Kat-tak Welcome. You're in time to help start planning the party.
Jig - Mione is nearly 16, and Keath, the youngest of all the Moody clan is about 22. Feel better now? Much more believable than Hermione and Snape. (Although a couple of my favorite stories are Hr/SS, but only because they are so well written.)
Draco-luver - of course the ear-plug reference was for you! And don't think I don't know about the recommendation on your profile page. I'm not saying anything about where this story is headed my dear, but I will tell you that it's definitely going to be longer than WW&S.
It's snowing out, and Nytd shuts down her computer after finishing the latest chapter and looks forward to a quiet evening with her three wizard friends before they head back to Hogwarts for Christmas and she heads out to be with her muggle family.
She sets out a plate of maple cookies and spiked eggnog, and notes the tree has finished smoldering in the corner and is nearly back to full height when two of the men come in. Sirius turns on Christmas carols in the background and the threesome sit down to exchange gifts.
"Where's Severus?" Nytd asks, looking around.
"Not sure." Remus replies. "There was something important he had to do, but he wouldn't say what." Remus hands her a tiny green box tied with red ribbon. "He told me to give this to you if he didn't make it back in time."
Nytd looks momentarily disappointed, and then sets the box aside. "I'll wait a bit, just in case." She perks up. "Ok. I'll go first." Says Nytd, picking up a package from under the tree and handing it to Remus. "You were the easiest." She says with a smile and a wink.
Remus is very excited when he opens the box and discovers his own copy of Mortal Kombat to play on Nytd's PS2. He grins at her. "Thanks, Nytd." He says and gives her a hug. "Now yours." He hands her a small box with silver stars and moons on the paper.
Nytd is curious, to say the least, about getting Christmas presents from her wizard companions, and opens the package quickly. A small pretty glass bottle with different shades of blue swirled through it, and a glass stopper sits in the tissue paper. "It's beautiful, Remus!" She says.
"It's got your favorite perfume in it and I charmed it so that it doesn't run out." He replies.
Nytd is thrilled and gives Remus a she-bear hug and kisses him. "Thank you so much! I love it, Remus." She looks at Sirius and then hands him a small envelope. "This is for you, Snuffles."
He gives her a look for the nickname, and then grins as he opens the envelope. Sirius bursts out laughing as he reads the card announcing that he now has a two year subscription to "Bikes and Babes."
Nytd laughs. "I'm sorry to say that the pictures don't move, though."
"I can fix that." Sirius jokes. He grabs Nytd and hugs her, and then takes her by the hand and leads her to the window. "There, that's for you." He says.
Nytd is puzzled at first. "You shoveled my driveway for Christmas?"
"Nytd, you know me better than that." Sirius pouts. "It took me a while, but I finally got the charms right."
Nytd realizes what he's saying and gasps. "You mean...."
"Yup. No more shoveling the driveway. Period." Sirius replies, looking a bit pleased with himself as Nytd flings her arms around the handsome animagus.
"Thank you so much, Sirius!" She says, excited at the prospect of not having to shovel her driveway during another long Maine winter.
"Anyone up for Mortal Kombat?" Remus asks.
"You're like a little kid with that thing." Sirius scolds him.
"You're just afraid I can kick your ass." Remus replies.
"No way." Sirius replies.
"Can." Says Remus with a grin.
"Can't." Insists Sirius.
"Come on then, if you're man enough to face me." Remus teases.
Nytd rolls her eyes at the two and laughs as then head for the next room playfully shoving each other. She eyes the small green box and then looks at her watch. Should she open it, or wait? It's getting late. She shakes the box and something rattles a bit. She really wants to wait to see if Severus gets back, but now curiosity is getting the better of her. She decides to open it, and reaches for the red ribbon.
"A bit impatient, are we?"
Nytd looks up to see Snape leaning against the doorway, arms folded and looking slightly amused. "You're back." She says, brightening a little.
"Well, go on. Open it." He says, leaning off the door and coming to stand next to her.
She smiles and pulls the paper off the small box. Inside are earrings that appear to be tiny wineglasses fitted with garnets that make them look like they're filled with red wine. "Severus! These are wonderful." She exclaims.
"May I?" He holds out his hand, and she deposits the earrings in his palm. He speaks a single word, and then hands her back a glass of Rioja. "The charm will work, even for a muggle." He informs her, taking a sip from the second glass of wine he holds.
Nytd is absolutely delighted, and drags a box out from under the tree for him. She watches expectantly as he opens it and removes the five potted plants that come from clippings from her own garden. "I've been growing them all fall." She says.
"These are the Five Sisters." Snape says, surprised that Nytd would know about the group of Druidic herbs used as enhancing agents in so many potions.
"Now, you'll always have some on hand." She says, hoping he likes the gift. "Well?" She asks, waiting for a response.
He glances at her and then back at the box. "Let me see if you have the correct five." He says, inspecting each plant. "Hmmm, henbane....yes, pulsatilla...yes, primrose...yes, clover...yes, and ah, yes, mistletoe." He snaps a small piece off the last. "Well done, Nytd." He says, coming to stand near her. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome." She says, smiling.
"Now," Snape says, "there is one other small matter that we need to address."
"What's that, Severus?" She asks as he steps closer.
"I don't want you to think that this Potions master isn't aware of ALL the uses for mistletoe." He replies slyly, holding the small piece of plant over Nytd's head.
Remus bounds out of the other room, about to announce that he has indeed, kicked Snuffle's ass, but stops short and quietly backtracks with a smile as he finds Nytd with her arms around Snape's neck as he kisses her in front of the magical Christmas tree.
(How's that for a Christmas wish?) ;)
Lesson From a Six-Year Old ~*~
Sirius was having a grand time planning the party to be held in two weeks. He finally had been able to distract Remus from his worries over the wolf's escape and fallout with Marlina enough to enlist his help in charming an elaborate muggle sound system to work inside the castle without electricity.
They obtained the help of Hermione, Harry, Colin Creevey, Seamus Finnegan, and several other muggle-born students to come up with an acceptable music selection for the party, and decided that they would definitely use Remus's connection to order a large amount of pizza and other snacks. Remus suggested that they also obtain muggle beverages known as soda to go along with the pizza.
"Ok. So now we've covered music, sound system, food, drink, and we need to decide on dress." Sirius announced one night to Remus and Kaneene. He looked at the witch and smiled. "Care to wear the same outfit you were planning to wear to the pajama party?"
Remus saw the auror was blushing and decided he'd better not ask. "Muggle clothes of any sort ok, you think?" He asked Sirius.
"Yes. One rule. No robes and no wands. Anything else is fine by me." He replied.
"You know the Slytherins are going to go absolutely berserk when they hear this." Remus said, trying not to smile.
Sirius grinned back. "Yes. I believe ALL the Slytherins will be most annoyed at our choice of theme."
Remus laughed. "We should offer to help him dress for the occasion. Maybe one of those awful muggle t-shirts with the yellow smiley face?"
Sirius snorted. "The one that always says 'Have a Nice Day?'"
That was it. Neither of them could stand the thought any longer and they fell against each other laughing.
Kaneene was trying not to laugh at their antics as they made sport of the absent Potions master, but she couldn't help but giggle at the two of them leaning against each other, nearly in tears. "You two are awful." She said.
"No....no....wait." Sirius gasped, still laughing. "What about the one that says 'Don't worry, Be Happy?" The two of them had to sit down, they were laughing so hard.
Kaneene rolled her eyes and got up, still smiling. "I'll be back later when you boys get around to growing back up." She stepped past them and left, still hearing the two men laughing together as she walked down the hall.
Snape had finally finished what he was doing and ran a hand back through his hair, a puzzled look on his face. He had set about the task of trying to determine the composition of the remnants of the explosive found in Lupin's rooms on the request of the headmaster, and now that he had completed his analysis the results were mystifying. No one knew how the explosive had made it's way into the werewolf's rooms, but there was no mistaking what one of the components was, and Severus tried to think of the last time he had even seen erumpent horn fluid.
It had been ages, even years, since it was primarily a black market item, and he wondered where someone at Hogwart's had managed to procure it. Dumbledore was not going to be happy about this, he thought as he put the last of the books he had been using away.
He decided to venture out of the dungeon for a while, and made his way to the rooms of the Mistress of the Healing Arts for a change of pace. He knocked on her door and then let himself in when he heard her reply to his knock.
The sitting room was empty and he called to Lorien, figuring she must be in the bedroom, and flung himself onto her couch near the fire.
She appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. "Well? What do you think?" She said.
Severus looked up and for a moment was speechless, and then he frowned. "What in the name of Merlin do you have on your head, Lorien?" He asked, staring at her in an obviously displeased way.
"What, you don't like it?" She asked, amused that he looked so distressed.
"Don't even tell me that you're thinking about wearing THAT to the ridiculous party." He sneered.
"Would you rather?" She asked, removing the cowboy hat from her head and offering it to him.
"I WOULD NOT!" He said indignantly. "Where did you even get such an absurd thing?"
"Montana." She replied. "I might wear it with my Wranglers and my Ropers."
"Your what?" He asked, exasperated.
She waved him off. "American muggle clothes. Got them when I was there." She noticed this new bit of information did nothing to help rid Severus of the expression he was still wearing, and she set the hat down and decided to torment him longer. "You know all the staff is expected to be at this party."
"I'm aware." He said icily.
"And Dumbledore expects everyone to be a sport about it." She said, a twinkle in her own eye. "Severus, you're going to have to set a good example for the Slytherins, you know."
He glared at her, and folded his arms across his chest. "The things I do for that man!"
"Are you pouting?" She asked.
"Certainly not!" He said, thinking to himself that she was probably the one person that could get away with asking him that. "May we change the subject?" He asked.
"You're going to have to deal with it sooner or later." She advised him.
"I shall deal with it LATER." He said with finality. "New subject!" He snapped at her.
"Ok, fine. New subject." She said, now irritated. "I'm leaving you."
"Are you?" He asked nonchalantly, examining his fingernails.
"Yes." She replied casually, picking the cowboy hat back up.
"Immediately?" He asked her and then suppressed a yawn.
"In a few weeks." She said, trying the hat back on in front of a mirror to see if she liked it with her hair down or up under it.
"And where are you going when you leave me?" He inquired, rising and coming to stand near her.
"Does it matter?" She said, refusing to look at him and still primping with the hat.
"Will you be leaving me for good, or will you be returning?" He asked, quite obviously amused now.
"That," she said, turning around and facing him, "depends on whether or not you can be a little nicer to me." She pouted.
Severus knew it was all an act, and that it was her way of telling him to shape up when he'd been snippy with her. He reached out and yanked the hat off her head and threw it on the table. "You wouldn't know what to do if I were nice to you." He teased. He could see she was trying not to smile. "As a matter of fact, I think you like the fact that I'm not nice." He said, grabbing her arms and yanking her closer. "Don't you?"
She looked away smiling. "At times."
He lifted her chin suddenly. "And is now one of those times?" He asked, already knowing it was by the way she was blushing. He didn't wait for her answer and kissed her roughly.
"Stop that." She said a bit breathlessly. "It's Poppy's night off and I'm on call."
"Pity." He said, turning away. "Clearly you'd rather not be working."
Lorien smiled as she watched him sit back on the couch, thinking that it was clear that he also wished she were not on call. She joined him on the couch and leaned against him, and smiled as she thought about the owl she'd received from Perth. He had invited her to the council meeting, but it was really the P.S. of his letter that intrigued her. It simply said 'Give my regards to the Potions master.' Taber had guessed, and if Lorien knew him as well as she thought she did, he'd known before she did what her choice would be.
"So, where are you really going?" Snape asked.
"The Nemorosi Council." She said. "They're meeting to discuss what to do about the witch executions, and Perth wants me there to fill them in on what happened in Diagon Alley."
"How long will you be away?" Severus asked.
"A few days, maybe four or five. It shouldn't be a problem for Poppy because I'll be gone over the Easter holiday." She replied.
Severus looked serious when he spoke again. "Were you planning on going alone? It might not be safe."
"I'm sure it'll be fine." She said without conviction.
"I don't like the thought of you going by yourself. It's too dangerous for you to be on your own as a Nemorosi witch right now." Severus said.
"Oh. I guess that could be a problem." She said with a hint of mock concern and disappointment in her voice.
"I could go with you." He offered. "It would be safer if you had company."
"Hmm. I hadn't thought of that." She lied, knowing that if she had invited him he probably would have balked at going. "Excellent idea, Severus." She brightened instantly. "And while you're there you can finally meet Perth."
Snape's eyes narrowed. "You're just letting me think that accompanying you was my idea, aren't you?" He asked, realizing at that moment that she'd manipulated him into volunteering.
"You look at it any way you like," she said mischievously, patting his arm, "but it looks like either way you're going to the Nemorosi council."
Draco watched as the second eagle owl that belonged to the Malfoy family swooped into the room and came to land on the back of a chair. "Charon, love. A note for me?" He asked the large bird as it returned his gaze. He took the letter and opened it after once again dispelling the curse that the Malfoys sealed their correspondence with.
He smiled as he read it. Evidently everything was in place, and all he had to do was to wait for the proper time, which would be soon. He had been given a large responsibility, and relished the fact that such an honor had been bestowed upon him.
His father had showed confidence in him, and now he was going to prove himself worthy to the Dark Lord. Things were falling into place nicely, and he could almost taste his long-awaited vengeance. It was going to be sweet, he knew it.
Every time Marlina saw Remus in the hallway as they were entering their respective classrooms, she found that the whole situation was awkward and messy. She always unlocked her classroom as fast as possible and tried to bolt inside before he got to his, or tried to pretend he wasn't standing there a short distance away, but it was inevitable that on occasion they made eye contact.
Marlina could feel her face redden, and a confusing mix of anger, guilt, and sadness overtook her, while Remus stood there calmly and just looked back at her. It was difficult to read anything in his expression, and during the few instances that she'd had the courage to meet his gaze for more than a second, he'd just sighed and turned away.
'He hates me.' She thought, watching him enter his classroom once again one afternoon. 'Not that he shouldn't.' She told herself. 'After the way I treated him, and not to mention the fact that I nearly shot him.'
She finished lecturing that day and went to the staff room to get Noah, who was in the company of Professor Flitwick. They emerged into the corridor and were heading back toward their rooms, when Remus stepped out of his classroom just as they were passing it. Noah was ecstatic.
"Remus!" The little boy cried, and ran to the Defense professor as he was closing the door. Marlina was unprepared for the boy's actions, and reacted too slowly to stop the lad from going.
Remus turned around just in time for Noah to fling himself against him in a miniature bear hug. His first instinct was to hug the boy back, but he settled for affectionately tousling the boy's auburn hair. "How are you, Noah?" He asked, wary of the witch standing nearby.
"Good." The boy answered, obviously happy to see his recently absent friend.
Marlina approached to fetch the boy, wanting to do so as fast as possible.
"Professor Perkins." Remus said, quietly acknowledging her. His gaze never faltered as the gray eyes met hers.
"Professor Lupin." She returned awkwardly, and then looked at Noah. "Come on Noah, we have to go."
Noah looked a bit confused, but agreed and turned to follow his mother. "Bye, Remus." He called cheerfully, as he went down the hall.
"Bye, Noah." Remus said, looking wistfully after the small boy.
Marlina knew she had to tell Noah what was going on. She hadn't had the heart to tell her son what the problem was, and she knew he needed to know the truth. She sat down on the couch and called him to her when they go to their rooms.
"Noah? Come here, love."
"What, Mom?" He asked.
"Come sit with me. I need to talk to you about something." She said.
"Ok." Noah hopped up on the couch to sit next to her.
Marlina began. "Noah, you remember some of the things I told you about your dad?"
"MmmHmm." A cheerful affirmative.
"Do you remember that he was killed while he was on duty?" She asked.
"MmmHmm." Another.
Marlina knew that Noah didn't place a lot of significance on what had happened to his father, since the man had died before Noah was old enough to even recognize him. He did know that something bad had happened a long time ago that took his father away.
"Noah, do you know what a werewolf is?" Marlina asked cautiously.
"Course!" He said proudly.
"Tell me."
"A person that turns into a wolf on the full moon." He said, matter-of- factly.
"That's right. You know that they're very dangerous, right?" She asked.
Noah shrugged. "I guess." For a six year old wizard, turning into a wolf didn't exactly seem like a bad idea. It sounded pretty cool.
"You know they can kill people?" She asked him.
Noah looked worried. "Really?"
"Yes." Marlina said, knowing she had to be careful not to overly frighten the boy. "Noah, your father used to catch werewolves."
Noah thought about this for a minute. "Cause they were bad?"
"Yes, because they were bad, Noah." She said. "Hon, that's how your father died. A werewolf was being bad, and your dad tried to catch him..." Marlina hesitated, trying not to break down in front of him. She took a deep breath and continued. "He wanted everyone else to be safe, but....well, he got too close and the wolf bit him." She finished.
"So he died?" Noah asked, looking very serious.
Marlina nodded, and Noah said nothing for a long time.
"Noah?"
"Yeah?"
"I have something to tell you....something that's not very nice and it's going to be hard for you to understand, ok?" She watched her son carefully to see if he was handling this ok. So far it appeared he was. She hesitated. Why did she have to tell him this? Couldn't someone else do this? Couldn't someone else tell him the terrible truth?
"Noah. It's about Remus." She said at last.
"Remus?" He asked, brightening at first, and then his face dropped as he recalled that she had said it was something bad she had to tell him.
"Sweetheart, Remus is..well he's...Noah, Remus is a werewolf." Marlina felt ill as she managed to say the word. Her son was about to be devastated.
Noah looked frightened. "Mom, he is?"
She nodded and pulled her son into a protective embrace, but he wriggled free after a minute. "Mom, is someone going to catch Remus?" He asked, sounding very worried.
"No, love. No one is going to catch Remus.."
"Cause he's not being bad, right?"
"Right." She said, and saw that Noah looked relieved. It suddenly dawned on her that Noah hadn't been afraid for himself, but for what might happen to his friend.
Noah looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked a question that shook Marlina badly. "They're not going to catch Remus, cause he's a good werewolf, right?"
She froze at his words and her mind reeled.
"Right, Mom?" Noah asked again, waiting for an answer. "He's not a bad werewolf, he's a good one, right?"
She looked at Noah and smiled a little. "Right, love. Remus is a good werewolf."
Noah smiled. "Cool. Can I go play now?"
Marlina nodded and Noah ran off to play, and she wondered why a six year old could see things so plainly, where she herself was blinded.
Remus leaned back against the edge of his desk as he lectured, and looked around the classroom full of fifth year students as they all took notes wearily. "Anyone have any other questions on the Five Ways of Altering a Deathbed Curse?"
A murmured chorus of no's.
Hermione's head shot up, followed by her hand. "Professor Lupin, I thought you said there were four ways?" She asked. The rest of the class suddenly seemed a little confused and started looking around at one another.
"I did originally say four." Remus replied. "Just wanted to see who was awake and who's not." He said with a gleam in his eye. "Now," he said, satisfied that the class was again giving him it's undivided attention, "we're going to be covering mangabeys."
Lupin got through his description of the small, cave-dwelling, monkey-like creatures and went on to tell about how harmless they first appear, but how the saliva of the creature contained a slow acting but deadly poison. "They don't need to bite you for you to be exposed to the toxin." He explained. "Since they spend a good deal of time licking their paws and grooming themselves, there often is enough venom on their claws for a scratch to provide adequate exposure, and subsequent complications."
Ron leaned Harry's way. "Did he say they live in caves?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah."
"Now," Lupin said, looking around the room, "does anyone know what mangabeys are generally used for?"
Hermione's hand shot up.
"Yes, Hermione?" Lupin asked her.
"They're mostly used as treasure guardians." She replied confidently.
"Correct, Hermione." Remus said. "They can be quite territorial, and make a fairly effective deterrent, especially if you have a breeding pair set up as guardians. The males will become much more aggressive in the presence of a female."
Ron leaned over to Harry again. "Why do you suppose they live in caves?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know."
"Does anyone know why they live in caves?" Lupin asked the class.
Harry and Ron looked at Hermione, as did the rest of the class.
Lupin smiled. "Miss Granger?"
Hermione was unfazed. "It's because of rain." She replied.
"Rain?" Ron asked her. "What's rain got to do with the caves?"
"Hermione is right, Ron." Lupin replied. "They live in caves because they prefer the seclusion, but also because they can't tolerate much water at a time. The dampness of the cave isn't a problem for them with all the thick fur that they have, but if they were to get hit by a downpour, that would be the end of them."
The class looked astonished. "Why?" asked, Seamus Finnegan.
Lupin smiled. "They melt." He said. "Practically disintegrate."
"So, is that how you get rid of them?" Harry asked, wondering what it would be like to see a living creature actually melt.
"Yes, that or stab them once cleanly through the heart." Lupin replied. "I'd recommend the water for two reasons. One, in order to stab them you'd most likely have to get within reach of their claws, and two, if you don't stab them cleanly and happen to hack a bit off, you end up with another mangabey in about five minutes."
The bell rang, indicating that class was over.
"We'll finish covering how to deal with mangabeys and their poison next lecture." Remus concluded as the students all gathered their things and straggled out. He winked at Hermione as he could see she was trying to explain to Ron that there really were only four ways to alter a Deathbed Curse, and that he hadn't really missed anything.
Remus watched the last student leave the classroom, and was about to lean off the desk to follow them out when he saw Marlina step in.
She shut the door behind her, and Remus began to worry.
A/N: If you know your Greek mythology, then you know that the two owls that have visited Draco, Acheron and Charon, are one of the rivers of Hades and the ferryman to the underworld, respectively.
A mangabey is actually a small, harmless Old World monkey from Africa, but I've borrowed them and ....er...altered them a little for the DADA lesson.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Jig - Mione is nearly 16, and Keath, the youngest of all the Moody clan is about 22. Feel better now? Much more believable than Hermione and Snape. (Although a couple of my favorite stories are Hr/SS, but only because they are so well written.)
Draco-luver - of course the ear-plug reference was for you! And don't think I don't know about the recommendation on your profile page. I'm not saying anything about where this story is headed my dear, but I will tell you that it's definitely going to be longer than WW&S.
It's snowing out, and Nytd shuts down her computer after finishing the latest chapter and looks forward to a quiet evening with her three wizard friends before they head back to Hogwarts for Christmas and she heads out to be with her muggle family.
She sets out a plate of maple cookies and spiked eggnog, and notes the tree has finished smoldering in the corner and is nearly back to full height when two of the men come in. Sirius turns on Christmas carols in the background and the threesome sit down to exchange gifts.
"Where's Severus?" Nytd asks, looking around.
"Not sure." Remus replies. "There was something important he had to do, but he wouldn't say what." Remus hands her a tiny green box tied with red ribbon. "He told me to give this to you if he didn't make it back in time."
Nytd looks momentarily disappointed, and then sets the box aside. "I'll wait a bit, just in case." She perks up. "Ok. I'll go first." Says Nytd, picking up a package from under the tree and handing it to Remus. "You were the easiest." She says with a smile and a wink.
Remus is very excited when he opens the box and discovers his own copy of Mortal Kombat to play on Nytd's PS2. He grins at her. "Thanks, Nytd." He says and gives her a hug. "Now yours." He hands her a small box with silver stars and moons on the paper.
Nytd is curious, to say the least, about getting Christmas presents from her wizard companions, and opens the package quickly. A small pretty glass bottle with different shades of blue swirled through it, and a glass stopper sits in the tissue paper. "It's beautiful, Remus!" She says.
"It's got your favorite perfume in it and I charmed it so that it doesn't run out." He replies.
Nytd is thrilled and gives Remus a she-bear hug and kisses him. "Thank you so much! I love it, Remus." She looks at Sirius and then hands him a small envelope. "This is for you, Snuffles."
He gives her a look for the nickname, and then grins as he opens the envelope. Sirius bursts out laughing as he reads the card announcing that he now has a two year subscription to "Bikes and Babes."
Nytd laughs. "I'm sorry to say that the pictures don't move, though."
"I can fix that." Sirius jokes. He grabs Nytd and hugs her, and then takes her by the hand and leads her to the window. "There, that's for you." He says.
Nytd is puzzled at first. "You shoveled my driveway for Christmas?"
"Nytd, you know me better than that." Sirius pouts. "It took me a while, but I finally got the charms right."
Nytd realizes what he's saying and gasps. "You mean...."
"Yup. No more shoveling the driveway. Period." Sirius replies, looking a bit pleased with himself as Nytd flings her arms around the handsome animagus.
"Thank you so much, Sirius!" She says, excited at the prospect of not having to shovel her driveway during another long Maine winter.
"Anyone up for Mortal Kombat?" Remus asks.
"You're like a little kid with that thing." Sirius scolds him.
"You're just afraid I can kick your ass." Remus replies.
"No way." Sirius replies.
"Can." Says Remus with a grin.
"Can't." Insists Sirius.
"Come on then, if you're man enough to face me." Remus teases.
Nytd rolls her eyes at the two and laughs as then head for the next room playfully shoving each other. She eyes the small green box and then looks at her watch. Should she open it, or wait? It's getting late. She shakes the box and something rattles a bit. She really wants to wait to see if Severus gets back, but now curiosity is getting the better of her. She decides to open it, and reaches for the red ribbon.
"A bit impatient, are we?"
Nytd looks up to see Snape leaning against the doorway, arms folded and looking slightly amused. "You're back." She says, brightening a little.
"Well, go on. Open it." He says, leaning off the door and coming to stand next to her.
She smiles and pulls the paper off the small box. Inside are earrings that appear to be tiny wineglasses fitted with garnets that make them look like they're filled with red wine. "Severus! These are wonderful." She exclaims.
"May I?" He holds out his hand, and she deposits the earrings in his palm. He speaks a single word, and then hands her back a glass of Rioja. "The charm will work, even for a muggle." He informs her, taking a sip from the second glass of wine he holds.
Nytd is absolutely delighted, and drags a box out from under the tree for him. She watches expectantly as he opens it and removes the five potted plants that come from clippings from her own garden. "I've been growing them all fall." She says.
"These are the Five Sisters." Snape says, surprised that Nytd would know about the group of Druidic herbs used as enhancing agents in so many potions.
"Now, you'll always have some on hand." She says, hoping he likes the gift. "Well?" She asks, waiting for a response.
He glances at her and then back at the box. "Let me see if you have the correct five." He says, inspecting each plant. "Hmmm, henbane....yes, pulsatilla...yes, primrose...yes, clover...yes, and ah, yes, mistletoe." He snaps a small piece off the last. "Well done, Nytd." He says, coming to stand near her. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome." She says, smiling.
"Now," Snape says, "there is one other small matter that we need to address."
"What's that, Severus?" She asks as he steps closer.
"I don't want you to think that this Potions master isn't aware of ALL the uses for mistletoe." He replies slyly, holding the small piece of plant over Nytd's head.
Remus bounds out of the other room, about to announce that he has indeed, kicked Snuffle's ass, but stops short and quietly backtracks with a smile as he finds Nytd with her arms around Snape's neck as he kisses her in front of the magical Christmas tree.
(How's that for a Christmas wish?) ;)
Lesson From a Six-Year Old ~*~
Sirius was having a grand time planning the party to be held in two weeks. He finally had been able to distract Remus from his worries over the wolf's escape and fallout with Marlina enough to enlist his help in charming an elaborate muggle sound system to work inside the castle without electricity.
They obtained the help of Hermione, Harry, Colin Creevey, Seamus Finnegan, and several other muggle-born students to come up with an acceptable music selection for the party, and decided that they would definitely use Remus's connection to order a large amount of pizza and other snacks. Remus suggested that they also obtain muggle beverages known as soda to go along with the pizza.
"Ok. So now we've covered music, sound system, food, drink, and we need to decide on dress." Sirius announced one night to Remus and Kaneene. He looked at the witch and smiled. "Care to wear the same outfit you were planning to wear to the pajama party?"
Remus saw the auror was blushing and decided he'd better not ask. "Muggle clothes of any sort ok, you think?" He asked Sirius.
"Yes. One rule. No robes and no wands. Anything else is fine by me." He replied.
"You know the Slytherins are going to go absolutely berserk when they hear this." Remus said, trying not to smile.
Sirius grinned back. "Yes. I believe ALL the Slytherins will be most annoyed at our choice of theme."
Remus laughed. "We should offer to help him dress for the occasion. Maybe one of those awful muggle t-shirts with the yellow smiley face?"
Sirius snorted. "The one that always says 'Have a Nice Day?'"
That was it. Neither of them could stand the thought any longer and they fell against each other laughing.
Kaneene was trying not to laugh at their antics as they made sport of the absent Potions master, but she couldn't help but giggle at the two of them leaning against each other, nearly in tears. "You two are awful." She said.
"No....no....wait." Sirius gasped, still laughing. "What about the one that says 'Don't worry, Be Happy?" The two of them had to sit down, they were laughing so hard.
Kaneene rolled her eyes and got up, still smiling. "I'll be back later when you boys get around to growing back up." She stepped past them and left, still hearing the two men laughing together as she walked down the hall.
Snape had finally finished what he was doing and ran a hand back through his hair, a puzzled look on his face. He had set about the task of trying to determine the composition of the remnants of the explosive found in Lupin's rooms on the request of the headmaster, and now that he had completed his analysis the results were mystifying. No one knew how the explosive had made it's way into the werewolf's rooms, but there was no mistaking what one of the components was, and Severus tried to think of the last time he had even seen erumpent horn fluid.
It had been ages, even years, since it was primarily a black market item, and he wondered where someone at Hogwart's had managed to procure it. Dumbledore was not going to be happy about this, he thought as he put the last of the books he had been using away.
He decided to venture out of the dungeon for a while, and made his way to the rooms of the Mistress of the Healing Arts for a change of pace. He knocked on her door and then let himself in when he heard her reply to his knock.
The sitting room was empty and he called to Lorien, figuring she must be in the bedroom, and flung himself onto her couch near the fire.
She appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. "Well? What do you think?" She said.
Severus looked up and for a moment was speechless, and then he frowned. "What in the name of Merlin do you have on your head, Lorien?" He asked, staring at her in an obviously displeased way.
"What, you don't like it?" She asked, amused that he looked so distressed.
"Don't even tell me that you're thinking about wearing THAT to the ridiculous party." He sneered.
"Would you rather?" She asked, removing the cowboy hat from her head and offering it to him.
"I WOULD NOT!" He said indignantly. "Where did you even get such an absurd thing?"
"Montana." She replied. "I might wear it with my Wranglers and my Ropers."
"Your what?" He asked, exasperated.
She waved him off. "American muggle clothes. Got them when I was there." She noticed this new bit of information did nothing to help rid Severus of the expression he was still wearing, and she set the hat down and decided to torment him longer. "You know all the staff is expected to be at this party."
"I'm aware." He said icily.
"And Dumbledore expects everyone to be a sport about it." She said, a twinkle in her own eye. "Severus, you're going to have to set a good example for the Slytherins, you know."
He glared at her, and folded his arms across his chest. "The things I do for that man!"
"Are you pouting?" She asked.
"Certainly not!" He said, thinking to himself that she was probably the one person that could get away with asking him that. "May we change the subject?" He asked.
"You're going to have to deal with it sooner or later." She advised him.
"I shall deal with it LATER." He said with finality. "New subject!" He snapped at her.
"Ok, fine. New subject." She said, now irritated. "I'm leaving you."
"Are you?" He asked nonchalantly, examining his fingernails.
"Yes." She replied casually, picking the cowboy hat back up.
"Immediately?" He asked her and then suppressed a yawn.
"In a few weeks." She said, trying the hat back on in front of a mirror to see if she liked it with her hair down or up under it.
"And where are you going when you leave me?" He inquired, rising and coming to stand near her.
"Does it matter?" She said, refusing to look at him and still primping with the hat.
"Will you be leaving me for good, or will you be returning?" He asked, quite obviously amused now.
"That," she said, turning around and facing him, "depends on whether or not you can be a little nicer to me." She pouted.
Severus knew it was all an act, and that it was her way of telling him to shape up when he'd been snippy with her. He reached out and yanked the hat off her head and threw it on the table. "You wouldn't know what to do if I were nice to you." He teased. He could see she was trying not to smile. "As a matter of fact, I think you like the fact that I'm not nice." He said, grabbing her arms and yanking her closer. "Don't you?"
She looked away smiling. "At times."
He lifted her chin suddenly. "And is now one of those times?" He asked, already knowing it was by the way she was blushing. He didn't wait for her answer and kissed her roughly.
"Stop that." She said a bit breathlessly. "It's Poppy's night off and I'm on call."
"Pity." He said, turning away. "Clearly you'd rather not be working."
Lorien smiled as she watched him sit back on the couch, thinking that it was clear that he also wished she were not on call. She joined him on the couch and leaned against him, and smiled as she thought about the owl she'd received from Perth. He had invited her to the council meeting, but it was really the P.S. of his letter that intrigued her. It simply said 'Give my regards to the Potions master.' Taber had guessed, and if Lorien knew him as well as she thought she did, he'd known before she did what her choice would be.
"So, where are you really going?" Snape asked.
"The Nemorosi Council." She said. "They're meeting to discuss what to do about the witch executions, and Perth wants me there to fill them in on what happened in Diagon Alley."
"How long will you be away?" Severus asked.
"A few days, maybe four or five. It shouldn't be a problem for Poppy because I'll be gone over the Easter holiday." She replied.
Severus looked serious when he spoke again. "Were you planning on going alone? It might not be safe."
"I'm sure it'll be fine." She said without conviction.
"I don't like the thought of you going by yourself. It's too dangerous for you to be on your own as a Nemorosi witch right now." Severus said.
"Oh. I guess that could be a problem." She said with a hint of mock concern and disappointment in her voice.
"I could go with you." He offered. "It would be safer if you had company."
"Hmm. I hadn't thought of that." She lied, knowing that if she had invited him he probably would have balked at going. "Excellent idea, Severus." She brightened instantly. "And while you're there you can finally meet Perth."
Snape's eyes narrowed. "You're just letting me think that accompanying you was my idea, aren't you?" He asked, realizing at that moment that she'd manipulated him into volunteering.
"You look at it any way you like," she said mischievously, patting his arm, "but it looks like either way you're going to the Nemorosi council."
Draco watched as the second eagle owl that belonged to the Malfoy family swooped into the room and came to land on the back of a chair. "Charon, love. A note for me?" He asked the large bird as it returned his gaze. He took the letter and opened it after once again dispelling the curse that the Malfoys sealed their correspondence with.
He smiled as he read it. Evidently everything was in place, and all he had to do was to wait for the proper time, which would be soon. He had been given a large responsibility, and relished the fact that such an honor had been bestowed upon him.
His father had showed confidence in him, and now he was going to prove himself worthy to the Dark Lord. Things were falling into place nicely, and he could almost taste his long-awaited vengeance. It was going to be sweet, he knew it.
Every time Marlina saw Remus in the hallway as they were entering their respective classrooms, she found that the whole situation was awkward and messy. She always unlocked her classroom as fast as possible and tried to bolt inside before he got to his, or tried to pretend he wasn't standing there a short distance away, but it was inevitable that on occasion they made eye contact.
Marlina could feel her face redden, and a confusing mix of anger, guilt, and sadness overtook her, while Remus stood there calmly and just looked back at her. It was difficult to read anything in his expression, and during the few instances that she'd had the courage to meet his gaze for more than a second, he'd just sighed and turned away.
'He hates me.' She thought, watching him enter his classroom once again one afternoon. 'Not that he shouldn't.' She told herself. 'After the way I treated him, and not to mention the fact that I nearly shot him.'
She finished lecturing that day and went to the staff room to get Noah, who was in the company of Professor Flitwick. They emerged into the corridor and were heading back toward their rooms, when Remus stepped out of his classroom just as they were passing it. Noah was ecstatic.
"Remus!" The little boy cried, and ran to the Defense professor as he was closing the door. Marlina was unprepared for the boy's actions, and reacted too slowly to stop the lad from going.
Remus turned around just in time for Noah to fling himself against him in a miniature bear hug. His first instinct was to hug the boy back, but he settled for affectionately tousling the boy's auburn hair. "How are you, Noah?" He asked, wary of the witch standing nearby.
"Good." The boy answered, obviously happy to see his recently absent friend.
Marlina approached to fetch the boy, wanting to do so as fast as possible.
"Professor Perkins." Remus said, quietly acknowledging her. His gaze never faltered as the gray eyes met hers.
"Professor Lupin." She returned awkwardly, and then looked at Noah. "Come on Noah, we have to go."
Noah looked a bit confused, but agreed and turned to follow his mother. "Bye, Remus." He called cheerfully, as he went down the hall.
"Bye, Noah." Remus said, looking wistfully after the small boy.
Marlina knew she had to tell Noah what was going on. She hadn't had the heart to tell her son what the problem was, and she knew he needed to know the truth. She sat down on the couch and called him to her when they go to their rooms.
"Noah? Come here, love."
"What, Mom?" He asked.
"Come sit with me. I need to talk to you about something." She said.
"Ok." Noah hopped up on the couch to sit next to her.
Marlina began. "Noah, you remember some of the things I told you about your dad?"
"MmmHmm." A cheerful affirmative.
"Do you remember that he was killed while he was on duty?" She asked.
"MmmHmm." Another.
Marlina knew that Noah didn't place a lot of significance on what had happened to his father, since the man had died before Noah was old enough to even recognize him. He did know that something bad had happened a long time ago that took his father away.
"Noah, do you know what a werewolf is?" Marlina asked cautiously.
"Course!" He said proudly.
"Tell me."
"A person that turns into a wolf on the full moon." He said, matter-of- factly.
"That's right. You know that they're very dangerous, right?" She asked.
Noah shrugged. "I guess." For a six year old wizard, turning into a wolf didn't exactly seem like a bad idea. It sounded pretty cool.
"You know they can kill people?" She asked him.
Noah looked worried. "Really?"
"Yes." Marlina said, knowing she had to be careful not to overly frighten the boy. "Noah, your father used to catch werewolves."
Noah thought about this for a minute. "Cause they were bad?"
"Yes, because they were bad, Noah." She said. "Hon, that's how your father died. A werewolf was being bad, and your dad tried to catch him..." Marlina hesitated, trying not to break down in front of him. She took a deep breath and continued. "He wanted everyone else to be safe, but....well, he got too close and the wolf bit him." She finished.
"So he died?" Noah asked, looking very serious.
Marlina nodded, and Noah said nothing for a long time.
"Noah?"
"Yeah?"
"I have something to tell you....something that's not very nice and it's going to be hard for you to understand, ok?" She watched her son carefully to see if he was handling this ok. So far it appeared he was. She hesitated. Why did she have to tell him this? Couldn't someone else do this? Couldn't someone else tell him the terrible truth?
"Noah. It's about Remus." She said at last.
"Remus?" He asked, brightening at first, and then his face dropped as he recalled that she had said it was something bad she had to tell him.
"Sweetheart, Remus is..well he's...Noah, Remus is a werewolf." Marlina felt ill as she managed to say the word. Her son was about to be devastated.
Noah looked frightened. "Mom, he is?"
She nodded and pulled her son into a protective embrace, but he wriggled free after a minute. "Mom, is someone going to catch Remus?" He asked, sounding very worried.
"No, love. No one is going to catch Remus.."
"Cause he's not being bad, right?"
"Right." She said, and saw that Noah looked relieved. It suddenly dawned on her that Noah hadn't been afraid for himself, but for what might happen to his friend.
Noah looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked a question that shook Marlina badly. "They're not going to catch Remus, cause he's a good werewolf, right?"
She froze at his words and her mind reeled.
"Right, Mom?" Noah asked again, waiting for an answer. "He's not a bad werewolf, he's a good one, right?"
She looked at Noah and smiled a little. "Right, love. Remus is a good werewolf."
Noah smiled. "Cool. Can I go play now?"
Marlina nodded and Noah ran off to play, and she wondered why a six year old could see things so plainly, where she herself was blinded.
Remus leaned back against the edge of his desk as he lectured, and looked around the classroom full of fifth year students as they all took notes wearily. "Anyone have any other questions on the Five Ways of Altering a Deathbed Curse?"
A murmured chorus of no's.
Hermione's head shot up, followed by her hand. "Professor Lupin, I thought you said there were four ways?" She asked. The rest of the class suddenly seemed a little confused and started looking around at one another.
"I did originally say four." Remus replied. "Just wanted to see who was awake and who's not." He said with a gleam in his eye. "Now," he said, satisfied that the class was again giving him it's undivided attention, "we're going to be covering mangabeys."
Lupin got through his description of the small, cave-dwelling, monkey-like creatures and went on to tell about how harmless they first appear, but how the saliva of the creature contained a slow acting but deadly poison. "They don't need to bite you for you to be exposed to the toxin." He explained. "Since they spend a good deal of time licking their paws and grooming themselves, there often is enough venom on their claws for a scratch to provide adequate exposure, and subsequent complications."
Ron leaned Harry's way. "Did he say they live in caves?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah."
"Now," Lupin said, looking around the room, "does anyone know what mangabeys are generally used for?"
Hermione's hand shot up.
"Yes, Hermione?" Lupin asked her.
"They're mostly used as treasure guardians." She replied confidently.
"Correct, Hermione." Remus said. "They can be quite territorial, and make a fairly effective deterrent, especially if you have a breeding pair set up as guardians. The males will become much more aggressive in the presence of a female."
Ron leaned over to Harry again. "Why do you suppose they live in caves?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know."
"Does anyone know why they live in caves?" Lupin asked the class.
Harry and Ron looked at Hermione, as did the rest of the class.
Lupin smiled. "Miss Granger?"
Hermione was unfazed. "It's because of rain." She replied.
"Rain?" Ron asked her. "What's rain got to do with the caves?"
"Hermione is right, Ron." Lupin replied. "They live in caves because they prefer the seclusion, but also because they can't tolerate much water at a time. The dampness of the cave isn't a problem for them with all the thick fur that they have, but if they were to get hit by a downpour, that would be the end of them."
The class looked astonished. "Why?" asked, Seamus Finnegan.
Lupin smiled. "They melt." He said. "Practically disintegrate."
"So, is that how you get rid of them?" Harry asked, wondering what it would be like to see a living creature actually melt.
"Yes, that or stab them once cleanly through the heart." Lupin replied. "I'd recommend the water for two reasons. One, in order to stab them you'd most likely have to get within reach of their claws, and two, if you don't stab them cleanly and happen to hack a bit off, you end up with another mangabey in about five minutes."
The bell rang, indicating that class was over.
"We'll finish covering how to deal with mangabeys and their poison next lecture." Remus concluded as the students all gathered their things and straggled out. He winked at Hermione as he could see she was trying to explain to Ron that there really were only four ways to alter a Deathbed Curse, and that he hadn't really missed anything.
Remus watched the last student leave the classroom, and was about to lean off the desk to follow them out when he saw Marlina step in.
She shut the door behind her, and Remus began to worry.
A/N: If you know your Greek mythology, then you know that the two owls that have visited Draco, Acheron and Charon, are one of the rivers of Hades and the ferryman to the underworld, respectively.
A mangabey is actually a small, harmless Old World monkey from Africa, but I've borrowed them and ....er...altered them a little for the DADA lesson.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
