Twenty-One

Observations

When Jennifer got to the field, she couldn't help but laugh incredulously at what she was seeing. Still grinning she wandered closer to where a large group of students were standing on the makeshift pitch, some with balls, some talking, and even some actually wearing football shorts and jerseys. She also couldn't help but notice that a number of students were also there sitting on a transfigured set of stands, watching with a mix of curious and dubious expressions. Shaking her head at that, Jennifer walked closer, her eyes fixed on her daughter's pink jersey and her attempts at teaching Lyra how to play.

Teaching Lyra the concept of the game; not to use her hands and try to kick the ball in the net was the easy part. It was the logistics of the rest that were tricky, but Lucky found that Lyra was actually quite eager to learn, attempting first to teach her how to bounce the ball on one knee. When that only met limited success, she began simply kicking the ball to her and having her practicing kicking it back while Dale in his Galaxy shirt and Bobby and Gary March in their Chelsea jerseys just stood there side by side and shook their heads at them.

"There is no way Lyra could possibly learn to dribble," Bobby said.

"I suppose we could always try her at goalkeeper," Gary suggested.

"You could, but she isn't exactly agile," Dale admitted.

"Yes, but if she stands sideways, she could probably cover a lot of goal space, couldn't she?" Gary said. Bobby and Dale tilted their heads as if trying to imagine it.

"I think all you'd have to do is kick low enough," Bobby decided.

"Think she'd be able to do defensive mid?" Gary asked. Bobby grinned at him.

"You'd better go see who else in Gryffindor is worth anything, Gary."

"Wonder who's going to captain?" Gary pondered, glancing around.

"Ask Madame Brittle, we're going to go over and help Lucky with Lyra," Dale said. Bobby glanced at him, a bit surprised to learn this.

"Fine, but find out who's going to be Ravenclaw's captain too. I'm not spending all day out here without making some of my own impression," Bobby said.

"Considering Madame Brittle is probably going to have to explain the sport to half the people out here, I think we got time," Dale grinned. "Come on."

Jennifer smiled as she walked across the field watching them, and then glanced over at the stands, noticing something else. Sighing and shaking her head, Jennifer spotted Andrew on the far side transfiguring another set of stands from a rack of firewood and was taking a moment to double-check its stability.

"Well done, Andrew! From the looks of it, we needed another set. If I'm not mistaken, there's more actually watching than trying out," Jennifer chuckled at him.

"Especially where Slytherin is concerned," Andrew pointed out, nodding over to where Helena was busy showing the other three in her Order some basic passes. They were the only four Slytherin out on the field.

"Well, just let Danny worry about that, I'm sure she'll scheme up something. I have another project for you," Jennifer said. Andrew gazed at his mother curiously as she drew his attention to the other stands. "It seems that Dale is starting to finally build a fan base here."

Andrew looked over to see a large group of girls of varying houses huddled together in one group, all of them gazing wistfully at where Dale was standing, whispering to each other. Andrew chuckled at them.

"Well, we knew it was going to happen sooner or later, it's hardly surprising, is it? The kid has always been a charmer, that's probably why he's doing so well, although I'm sure being obnoxiously blonde and good looking doesn't help," Andrew grinned. "I don't think we have much to worry about though, do you? He does seem to know how to handle it."

"Yes, well, so did you," Jennifer pointed out. "And from one charmer to another, I'd like you to keep an eye on him from now on. I'm sure you'll spot any signs of ego on this issue before the rest of us, and I'd like you to do what you can to make sure he stays on the 'handling it' side."

"What? Oh, come on, Mum, don't you think you're taking this thing too far? Maybe we should make his own mistakes, you both let me bump my nose on the issue often enough," Andrew said.

"Yes, that's true, and I can appreciate that opinion, but I'm not giving you this project for his benefit, you know," Jennifer said.

"And just what do you mean by that?" Andrew asked with a sigh.

"Well, to put it quite bluntly, Andrew, I am not going to allow Lucky to turn into another Ginger Davidson," Jennifer said primly. Andrew blinked.

"Ouch, Mum, that one hurt," Andrew frowned.

"I did say it was blunt."

"Yes, but so is a sledgehammer," Andrew said, but Jennifer simply gazed at him until he sighed and nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Andrew," Jennifer smiled, while Andrew seemed a lot more wary, wondering if she didn't have some secondary motives for this little 'side' project. "I think I'll go help the Headmaster test your new stands." Andrew looked up to see Severus sitting down on one with a book in hand.

"Yes, well, just make sure you're testing on and not under, I didn't make them for anything other than sitting," he warned.

"Why, Andrew!" Jennifer exclaimed in shock, but he simply smiled mischievously and wandered over to the other benches. Shaking her head at him, Jennifer finally climbed up to where Severus was and sat down. "Do you know, Severus, I think I liked it better when our children were little and they had no idea what marriage was other than the title," she said with exasperation.

"Meaning?" Severus asked curiously, looking up from his book.

"Nothing, just Andrew is getting more clever with his comebacks. Perhaps he is a Snape after all," Jennifer joked.

"As if there could truly be any doubt with that nose of his," Severus said, gazing out at the students. "I see they actually managed to get Lyra out onto the field."

"Yes, it was Lucky's doing," Jennifer chuckled. "Although she does seem to be getting the hang of it…as long as the ball is directly in front of her, at least. Severus, I'm really worried about her."

"Oh, what has Lucky done this time?" Severus frowned.

"No, not Lucky. I mean Lyra," Jennifer said. "I think we need to keep a closer eye on her." Severus looked over at them again.

"She seems to be adjusting well enough from what I've seen," Severus said.

"Yes, but looks can be deceiving," Jennifer murmured, Severus gazing at her thoughtfully. "I don't know, Severus…except for Sagittari, most centaurs are a bit hard to read, since their thoughts are constantly laden with star charts and I honestly don't keep up with that stuff enough to understand it all. But I noticed a curious streak of rebellion in her eyes, and sometimes it seems as if she were avoiding me personally. I'm really beginning to feel that girl might be, well…up to something." Severus thought about it for a moment, and then blinked.

"Did you just steal one of my lines?" he asked.

"Who, me?" Jennifer asked when she realized what he was talking about.

"You did, you stole one of my lines," he scowled at her.

"No I didn't. I simply borrowed one," Jennifer said with an innocent smile.

"Well, I hope you warn me before you borrow anything else," Severus retorted evenly.

"Oh, no, that was last night," Jennifer said back, pretending to watch the students.

"What cheek! When did you start getting cheeky on me?" Severus asked with feigned indignance.

"Oh, that came from last night too," Jennifer said, looking amused.

"Keep it up, Jennifer, I'll get even with you. If you're not careful, you may end up on an unexpected detour on our walk by the lake," he warned.

"Really? Old detour or new detour?" she asked without turning around.

"I'm certainly not going to give you a hint that would give you an opportunity to plan an escape route," Severus said, but then watched as a sudden smile crept over Jennifer's face, and he squinted at her suspiciously. "What?"

"Nothing really, Severus, only…I was just thinking perhaps this Occlumency stint you've been on lately isn't always so bad after all, because I really have no clue which detour you're thinking of at the moment," Jennifer chuckled. Severus gazed at her steadily.

"Good, then perhaps you'll take a hint and behave for awhile," he said, his tone dubious.

"What, did you actually want me to behave?" Jennifer challenged him.

"No baiting me in public," Severus retorted.

Danny gazed up at the second stands thoughtfully until Anna noticed who she was looking at and walked up to her.

"I see that Jennifer and my brother seem to have made up again," Anna said thoughtfully.

"Yes, it seems to have diffused rather quickly, all things considering…perhaps even too quickly," Danny admitted, noticing the tension had yet to let up.

"Yes, I'm afraid I'm beginning to agree with you there," Anna admitted with a sigh. "And the worse part of it is, as much as I'd like to butt in and do something…anything…I know that all I can really do is wait and hope for the best."

"Yeah…I think we need to probably concentrate on who we can help instead," Danny said, gazing thoughtfully at Lucky. "Because right now I'm not sure either one of them have been in tune enough to figure out they're not the only two people affected by what they've been going through." Anna nodded to her thoughtfully, then turned her attention back to helping some of the more baffled students figure out their new pastime.

Dear Madame Mirth:

My best friend has been angry at me for weeks now and I'm not quite sure how to make it right again. Although I know that I'm to blame for what happened, my attempts at apologizing have been met with nothing but vicious glares. What do I do? Seriously out of Luck.

Dear Seriously:

Buy some sunglasses. Madame Mirth

Dear Madame Mirth:

My brother and I joined the football team at my advisor's advice, hoping to pick up some points by the end of the year. But the b-- of it is, practically nobody on our team has a clue what they're doing…in fact, they blow chunks! I don't want to go out there just for us to have to embarrass ourselves, and I don't want the rest of the houses jeering at us, either. Please help! Effing Awful.

Dear Awful:

Practice, Pray, and hope you get a Lucky break. Madame Mirth

Madame Brittle swept through the Great Hall just before dinner with a fervent look on her face, striding straight over to Lucky.

"As soon as you're done stuffing yourself on turkey, I need to talk to you, Chance, and Davies about this football thing in my office for a few minutes before you head upstairs," Brittle said.

"What's it about?" Lucky asked curiously.

"Obviously it's about the team whose captain I didn't name," Brittle said curtly. "See you then."

"So that means it's about the Slytherin team, huh?" Connie murmured to her.

"It's because they suck," Lucky said. Across from them, Reggie and Gary both sniggered. "I bet she wants us to try and help her get them on some sort a competitive terms or somethin'. You've seen 'em at practice. They trip over the ball more than kick it."

"Well, it's not like it's completely their fault," said Jameson, another of the Gryffindors on Lucky's team. "They're all purebloods or halfbloods, they've had no more exposure to it than some of us did to Quidditch. I know I tripped over my broom often enough when I first started here."

"You still trip over your broom," Reggie said, and Jameson made a face at him.

"Anyhow, I'm pretty sure she wants us to get them on competitive terms," Lucky shrugged.

"What? Why ruin what you know is going to be sure victory?" Reggie asked.

"It's called good sportsmanship, Reggie. Besides, one of the points of our order is to promote cooperation between houses, and I think this would be good gesture."

"I don't mind as long as there are points in it," Lucky shrugged. Connie gave her a dirty look. "And besides, even if we do help 'em, they still don't have a chance."

"Well, considering neither do we, I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you," Gary warned her. But it was already obvious from Lucky's expression that she already knew that Ravenclaw was going to be the team to beat when they actually started playing in the spring.

But fortunately for all the teams (and especially Slytherin) that November had been especially dry, so despite the cold the teams were out there constantly, including Lyra, who had made the Gryffindor team at Lucky's insistence after deciding she would be an impressive deterrent anytime they went on the defensive. Nobody got in the way of a charging centaur if they could help it.

For the staff, November seemed to be a quiet month as well. The Headmaster, it seemed, had been on his best behavior of late. Little by little the tension in the castle finally began to relax, inching down by the day as Jennifer's mood improved and everyone concentrated on school business, most especially Severus Snape, who also made a dutiful effort to spend time with his wife. Not a word was said for several weeks about the ring, for Severus, it seemed, had decided to put that on hold for a while. He was, in fact, intending on holding out on finishing his research until the woman at the Ministry had completed whatever it was she was into and returned to wherever it was she came from, and was more than content to wait as long as it would take before he delved into that again.

So it happened that it was Jennifer who had gotten more and more restless on the subject, especially after his insistence that he handle the research side of the problem to keep her out of enclosed spaces, despite the fact she hadn't had another fainting spell since. He knew from the moment she had arrived for lunch that Friday that something was on her mind, setting his work aside the moment she came in and went for the tea.

"Severus, would you mind terribly if I went on a little expedition with Francis and Alicia this weekend?" Jennifer asked.

"Birding expedition?" he asked.

"Well, yes, partially," Jennifer said in a tone that made Severus squint suspiciously. "Francis is going to sketch the buildings and walls in his father's Village painting. We want to see if we can pinpoint where it used to be with Alicia's help…probably nothing there, really, or some sort of suburb or something, who knows, but considering we seem to be at a bit of dead end, it might be worth a trip. Hermione already said she'd chaperone Hogsmeade if we needed."

"I don't suppose there's any harm in looking," Severus admitted. "But if you find anything extremely odd, I hope you have the sense to come to me first."

"I don't expect there will be, but I will," Jennifer promised. "Besides, I'm sure you yourself could probably use a day to yourself to relax a bit." Severus gazed at her fixedly. "And without spending any time in here too, if I had my way," she chided knowingly, grabbing a sandwich.

"Very well, perhaps I shall, but I reserve the right to at least work on that paper I've been planning on," Severus said, Jennifer smiling at him.

"Well, I suppose that's almost recreation, at least for you it is," she teased him, and then spoke no more about it.

"I think this one is safe," Alicia decided, before stepping out of a painting into a Muggle's house, but fortunately none of them seemed to be at home. Immediately after helping the others out, she found a window and carefully surveyed the area before popping outside, Francis and Jennifer following close behind.

Jennifer glanced around at the hilly area thoughtfully a moment before following Alicia and Francis up a winding road. The smell of the sea was strong in the air.

"Any guesses to where we might be?" Jennifer said as they wandered down the road for a bit.

"Wales, I should think," Alicia said, glancing at the street names.

"Well I could have told you that, we knew it was in Wales before we started, although I don't think if there's anything findable that we're going to find it along a Muggle road," Jennifer said.

"Just trying to get our bearings, Mum. Besides, the closest spot was actually several paintings away, after all, that one was just the safest to get out of without being seen," Alicia said.

"Seems to be a bit of a hedgerow and some fencing over the rise to the left of us, I'd guess we're near some farmland then," Francis mused.

"The houses do seem scattered here, but look over there down near the river, a regular town of some sort for sure," Alicia said mused as they neared the crest of a hill the road went over. That's when Francis stopped short, glancing over the river at the green rolling hills on the other side.

"Do you know, I think that's probably the Menai Strait. That's probably Anglesey," Francis said. "So that over there might be Caernarfon perhaps...yes, you can almost make out the shadow of the castle from here."

"What, really?" Jennifer said in surprise. "For some reason I was expecting the town to be on the west side of the country," she murmured thoughtfully. "This is awful close to Viviane's territory, isn't it?"

"Mum, we may be close to Anglesey, but we're still miles from you-know-where, aren't we? Back then, it'd probably have seemed like a fairly long distance," Alicia said.

"Not for a wizard," Jennifer pointed out. She knew if she were Viviane, she might be a little more than concerned about a wizard wiping out a village in such disturbing fashion so close to her home. Of course, she wasn't Viviane, and it'd be just as like her to ignore it as trivial. Gazing over one last time at the island, Jennifer decided to drop the matter for now as they backtracked towards the house.

"I hope what we're looking for isn't over near those farmlands," Francis said after they had gotten closer. "If so, it's more than likely whatever ruins had been there were probably dismantled centuries ago, and the stone used in property markers."

"There seems to be some sort of trail here off the road…" Alicia said, and immediately walked down it despite the others' protests.

"You know we're probably trespassing or something, it probably just leads off to one of those farms," Jennifer said, beginning to get a little nervous that all their walking about might seem a little more than suspicious as the trail seemed to meet up with another one and widened a bit, taking them up a grassy hill.

"We were trespassing from the moment we stepped in the Muggle's house, Mum," Alicia pointed out.

"I think we're going in the right direction," Francis said after a bit, glancing at some of the fencing along the trail. "And I think we're in a bit of luck."

"Why's that?" Jennifer asked.

"Because I think that mesh fencing is to keep badgers out of the area, and that means there's probably a protected site up there…" Francis explained, then noticed his wife had stopped short on the trail above them.

"I think we found it," Alicia decided, and the other two hurried up. At the top was a large grass area with scattered stones all about…some seemingly haphazard while others seem to be arranged in groups. Even with weather over time smoothing and sculpting the stone, it was fairly obvious that human hands had been there first; many of them large stone blocks or chucks of stone blocks, partially buried in the soil while in the center of the strewn rocks was a small cairn. Foundations of what were once stone cottages could be plainly seen beyond, and even one lone stone cottage wall with a mauling window stood among the ruin. A chill traveled through Jennifer then, more than just the wintry winds off the sea, and she gazed over to see Alicia with the same lost look on her face.

"Jennifer, there are some runes on many of these stones," Francis said as he walked among them, and Jennifer walked over and knelt down.

"These are grave markers, Francis," Jennifer said after a moment, standing up thoughtfully.

"Really? Shouldn't these be written in Cymraeg then?" Francis said thoughtfully.

"You would think so, yes. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this entire burial site was purposefully made to look much older than it already was," Jennifer concluded, glancing at the cairn. "Very druidic style to the place, isn't there? I don't recognize all the runic notation either, we should write it down so Severus can have a look at it."

"Do you suppose they were trying to hide what had happened from those living at the time period then?" Alicia asked, Jennifer nodding to her. "Wasn't our society a lot more open back then, about practicing magic, I mean?"

"Well, yes, Alicia, but considering the scope of Mallus Craw's attacks, I can see why they might be worried if the truth got out what happened here," Jennifer said, getting out a small pad of paper out while Francis was busy writing the ones he found in a sketch pad.

While they were doing that, Alicia decided to wander over near the foundations of the buildings. These, she was fairly certain, would have been impossible to disguise as anything but medieval buildings, but perhaps were just far enough away for them to probably discount it as coincidental. The morning sun shone through the empty window and made an interesting effect on the wall beside it so Alicia decided to do some sketching of her own. She had been working at it a while when she suddenly noticed a figure sitting on a rock wall beside the farmlands, watching them carefully.

Alicia recognized the figure at once and immediately put her sketch away. She knew better than to even attempt to sketch Viviane, nor would she have wanted to. Their eyes met only a second before Alicia decided to just back away, while Viviane, after regarding her briefly, seemed neither concerned about being noticed or about Alicia's behavior as she kept walking backwards all the way up the hill so not to lose sight of the Lady. But as she neared the top, she stumbled over one of the markers and had to right herself. By the time she looked up, Viviane was gone.

"Alicia? Something wrong?" Jennifer asked, gazing at her pale face curiously until she began to lose color in her own face.

"She was here. Watching us," Alicia said, staring at the wall where she had been sitting.

"Who?" Francis asked.

"Aunt Viviane," Alicia said. Francis immediately whipped his head towards the direction she was looking in.

"So I was right then. She is involved somehow," Jennifer murmured.

"Now, let's not jump to conclusions," Francis said nervously.

"She seemed to be curious as to what we were up to," Alicia admitted.

"Hardly surprising, is it? I told you we were too close for her not to notice. And I also think what happened here that night was something she would have noticed as well," Jennifer said. "And the more I think of it, the more I think those priestesses they were talking about in that memory were probably hers. I've heard her called an Oracle before, after all she was given the gift of prophecy by Merlin all those years ago."

"For some reason I think Merlin would protest the word 'given' in that particular exchange, Jennifer," Francis said amusedly.

"Mum, I really hope you're not going to seek her out about this," Alicia said, a bit wary of the expression on her face. "Because I really think that'd be dangerous."

"Yes, I know, I agree with you on that point, but there are certain circumstances she has her guard down more than others," Jennifer said, glancing at her notes and trying to find her place again. "I think I'll ask Anna to let me know if she decides to show up at one of her family functions." Francis and Alicia exchanged grimaces. "What? I can hardly get in trouble for that, can I?" Jennifer protested. "I promise I won't seek her out other than that if it'll make you happy."

"It's not my happiness I'm worried about," Alicia said, but then decided to join in helping to copy the runes so they could get safely out of the area.

Severus had every intention of taking Jennifer's advice that Saturday. After getting both Rasputin and Descartes fed (and overfed to the point that both decided to take a morning nap), Severus sifted through his tobacco tins and picked one out, gazed over his pipes a moment before picking the calabash, and immediately picked out the book he wanted before he made himself comfortable on a chair and waved his ottoman and the breakfast cart over as he settled in for the day.

He hadn't been more than halfway thru A Case of Identity when there was a gentle rapping on the window following by the piercing and persistent alarm of Descartes. Sighing in annoyance, Severus flicked the window open to let in an owl. The owl was forced to dodge the snapping Descartes to deliver his letter, nearly losing some tail feathers on his way back out of the window.

"Descartes, while I completely appreciate the sentiment behind snapping at every intruder you don't recognize that comes into my domain, if you keep on those owls like that, how am I ever going to get any post in here?" Severus complained at him. Although he didn't understand every word, Descartes turned and lowered his neck remorsefully. Severus sighed and petted his long beak before opening the letter and scowling at it. "On second thought, the next time that particular owl comes in here, eat it," Severus said in annoyance. Descartes head went up. He understood that part. But Severus wasn't looking at the Stymphalian; he was too busy furrowing his brows at the note in his hand.

To the school headmaster: I happened to stumble upon something in my investigation that I believe is directly connected to something you yourself have been researching. Would you have the hour to spare today, I believe what I have uncovered will be of particular interest to you…well, besides myself, of course. Drop by whenever you like; you know where I'll be. Feel free to leave the ego at home, however… Samira L.

Severus snarled ferociously and crumpled the letter, throwing it in the fire before puffing with irritation on his pipe so much that he made it go out in the process. Sighing in annoyance, he readjusted his reading glasses and put his nose back in his book. He drummed his fingers as he attempted to calm down and pick up where he left off. He'd be damned if he'd go down there at her request. And besides, what the devil would she know about what he had been researching, he wondered to himself, reading the line over, still drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair. Perhaps Coffers might have mentioned something. After all, she was always in and out of that office, and probably the same could be said about her and some of the assistants, he sneered, getting halfway down the page before he had to backtrack to where he had last remembered reading. But what if she had found something? Perhaps he should just try sending a note back asking for particulars or having her bookmark whatever it was until a more convenient time, he mused, wondering what excuse he could come up with. Then again, why would he need one? He certainly wasn't obligated in any way to go down there. After all, how many days alone did he get with no work in the way, and Jennifer likely gone for hours…he found himself taking off his spectacles and glancing at the clock…barely after ten.

He frowned at it a moment, shook his head, put his glasses on and stared at his book again. Finally he snarled, pulled them back off and set them aside. He put his bookmark in place and sat the book on the table, turned over his pipe in his ashtray and got up. He threw on a robe, took a glance at himself in the mirror and then frowned. Sighing, he went through his wardrobe again and found something a little newer, tossing it on the bed before going in to take a shower.

Within half an hour, he found himself walking down the lower corridors of the Ministry, more than a bit leery of passing the Auror Department, knowing full well they would have someone in there even on a weekend. Much to his relief, the door was closed when he passed. But he didn't have time to relax for long; for even though the door of the Artifacts was open, he could very plainly see that there was only one person inside. She was sitting on a stool at the counter with a folder out, very careful not to damage some of the more brittle pages of parchment inside. Suddenly she looked up, a thin smile playing on her lips.

"Ah, there you are, Headmaster. I have been wondering if you were going to come or not," she said, gesturing for him to come in.

"Miss Lamya. I trust it's for good reason," Severus nodded stiffly, walking over to the counter.

"Please, call me Samira. Lamya makes me sound like a demon seductress or something," she chuckled, gesturing to a stool.

"Funny, I thought it was quite appropriate," Severus returned, gazing at her warily when she looked even more amused.

"So you can bite back after all? Perhaps there's hope for you yet," she said, but then turned back to the folder before he could figure out a comeback. "I hear you have been looking for artifacts concerning Mallus Craw, is that correct?"

"Not looking for them so much as researching them. Come to think of it, the last thing I want to find is another one right now," Severus admitted dryly, and Samira looked up curiously.

"Another one?"

"My wife, being a Craw, has inherited more than her fair share of heirlooms, including from him," Severus said.

"You married a Craw?" she asked with interest, looking thoughtful. "Oh yes, you did mention your father-in-law at one point, so you mean Thomas' daughter. It seems I did hear something about her at one point in international circles, but I certainly don't recall what."

"Something to do with Voldemort or the Azkaban Revolt, more than likely," Severus shrugged, attempting to look at what she pulled out, but her hand was on it.

"No, no…wasn't Voldemort that Auror Potter business? And I don't know your other reference," Samira said, still trying to remember while apparently oblivious to his attempts at getting the paper away.

"Potion dream research?" Severus suggested.

"Potions…potions…that at least sounds familiar, although I don't think I've seen anything on potion dream research in years," she mused.

"It has been," Severus admitted. "May I?"

"Oh, I recall where I heard her name before now! Potion Pellets!" she said in triumph. Severus gave her a dirty look. "She invented them! Silly of her to sell the patent like that, though, you both could be buried in galleons by now."

"She prefers other pursuits and sold it to make sure her research was put to use," Severus shrugged.

"Oh no, don't tell me. She's a teacher as well," said tsked, Severus glaring at her dangerously.

"Can we please just get to the point of why you dragged me down here in the first place?" Severus said, growing increasingly irritable.

"I am sorry, Headmaster, I didn't mean to pry," Samira said with a smile that was slightly apologetic and yet somehow slightly amused at the same time. "Women do seem to like to take their time about things, don't they? I'm sure as a married man you know that first hand. We'd rather take it slow and enjoy the experience of living so to speak, while men do seem to be impatient to get on with things, whether we like it or not. You do give your wife the opportunity to express her own needs at least, I hope?"

Severus stared at her.

"I am not putting up with this. I don't care what you've found out, I'll wait until you crawl back into whatever hole you came out of before I come back in here again," Severus said and turned for the door.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! You really are so touchy, Headmaster!" leaning over to grab him by the arm.

"And stop calling me that!" he snarled, batting her hand away.

"Well, aren't you a Headmaster?"

"Not the way you say it!" he said venomously. She let out a short exasperated sigh.

"Very well then, how about Professor?" she asked expressionlessly, but a curious feeling went through him at the idea of her calling him that.

"No. Excuse me."

"Well, Severus, then?" she coaxed.

"Mr. Snape!" he snapped at her. Samira looked very amused by that.

"Very well, Mr. Snape. Leave if you like, although I'm sure my research of the town once known as Hamlin would, quite definitely, interest you. But I can see you didn't take my advice and brought your ego with you, so it's probably just as well for me that you do leave until you can figure out how to extract yourself from it," Samira said, sitting back down and looking over her research unconcernedly.

Severus ignored her, storming out of the room and down the hall. He didn't get too far before he began to slow, pushing himself forward until finally he stopped and let out a long sigh. He turned around and stormed back in.

"Fine! Show me, but without the digging and chain pulling and other tricks, if you don't mind!" he snarled viciously at her.

"Very well, Mr. Snape," she said, nodding with only the slightest hint of a smile. "Tell me, have you have heard of Tannhauser?"

"Yes, it's an opera I believe," Severus said.

"Besides other things, yes," the woman's thin smile grew slightly. "Tannhauser is the name of one of the Minnesingers I've been researching lately, a legendary poet, thirteenth century, and unknown to many also of wizardkind along with several others I've been looking into. He wrote a poem based on legends stories already in place of a man who had summoned into the court of Venus for a year and indulged in sins of the flesh, only when he has been called back into the mortal world. He pleads for forgiveness is turned away, returning to the caverns of Venusberg before he realizes redemption is granted after all…yes, well, that's the Christian version of the tale. I'm sure if you've researched ancient history at all that a lot of old myths had been rewritten by the faith to encourage expelling old gods as it were and converting to the new religion.

"But a little digging would reveal that this legend existed far before this time…in Italian and Celtic lores alike… the man in the story nearly always mentioned as a Germanic man, but in their versions of the story, the man had been lured into a cavern connected to the Otherworld and into the Dark Fae Kingdom…or the Unseelie Court, if you prefer. They're just different interpretations of the same thing really, but I think you'll agree with me that the story with the Otherworld as a destination makes more sense than the Venus reference. Being that those of the Unseelie Court are cursed with not being able to procreate with each other, they more than likely lured him there as a breeder. And, well, being a man, he probably rather enjoyed it," she said with amusement. "Anyhow, in the original story, he decides to go back to the mortal world only to find it rather lacking after his time in the Otherworld. He does his best to make his way in it, but everything falls short of what he experienced and soon decides that freedom wasn't what it was cracked up to be and returns, never to be seen again."

"Interesting tale, although I have yet to see what this has to do with anything," Severus said when she paused.

"Because, Mr. Snape, I believe that behind every myth…wizard or Muggle…there lies an element of a true story, if one digs deep enough to find it…they do get distorted over time do to their word of mouth nature…the end result of any line of gossip or hearsay over so many generations is never going to be pristine. And I was researching Tannhauser to try and discover where in his wanderings his charmed instruments might have gone, I ran into one rendition of the story that got me interested; for in it, the reason the man in the story was able to return to the mortal world was because he followed the sound of a shepherd playing on a pipe or a flute. It very much intrigued me, for in my research, besides a charmed stringed instrument which is what I'm attempting to track down now, it was rumored that the minstrel also carried a flute with him that he wore on his side but never played. Curiously enough, I was able to finally find some evidence to back up the fact that the hurdy gurdy I was looking for passed through a cousin into this country, but I could not find any reference to the other instrument. The trail to that instrument dead ends somewhere I thought much too coincidental to ignore considering the Muggle tales surrounding it, for the trail ends in Hamlin."

"The pied piper…" Severus said, staring at her notes in obvious astonishment. "Of course! Why didn't we see it before? It's been staring us right in the face since the beginning!" he said. "I had always assumed that the whole pipe thing was just a convenient way to explain the occurrences of the Plague spell and the charms he placed on the children. I had completely discounted that part of the story, especially since Mallus Craw could control sounds, and yet…vulnerable to them too, perhaps, which is why the ring protects him from sounds…protected him from the charms of the pipe, perhaps! Besides this reference to summoning, did it have any other powers, or was it the bearer of the pipe he feared? As if the summoning thing wasn't bad enough…"

"Considering, as I pointed out to you before, that I've only found the once reference to it as yet, I have no idea," Samira said. "What ring do you speak of?"

"The reason that I'm researching this in the first place, actually. The first time we visited the cave where Mallus took the children, my wife found a ring of his in the crypt inundated with dark curses, but its original intent was to protect the bearer from sound spells," Severus explained, pacing a bit to get his mind wrapped around this new idea.

"I'd be careful who you tell that part to, if I were you," Samira said with slight amusement. "I'm not sure the German Tribunal would necessarily agree with your wife's apparent assessment that something left in a grave on a historic site… and not passed down through inheritance…would fall under the heirloom laws, be it there or here." Severus stopped pacing a moment, studying her with a frown.

"That ring is nothing but deadly to anyone not of Craw blood, Samira," Severus said firmly.

"Oh, I agree with you, there's little denying it," Samira said seriously. "I simply thought you ought to know." Severus paused thoughtfully and nodded before pacing again. "And really, all we have are guesses right now, correct? I simply know that the trail grows cold in Hamlin; it's only a hunch of mine that it might be related. There's no true evidence to back any of this up."

"No, no…this is right, I'm certain of it. Some other things have happened during our research that would further support it, and I am now completely sure that that instrument is directly related to the quest curse on that ring," Severus said.

"Quest curse as well? I hope no one is actually wearing that thing then," Samira said.

"No, and it sounds as if it's a good thing they aren't. For I'm quite sure that even though we may not know where it is, someone has definitely rediscovered that instrument," Severus said worriedly, still pacing. Samina nodded solemnly.

"Then it seems you have your work cut out for you, doesn't it?" she said, her serious tone turning quickly into a toying lilt again as she put her research in order. "So perhaps it was worth it for you to have to come down here and put up with my incessantly obnoxious flirting after all?" she asked daringly. Severus stopped and glared at her fiercely. She simply smiled fixedly in return. Well at least she fully admitted it, he scowled, despite the fact she was fully aware of both his family and wife now…not that seemed to bother her in the least. Severus growled again.

"Perhaps," he said curtly, storming out of the room in anger, but the smile never left her lips.