THE MEETING
Severus heard a knock on his door, followed by it creaking open as Mariannah entered the room. "Take a seat," he said without looking up from his cauldron. "I just need to finish this."
Mariannah came closer and took a look at his potion and the ingredients laid before him. "Polyjuice Potion, Severus?" she wondered aloud. Severus nodded. Mariannah observed Severus' movements as he expertly brewed the concoction. "If you add a bit more boomslang skin, freeze a teaspoonful amount of Polyjuice and cover that with a hard candy coating, you can actually carry that around like pellets instead of placing it in a flask."
Severus peered at the witch from beneath his hair. Mariannah looked at him stoically and shrugged. "Just don't use chocolate coating. The resulting transformation will backfire horrendously." Severus looked back at his potion, noted that it looked all right to leave it and covered the cauldron. He returned his attention to Mariannah, folding his arms in front of him.
"That is brilliant, my dear," he said. "I assume that you did some experiments while you were in the muggle world. I won't ask anymore why you would deem it necessary to even use Polyjuice there. But it does puzzle me as to how you were able to get a hold of boomslang skin there."
"You mean you never wondered what happened to that casket of boomslang that disappeared from your coffers fifteen years ago?" asked Mariannah. Severus' eyebrows shot up in surprise. Mariannah smiled. "The casket is in my room. I can return it to you later."
"No need," said Severus. "I secured another soon after I gave up trying to find the previous one." Severus walked towards Mariannah and offered his arm to her. "Shall we?" Mariannah hooked her arm around his and together they proceeded towards the Great Hall.
As it was the summer holidays, the few who stayed within the confines of the school gathered around one of the house tables instead of on the High Table. The chatter turned to gasps of surprise as the two entered the hall. Mariannah scanned the all too familiar faces of her former professors. As the couple approached the others, the room came alive; the atmosphere was charged with excitement.
"So good to see you again!" exclaimed Flitwick.
"Oh you're here! You're really here!" said Sprout excitedly.
"We've missed you, my dear" said McGonagall.
Mariannah smiled through all the greetings. Severus looked on as the witch hugged each and every teacher they've known during their days as a student of Hogwarts. The last to greet her was Dumbledore.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts, Ms. Potter," said the headmaster as he gave Mariannah a big hug. "Come now," he said as he motioned towards the table. "Join us for dinner, my dear."
The dinner was quite pleasant. Everyone asked her what she had been doing in the past fourteen years. They talked about her fiancée. They reminisced on her student days. Soon, everyone had their fill of food and stories. One by one, the professors said their goodbyes and headed off to their quarters. Soon, only three people remained in the hall.
Dumbledore stopped Severus and Mariannah just when they were about to get up from their seats. "I would like to ask both of you to accompany me to my office before you retire to bed." The two nodded and followed the headmaster to his room.
Upon entering the office, Mariannah was pleasantly surprised to see an old friend. "Remus Lupin!" She ran towards the man's outstretched arms. Remus lifted the witch and twirled her around, making her squeal in delight. "My goodness! How are you?" asked Mariannah after Remus set her down.
"Oh, I'm fine. Look at you! You look exquisite! I didn't believe Albus when he said he found you at last." Mariannah hugged Remus once more. That's when she noticed the black dog behind him.
"Hello? What do we have here?" Mariannah was surprised to see the dog transform into another familiar face. The person gave a wide grin and walked forward to hug the stunned witch.
"Mariannah! We missed you so -" Sirius Black was never able to finish his greeting as Mariannah's knee paid a rather forceful tribute to his groin. The other three men flinched as Sirius fell to the ground on his knees with his hand nursing his privates. He looked up to see the very livid face of Mariannah Potter.
"You're still mad after all these years?" he squealed.
"Sirius Black! Attempting to kill my former boyfriend by letting him meet Remus in werewolf form is NOT something that is easily forgotten!" seethed Mariannah.
"But James saved him!" reasoned Sirius.
"Only because I told James what you did!"
"It was a joke!"
Mariannah raised an eyebrow. "Your point being?"
Severus watched the scene with great amusement. He had always wanted to get back at the animagus for that werewolf incident. He considered Sirius' punishment at Mariannah's hands was nothing compared to what he wanted to do. Black must count his lucky stars.
"Ms. Potter, there are better and less physical ways of dealing with this," reprimanded Dumbledore. Mariannah looked at her old mentor, still bristling with anger. The witch noted that the headmaster was far from amused at her actions.
"I'm sorry, Albus," apologized Mariannah. "It won't happen again." Mariannah glared at Sirius before offering a hand to him. "I apologize," she said to him, though not convincingly apologetic. "I promise I won't attempt to render you impotent in THAT manner ever again."
"Thank you," said Sirius, his voice still small and raspy. The headmaster shook his head and sighed. I should have seen that coming, thought Dumbledore. I've forgotten how similar Severus and Mariannah are in so many ways. "Sirius, are you all right now?" asked Dumbledore. Sirius mentally counted before replying, "Yes, Albus. All accounted for."
"Good. Will everyone please take your seats? We have much to discuss tonight." Dumbledore took his place behind his desk. Remus and Sirius sat to the left of Dumbledore. Mariannah and Severus sat opposite them, their posture rather stiff and formal. Remus idly thought how their mannerisms had not differed from each other even after so long a separation. The way they held their gaze. The way their tempers flared. The way they walk. The way they spoke. If he hadn't known Mariannah to be James' sister, he'd mistake her for a Snape. The only difference was the degree of their glares. If Severus looked dangerous, Mariannah seemed downright deadly.
Mariannah looked at Remus. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said and gave him a rather sardonic smile. Remus looked confused for a moment before realizing what she meant. He'd forgotten that she was telepathic. Remus gave her a polite nod. Both then turned their attention to the headmaster and waited for the meeting to begin.
The meeting lasted long into the night. Half of it was spent discussing Harry Potter's safety. During the said discussion, Sirius noticed how quiet and indifferent Mariannah seemed to be and asked aloud if she even cared about her nephew's safety. Mariannah simply pointed out that she trusts the judgment of what was left of the Marauders and that of the headmaster.
The other half of the meeting was on the security of Hogwarts. This left the three men silent as witch and Potions Master hashed out the plans. It lasted twice as long as the discussion on Harry's safety. Each was enthusiastically shooting down the suggestions of the other. It came to a point that Sirius and Remus decided to position themselves at the back of Dumbledore as the two seemed ready to hex each other at any moment.
In the end, the two finally agreed upon a certain course of action. Mariannah turned to Dumbledore and asked if he had anything else to add to the plan. Dumbledore shook his head and said, "As you trust our judgment regarding your nephew's safety, so do I trust your judgment on the safety of this school." Thus was how the meeting adjourned.
Severus escorted Mariannah back to her quarters. Upon reaching her door, Mariannah invited Severus in for tea, to which the wizard accepted.
Severus spent his time looking at Mariannah's library as he waited for the tea to brew. When he was offered a cup, the Potions Master sniffed at it and tasted it a bit. "Hmm. Your potions honors project," said Severus. "I see you still remember," said Mariannah as she poured herself a cup. "Of course," he replied, grimacing at the memory. "How can one forget his own Potions honors project being relegated into second place by tea?"
They continued to sip their drink in silence. Severus noticed that Mariannah looked particularly contemplative. He waited a few more moments before deciding to ask his question.
"Why did you abandon me?"
"It's hard to explain," began Mariannah, looking down into her cup. "When James and Lily died, I just -" Mariannah stopped to gather her thoughts. "I failed, Severus. I could have stopped it. I could have saved them. But I failed. I couldn't bear to face anyone at that time. Dumbledore kept telling me it wasn't my fault. Yet if I hadn't been so -" Mariannah stopped and closed her eyes. Her voice trembled as she spoke. "I had to leave. I didn't know what to do. It was all so difficult."
Severus wrapped his arms around the witch. He gently laid her head on his chest and hugged her tightly. "It's all right, Mariannah," comforted Severus. "It's all right."
They stayed in that position for the rest of the night.