A/N: Characters and world property of JK Rowling. No copyright infringement intended.

Of Blacks and Boarhounds

She laughed at his attempt to mimic her accent.

"Say 'y'all', Lou. Say, 'I'm fixin' to go down the crick, y'all wanna come?'"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty pretty please with sugar and and a cherry on top?"

"Well alright…"

Chapter Eleven

June 29, 1992

The smell of breakfast cooking woke Lulabelle the following morning. She opened her eyes and with a smile on her face, she remembered the previous evening and the impromptu magic lessons Severus had given her after thoroughly entertaining her with his attempts at mastering the 'Okie language'. Lulabelle could now levitate and summon (small) objects, as well as perform Lumos and Nox. Severus had offered to teach her the spell to dry her hair, too, but she had demurred, stating that she wanted to become more proficient before casting on herself. He had eagerly agreed to keep drying her hair for her with no hesitation.

Drawn by the scent of food, Lulabelle quickly threw her hair up in a messy bun and donned a pair of denim cutoffs that she paired with a faded black Led Zeppelin t-shirt and sandals. After noticing that Sinaka wasn't in his bed, she headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"Mornin', Lou, somethin' sure smells wonderful!" she greeted him, reaching to hug the neck and kiss the cheek of the man sitting at the table, reading the paper.

Severus folded the paper and attempted to speak. "Er, yes. Good morning. I, er, thought you could try a proper English for breakfast today."

"A proper English?"

"A traditional English breakfast. Just let me get you a plate; I've kept it warm on the hob."

"The hob?"

"Are you planning on repeating everything I say today?" he asked with a smile. "The hob, the cooker," he said, gesturing towards the large appliance that he approached to fill her plate.

"Y'all call it a hob?" she asked, incredulous. "So are the knobs on the stove called hobnobs?" she snickered, half joking, half serious.

Severus laughed fully at her question. "I don't think I've ever put those together before. Thank you for that," he told her. "Now, madam, your first fry-up."

Taking the plate he handed her, Lulabelle looked at the array of food. "This looks great, Lou. Thanks so much," she told him. "I don't think I've ever had beans with breakfast before."

After they ate, and after Severus had taught her the charm to do the dishes, they took Sinaka for a walk. Once back, he inexplicably found Lulabelle in the backyard with a trash bag, picking up after the dog. Severus stood in shock for several moments, before commanding her to stop and immediately teaching her how to vanish objects. Lulabelle rewarded him for this information by leaping into his arms and kissing him.

"I see that vanishing excrement ranks right up there with getting your wand," he said dryly, fighting a blush.

"Do ya have any idea how much shit I've picked up in my life, Lou? This is life-changin'!" she declared.

"So the fourth book is called Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Lulabelle said, once they were again settled on the loveseat, she cuddled into his side in their now-familiar positions.

"The Department of International Cooperation decided to work with the Department of Magical Games and Sports to bring back the Triwizard Tournament, and it's held at Hogwarts that year. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are the other two schools competin'. There's supposedly all these restrictions on who can enter, but Harry's name mysteriously gets put in the Goblet of Fire, and he's chosen as the fourth champion."

"Of course he is," Severus sighed, startled when he realized he was feeling concern rather than disdain for the boy in question.

"So that's big drama, of course. The first of the three tasks is to get an egg away from a nestin' dragon. The second task is to rescue someone from the Black Lake, and the third is a maze that had the Cup in the center. Whoever got the Cup first was the winner.

"Alastor Moody is the Defense teacher that year, only it's not really him. It's really Barty Crouch, Jr., who has Moody locked in a trunk and has been usin' Polyjuice this whole time."

"Crouch Jr. died in Azkaban years ago," Severus interjected.

"No. His mama was sick and dyin', and when she and his daddy went to visit him, they switched places and she died in prison instead. The Dementors never knew. His daddy kept him under the Imperius Curse for years with a house elf as his keeper, but he escaped."

"Right. Of course he did. He was always a twitchy little bastard," Severus said.

"So he was the one who entered Harry, and actually helped him along durin' the tournament. Of course, it was all to get him to win the last challenge, since he'd charmed the Cup to be a portkey which ended up takin' Harry and Cedric Diggory to Little Hangleton, where Voldemort was waitin'."

"Mister Diggory was there as well?"

"Yeah, he was the other Hogwarts champion and they'd tied at the end," Lulabelle confirmed. "Voldemort immediately ordered Pettigrew to kill Cedric and then capture Harry. They did some kinda ancient magic ritual, which gave Voldemort a human-ish body. He had no hair and just slits for a nose, like a snake, but he was back.

"Then, he called his death eaters to him. Ya didn't go, Lou. Ya weren't there. But Lucius was, along with a bunch of other people. Voldemort and Harry fight, and Harry manages to get away and grab the Cup and Cedric's body, and portkey back to the tournament.

"Mad-Eye is revealed to be Barty Jr., but the minister has him Kissed before he can testify that the Dark Lord is really back. Fudge refuses to believe that Voldemort has returned, at least until the followin' year when he sees him with his own two eyes. But at the end of Harry's fourth year, he comes back, Lou."

Severus sat, unseeing, not saying a word. Suddenly, Sinaka walked into the room and laid his large head in Severus' lap.

"Did you need something, beast?" Severus asked absentmindedly, automatically starting to rub his ears.

At that, Sinaka stepped onto the loveseat between the two people and gently pushed Lulabelle off so that he could lay next to Severus. Lulabelle chuckled to herself and stood up, silently heading to the kitchen.

As she started making a pot of tea, she thought about how Sinaka had never shown this kind of behavior towards any other adults but her before, at least not without prompting. Lulabelle was glad that he knew Severus needed comfort, but she couldn't help feeling a little jealous about it. 'I'm bein' ridiculous and selfish,' she thought. 'Poor Lou. I'm just gonna be happy Sin knew he was needed. Doesn't mean he loves me any less.'

Lulabelle carried the tea into the living room and handed a cup to Severus, who was still stroking the dog's overly large head, and moved to sit on the couch. By the time Severus had finished his cup, he seemed to be back to himself. He looked across the room at Lulabelle in surprise, then looked down at the dog.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

She chuckled at him. "Not too awful long ago. Sin knew ya needed him, so I decided to make ya some tea."

Glancing at the teacup in his hand that he hadn't consciously known he was holding, Severus said, "Ah. Right. Thank you. It was quite good."

"Ya have no idea if it was or not," she snickered at him.

"Hmm. That's entirely possible. Voldemort really returns?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Lou."

"Don't be. It's not your fault, Lulabelle. And truly, none of this has happened yet."

"Doesn't make it any easier to hear," she reasoned.

"True, that is definitely true. Would you mind telling me about the next book now? Or would you rather wait?" Severus asked.

"Now's fine, as long as you're ready to move on. Are ya sure you're okay with that, Lou?"

"Please. I'd really like to know everything as soon as possible, madam."

"I understand," she replied. "The fifth book is called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Durin' Harry's fifth year, a woman by the name of Dolores Umbridge is sent by the Ministry as the new defense teacher. She's a real piece of work, Lou. Gets appointed as the Hogwarts High Inquisitor and generally makes life hell for everyone there.

"Dumbledore restarts the Order of the Phoenix, and Sirius offers up his home as headquarters. He's still in hidin' at this point. Harry and Voldemort have some kind of connection through his scar; Harry can see and feel when Voldemort is real upset or real happy. You're supposed to teach him Occlumency, but it doesn't go well.

"At Christmas, Arthur Weasley is attacked by Voldemort's snake, Nagini. Harry 'sees' it happen, and he's rescued in time. At the end of the year, Voldemort has figured out the connection and uses it to trick Harry into thinkin' Sirius is in danger at the Ministry. Harry and a group of kids sneak off and fly on thestrals to London to save him. They end up fightin' Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Dolohov curses Hermione with his signature curse, but she'd silenced him first so she doesn't die. The Order comes, and a few other people are hurt pretty bad, too, but Sirius dies, Lou. Bellatrix is fightin' him, and he ends up fallin' right through the Veil.

"Then Voldemort shows up. He and Dumbledore fight, and Voldemort flees. That's when Fudge finally admits that he's back. Once they're all back at Hogwarts and in the infirmary, Dumbledore explains to Harry about the prophecy, and about how his mother's love was what saved him that night in 1981. Her love is tied to the blood wards Dumbledore set around Petunia's house, and as long as he calls that place home, he'll be safe there. So Harry is sent back to that hell-hole for another summer. And that's the end of book five."

Severus let out a deep breath and patted Sinaka's side. "I don't understand."

"What don't ya understand?"

"First of all, what prophecy? Was it the one I… the one…"

"Yeah, Lou, it was," Lulabelle said quietly. "Voldemort wanted to hear it in its entirety, but only Harry could remove it from the Hall of Prophecy. That's why he tricked 'em into going there."

"Who all went? You said a group of children?"

"Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna."

"Luna?" he asked.

"Luna Lovegood. She'll start at Hogwarts this fall. She's a Ravenclaw, and part of Dumbledore's Army. Oh! I forgot that part! Umbridge is such a horrible teacher that the kids decide to teach themselves Defense, with Harry leadin' the group. They call themselves Dumbledore's Army, the DA for short."

"I see. Tell me about these blood wards," he said.

Lulabelle sighed. "That part never made a lick of sense to me. I mean, yeah, at first they're fine. But we don't find out about 'em 'til after Voldemort has returned, and after he's used Harry's blood to come back. Would they even work, then?"

"Not as such, no, they wouldn't," Severus confirmed.

"Plus, even before that point, they didn't do a damn thing to keep him safe from the people inside the house," Lulabelle added. "Just another reason on a pretty long list that I'm not too awful fond of Dumbledore. He's just determined to keep Harry with the Dursleys, no matter how awful they are to him."

"It does seem that way," he agreed. "If you don't mind, madam, let's take a break from this for awhile. It is nearly lunchtime; we could walk to the chippy up the road if you wish."

"Chippy?"

Severus quirked a smile. "A place that sells fish and chips."

"Oh, that sounds nice. Lemme just put Sin out back first." She stood and stretched her arms above her head, working out the kinks that had developed during their long talk. Severus tried not to stare at the expanse of skin that showed between her shirt and her shorts that had appeared during her stretch, then he noticed what was on the front of her shirt.

Standing as well, he said, "Led Zeppelin? Aren't they a little before your time?"

Lulabelle laughed. "Maybe a lil', but they're awesome, Lou. 'Sides, they have a song called 'Black Dog'. How can I not like 'em?"

"Indeed."

"Since we're going to a chippy, can I ask ya about somethin' I saw on the Internet once?" Lulabelle asked Severus later as they were walking, hand-in-hand, to the restaurant.

"Of course."

"Without havin' to explain too much about websites and social media, it was basically a conversation between several people, right? None of whom probably knew each other in real life. So the first comment said, 'How to start a fight in any pub in England: say chip cob.'"

"Chip butty," Severus corrected.

Lulabelle's jaw dropped. "That's what the next comment was! Then someone asked what a chip butty was, and someone else said it was the wrong name for a chip cob. It goes on until finally someone ended it by sayin', 'I'm so glad George Washington told y'all to fuck off so I don't hafta participate in whatever this BS is.'"

Severus had stopped walking to laugh, both at her words and at her expression.

"I'm sorry for laughing, but that's hilarious," he chortled. Calming some, he added, "A chip butty is a sandwich made from white bread and chips, with either brown sauce or malt vinegar. You can have one at the chippy if you wish."

Lulabelle wrinkled her nose at this. "It sounds horrible."

"It's not, I promise."

After their lunch of fish and chips, they were walking back to the house when Severus asked, "Well, you seemed to enjoy your chip butty. Still glad George Washington told us to fuck off?"

Lulabelle swatted his arm and laughed at him.