Chapter Sixteen

Perspective

Severus had opted to reside at Baker Street on the weekends to avoid any possible time conflicts, and since Jennifer had research of her own to do, it was decided that Quintin would stay with Alicia and Francis on Friday and Saturday nights. It was not without some reluctance; Jennifer didn't want Quintin to feel abandoned and had a lot of trouble leaving him there that first evening, no matter how firmly Alicia had told her to go. But Quintin was too busy playing with Mickey, Nicky and Dawn to even fret once he had had his hug and kiss, and Jennifer forced herself to be content with that. Long after Jennifer left, Radiance stayed perched in the window and often checked in on the weekend whenever Jennifer was busy with work. Even so, Jennifer was quite glad when Sunday evening rolled around and she was able to get him back to the nursery.

Once Quintin was settled, she went into their suite, smiling when she saw that Severus' sitting room was lit up. He was already sitting in his chair with a pile of paperwork in front of him, frowning at some of it critically.

"Welcome back, Severus! How was your weekend?" Jennifer asked warmly.

"Somewhat tedious, but I am learning a great deal. Would you hand me one of my headache powders? All of this procedure literature is quite extensive."

"Well, I don't envy you, Severus, and I also don't quite understand why you feel you need to go this far," Jennifer admitted, getting a shelf off the packet and handing it to him, sitting down.

"It's all a matter of perspective, Jennifer. Do you recall the last two times I got this involved?"

"You're always involved, Severus."

"I meant in a Ministry case," Severus said, squinting at her. "Both of which revolved around your father's excavation business, as I recall. In both cases, I ended up going down to the site to gain a better perspective of the situation. I had to learn the business, and I even had to concoct Grimpenmire the goblin to get perspective. During the supposed "Monkey's Paw curse", I needed to get a good idea of just what had happened in the room the wizards met their demise. Not to mention, I had to delve into what 'bad luck' was and what made a coincidence... although I'll admit some of that perspective came from attempting to understand a certain young boy who had been caught up in a little 'bad luck' of his own." Jennifer smiled at that. "Well, this time I simply need a different type of perspective. I need to better understand what Laura and Mike are going through, and I need some insight on how the missing are getting around the charms on the flag board and other devices that the Ministry uses in these cases. Since I'm nothing if not overqualified, it is simply easier if I learn these things for myself, especially when I know that you and Hermione have things well at hand here."

"I understand, Severus," Jennifer said. She leaned into his arm making it difficult to lift it, forcing him to put down his work. He rolled up the scrolls and organized the papers neatly to make room for some tea. "I do wonder what the board will think of all of this, Severus," she added as he was cleaning up.

"Eric will instantly come to the conclusion that this has to do with what Zack said at the meeting, and Minerva and Tonks will both be entertained by it all," Severus snorted softly. Jennifer grinned knowingly at that. "As for Norman, I have an appointment with him tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get to speak to him before word gets out what I've been up to. In either case, I think Norman may be supportive this time. Many of his friends and comrades have been effected by what has been going on; Abraxas not in the least. If I were Norman, I'd be concerned about my own safety by now," Severus said, Jennifer nodding at that. "Now, how about we dispense with work for the rest of the evening, shall we? It has, after all, been a very long weekend," he pointed out.

"I rather think every weekend is going to be a long weekend," Jennifer replied with a sigh.

"Don't worry, I'll find ways to make it up to you," Severus promised. Jennifer smiled warmly at him, just glad that the first weekend was over, wondering how long before it would feel like a routine.

Conner came into the office that Monday in his riding gear, bright and early as always. Fortunately, he had had enough good sense of hiring a receptionist who also liked to be up bright and early; she was already at her desk when he came in.

"Good morning, Conner. Nice ride today?" his receptionist asked.

"Not bad, Mindy, it's finally starting to get cool out there. It must have been all that rain last week. Bastille seemed to enjoy it," Conner said, getting his wand out long enough to safely pull the tea kettle off the fire and pour himself some water. "Anything interesting on the diary today or same old same old?"
"Yes, I think your earliest appointment is one you'll find quite amusing, actually," Mindy assured him mischievously. "It's someone who needs one of those standard Ministry exams for new Aurors and Enforcers."

"Oh yes, that LEAD365a -whatever the hell the other numbers are - form. I can't see how that could possibly be interesting. Who's it for?" Conner asked.

"Severus Snape," Mindy said primly. Conner stared at her.

"Can't be! Who put that request in? Someone's having a laugh," Conner said in disbelief.

"Harry Potter requested it," Mindy said. "The professor should be here in five minutes, actually. Apparently he needs it by Friday, and this was the only appointment I could work in that didn't conflict with his own insane schedule."

"Wait, now I'm really confused," Conner admitted.

Just then he heard the door behind open him and turned just in time to see Severus step in. Conner stared at Severus. Severus stared back.

"Do you always wear that when you're at work?" Severus asked critically.

"What? Oh, right. I haven't changed yet. If you don't mind my asking, Professor... are you trying to become an Auror?" Conner asked uncertainly.

"I am already an Auror. I simply need to clear up some technicalities," Severus explained calmly. "But ought we not talk in your bar lounge?"

"Um. Yeah. Give me a minute," Conner said, stepping inside. A few moments later, he came out in normal robes. "Would you come on in, please?" he said, and Severus stepped in, glancing around at the game room style setting and reluctantly had a seat on a bar stool next to a chess set. Conner shut the door thoughtfully.

"Care for a drink of some kind?" Conner asked.

"I'm fine at the moment, but feel free to get one if you need one," Severus said unconcernedly, gazing at him expectantly.

"So... which number midlife crises are we on? Second? Or third?" Conner asked.

"Hardly funny," Severus said. Conner chuckled, rummaging through a drawer.

"At least you realized it was a joke," Conner decided.

"Do you always joke with your patients?" Severus inquired.

"No, no, you are definitely not a patient," Conner protested immediately, finally finding the right form and pulling it out. "I never call anyone saner than I am a patient."

"Oh, what are we then?" Severus inquired.

"Just friends," Conner said.

"You must have a lot of friends then," Severus concluded. Conner laughed outright.

"Yes, I do. Thanks very much," Conner finally got out, looking over the form. "Honestly, Professor Snape, this form is quite thorough, but I really don't want to insult you with the intelligence portion of the exam," he admitted.

"I have a thought," Severus said. Conner looked up to see Severus gazing at him steadily. He was puzzled for a moment, then realized the white knight had moved on the chessboard. Chuckling at that, Conner went to join him.

"Fine, but I should probably double up and ask you some questions while we play... such as why are you doing this?"

"You have several Auror clients, do you not?" Severus replied.

"No, I didn't mean why you came here. I meant why do you want to become an Auror," Conner corrected, making a move on the chessboard.

"The question is relevant to my reasoning," Severus explained. "Aurors need to be of sound mind, clinically speaking, and capable of handling the stress that the job inflicts on wizards. That is why this annual report is so essential to Auror and LE professions, to make certain that job stress as well as any outside influences aren't taking its toll in a way which would render them unfit for duty," Severus said, moving a pawn.

"Just so," Conner agreed, moving one of his own.

"It is also normal that they might have temporary setbacks from time to time, especially after a traumatic experience, or when their private lives come crashing into their job obligations in an unpleasant heap," Severus acknowledged. "Such as what Aurelius went through when Pali died."

"Actually, that's what brought me all the business from that department," Conner admitted. "Harry was so grateful for Aurelius' recovery, he started coming to me for advice from time to time, and then he started recommending his department to come to me when they needed to as well."

"I surmised as much," Severus nodded. "And that department has been keeping you quite busy of late."

"What gives you that idea?" Conner parried as he castled to the right.

"Merely conjecture," Severus shrugged. "Based on the fact that Aurelius is my son, Maurice is dating Michael's sister, Laura's father is my Defense professor, and I have been able to easily read Harry's expression even without a Truth Seeker present for decades now." Hoping to distract him, Conner took his bishop.

"I can't tell you who is seeing me or why, Severus," Conner reminded him.

"I understand," Severus said concernedly. "But it is still your move." Blinking, Conner looked down at the board, wondering when he moved and where. "You shouldn't expect me to give you straight answers when I know you can't give me any in return, Conner."

"Maybe we should talk about something else," Conner decided, moving his knight up. "How is your new job going to affect your position at the school?"

"It won't, other than cutting down on my appearances on weekend activities since this is only a weekend position for me," Severus said, sliding his other bishop up. "I dotted all of my i's with the Ministry and the board chairman without much of a comment other than some concern about my stretching myself thin. But it was easy to assure them otherwise, since Jennifer is filling in for me during the times I'm absent, and they all already know that she is more than capable of doing so."

"And how does she feel about this?" Conner said.

"Supportive as always, although she was put out about finding a babysitter for the weekends. She's gotten rather attached to this one," Severus admitted, making his move.

"Is she more concerned about Quintin than the risk to you becoming an Auror?" Conner asked.

"Most definitely," Severus agreed.

"And how do you feel about the job risk?" Conner asked. Severus stared at him blankly. "Sorry, it's a very standard question on this evaluation," he explained sheepishly.

"It can't possibly compare to some of the risks I've had to take as a teacher and administrator," Severus said dryly. Then he shrugged, his expression changing dramatically as he moved his knight. Conner frowned at the move, wondering if Severus was delaying the game on purpose. "I've faced my true enemy many times over, Conner; but I doubt I'll have to do so in this occasion. I am not worried about my personal risk. Rather, it is the risks that others are taking that concerns me."

"Your true enemy?" Conner asked.

"Myself, of course," Severus explained, moving his king. "In truth, everyone is their own worst enemy, and all but the incidental dangers that we face are tied directly to that fact. My current battle with myself is an extension of my internal battle with balancing Fate and Free Will; my personal safety doesn't have much to do with it, really. However, it is connected to others who desperately need to conquer those dangers in themselves; namely Mike Coventry and Laura Lupin... especially Laura," he added, ignoring how pale Conner had gotten. "Admittedly, Mike has a chance to win his battle with himself and his feelings about his brother all on his own, once we know the extent of Don's obvious betrayal of the family. But Laura is another story. You know as well as I do that she will not win her battle on her own."

"I... can't talk to you about that," Conner said, obviously troubled as he made his move.

"Yes, I know. But I can talk about it," Severus said calmly. "Conner, even if I hadn't set in motion some of the events that caused Laura to be in such a crisis right now, I would have been compelled to intervene as a father who knows the anguish of watching a family member going through something like this. Remus came to me and asked me to help, and although I did not know at the time the extent of the request, I had agreed to it readily. Now I feel as strongly about fixing this as if it had been a daughter of my own; and although you may not be able to help me with that job directly in any way, rest assured that I will be helping you with yours. Checkmate, by the way," he added. "Was there anything else you needed to ask me?"

"You had better get out of here before I say something I shouldn't," Conner said bluntly. "I'll finish your recommendation and send it along before lunch."

"Thank you, Conner," Severus said and got up without another word, striding out of the room.

Exhaling, Conner when and peered out the door.

"How long until my next appointment gets here?" Conner asked.

"A good twenty minutes or so," Mindy said. "You weren't in there long."

"It didn't need to be long," Conner said, deciding to go back in and finish his report, checking all of the highest boxes. He stared at the comments section for a moment, then shrugged, writing, "Hire without delay!" before sending it off.