Alex the Kritikanzer's notes: It will be my pleasure to know what you like and what you don't of what you have read up to now – if you will be so kind to share you thoughts with me. Whatever you have recognized as J. K. Rowling's or Notwolf's is very much theirs so I take neither credit nor blame for it. Have a wonderful day!

Alex the Kritikanzer's notes (2):May be it is a weird coincidence, may be it is fate, you decide, but when I was about to put up this chapter in the cyberspace, I came across an article closely related to its heroes. A real one, a scientific research… I hope you will enjoy both. For the link you need to replace the point and slash with their equivalents "." and "/".

www point telegraph point co point uk slash news slash worldnews slash europe slash italy slash 725860 slash Golden-Bough-from-Roman-mythology-found-in-Italy point html

CHAPTER 21 – Is it not the same?

Blacky was really starving by the time they stopped next to a sheep farm high in the mountains. His two riders got down and knocked at the door. An old man opened a fraction holding a gun ready to shoot. Two wands trained at him sent a simultaneous hex and he hit the floor.

The younger man brought Blacky to the pen where he was met by the noisy barking of the three guardian dogs. He blew a long white flame in their direction – strong enough to keep them away but not intending to harm. The dogs retreated and the huge horse broke the door with one kick of his mighty hoof. The man tied his thin green rope at one of the stone pillars that served as gate support and went back to the house. The black horse knew the habits of his captors by then and the one thing he knew for sure what that they were unpredictable, but usually were quiet at night. Yet it was up to him to get his food and he better start as if something turned not as expected they may come and get started before he finished. He looked at the flock of well fed sheep. He hated them in their skins, but there was nobody to do the skinning for him, so he had to ever-roast and then do whatever was possible to get the charred material away and get some meat. He longed for some milk, he missed it, moms were always ready for him, they should be missing him also. He sniffed. There was a huge milk container in the nearby building, he would find the way to open it after that. Substance first. He blew a flame that roasted the entire flock in a minute and sent the dogs running. Teeth bared, Blackie set on the methodical task of tearing the skin and eating its contents. The meat smelled bad as the contents of the sheep were also inside. He remembered the nice big man that had given him a snack in the afternoon. His meat had been nice, the big guy took care of his animals. It would be nice to have him for a master as well instead of his captors. But the thin green rope was keeping him prisoner, he had to find out a way to get rid of it. Blacky left few sheep's carcasses for breakfast as he was already full. He walked to the barn and looked at the huge cistern with milk. It was a semi-transparent material that was easy to bite off so he chomped a corner and drank its content. It was delicious, although not as good as moms' and lulled him to sleep.

The Pensieve sprang to life. It was a vast dark cave and a short man was limping around a huge fire, pouring and hammering metal. He was so immersed in his work that almost did not hear the light steps of a beautiful young maiden coming. She was wearing precious little and carrying a bow and few arrows. His face lit when he saw her and he reached for a hug only to stop in mid gesture looking at his sooth-covered arms. 'Wait!' he smiled, went to the little brook at the corner and washed. He limped back to her and hugged the slim beauty in earnest. They were so different – she was athletic perfection and he was a pile of working muscles over distorted frame.

'You smell of grass and flowers and forest!'

'You smell like smelter as you are one. How about if we go to visit Thetis for a while and have a swim?'

'Great idea! Do you have few minutes though – I need to finish a spring. I have that faint feeling that my birth mother will be very impressed by it as well!'

The cave loomed again and the short man was bended over a ring on which he was mounting an exquisite bluish stone. Next to him on the table gleamed the full set which Severus recognized instantly. The head hand, the bracelet and the second ring were already ready and the garnets were glinting with the reflections from the heart flames. The man finished his work and smiled.

The scene changed to a majestic dining room where a bearded man was sitting on a throne-like chair. He was petting a huge golden eagle with a thunderbolt in his mighty claws and was obviously displeased with the short man standing in front of him.

'For what you did to your mother, you will have your punishment! You will marry that filth Venus. Not that most of the women around are any better, but you will not care, as you are not worth as a man anyway. At least she is coming from the pure blood of Ouranus and will give me some grandsons to speak of.'

'But I want to marry another girl!'

'I know you want to, but I did not say you would get it. You will either marry Venus or I will finish your Diane much more efficiently than your mother tried to finish you. Oh, it will not prevent you from frolicking around with her, but I am cursing you with the same curse my father awarded me – your official sons will be your pain and the illicit ones will be your joy, you and all your progeny will marry the woman you that is chosen for you and you would hate her for that while you pine for the woman you love.'

'No!'

'I had not finished, Smelter! Your sons will not be gods; they will be mortals as you have raised your hand at your mother!'

'She may have given birth to me, but she is not my mother! She tried to kill me as she hates me! Thetis is my mother!'

'Oh, but I have a lot in store for Thetis also, she will bury her own son in exchange for the stupidity of saving you. And I am warning you, if you have a bastard with that huntress, he will be cursed to serve his mother until his successor kills him and so on for eternity. Only a progeny of mine may let them free, but I doubt they will ever bother to do that! Now go and make a sickle to reap what you saw instead of that pathetic jewelry. Moonstone for Diane and garnet for Thetis and the fire she let you keep! You don't have even an imagination! Get out of here you unworthy thing!'

A thunder followed and the lightning hit the place where the short man has stood. The golden eagle screeched and flew away.

The cave was bathed in the light of a white hot flame through which a rainbow of colors flickered. The short man was hammering something. Sweat was covering his spine and one would expect to see in his mighty hands a weighty piece of metal. Instead of it on the anvil a tiny crescent was winking with the gleam of the full moon outside. He brought the shiny piece to the table set at the cave's entrance and sat down to scrape with it a long laurel branch. Patiently he made a small drop-like handle and attached it to the crescent. The blacksmith lifted the jewel and look at it. His face was a mask of torment. A long shadow fell on him and he smiled at his visitor.

'Is it for me?' the playful voice of the young maiden made him laughed.

'No, it is for me, but you will have to do the honors, my love! I spoke with Father today and he gave some orders that I don't intend to follow.' He retold her shortly the conversation. The maiden was pale but did not cry. The short man held her hands in his and smiled.

'He is not going to get it his way, don't worry. I value you more than that filthy thing called immortality and the life that I should be saddled with from tomorrow. I had a childhood with Thetis and I had your love that was worth more than he can count. It is time to go visit Charon and sniff the asphodels. But first things first.'

He pulled the set with moonstones and garnets and handed it to her.

'This was supposed to be our wedding attire, my love, but you should use it yourself. The ring is charmed for the real Smelter's love only to wear it or his wedded wife, otherwise it will not fit. I wish you all the blessings I hammered into it.'

'And you will be where at that time?'

'I told you, down there!' The short man took the crescent-shaped brooch and handed it to her. 'You know that I can die only if a god or a goddess kills me. I hope you will do it and will give me a kiss after.'

'No!'

'Why?'

'Because if you love me enough to die I love you enough to live under the conditions our bastard of a father awarded you. The words have been spoken and nobody can take them back. I am game to play by his rules. One day or another one of our brothers will free us. Father will find us in the netherworld if we disobey. But he had miscalculated; he let you go out of his sight.'

Diane took the head band and lifted Vulcan's curls to arrange them properly before securing them with the magnificent jewel. She took his hand and put the man's ring on his forth finger and kissed the stunned man. 'You wanted a kiss, so you got one, now if you please…' She put herself her ring and held her hand to him. He slid the bracelet.

'Are you sure?'

Diane kissed him again and he laughed, cradled her in his hard-working arms and brought her to his huge bed next to the fire. All the time before dawn belonged to them, so who cared about the time after?

The short man was holding in his arms a healthy baby boy who was looking at his father with his serious dark eyes.

'He has such a beautiful crescent on his cheek!' the man smiled at the glowing Diane.

'Ah, and I thought that there is no truth in the old wives' tale that if you touch something when you are scared and pregnant, the baby will have such mark on the place you touch first. Father was mad when I told him I am pregnant and threatened to strike me with a lightning "right into that crescent you wear in your hair", but Apollo came to the rescue and said he is the father. I tried to wipe a tear.'

'He is perfect as he is! Let it be like that forever! Are you moving with him to Lake Nemi?'

'Yes. I hate to part with you, but I think Father needs time to cool down and by the time I come back Venus would have given birth and he will be occupied with his official grandson.'

The little boy smiled and reached for the head band his father wore. The man laughed and gave it to him. He thought a little and gave his ring to the child as well.

'So our little rex Nemorensis will be fit like the king he is!'

'You are not afraid he may lose it?'

'No, my love, these four will find each other through the ages. I asked the Pythia when Father's curse would be lifted and she said 'The true love puts the ring on her finger and is given the bracelet, the ring and the headband and she breaks the curse!' The Pythia also said she sees a russet gold hair but she was not sure whether it was the colour of the maiden's hair or the reflection of the flame that burned next to her. I think she is talking about you and me at that night, you know.'

'So you should be giving me the ring and the head band instead of to Junior!'

'Is it not the same?'

'We will see, but now it is time to go, Venus is about to give birth.'

'How do you know that?'

'I am the goddess of childbirth, remember!' the woman laughed and kissed him, then put the toddler on her hip and disappeared into the woods.

The images over the Pensieve became a blur of younger men slaying elder men in many inventive ways starting with the ritual fighting in the woods and finishing with Agelastus poisoning his father's drink. Severus did not need Aline's help to remember where he had seen the brooch - it had been depicted on several portraits in Jack's formal sitting room. The Potion Master had changed places with Luna and was hugging his wife. Her face was still white and she had covered her eyes with her palms trying to ban the images that were dancing over the Pensieve. The stone in her ring was chalk white.

Tanassov stood up and left for a minute. He came back and put in front of Aline a small crystal glass where a spoonful of dark red liquid was reflecting the candles' flames. Severus tensed as the way the liquid moved was suggesting it is not a common cordial.