A/N It's September of the craziest year ever! While I won't make any promises, right now I seem to be writing about a chapter a week (I'm on 29) so I'll try to publish at about the same rate with a half a dozen chapters between us so I have plenty of editing space. While I don't mind PM's here, I really don't check them unless I'm over here editing or publishing. I'm more likely to see if faster if you send it to my twitter (it may take a day or two, but not as long of a lag as if you try to PM me.) I also give heads up if I'm going to publish or if there's a delay, send out teasers, or trivia, and some unrelated stuff since I've combined my fan interests under one name. It's at Doublequillmlp, and I have only had two people find me so far. Anyway, here's another chapter for you... hang in there!

Chapter Twenty-Four

A Book, a Basket, and a Bag

Maurice Craw gazed at the appointment book curiously, wondering why Severus was double-booked for lunch. A moment later Severus came in, glancing in his watch before collapsing in his chair.

"Do I need to come back? You seem to be rather busy today," Maurice noted, tapping the appointment book.

"Oh, that. I'm helping Remus with his class today and it requires some back and forth. It's nothing to worry about," Severus assured him. "Besides, you did say it was urgent, but pardon if I actually eat this time because I am famished."

"Well, I have that report from Beth you've been waiting on," Maurice explained, accepting a cup from him. "It seems that Counselor Jeffers was able to employ a Trade Elf assistant."

"Excellent. Did she provide a name?" Severus asked, handing him a plate as well.

"Yes, his name is Dandy," Maurice said. "She also wanted me to tell you that the Society is having a fancy dress for Halloween, sponsored by Balmweed. They're renting a Ministry hall for it."

"How lucky for me," Severus said with a thin smile. Maurice gazed at him thoughtfully.

"You say that as if you're going yourself, but aren't we having the Spectral Ball again this year?"

"Precisely why they wouldn't be expecting me," Severus reasoned. "It's their own fault for deciding to make it a fancy dress again. Not exactly a good way to keep secrets, is it?"

"Is that why we never have a fancy dress? Security?" Maurice asked.

"No, with a Truth-seeker on the premises, the problem of disguises isn't as much of an issue. The fact of the matter is that Jennifer or any of the other staff members have ever proposed trying that again. I myself prefer something more formal, so don't you dare put the idea in your sister's head," he warned in a threatening tone.

"All right, I won't," Maurice replied with a shrug. "I prefer a formal ball too."

"Good. As to the other matter... Maisy, are you still around?"

"Yes, Professor," said an Elf who faded into view. She was carrying a plate of teacakes, and put it on the desk next to the tea service.

"Do you know Dandy, Jeffer's new assistant?" Severus asked.

"I know Dandy, sir, but I didn't know he had found employment just yet," Maisy said. "He is a very loyal Elf."

"Loyal? To whom?" Severus asked.

"The Trade Union, sir. Dandy was a butler to one of the Meyer families; he was quite happy to be free to find his own employment. He was patiently waiting for a job he thought would be helpful to the Union," Maisy explained.

"Do you suppose he'd be willing to provide us with a bit of needed information? Namely so that we can find out which client that Jeffers has that might have relocated to the southwestern United States?" Severus asked.

"He might if the right person asks him," Maisy decided.

"Good, then let's make sure the right person finds out about it," Severus said.

"Yes, sir," Maisy replied, curtsying before she left.

"I don't think I've seen her before," Maurice commented as he helped himself to one of the cakes.

"That's all right. She knows you," Severus said, getting a plate of his own. "Make sure to thank Elizabeth for me. Will she be going to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

"Yes. Are you going?" Maurice asked.

"No, I have to work all weekend," Severus said. "But I have asked off for Halloween the weekend after that, and it sounds as if it is just as well, since I will be very busy indeed."

Beth waited for Maurice to arrive at Hogsmeade, greeting several who had come off the bus before him before finally smiling and taking his arm.

"There you are! Some of your friends are waiting for you at the Pannage," Beth explained.

"Then I guess I'll see you lot later," Maurice said to Max and Cain. "Make sure my nephews stay out of trouble for me."

"Sure, if we happen to be in the same place," Cain agreed, noting that Leu, Keir, Chuck, and Amy had already walked over to Corey's.

"This won't take long... an hour at most," Beth explained.

"I"ll catch up with you boys later then," Maurice said, allowing himself to be dragged down the side road. "So what's all this about?"

"Well, if anyone asks, it's in celebration of Ambrose's new article on 'Celtic Facts and Myths about Magic' that he sold to Wizard History Yesterday," Beth explained in a low voice.

"Finally sold that thing, did he?" Maurice chuckled.

"Actually, he sold it straight away, he just didn't want to tell you," Beth explained.

"What? Why not?" Maurice asked with a frown.

"He didn't want to discourage you, honestly. He knew you were trying to get published in a Muggle market and were having trouble," Beth explained. Maurice sighed.

"Well there is a lot more competition in Muggle magazines and a lot less poetry readers, at least when you're talking about the percentage of population that even bothers with poetry anymore. It's out of fashion, so to speak," Maurice explained.

"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean there isn't a place for it," Beth said.

"It probably sits on the coffee table to look impressive... sitting there unopened," Maurice muttered.

"Well, maybe that's what Muggles do, but most of us still read," Beth reminded him.

"True, but the Wizardnet thing is catching on, you know. Even Father's talking about putting a computer in the Secret Lab..."

"That's it! I've had enough of you today, Eeyore. Let's step inside already," Beth said with a chuckle, pulling him into the pub and all the way to the farthest booth. In the booth, Ambrose sat next to Earham Singh. Earham had a thin, goblinish grin on his face despite his current human appearance.

"You were so right, Ambrose!" Beth declared with exasperation, nudging Maurice to sit down first. "The very moment I mentioned that you got that article published, he started rationalizing his own failures!"

"Could you keep it down a bit? My father's friends are in here, you know," Maurice hissed at her. "You're being over-dramatic again."

"Slide over," Beth nudged, and Maurice made room for her to sit down. She grinned mischievously at Ambrose. "So how shall we proceed with the celebration?"

"Drinks first, of course," Ambrose replied. He gestured to the waitress who apparently already had drinks ready for them. She also brought a large basket of Brogan's Porkskins, along with both the Dragonbreath Sauce and the Wimpy Wizard sauce. "I also have some eel chips coming, plus some fried snails and some meat pies for the rest of us."

"Okay, what's up?" Maurice laughed. "Why are you catering to my tastes instead of yours?"

"Because the celebration is for you, obviously," Ambrose grinned. "Show him the magazine first."

"I hope you don't mind that it's a bit late, Maurice. I wondered if you noticed that I hadn't sent you the latest copy yet," Earham said, bringing it out and setting it in front of him.

"The Poetry Review? You don't mean?" Maurice asked.

"Ah, yes," Earham replied. "Your debut appearance. After the last time you attempted it, I felt that it might have been the selection that was the problem. So, I chose a few of your best that I thought they were more likely to publish... I hope you don't mind."

"One of the ones you wrote for me got in there," Beth said brightly.

"Fantastic," Maurice said with more enthusiasm, stashing the magazine in the Chest Cloak. "That is a reason to celebrate!"

"That's not all of it," Earham said, putting a book on the table. "I received a crate of these on Janus Edgar's behalf as well."

Maurice stared at it. It was titled: The Works of Janus Edgar from the Wizardday Collection.

"Oh, it's beautiful! Isn't it marvelous, Maurice? I suppose it's already at the Wizardday bookshop."

"It's due out at Flourish and Blott's on Tuesday as well. I checked," Earham said, then handing a rather stunned Maurice another note. "Oh, and your first goblin cheque... I thought you might like to see it before I deposit it in your business account."

Maurice stared at it. Then he propped his head up.

"This goes over the tax earning limit. How am I going to pay rates without Father finding out about it?" Maurice asked.

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about?" Ambrose said with exasperation.

"I'll take care of all of that, Maurice," Earham said calmly, putting it away. "I may be an English Professor, but I am still a goblin, after all. But now that you're published in something other than a quarterly, I would think now might be a good time to confess to your father about it."

"No," Maurice said firmly. "I'm not ready."

"This again," Earham said with an exasperated sigh.

"Didn't we already go through that with your sister? And then it didn't end up as bad as you thought?" Ambrose reminded him. Earham nodded in support.

"There is a big difference between my father and my sister," Maurice protested, realizing that all three of them were looking at him with a look that always made him feel as if he were being ganged up on. "I'll tell him eventually... after Beth and I are married," he decided, thumbing through the book. Beth blinked.

"I don't remember you formally proposing," Beth pointed out primly.

"No, I haven't yet. I'm still trying to come up with how I want to go about it," Maurice explained. "Still, you are going to marry me, aren't you?"

Beth propped her head up with her hand. So did Ambrose. Earham simply rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Shall we drink a toast to the poet? He has such a way with words," Earham suggested dryly. In fact, it was so dry that both Beth and Ambrose couldn't help but burst out laughing. Maurice stared at them, wondering exactly what it was they thought was so incredibly funny.

The moment they were done eating, Ambrose hurried to his father's shop, knowing there would be a fair number of students lingering by the brick wall by the time that he got there. Sure enough, students were attempting to find any excuse that they could to wander by the area, and several of them watching him hopefully as Ambrose approached and stepped to the other side. A couple of them took off running; probably to notify friends that he was likely to open soon. Ambrose grinned at that, remembering the feeling when he was a student. Of course, his anticipation was as much for seeing Toby as it was for the shop himself. How he missed his father!

Ambrose sighed, wondering when he'd be back. He hadn't given his mother any firm indication for when his return would be, and sometimes that meant a prolonged visit. Then again, there had also been occasions when he had indicating a time and he ended up being home much quicker than they had expected. Would he be home for Christmas, Ambrose wondered, glancing around the shop to check the shelves. That was when he noticed movement in the back and looked up with alarm. Then he saw the brown-cloaked figure, who had also frozen in his tracks.

"Oh, it's just you," Ambrose said flatly.

"You see me?" the cloaked figure asked in a low voice. It wasn't a voice that Ambrose recognized.

"Yes, I see you. But my father told me to ignore you and not to talk to you," Ambrose explained. "So how about you come out from behind the counter so I have no reason to talk to you?"

"Fine," said the figure and stepped out of Ambrose's way. He was taller than Ambrose; a thin build but not quite as lanky, and he certainly wasn't an older man considering the way he stood or the sound of his voice.

"Thanks," Ambrose said. "And if you were having trouble find what you were here for, you might want to look again since I'm in the shop now. What should I call you, anyway?"

"I thought you weren't supposed to talk to me," the figure reminding him, picking up a newspaper and putting down a sealed scroll.

"I'm not fishing for a name, if that's what you're worried about. I'm just looking for something else to call you other than "the wizard in the brown cloak" if my father comes home and I feel like confronting him about it," Ambrose said. The figure tried for the door, but it wouldn't open.

"He calls me his Deuce, so that will do," the Deuce said. "Just don't mention that name to anyone but him. And if he says we shouldn't be talking, we probably shouldn't be."

"Okay," Ambrose said, the door releasing for the other wizard. But when the wizard glanced down the street, he gasped, hurrying to the far side of the brick wall where he wouldn't likely be seen, Disapparating the moment he was clear of the shop. Curiously, Ambrose looked out the window. It was hard to tell who he had been afraid of considering how many students were in the street. Or was it because of the professors down the street, he wondered? In front of Corey's shop stood Jennifer and Professor Disparte, chatting with each other. Quintin ran up from the other side of the street to get a hug from his mother.

"And just what are you doing out and about?" Jennifer asked, but was obviously happy to see him.

"I am going to see Corey!" Quintin told her excitedly, looking around at all the familiar faces walking around the streets.

"Oh, I see. I'll try to meet up with you later, then," Jennifer replied, letting the boy run into the Apothecary.

"Should they be letting a boy that age loose in a town such as this?" Ivano asked.

"Oh, he won't be alone for long," Jennifer assured him. "Besides, there are some things I'd like to take care of before my visit with Quintin this afternoon. Let's check to see if Toby's Trinkets is open. After that, we'll pop over to the Three Broomsticks to make sure Andrew reserved enough staff tables for today."

"Very well! I'll admit to being quite curious about this town. I've never seen a village this size entirely of wizardkind before," Ivano said

"Well, it's not entirely wizardkind. Some of them are Haveners," Jennifer explained, giving him a brief history of the event as they walked down the street. Students were still hovering expectantly a fair distance away from the Tinker shop, looking rather bored. "Hello, everyone! I take it you still see a wall there?"

"You don't, Professor Craw?" asked Martha York. Jennifer shook her head with a smile. "Someone said they saw Ambrose go in there earlier."

"Yes, he's in there. Shall I see if I can get him to speed up the opening a bit?" Jennifer asked, the students agreeing enthusiastically. "Shall we, Ivano?"

"I am coming. What do you mean about it still being a wall?" Ivano asked.

"It's a very peculiar shop," Jennifer said with an enigmatic smile, opening the door and stepping in with Ivano not far behind. "Good morning, Ambrose! You're open, I hope?"

"I seem to be," Ambrose replied with a grin.

"This is Ambrose Tinker, the proprietor's son. The owner happens to be abroad at the moment," Jennifer introduced.

"Charmed," Ivano said distractedly. He was too busy gaping around at the shelves to put too much effort into the introduction. "Is this a pawn shop?"

"No, this is the famous name-your-own-price Toby's Trinkets," Jennifer said cheerfully. "One per customer, of course. Ambrose, the students out there are getting quite restless. Are you opening soon?"

"I have a feeling that my father set up this shop to give school faculty preferential treatment on Hogsmeade school trips," Ambrose grinned with amusement. "Especially Professor Craw."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Jennifer laughed. "If that's the case, we'd best get looking!"

"What am I looking for?" Ivano inquired.

"The only advice I can give to you on that is that you will know it when you see it," Jennifer said, glancing about. "Ah, what's this?" she asked, picking up the scroll and reading the tag. "'A Study of Temporal Magic; a.k.a., Keeping Your Present Tidy, with notes on temporal grammar,'" Jennifer read with a laugh. "This is for Severus' birthday. I suppose I'll have to get this." Ivano peered over her shoulder at the tag.

"The byline is smudged. And look at the date! Surely that's just a joke," Ivano said. "It's quite impossible."

"I wouldn't put anything past this shop," Jennifer said enigmatically, walking over to the counter to put her coins in.

"Let me wrap it while you look, Aunt Jennifer. Maybe he's not sure what to look for," Ambrose suggested.

"It sounds as if I need to look for the impossible," Ivano said, pausing to look at a book. He frowned at it and put it back. "That one is too impossible." Jennifer laughed at that.

"Well, maybe it'll be something that either helps our research or makes you more comfortable while you are staying here, Ivano," Jennifer suggested.

As she went to help Ivano, Ambrose paused long enough to read the tag on the scroll. He frowned at it at first, then realization set in. He quickly put it in a scroll case and wrapped it up. Wondering how he was going to get out of his current predicament. He noticed something on the shelf and smiled, getting an idea.

"Aunt Jennifer, I think I might see something in here that Uncle Severus will probably end up getting you. Do you mind putting your spectacles up?" Ambrose suggested.

"Oh! Well, drat, I suppose that'd only be fair," she said and pushed them up with a smile, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "Over there, was it?"

"No peeking. You already have a purchase," Ambrose reminded her. Jennifer pouted and Ambrose couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Ah! Do you suppose this is what I'm looking for?" Ivano asked, looking at an Unremarkable picnic basket.

"Brilliant! I need one of those! This isn't my present, is it, Ambrose?" Jennifer asked excitedly, but Ambrose had to chuckle and shake his head.

"The label is in Italiano," Ivano explained. "It says, pacchetto da casa. Package from home."

"Really? Is it full? Can I peek?" Jennifer asked excitedly as Ivano picked it up.

"I believe so. It is warm on one side and cold on the other. And it smells good. But how could it possibly be here? Who made it? And when did it get here? And how did you know I was even coming in?" Ivano questioned. Ambrose shrugged and smiled.

"I have no more answers than you do. But I can tell you that if there's anything inside, it's part of the set and counts as one item," Ambrose explained.

"Oh, get it, get it. I will buy us drinks at the Brooms, then we can have a picnic on the green above Keki's Grove for lunch," Jennifer suggested.

"Are you sure there's anything truly palatable in here? That's a bit of a gamble, is it not?" Ivano said with a chuckle but brought the basket to the counter.

"If you didn't like taking chances, you shouldn't have become an alchemist," Jennifer chided him.

"Aunt Jennifer, you're not stringing him along, are you?" Ambrose asked bluntly. Ivano blinked.

"Oh, don't be silly! I'm simply being a good host... except perhaps for the fact that he was the one who found the basket and I'm inviting myself to inspect it," Aunt Jennifer confessed.

"It's all right," Ivano laughed. "How much, do you think?"

"Whatever you think it's worth," Ambrose said, tapping the sign.

"It is hard to say when I don't even know what's in it," Ivano protested, putting some coins in.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jennifer said cheerfully. "Shall we go?"

As the two of them left, Ambrose let out a sigh.

"Dear Aunt Jennifer, I hope you know what you're doing," Ambrose murmured under his breath, shaking his head with a smile. Then he frowned again, thinking of the scroll. "That goes double for you, Father. I hope you know what you're doing too," he said for good measure, trying to wrap his head around what he had just learned.

Ambrose stepped over to the book shelf to read the title on the book that Ivano had set back down, becoming even more thoughtful. Setting his concerns aside, he walked to the front and turned the shop sign to "Open for customers," welcoming the distraction of having students in the shop.

With that week's Auror Club canceled, Laura had been hoping for a day off. Unfortunately, Harry decided that the cancellation meant she was now free to help Mike with prisoner recall training. Laura stood in front of the flag board and brooded, glaring at Aurelius' flag.

Mike came in with Severus just behind him, curious about her dark expression.

"What are you looking at?" Mike asked her.

"Aurelius. He's at St. Andrews," Laura said.

"That is a surprise. He's been attempting to play the Old Course for months now, but he always gets called in," Severus said.

"Yeah, it's hard to make reservations for anything, since we never know when we're going to be called in unexpectedly," Mike explained. "Especially as short-handed as we've always been." Laura sighed, feeling a bit guilty for being jealous of Aurelius for managing to get a day off.

"So who are we after, today?" Laura asked. "We're doing a prisoner recall, right?"

"Chev Dumont missed his parole hearing, but Harry doesn't think he left the country... only appeared to. He got away with it because of the flag board being down," Mike explained. "He changed his name and resettled himself, more than likely to go back to what he was doing before, which was counterfeiting high ticket Muggle items and passing them off as the real thing. BELA contacted us about him originally... he was at it for years before someone contacted the special services thinking that something was really odd about this guy selling endless products without any apparent overhead. Lately, a report of someone doing something similar popped up, so Harry figured out it was the same guy, just with a changed name and appearance. Transfiguration seems to be his only real talent, but he's damn good at it." Mike explained.

"He was able to get his name changed through a Muggle agency, so it didn't appear in the Archives. Harry and Tonks just tracked it down a few days ago and decided it'd be a good one for us to do, since it's a great trainer for making an arrest. Recalling someone on parole can be tricky," Mike added. "Even wizards that committed minor crimes can suddenly turn violent if they decide they don't want to go back to prison, so the situation can quickly escalate if it isn't handle properly from the start."

"Yeah, that's why we get to handle these instead of the LE department," Laura said dryly.

"Pretty much," Mike agreed. "The best case scenario is catching them completely off guard and unarmed. If they're not expecting us, they'll likely surrender. If they're considered especially dangerous, we simply stupefy them. You've already gotten the policy lecture on apprehending someone right?"

"'Use only the amount of force necessary to insure a capture; no more and no less,'" Severus quoted calmly.

"Exactly, and if we don't get it right, Harry would rather it be less force rather than too much force. We can always track them down again," Mike said.

"True, but it also puts them on their guard for the next capture, and it puts more lives at stake," Severus pointed out. Laura nodded at that firmly.

"I've heard that argument come often enough from Minister Craw," Mike admitted. "But Harry is not Thomas, and even putting personality and motivations aside, the politics in this department are very different than Minister Craw's as well. Minister Malfoy would do little more than comment if Craw used excessive force to take someone out. But if someone in this department did it without just cause, Malfoy is quite likely to come down on the entire department. He certainly wouldn't back up our actions, especially if he can find a way to blame Harry personally for it. I'm sure you know the situation well enough to know that I'm right."

"Yes, you're right," Severus agreed. Mike nodded at that. "Of course, Draco's also not likely to let him forget it if this department let someone get away who then causes massive havoc and destruction, either."

"Then you understand our position," Mike said, glancing at Laura. "Typically when it comes to someone who is running a scam like this, we disguise ourselves and go in as customers, but that might be a problem in this case, especially if we attempt to disguise ourselves through any transfiguration spells."

"Perhaps this is a situation where suspended polyjuice potions are in order," Severus suggested.

"You do know that Aurelius is the only one in the department that has access to those," Laura informed him.

"Who do you think he gets those from?" Severus said calmly. "It's true my wife and I filed that formula under a limited license, but it can easily be extended to the whole department with the right paperwork. Either way, I do have a license to use and administer them. We'll need to pop over to the house for me to pick up extras... perhaps I should pick up some gender potions as well."

"Gender potions? Why would we need that?" Laura asked.

"It's not for you, but for us," Severus said. "This particular formula doesn't include a sex change; that would ruin the suspension, but it can be combined the a standard potion without ill effect. But I believe it will help us keep the wizard we're after off guard. The only thing that is perceived less threatening than a group of Muggles is a group of Muggle women." Laura squinted at him.

"He's got a point," Mike agreed.

"Let me speak with Alex before we go. It may save us the trouble of attempting to come up with our own hair specimens," Severus suggested.

"Sure, go ahead," Mike agreed, Severus leave before turning to Laura. She had an annoyed look on her face. "Problem?"

"No, I'm just a bit disappointed, I suppose," Laura said, Mike raising a brow at that. "That the Headmaster thinks that women are less threatening, I mean."

"I don't believe Severus thinks that way. I think he believes the rest of the world thinks that way," Mike replied evenly. "And I'd say he's right about that. Besides, this should make it a better training exercise since we'll have to change our mannerisms. You'll need to tone it down too, you know."

"I've had plenty of opportunities in this department to play the victim, thank you," Laura said primly. "Have you found out anything as to what Severus is even doing here?"

"Why he's moonlighting, you mean?" Mike asked. Laura nodded. Mike shrugged. "He's not really talked about anything other than whatever case we're working on, and he falls in line better than any trainee I've ever had when I'm trying to teach. He's pretty quiet, really, except when he has a suggestion."

"He seems to have his fair share of those," Laura observed, looking around the flag room pointedly.

"That's because he'd rather solve problems rather than complain about them," Mike said bluntly. Laura glared at him. "You could learn a lot from him if you stopped resenting him being here, you know. Just because we're out of school doesn't mean he still doesn't have something to teach. He has a lot more experience than we do, after all. He's been through hell and back."

"Who hasn't?" Laura snapped. Mike gazed at her thoughtfully. "In some way or another," she added quickly. "Haven't you?"

"True, but not to the same extent, or as often. Besides, he's as old as... someone is coming," Mike said.

Jamie came in, freezing in the door a moment when she saw both of them staring at her.

"What?" Jamie said.

"Nothing, we thought you were Severus," Laura said.

"If it was Severus, you wouldn't have heard me," Jamie reasoned with a shrug. She walked over to the flag board to inspect it, setting a drink she brought with her on the wall shelf. "I'm here to take over the board, so you guys can leave whenever. Going to Spitalfields?"

"He's more likely to be there than anywhere else on a Saturday," Mike agreed.

"What disguise are you going to be using?" Jamie asked.

"We haven't worked out the details yet. We're going to use Polyjuice potions."

"Good idea. He's likely to see through anything else," Jamie said approvingly.

"Here," Severus said from behind, causing Laura to jump slightly. Jamie smirked at that, then glanced at the board again. He held up three bottles. "As it so happens, Alexandria has some prepared bottles, so we won't have to go to my house first. I have a pair of Muggle twin girls and their older sister available," he explained, glancing at the labels.

"Hand me one of the twins, I have experience in that sort of thing," Mike said dryly. "Laura, you should be the older sister... you get to play the voice of reason. We'll play the enthusiastic, naive customers."

"Fine," Laura said. "Which method are we going to use to bag him considering how many Muggles are going to be around?"

"Hopefully we won't have to do more than lost-in-the-crowd. Otherwise, we'll have to do alarm distraction or bait-and-switch," Mike said.

"Right," Laura said.

"I don't suppose our quarry deals in ladies' handbags at all?" Severus inquired.

"Among other things," Mike nodded to him.

"Then perhaps I have a plan of my own to offer," Severus suggested, Mike gazing at him with interest. "I even have an idea on how to cover it up."

Before she knew it, Laura found herself walking in the market with a pair of excited, identical twin girls. The twins had blonde pony tails and looked no older than second-year students, and she was their obviously older sibling, frowning disapprovingly at the two girls for darting back and forth between booths and making random comments and using lingo that, if she were honest to her herself, half of which she didn't understand. She couldn't even tell the two of them apart, and quickly lost track of who was playing who. Although she wasn't surprised at how quickly Mike fell into his role, she was more than a little surprised that Severus had done the same. How did the two of them fall so seamlessly into this pair of energetic Muggle girls?

"Oh, look at this scarf!" one of the twins said as they worked their way down the street, stopping to put the scarf on her head.

"Wait! I'll take a picture," said the other, pulling out a mobile phone from her pocket and snapping a shot.

"Why don't you get in it too?" the first twin suggested, and the other complied, holding her hand out with the camera.

"Say, 'selfies!'" suggested the second twin.

"Are you three going to buy anything?" asked the steamed merchant standing nearby. The one twin fumbled her phone in surprise, barely catching it before it fell, while the other scrambled for some money. Laura rolled her eyes and waited for them to finish their purchase.

"We really need to be moving on," Laura insisted.

"It's not our fault you didn't eat before we left," said the first twin.

"I'll pay for lunch when we're done shopping," promised the second twin, focused on the screen in front of her and tapping at it as they walked.

"I don't see how you're going to do much shopping with that thing in your hand," Laura scolded. "We're here to look in tents, not to play with gadgets."

"A phone isn't a gadget. It's my life!" the second twin protested so dramatically that Laura rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we should look at historical costumes next," Laura tsked.

"Oh, look at these handbags!" the second twin said, hurrying over to a handbag stand and inspecting them. "Aren't they just delicious?"

"I'd prefer a different sort of lunch... and less expensive," Laura added, looking at the price.

"What? These are cheap considering what they are online," the second twin argued, getting out her phone again to look it up.

"Are you sure these aren't knockoffs?" Laura asked skeptically.

"They're last season's design," said the merchant inside the tent. He was a gangly fellow with black hair with casual but designer t-shirt and jeans and expensive earrings. "That's why they're at a discounted price, but I assure you they're quite authentic. I'd rather you not touch the merchandise unless you're serious about buying them, however."

"Do you take phone pay?" the second twin asked.

"Of course," he replied.

"I like this one the best, don't you, Sandy?" said the first twin, showing her the handbag.

"Since when do you care about handbags, Mandy?" Laura asked, finally working out by that which was which.

"I was thinking it would make a good investment. I bet we could sell it for a profit to one of our mates once we get back to the school," she explained.

"Which also assumes that it's not a knockoff," Laura pointed out.

"Of course it isn't! I know what to look for... see, I've already put a list up on my mobile," Sandy said, showing her the screen then looking at it again. "The clasps and logo are right, and the color matches... but it does seem to be two seasons ago and not this season," she explained, then pocketed the phone long enough to open up the handbag. "Oh, wait, there is a mistake here after all."

"What? Nonsense! Your information must be wrong," the merchant said, walking over to them.

"The double-seam isn't covered up by the lining," Sandy explained. "See for yourself."

Sandy opened up the bag wide enough for him to peer inside, and in a movement so quick that Laura might have missed it if she hadn't expected it, Sandy flipped the bag over his head and down over his whole body until the handbag reached the ground, quickly snapping the clutch over the man's feet before he could react.

Laura and the other twin immediately began clapping loudly around passersby who had witnessed the act, their startled expressions turning to amazement and appreciation as they joined in the clapping at the apparent magic act they had just witnessed.

"Thank you! Thank you! Be sure to check out our show later on today!" Mandy said, tugging at one side of the tent.

"See you at the show!" Laura told the crowd, quickly helping him tie up the tent.

"We need to move quickly, since I'm uncertain how long that displacement spell will hold," Sandy warned the moment the tent was closed.

"Time to drop him off then," Mandy agreed.

"What, like this?" Laura said, reminding them of their appearances.

"If we don't mind, you sure have no reason to, big sister," Mandy said. Sandy pulled out a key to Azkaban and the three of them grabbed a hold of it.

True to his word, Severus treated them for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, settling at Thomas Craw's table not long after the paperwork was done and their potion wore off.

"Although it may have been more amusing for us to have walked in that way," Severus said, his deadpan expression failing to hide that fact that he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"That would have gotten stares, especially after sitting at this table," Mike agreed.

"Especially if the two of you had kept up that outlandish acting," Laura added. "To be perfectly honest, it quite surprised me. Mike has done his fair share of acting and disguises, but I'm surprised how good you were at it, Professor."

"Oh, I have done plenty of it in the past myself, I assure you. I have been everything from a drunken goblin to a rusty sea captain in attempts at keeping my family out of trouble. I even posed as a student once, as you may recall."

"Siegfried, that's right," Laura said after a moment.

"Ever been a teen girl before?" Mike grinned.

"Well, no, but having three daughters gave me plenty of material to work off of. Mostly I imitated what Alexandria was like at that age," Severus admitted.

"Really? Was she that flighty?" Mike chuckled.

"You have no idea," Severus said seriously that Mike couldn't help but chuckle again, pausing as they ordered.

"And just where did the charm you had on the handbag come from?" Mike went on after they got their drinks.

"Oh, that was from one of my children as well... Corey in this case. He was given a book of prank spells from a friend. I had occasion to read it so that I could stay ahead of some of the trouble he used to get into back then. The spells out of that book have really come in handy over the years," he admitted in a lowered voice. "Shall I write it down the title for you? It's still in print."

"Oh, I'm interested," Mike agreed. "That charmed holding spell alone is worth buying it for."

"I did modify it slightly, but I am certain you will know exactly how I modified it when you see the original spell," Severus said, handing him a slip of paper with the information on it. "Do you want it written down as well, Laura?"

"Sure, why not?" Laura said, and he wrote it out for her as well. "I'll admit the spell worked well, but do you suppose we did enough to explain our exit? I'm not sure how Harry would feel about us covering up real magic by trying to convince the Muggles that it was a Muggle illusion."

"It really doesn't matter. I cleared using that method with Alex when I went to get the potions," Severus assured her. "She thought it was brilliant. Not surprising, really. I got that idea from her as well. Care to hear about what prompted the idea?"

Severus then proceeded to tell them about the talent contest, the two of them listening with interest until their lunches came, and Severus concluded with telling them about Zack's part in the contest.

"You know, it's funny that silly contest seems to have played such a part into what field Zack went into," Mike said.

"That and everything leading up to it, yes. To be perfectly honest, I am glad that he did become a ghost psychiatrist. His services have been invaluable to Hogwarts, especially when it comes to Icarus. He was quite unstable when he was first exhumed to Hogwarts. Icarus has come a very long way since then," Severus admitted.

"He must have, considering you had him on your list of possible Headmaster contenders," Laura said.

"Really? I'm not sure I'd like that," Mike said. "I mean, how would you ever get him to leave?"

"Fair enough, although I'm sure he'd step down if the right person asked him and the right person came along to take over, but it is neither here nor there. The conversation I had with Laura on the matter was purely speculative. I have no intention of going anywhere for a while," Severus said. "The point was merely that he has come a long way, and while I don't personally trust him, I could see him in the job."

"I'm sure you don't trust many," Laura said.

"On the contrary, I trust a great many people now," Severus replied. "Of course, it took me a very long time to learn that lesson... not to mention a trip to Tir Na Nog that forced me to entrust my life and Jennifer's to strangers. After that, it became easier to trust others who were closer to home."

"I would love to go visit there sometime," Mike admitted.

"And lose all of that time?" Laura asked. "Hardly worth it. It's chaotic over there. You're really not missing much."

"You went over when the war was going on, though. I'm sure it's different now than when you went," Mike pointed out, Severus nodding at that. "But I would still like to see the Chimes of Aepheri with my own eyes someday."

"Harry would never let you have that much time off," Laura pointed out.

"There's nothing wrong with taking some time off for reflection. In fact, I believe everyone needs a sabbatical from time to time... to question one's life choices, and to either validate them or chose another path if necessary. If Mike takes a health sabbatical and comes back certain that he still wants to be an Auror, Harry and the department will benefit greatly from that affirmation," Severus reasoned. "Personally, I think a pilgrimage to Aepheri would be an excellent choice for Michael."

"I know it would be," Mike replied with certainty. "I simply don't know if I'll ever get the opportunity."

"Yes, well, if you do ever get the opportunity, let me know. I'll glad intervene with Harry if you need me to," Severus said. "After all, the whole reason I was able to get out of that mess in Tir Danaan is because you recognized the S.O.S. I sent and got word to Jennifer that I needed help. I owe you that much."

"Thanks, Severus," Mike said sincerely.

"Tell me, Laura," Severus added after watching her jab at her plate for a moment. "Where would you choose to go if you took a sabbatical?"

"I wouldn't. Harry is short-handed and needs every Auror he has at the moment," Laura said bluntly.

"Not all sabbaticals are planned events. I learned that lesson the hard way," Severus said dryly.

"Like the times when we get benched," Mike pointed out, Laura growing red.

"When have you ever been benched?" Laura retorted.

"Never, but Harry's been known to do it," Mike shrugged. "It was just a hypothetical question anyway."

"There's no where I want to go, really," Laura shrugged.

"I see," Severus said, and turned his attention to his meal, occasionally asking Mike a question he had about a rule or regulation. Laura seemed rather glad that no more questions were directed at her; and even more glad when they returned to the office to file their last reports and finish up for the day.