severus was gazing over at Boulderdash, Jennifer blinked when she realized that everyone else on staff was looking at her.
"What?" Jennifer said innocently.
"Perhaps we'd all better get ready for Hogsmeade," Hermione said quickly.
"Good idea," Severus agreed, dismissing the students with a shooing movement of the hand, and they all started breaking off into groups. Dale lingered behind to have a quick word with Jennifer, and after receiving a baffled expression, had a quick word with Ben as well before calling out to Ambrose.
"Think she's going to be all right now?" Dale asked when he caught up with Ambrose and Delia at the door.
"I hope so," Ambrose sighed as they continued to walk out to the courtyard. "Professor Snape seemed to be pretty sure it'd help."
"I'm sure it will then, if Professor Snape thinks so," Delia said. "In any case, it's rather out of our hands now, isn't it?"
"Out of the hands of Madame Mirth now, at any rate," Ambrose agreed.
"So you were Madame Mirth this entire time, Ambrose?" Delia asked with surprise, and then rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I should have guessed before."
"Now, let's not be spreading that around, Delia. I'd hate to have to replace him because that got to be public knowledge," Dale warned.
"Oh, don't worry about me. It'll just be our little secret," Delia assured them on the way out the door.