Chapter 54
Foras Admonitio

"Derik?"

Derik groaned, pulling a spare pillow over and covering his head with it.

"Come on, Derik!" The voice said with slightly amused impatience.

The pillow was pulled away. "Bugger off!" Derik muttered piteously, covering his face with his arm in an attempt to block out the overabundance of light that assaulted him.

There was a sigh, then a warm body settled against his back and an arm slipped around him, holding him. "Please, Derik. It's important."

Derik took a deep breath, then sighed it out, resigning to the fact that no more sleep would be had any time soon. He shuffled himself around, slipping his arms around him and pulling him close, "What's so urgent, little shite?" He muttered affectionately.

"You said you wanted to meet Jeremy. Said you'd see if there was anything you could do...?"

Derik blinked his eyes open, squinting against the brightness to look at Kevin's imploring face. "Ya. Sure. Why does it have to be at the crack of dawn, though?"

Kevin sighed, "I'm worried about him."

Derik closed his eyes, watching Kevin's memories of the night before as they flitted past. "Bloody Hell." he muttered.

Kevin was so used to Derik's abilities he knew without asking that his thoughts had come across. All his life all he'd ever had to do was think something 'loudly' and Derik had known it. Perhaps it was just that they shared blood, but Derik had always said he could read Kevin better than anyone else. Even better than their mother, actually. "It's just..." Kevin began tentatively, "He's always down on himself, and still mourning his father and step-brother... but despite that, he's never shown any signs of being self-destructive. I don't know why he was seized by this sudden urge to end it all and it's got me scared. He promised he wouldn't do anything, but I'm afraid if I'm not right there with him the urge might take him again."

"It's probably my fault." Derik sighed.

"Your fault?!?" Kevin asked incredulously, "How could it possibly be your fault?"

"Let's just say that yesterday I gave the students a little nudge..." Derik admitted, "The magically induced urge to better prepare themselves. I just didn't realize what it might do to a student of the firm belief he would stand no chance because of physical disabilities. His weakness probably made him far more susceptible than the other students, but his lack of ability to do as the urges told him to obviously caused serious issues. He has no illusions that there is anything he can do to better prepare himself, so the intent obviously backfired with him." He sighed and let go of Kevin, heaving himself up into a sitting position, "I'll neutralize it and see what else I can do." He said, rubbing his temples to try to get them to stop aching so fiercely.

Kevin sat up, staring at Derik incredulously. Derik almost never got hangovers! He looked around and spotted no less than four firewhiskey bottles laying about, only one having any left in it (though even that was only a few swallows worth). "What happened?" He asked, looking over at Derik in concern.

"Nothing." Derik muttered.

Kevin spotted a wadded up bit of parchment on the floor and went over, picking it up and straightening it out enough to read. "Who's Elijah Conners?"

"It doesn't matter. Throw it away." Derik grumbled morosely, getting up and going over to his wardrobe.

"You were trying to get someone's kid?!?" Kevin asked in bewilderment, looking up at Derik.

"I was trying to save a little boy from growing up with a heartless bitch who doesn't even want him, let alone love him. Don't worry, though. As you can see from the letter her representative was nice enough to send me, I haven't a chance in Hell. I'd hoped she would give him to me if I signed an agreement to support him myself and sign over the living stipend disbursements, and the bulk of the estate when he was of age to receive it... but she's adamant that she's going to keep him, so that's that. Not like any administrator in his right mind would take a child from his mother and hand him over to a completely unrelated single man with a dangerous job."

"Wow... he got pretty nasty towards the end about what he thought of you even asking for the kid..." Kevin muttered, scanning down the barely veiled aspersions about what the representative thought Derik wanted a little boy for.

"Pitch it!" Derik growled, though the flash of anger didn't appear directed at Kevin.

Kevin quickly wadded it back up and tossed it in the waste bin. "Sorry." He muttered. It was easy to tell (even without seeing the evidence of the little drinking binge) that this was hitting Derik hard.

"It was ridiculous to even entertain the notion that I had a chance." Derik muttered darkly. "I'd like to be able to say he'll probably be better off... but harpies would be more nurturing than that bitch!" He yanked the T-shirt on rather irritably, then sighed it out, "Anyway, no sense dwelling on what'll never be. Let's see about your boyfriend, shall we?"

Kevin nodded, "He's waiting in the other room."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Hermione drifted slowly awake, a little smile slipping over her lips. Snape was spooned up against her back, his arm draped over her side. She breathed deeply, the smell of him surrounding her. She kept her eyes shut, imagining it was years in the future... the war was over, they were married and everyone accepted it. They didn't have to hide. They didn't have to pretend not to even like each other just to keep from being killed.

Her smile faded at the thought. That was really what it came down to. When she wormed her way into his bed, she was putting his life at risk. By this point there was really no question in her mind that she was completely and utterly in love with this man. The thought of something happening to him, and it being entirely her fault... how could she have let her hormones lead her to taking such a risk? Her heart ached and she shifted forward a bit to put some distance between them.

The shift in position was a bad move. A sickening wave of nausea swept over her. She quickly scrambled out of the bed and ran for the bathroom. She barely made it in time, bruising her knee a bit from the feel of it as she dropped down beside the toilet, retching. It took a few rather wretched minutes before her stomach settled back down. She waited another minute, shifting her weight around a bit experimentally, but her stomach appeared to be done. She got up a bit shakily and flushed, then went over to the sink, washing her face well and rinsing out her mouth. She found a bottle of mouthwash and used a bit, hoping he wouldn't mind. It was sharply mint flavored in a vaguely amusingly Muggle way. She spit it down the drain, but the flavor seemed to help a bit, the residue in her mouth settling her stomach a bit better as some made its way down there. It didn't do anything for her head, though. It felt a bit muggy. She wasn't sure if it had been like that unnoticed before, or if the strain of her retching had just started giving her a headache.

She shivered, becoming aware of how cold it was there under ground, surrounded by cold stone. Walking about without a stitch here was rather daft. She hurried back into the bedroom, then paused when she saw Snape sitting up on the side of the bed. She pulled her eyes away from him, trying to ignore how amazing he looked sitting there with nothing but a bit of sheet draped across him. She hurried over, climbing up onto the bed beside him, then hugging her knees to her.

He saw her shiver and pulled over a blanket, draping it around her. She cuddled into it gratefully.

"You alright?" Snape asked with concern.

Hermione sighed, "Just a touch hung over I suspect." She muttered, feeling like a real lightweight. Snape didn't look hung over at all!

Snape nodded sympathetically, "Somehow I suspect David downplayed the cognitive impact of his wine." He said a bit ruefully.

Hermione blushed, but nodded. She'd definitely been a bit out of it the night before. She'd like to think she wouldn't have been so utterly wanton without alcoholic prompting.

"You feeling better now, or do you think you need a potion?" He asked gently.

She blushed, realizing he'd heard her in the bathroom. She quickly shook her head. "No. I think the worst of it has passed. My head's still a bit fuzzy, but it doesn't hurt really."

"Good." Snape replied.

They sat there in somewhat awkward silence for a time.

It was obvious he wanted to talk to her, and she was sure it was to confirm yet again that this was the absolute last time anything like this was going to happen. Hermione just didn't want to hear it. It was bad enough knowing it had to be the last time... hearing him saying it did nothing but increase the pain of their parting.

She quickly got up when he finally opened his mouth, having found the words he was looking for. "Can I use your shower?" She asked before he could speak, "I'm freezing and I'd love to get warmed up a bit before I go."

He blinked in surprise. "Of course." He replied.

"If you'd be kind enough to gather my clothes for me, I can be out of your way in short order once I'm done." She said, shrugging off the blanket and getting up, not glancing back as she made her way back into the bathroom.

Snape just gave a deep sigh as she shut the bathroom door behind her, then got up, starting to gather her things.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

McGonagall knocked again, her patience getting a bit worn. Why did he never answer his door in a reasonable amount of time? She was sure he did it just to annoy her. Her eyes widened in surprise when the finally door opened.

"Yes?" Kevin asked, standing there in nothing but his trousers.

"I... I came to speak with Professor Biddles." She said, thrown a bit by the unexpected sight.

"He's in the bedroom. I'll get him." Kevin said, turning and walking off in that direction.

McGonagall blushed slightly, glancing around before slipping in and closing the door behind her. By the time she reached the bedroom door she could hear low voices talking inside. She pushed the door hesitantly open and the voices ceased.

"You really have to stop dropping in unexpectedly." Derik said as he rose from where he was sitting on the side of the bed.

McGonagall stared in shock at the thin boy laid out asleep on his stomach on the bed, the towel draped across him obviously the only thing he was wearing. Derik shoved her out the door ahead of him, his hand clamping over her mouth. He looked back, watching until Kevin closed the door behind them before releasing her.

"Just what in Merlin's name do you think you are doing, Mr. Biddles?" She demanded, backing away from him and brushing her clothes to straighten them a bit nervously.

"That's Jeremy Beals in there." Derik growled at her, "In case you've somehow forgotten, he's very sensitive to angry, shrew-like female voices, and I know all too well how shrill your voice can get, especially when your mind is trawling in the gutter like it's currently doing!"

Her mouth dropped open, then she quickly shut it. "Perhaps you would like to give me some kind of reasonable explanation for what I just saw in there then." She said primly.

Derik folded his arms over his chest irritably, "I'm trying to help him. You people are horribly overmedicating that poor boy, and by doing so easily cutting his life expectancy in half!"

Her cheeks flushed. "And how exactly is having him naked on your bed helping matters?"

"It's called pressure points and massage therapy. I was just teaching Kevin how to help him without having to resort to drugging him constantly." He shifted forward, dropping his voice, "And I would never touch my brother like that and I deeply resent the accusation!"

"I never said..." She began, taken aback.

"You didn't have to and we both know it." Derik said darkly, "As for Jeremy, well why wouldn't I do everything in my power to help him? I love my little brother, and the entirety of my little brother's future happiness is dependent on the well being of that fragile boy in there."

McGonagall found her jaw dropping in shock once more, "You mean..." she began.

"They're in love, and anyone who tries to separate them will have me to deal with!" Derik shot back.

"But he can't possibly..."

"They're not shagging. Not that they wouldn't love to, but Kevin would never do anything to hurt that boy. I would think that would have been covered by the whole 'he's in love with him' statement."

McGonagall took a deep breath, obviously trying to bite back her intense irritation at his unwillingness to let her even get a sentence out. Even if he was reading her mind, he could at least have the common curtesy to pretend he wasn't!

"Just spit it out then." Derik said impatiently.

She glared at him. "That young man in there has far too much to be worrying about as it is without a romantic complication to deal with. He has Ministry ordered exams he needs to be studying for, and they're overdue as it is. They were supposed to send someone this last week and we have yet to hear from anyone, so as you can imagine he's a bit emotionally overwrought about that..." She trailed off in irritation as he rolled his eyes and nodded in an impatient manner.

"Yes, yes. I quizzed him while we were working on him. It was much easier for him to answer the questions while he was relaxed. I've also already apologized to him for being late."

She blinked in surprise, "You mean you..."

He let out a snort. "You really think they're going to waste their time sending another Ministry employee when they have one on site? Rest assured he passed with flying colors and there is no way that boy is going to be hauled off to a mental facility any time soon."

"Oh..." She said, stunned.

"You're welcome." He said.

She looked introspective, then tentatively opened her mouth.

"It's not you." He grumbled with irritable resignation. "I just had a really bad night and you happened to hit on a sore spot. Sorry if I took my frustrations out on you."

She took a deep breath and sighed it out.

"It's fine. Forget it." He muttered, then wandered towards the door, "Not to be rude, but I'm really not in the proper mood for company right now."

She sighed and followed him to the door.

He opened it and leaned against it, looking over at her and giving her a wane smile. "Besides, you don't have your chaperone with you. What will others think?" He said in a lightly teasing voice.

"I didn't expect to be coming in. I actually just came about your unscheduled departure from the grounds last night." She said, watching his face.

He sighed. "I'll be sure to tell you next time."

"Yes... well... see that you do. I have other matters to attend to." She said with resignation.

Derik blinked in surprise, watching her as she made her way down the corridor. He'd never expected her to drop it that easily, but then she had other things on her mind that were troubling her. His eyes went wide as he picked up the thoughts. "Bloody Hell!" He muttered, hurrying back into his room.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"We should test it." Hermione said nervously, eyeing the ring. She certainly didn't want to depend entirely on this little bit of metal on faith alone!

"Very well, but we need to get going. Breakfast has already begun. I'll go out with you so no one will think it odd if they should see my door opening." He turned his back and she slipped the ring on. When he turned back, she appeared to be gone. He looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. He focused his attention, scouring the room slowly with his eyes. It only took him a moment to locate her. He couldn't see her, but when he was paying close attention he noticed when his eyes sped up when scanning a particular spot though he tried to remain consistant. It was obviously the ring pushing his focus away from her, just as designed. "It's a very good one. Very hard to detect. If I didn't know for certain you were here, I would have no clue. Just remember not to talk to anyone! Including me!" He said quickly, "And walk softly. I wouldn't be able to hear it if you were speaking to someone else also under the Aversion charm, but the sounds of your feet on the stone floor might still be audible. It's a common flaw in such charms."

Hermione nodded, then felt completely daft for it, glad he couldn't see. Now that she was invisible to him, she felt safe enough to pull out the Marauder's map. She had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from letting out a squeak of alarm. She grabbed his arm and pushed him towards the door.

He let out an irritable breath at being rushed, but moved ahead, opening the door as he pulled his robe on. Hermione scampered out, and pressed against the far wall as McGonagall narrowly missed her.

"Oh, Severus." McGonagall said, "I was just coming to see you."

Snape's eyes darted up in surprise and his cheeks flushed ever so slightly. "Is something the matter?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

She took a deep breath and let it slowly out. "I hear David Friedman paid you a visit last night."

Snape folded his arms across his chest, "He does that on a rather regular basis. Dumbledore is aware of the visits and has never had a problem with them."

"I didn't come here concerning him specifically..." She took another deep breath. "Some of the students are... curious. It seems Miss Granger was seen with him yesterday and she apparently went off to have dinner with him and has not been seen since. Considering where you and Mr. Friedman usually dine, I find this a bit... troubling." She said carefully, her eyes glancing past him into the open door to his chambers.

"Just what exactly are you insinuating?" Snape asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I know where she is."

Hermione started in surprise, finding Derik no more than three paces to her side, leaning against the wall, staring directly at her and neatly blocking her path. His eyes darted over to McGonagall as the woman turned to see who was speaking.

"Mr. Biddles?" She asked in surprise.

"I know exactly where she is at this very moment." He said.

"Well, do enlighten us." McGonagall prompted.

Hermione was so terrified she thought she might pass out! It was blatantly obvious the Aversion charm was doing nothing to hide her from Derik. Whatever was he going to do?!? Turn her in?!?

"It's entirely my fault." He said with a penitent sigh. "I'm sorry. When I came to return a book I'd borrowed from Severus last night he was just on his way out to escort her to the Potion's lab for her detention. When I heard he had a guest, I offered to escort her myself. I left her there with instructions to clean all of the test tubes without using magic, and said I'd be back when her detention was over to get all of the wards back in place and all... but I got a piece of post, and... to say I was upset would be vastly understating it. I went into town and got some liquor, brought it back to my room and got completely wasted. I'm sorry to say, I completely forgot about Miss Granger until just a few minutes ago. I caught your thoughts on the matter and I suddenly remembered and realized what had happened and knew I had to hurry over here before anyone got needlessly insulted. Miss Granger would never have left the Potion's room unguarded, especially after that nasty little incident that happened last time. I wager she's still waiting in the Potion's room as we speak, probably fast asleep, surrounded by sparkling clean test tubes."

McGonagall looked at him in stunned silence for a moment, then looked at Snape. "Is this true?"

"David brought her for dinner as his guest. I objected, but I'm sure you know full well how much difference that makes to David. As to what happened after she left... well I'll just have to take Professor Biddles' word for it. I had no idea she was left all night or I certainly would have gone and dismissed her and closed up the classroom myself." Snape said evenly.

"Whatever could have been so bad that you would leave a student unattended in a classroom all night?" McGonagall asked in obvious disbelief as she returned her gaze to Derik.

Derik dropped his eyes, then took a deep breath and sighed it out before looking back up at Snape. "You remember me mentioning Elijah Conners?"

Snape furrowed his brow, thinking. "Wasn't that the boy..." He said uncertainly.

Derik nodded, "The one who's father was just killed. The one I was trying to adopt. I got a letter from his mother's representative. I haven't a chance in Hell of getting him. The representative also said some things... some rather infuriating things... questioning my reasons for wanting him in the first place..." He said, shifting his eyes over to McGonagall, "Which is why I got so mad when you started thinking the exact same things about me. Is it really so far fetched that a single man would want to take care of a young boy without there being some disgusting, sinister reasoning behind it?!?"

She blushed and dropped her eyes, then opened her mouth.

"Don't." He said with resignation, "Seriously, forget about it. I just wanted to tell you where Miss Granger was and apologize for my lapse in judgment." He shifted away from the wall, going over to lean against the opposite wall closer to McGonagall. "This could get sticky and I'm sorry about that. If you want to diffuse this before any rumors start up, just go up and mention something about where she is near Potter and Weasley. I'm certain they will follow you down, and once they see she's innocently sleeping in the classroom I'm sure they'll dismiss it entirely. If they want someone to blame, I take full responsibility."

"Well..." McGonagall said softly, "I suppose that would be best." She looked over at Snape reluctantly, obviously about to apologize.

Snape held up his hand to stop her. "No need to apologize. You were merely concerned for one of your students."

She gave him a grateful little smile and started towards the stairs.

Once her back was to him, Derik fished around in his pocket, then tossed a little bottle to Hermione. She was so surprised she nearly didn't catch it. She looked at it curiously, turning it around until she spotted a tiny label that read 'odor neutralizing spray'. She sniffed her sleeve and blushed, realizing she smelled rather strongly of Snape, despite her shower. The fact that she'd used his towel probably hadn't helped!

"Hurry along." Derik called after McGonagall, "You need to nip those rumors in the bud before they get going good."

McGonagall glanced back and nodded, looking a bit perplexed as to why he felt the need to reiterate that, but hurried off.

Derik let out an impatient sigh, folding his arms across his chest and tilting his head significantly, gazing straight over at Hermione.

She started in surprise, realizing the prompt was really for her, and hurried off as quickly and quietly as she could towards the Potions classroom.

Snape eyed Derik for a long moment, then gestured towards his door, "Would you mind stepping in for a moment? I'd like to have a word." He said evenly.

"Sure." Derik said with a grin, strolling in.

Snape followed him in, then closed the door behind them. He eyed him in silence for a long moment before speaking. "I suppose I owe you."

Derik grinned broadly but then waved it off. "Na. I just love to dupe the old girl."

Snape folded his arms across his chest again, a bit uncomfortable with this. Derik had to want something in return for his help. People didn't do something like that for nothing! "How did you even know...?" He asked suspiciously.

"Her mind's a open book." Derik said with a shrug. "When she stopped by to throw a wobbler about me leaving the grounds last night without 'permission', I saw in her mind that Hermione had gone missing and she suspected she'd gone to your room. Figured you could use someone to ride in and rescue you."

Snape furrowed his brow. "So you 'heard' Hermione was missing and might be with me and you just assumed that it was true."

"Well, considering she was standing right there looking guilty as Hell, it wasn't too much of a leap." Derik said with a shrug.

"She was hidden by an Aversion charm. How could you have seen her?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"Well, that explains why McGonagall was standing there right next to her and couldn't see her. I figured it was probably something like that. Aversion charms don't work on me."

"How is that possible?"

Derik shrugged, "Just another of the many weird quirks that make up the bizarre tapestry that is me." Derik said mirthfully, giving his shoulder a little playful shrug.

"Indeed." Snape said slowly. "Still, you wouldn't have seen her until you got all the way here..."

Derik shrugged. "Come along... knowing you two were together made a pretty safe bet. I mean she's a Virgo, so I knew you two were most likely still going at it. Virgo's aren't in to one night stands." Derik said with a smirk.

Snape let out a derisive snort, "You don't honestly believe in that Astrological pap, do you?"

"Well, perhaps you're right." Derik said reasonably, "I'm sure her sign has absolutely no bearing on her personality. I mean the traits of Virgos are so general they could probably describe anyone really. Let's see... they are intelligent, analytical, observant, reliable, honest, independent, tend to have good memories and excel at researching and problem solving... but they're also skeptical and interfering, their own worst critics, prone to living in denial, tend to feel the need to analyze all the facts thoroughly before making a decision, they are often unpredictable and temperamental, they're prudish, they are secretly very sensitive and have a deep seated need to feel needed and helpful, but also need to feel appreciated for what they do, they're born worriers... not to mention being well known for defying convention in matters of the heart. On the up side, sex with Virgos gets better and better as time goes on as you earn their trust. Of course, if anyone ever gets close enough to them to get them to fall in love... well, they're single-mindedly dedicated and loyal to the end. That's why I, myself, don't tend to do Virgos that often. They're lovely and intense, don't get me wrong, but they usually want more in the way of a relationship than I'm prepared to offer." Derik paused, eyeing Snape before adding, "Of course I'm sure you're right. It's ridiculous to think the timing of your birth has any bearing on who you grow to be."

"Did your visit have a point?" Snape asked shortly.

"Other than saving your arse? No, not really." Derik said with a shrug. He moved closer to Snape, patting him on the shoulder. "Seriously, if you ever need help thinking up a good cover story or need an alibi, I'm your man."

"Why?" Snape asked with unconcealed suspicion.

Derik sighed and shrugged, his mirth fading. "To be honest... because sometimes it feels like my existence is futile, so it feels good to just do things for people... to actually feel like it matters if I'm here or not."

Much to Snape's surprise, there was a sad honesty in Derik's eyes when he said that.

"Besides," Derik said with a little smile, "As strange as it may be, I think you two are good together. I think she'll be good for you."

"We aren't in a relationship." Snape said firmly, then quickly held his hand up to fend off the inevitable smart-ass reply. "We made a mistake. It was a slip, I admit it, but we've discussed it and it is completely over."

"And you're sure she knows that?" Derik asked, eyeing him.

"She is a very intelligent girl. She knows what is at stake. The risks to both of us are far too high. A relationship between us would be a huge and insanely dangerous mistake. She understands that." Snape said evenly.

Derik nodded thoughtfully. "I noticed you insist that it's too dangerous and not a good idea... but you never said you didn't want to be together."

"Do you seriously require me to spell it out for you?" Snape asked impatiently.

Derik grinned, "Nice evasion. No, please don't. I prefer not to force people to lie to me. Don't worry though. I happen to know that that particular little Virgo is completely in love with you, so I wager she'll wait for you. Virgos are patient and do not give up without a fight!"

"You're being utterly ridiculous." Snape muttered, glaring at him.

Derik sighed. "I know you're probably not going to believe this... but I really, honestly want you to be happy."

"And why on earth would you want that?" Snape asked.

Derik shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe it's just my selfish desire to live vicariously through you. Do you have any idea what I'd give to be like you?"

"Like me?" Snape asked, furrowing his brow and trying to figure out if this was a ploy or simply leading to an insult.

Derik dropped his eyes, his voice going soft, "To be able to fall in love and not have something horrific happen. You can get married and have kids and wake up every morning next to the woman you love. I'd give just about anything for that. I don't know... maybe that's why I want children so badly. Platonic love is the only love this bloody curse allows me. Sorry... I fear this thing with Eli has got me feeling a bit melancholy."

Snape stared at him in shock. There were tears threatening in the young man's eyes and if he was lying he was far better liar than Snape had given him credit for. "What curse?"

Derik let out a little rueful laugh, scrubbing the moisture from his eye with the heel of his hand before it had a chance to escape. "Please! We both know young Mr. Malfoy has told you all about it by now."

"Mr. Malfoy has not told me a single thing about you." Snape said slowly, "Care to let me in on it?"

Derik blinked at him in surprise, searching his face for a long moment before letting out a rueful breath. "He really didn't, did he? I thought sure..." He took a breath and sighed it out, "I obviously underestimated him."

"Most people do." Snape replied, "What exactly is this curse called?"

Derik let out a sigh, looking very uncomfortable. "Just forget I said anything. I've got to finish up with Jeremy and get over to the Ministry. Adrian is expecting me."

"Perhaps I can see if there's any way to break it." Snape persisted.

"There isn't, so I thank you for your concern, but don't waste your time." Derik said briskly with a bitter edge to his voice.

Snape watched him, all the more curious about this strange young man as he slipped out the door.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The skies were as gray and unsettled as his mood as Derik made his way onto the training field. From the look of it, theirs was the only group using it today. Not surprising given the weather and the fact that it was a Sunday. Not exactly prime training time. He saw Adrian coming from the small building that housed the locker room and showers, decked out in a full set of training gear. Adrian almost never even bothered to don his gear, as was evident from the fact that it still looked practically new despite being at least ten years old. He was undoubtedly just trying to make himself look bigger and more imposing to the new recruits. Derik had never once seen the man do any actual training. That would give others the chance to best him, which he would never allow!

Derik looked around, searching for the new recruits that were supposed to be there today. Joslyn was easy to spot, her willowy figure standing out a bit, especially in that tight little leather outfit she was wearing. No wonder the other men had been playing grab-ass with her! The training gear was obviously a bit more stylish where she came from! She might not have much in the way of 'womanly attributes', but what she had was on fine display in that get-up! His eyes next travelled over to the person she was talking to. Obviously one of the newbies. It was hard to tell at this distance if it was a man or a woman. His first impression was male, considering the breadth of the shoulders and the narrowness of the hips... but some of that could be the effects of the padding of the training suit he supposed. The single long, thick braid of hair that hung down several inches past the small of the back, and the fluid grace with which the person moved when shifting would almost make him think female. Then again, perhaps not. It wasn't quite feminine grace... but he couldn't quite put his finger on just what to call it.

His curiosity peaked, he was just about to head over when Adrian came up to him. "Would you look at that?" Adrian grumbled. "Bad enough they saddled us with junior over there," He said, nodding towards another young man that Derik hadn't spotted yet who was standing over near the wall, talking to Hutchins, who appeared to be the only other established member of the unit who wasn't lounging on the spectator benches set up for classes. Douglas and Parnell actually appeared to be playing a game of cards, and Jaspers was, thankfully, nowhere to be seen. The young recruit didn't look more than perhaps eighteen or nineteen. Rather attractive, dark haired and obviously (even from half way across the field) very enthusiastic about his placement. Adrian hated youthful enthusiasm. "But now it looks as if they've stuck us with another skirt!"

"You sure it's a woman?" Derik said, squinting over at the person in question once more.

"What self respecting man would have hair down to his arse?" Adrian said with a derisive snort. "An 'aristocratic mane' that brushes just past the shoulders is one thing... hair that long and done up in a braid? Definitely a skirt."

Derik could point out that Dumbledore's hair was a bit longer than that, but he didn't feel like opening up the subject and having to listen to the man slandering Dumbledore. "Didn't they give you files on the new recruits?" He asked, glancing back over at Adrian. He was well familiar with Adrian's aversion for the written word.

Adrian huffed a bit irritably and fished around in his (ridiculously over-accessorized) training garb, finally coming up with some paperwork. "Let's see... I believe this is the boy... one Thomas Warner. He's a first year recruit!" He hissed, sounding thoroughly scandalized that such a young man had been placed in his unit.

"And the other?" Derik prompted when Adrian just stood there, glaring at the offending papers and obviously planning out a tactful tirade for his next chat with Fudge.

Adrian snapped out of it, flipping through the pages. "Aha. See!" He said, handing over the pages and poking a finger at the name at the top. "Morgan Jude Grayson. Told you it was a skirt!"

"Both Morgan and Jude can be either male or female, you know." Derik mentioned, scanning down the page. With all of the useless information on the form, had no one ever truly thought to put a simple gender box?!? How the Ministry had gotten along so long with such shoddy paperwork was beyond him.

"Please! A man named Morgan Jude?" Adrian scoffed.

"Is there a problem with my name?" A deep, but oddly silky voice asked.

They both looked over, seeing the person in question no more than two meters away. He came to a stop and looked them over in a way that made it obvious he was analysing their fighting potential. Derik was dead shocked he'd managed to sneak up on him unnoticed. A cow wearing a bell could sneak up on Adrian, but Derik was usually much harder to surprise. His eyes slid down Morgan. Male without a single doubt, but he moved in a way that was... Derik didn't know how to describe it... fluid... graceful... he would almost call it preternatural ease. There was no doubt in his mind that this man could handle himself... and anyone daft enough to take him on.

"Derik Biddles." Derik said with a smile, offering his hand, "Welcome to the unit."

Morgan eyed them both, then slowly reached out, giving Derik's hand a brief shake before releasing it.

His hand was cool from the chill air, but very strong. Not that he'd tried to crush Derik's hand like some men might, to give the impression of being stronger... the opposite actually... the man seemed to clasp his hand gently, as if afraid he'd hurt him if he wasn't careful. Derik looked him over curiously. He looked about thirty to thirty five, though Derik wasn't sure. There was just something about him that made placing his age difficult. He was slightly taller than Derik, but not by more than an inch or so... though his physical presence made it feel oddly like Derik was facing a much larger man. Despite the decently broad shoulders, the man's chest was shallow, his frame thin and wiry. His ethnicity was hard to pin down as well. Upon closer inspection, the man's hair appeared to be done up in oddly smooth dreadlocks, each pencil thin along the sides, slightly thicker ones on top, but all very even and very neat, not a single stray hair to be seen. He couldn't even pinpoint a color really. The hair was mottled, almost appearing patterned. Mostly shades of brown all the way from an almost black-brown to tan and traces of white and bright yellow, but with odd little hints of burgundy and even shades of green as well. The coloring even seemed to trail down onto his skin. The man's base skin tone was a light olive, but the scalp between the dreads matched the hair. There was even a thin edging around his face where the darker color seemed to bleed out up to almost a half inch or so before blending seamlessly into his normal skin tone. He had somewhat thin, high arched eyebrows, rather larger than normal eyes which Derik couldn't believe he'd only just noticed were a light citron color with slit-pupils like a cat's. His nose was narrow, but otherwise rather ordinary, his lips fuller, but the mouth rather narrower than expected. One thing that struck Derik as a bit odd was his neck. It was relatively normal, but just a bit thicker and more muscular than looked proportionally expected, especially on a man with such a thin frame. His uniform, though of a different cut than Derik was used to, was relatively standard looking. Derik could only surmise the braid must be for training purposes, to keep the hair out of the way. He would point out that it provided the enemy with a convenient handhold, but he doubted this man needed tactical advice. He wished he could probe his mind... but it felt odd... different from other people's. There was also a soft undertone he'd never encountered before. It was like whispering, but far too much to be coming from one person. It was like being in a crowded room where everyone was whispering softly. Derik decided it must be a defense. A mental ward of some kind... like white noise to cover his thoughts and give people the creeps enough to keep them from poking around where they weren't wanted. Well, it was working!

"Unfortunately, I probably won't be seeing much of you." Derik said with a hint of regret, and he meant it. This man might give off an almost dangerous vibe, and his mind was something that creeped Derik out more than just a bit, but he found him oddly intriguing for some reason. Perhaps it was just that there were so few people he couldn't read well. He kind of liked the quiet. Adrian, on the other hand, was thinking rather loud, boorish thoughts about this man. "I've been assigned a teaching position at Hogwarts for the time being. Oh, um, that's a local school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." he quickly added, remember that this man was an import... though from where he couldn't yet fathom. He wanted to peruse the paperwork to find it out without having to ask, but felt it would be rude to do that right in front of him. Adrian, however, didn't seem to have any such compunctions. He snagged the paperwork back and began looking it over.

Morgan gave a slight nod. "Yes. I am aware of the school, and I am also aware of your current assignment. I do my research before entering a situation." He said, putting an ever-so-slight emphasis on the word 'before', his eyes flicking over to Adrian for the briefest moment.

Derik grinned, noting the subtle jab, though of course Adrian was as oblivious as usual, ignoring the man as he looked over the papers. He let out a little contemptuous snort, then glanced up, realizing that they were watching him. He shoved the papers back away. "Adrian Cornfoot. I'll be your commanding officer." He said, offering his hand, though there was obviously no enthusiasm in the gesture.

Derik shifted his head away slightly, unable to keep his eyes from rolling. Adrian tended to make snap judgements and roll with them.

"So," Derik said quickly, looking back over at the man, "Where do you hail from?"

"I was born in Crete, but I didn't serve until I..." Morgan began, only to be cut off by the intrusion of the youngest new recruit, who came running up, skidding to a halt and accidentally kicking up a bit of loose gravel that skittered across their boots.

"Sorry!" Thomas said quickly, his cheeks flushing crimson, "I just... I didn't think I'd get to meet you!"

"Well, why would you think..." Adrian began, but trailed off as Thomas eagerly held out his hand to Derik.

Derik smirked, feeling the irritation roll off of Adrian like a cloud.

"I'm Thomas Warner." He said excitedly, "I've heard so much about you! I was hoping we could meet and maybe you could... I don't know, give me some pointers?"

Adrian snorted. "This is a workplace, Mr. Warner. Hardly the place to be getting advice on how to pick up women. Or girls in your case."

Thomas blinked at him blankly. "Girls?" He looked over at Derik, perplexed, "You don't use your mental abilities to pick up girls, do you?"

Derik chuckled, "No. Never had the need to. He just thought you were talking about something else."

Thomas blink, but then his exuberant smile returned. "The trainers are always going on about you. They're always comparing me to you, in fact. They say you're the best they've ever had, but I'm a close second."

"Really? Well, congratulations. You must be very good indeed. They aren't the types to be impressed easily. What's your specialty?" Derik asked, though he was pretty sure from the stoney silence of the boy's mind he already knew.

"Well, the general field of mental abilities. I've just started my training really, so I haven't really decided where I fit in best. They say I show promise in mental invasion techniques, mental warding and Obliviating. I haven't even finished trying out all of the available fields, really, and I'm just not sure which direction to fucus my training yet. I mean I'm a bit uncomfortable entering other people's minds, but Obliviating... I mean... it just sounds a bit..." He trailed off, looking for a politically correct way to phrase it.

"Boring?" Derik offered.

Thomas blushed again, but grinned and nodded.

"Ya, I thought so too. You have magnificent wards, by the way. I must agree with them there." Derik said encouragingly.

Thomas beamed, "They say I'm a natural. My mum is..." His smile wavered, but then he forced it back, "My mum was always very strong mentally. A natural talent I obviously inherited." He said, his tone a bit softer.

Derik noted the change to past tense. He reached over and patted his shoulder, "We'll have to get together some time and chat."

Thomas was beaming once more, the momentary waver in his enthusiasm obviously overcome by the offer.

Adrian rolled his eyes, not bothering to disguise his less than pleased opinion of the exchange. He didn't like anyone but him being admired in his presence. Boasting about Derik's prowess with women increased the bragging rights of the whole unit in his opinion, so he allowed and encouraged it... but when someone else's magical expertise came up, especially when it was in a field that Adrian himself was rather lacking in, it just made him irritable.

Adrian broke out into a grin when he saw six men coming his way. They were all large, scarred, rugged and overall the type you didn't mess around with. "Well, I have some matters to attend to. Mr. Biddles, would you be kind enough to show Mr. Grayson the obstacle course over there?" He asked, pointing to one of the far corners of the field, "And Miss Blackwall, would you show young Mr. Warner here the targeting range?" He asked, pointing to the range full of thoroughly battered dummies on stakes in the other far corner of the field.

"There's an obstacle course?" Thomas asked, obviously hoping to tag along with Derik.

Adrian's eyes narrowed. "The targeting range, Mr. Warner." He said firmly. It was pretty obvious he'd had enough of someone fawning over anyone but him in his presence.

"Right." Thomas said quickly, picking up on the tone. "Yes, sir."

Joslyn let out a testy breath, obviously irritated about being assigned the task, but headed towards the range.

Derik wasn't pleased either. He knew exactly what was happening, and he didn't like it one bit. He'd had to endure it his first day, and from her demeanor he had no doubt they'd even put Joslyn through it. He glanced over, noting the way Morgan walked. It was no wonder he'd been able to sneak up on them. He slid through the dead grass with unnatural silence, his movements so smooth it seemed more like he was flowing forward than that he was walking. His legs moved similar to Derik's, but his footfalls somehow caused no jarring or undue shifting to his body at all.

Derik glanced subtly over at Joslyn and Thomas. Thomas was prattling on to her, obviously oblivious to the three men stalking up behind him. "Heads up!" He thought as strongly as he could in Thomas' direction. "Sorry about this." he muttered softly aloud so only Morgan could hear, "You're about to be attacked."

"I know." Morgan said evenly, "But I appreciate the heads up." He said, his eyes flicking to Derik for a split second before he spun, casting a spell and rolling out of the way of another in one fluid movement.

Derik moved out of range as Morgan's three attackers moved in. As distracting as the flurry of spells that passed between them was, Derik couldn't help but dwell on what he'd said and wonder if Morgan had heard the little message he'd sent towards Thomas. His focused thoughts could usually only be picked up by the intended recipient, and even then only if the person had exceptional mental strength.

Derik glanced past the current fray to where Thomas was. He'd missed the initiation of the fight, so he wasn't sure if Thomas had gotten his mental nudge, but the boy seemed to be holding his own well enough. Well, pretty damn well for a first year at any rate. He was still getting rather soundly whomped, but wasn't down yet. That was encouraging.

Derik's attention flashed back to the battle before him as the three attackers managed to disarm Morgan and closed in for the close quarters physical bit of the battle.

They were in for a bit more than they'd obviously planned on. He was good! Not that Derik hadn't expected it, but it was still impressive to watch. Derik ducked as one of the men flew right over him, landing with a loud thump on the frozen ground accompanied by a pained cry and the sharp, unmistakable crack of bone. Derik didn't spare him a glance, knowing he'd be alright once it was over and they were able to get the healers to him. His eyes were fixed on the battle. The two remaining attackers were circling Morgan, trying to find an opening. As Derik had half expected, the one circling behind Morgan grabbed the braid and gave it a yank, trying to pull Morgan off balance.

Morgan rocked back on his heels for a split second, but then something strange happened. The braid wrapped around the surprised man's arm, and before he knew what was happening, Morgan whipped him around, sending him flying several yards. No wonder his neck was a bit thicker! Derik had never seen someone with the ability to toss someone using only their head! The man landed hard on his tailbone, the air immediately evacuating his lungs. He struggled desperately to breath again, staring with shock at Morgan, nothing but the thin brown strip of cloth Morgan had tied his braid with dangling from his fingers to show for his effort.

The third man closed in, and Derik saw two of Thomas' assailants coming over to join in, having left Thomas and the other unconscious attacker laying forgotten on the scorched grass.

Derik watched worriedly, but a faint wisp of condensation escaped the boy's mouth, reassuring Derik he was still alive. His eyes snapped back at sudden movement. He watched in amazement as Morgan's braid swiftly unravelled as if pulled apart by some unseen force. It took Derik a moment to comprehend what he was seeing as the 'hair' billowed up around Morgan's head.

Snakes.

Morgan's 'hair' was nothing but a seething mass of snakes!

Morgan chuckled as the man about to grab him let out a terrified scream, jerking back so fast he fell on his rump. His snakes hissed, a dozen or so snapping forward to strike in the man's direction. The man let out another scream and turned, scrambling away as fast as he could. Morgan's snakes writhed around, hissing furiously and obviously looking for something within range to bite. The other two backed off, shooting frightened looks towards Adrian for guidance, but Adrian was looking on with just as much frightened shock on his face. If there was anything on his mind at the moment, it was probably trying to remember not to piss himself.

Morgan's head snapped around as he suddenly felt Derik's presence beside him. Derik was reaching into the seething mass of snakes, touching them with fascination. "My God, they're just so adorable! Look at you! You're so tiny!" He said adoringly, stroking a number of the long but thin snakes.

Morgan just watched incredulously as the snakes moved over towards Derik... but not to bite him. They rubbed up against his hand and arm, the ones long enough even nuzzling up to his neck and face. One even tickled his ear with its forked tongue. Derik reached his other hand over so he could reach more of them, but Morgan gave his head a little jerk and the snakes reluctantly backed away from Derik, looking almost contrite.

Derik glanced over, noticing everyone else staring at him and blushed brightly. He looked over at Morgan. The man was staring at him as if Derik were the most bizarre creature he'd ever seen. "Sorry!" Derik quickly apologized, "I'm messing up the effect, aren't I? Sorry..." He said again, quickly stepping back.

"What the bloody Hell is this?" Adrian hissed, moving closer (though staying well behind the others). "What are you?!?"

"This is pathetic." Morgan snorted, "You don't even recognize a gorgon?"

"They're just myths!" Adrian replied, his mind obviously boggling.

Morgan snorted derisively, "Obviously." He replied. "My father was Geryon, my grandfather was Chrysaor, my great grandmother was Medusa herself."

"Really?" One of the men before him asked, obviously awed.

Morgan laughed, "My, you are a gullible lot! No, not really. To my knowledge, those people are all just myths. Gorgons are magical beings just like any other. I'm only half blooded, perhaps even less. My mother looked to be pure blooded, but I never thought to ask before she was slaughtered by some deluded zealot when I was about seven."

"But..." The man said, trying to work it through, "How could she have had a child with a human when one look at her would have turned him to stone?"

"My father was blind." Morgan replied evenly.

The man snorted.

"Why is that funny?" Morgan asked, tilting his head slightly as a dozen or so of his largest snakes hissed angrily.

The man wiped the smile off his face, then obviously fumbled for another question, "But how did she keep from turning you to stone? And why aren't you turning us to stone, for that matter?" He said, looking a bit nervous now that he was thinking about it.

"She didn't turn me to stone because I'm a gorgon myself, not to mention she wore a veil. As for why you aren't a nice little lawn ornament right now... well if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm male. Males don't stone people, now do they?

"Right. Of course." The man muttered, though that was obviously news to all of them.

"But... but you're a magical creature." Adrian said, trying to wrap his narrow mind around it, "The Ministry doesn't employ magical creatures as Aurors!"

Morgan snatched up his wand from the ground, starting to look decidedly testy. "I'm a person, not a creature. By the standards of my country, I am perfectly capable of performing the duties of an officer, and have been serving my community for a good thirty years now. Per the agreement between our respective governments, my eligibility carries over."

"I see." Adrian muttered and there was no doubt he was mentally adding yet another grievance to his list.

Morgan took a deep breath and sighed it out. "Are we done gaping? It might be nice if someone helped patch up that boy over there before he bleeds out."

They looked over, seeing that Joslyn was kneeling beside Thomas and looking rather worried, struggling a bit to find what she needed from the unfamiliar medical kit. Several of the men hurried over to assist.

Adrian wandered over to oversee Thomas's treatment, but it was obviously more to get away from the disturbing gorgon than concern over the boy's well being.

Morgan looked over and Derik snatched his hand back from where he'd been rubbing one of the longest snakes under its chin. The snake spotted Morgan's gaze and darted back to the rest of the group.

Derik tried not to blush, but didn't completely succeed. "Don't mind Adrian." he said softly. "He rarely likes anyone, and he has a lot of prejudices. He hates homosexuals, mixed breeds, Muggleborns, women he's forced to treat as an equal, anyone who demonstrates they can do anything better than he can... I'm sure there's a lot more I'm forgetting at the moment as well." He said with a little shrug.

"He must hate you." Morgan said, eyeing him shrewdly. "What are you?"

Derik blinked in surprise. "What? Oh, are you referring to the thing earlier with your snakes... I'm sorry. I just have an affinity for animals. Snakes a bit more so."

"So you're trying to convince me you're a human with a simple affinity for animals?" Morgan asked with a knowing smile, "Do they believe that?" He asked, tilting his head towards the others.

Derik shifted uncomfortably. "Yep. You can ask my mum." He searched around for a change of subject. "So... your parents really named you Morgan? I mean..."

Morgan rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yes, yes. Morgan the gorgon. My father was a man of simple pleasures. He found the play on words amusing. Needless to say, I got beat up and teased a lot in school." He said, shifting his head back and giving it a bit of a shake. The snakes slid back and began weaving themselves back together.

It was rather fascinating to watch really. "I wouldn't think they would bother you..." Derik said, trying to pull his eyes from the entwining snakes.

"Yes, well when you're eleven years old, four foot five inches tall, weigh seventy five pounds soaking wet and your snakes aren't much bigger than oversized earthworms, you aren't that impressive." Morgan said, snatching up the bit of cloth the other man had dropped and using it to tie the end of his newly reformed braid.

Derik grinned, imagining it. Sounded adorable. Obviously not what a boy that age would be going for though. "Hey! I'm planning something for later this semester that I would love your help with!" He said, suddenly thinking of it.

Morgan looked over at him warily. "What?"

"A test of sorts. I planned on trying to get together as many different species as possible, and it would be great to have one my students aren't expecting. I'm trying to teach them versatility in their defensive and offensive magic as well as thinking on their feet in case the unexpected comes up."

Morgan folded his arms over his chest. "You want me to romp around and play monster for a bunch of kids?" He asked with a note of disdain.

"No," Derik said, "I would like you to be an unexpected opponent, one they would not automatically know how to deal with. If you haven't noticed, this country is at war. These children need all the help they can get to prepare them. To teach them how to protect themselves."

Morgan appeared to mull that over a bit.

"If it helps any, there will be little possibility of danger. I will be setting up dampeners..." Derik began, but he stopped when Morgan gave an amused snort.

"I'm not afraid of children hurting me." He replied. He took a deep breath and sighed it out. "Fine. But I'm not wearing a costume!"

Derik grinned. "I'd never ask you to."

Morgan nodded, "Just be sure to clear it with that pompous blowhard first." He said, nodding his head subtly towards Adrian, "I'm certainly not going to ask him for 'favors'. He seems the type to use that kind of thing against you."

Derik nodded. "Very astute observation."

"Speak of the devil, here comes the prejudice bastard now." Morgan said, watching Adrian approach.

Derik looked over, surprised Morgan would talk like that with Adrian so close.

"Well," Adrian said as he came to a stop (noticeably further from Morgan than he was from Derik), "I'll be sure to check and make sure all of your papers are in order and see if you need to register with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hopefully we'll have everything cleared up before rounds Monday morning."

Morgan looked over at Derik, "He's hoping to find a way to oust me. I can always tell his type. Pretends to be helpful while trying to stab you in the back. Does he always have a stick shoved so very far up his ass?"

Derik's eyes widened and darted over to Adrian to see his reaction.

Adrian let out a sigh. "Great, another hisser." He muttered, then he glanced over at Derik, "Can you please impress upon him the need to refrain from hissing in front of others?" Adrian asked, "Good man." He said, giving Derik's arm a little pat before wandering back away.

Derik looked at Morgan in surprise. He hadn't even realized Morgan had been speaking parseltongue, and he was pretty sure that meant he'd been speaking it as well. It was strange how easily you could slip in and out of that language without even realizing it.

"Um..." Derik said, trying to think how to explain it tactfully.

Morgan held up his hand. "I know, I know, 'dark wizard' bullshit. I can't even speak my native language around here without being stigmatised for it..." He muttered, shaking his head and walking away.

Well, that at least saved him some messy explanation. Derik looked over, spotting Hutchins still leaning against the wall. The man had been very subdued at the wake, and it didn't look like he'd gotten any more chatty since. He knew Conners and Hutchins had been good friends. Perhaps he had just gotten used to the callous, emotionally devoid leader of the unit, but he hadn't realised some of the other men might actually be grieving the loss of two of their members. He wondered if maybe he should go and see how he was doing. He was reluctant since he hadn't known the deceased men all that well, so he wasn't sure Hutchins would want to talk to him, but he wandered over towards him anyway, debating with himself the whole way.

Derik stopped dead a dozen paces from Hutchins as he noticed a woman approaching. It was Jessi! His cheeks were suddenly burning and he had to look away, willing the blush away. This was dangerous territory to be showing such emotional tells about the widow of a former work mate in. She handed Hutchins an envelope and he accepted it. She spoke to him briefly, too soft for Derik to hear. Derik avoided their thoughts, feeling the ache of loss and pain surrounding them. It was obviously none of his business.

Hutchins gave her a thankful nod and pushed off of the wall, slipping the envelope into a pocket of his robe and walking back towards the main building. He didn't take his hand off the envelope, he just held it in the pocket so no one would see it.

"Jessica." Adrian said in his properly grave tone. Derik swore he had to be practicing that and his solemn expression in the mirror at night. "To what do we owe this honor?"

She came towards him, meeting him rather close to Derik. Her eyes flicked over Derik, but didn't linger. "I just came to drop off a few things. My husband left a couple of notes and a few odd trinkets for different people, and as long as I was coming over here anyway, Mrs Conners had me bring a few things her husband left as well. There's a note for you from my husband." She said, leafing through the couple envelopes she had left, then pulling out one and handing it over to him. "He wanted you to have that."

"I am very touched he thought of me." Adrian said in his most sincere tone, slipping the envelope away in an inside pocket without so much as a glance (and undoubtedly forgetting all about it). "The training grounds can be a bit dangerous at times... would you like me to find someone to escort you back to make sure you get there safely?" He asked, not so subtly indicating she should leave.

Jessi looked over at Derik hesitantly, "Actually... um... Mr. Biddles..." She said, blushing slightly, "There... um... there was an envelope for you as well, but I didn't realize you would be here, so I left it at home. Do you think you could stop by later and pick it up? I have business to deal with today, but I should be home by around dusk or so. Or... I suppose I could bring it by the school..." she added hesitantly.

"Oh, no, please don't go out of your way on my account." Derik said, a bit stunned there would be anything for him. Her husband hadn't really cared for him so far as he could tell. "I will be sure to stop by to pick it up this evening."

"Thank you." She said with a grateful smile before looking back at Adrian. "I think I can manage to get back on my own, but thank you for the offer."

He nodded in return, then they watched her go. She paused only long enough to hand envelopes to Douglas and Parnell (who at least had the curtesy to set down their cards for a moment, though they looked about as sincerely touched by the letters as Adrian had), then made her way off the field. Derik didn't like the speculative look Adrian gave him once she had disappeared from sight.

"Well," Derik said, clapping his hands together, "I should get over there and do a bit of sparring with Joslyn. Have to see how good she is before I can parade her in front of my students, after all." He said, giving Adrian a nod before heading off towards Joslyn.

He could feel Adrian's eyes on his back the whole way.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Hermione sighed, looking down the corridor again. It wasn't like Snape to be late. Surely he remembered her detention! It wasn't like it was a rare occasion! Harry and Ron had been irate she even planned on showing up of course. The way they figured it, she'd done at least a week's worth of detentions being left in the potions lab overnight. They seemed to completely disregard the 'fact' that it had been Derik that had left her there (as far as they knew at any rate). She was a bit surprised Harry had let it drop so quickly. His attitude towards the new professor had certainly changed after his detention.

Upon their continued complaints, she pointed out that she'd only done one detention's worth of work, so time sitting about, and especially sleeping, didn't really count. They'd kept it up until she'd admitted she'd whipped out her wand the minute she was alone and levitated the racks out and been done with cleaning the whole lot of test tubes in less than a minute. Of course she didn't mention that was because a couple of minutes was all she had in the classroom before they arrived! Still, they liked that. Figured she'd pulled one over on Snape and thereafter eased up on the issue and let her go without further protests. Most likely they were just so pleased to hear she'd disobeyed Snape they were trying to encourage her in hopes she'd keep it up. It wasn't often that they got to see their influence on her finally paying off.

She bit her bottom lip, looking down the corridor for the thousandth time, worrying that Snape would overreact to what had happened the night before and stop her detentions. She knew she really shouldn't be around him all that much, especially alone in a classroom with him, but... she wasn't sure she would be able to give him up cold turkey. She was hoping if she could just be around him... kind of ease away gently... She sighed, knowing she didn't really want to ease away. Life sucked!

So did not knowing where Snape was.

She was starting to get worried. She glanced at her watch. He was ten minutes late already. For such a great advocate of punctuality, that was an immense amount of time. She looked down the corridor again, then sighed, wishing she'd had Goyle show her how to put enchanted gems on the back of her watch so she could tell at a glance where he was. Well, perhaps he was just in his office. It wasn't far, so it's not like it would be difficult to check. Well, it was better than sitting around doing nothing but waiting at any rate!

She shouldered her bag and made her way to his office. It wasn't until she was just a few yards from the door that she remembered she still had the Marauder's Map in her robe! Still, she was practically there already, so she might as well just check. If he wasn't there, then she'd... She slowed, noting the light under the door. So he was there! Why hadn't he come to the classroom? She saw by the little crack of light along the edge of the door that it wasn't quite closed completely. Was he expecting her? She chided herself for the ridiculous thought. Her mind wanted to make this into some alluring ploy so they could be together away from prying eyes. That was ridiculous, though. His office was no more private than his classroom, and the oddity of them going to his office for her detention would, if anything, call more attention to them.

Besides, he didn't want her anymore.

Her chest tightened a bit at the thought. She quickly shoved the pain down. It was just logical. They couldn't be together, and that was that. She steeled herself, then gave a light rap on the door, pushing it open a bit as she peered in, hoping to get a glimpse of his expression upon seeing her there.

Draco looked up with surprise, half closing the book he'd been reading. When he saw it was her he relaxed, going back to his reading, "What do you want, Granger?" He asked gruffly.

She blushed, refusing to admit she was a bit let down that he appeared to be the only one there. "I was just looking for Snape. It's time for my detention to start. Past time, in fact."

"Professor Snape." Draco grumbled irritably. "He's in the Hospital wing." He rolled his eyes when she tensed, "A couple of fourth years smuggled samples of their potions out of class and tried to use them. They really should have waited to find out if the potions passed first." He glanced up from his book. "They didn't." He added to be perfectly clear.

"Oh, here he comes!" Hermione said in relief, spotting Snape approaching.

Draco clapped the book shut and got up, slipping it back onto a shelf, then quickly resumed his perch on the edge of the desk.

"Miss Granger." Snape said, furrowing his brow at her as he approached, obviously wondering why she was there. He pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open. "Ah. I see." He said, going past her without another word and into his office. "Good, you're still here." He said upon spotting Draco.

Draco shrugged. "You said wait. I waited."

Snape gave him a little smile and nodded, then glanced back at Hermione, noting that she'd followed him into the room. "Why don't you go wait by the classroom. I'll catch you up in a moment, after I've had a word with Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione gave a little nod, drifting towards the door, but dying with curiosity over what Snape might be wanting to ask Draco. There was something about Snape's expression that told her it was something important.

"I spoke to Professor Biddles this morning." Snape said, his voice low, this eyes watching Draco intently, "He mentioned something about a curse that was placed upon him. He also mentioned you knew about it."

Draco blushed and dropped his eyes, not speaking.

"For some reason, he would not reveal the name of the curse. He seems convinced it is unbreakable, but as we both know, very few curses really are. I realize he told you about it in confidence, but if I were to know exactly what curse we were dealing with, I might be able to help him." Snape said coaxingly.

Draco's eyes flicked up reflexively, but he quickly darted them over to the door, pretending that's where he'd been intending to look. He pulled out his wand, flicking it at the door so it slammed in Hermione's face where she'd been lingering.

Snape glanced over, realizing she'd been snooping again, but just sighed and turned his attention back to Draco. "Do you know the name?"

Draco avoided his gaze. "Well, if there's really so few that are unbreakable, it should narrow things down quite nicely for you, because he's right. This is one of them." He said, slipping off the desk and hurrying towards the door.

Snape went after him, grabbing his elbow gently before he could make it out the door. Draco paused, staring at the door and looking as if he was bracing himself.

"I'm sorry, Draco." Snape said softly.

Draco looked over at him in surprise.

"It was wrong of me to even ask." Snape said sincerely, "Your integrity is one of the things I have always admire most about you. You've kept so many of my own secrets... far more than it is right for me to have asked you to. I had absolutely no right to ask you to break someone else's confidence. I hope you'll forgive me for my lapse in judgment."

Draco just shrugged it off, then opened the door. Snape watched him go down the hallway, then sighed as his eyes settled on Hermione, who'd been leaning up against the wall, waiting.

"You really have to learn prudence, Miss Granger." Snape said softly.

Hermione nodded, acknowledging the softly spoken reprimand. "I know." She said, glancing down and pausing until Draco rounded a corner out of sight, then she looked back at Snape. "Did he tell you the name of the curse?"

Snape sighed at the way she was obviously ignoring his advice. "No, Miss Granger, he did not. Nor should I have had any illusions he would." He said, reaching back to pull his door shut.

Hermione reached out, putting her hand on his to stop him. "I think I know how to find out." She said with a mischievous grin.

He narrowed his eyes. "How? It could be any one of a hundred or more curses. Biddles didn't give me a very detailed description of the effects."

"Perhaps..." Hermione conceded, "But under the circumstances, I rather doubt Draco was reading about some other curse while he was waiting for you."

Snape just watched her, perplexed as she slipped past him into his office. He glanced down the corridor, but then followed her in, closing the door behind him.

She went up to the bookcase, looking over the collection. "I'm sure 'Curses' was in the title. The cover was green, darker on the spine, with silver lettering..." She said as she scanned the spines. She spotted two very similar looking books that matched that description and grimaced, wishing she'd looked at the bookcase to see where it had come from or watched him more closely when he'd put it back. Suddenly she noted the ever so slight sprinkling of dust on the edge of the shelf. Holding her breath, she carefully rose up on her tiptoes, craning her neck around until she spotted the slight disturbance in the dust in front of one of the books. She grabbed it, letting out her held breath and sending the dust flittering away as she examined the book.

"Yes, this looks like the one. He was reading when I first opened the door. He nearly closed it, and he had this expression like he was afraid of getting caught, but when he saw it was me he relaxed. When I said you were coming he put it away right fast, as if he didn't want you to see him... and when you mentioned wanting to know the name of the curse, his eyes flicked towards the book... I'm almost positive he was looking it up while you were away. If it's a truly bad curse, they may not have mentions of it in the books in the library. Do you have a Positus Custos spell on this?" She asked, looking over at him.

"Of course." Snape replied, "I have it on all of my books."

Hermione nodded. She had expected no less. She went over to the desk and perched the book on its spine, then released it. It opened automatically to the last spot it had been open to. It was in the middle of an entry. She had to turn back a page to see the name of the curse that was being addressed. Her hand slipped up, covering her mouth. "Oh God..." She whispered, horrified. She looked over at Snape, her eyes watering up, "Does professor Biddles really have this curse on him?"

Snape moved closer, "The Deperditum curse." He read aloud, then he started scanning down the entry silently. He flipped the page, finishing up the entry, then sighed, a profound pity forming inside him for Derik. He gave a little nod. "It does appear to match what little he told me about it." he conceded. He felt a new kind of understanding flowing into him. This explained so much about the man Derik had become. He suddenly felt guilty for the way he'd treated Derik and the uncharitable thoughts he had about him over the years. Snape wasn't exactly popular with the ladies, but he couldn't imagine living with such a curse over his head. Never to be able to form any kind of meaningful relationships... to be forever alone. Sure, he'd often thought that was how he would end up anyway... but there was always a hope for more, no matter how far fetched. What must it be like to have no hope at all? He cringed from the thought. He closed the book and put it back on the shelf.

He looked over at Hermione, but then quickly looked away. She was hugging herself and there were tears slipping down her cheeks. He'd never been able to stand seeing a woman cry. "We should probably get to the classroom." He said softly.

"How can he bear it?" She whispered, obviously too lost in contemplation to hear him.

"He's a strong man." Snape said softly, not sure what else to say.

"But to be forced to live like that... Not to be able to love someone for fear of risking their life..." She said, shaking her head.

"When you put it like that, I can relate." Snape said, looking at her with a hint of significance.

"But with him it isn't a matter of worrying about being caught!" She said, rubbing the tear from her cheek and shaking her head. "His own magic... his own heart is what condemns the relationship before it can even properly start. How must that feel? To live without any hope of ever being loved? Fearing your heart might betray you and hurt or even kill anyone you truly care for. It's monstrous! I don't think I could even go on living..."

Snape held himself stiffly, every fiber of him wanting to go over and hold her and comfort her.

She didn't wait for him to take the initiative. She came over to him and leaned against him, slipping her arms around him and pressing her cheek against his shoulder.

He tensed a bit at first, but then sighed, knowing there was no help for it. It's not like he was going to shove her away while she was so emotional! Not knowing what else to do, he reached up tentatively, placing his hands gently on her back. Not hugging her, mind you... just... holding her a bit.

"I love you." She said softly.

Snape's heart skipped and fluttered oddly in his chest. Having Derik tell him she loved him and hearing it from her own lips were two entirely different things. "You're just distraught..." He said in a soft, reasonable tone.

She shook her head, pulling it back and looking up into his eyes. "No. I mean it. I love you. I've known I loved you for some time now, but I was just afraid to say it. Professor Biddles may never get to hear those words... but you aren't him. You aren't cursed. There's no reason you shouldn't hear them. I know there's no chance for us and all that... but I just wanted you to know." She dropped her eyes back down. "I could never ask you to wait for the couple of years or so until our being together might be acceptable... and safe... I know there are probably lots of women who are much better suited... but... If that day finally comes and you find yourself still unattached... I hope you'll remember... there's one woman, albeit a young woman, who loves you... and maybe..."

"Don't." he cut her off gently. "Please, don't."

She looked up at him, but he avoided her eyes.

"Don't talk about a future that might not even be there." Snape said in a soft, but firm tone. "I know your penchant for planning... but these are not the times for thoughts of the far future. In times of war, one needs to focus on the present, on living through another day... hopes of seeing another week perhaps. You reach further than that and you're living in a world of pure fantasy, because there is no real way of knowing what each new moment will bring. Dreams of the future are for those who can't handle to present and need to escape into delusions to get by. You're stronger than that, Hermione. You're better than that. Don't fritter away all of your time with daydreams like so many do. You have to learn to give up the fantasies and live in each moment as it passes."

She gave a little nod, then looked up at him again. "Well..." She replied thoughtfully, "In this moment there is no Dark Lord here. There is no Ministry or other professors or fellow students... there is only you and I." She captured his gaze and held it. "And in this moment I am completely in love with you."

Bloody Hell! How had his advice managed to turn around and bite him so quickly? He sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head in resignation as she nuzzled up against him, holding him lovingly. What was he to do with this irrepressible girl?

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Derik looked up at the house before him. It was just as he remembered it, but brighter. It looked like every light in the house was lit for some reason. Perhaps she was feeling disconcerted by suddenly finding herself alone in the world. No matter how estranged they might have been, he imagined having one's husband murdered would leave you a bit disconcerted and in need of comforting, even if only in the lack of any disturbing shadows. He saw her silhouette pass by one of the windows upstairs, and made himself start forward once more. Best to get this over with. He couldn't even imagine what her late husband would have written to him in a letter! What kind of final words could he possibly have for the punk kid who had only been in their unit for a handful of months? He certainly hoped it wasn't a final request that Derik leave his widow alone, because if so he'd kinda blown that one already! A fact that he was trying his hardest to forget about. He took a deep breath and headed resolutely up the front stairs. The sooner he picked up the letter, the sooner he could leave. In truth, he'd hoped he'd never see Jessi again. She was entirely too tempting for him to trust himself around her.

He went up to the door and knocked. He expected it to take her a minute since he'd just seen her upstairs, but to his surprise, the door whisked open just a heartbeat later. There was a somewhat portly, rather sour-faced woman standing there that he didn't recognize at all. "Who are you?" He asked before he could stop himself.

She eyed him appraisingly, and it was obvious her assessment was less than complimentary. "I'm Rebecca Demsky. This is my brother's house. Who are you?" she shot back.

"I'm a member of his unit. Um... is Jessi here? Uh, his widow I mean." He asked uneasily, peering past her. There at least half a dozen other people that he could see, all of which appeared to be scurrying around, snatching up knick knacks and the like. From the telltale characteristics, he'd guess it was the rest of the Demsky clan, grabbing up everything of value they could carry. There were even two women in the sitting room off the hall currently arguing quite heatedly with each other in low tones whilst in a tug of war over an antique looking vase. From the amount of items still on the shelves and the rate they were gathering them, it was doubtful this lot had been there that long.

Rebecca gave a derisive snort. "The little tramp didn't waste her time, did she?" She sneered.

"Excuse me?!?" Derik said, his eyes snapping back to the woman.

"I told Willard he should have left that tart long ago!" She spat acidly. "But somehow she bewitched him into keeping her around. She was just living it up, spending all his money so he barely had anything to send back home! So we were left to scrimp to get by while she grew fat on his coin!"

"Watch who you call fat, you bitter old cow!" Jessi said, as she came down the stairs. "You're easily twice my size! And as the bank can attest, I rarely spent anything." She came to a stop, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the woman who was looking at her with unveiled disgust and contempt. "Though if I'd have known who would end up with it I would have! Furthermore, Willard barely sent any money home because he despised the whole lot of you!"

"Lying whore!" The woman spat back, "He adored us! You're the one who came between us!"

Jessi snorted at her, "Oh, obviously!" She said sarcastically, "That's why he insisted we move hundreds of miles away once we were married, and why in this whole huge house there isn't a single photo or portrait of any of you! He wanted to get as far away from you money grubbing vultures as he could! The only reason he sent any money at all was to keep from having you showing up at our door constantly begging for handouts!"

"Just because you used your wiles to lure him away from home and got rid of all of our photos doesn't mean he didn't long to return to his real home!" Rebecca shot back.

Jessi just rolled her eyes and gave a chuckle.

The woman's eyes narrowed, "And might I add that that appears to be our mother's necklace you're wearing?" she said pointedly. "Clearly, it doesn't belong to you!"

Jessi looked down at the necklace, then back up with a smirk, "Oh, yes... this is the one she got from one of her regulars back in her whoring days, wasn't it?" She asked with a smile.

"How dare you talk rubbish like that about our mother?!?" Rebecca spat, obviously enraged.

"Well, let's see... of her eight children, only yourself and your brother Markus over there share the same father. Only you, Marcus and two of the others even know who your father is, though it's notable that none of you have ever tried using a simple lineage spell to confirm even the ones that are 'known'. It's also notable that your dimwitted bastard over there that you refuse to name the father of bears a rather striking resemblance to Marcus! Come to think of it..." She said, looking contemplatively over at a younger man who looked perhaps in his early twenties. He was looking through a beginners spellbook with a puzzled expression on his face, squinting a bit as if reading it was a rather more difficult task than he'd anticipated. "He does look a bit inbred, doesn't he?"

"Why you little...!" She shrieked, sounding rather like an enraged harpy.

"Ladies!" Derik yelled, interposing himself between them when it looked as if it might come to blows. "Please! This is an emotional time for everyone. Let's try to keep our tempers under control." He waited until it looked as if the immediate threat of violence had passed, then glanced back at Jessi, "Is there perhaps somewhere we can talk more privately?" He asked.

"Upstairs. The looting hasn't reached that far yet." Jessi replied darkly, still glaring at Rebecca.

Rebecca gave a snort. "Yes, please do take it upstairs. There's no need for us to have to see that! And don't bother cleaning her up when you're done shagging her. I'm sure she's got plenty more men on their way over to 'comfort her', so there's no need to waste your time."

Derik furrowed his brow. That was it! He couldn't stand seeing this vile woman saying such things about Jessi, especially knowing how Willard had treated her and what a lovely woman she really was. "Making such aspersions about your brother's widow in their own house so soon after his death is disrespectful." He said, trying hard not to make it come out as a growl, "Not to mention uncouth!"

"Yes, well that's her in a nutshell, now isn't it?" Jessi quipped.

"Listen here, you little trollop!" Rebecca hissed.

Jessi pulled the necklace off over her head, then called out loudly, "Diamond necklace, up for grabs!!!" Then she tossed it out into the middle of the sitting room.

There was a crash as the two women in the room both let go of the vase at the same time. Rebecca's eyes went wide and she dashed after it. Jessi smiled as the three women reached it at nearly the same time, colliding into a bit of a heap as they scrambled to get it from the floor, after which they promptly began wrestling around rather violently. Jessi snickered as one of the other sisters pulled Rebecca's hair, making her let out a howl of pain.

"Come on." She said, turning and heading back for the stairs.

Derik pulled his eyes away from the spirited scrimmage. He was both appalled and disgusted that sibling would act that way, and over senseless little baubles no less! He quickly caught up with her as she ascended the stairs, not eager to find himself alone with any of Demsky's deplorable relatives.

"That swarm of locusts swept in here about twenty minutes ago. I knew they would sooner or later. Willard used to tell me about how they were... to be honest I didn't even believe some of the stories until they arrived. I always hated being an only child... but now I'm thinking I was better off that way. I mean honestly. They're like a pack of feral dogs! Then again, to say that degrades feral dogs. It makes me wish I had more baubles to toss at them. If they were all in Saint Mungo's I wouldn't have to deal with them!" She said with a little mischievous smile on her face, "Of course the little jewelry I actually owned I owled to my mother years ago to pay for her medical bills. I'm the last in my line, so there was really no one else to help her. Not that she asked for help, but still. I knew she wouldn't make it, and she didn't... but at least she was comfortable in the end."

Derik just nodded. Great! Just what he needed right now... yet another entry on the already overly long list of things that made this woman a pure and beautiful soul in his eyes. Coming here had been a stupid move. He'd known all along it would be, and yet he still found himself here. "Not all siblings are like that." He said for lack of anything else, "My little brother is a wonderful, loving soul. I swear he's the only reason I've made it this long. Even if he has no idea what's wrong, he can always seem to make it better. I can't tell you how many time he's brought me back from the edge of complete self-destruction..." He trailed off, realizing he'd said too much.

She hesitated in the hallway, glancing back, then sighed, "To tell the truth," She said in a soft undertone that wouldn't carry, "I lied. There was no letter for you. I just really needed to talk to you..." She admitted with a bright blush on her cheeks. She led him over to one of the spare bedrooms. "If you don't mind, I'd really rather they didn't listen in." She said as she held the door open for him.

He felt a bit uncomfortable going into a bedroom with her, but at least it wasn't the master bedroom she'd shared with her husband. Not that he hadn't already had sex with her in their very marriage bed... but still...

He went on in, looking around. The room was much smaller and obviously hadn't been used in a great while. She followed him in and closed the door behind them, then sealed it against the snooping relatives before turning back to him.

An uneasy silence followed. Now that she had him here, she seemed to be at a loss for where to begin. Either that or she was regretting asking him here at all. Her thoughts were too emotional and tangled to even think of deciphering, so he stopped trying before he could give himself a headache.

"So..." Derik said, unable to stand the silent staring. "You'd better pack up anything you want to keep before the locusts gobble it all up." He said with a little smile.

She chuckled. "Oh, I have my bags packed and sent along already. Unfortunately, this house was purchased before we were officially married, so it's only in his name, so..." She shrugged.

"They're kicking you out?!?" Derik asked, shocked.

She waved it off, shaking her head, "I was never overly fond of this place anyway. I still have my mother's house in Dublin. I'm just going to live there. It's small, but I always liked it there." She glanced around, then moved over to a photo on the wall, pointing to a painting behind the little figures of her and her late husband. "That was a painting my mother did of me there when I was young. I would show you the real thing, but I've already sent it along."

He moved over, looking obligingly at the painting. She looked perhaps twelve, sitting under a large oak tree, staring out over a small lake. The photo was black and white, but he was pretty sure it was sunset in the painting.

"That is my favorite spot in the whole world." She said with a reminiscent smile, "I used to sit out there and watch the sun set almost every night. I can't wait to see it again."

Derik nodded, "It looks very nice. I imagine it'll be nice getting a fresh start."

She smiled, and wandered away from the photo, twisting the end of the bit of ribbon tied at her waist. "It will." She agreed. "They can have all of these meaningless things. I just took my clothes and a couple of photos. And that painting of course. I don't need any of those gaudy trinkets he bought to set about to impress people. Oh!" She said, obviously remembering something. She fished around in her pocket, then held something out rather tentatively, but he couldn't see what it was. "I thought you might like this."

He held his hand out and she dropped it onto his palm. It was a multi-colored ring made of many thin tendrils twined around in a somewhat Celtic knot style. It looked like a blend of white gold, yellow gold and darker Black Hills gold... and he was no expert, but he suspected that the other type of metal used quite liberally in it was platinum. He immediately offered it back, "I couldn't possibly!" he insisted.

"It's not his wedding band or anything!" She said quickly, smiling with obvious embarrassment. "It's just something I got him for a birthday once. I found it in an old antique shop. He never even wore it. He didn't care for it, but he kept it and chucked it in a drawer so I wouldn't have reason to mope. I just thought... I mean you seem to like Celtic designs..."

Derik's cheeks actually flushed slightly as he remembered how she might know that. "Still..."

She shook her head and folded her arms when he offered it back once more. "I insist!" She said firmly, "I didn't find it until after that lot arrived, and I'm fairly certain they'll frisk me for valuables before they let me out of here, so it's you or them, and I sure as Hell don't want them getting it! I'm rather fond of that ring!"

He flashed her a little smile, then tucked it into his trouser pocket. "Tell you what... I'll smuggle it out of here and hold on to it for you. When this lot is gone, just tell me and I'll owl it back to you."

She just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

He was fairly certain she wouldn't be asking for the ring back, but he'd like to think she wouldn't owl it back again if he owled it to her later. He'd just have to wait and see. It was very well wrought from the glance he'd gotten of it, and it even felt like it might have some kind of rather strong charm on it, though he couldn't pinpoint what kind from feel alone, so he was fairly certain the ring was worth a bit. Speaking of finances... "Sure you'll have enough money to get by?" Derik ventured. He doubted it, but it was possible she'd wanted to see him to ask for a loan. If she just found the ring it certainly hadn't been the reason for the request, not to mention asking for money would certainly explain her reluctance.

She obviously picked up on his line of thought. "Oh, no! That's not why I asked you here! No, I'll be fine. In a surprisingly thoughtful gesture, Willard set up a separate account for me in my name alone so none of his relatives could ever contest it. I didn't even know about it myself until today! It has enough in it to take care of me for a good long while. After I stopped by to drop off those letters this morning I went to Gringotts, and I only just left there about an hour ago. There was so much to take care of! You want to know the most amusing part?"

"What?" He asked, noting the rather mischievous glint in her eyes.

"He kept separate accounts. One is the one that is officially known. It has his wages in it minus our bills of course. That's the only one any of those greedy guts down there will be told about! The other one holds his... other money. The money I never ask about. The money I quite frankly never wanted to know about. In his will, he left me a private note with the key and the vault number for it. There was more money in there than anyone could ever really need. I certainly didn't need it... and since I didn't want to chance one of his relatives finding out about it and getting it... well, I spent it."

His eyes went round. He knew what kind of 'incentive payments' these men were getting for their assistance, and they had been receiving them for quite some time, even between wars to make sure their loyalty was still bought and paid for. "How could you possibly have spent it all in one day?"

"Well, let's see..." She said thoughtfully (and it was pretty obvious she'd been simply dying to tell someone about this). "St. Mungo's now has funding to build a new long term care facility and update the rest of the place and whatever else they plan on doing. I also gave enough to six orphanages and four homeless shelters in England and two orphanages and one homeless shelter in Ireland to keep them well funded for a good five to ten years, even without any other donations. Those were all of the magical facilities I knew of, and I don't really know anything about the Muggle world so..." She shrugged and blushed, "Well, there were two other orphanages and one homeless shelter in London, but they actually said I should give the money to the other places! They even gave me names of other facilities in need!"

Derik grinned, "Let me guess... the orphanages were Das Kinderheiligtum and Son de Rire, and the shelter was Imbrium Heights."

She blinked in surprise, "Yes. How did you know?"

"Because I told them to direct donations to other sites."

She furrowed her brow. "You...?" She said, obviously confused.

He chuckled. "I own them. In fact, Imbrium Heights is where I live. Well, in the building above the homeless shelter that is, in the part no one else can see." He shrugged, blushing a bit at her wide-eyed stare, "Well, I mean you have to have something underneath. Not like you can have an apparently empty lot in the middle of London without drawing attention, no matter how many spells you use!"

She let out a little laugh. "The way you get along with children I'd think you'd live over one of the orphanages!"

He dropped his eyes and shook his head. "No. I definitely couldn't handle that. I don't even visit them more than perhaps once a month at most. Dozens of kids with no homes? I get attached far too easy, and it's not an easy thing to adopt a child when your a single man... besides... they deserve to get a full set of real parents. Ones who can be there all the time... and don't have emotional problems." He added with a little deprecative smile.

"Stop." She said softly, reaching out and taking his hand. "I think you would be a wonderful father." She hesitated and he could feel her hands trembling in his. "In fact... I'm sure you will be..." She said, steadfastly not making eye contact, her cheeks a bright crimson.

It felt like Derik's heart stopped for a long time as the meaning of those tangled thoughts became clear... then his heart began pounding madly, making his head spin. "You're...?" he asked, unable to believe it.

She blushed harder still, giving her head a little nod. "I know you don't want a relationship or anything, and don't even want to spend much time around me, and I completely understand!" she quickly added, "And I'll be moving away, so that shouldn't be a problem... but I was hoping... maybe you could come see him sometimes... maybe when he gets to be a bit bigger maybe even keep him for a couple of days or maybe a week now and then... if your schedule will allow for it of course! I was just hoping he could know his father..."

Derik was having a hard time breathing and his eyes kept watering up irritatingly, "It's a boy?"

She nodded. "I just found out about him yesterday... and I only finally was able to find out his gender a couple of hours ago."

She was going to have his child... and wanted him to be a part of the boy's life! How long had he wanted to be a real father? More than just the one who sends presents and candy, but you never see! It was more than he could have ever hoped for, and he found himself suddenly having to try desperately to distance himself emotionally. He felt himself getting alarmingly close to a dangerous level of attachment to this woman. He closed his eyes tight. I do not love her! I do not love her! I do not love her! He mentally chanted to himself.

He tensed as he felt her arms slip around his waist. "Do you have any names you're partial to?" She asked softly.

Sweet Lord, please no! He thought frantically as a horribly familiar tingling, buzzing sensation that foretold immediate danger started up at the base of his skull, the sensation increasing faster than he'd ever felt it. He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her hard. She staggered back as a beam of pure light shot through where she had stood scant seconds before, burning off a good portion of his sleeve and singeing his forearm before he could get it out of the way.

The world erupted into utter chaos around him. He clenched his eyes shut, twisting around and dropping to the floor as it bucked wildly beneath him. He could hear panicked shrieks almost drown out by what sounded like everything breaking and being torn apart around him. A great weight slammed down onto his back, pinning him down and knocking the wind out of him.

The chaos dimmed and quickly receded as his consciousness fled...

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

Draco blinked his eyes, trying to clear them. It did no good. The page in the book before him refused to come back into focus. He set the book aside and scrubbed his eyes with his fists. Still no good. As he looked around his bedroom, his vision was still blurry... except, oddly, the door and his broom that rested beside it. Those were in sharp focus for some reason. He scratched at his chest as he got a sudden itching sensation. He pulled open the front of his shirt and spotted the last remaining claw mark gleaming brightly. "Bloody Hell." he muttered irritably. He should have just left that bloody monkey fish to die in that net! At least this was the last scratch. What was it supposed to do?

He felt the sudden, urgent need to rise. Once standing he felt himself moving forward. It felt strangely more like his feet were just moving to keep up with the rest of him than that he was walking forward. It was like being in one of those dreams where you were conscious on some level, but are being drawn towards some unknown destination, unable to stop or change your course. Right... it was coming back to him now. That one was for leading or guiding or something like that. He looked over as his hand grabbed a hold of his broom in passing, though he hadn't consciously meant to. As he opened the door he began to wonder just where the Hell that damn fish was sending him!

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A/N - obviously not the end of the night yet. Hope there aren't too many errors. I have one of those ice-pick through the temple type headaches, which makes it surprisingly hard to proofread! :) To the best of my knowledge (which means according to online translators) the title of this chapter means roughly Without Warning. Positus Custos (the charm placed on the books to make them open back up to your spot) means, roughly, place keeper. Yes, I have read the Lightning Thief and have even watched the movie (I was so VERY disappointed with that, but I won't go into it... other than to say if you are interested and haven't read the book yet, watch the movie first. It will probably be much more enjoyable for you that way. And then you get the additional pleasure of being able to read the book, which is both TONS better, and entirely different. Think of the movie as very liberal handed fanfiction from someone who has only read the cliff notes on the book. It might make it easier.), but I assure you, my gorgon has been in the works for quite some time now, well before I'd even heard of Percy (Jackson, not Weasley ;P). Morgan's appearance in my mind (and name for that matter) has fluctuated quite a bit over the year or two since I planned his arrival, and admittedly, he has gone through several species changes in that time, but I had settled on gorgon before being introduced to the Olympians series. Just wanted to make that clear since this chapter is coming out relatively soon after the opening of that movie. That said, the 'lawn ornament' reference was a little playful nod to that book. On a completely unrelated note, I got an awesome Draco 'toy' the other day! Well, it's more like a statue with very limited pose ability and a stand, but still! It was like $9 on clearance (50% off!) but it is simply awesome. It really looks like him! It was from the HBP and I found it at the local IMAX theatre. I had no idea they had even put out toys for that one!!! I looked everywhere! Well, obviously not EVERYWHERE, but how was I supposed to know they had them there? I just happened to go by. From the back of the package, it looks like they only made 4 different characters in series 1 - Draco, Mad Eye Moody, Harry and Ginny. Harry and Ginny were together in a two pack which I will be going back for if and when I actually get the $18 to get it and hopefully they will still be there. Yes, that is clearance price as well. Anyhow, getting very far off topic, but just wanted to let you guys know so you can check your local IMAX theatres (I'm in no way associated with them, just to be clear) or check like eBay or something. Oh... I just checked eBay and the have SNAPE!!! Can't really find a good picture of it to see if it's any good though. Way expensive is all I can see. Sigh. Anyhow, I know putting out a chapter mid-week tends to lead to fewer reviews, but please do take the time to review. Once again, that is unless you didn't like it, in which case hit the back button and go on with your life.