Chapter Thirteen

Vigilance

There was a gentle but firm knock on the front door of the Black mansion. Sirius slowly stood, dropping the newspaper in his hand and walking numbly over to the door, cautiously opening it. Seeing who was on the other side, Sirius flung the door open and embraced Severus tightly to the other wizard's utmost surprise, blubbering out sincere condolences while Severus attempted with some difficulty to wrench away.

"Sirius…"

"I can't believe she's gone! I swear who ever did this is…"

"Sirius!"

"Just tell me what I can do, and I'll do it, just name it," Sirius insisted, hugging him tighter.

"Sirius!" Severus shouted in his ear. "Jennifer is not dead!" Sirius stopped and stared at him. "Dumbledore just had that put in the paper so we could get some clue who the murderer is. Now get away from me!"

Sirius, who suddenly realized what he was doing and who he was hugging, made a noise of pure revulsion and jumped back, brushing himself off as if attempting to completely erase what had just happened.

"Are you quite through acting like a complete idiot yet?" Severus snapped.

"Well, how was I to know? I've been out of the loop lately…"

"Yes, so we've noticed. It's been nice to have you out of my hair for security."

"Yes, I can see how well you've been doing, too," Sirius said. The freezing look that Severus gave him was filled with anger, but even Sirius could see it wasn't entirely directed at him. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," he added sincerely.

"No, you're right. I should have been doing my job, as futile as that is without magic," Severus said. "Be that as it may, I'm here to talk about Anna rather than anything else. She seems to be under the impression that you have abandoned her," he explained, closing the door.

"She what?" Sirius said, hands on his hips. "Severus, I swear, I haven't been able to get anywhere near her. Any time I get close, I get pushed away somehow, or I find I go somewhere I didn't intend on going."

"Yes, I know," Severus mused. "She wanted you to go away and you did, only now she doesn't know how to stop it. It's almost as if becoming pregnant has strengthened her powers instead of weakened them. And now that she's carrying ours as well, it's probably not helping matters any."

"Wait, back up, explain what you just said," Sirius said, growing alarmed.

Severus walked into the next room and sat down, giving Sirius an account of everything that had happened. It didn't take long for Sirius to figure out they were going to have to find a way to get him back.


After lunch that afternoon, Corey reappeared in the Great Hall, and as usual when anything was going on, everyone was huddled around him, wanting to hear the latest on how Professor Craw was doing. Several students jumped from their normal house tables to join, not the least of which was Essie, sitting next to her brother.

"I know what the paper said, but it's not true. Of course she does look like she's dead, but that's because she's in an induced coma. They put her in Cosmic Sleep to stabilize her. With any luck Dad's going to wake her up soon, but they still don't know how long she's going to be in the hospital wing. It could even be weeks," Corey explained.

"I say, I wonder what they would have done if she couldn't have been put under that spell? And what if something happens to Snape in the meantime?" Perry asked.

"Nothing's going to happen. He's been sticking fairly close to the castle these days. Harry Potter has taken over the case. And some of the best Aurors in the world besides him were here last night. Whoever did it will be caught," Corey said firmly.

"I hope so. It's rather scary to think of someone just able to walk into Hogwarts and do something like that," Gail said. Essie couldn't help but agree, nodding quietly.

"It just means that we need to be more vigilant," Perry said. "I think one thing we've learned this year is that the professors can't always protect us. If we want the school to be safe, we need to keep alert ourselves. We may be just students, but we shouldn't use that as an excuse to sit and do nothing."

"Talking from experience, Perry, teachers don't really like it when we take matters into our own hands," Doug said.

"Well, I don't mean like the way you four have been handling it," Perry said sternly. "I mean rather when we see something odd we tell someone, and if we can do something and they can't in an emergency, we do it. Besides, if magic is going out like some people say, I'd like to put something I learned in the last five and a half years to use before it fizzles out." A lot of the other students nodded their heads in agreement. "And I don't mean just Gryffindors, either," he added, looking over to Taylor, Danny, and Julie Brim. "The whole school needs to start paying attention to what's going on and be prepared to jump in when needed."

"I think you can count on the other prefects encouraging that," Julie said.

"Corey, when are the rest of us going to be able to visit her?" Essie asked.

"Well, Poppy said as soon as she's waking up occasionally and they can put her back in the private room again. Madame Black's going to be released today, and Poppy said that Pyther might be well enough to teach next week's class, so I doubt he'll be in there too much longer. But I guess nobody knows for sure with Mom," Corey explained. " I'm sure I can talk to them about letting you in, Essie. After all, you're family."

"That's alright, Corey. Actually, I have something to do," Essie said, getting up. It really wasn't worth bothering anyone about. After all, she wasn't exactly family, and yet in many ways she had felt as close to Jennifer as she ever had with her Aunt after spending so much time there over the summer.

Quietly she went to the hospital wing, and glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she turned into a mouse and scurried in under the door.

"All right, Anna, you can go, but take it easy. If you have any strange pains or blackouts, I want you to come straight to my office. And no Apparating, use the floo powder."

"I've been Apparating fine up to this point," Anna argued.

"You may harm the children, now I must insist you'll have to use alternate means of transportation," Sagittari said sternly. Anna nodded, but looked somewhat annoyed. "And keep off your feet as much as possible."

"Make up your mind, do you want me to stop Apparating, or do you want me off my feet?" Anna retorted, taking the potions he had offered her. "Thanks, Doctor," she said. Essie scurried under one of the empty beds as Anna made her way out of the room.

Taking a moment to check on Jennifer, Sagittari left as well, and Essie crept out from under the bed and across the floor, somehow managing to climb up onto the bedpost, looking down at her.

She was so very still! Just like Corey had said, Essie thought, and yet Sagittari had just checked on her as if nothing was wrong. But it was very odd to see her not even looking as if she were breathing at all. Suddenly there was a shadow behind her, and the mouse turned around quite startled to see Dumbledore sitting down beside the bed, smiling gently at her.

"Hello, Professor. I see you have company," Dumbledore said, patting the Jennifer's hand before looking up at the mouse. "Don't worry, she's quite alright. In fact, she is doing very well. We are only waiting for Professor Snape to get back from his errand, and then she will finally be able to get the dreamless rest she needs to make a full recovery and get back to teaching."

Just then Severus came in, sighing loudly as he flung off his cloak and tossed it into the chair next to Dumbledore, looking almost embarrassed.

"Well?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, you were correct about the magic problem. I have full use of my spells again," Severus replied. "And I was able to get Sirius back into the same room as Anna, but as far as what they do from that point, it is none of my concern."

"That's as it should be," Dumbledore nodded with a smile. It was just then, as Severus turned to Jennifer, that he noticed the mouse attempting to sneak down the bedpost out of view.

"What is she doing in here?" Severus asked, frowning as the mouse froze in its place.

"Who? Jennifer?" Dumbledore asked innocently.

"The mouse. Don't you know that's –"

"That's just a friend of mine, Severus, she was only paying her respects to Jennifer."

"But the mouse is –"

"I'm sure the mouse doesn't mean any harm, and as far as I'm concerned, as long as Jennifer doesn't mind, she can come up and visit from time to time." Dumbledore said. He was eyeing Severus, waiting to have to cut him off again. But Severus had finally gotten the hint, frowning as Dumbledore glanced around to see the mouse slip back under the door.

"You know she has to be registered," Severus said in a low voice, wondering why Dumbledore was helping her hide what she was doing.

"Not until she's caught," Dumbledore said with an enigmatic smile, turning back around.

Essie scurried down the hall, trying to find a place to turn back to normal. But with classes out for the day, there were a lot of students lingering in the halls. Finally she gave up and went towards the abandoned classroom that her brother often went to with his friends for some privacy. But when she came near she saw the door ajar, and realized they were using it at that very moment. Before she could turn around, they came out of it, stopping right outside the door.

"Cheshire should be back soon so I'll know if I can go back up to the hospital wing or not," Corey said. "He really is good about getting messages about around the castle."

"Almost as good as our owls for that," Danny agreed.

"And a lot easier to clean up after," Taylor added.

"I think I'd rather have an owl," Doug sighed. "But right now I'd settle for anything."

"What was your last familiar, Doug?" Danny asked.

"A turtle," Doug admitted reluctantly.

"A turtle? You had a turtle familiar run away from home?" Taylor said, grinning in spite of himself. "No wonder your parents won't let you have another one."

"Hey, I wonder who has a mouse?" Doug said. Essie suddenly found herself cornered by a pair of hands and looking in Doug's face, blinking at him in surprise.

"No one in Gryffindor. I would have noticed," Corey said.

"It's not anyone in Slytherin, they wouldn't stoop to that," Danny said.

"It's not anyone in Ravenclaw," Taylor shrugged.

"It's probably just a wild mouse, Doug. I don't think Hufflepuff has one or I'd have heard about it by now. Essie is really squeamish about mice," Corey said.

"Yes, but there's nothing wild about it. He's just sitting in my hand looking at me. You know, I wonder if even the mice in this castle don't pick up magic tendencies," Doug said.

"They'd almost have to, if they're going to stay a step ahead of all the cats and owls here, let alone Rasputin," Corey said.

"Well, I think I'm going to keep it... at least until its owner comes, if it has one," Doug said, putting it the mouse in his shirt pocket. "I just need to find it a cage of some sort."

"If your sister catches you with that mouse, I bet she tells your parents," Taylor said.

"Good, then she'll be able to say how well I'm going to take care of it," Doug said.

Essie followed along as they went to the Gryffindor common rooms, sneaking out the moment he put her down. She couldn't quite make up her mind if she wanted to tell them the truth or not.


It was late that night when Sagittari and Poppy were finally ready to wake Jennifer, and Severus was quite conscientious that everyone was watching him expectantly.

"Can't you all… turn around or something?" he asked in irritation. Dumbledore smiled with amusement before looking the other way, the other two following suit before Severus leaned over and gently kissed Jennifer. As he began to slowly lean back, he was soon aware of her lifting her neck slightly to try to lengthen the kiss, and found himself gazing into her tired but open eyes. "I thought I asked you to stop scaring me like this," Severus chided her quietly, the other three turning around to smile at her. Jennifer in turn was smiling weakly back at him.

"I was afraid that I would never get to tell you what I think about you," Jennifer said in a soft voice. "And how lucky I feel to be with someone like you."

"Not as lucky as I feel right now knowing that you're still with us," Severus replied.

"There will be plenty of time for that chat when you are stronger, Jennifer, you're not going anywhere yet," Dumbledore assured her with a smile, nodding to Sagittari.

"We need to put you a sleep a bit longer," Sagittari told her, taking a phial from Poppy, "But it'll be a dreamless sleep, so you'll be able to regain your strength more quickly."

"No fair, I was beginning to get used to Tennyson's style of poetry," Jennifer chuckled weakly. "Severus, I think I figured out who Viviane is."

"That can wait," Dumbledore said insistently. "You're not in any condition to be solving any mysteries yet. But I have faith you'll be back into things before Christmas."

"But only if you get your rest," Sagittari said sternly, making her take the Sleeping Potion. She grimaced and shuttered slightly.

"Is that one of mine? Someone remind me to do something about the taste when this is…all…" with one last yawn she fell back to sleep.

"Well, no one can fault her for not taking her condition well," Poppy said.

"Her levity is but a sign of how serious this really is," Severus said somberly. But he was soon encouraged by warmth coming back to her hands.

"The worst of the danger has passed now, I believe," Dumbledore said, looking at Sagittari who nodded in affirmation. "Severus, perhaps you should take a phial with you and get some rest. She'll be quite safe up here."

"Yes, and she was safe at the dance as well," Severus said angrily.

"Severus, there's always someone nearby, and Pyther will be in hearing distance," Sagittari said, glancing over at the open door where Pyther was contentedly lying in bed with his sketchbook in hand.

"Yes, that makes me feel so much more secure," Severus said sarcastically. "I'm putting Rasputin up here. Mind all the windows are closed in the morning, we're too close to the pens," he added, leaving to get his familiar.

"I'll go ahead and close them now," Poppy said.

It wasn't very long before Severus returned and put the four-foot lizard down, making sure the basilisk's eye patch was securely on.

"Guard her," Severus hissed at Rasputin. "Don't let any come close who would harm her." It wasn't until Rasputin crawled under her bed that he was finally satisfied. "Now I'll go to bed," he said, taking the phial off the tray with him.

"He certainly does love her," Poppy said with a smile when he finally left, pulling the covers up around Jennifer.

"He is not the only one," Dumbledore said with a smile, watching as the color returned to her cheeks.