Chapter Twenty-One
Muggles and Mutiny
Anna woke up several days later, feeling rather strange. In the bed next to her sat Jennifer, dutifully marking papers. Finally she noticed Anna and smiled.
"Poppy, she's awake," Jennifer said, and Poppy quickly hurried over, feeling her forehead and checking her.
"How are you feeling? Are you hungry at all?" Poppy asked her.
"Starving," Anna admitted. "In fact, I'm not feeling nauseous for a change. What happened?"
"To be perfectly honest, we're not entirely sure," Poppy said. "All of the sudden, you began rejecting the other child. But it's all over now. The little girl is back with her mother and you should be feeling better in no time," she said cheerfully, setting up a tray for her.
"Now it's my turn to feel nauseous," Jennifer said grumpily, but then grinned afterwards. "You picked a fine time to do it, though! Couldn't you have waited a few more days? Minerva decided after she saw that you didn't have all your tests done to let your students off with no test at all," she added. Anna groaned at that. "We were all wondering if the Leanan didn't have something to do with you getting sick all the sudden. Pyther said she tried to hit you with a spell of some sort."
"I don't think so, it just seemed to go right through me," Anna said, trying to sit up.
"Slowly now, take your time," Poppy said gently, handing her the tray. "And take small bites, your stomach hasn't had much in it in quite a while. I'll go fetch Sagittari."
"Where's Sirius?" Anna asked.
"Dumbledore had Severus make him a double dose Sleeping Potion and sent him to bed," Jennifer told her. "He's been running himself ragged with the Ministry, and then just before it starts to let up… you go down and Sagittari's calling me into the hospital wing. Sirius had been awake nearly the whole time," she said.
"I believe you," Anna said, nibbling on some toast. Just then there was the soft noise of a train whistle blowing in the distance, and Severus came into the room a few minutes later, Sagittari not far behind.
"She's awake, doctor, just as you predicted, and she has her appetite back," Poppy said cheerfully.
"That is welcome news," Sagittari smiled. "Take your time and eat, and then we'll see how your twins are doing. Come along, Jennifer, you first."
"I finally get healthy enough to keep everyone from fussing and now I'm being poked at again," Jennifer complained as she slipped out of her bed, but no one missed the insincerity of the complaint, and the bounce in her voice unmistakable. Sagittari followed her to the back room and Severus sat by Anna's side.
"I swear you're just as bad as Jennifer when it comes to getting in trouble. I don't suppose it would have occurred to you to have come and gotten me when you suspected there was something wrong?" Severus asked her with a frown.
"If I had, Pyther might have been dead before I got there," Anna protested. "Any idea who sent it?"
"We don't think anyone sent it, really, it was merely acting on instinct," Severus said calmly. "Leanan are attracted by strong artistic impulses, and Pyther hasn't had much else in his existence other than his work, making him an easy target."
"How is he?" she asked. Severus shrugged.
"Alive. Or dead. Whichever way you want to look at it," Severus said expressionlessly. "I think he'll be a bit more wary in the future, however."
"Just what Pyther needs, to be even more paranoid than he already is," Anna sighed. "I've never met anyone so afraid of death as he is."
"Many who come face to face with their death fear it," Severus shrugged. "Having but a shell of himself keeping him alive, Pyther faces death every waking moment. Of course, that's no excuse to become a spineless coward."
"You know, for someone who hates him as much as you do, you seem to understand him fairly well," Anna said. But Severus chose not to comment, glancing over at the door until Jennifer and Sagittari emerged again.
"She is free to go home, provided that she stays off her feet for the next three days when she gets there. I trust you will see to that, Severus," Sagittari said solemnly. "Your daughter seems to have adjusted quite nicely, but don't stop taking those potions until I give you leave."
"No sir," Jennifer said happily. "Although it will be hard to rest before Yule. There's just so much to do!"
"Oh, no you don't. You'll leave all that to Corey, Carol, and myself," Severus said sternly. "Come on. If we hurry, we'll be able to get you settled before I pick up the others at the station." But Jennifer turned to Anna then, sitting on the bed and hugging her in a display of affection that rather surprised her.
"You'll both come to dinner at Christmas, of course?" Jennifer asked.
"Well, lunch at least," Anna said, not quite sure what Sirius had planned yet.
"There really aren't any words… well, except… thank you, I suppose," Jennifer said, smiling awkwardly. Anna smiled back.
"Well, we're family, after all. You're the one who's always saying family means everything," Anna pointed out. Jennifer nodded and stood, joining Severus again, who nodded gently to Anna as well.
"Sirius should be awake again in a few hours. Please send us an owl when you're home and safe," Severus said.
"I will," Anna said, turning her attention back to her meal.
The kitchen was filled with the smells of gingerbread and anise once again. Corey levitated the Yule log down the basement stairs and over to the fireplace. Jennifer had been settled on the couch next the fire, angled so she could see both the kids in the play area and gaze outside as she curled up with a good book. She looked up with a smile as Corey fit the huge log in and Carol came over for the lighting, calling down to the potion lab for Severus. Severus came up and leaned against the door to the second basement, while the rest of them watched him expectantly. Raising his eyebrow, he suddenly grimaced.
"Corey, you light it."
"Nonsense, Mr. Snape, you're the head of the family. It's tradition," Carol coaxed.
"What's wrong, Severus? Don't tell me you're turning Ebenezer Scrooge on me," Jennifer teased.
"It's no problem, I'll light it," Corey offered.
"Severus?" Jennifer asked, studying him searchingly.
"If you must know, my magic happens to be out again," Severus snapped irritably. "Now Corey, light it." Jennifer and Carol peered at him curiously as Corey lit the log with a mere flick of the hand, taking his bows before Jennifer and Carol even remembered to clap. Severus was busy at the wine decanter, well aware that Carol and Jennifer were still watching him as he got his wine and sat down.
"This has something to do with me being pregnant again?" Jennifer asked when she finally got a good look at his expression.
"Do you recall that W. magic I used last year when we Sirius, Sagittari, and I were captured by the Fomorians?" Severus said quietly after a moment.
"You mean the one that gave me back my magic while I was carrying Andrew?" Jennifer asked.
"Yes, well, apparently the W. was a bit more complicated than that," Severus muttered. "At the time I did it, I remember thinking that if it had to take something to make it work, it should do so. What I hadn't realized at the time was that it had; because at the time, I had already overextended my magic and therefore was not surprised when my magic didn't work for weeks afterwards. But now, it appears that it had decided to take my magic away as compensation," he admitted reluctantly. "And since I didn't specify it applied to that exact instance…"
"It applies now as well?" Jennifer said in realization as Severus nodded soberly. "I'm not going to lose my magic this time?" she beamed brightly. Severus scowled at her. "Sorry."
"This is serious, Jennifer. If anyone gets wind that my magic is down, I have a feeling the security of the school will be in jeopardy," he said darkly.
"Oh, Severus, it never was when my magic was down," Jennifer sighed at him.
"It's a perception difference I'm speaking of, not reality," Severus explained. "I have always been perceived as a threat, you have not. Although in some ways you have the potential of being more dangerous magic wise, I am perceived to be the more dangerous enemy." Jennifer frowned, having a hard time trying to figure out how to argue that point.
"Now, then, there's not a reason to worry about it truly, is there? After all, if Mrs. Snape herself did without it the last three years…" Carol hesitated a moment when he gave her an icy look, but she put her hands on her hips and finished, "you can vera well deal with it once."
There was a loud banging and Carol suddenly remembered the gingerbread cookies. She and Corey ran up the stairs.
"I hope they don't break the oven door this time," Jennifer said, shaking her head.
"Fava? Toes? Toes?" Alex said.
"You are just going to have to do without for a while," Severus said grumpily as he let Alex out of the pen to wander around a bit.
"It won't be as bad as all that, Severus, you'll see," Jennifer said reassuringly, putting down her book. "It's only for a few months."
"And in the meantime, Imps and Fae invade the castle and the rest of the world falls to pieces," Severus grumbled. "And all I can do is sit and watch."
"Nonsense. There's hardly a spell out there that we use on a daily basis that hasn't been bottled in some form. Stop moping and refill your cloak. You're not going to get any sympathy from me," Jennifer said sternly. "You're still the most brilliant, logically minded man I know and if Sherlock Holmes can function without magic, you certainly can." Severus gazed at her wordlessly and she smiled back at him, but before either of the could say anything, Corey appeared on the stairs again.
"It's not the cookies after all, Mom. Mrs. Dimple was at the door, bringing us a Yule basket. Shall I bring her down?" Corey asked.
"Mrs. who?" Severus asked, looking rather puzzled.
"Good heavens, I forgot to tell you about our neighbors!" Jennifer realized, getting up. "Corey, keep her up there, I'll be up in a minute… er, and shut the door," she said. Glancing between his parents, Corey hurried back up the stairs. "Severus, Eliza Dimple is a friend of mine who lives just up the street from us." Severus stared at her.
"Please don't tell me you went and let in another Muggle."
"No! Well, yes, but it's not like that! See, when the house went visible a few weeks ago, Eliza happened to be dropping by and saw it… but no harm done, really! She already knew about us already, she had a cousin who was a witch!" Jennifer explained quickly.
"Jennifer, may I remind you that this house is Secret Kept, and letting anyone know about its whereabouts endangers all of us?" Severus said, stepping over to her.
"Well, Father Pachem knows we're here and he's a Muggle," Jennifer pointed out.
"Father Pachem has Dumbledore's trust, he's not just some random Muggle off the street," Severus snapped.
"You know, I'm glad you said that, because he was here that day when the crowd started developing at the end of our road…"
"Crowd? Did you say crowd?"
"Yes, and well, he had me bring them all in," Jennifer said. Severus' face turned three shades lighter and he gawked openly at her. "Now, don't panic, it's not as bad as all that, they knew about our kind already! I guess this town has sort of had a witch or wizard in town for years, and they thought nothing of it! They even promised to keep it quiet that we're here."
"Jennifer, that's enough. That's what I get for actually believing that Sirius 'took care' of things here," Severus snapped angrily. "Well, I suggest you start thinking about what you want to take with you, we'll be moving from here the day after Christmas."
"No," Jennifer said firmly. "I'm not moving."
"If it wasn't for you letting those Muggles in, we wouldn't have to move!" Severus snapped. Alex started tugging on Severus' robes.
"I'm not arguing about this any more in front of the kids," Jennifer said. "I'm going to go up and see Eliza whether you want to be hospitable or not. And I'm not moving," she added, picking Alex up as she went over to the stairs.
"You're not thinking clearly here, Jennifer. Don't you remember what happened to the Willowbys because they knew we were even in the neighborhood?"
"I'm not likely to forget that, am I?" Jennifer snapped.
"Do you want the rest of them to share the same fate?" Severus said. Jennifer held Alex closer, not quite sure what to say to that, when there was a brief knock and Corey opened the door, peering in again.
"Are you coming? She wants to know if she can see the kids. And she brought fresh made springerle," he added, grinning at Severus.
"Fine, I'll come up for a moment so I can see who she looks like in case she comes up to the door again," Severus scowled, "but that is all."
Eliza was happy to share a cup of tea with Carol, standing and smiling warmly as Jennifer appeared. She eagerly held her arms out for Alex who did the same, coming straight over to her.
"Now then, Jennifer, you didn't have to come all the way up here, not when you're supposed to be taken it easy! Come sit down and make yourself comfortable, we can't have you disobeying doctors orders," Eliza fussed until Jennifer was comfortably sitting in the high-backed chair in the living room. "I brought you a few things for your family for the holidays. I see you've started decorating already," Eliza said with a smile, looking about. "Such lovely garland! Oh, but I'm forgetting my manners, I don't believe we've met?" Eliza said, smiling unsurely at the man watching her warily from the basement door. Corey decided to rise to the occasion.
"Mrs. Dimple, this is my Dad, Severus Snape. Dad, Eliza Dimple, local busy-body."
"Corey Willowby!" Carol and Jennifer shouted at the same time. Severus smirked slightly, but Eliza laughed.
"Now, don't fuss at the boy, that's how I introduce myself often enough," Eliza said kindly. "Ah, then, I recognize you now, you're the man in the picture in the parlor! You have a fine family, Mr. Snape, and so well behaved too! It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Jennifer has spoken very highly of you."
"Has she?" Severus inquired evenly, briefly taking the hand that was offered him. Carol went down to check on the other two, bringing them both up with her to be fawned over a bit. Aurelius immediately began crying, not letting up until Severus finally picked him up. "Strangers make him nervous," Severus said curtly, putting Aurelius in the small pen in the living room, before cautiously helping himself to one of the springerle.
"And that'll be a blessing down the line, that's a fact," Eliza said with a nod to Severus. "Especially being in your position and all, what with so much to worry about. But then, that reminds me… a strange man was about the other day looking for you…a tall man in an old fashioned suit with long silver hair. He put on quite the airs with us," she said, and Severus and Jennifer exchanged glances, instantly thinking of Lucius Malfoy. "He claimed to be your uncle, Mr. Snape, but seeing as how I'd figure a relative would know where you were, we told him to be off."
"You see, Jennifer? It's already starting. We can't afford to have anyone finding the house when we're not home. We have to move," Severus said firmly.
"I'm not going to let anyone terrorize us into doing something we don't want to do," Jennifer snapped back. "We're not criminals, and I'm not going to pack up our entire family and leave like fugitives every time someone gets too close!"
"Here, here now! What's all this talk of moving? We took care of the matter, sure as anything. Nobody will be getting to you without your leave, never you fear," Eliza protested. "We look after our own in this town."
"How much do you know about what really happened four years ago, Mrs. Dimple?" Severus said. "Do you want the same thing to happen again?"
"It will not happen again! We were unprepared then, we had no idea that we were in danger at all!" Eliza said angrily. "What, you think because we've no mystic powers that we can't protect ourselves? If that's what you are thinkin', Mr. Snape, you're quite wrong. Mr. Door, wise man that he is, has been reassuring us the one that caused that horrible crime is gone, but we're not about to let another do the same. And even if you leave this very day, they'll be those that come here looking for others of your kind, and if you think we're going to stand for another razing, you're quite mistaken."
"I'm not leaving," Corey said suddenly. "I'm not leaving and letting Essie stay behind. I know Aunt Rebecca won't move and leave Father's farm here. If you go, you're just going to have to leave me here with them, because I'm not letting them go unprotected."
"Well, I'm not moving. I've worked too long on this house to go abandoning it," Jennifer said stubbornly. "We'll be putting people around us in danger wherever we go, at least here they know what's going on and can watch themselves. Besides, even if we move we'd just be prolonging the inevitable, because we can't hide forever. I'm staying, whether you want to move or not." Severus stared at her in complete surprise.
"The children should stay with their mother of course, so I'll more than be happy to stay and help you," Carol said supportively.
Severus gazed at Jennifer a moment longer before retreating down into the basement without another word. Jennifer couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about the obvious mutiny, but stood her ground, accepting a cup of tea from Carol and staying to chat a bit with Eliza before she left.
