Chapter Twenty-One

Laura Takes Over

Laura came out of the tennis school to find Andrew already waiting for her and walked over to him with a smile.

"So where did you want to get lunch? The usual?" he asked.

"Well, that depends. Do we have to go straight back?" Laura asked.

"I don't have any security or babysitting duties today, no. Next week, I promised to supervise football tryouts," Andrew explained.

"Then maybe we should take advantage of the fact the weather hasn't turned yet and find a nice beach or boardwalk to walk along. We can find something to eat while we're there," Laura suggested.

"You want to eat fish again," Andrew translated.

"No, I just thought it'd be nice to do a bit of touring and..."

"And eat fresh caught fish."

"Oh, it doesn't have to be. Fish and chips would be perfectly fine... as long as it's dockside," Laura added, Andrew rolling his eyes at that.

"Why is it that the one food that you like the most is also the food you seem to be the pickiest about?" Andrew teased her.

"Trust me, when it comes to fish, you have to be picky. It can come back to haunt you if you don't know what to look for," Laura said seriously. "Surely Mr. I've-been-everywhere knows a place we can go that'd be up to the task."

"Do you have to put it like that?" Andrew asked flatly, but Laura smiled and took his arm.

"Don't look at it as a negative, Andrew. I love that I can count on you to think up somewhere fun to go. Most of the places I've visited in this country are the places that get raided by Aurors several times a year. In other words, I'm much better at coming up with places we ought to avoid," Laura explained.

"I'm sure I've run into a fair number of those as well," Andrew chuckled. "Fine! Let's go to Blackpool then. I happen to know a local shop called Seahag's Fish and Chips that caters to wizards. And despite the name, the witch owner is pretty nice."

"Sounds great!" Laura said enthusiastically.

"Let's drop these bags off at the house and I can get one of the Trade Elves to run them to the castle when they have time," Andrew said, taking her hand.

Pretty soon they were on their way, dropping off the bags at Baker Street before Apparating into a small narrow room that appeared to be the local Portkey station. They stepped out a door that looked like a service entrance to one of the nearby buildings and went out onto the promenade. Andrew immediately took a sharp turn Laura wasn't expecting. He lead her over to a small wizard area with a couple of gift shops featuring charmed sea shells and other small, overpriced items, along with a change counter to exchange galleons into Muggle money at an exorbitant fee. Finally they reached the restaurant, but Andrew immediately went upstairs instead of taking the main entrance.

"There's actually a hidden balcony up here where you can look out onto the beach," Andrew explained. There were also quite a number of tables up there, more than likely for busy summer days when it became too full downstairs. When a waitress in a mermaid dress came over, he asked her to lead them outside, and they sat at a table next to the railing and under a purple awning that stretched out to offer some protection from the sun.

"You see?" Laura said, enjoying the view. "Even if I had managed to stumble onto this place on my own, Andrew, I never would have known about this second floor balcony."

"I've been here a lot," Andrew admitted. "It's one of the few wizard restaurants in the area. I've taken Lucky, Ambrose, and Leu here on occasion as well, typically before taking them to the amusement park."

"As well," Laura repeated. Andrew grimaced at that. "It's alright, Andrew. If I can talk to you about what happened to me in the Otherworld, surely you can talk to me about your problems, can't you?"

"It's hardly the same thing, is it? Not by a long shot," Andrew said quietly.

"I didn't mean it that way. I meant it more like... well, I just hope you feel that you can be open with me, just like I'm trying to be with you," Laura explained.

"I do, but I also don't want to say anything that'd make you feel uncomfortable, either," Andrew said. Laura shrugged.

"I'll let you know if it does," Laura replied. "Tell me about the first time you ever ate here. Who were you with?" Andrew tried to think back, frowning. Fortunately for him, the waitress came out, dressed in a fanciful seawitch dress and a pirate hat.

"Good afternoon, dearies, what can I get you? Oh hello, Andrew! Welcome back! It's been a while," she said.

"Yes, it has," Andrew said, realizing the interruption was hardly any better than the conversation they'd been having.

"I take it you've been working here for some time," Laura ventured with a smile.

"Oh, yes! I'm the owner's niece, so I've a small stake in the place, although sometimes I feel it's worth working here for the views alone, except maybe midsummer," she said. "I'm Marina Hagley. Samphire Hagley is my aunt."

"Oh, that explains the name of the place!" Laura grinned.

"Yes, exactly so!" she chuckled. "So would you like the share plate you normally get?"

"Sounds great to me," Laura answered before Andrew had time to recover. "And some tea, please,"

"Of course, straight away! And I'll let my aunt know that you've come back, Andrew, I'm sure she'd like to say hello," Marina added enthusiastically, before going back inside.

"This was a really bad idea," Andrew murmured.

"Now I get to see what you normally order," Laura said wickedly. "I'm betting it involves not only fish and chips, fried prawns, scallops, eel chips and maybe even a bit of fried sea serpent tentacle to see if your date squirms. And since it's September, some fresh oysters. We'll get a very wide assortment of sauces, mostly popular in wizard pubs, with a few basics just for tradition's sake."

"You're scary, you know that, don't you," Andrew said flatly.

Marina came back with the tea tray, followed by an older witch with faded red hair but otherwise looked enough like Marina that Laura gathered right away it was the aunt she had spoken about.

"Andrew! It's so good to see you again! And with a date again, finally!" the owner said, smiling warmly at both of them. "Or is this another sibling?"

"Definitely a date," Laura chuckled.

"Hello Sam, how are you?" Andrew asked with a wan smile.

"A bit saltier, but hanging in there," she said with a wink. "And I'm very glad you're finally dating again. I was worried about you for a while. Did you get the Fisherman's Quarry?"

"Yes, but I think he forgot to order the oysters," Laura decided. Andrew stared at her.

"No problem, we can get right on that, can't we Marina?" Sam said.

"I should have thought of it, actually. Typically he only orders those for his dinner dates," Marina said. Andrew had to concentrate on curbing his desire to be invisible in that moment.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Laura said. "We've been out playing tennis with each other so we worked up quite an appetite, and after lunch, we're going to take a nice long stroll along the beach until we find a lovely, quiet spot to enjoy the rolling waves, and then he's taking me home with him."

"Bold, isn't she?" Sam said with amusement. Andrew's ears became bright red and finally his cheeks as well. "I like this one, Andrew, she's a good match for you! You might think about keeping her," she teased, following Marina out.

Laura got her tea, sipping it as if nothing had happened.

"You do realize, of course, that her interpretation of what you just said was completely different than what you actually said," Andrew finally said.

"Oh really?" she said innocently. "I believe I described our plans for the day quite literally, don't you?" Andrew's stoic expression let her know that he wasn't buying the naive attitude for a moment. "And since I did explain our day quite truthfully, I suppose you mean that Sam might have taken my words in a more figurative way somehow," she mulled, his Snapeish expression still fixed and skeptical. "Goodness, I hope she didn't take them as euphemisms for something else," she said with feigned surprise. Andrew squinted at her, attempting to come up with a suitable reply when an icy bowl of oysters arrived. Laura seemed much more interested in those than the threatening looks she was getting across the table.

"You should have some, Andrew, they're really quite fresh," Laura suggested.

"If you keep going on like this, people are going to start getting the wrong idea, Laura," Andrew said sternly.

"I'm okay with that," Laura decided unconcernedly. "Do you need me to show you how to eat these? I can explain it to you if you like."

"Laura, why are you behaving like this?" Andrew asked with exasperation.

"Like what?" Laura asked coyly. Andrew stared at her. She chuckled at him. "Oh, come now, Andrew, there's no reason you need to be so defensive over a bit of harmless fun."

"It's hardly harmless," Andrew said. Laura propped her head up in her hand and gazed at him.

"Are you really that intimidated when a girl decides to flirt back?" Laura asked quietly, looking much more serious now.

"You're not just any girl," Andrew replied sincerely. "You mean more than that to me."

"So they're allowed to flirt and I'm not?" Laura inquired.

"I didn't say that," Andrew replied defensively.

"Don't you want me to be myself when I'm with you?" Laura asked.

"Of course, I always want that," Andrew replied.

"Good," Laura said, then picked up an oyster wickedly. "Here, show me how you eat an oyster. You can tell a lot about a man by how they handle an oyster." Andrew stared at her.

"I'm not going to eat one of those in front of you. You can have them," Andrew said firmly.

"Oh, my gosh, Andrew! Do you actually have a shy side?" Laura said with open interest. "It's because you're not in control over the situation, isn't it? You're used to being in charge! I wonder how many girls have actually gotten to see this side of you? Are you sure you won't to have one?"

"Lovely view," Andrew replied in an attempt to get out of the conversation. Laura sighed at him with a chuckle.

"Yes, it's quite ideal," Laura said. "We'll have to come back here at night sometime," she added, ignoring the fact that he didn't seem enthusiastic about that suggestion at all. Finally the plate arrived, and Laura was extremely amused that the contents were almost exactly as she predicted, even the presence of a fried sea serpent tentacle.

"There we are then," Marina said, setting plates down before working small bowls of sauces in around them. "Not done with the oysters yet?"

"Give me ten minutes," Laura decided. "Marina, this looks fantastic! I'm glad I know he eats a lot. I don't know how much of it I can tackle."

"That he does, although he's a bit off color at the moment. All right, there, Andrew?" Marina inquired.

"Fine, thanks," Andrew said.

"He's just having a shy moment," Laura explained.

"Andrew? Shy? Well, I suppose there's a first for everything," Marina decided. "Enjoy!"

"Thank you very much," Laura said, looking it over with amusement. "Well, I suppose I got one thing a bit off, no eel chips. Everything else I predicted is here, though, isn't it?" she said with amusement, immediately picking out a bit of everything, but then set it aside to finish the oysters.

"Which of the house sauces do you like the best?" she asked.

"Well, I suppose it depends on what you're in the mood for... spicy, tart, or sweet," Andrew said.

"Any of them that's all three?" she inquired.

"Only you," Andrew replied. Laura brightened up and clapped enthusiastically.

"Yay! I finally earned a classic answer," Laura said, laughing.

"This is really embarrassing. You know that, don't you?" Andrew told her.

"You'd better eat. Come to think of it, that might be playing a part in why you're so grumpy," Laura conjectured. "You haven't eaten since before our tennis lesson this morning, after all." Andrew pondered that.

"Maybe a little," he admitted, and began filling up his plate. "But mostly, I'm just surprised. I haven't really seen this side of you before."

"Well, maybe not, but you should have known it was there. I'm your type, after all," Laura pointed out. "I just hope there will come a time when you're ready to show that other side of you that I know you're hiding from me."

"The only part of me that I'm keeping from you is my insincere side, because that has nothing to do with how I feel about you," Andrew assured her.

"I love you too, Andrew," Laura said with a smile, but then her expression became mischievous again. "So what's on the line?"

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked with confusion.

"I mean that I have no doubt whatsoever that you always dare every date that you bring here to eat the sea serpent tentacle. So what do I get in return if I do?" Laura inquired. Andrew blinked and then turned invisible. Laura chuckled again. "Well, that was a score for sure."

A couple of minutes later, Marina wandered by after seating another couple, frowning at seeing Laura sitting there by herself.

"He didn't run out on you, did he?" Marina asked, picking up the finished oyster plate.

"No, not at all. If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that he'd never do anything of the sort. Andrew's a gentlewizard," Laura explained.

"Ooo, well, that may be, but you'd better be careful all the same. He's a heart breaker, that one," Marina warned with a smile, going back inside again.

"Not as much as I'm going to be when your old girlfriends figure out you are seeing me exclusively. Speaking of seeing, you're not going to go to the beach like that, are you? I'd look pretty silly holding hands with someone who isn't there. Even worse, someone might try to pick me up," Laura pointed out, but otherwise seemed unconcerned with his unsightedness as she turned her attention to her plate.

It was nearly time for dinner when Andrew and Laura got back, and Andrew made his way up to the Headmaster's Study. Severus was quite busy with paperwork when he arrived, but paused the moment Andrew came in.

"I got a message that you wanted to see me," Andrew said.

"Yes, come in," Severus said, glancing at the time.

"Sorry if I'm late for something, it was my last Saturday not having security to worry about, so we decided to make a day of it," Andrew explained.

"Quite all right, I don't blame you for getting time in where you can, although I'd appreciate it if you look after Quintin tomorrow afternoon for a while," Severus said.

"Sure, that's no problem," Andrew shrugged.

"Anyway, I wanted to inform you that we'll have a new student starting on Monday; TJ's brother Elliot is transferring to Hogwarts and was Sorted into Gryffindor," Severus explained. "So if you happen to run into his father tomorrow morning, it is because they are moving him in, and give Elliot a week to get caught up. Fortunately, we're not very far into the year, so it shouldn't be that hard of an adjustment. Speaking of adjustments, the reason I need you to babysit tomorrow is that I am going to speak to a few people on the primary school board and then I'll be accompanying Quintin to school Monday to either make certain he's either put in Pyther's class or to move him to another school if necessary... probably Stoddard."

"Mother won't be happy about that," Andrew conjectured.

"I'm not particularly happy about it myself, but I'm not going through this situation another day," Severus said. "Yet there is something worse than your mother and I being unhappy, however; it is the fact that Quintin is unhappy and is misbehaving to express it. Communication with a Truth Seeker his age can be difficult; he receives much more information than he's ready to handle and has few ways yet to express it, let alone process it. This is one of those cases where it is simply better to let him win and slowly correct the behavior over time."

"That's a dramatic change in parenting technique for you, isn't it? Just letting that sort of behavior go?" Andrew asked.

"I am not letting it go by any means, Andrew, I am simply adjusting to the situation," Severus said. "Fortunately, I have Alex, Ben, and Aurelius to turn to for advice as to what to do about Quintin's reactions to things, so I am muddling through even with your mother out of the country," then he sighed. "She's probably rather disappointed that I had to call off our visit this week, but due to getting Elliot's emergency transfer in, I had to stay this weekend."

"She has plenty of friends to distract her, Father, both witches and wizards," Andrew said critically.

"Yes, I imagine so, but you know as well as I do that your mother prefers to be with family," Severus replied.

"True, but I just don't see how she can be so naive when it comes to what men's intentions are," Andrew said.

"Are you still going on about that?" Severus asked in surprise. "That happened two weeks ago. Perhaps it's time you tried to make some sort of amends with your mother so that you can move on."

"Well maybe, but it's definitely another example of why I wonder why everyone thinks Laura and my mother are alike when they're completely the opposite," Andrew said.

"Oh?" Severus asked, confused at what he was getting at.

"Well, it's just that I'm learning that Laura is a tremendous flirt! Mother isn't like that at all," Andrew said. Severus stared at him.

"Andrew, I know that being our son has probably colored the facts of who your parents are. Indeed, in many ways, it's quite natural for that to be the case. But even upon taking that into consideration, I am quite astounded that you haven't yet realized exactly how big of a flirt your mother actually is," Severus replied.

"What?" Andrew asked blankly.

"She was flirting with me not long after she first came to Hogwarts, if not from the very start. Even before I was on a first name basis with her, although she herself took liberties as far as that's concerned," Severus informed him. "But what a person projects isn't necessarily the same as what one perceives, and in some ways, Jennifer's ability clouds her vision. It always has. It is quite possible to be both wildly flirtatious and completely oblivious to its effects at the same time. I know, because I married the proof of it."

Andrew frowned at that revelation, then became even more confused.

"Well, how much is Laura picking up?" Andrew asked.

"How in blazes do I know? Only you can figure that part out. I'm sure she picks up more than Jennifer, at least, since she isn't a Truth Seeker and has been taught as an Auror on how to pick up cues," Severus said. "But ask yourself this, Andrew. What was the point of the behavior? Was the underlying reason as suggestive as it seemed, or was there an ulterior motive involved? In your mother's case, she often uses flirting to try and get herself out of trouble, or to try and manipulate people into doing something she wants them to do. Other times, she sees it simply as a form of entertainment; a game to see what sort of reaction she can get. Very seldom does she ever mean any of it as a serious proposition."

Andrew frowned at that.

"I think she was simply using it to pull my chain," Andrew said flatly.

"That would fall under entertainment, I believe," Severus replied.

"Yes, well, from the laughter I got, I tend to agree," Andrew realized in annoyance.

"You didn't have to fall for the bait, you know. Trust me, it's better to call it out when you see it, or they will tend to take advantage," Severus advised. "It's alright, Andrew, you're new at this. Give yourself time to adjust."

"How could you possibly say that? You know better than anyone that I'm anything but new to this," Andrew said with frustration.

"I see," Severus said, and seemed more interested in his paperwork.

"The girls I dated before just weren't the sort to use flirting as anything but... well... flirting," Andrew said.

"Andrew, I think it's a great deal more likely that you simply chose to interpret all flirting as a proposition, because that was what you were after in the first place. There were likely quite a number of facets to it even then, but you had a one track mind, if you care to call it that," Severus said. Andrew pondered it, then sighed in resignation.

"I suppose it is possible," Andrew admitted somberly.

"Likely, I think, is the better term," Severus said evenly. "Things aren't as cut and dry when you actually choose to respect women, is it?"

"Ouch, Dad!" Andrew protested with a scowl.

"It only hurts because you know I'm right," Severus replied unconcernedly. "All you have ever understood up until now is the easy way, Andrew. And although I am certain that you have done nothing but taken your feelings for Laura quite serious and have every intention to correct your past mistakes, this will not be an easy road for you," he warned. "It is much greater than your own internal battle with yourself, you know, because you can only control how you feel. You cannot control how she feels, nor should you ever try. You also cannot expect her to simply ignore your past, because whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, that reckless part of your life affects your relationship directly. It affects her directly as well, and it always will," Severus explained. "You cannot hide from the consequences of your actions any longer, Andrew. It is something you both must face head on."

"I... don't want to hurt her," Andrew said quietly.

"There is no way around it. The sooner you are up front about your past, the better it will be, no matter how hard it is. Trust me, that conversation between your mother and I as to my past was no pleasant task either. You are going to need to come to terms with it together," Severus said firmly.

"True, but it's not the same past, is it?" Andrew countered. "Yes, I know how dark your past is, Father, but what if you were in my position? How would Mother have reacted to a past like that, or would you have ever been able to come to terms at all?" Severus leaned back in his chair.

"Your mother, by virtue of her family's dedication, her convictions, and her very nature, is capable of a great deal of forgiveness, Andrew, above and beyond what most people would be willing to forgive," Severus began carefully.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that," Andrew said, Severus nodding to him.

"I have little doubt that she would forgive it, but at the same time, with her Truth Seeking ability, I can only imagine just how difficult that would be for her. I might go so far as having my memory erased if it weren't for the fact that those I might once have been involved with might inevitably show up with memories of their own to torture her with. I think I may have even stepped away from the relationship altogether to spare her from it, despite the great loss it would have been for both of us if that had happened," Severus admitted. "Fortunately, that ability is one aspect of this that the two of you don't have to worry about."

"Well, what about after Samira?" Andrew asked.

"That took a lot of time, grovelling, and damage control," Severus said dryly. Andrew chuckled.

"I was here for most of that, I remember? This time, I was referencing specifically your memories of her," Andrew explained.

"Oh, that. Well, actually, that part of it wasn't as difficult as you might think. After all, Samira and I never really got anywhere, for all we tried; Rasputin or the Rogue Painting were constantly stepping in to keep me from doing anything irreparable," Severus explained. "As for the memories of my getting close enough to Samira that made Jennifer uncomfortable, I fixed it by following through with all of those failed attempts but having those experiences with Jennifer instead, which mitigated any lingering effects. The damage to her confidence and our relationship, however, has taken years to fix," he admitted. "And although for the most part we have gotten past it, in other ways it is still ongoing. I've been dwelling on memories of that year since she left for Whitebridge, actually, thinking about what it must have been like for her running this castle alone."

"She didn't run it alone, Father, she had plenty of help, family included," Andrew reminded him.

"Yes, but it's hardly the same as having one's spouse around," Severus murmured, glancing at his ring. "Knowing that they're safe... and content... and faithful." He glanced up. Andrew was gazing at him intently, having rarely seen such open emotion on his father's face. "We all have inner demons, Andrew. In some ways they're just as real as the ones you and I have faced, and much, much harder to defeat," he added for good measure. "Attempting to cage those demons... to hide those flaws and mask them from the person you care most about... will do nothing but drive you apart in the end. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to expose one's vulnerabilities on such a scale, but it must be done, despite knowing it may result in her deciding to walk away. However, if you are rewarded with true acceptance afterwards, perhaps even gifted with the embrace of someone who loves you despite your worst self, never take it for granted. In fact, if you have gotten nothing else out of this conversation but an old wizard's ramblings, please take this one lesson to heart," Severus said, looking at him with an expression that Andrew would never forget. "Do not repeat my greatest mistake, Andrew. Never take love for granted."

When Andrew finally left the Headmaster's Study, he took the stairs and shuffled down the corridors with his hands in his pockets, deciding to take a walk outside to think. The sun was very low in the sky, but the football and Quidditch Pitches were still filled with students; some practicing, and some showing off to get ready for tryouts next week. He passed by them with only a cursory glance, deciding to walk by the lake.

Laura had been sitting in the stands with Leu and Charles, who were busy scoping out possible team replacements. She glanced over when Andrew went by.

"I wonder what's with Uncle Andrew? He looks a bit down, doesn't he?" Charles said.

"I don't know," Laura admitted, remembering how he'd gotten a note and went to the Headmaster's Study just after they had arrived back at the castle. "I think I'll go check on him. Good luck replacing four, Chuck."

"Building year. Yay," Charles said unenthusiastically as Laura began working her way down. "I wanted a minute alone to talk to you anyway, Leu. That's the main reason I came up to sit with you guys in the first place."

"Alright," Leu said, gazing at him.

"It's about Amy and me, actually. See, we're serious about each other now," Charles explained evenly. "And we thought you ought to know, so you didn't like... ask her to study or anything in front of the Owls and get embarrassed by her telling you that way." Leu frowned at him.

"You're telling me this just to make me lay off of her, aren't you?" Leu asked bluntly.

"No, I'm not," Charles said firmly.

"How would that relationship even work, anyway? I mean, you want to be an Auror, she wants to travel the world and be an archaeologist and all of that..."

"That's not what she's going to be doing," Charles interrupted before Leu could get worked up. "This summer, she interned in the Artifacts department to help Minister Delaney. She's decided to keep her History and Items focus, but she's planning on staying closer to home, working in the Artifacts Department or at the WHAT Museum."

"Fine, but I'd like to hear it from her," Leu snapped.

"You can, but she'll only confirm it. I knew you would feel this way, but we decided it was better if you heard it from me first because, honestly, she didn't want to hurt your feelings and she wasn't sure she'd have the nerve to do it herself. We both care about you, Leu, her as a friend and me as a family member, but we'd both rather you get over this so we can all go back to being friends again," Charles said, getting up. "If you take my advice, instead of trying to get in between people, you'll look around and realize there's at least one girl in this school who's been interested in you as long as I can remember... even if she does have trouble showing it," he said.

"Who?" Leu asked.

"The girl that wears your favor, who else?" Charles said, taking out his broom and flying over to the Gryffindors who were practicing.

So he meant Diana, Leu thought with a frown. But Diana never wanted to do anything but compete with him, and she had been like that the entire time they've been at school. How would that ever work?

Laura worked her way out of the Quidditch Pitch and walked in the direction that Andrew had been going thoughtfully, wondering at first if he was invisible. But once she was well away from the Pitch, she could plainly see him over by the lake, staring at the water thoughtfully. He did seem a bit down for some reason, she mused. He had also been rather irritated at her attempts earlier in the day to break through that wall of his to try to get him to respond. Still, if he was completely against the idea of being approached, he wouldn't be visible at all.

Suddenly a rogue Quaffle managed to escape the Pitch and landed near her leg, distracting her as she picked it up. Getting an idea, she waited to toss it to the student who had come after it before pulling a tennis ball out of her cloak. Grinning, she walked closer to the lake and threw it in Andrew's direction.

Andrew stared forlornly out of the lake, thinking about his mother and about Laura, and how she had behaved during lunch. He had been so confused then, but after what his father had said, it had begun to make more sense; it was her way of attempting to take on the problem of his past head on. She had stepped up... not just to tease him, although most assuredly that had been a part of it... but to challenge it. It was an adversary that she knew she was going to have to face, and rather than shy away from it as he had been doing, she had bravely stepped up to meet it, hoping to break the invisible wall that lay between them.

Something hit Andrew's foot and he looked down curiously to see that it was a tennis ball. He picked it up and stared at it, wondering if it had somehow managed to work its way out of his cloak pocket. Just then, he heard a dog barking and looked over to see Mopps close by, jumping around and wagging her tail. Andrew looked at the ball, then back at Mopps.

"You cannot be serious," Andrew told her flatly. Mopps simply ran out onto the grounds and barked again, wagging her tail. "You are serious!" Andrew laughed at her. "Laura..." Mopps growled at him. "Okay, Mopps, then. Don't you think this is a bit... odd?"

Mopps sat up and pulled up a paw, whining at him. Andrew rolled his eyes at that.

"Fine, fine, enough puppy dog eyes, that's not fair!" he told her, throwing the ball.

As Mopps ran after it, Andrew had a hard time telling where she was; the green grass and dimming light doing a fair job of hiding her until she charged over with the ball in her mouth.

"We really should come farther away from the lake, you know, if you insist on doing this," Andrew said, taking the ball from her mouth as she bounded back out again.

Andrew was forced to make a random stab of where he thought she might be based on the direction she left by, throwing it high enough in hopes of getting some idea of where she was when she brought it back down. Sure enough, he saw the movement thanks to the darker treeline, and was ready when she bounded back that way, presenting the ball again. But despite the offer, she suddenly didn't seem as inclined to give it up.

"Oh, come on. Do you want me to throw it or not?" Andrew protested, and she finally let it go, running back out again and disappearing in the twilight. He sighed. "It's getting a lot harder to tell where you're at!" he protested but threw it again, listening carefully to hear where she was. He heard her panting before he saw her, but finally she approached, presenting the ball again.

"Fine, but just one more throw, the light's too poor. After that, we should probably go in for dinner, don't you think? Because I'm starving," he admitted, tugging at the ball. But this time, Mopps was even more adamant about keeping it, and after a power struggle that lasted nearly a minute, she suddenly let the ball go and it went veering off, landing in the lake. "Oh well! That really does mean the game's over, doesn't it?" He said, then saw her charging at the lake. "Wait! Mopps! What are you doing?" Andrew said, chasing after her. It wasn't until he had gotten near the shore that he realized that chasing after her had been a very bad idea. As she plunged into the lake, a giant spray of water came up and Andrew found that the entire front of his robes, face, and hair were soaked. Andrew wiped off his face with the dry part of his hood.

"You are absolutely insane!" he shouted at her, still attempting to dry off his face. "You know you get four balls in a can, right? You can let one go once in a while!"

Suddenly he heard a splash and found himself being jumped on by a very wet dog, who then dropped the soaked tennis ball and licked his face.

"Mopps! Mopps! I am pretty sure that's a section four ethics violation!" he protested with a laugh. "Now we're both drenched. Down, girl! I don't know about you, but I'm now going to need a shower before dinner. Do you want to eat in the staff room?" he asked, and she barked enthusiastically. "Okay, but if you come in that form, I reserve the right to give you a can of dog food. Come on," he said, casting the footprint spell on both of them before grabbing the ball and walking her inside.

Somehow they managed to get all the way to the main staircase without anyone seeing them, but once they began up the stairs, John leaned over the rail, as he had been waiting for another staircase to swing over. Quickly he forgot about where he was going, meeting them at the top of the third floor stairs.

"What in the world were you doin' t' my niece?" John exclaimed, staring at his muddy robes.

"Playing catch," Andrew said, pulling the soaked tennis ball out of his pocket. "It fell in the lake. Don't worry, I put the footprint spell on both of us."

"Aye, I see that already," John said, but as Mopps scrambled past John to head down the corridor, John grabbed a hold of Andrew's robe, not quite willing to let him go just yet.

"It was just harmless fun... it was her idea, actually. I'm sure she'll confirm that," Andrew explained, meeting John's steady, searching gaze.

"Nae worries, I'll be sure'n ask her," John said. "You can also be sure tha' I'm going to be watchin' this situation with my niece more carefully from now on. And if you e'er do something I find particularly questionable, Snape or not, you'll ne'er get this monkey off your back. Now do we have ourselves an understandin', then?"

"Yes, John," Andrew replied evenly. John let go of his robe.

"Oh, an' one last thing," John said before Andrew could take more than a step back. "If I ever hear a particular word used to describe my niece regardless of what form she's in..."

"I swear I would never do that," Andrew said sincerely. John squinted but nodded at him.

"I'll hold you to tha'," John warned dangerously, and Andrew quickly nodded and disappeared, deciding that was a bit wiser than turning his back on him as he hurried to his room to change.