Chapter 35: Luminis Praesidium
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"Have you actually looked at these?" Lily read over the spells Nikolas had scratched out. She and Severus were sitting under the beech tree, trying to soak up the last bit of sun before dinner.

"Just glanced. I didn't recognize any of them. Do you?" He had his hands under his arms to keep them warm.

"No. Like you said, they're new. But it's not hard to figure out what they're meant to do if you know the meaning behind the incantation." She shook her head, her jaw taut. "They're vile, Severus."

"I didn't make them up! But would they work, do you think? How do you even create a spell?"

"I don't know. I can't imagine it's easy, or everybody would be doing it." Lily handed the paper back reluctantly. "You should turn that in to Melison."

"And say what? That Avery is trying to create spells to impress Lucius? That's not against the rules."

"You're not planning on helping him, are you?"

"I'm planning on figuring out how to create a spell," Severus said. "And if Avery has information, I can tolerate him long enough to find it out. But I don't plan on telling him what I learn."

"So you're going to try those spells?" Her voice was edged with anger. "One of those incantations is meant to take someone's hand off!"

"I'll look at them – and I'm not going to use them if they'll hurt anyone. But making up spells – can you imagine the hexes we can think up to use on Potter and Black?"

Lily sighed. "I wish you'd leave off trying to hex them all the time. And them you. What's the point?"

"The point?" Severus' jaw dropped open. Had she missed their entire first year, or forgotten the Dynamic Duo's actions after Pandora's death? "To show them that they can't walk all over me, you know that."

"I know." Her voice was heavy, resigned. "But sooner or later, one or the other of you is going to go too far and get hurt."

Severus approached the next day's shared classes with Gryffindor warily. He knew that Potter and Black weren't going to let his foray into the Restricted Section go without comment, and probably not without an accompanying hex.

But Herbology passed without incident. And they didn't as much as look at him during Transfiguration.

"Maybe they're just trying to wind you up, make you jump at your own shadow," Lily said as they walked to lunch.

"I'm not jumpy," Severus said. "I'm just trying to anticipate –"

"Just relax. They won't try anything in Potions. Melison will be watching all of you, I'm sure."

He wished he was as confident as she was. But he knew they wouldn't pass up the opportunity to harass him. It was like it was ingrained into them.

They did goad him before Potions started; a snide comment about not needing to brew a potion to poison anyone, as he could just bottle the oil from his hair.

He let it go. The last thing he needed was Melison having an excuse to get on his case again.

After class, Melison called him to his desk.

"Could it be that you have finally learned restraint, son?" he asked, his lips twitching. He sat back in his chair, the edges of his eyes crinkling with suppressed mirth. "No retaliatory strike to reward Potter and Black's baiting. Well done."

Severus shrugged. "They weren't worth the lecture you'd have given me."

Melison's smirk crept higher onto his face. "Indeed not. And I won't hold you – your detention will be served tonight. Report to me directly after dinner."

When he arrived at Melison's office for his detention, Sebastian was seated in front of Melison's desk. His uncle greeted him with a terse smile.

"What are you doing here?" Severus asked.

"I was concerned that we hadn't heard from you since you left for Malfoy Manor," Sebastian said. "I had anticipated – some correspondence."

Severus looked between the two older men.

"Speak frankly, boy." Sebastian said. "Was Voldemort there?"

"Yes, but we didn't hear much of anything."

"What did you hear?" Sebastian's voice was strained, impatient.

Severus frowned. "Just that he'd tried for the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. Professor Burtram isn't leaving, is he?"

"What else?" Sebastian asked, brushing aside his question.

"That he made sure Dumbledore would have trouble filling it."

From behind his desk, Melison drew a sharp breath.

Sebastian glanced at him, but focused again on Severus. "Was there anything else?"

He hesitated. If he told them that he'd overheard the Pembertons mentioned, would that pull the shadow of guilt from Severus and his friends?

"Well?"

"I didn't hear much, but they mentioned –" his eyes flicked to Melison, but his professor was finding his desk very interesting. " -the Pembertons."

Melison's head twitched, but he said nothing.

Sebastian nodded, his face grave.

"Essay tonight, son," Melison said quietly. "On why rules are necessary."

Melison wasn't looking at him, but at Sebastian as he spoke. Severus frowned.

"Two feet should be sufficient. Go on." He followed Severus to the door and closed it once the boy was seated at a desk.

Severus leapt up as soon as the door had shut, pressing his ear to the crack between the jamb.

"-just a boy, for Merlin's sake!"

Melison. And he was angry. Angrier than Severus had ever heard him.

"He was going to listen in regardless of what I told him," Sebastian shot back. "Why not use that to our advantage? We have to get information, Malichi. By any means."

"It's cruel, Bas. You know it is." His voice was quieter now, and Severus couldn't make out what either of them said next.

Then suddenly Sebastian's voice was at the door. "I wish things were different, Malichi. Truly."

Severus scrambled back to his seat as the door opened and his uncle stepped out. He approached Severus calmly, no hint of the emotion he'd just displayed in Melison's office.

Sebastian placed a small package on the desk and nodded to his nephew. "Happy birthday, Severus."

"Thank you," Severus said, reaching for the gift.

Sebastian laid a hand on his arm, his eyes flitting up to Melison as he came into the room.

"Best to finish your essay first. Not a word on the parchment yet?" His gaze was not on his paper, but on Melison. "One would think you weren't doing as you were told."

"Just trying to find a good way to start," Severus muttered, looking up at his uncle, then his Head of House and back again.

"Let him get on with it, Sebastian. I don't want him here all evening." Melison sat behind his desk and picked up a quill.

Sebastian exhaled silently, then tapped his knuckles on Severus's desk. "Yes. I'm sure your friends have planned a celebration," he said idly. "Thirteen –" he clucked his tongue and shook his head. "It does not seem so long ago," he muttered.

He placed a hand on Severus's shoulder. "Thank you, Severus. The information you gave us tonight is more valuable then you could know." With a last look at Melison – who was glaring, his jaw taut – Sebastian left the classroom.

Severus watched him go, frowning. He turned back to Melison. "Sir?"

"I am in no mood to fend off your questions, son," he said wearily. "And I meant what I said – I have no desire to be here all evening. If you put your mind to it, that essay will be done with plenty of time for you to celebrate with your housemates."

Severus knew that wasn't very likely. He doubted any of his housemates even knew it was his birthday, let alone had planned anything. And he was fine with that. It was enough that Lily had remembered. A collapsible cauldron – for experimenting once the weather cleared.

But he nodded and bent over his paper, scribbling out two feet's worth of platitudes in record time. When he handed it to Melison, the professor leaned back in his chair, his face stony.

"Is there any point in reading this?" he asked. "Or have you written what you think I want to hear?"

"I wrote what you asked for," Severus said.

Melison nodded and laid the paper aside. He sniffed and scratched at the side of his nose, his eyes fixed on the boy. "I share your uncle's gratitude for the information you brought," he said after a moment. "And I admit that you are in a unique position to provide it. However – and I cannot stress this enough, son – I want you to stop."

Severus frowned. "What? All I did –"

"Was eavesdrop on one of the most dangerous wizards our world has seen," Melison finished. "What do you suppose would have happened if Abraxas had found you out? Or Voldemort himself, for that matter?"

Severus shrugged and shook his head. "I suppose I'd have been asked to leave."

Melison chuckled, the sound lacking any humor. "To be sure. But these men – I know that you are fond of Lucius and his father, and I will not try to dissuade you again – they have no qualms about using dark magic for their own benefit." He cleared his throat. "If you had been found out, son, I doubt you would have left that house without first being - interrogated." He paused. "Do you understand my meaning?"

Melison's stare was glued on Severus, making him uncomfortable. He wasn't using Legilimency, but it was piercing, searching – pleading.

"Mr. Malfoy wouldn't hurt me," he said, the words sounding weak even to him as his mind flashed back to the sight of Lucius's shoulder wound.

"We both know better. And you are too young to have such worry heaped onto your shoulders. So should your uncle ask it again, tell him to sod right off, do you hear me?"

Severus blinked and leaned back. "Sir?"

"You heard me, son. You'll do as you like, Merlin knows. But don't put yourself into danger, and if your uncle or anyone else asks you to, they don't have your best interest at heart. So tell them to sod off."

"Uncle Sebastian told me the same thing," he said. "That if I overheard anything to tell him, or you, or Professor Dumbledore. But not to do anything dangerous."

Melison's lips thinned, his eyes suddenly guarded. "Well, maybe we are on the same page," he muttered. "Still, don't go looking for trouble, especially where Voldemort is concerned. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now go and enjoy the rest of your evening. Happy birthday, Severus."

"Thank you, sir."

He grabbed his books and Sebastian's gift and hurried out of the classroom. Why was everyone so interested in this Voldemort?

The next evening at Occlumency, Melison had returned to normal. He greeted Severus and began the lesson, nodding with satisfaction when Severus had blocked all of the levels of Legilimency they'd done before the holidays.

"Good. Are you finding them easier?"

"A bit. Sometimes I don't even have to think about it. It's like my mind has learned to shut some of those areas down on its own."

Melison was practically beaming. "I knew you had a natural proclivity towards it, but that – son, that's almost unheard of. So now we move on to blocking specific areas of thought and emotion while leaving others intact. Legilimens!"

Sabine, cooing in his arms, now crawling around Steven as the boys read, now her defense sending Silias reeling.

Severus finally pushed Melison from his mind, and opened his eyes, breathing heavily.

Melison was staring at him, his mouth slightly open, head tilted with interest.

"Your sister?" Severus nodded. "And does that – does it happen often?"

"From what Steven has said, whenever my father gets near her. I've seen it just the once."

"And your uncle? Does he know of this? He has said nothing to me."

"Well he wouldn't, would he?" Severus said shortly.

"What do you mean by that?" Melison asked carefully.

"Nothing," Severus mumbled. He remembered how angry Sebastian had been when he inferred why he was more interested in Sabine than he'd ever been in either of his nephews. "Professor, do you know what it is? And why –"

"Nobody has the why, son. But I believe I can clear up the what: Luminis Praesidium. It's an exceptionally rare gift." He cleared his throat and pulled out a pocket watch, nodding. "That'll do for tonight."

"But sir, we've barely begun. And you haven't cleared up anything –"

"You clearly haven't got the idea of separation quite yet," Melison said firmly, ushering Severus out of his office. "Re-read chapter ten in Mastering Your Mind and we shall pick back up at our next lesson."

"Professor –"

"Time to go, son," he pressed, allowing Severus to stop moving only long enough to grab his books. "On Sunday, then," he said, nodding to Severus and moving adroitly down the corridor.

Severus watched him go, mouth agape. And then he did something incredibly stupid.

He cast a stealth charm and followed his Head of House.

He's quick for an old man, Severus thought as he lost sight of his professor for the third time since leaving the classroom. And if he couldn't see him, Melison could slip into a hidden passage or onto another staircase.

But he bounded up the stairs and into the corridor down which Melsion had vanished just in time to see the statue that marked Dumbledore's office sliding back in place.

Severus stood in the hall, frowning. Melison had seemed in such a hurry to get away from the lesson – was it so that he could report back to Dumbledore? Were the two men now discussing Severus, maybe even deciding how best to use the information about Sabine to their advantage?

His fists clenched as a burst of anger shot through him. Was he going to have to watch every move he made around Melison now? Was his Head of House more concerned about him than for him?

"Severus?" He spun around to see Lily at the head of the stairs, frowning at the fists by his side. "Is everything okay?"

"No," he said between clenched teeth. "Definitely not."

Twenty minutes and a tirade later, he was still angry, pacing beneath the beech tree, oblivious to the snap of the January night air.

Lily leaned against the tree, watching him, her arms crossed.

"Nobody is out to get you, Sev," she said quietly.

He stopped abruptly at the shortening of his name. He hated it when anyone did that. But somehow, it sounded – right – from Lily. He let it pass. Her comment, however –

"Then why did he rush to finish the lesson and run to Dumbledore?" he raged, picking up a stone and throwing it into the lake. "He didn't even explain the bloody thing – what the hell is Luminis Praesidium anyway?"

"Apparently, it's a gift that Sabine has. That you didn't tell me about," she said quietly.

Severus looked at her, glad that the darkness hid the guilt on his face.

"I'm sorry, Lily. Steven mentioned it in a letter once, and I didn't see you after it had happened before I went to the Malfoys'. I honestly forgot about it until Melison poked around in my bloody head tonight."

"So she's protected – that's good," Lily said.

"But why? What does it mean?"

"Does it matter? She's safe. He can't touch her."

"What if it's temporary? Or if there's a way around it? I have to find out."

"Okay," Lily said, a hand on his arm. "Then we'll look. Together."