Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Most Dangerous Wizard in Britain
Severus slipped downstairs to get his post and Daily Prophet, sifting through the post with a frown as he went back up to his room for breakfast. He had been expecting one from the Ministry…but then again, he had only sent out the inquiry the day before after seeing Samira's small employment add for a runes specialist. Well, considering how long she had been looking, it was more than likely she had found someone by now. He shrugged to himself. It was hardly like he really needed to work; he could get by comfortably for years without lifting a finger. But Severus was never one to be idle, and considering how much he already knew about what she was working on, it only made sense to break himself in with that as he began the process of filing the credentials he was going to need to work in various countries as an excavation team expert. He turned to the paper to see if the add was still there but then paused when he saw the headline.
Mayhem at the Ministry Ball
The mood of the annual Ministry Ball was dampened this year when early on a 'strong magical force of unknown origin' managed to shatter all glass articles within the room in less than a minute. Although only minor injuries were reported from the breakage, it has been noted by many witnesses that Minister Craw was seen helping his daughter Professor Craw of Hogwarts out of the room afterwards. When tracked down in his office later that evening and asked about the incident, he was quoted as saying that it was "not anyone's d--d business how she is," and also that "an outside or intentionally malignant source is unlikely."
Severus frowned at the article thoughtfully, wondering what was really going on and who had been there that he could contact to find out, for he certainly wouldn't go to a family member about it. Perhaps one of the Weasleys… there was a knock on the door, but it didn't sound like Rosmerta's normal knock at all. Perhaps he was about to find out what happened last night, he mused. He opened the door slightly, and then blinked when he saw Samira Lamya standing there with that annoying crooked smile on her face.
"Too early?" she asked.
"Um…give me a moment," Severus said and shut the door, staring back at the room in a panic. Quickly straightening the sitting area with a couple of wand movements, Severus rushed to get dressed, horrified when he saw his spectacles on, putting them away as he grabbed his best robes and pulled his hair into a tail while Rasputin watched him in confusion from under the bed. When Severus came back out, Rasputin followed behind him curiously, plopping down under the window in the sunshine near where Descartes perched on his stand. Severus glanced at them with a frown, but knowing how long it would take him to get them caged if he tried, Severus resignedly opened the door again. "Sorry to keep you waiting, come on in. Care for coffee?"
"Perhaps one, although I'm not much of a coffee drinker myself. I'll have a mead on my way out," she said with some amusement as she glanced around. She heard a long, low hiss from a surprised basilisk who had been expecting someone else entirely.
"Who is that? I don't know her. She smells like Lady Witch, but she is not," the basilisk hissed, eyeing her warily.
"Just an acquaintance," Severus hissed back, Samira turned and glanced at Severus with an odd smile. "Pardon me, Samira. These are my familiars…my Stymphalian, Descartes," he said, gesturing to the iron crane who immediately started hissing menacingly at her. "Um…yes, and my monitor basilisk, Rasputin," Severus said. Rasputin somehow coming up with a hiss even more threatening than Descartes.
"Don't come near me. I bite!" Rasputin had hissed. Severus stared at him in disbelief.
"You do not bite," Severus hissed.
"She is not Lady Witch. I will bite her," Rasputin hissed again.
"I'm afraid I'm not very good with animals," Samira said warily as she watched the strange exchange of hisses between them.
"Actually, they're normally quite docile. The move here probably upset them," Severus said, although he knew it was probably a lot more than that.
"A docile Stymphalian? That I find hard to believe. How exactly did you manage to acquire it? I thought by regulation they aren't allowed to leave Greece."
"A very long story, actually…" Severus began when he noticed Rasputin rubbing the table leg to try and slip his eye patch off. Immediately he pounced the lizard before Rasputin could manage it. He was more than a little surprised at how strong Rasputin was when he really wanted to be, because despite his size, Severus couldn't remember him ever fighting this much before.
"Tell her to leave or I will stone her. I don't like her. She's not Lady Witch. She's not a lady!" Rasputin complained.
"You should put a leash on that thing," Samira said, trying to back further away and getting hissed at by Descartes as she backed towards the door.
Severus readjusted his eye patch, hissing softly. "What is the matter with you? Go back under the bed and nap or something!"
"I want to go home," Rasputin said. Severus sighed, standing back up.
"Why don't we go downstairs? Obviously this isn't going to work as upset as they are now," Severus frowned at them.
"I am sorry about the trouble, Severus," Samira said.
"No, it's not you so much as their missing family I think," Severus explained quickly, opening the door for her. "Besides, you did say you would prefer something else to drink anyhow."
"True enough," Samira agreed.
But as they came over to the bar, Severus didn't miss the frown or the look of suspicion on Rosmerta's face, looking over at Samira with obvious disapproval.
"Rosmerta, this is an acquaintance of mine from the Ministry, Miss Lamya," Severus said. "She's a researcher for the International Council."
"Ah really?" Rosmerta asked with a thin smile. "Who exactly are you researching?" Severus gazed at Rosmerta uncertainly.
"Actually, I'm researching some German artifacts that passed through the country, although I am still looking for a rune expert…if you're still interested, Mr. Snape?"
"Certainly, Samira," Severus said. "Mind if we get more coffee and a mead, Rosmerta?"
"Hm," Rosmerta said, but then went over to get their drinks. Severus didn't like this at all.
"Perhaps we ought to find a table once we get our drinks," Severus murmured. "Something in the back? Or would you prefer the balcony?"
"Oh, a small table in the back will more than suffice," Samira said with a smile, but then paused when Rosmerta came back with their drinks. "Thank you, Rosmerta. Such a nice place you have here, too."
"Hm," Rosmerta said again, darting a sharp glance between them before walking away to find something else to do. Severus grimaced slightly; wondering if staying there was going to work so well after all.
"Shall we?" Samira asked, taking the initiative to grab her drink and selecting a table in the corner along the back wall. It was very slow this time of the morning, no more than a couple of regulars and most of them had chosen tables closer to the fire, so there were a number of empty tables in between. "Now, I'm sure this will be the perfect place for us to work out some job details, don't you? And much less hostile," she added with a teasing flash in her eyes.
"Yes, I don't know what's gotten into them, actually," Severus admitted.
"Now, Severus, I think that's rather obvious, don't you?" Samira said with a crooked smile. "I rather think that due to your abrupt leave of absence from the school, your familiars and apparently your hostess believes there's something going on with us besides just a friendly business arrangement. At the very least, your familiars definitely seem to think so."
"Um…well, there may be some truth in that, yes," Severus admitted with a sigh, wishing now he had ordered something stronger than coffee. "And for the record, regardless of what the paper printed, I didn't go on any sort of leave of absence. I resigned."
"Really?" she said, leaning over the table a tad, glancing around as if half afraid he had been heard.
"Don't worry, I have a snoop chain on. Not that I really care if anyone knows. I imagine Hermione decided it would be easier to get through the rest of the year if nobody knew about it," Severus murmured, sipping his coffee. "You were right, Samira. That school has always been a prison to me, and I was tired of everyone feeling they could run my life all the time. I want to see what it's like to write my own destiny for a change."
"In that case, I think you took a very good first step," Samira said, nodding approvingly. "And if you need any strings pulled to further your plans, just let me know. I'm a very good string puller," she winked. "At least, it's got me this far."
"String puller, or chain puller?" Severus asked dryly, a look of intense amusement appearing in response as she pushed her black hair out of her face.
"Well, since we're now working together, I suppose it's only fair to admit I do both. Whatever it takes for me to get what I want," she said with a sinister smile.
"And what is it exactly that want, Samira?" Severus asked.
"To get this research done, what else?" Samira asked.
"I meant ultimately," Severus murmured.
"Oh, ultimately? Well I suppose ultimately I want the same thing every ambitious woman wants, to conquer and rule the world," she said with obvious amusement. "Although, barring that I suppose I'd be willing to settle for just you," she said, putting her head in her hand and smiling wider.
"I'm a married man, Samira, you know that quite well," Severus warned her quietly.
"Yes, and yet I can't help but to note you're staying here and not at home," Samira pointed out, still gazing at him with that same infectious smile. "And if the paper's any indication, you didn't accompany her last night, either. So I can't help but wonder, Severus, especially considering your admittance that you tendered your resignation, if it was only your job that you resigned from?"
"Care for another drink? Or perhaps we should get something to eat, or would you rather go to the Ministry for a while so I can see what runes you're having trouble with?" Severus suggested, Samira laughing softly at his attempts of changing the subject.
"Is it the question you're comfortable with, or just me, Severus?"
"Perhaps a bit of both," Severus admitted, feeling a little heat in his neck when her smile turned increasingly smug and she sat up again.
"In that case, forgive me if I don't rule you out entirely then," she said flirtatiously, sipping on her mead. "So, I suppose you'd like an update of what I've been working on since our last session together?"
Severus intently listened to her, asking a question now and again for specifics on her own investigations until his chain suddenly grew warm. He glanced up in surprise and looked around the pub intently, but before he could track the source it faded again.
"Something wrong, Severus?" Samira asked, watching his behavior curiously.
"I'm not sure," Severus admitted. "Perhaps it's time we moved elsewhere for awhile."
"In that case, we might as well go to the Ministry after all so you can see first hand what I'm talking about," Samira suggested, moving to finish her drink.
"Samira, I hope you don't mind my saying so, but I have never seen anyone down so many meads in one sitting without food and still be as clear as a bell. Either you are taking sobriety potions, or you have the alcohol tolerance of a Claurican," Severus said, earning a laugh in response. "So which is it?"
"All women have their secrets, Severus," Samira said with an enigmatic smile.
Just then, there was a fluttering of wings, and Severus glanced up in time to see an unfamiliar owl hop down from a nearby window and drop a note card that simply had his name on it. Glancing at Samira who simply shrugged, Severus opened it, the words burning away as he read it.
I need to meet with you over a matter of life or death at once in a discreet location. It is vital that you come find me in the Dark Forest, straight behind the Pannage and just past the brook. Come alone and without mentioning my name. T. Craw.
Severus blinked at it in surprise, the note slowly disintegrating as he finished until there was nothing left.
"What was that about?" Samira asked curiously.
"A private matter," Severus said, getting up. "We will have to meet up again later on, it would seem."
"No trouble, Severus, it'll give me time to prepare some files from you," Samira said with a smile.
Severus nodded in response and then stepped out, Apparating to the Pig's Pannage to discourage any attempts from Samira or anyone else from following him before entering the forest. Did this have something to do with whatever it was that happened last night, he wondered, growing more and more worried about what might have happened to Jennifer. Carefully he crossed the stream, wondering how much farther he needed to go until he noticed a small clearing up ahead and decided to head towards it, wondering what the centaurs would say if they noticed him there. No, they were far away from any centaur camps, Severus mused, which is probably why he chose that spot. Then again, why chose anywhere in the Dark Forest at all? Why would he have avoided his office?
Severus was suddenly pulled backward as something got a stranglehold on his neck. His hands went to it in surprise to try and figure out what was happening, his face growing red by the time he realized it was his own cloak strangling him. Finally his new cloak pin snapped, the cloak flying away and causing him to stagger as a second spell hit him full force. His feet felt as if they were sinking into the ground and he quickly realized he had been hit with a binding spell to keep him from Apparating. As he recovered enough to get out his wand, he saw a shadow overhead and glanced up warily to see it was Hastings carrying his cloak away.
"I don't think you'll need that. I'd rather have our chat on even ground," Thomas said calmly, a very cool and collected expression on his face despite the firm grip on his wand.
"I hardly think earthbinding me is putting me on any sort of even ground, Thomas. Exactly what right do you think you have spelling me in the back like that?" Severus snapped.
"The rights of a father, what else?" Thomas said calmly. "I don't want you bolting on me when you hear what I'm here for," he said, pulling a scroll out of his pocket with his left hand, while his wand was still pointed at Severus' head. "And if you're smart, you'll simply do what you're told so we won't have any further unpleasantness."
"The point, Thomas?" Severus sighed. Thomas dropped the scroll, which immediately unrolled and then hovered near Severus, his eyes going wide when he saw it was a dissolution of marriage.
"The point, Severus, is that you are going to sign your name to the bottom of that scroll, or you're going to quickly find yourself in a Wizard's Duel, where I will most likely end up killing you," Thomas said.
"You wouldn't kill me," Severus said evenly. "And I am not ready to sign any divorce papers," he added firmly before turning away.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Severus hit the ground, his eyes even wider as the flash of green soared over where his head had been a second before. Thomas lip twitched.
"Hm, guess I need to get used to this new wand. Not that I won't be destroying it after your death anyhow," Thomas said. "You see, being the Minister of Law Enforcement has given me a new perspective. No one knows the mistakes that murderers make trying to cover their tracks better than I do. They won't be finding your corpse unless I want it found…I rather haven't made up my mind yet if I want it found or not, but I suppose I'll figure that out once you're put down. Sign the paper, or duel. Your choice, Severus."
"What the hell is the matter with you? I'm not doing either!" Severus snapped.
"Then I'll just kill you outright," Thomas said, and immediately another death spell came at Severus and he had to dive again, taking refuge behind a tree.
A moment later, Severus saw a flash and a cloud of thick smoke as the tree he was behind caught on fire, but if he had even a momentary thought of taking advantage of it, it quickly ended when the smoke formed into writhing snakes that began biting him ferociously.
"You'll have to do better than that, poison doesn't affect me," Severus shouted, dissipating them.
"Stop hiding behind trees like a complete coward! I'd rather not cast you in the back again, but I will if a coward's death is what you prefer," Thomas said, standing in the middle of the glen when the last of the smoke dissipated, completely unconcerned about the fact he had no cover. "Now, are you ready to come out and fight like a man? Or have you forgotten how?"
"I don't want to fight you!" Severus snapped. "You are completely overreacting to something that's none of your business in the first place! What happens between Jennifer and myself has nothing to do with you!"
"Oh really? Then allow me to disagree, because I have no intention of letting you to dishonor my daughter or sully the name of Craw with Snape any longer. If you have any decency at all, Snape, you will sign that paper at once, because if not, I'm quite done toying with you and plan to finish this," Thomas said. Severus took a defensive stance then, pointing his wand behind Thomas.
"Accio!" Severus said. Thomas shook his head.
"Want your cloak, do you? Even if you got it back, I assure you any potions inside it are completely ruined, since I sent it to the bottom of the lake," Thomas said. "Not that you'll need it back. Morte acidium!" Immediately Severus started the chant to block the spell, but then became more than a bit surprised when he changed the spell abruptly. "Confrigo!"
Severus fell on his wand to keep the explosion spell from affecting his wand directly, but in the process allowed the remains of the Acidic Eulogy to fall on his back, and had to quickly roll away and protect himself from it getting to his skin while behind him one of the trees exploded. Severus looked up just in time to see it falling towards him, somehow managing to get a levitation spell off to toss it aside before turning on Thomas.
"Reflexus poena!" Severus shouted, but Thomas rolled his eyes, casting a rebound spell that caused it to bounce it directly back at Severus.
"Really, Severus, who do you think it was that taught Jen-girl that spell, anyhow?" Thomas tsked as Severus fought the pain enough to release himself from the spell. "Why don't you just sign the damn paper and get it over with? Cockatrix Videre!"
As Severus moved to block the spell, he immediately knew that something had gone wrong. For Thomas had been carefully watching Severus during the entire fight, knowing each block Severus had reflexively moved into by name and had seen a distinct pattern to his movements. Able to anticipate then what block he would probably use for the stone curse, he had aimed off to the side the Severus was apt to jump to, succeeding in hitting his left shoulder, the spells effects quickly taking hold of his entire arm. But before Severus could think of countering it, Thomas cast at the stone arm itself. "Lapidus ut platina!"
Severus cried out in pain as it felt as if his shoulder was being dislocated from the weight of his arm as it suddenly got heavier and heavier. The stone turned silvery and metallic, and he fell hard on the ground from the weight, feeling his shoulder giving out completely. Before Severus could recover, Thomas had Apparated right over top of him and he felt the pressure of Thomas' boot on the side of his head holding it firmly down against the cold, rocky ground. Thomas then easily pulled Severus' wand out of his hand and stuck a quill in its place, the document floating down helpfully.
"Death or Divorce, Severus," Thomas said with the same cold voice he had had since the beginning. "Choose your course. As long as my daughter is free of you, I don't care which you choose, but choose now, or I will choose for you." Severus shakily raised his hand, Thomas stopping him momentary with a slap of the wand. "With a steady hand, if you don't mind," he said in a steely tone, watching carefully as Severus slowly penned his name on the scroll. "Good, now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Thomas said acidly, grabbing the scroll before finally lifting his foot, tossing Severus' wand well out of range so he would have to work to get out of his predicament. "You didn't deserve her anyhow. Enjoy your life, but stay away from my family from now on if you want to keep it, or next time I won't be so lenient," he warned before finally Disapparating.
After sending Maurice up to his room to play, Jennifer and Fleur spent the morning wrapping presents in the living room, with Fleur doing everything in her power to keep the conversation as light as possible to keep Jennifer from falling into the bouts of depression that had been plaguing her all morning long, especially after she had run into the book she had gotten for Severus, finding she didn't have the strength to wrap it and kept pushing it to the back of the pile. Suddenly, the fireplace shot up on its own, and the two women looked over to see Thomas' face appearing in the flames.
"Jen-girl, I'd like you to join me for lunch in my office, there's something important we need to discuss," Thomas said.
"But Thomas! We still have packages to wrap!" Fleur protested, very glad they had wrapped his first.
"It's no problem, I've cleared my afternoon appointments. Take your time, Jen-girl," he said, the flame rising up briefly before he faded and the flames were back to normal.
"Take my time?" Jennifer said in disbelief, looking over at Fleur who looked just as confused as she was. "Since when?"
"That is not like him at all," Fleur agreed. "It must be something awfully serious, Jennifer. Perhaps you should go on. I can finish up."
"No, I…I'd rather do my own," Jennifer said, quickly pulling Maurice's up to wrap and then tossing a cloth over the others. The cloth instantly drew itself up into a burlap bag and tied itself. "I'll take care of it when I get back."
"All right," Fleur nodded, gazing thoughtfully after her.
Reluctantly, Jennifer went to the Ministry, waving off questions by many of the workers, concerned ex-students, asking if she were all right and even occasionally trying to stop her about the ball itself. But Jennifer paid no attention to them, and because of that fact had actually gotten to her father's office much earlier than usual. But apparently he had no appointments that hour either, for the door was open, and the moment he noticed her he gestured for her to come in.
"Have a seat, Jen-girl. There's tea, coffee, whatever you like, although I recommend the whisky, despite the fact it's not likely to go well with pumpkin butter sandwiches. I have cucumber sandwiches and fried eel sandwiches too though, if you're not in the mood for those," Thomas offered in an unusually cordial tone, the door shutting quietly behind her.
"I take it you've seen Aurelius at some point today," Jennifer said evenly.
"Just hiding my thoughts to protect innocent participants in one of my cases," Thomas said smoothly, gesturing Jennifer to a seat once more. "How about the tea? It's an especially good blend I got from Corey's, believe it or not. Rose designed it; it's supposed to soothe even the most savage of beasts. I think they gave me a free box as a test subject," Thomas chuckled, handing her a cup when she didn't answer.
"Did someone die or something?" Jennifer asked warily, when he held the tray out to her.
"Why, is it that unusual for me to try to make you comfortable?" he asked.
"Yes," Jennifer said flatly. Thomas nodded somberly.
"Yes, it probably is," he agreed. "Well, I suppose the good news is…or the bad news, depending on how you look at it, is that nobody's dead. The bad news is, whether he wants to admit to it or not, that I think you're right in that there's probably something going on between Severus and Samira." Jennifer nodded slowly. "How do you feel about that?" he asked quietly.
"I'd rather not think about it," Jennifer said curtly.
"Well, you're going to have to sooner or later, Jen-girl," Thomas said seriously. "And I think for the sake of everyone involved, including the children, the sooner you deal with it the better."
"Deal with it? I don't even understand it!" Jennifer said, pushing her hair back and then felt tears welling up again and shook her head. "It's not like I can really do anything about it, is there? He's obviously done with me, so there really isn't much else to say."
"Good, I'm glad you're at least established that much," Thomas said, getting in a drawer. "In fact, after what happened last night, I decided to find out where he was and have a chat with him, and after a long heartfelt discussion, he has come to agree. That being the case, I think it's time you finalized this so you can safely move on now, don't you?" Jennifer frowned at him.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, watching as he rolled out the scroll. "What do you mean by finalizing it?"
"Signing the divorce papers, what else?" Thomas said, Jennifer jumping out of her seat, horrified. "Don't worry, I stayed up all night and made sure all the bases are covered…you'll remain Lucky's guardian, and there's a clause stating he won't kick any of your children out of the Baker Street House because of the estrangement…the vaults were a little tricky because you both had your names put on all of them, but I think we can at least get his name off the children's trusts vaults easy enough…oh, and I put in a clause that states that he gives permission for Lucky to change her name to Craw if she prefers as well."
"But this is insane! No matter what Severus has done, I don't want a divorce!" Jennifer said.
"You might as well sign it, Jen-girl, as you can plainly see, he already has," Thomas said calmly. Alarmed, Jennifer glanced at the document, pushing it open and staring at the name in complete disbelief. "It's a valid signature, Jennifer, run any test you like on it, but I was there when he signed it." Jennifer slowly turned and stared fixedly at her father, but he simply returned it with a steady gaze.
"You said you had a talk to him…what exactly did you say?" Jennifer asked.
"I didn't say I had a talk. We had a chat," Thomas said easily.
"Followed by a heartfelt discussion. Was that with or without a wand, Dad?"
"I haven't even touched my wand since before the Yule Ball on yesterday, Jen-girl. Please don't drag me into this. It was Severus' decision to sign the papers, and I think for your own sake you really ought to just sign it and get it over with," Thomas said.
"Not until I know whatever it is you are hiding from me!" Jennifer snapped. Thomas sighed.
"What I am or am not hiding has nothing to do with anything. The fact of the matter is that Severus has left you and is obviously seeking other sources of comfort, and it's futile not to sign it when as of today your marriage to him is completely meaningless."
"No!" Jennifer shouted angrily, slamming down her cup and breaking it. Thomas sighed at the tea on his table, moving the scroll out of the way. "Maybe it is to you! Maybe it even is to him! But it still means something to me, and I'm not signing it!"
"Jen-girl," Thomas sighed, cleaning the spill and putting the scroll back on the table. "You are not being reasonable here. Severus has already signed the paper, and naturally assumes that you are probably going to sign it as well. He thinks he is a free man now, away from any guilt or obligations and he is going to be wont to take advantage of that freedom. If he had any restraint before, he certainly has no reason to have any now. If you don't sign this paper, you will only succeed in dishonoring the family, you'll be making yourself a laughing stock while your husband tramps around as much as he likes as you turn a blind eye to it!"
"I don't care!" Jennifer shouted angrily, her eyes full of tears. "I don't care about your precious honor or anything else! If he wants a divorce, fine! But he's going to have to come face to face with me with all his stupid mental blocks down and tell me that himself if he ever wants to see my name on that paper, and until then, I'm not signing it!"
"You are not leaving this room without signing that paper, Jen-girl!" Thomas said, taking out his wand threateningly. Jennifer stared at him coldly.
"Then you're just going to have to kill me, Dad, because honestly, I'd rather die as his wife than live one minute as his ex," Jennifer said before walking out the door and slamming it behind her. Thomas sat back down at his desk with the scroll still in his hand broodingly. If only their choices had been reversed, Thomas mused. Perhaps he would have had a bit more hope for the situation than he did at that moment.
Angrily, Jennifer returned home without a word to Fleur or Maurice as she stormed into the living room, but the two of them had seen such a look on Thomas' face and knew it was best just to leave her alone. She wrapped each of her gifts…Severus' first of all…before finally retreating to her room, slamming the door, and bursting into uncontrollable tears.
A few minutes later she heard a painful violin note and glanced up at the picture of an Irish countryside where the portrait of Severus stood, gazing at her concernedly.
"Oh, go away! I don't even want to see you right now! Isn't it bad enough that you tore my heart out that you now have to dissect it further? I can't do this anymore! I just can't bear it! He's done with me, really truly done…I'm so scared, Severus! I'm just so very scared!" Jennifer said bursting into tears again. Clenching his fists in anger at having to see her in such a state, the portrait of Severus stormed out of the painting. Jennifer was too upset to notice, her eyes full of tears to be aware that a second figure had slipped into the painting behind him and was even now gazing at her with icy blue eyes full of sympathy and concern.
"Jennifer," a gentle voice called out to her, and at first she didn't recognize it over the sounds of her own sobs, thinking at first it was someone outside the door. "Jennifer, can you hear me?" the voice asked again, and she looked up at last to see the portrait of Merlin in the frame. "Come to the shop, Jennifer. Come to Toby's," he said coaxingly as she focused in on him, her tears quickly subsiding on their own. Finally she forced herself to stand, and the painting walked back out again. She had nothing to lose by going over there now, even though she couldn't bring herself to dare to hope he had any solutions to her current dilemma. With a heavy but determined heart, Jennifer took only a moment to wash her face before hurrying down the stairs and out the back door.
