Honor

Chapter 44

Bad News and Forgotten Birthdays

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Vernon Dursley stumbled through the front door of his house, tossed his suitcase and briefcase onto the floor. He turned, locked and bolted the door; peaking through the curtain of the window flanking the door, before slumping back against the door itself. He heaved a sigh of relief to finally make it home from the most hellish business trip he'd ever experienced. It had been two and a half weeks of pure hell.

He taken his last day in the hotel to make calls to complain about his problems and the mistreatment he had experienced. The odd thing was, there was no record of any of it. After the fifteenth call, he'd finally given up in anger and frustration and ripped the phone from the wall. He'd be receiving a bill for that any day. When he stopped off at his office, there was a memo waiting for him, telling him there would be no more business trips until further notice. There was an audit scheduled for his department and his presence was required.

The house was unusually quiet. Where were Petunia and Dudley? He couldn't smell dinner cooking. And, he didn't see those dratted cats creeping around, though that thought made him happy. He pulled off his Mac and hung it in the closet by the door.

'Petunia!' He walked into the kitchen, finding it empty. 'Woman! Where are you?'

Only the silence of the house and the ticking of the mantle clock answered him. He retraced his steps down the hall and checked the dining room and the lounge. There was no sign of them there. Ascending the stairs as quickly as he was able, he checked the bedrooms and the bathroom. They were nowhere to be found, not even that freak boy. All the rooms were neat and tidy. Nothing was out of place. Something didn't feel right. He walked back into his bedroom and sat on the bed, wheezing. As he tried to catch his breath, he looked around the room more carefully.

Suddenly he stood and flung open the closet doors, then pulled open all the drawers on Petunia's dresser. They contained only his clothing. Even in the dresser. He opened the drawers on his dresser. There were more of his clothes. No extra hangers in the closet. Only his things covered the tops of the dressers. Where was their wedding picture? He ran to the nursery. It was spotless. He looked in the huge crib and saw it was bare and unmade. The dresser was empty, as was the toy chest. The closet was empty except for a couple of plain blue blankets folded neatly on the shelf.

His heart began to race and he quickly checked the linen closet and the cabinets in the bathroom. They only contained first aid supplies and his toothbrush and razor. No ladies' cosmetics or toiletries. No baby shampoo or bubble bath.

The extra bedroom, which had been the playroom, was neat and bare of pictures. The toy chest in there was empty. A lonely rocking horse sat in the corner by the window.

Stumbling down the stairs, he ran into the lounge and looked at the walls, the bookcase, and the mantle. All the pictures containing his wife and his son were gone. He pulled open drawers and cabinet doors, but couldn't find anything of theirs. It was as if they had never existed. He went to his office and checked his files. No marriage certificate, no birth certificates for them, and no other records of them at all. He ran his hands through his thinning hair as he tried to reason what was going on. He looked down to see mail sitting on his desk. The letter on the top was from the UK Revenue Service. Slicing it open, he scanned the document quickly. Halfway through the letter, he dropped it on the desk and began to hyperventilate.

'Buggering Hell! What is going on?' he gasped to the empty room.

It seems they were auditing him for claiming married status and two additional dependents that he didn't have. They were going over his taxes for the last ten years for good measure. He had ten days notice to collect all his records and be at the local revenue office. The letter was dated nine days ago.

He reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a full bottle of whiskey and a glass. Filling the glass with the amber liquid, he proceeded to get completely arseholed.

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Albus sat back in his plush chair behind the huge desk in his office. Folding his hands in his lap, he looked across at Minerva; a mischievous glint in his eyes. 'I know it's been a few years since we have had one, but a St. Valentine's Day Ball would be fun for the students…and even for the Staff.'

Remus piped up quickly, 'what a splendid idea! I remember the one we had in our Fourth year.'

Severus frowned, appearing displeased with the idea.

Minerva exchanged looks with Poppy, before turning back to the Headmaster, 'It may be a good idea. The children can be much better supervised here than if they were to leave the grounds for the day.'

'And I most likely will not end up with so many full beds this year,' Poppy added.

'That will only work if we find a way to keep the students from brewing illegal love potions.' Severus folded his arms across his chest. He disapproved of students using illegal potions. It usually ended in injury or illness.

Remus turned to Severus. 'I'm sure we can come up with a plan to help prevent that.'

'Very well. We will do what we can.' Severus rose and headed for the door. 'I must speak with Argus. Remus, are you coming?'

'That's wonderful! It's settled then. We will have the Ball. Minerva, please enlist the assistance of the other Professors, so no one's load is too heavy.' Albus smiled, thinking he could keep everyone very busy.

'Please be assured, Albus that we will take care of everything. Would you like to select the themes for the Ball?' Minerva asked, shooting a quick glance at Poppy, who smiled.

'Oh! I would be most please to take care of that!' The Headmaster pulled a roll of parchment from his desk and a quill, which he dipped into the inkwell next to his teacup. 'I have so many ideas. The students are going to enjoy this very much!'

Several tomes appeared on his desk and he leaned over the parchment, writing furiously. He didn't notice the Professors exit his office and the door whisper closed behind them. The four stood outside the door grinning. He would be busy for days coming up with ideas for them to select from. They would help extend that by suggesting little changes and refusing other ideas. Laughing quietly, they descended the stairs, and headed off to their various duties.

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They'd had several days free of the Headmaster's meddling, and now it was Friday afternoon again, and the end of classes until Monday morning. Severus breathed a sigh of relief. He was not scheduled for any duty that weekend, which included not chaperoning the students who had passes for Hogsmeade. He almost felt like humming as he gathered the day's scrolls for marking into a bundle, spelled it, and put it in the pocket of his robes. He never really cared for satchels, and his classroom wasn't that far from his quarters anyway.

Remus had been acting a bit odd in the last week. The full moon wasn't for another couple of weeks, so it wasn't that. He mentally ticked off everything that had happened since their return from Italy as he walked to his rooms. Suddenly he found himself standing at the portrait that guarded his office. He whispered the password and stepped through as soon as it opened. He moved quickly through his office, unbuttoning his robes as he went. Stopping briefly to pull out the book on the lower shelf, he waited while the shelf shifted giving him entrance to his sitting room. Pulling his robes off, he hung them on the hook and spelled his boots open so he could remove them and set them neatly against the wall below his robes. He reached into his robes to remove the bundle of parchments and sent it 'Levitating' to his desk in the office. Unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, and his sleeves, he rolled them up as he opened the decanter of Old Ogden's on the table, and poured two fingers into a heavy tumbler. Dropping into his chair, he released a relaxed sigh as he propped his feet on the ottoman, and pulled the latest potions journal from the table into his lap. He browsed through the pages as he sipped his whiskey.

Something soft brushed against his cheek and he opened his eyes, to realise that he had dozed off. He looked up into large golden eyes. Rubbing his eyes he sat up in the chair; the potions journal sliding to the floor. His mother's hawk perched on the arm of his chair and had been fluttering his wings, one of them against his face.

'Aremus, what are you doing here?'

The hawk chirruped, and stuck out his leg, curling his claws under to keep his talons away from Severus. Seeing the package, he realised what the date was.

'Oh bugger, tomorrow is the ninth.' Aremus chirruped at him a second time, and nipped his finger gently.

Severus easily removed the small package and set it on the nearby table. Aremus chirruped again and leapt to the back of the chair behind him as he waved his hand at the package causing it to return to full size. The outside paper fell away to reveal a box wrapped in silver paper, tied with a deep green and burgundy ribbon. It was not a small box, and he wondered what his mother has sent him this year. She made shopping for gifts for family such a ritual.

He looked around his rooms, glad that he was alone. Opening gifts from home always made him feel like a small boy again. He chuckled as he placed the heavy box on his lap and pulled the ribbon loose. It wrapped around his hand and wound up his arm like a snake to settle around his neck, one end of it lightly brushing his cheek. The sensation reminded him of when, as a boy, his mother would stroke his cheek as he rested his head in her lap. He sighed at the memory.

Pulling the paper away, he opened the box, peering in to see what it contained. He reached in and pulled out 2 sets of silk pyjamas, one in wine red and the other in sapphire blue. He ran his hand along the smooth fabric thinking how nice these would feel against his skin. He had inherited his weakness for silk sleepwear from his mother. Maybe he would wear the red ones tonight. Setting them aside, he lifted out a large flat gold box. He knew what this was; his favorite Italian liqueur-filled chocolates. He unsealed the lid and opened it briefly to inhale the delectable scent of dark chocolate, fruit and fine liqueur.

'Oh, Aremus, Remi is going to enjoy these. I think I will wait until he visits to taste them.' He grinned as he closed the box and set it on top of the pyjamas.

Next came a wooden box containing several crystal bottles of body and bath oils in various colours. Attached to the lid of the box was a note, explaining that these were new variations of oils his mother had created and she wanted him to try them, and then give her his opinion. He opened and sniffed each of the bottles, humming at the pleasant scents. That box joined the other gifts.

The next item elicited a pleased 'ahhh' from him. 'The new opera Mama was telling me about. Well this will make for a enjoyable and relaxing evening.'

The last item in the box was a covered serving plate, surrounded by a Preservation spell. He cancelled the spell and lifted the lid, his mouth immediately beginning to water as he looked at the plate of Tiramisu; he knew his mother had made it with her own hands. There was more than enough for two people. Ever since his sixteenth birthday, she had made him this instead of the Lemon and Raspberry Mousse Cakes and Gelato Cake she made for everyone else. He stuck a slender finger into the edge of the cake, dipping out some of the creamy rich filling. He stuck the finger into his mouth, groaning in pleasure as the rich flavour exploded on his tongue.

'It's too bad this isn't good for you Aremus, or I'd be tempted to share a little with you. Mama makes the world's best Tiramisu.' Aremus fluttered his wings and squawked. Severus set the plate on the table and moved the now-empty box to the ottoman. As he set it down, a spray of tiny fireworks shot out of the box, and exploded in the air in front of him, spelling out, 'Buon Compleanno, Ti Amo, Mio Figlio!' at the same time he felt a kiss brush his cheek--one that felt exactly like his mother's kisses.

'Ti amo, Mama, ti amo!' he whispered as he touched his cheek.

TBC…