A/N For news on planned books, revisions, and silly quotes, check doublequillmlp on twitter. Hope you like this next chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Life Choices

Maurice waved to his friends going to the train and hopped on the bus going to Hogsmeade, sinking into a seat with a sigh.

"Surely your marks weren't that bad," Chris Parker said, taking the seat behind him. There were few enough students in Hogsmeade that those going home tended to stretch out.

"No, close to perfect, actually. I'm just glad it's finally the winter holiday," Maurice admitted.

"You can say that again," Chris agreed. "I suppose you're looking forward to your freedom now... graduating from Hogwarts, I mean."

"Freedom? I'm not sure there really is such a thing, at least not true freedom," Maurice said. Chris peered over the seat at him, but Maurice looked thoughtful rather than bitter. "There are laws we have to abide by, and things we must do for survival, of course, and everyone has obligations of some kind; an obligation to family, or friends, or humanity. What we think of freedom is a measure of how many choices we have... and many who are looking for more choices make the mistake of not appreciating the choices they already have. Did you hear about that Grimshaw case in the paper? Trafficking Muggles for domestics?"

"Yes," Chris said. "A lot of Haveners are pretty enraged over it, actually."

"It is enraging. And it is pretty sad. And it just shows that we have a long way to go when it comes to ensuring basic liberties," Maurice agreed. "There are always going to be people who have more choice than others. But I think it's important that all humans, regardless of whether or not they have magic, money, or status, start raising the lower bar off the ground so that 'no choice' is not the minimum anymore."

"That's pretty deep," Chris said. "And rather gloomy, really, considering we're going home for the holidays."

"Sorry, I suppose the case got to me," Maurice decided, glancing out the window to see they were coming to their stop on main street. "Have a good Christmas!"

"Oh, come by Christmas Eve if you can and say hello to Nancy," Chris offered.

"Thanks, I'll try," Maurice agreed. The bus came to the stop, and Maurice stepped out, pausing long enough to help some of the first and second students by putting legs on their suitcases, since they didn't know the spell yet. He pulled up his hood and walked through the damp air over to the tinker shop, where the sign read, 'Gone to lunch.' But Maurice ignored it and stepped right in to see Ambrose behind the counter, waiting for him.

"There you are! Nice to see you. How did you do on your tests?" Ambrose asked.

"Same as always, near perfect, but not as good as you had," Maurice replied. "Your note said you found what I was looking for?"

"Yes, it's over there, second shelf on the left," Ambrose said, glancing in that direction. Maurice stepped over to the shelf and picked up a ring box. "I hope the shop understands girls better than I do. I still don't know what she means by, 'present, but not prominent.'"

"I think she means she wants everyone to know she's engaged without looking like she wants everyone to know she's engaged," Maurice explained.

"Ah, I see. That makes just about as much sense as the first statement," Ambrose teased. But as Maurice opened the box to inspect them Ambrose grew somber.

"Great! This is perfect. Even better, it comes with marriage bands," Maurice said, pleased.

"Yes. I gathered by that inclusion that it means the two of you aren't planning for a long engagement," Ambrose deduced.

"I am hoping she'll agree to marry me as soon as I graduate. A June wedding, for luck," Maurice said, pulling out a pouch of galleons and carefully putting them in the box.

"That soon?" Ambrose murmured.

"It's better for Beth if it's sooner rather than later. Her father left a dower trust in her will for whomever she marries. It'll get me a sizable amount of shares in her business and a seat on the board so I can help her with the burden she's under right now. Her grandfather set up a trust for her as well, which also matures when she marries. She wants to makes some major changes to the company to streamline it, and a little extra liquid assets along with a greater share percentage should help," Maurice explained.

"You sound just like Lucky," Ambrose observed. "But I don't have much interest in that sort of thing."

"Lucky! What an incredible idea... Lucky would be a big help sorting all of this out, wouldn't she? We should ask her. Great idea, Ambrose," Maurice said, setting the ring case on the counter so that Ambrose could wrap it. But that was when Maurice noticed Ambrose's sullen expression as he wrapped it.

"Hey, you are okay with this, aren't you?" Maurice asked with a frown.

"Oh, sure. It was always the plan, right? You two getting married..."

"Yes, but it doesn't mean anything's changed between us, you know, you heard Beth..."

"Yes, yes, I know," Ambrose interrupted, waving it off after hearing it way too many times. "But it's naive to think that nothing is going to change between us, Maurice. It will change. She's the one you'll come home to at night, and the one you'll have kids with..."

"I didn't know you're interested in that part of it. I thought you were quite happy as a male..."

"I am, that's not what I'm getting at," Ambrose said with a sigh. "Most of your time will be spent with your family, and rightly so, because family is everything to you. But all I get out of this is a part-time boyfriend... perhaps even just a friendship with benefits."

"Don't say that," Maurice said, putting a hand on his. Ambrose met his gaze, his eyes glassy. "I love you, and nothing's going to change that. But you knew as well as I did that this day would come, regardless of the time table. All three of us agreed that this would be best for everyone on how to handle it. But I don't want you to be upset, or feel like a third wheel, and I don't want you to be alone. Do you... do you want to be just friends?"

"Do you?" Ambrose challenged him.

"No," Maurice said immediately.

"Oh. Good," Ambrose said, looking both relieved and uncomfortable. "Because honestly, I really don't want to either, but I also don't want to be alone. I just don't think there are all that many Beths out there, you know?"

"Just be patient, Ambrose, the right person will come along for you too, I'm sure of that," Maurice said gently.

"Sure, I'll take out an advertisement. Wanted: partner for life long open marriage. Gender optional," Ambrose joked dryly.

"It'll come when it's time," Maurice reassured him. "And no matter what, you'll always have me."

"Right now I just want to spend more time with you," Ambrose admitted.

"Let me send out an Owl and we'll come up with a plan," Maurice offered.

"All right," Ambrose said, handing Maurice his parcel. Maurice quickly pocketed it and left to go to the Owlpost station, the sign on the shop now reading: "Closed for the day."

Lindsay cheerfully packed up the next box, labeling it with a flourish and setting it by the door. She had always been a morning person, Laura thought. Could she really room up with a morning person?

"It's going to be so much fun sharing flat, Laura, but it's a shame we can't stay here," Lindsay said.

"I can't afford this place without a job, and I don't want to stay somewhere you would have to pull more than your share," Laura said for the third time.

"You just need a new job, that's all," Lindsay shrugged. "It won't be all that hard with your credentials, not to mention your NEWT accreditation. How about checking the paper?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready for a new job yet," Laura grumbled, finishing the box she was on. Then again, did she really want to stay with Lindsay any longer than she had to?

"It doesn't hurt to look," Lindsay said. "Laura, are you sure we have to arrange all of these books by author and subject? It seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me."

"I know, but I learned after I moved in here it's better to pack like that so that if I need a reference right after I move, I know which box to grab," Laura explained.

"Well, every time I pack a box, I find another laying about. You really like books, don't you?" Lindsay said. Laura sighed at her and unrolled the paper, going straight to the employment notices. That was when she saw it.

Assistant Librarian required at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Applicant needs to have flexible hours and good work ethic, organizing skills and understand the rudimentary workings of a Wizard Library. Room and board may be included upon request. Must have high NEWT level in History and Runes; secondary languages not required but always appreciated. Please send resume by Owlpost only to Hermione Weasley, Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Laura groaned.

"Lindsay, you were totally laying it on thick just now! You damn well knew this advertisement was in here!" Laura accused her.

"Well, of course I knew," Lindsay said, rolling her eyes, reconstructing another moving box. "That advertisement has been running in the paper for weeks now. Haven't you seen in before?"

"Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing it a while back. I just didn't think about it other than wondering why Ambrose wasn't there any longer," Laura admitted.

"Well, he said he wanted to spend more time with his writing, but the way he said it, I got the feeling there was more to it than that. Exactly what, I don't know," Lindsay said.

"Why is it still even in here? You'd think they would have found someone by now," Laura wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe they're having trouble finding anyone who will work with Boulderdash. You know he's hard to warm up to, and he's a real stickler when it comes to books so he's probably a hard taskmaster."

"You forget, Lindsay, I was one of his aids, he's really nothing but a big softy," Laura chuckled

"Yeah, but someone coming in wouldn't know that. Not to mention what with everything that's happened over the last few years, I bet Uncle Severus is especially interested in getting someone in that position he can trust," Lindsay ventured. Laura closed the paper.

"It's a bad idea," Laura said. "My father's there."

"He's not in the library," Lindsay pointed out. "It's a big castle."

"Having my father there would be a big tug of war. Half the month, he pushes me away, and the other half, me makes excuses to spend time with me," Laura grumbled.

"Yeah, I've seen him do that," Lindsay admitted. "But he's only staying the one year, after all, and you don't have to stay in the castle when you're off duty. You can stay at our flat."

"I suppose. But I'm still not sure it's a good idea," Laura said with a frown, staring at it.

"Maybe you're right," Lindsay said thoughtfully. "I mean, I'm sure it has to be way boring, especially after you've been an Auror. Sure, it gets busy sometimes but I bet there's a lot of times when it's empty in there and all you have to do is read. There are ghosts and paintings that would pester you, and I bet Boulderdash would make you help him in the Owl Room keeping the Order of the Owls in line, especially now that he has classes to teach. They may egg you on in tutoring them in stuff, even when you're not getting paid for it. And that's not even getting into the fact that something is always happening in that school... floods, plagues, dragon attacks, Elf revolts... the place is cursed or something. I'm not sure I'd have the nerve to work there."

Laura watched Lindsay pack a box of books without saying anything at all. But by the time turned attention to her own packing box, she had already made up her mind.

It was just after Jennifer and Quintin left to go to the house that Severus decided to reorganize the Headmaster's Study, putting the tests neatly away and sorting all of the paperwork. Finally, he settled in to read Jennifer and Ivano's progress reports on their research. It wasn't long before he was wishing their notes were as tidy, sighing as he had to stop and stitch them together like a puzzle to get them in a cohesive order, frowning when he found the cover letter at the bottom of the stack.

Hermione strode in, wondering about his annoyed expression until he saw whose notes he was organizing.

"The last of the students that are leaving for the holiday are gone. We have 18 staying this year, none of them surprises," Hermione informed him. "Do you want the list?" Severus put his hand out. "Most of the staff is going home, but John will be staying a couple of days longer to finish maintenance and will be here two days before school starts. Also, Remus has requested to stay until after the full moon and asked for permission to use the lab as well."

"I thought he might. Permission granted," Severus agreed.

"And I have one other thing. That resume you've been waiting for arrived in the Owl Post," Hermione told him brightly.

"Has it? So soon?" Severus said, mildly surprised. "Well done, Lindsay."

"Now how can you be so sure she had something to do with it?" Hermione said with a chuckle.

"Lindsay is helping Laura move and has been with her ninety-five percent of the time," Severus said. "Even though I am quite certain Laura would have eventually taken up my offer on her own, I am glad that Lindsay sped it up. It'll be easier if you and Boulderdash can get her trained before the students arrive."

"That's very true. But the best part about it is I can take down that advertisement! Have you any idea just how many resumes I've had to file over the past few months?" Hermione asked with an exasperated tone.

"And just how many of those did you file right into your bin?" Severus asked knowingly.

"One or two," Hermione said. Severus gazed at her evenly. "Or more. Okay, most of them," she admitted. Severus smirked softly. "I'm going to go the Three Broomsticks to interview her then I'm going home."

"Have a good holiday," Severus said, then got back to work.