"Morgan, wake up darling," Severus breathed against his wife's neck. But Morgan only snuggled closer against him without waking up. Severus sighed and tried again as he sat up, "Moran, sweetheart, wake up for me." He laughed softly when his wife curled herself around his abandoned pillow as she remained sound asleep.

Giving up, Severus decided that he wasn't going to get to tell his wife goodbye before he left for Paris. He got dressed and gathered together the small bag he was taking with him. He quickly scribbled a note on a spare piece of parchment and left it on his wife's pillow next to her, and gently kissed her before he left the room.

Severus made his way down the hallway towards the priestess' rooms, hoping that she was ready to go. Not that he was overly pleased with the situation, but the company would be nice.

The door to the priestess' rooms was open, and Severus hesitated a moment before entering. He wasn't surprised to see Remus leaning against the wall by the door, and he joined the other man, "is she ready?"

Remus grinned, obviously amused by something, "yes, she's just giving some last minute... instructions."

As if on cue Kalliope and Sophia entered the room, the girl looked annoyed and not very happy about the number of rules the priestess was laying down. "I mean it Sophia," Kalliope raised her voice slightly, "no wandering around by yourself; don't make me send you back to the temple. Are you listening to me?"

"Yes!" Sophia frowned.

"Don't talk to me like that. Now, I don't want you calling up any visions without me here to supervise. And I want you to stick close to Nimue; you are nearly a priestess, though the goddess knows you are certainly not acting like it now. If Nimue has anymore visions while I'm gone you know enough to help her through them, you know how painful they can be if you don't know what to expect. And you better be on your best behavior while I'm gone. Remus will be keeping an eye on you for me," Kalliope nodded in the direction of the werewolf where he was still leaning against the wall, "and I told him to deal with you as he sees fit if you get out of line."

Sophia rolled her eyes; if she had to listen to Kalliope nag her for much longer she didn't think she would be able to handle it. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"I don't doubt that, but I hate leaving you here alone when we haven't been here that long," Kalliope frowned slightly, "you're sure that it won't bother you if I leave you here?"

"Yes! Would you leave already?!"

"Alright," Kalliope looked reluctant, she reached out and embraced her ward, "be good and listen to Remus, and don't go wandering alone by yourself." She turned to Severus, "I'm ready to leave now professor."

Severus had been trying very hard not to smile throughout the whole exchange between Kalliope and her young charge; he didn't envy Remus the task of looking after that girl.

He led Kalliope out into the hall and they started down toward the main entrance to Hogwarts. They walked in silence until they were outside, each lost in their own thoughts.

"How are we traveling to Paris?" Kalliope looked up at her traveling companion, wandering if he was going to be this silent and cold looking for the entire trip.

"As soon as we get outside the gates we will apparate there."

"And where will we be staying?"

"There is a wizarding café near the opera house that rents rooms, we will stay there."

Kalliope wasn't overly happy with the short answers she was getting, she wanted more information, "We won't be staying with Eric then?"

Severus made a sound of disgust, "not unless you want to stay below the Paris opera house in what has to be the most dismal living arrangements ever."

"Is it as bad as that? And I want to know more about this Eric that we are meeting with."

Severus shrugged, "Eric has killed more men then I care to think about in his lair, it's not the most pleasant place. As for Eric himself... there's not that much to tell. Some muggle author immortalized him as the harasser of chorus girls, as some ghost lacking a nose, but most of that is complete nonsense."

"But what is the truth behind the man?"

"He is a genius. He is the most brilliant potions master of his generation, and his is a very formidable dueling partner. But he can and has killed without giving it a second thought, do not cross him."

Rheia paced in the inner sanctuary, her attendant priestesses standing off to the side. She couldn't remember ever feeling this... helpless, in all the years she had lived.

"You asked for me?" Cadmus appeared in the doorway.

Rheia squinted through the dim light to see him; her vision was beginning to fail her. She sighed at that thought, both her physical sight and her ability to see visions were leaving her, her life force was fading. "Yes Cadmus, I need your advice."

Cadmus smiled widely, showing his white teeth through his dark beard, "then it must be something very serious, or very trivial, if you would condescend to ask a man for help."

Rheia smiled weakly at him, she felt so old, "I need Kalliope to come back, will you get her for me?"

"Why don't you simply do whatever it is that you priestesses do to contact her?"

"I can't Cadmus, I was able to talk to her very recently, but I tried to set up a contact today, and I could only get darkness. I need her here; she is the only one who can take my place."

"I thought that what she is doing in Britain is important," Cadmus had never seen this high priestess ask for help before.

"It is, it may be the only thing that can save our way of life, if the visions I have had are real. But I don't know anymore, the visions I have had may be false, I can't always call them up, and they are so dim now," Rheia shook her head sadly, "I need Kalliope, she needs to come back to be the head priestess, she is already my chief oracle, but she needs to take over the rest of my duties, before I am gone."

"Surely you will not die soon Lady, you who have seen the heroes of Troy will surely live for many more years," Cadmus tried to stall her; Kalliope still had work to do.

"No Cadmus, I will die, the shades of death are calling me."

Morgan blindly reached out for her husband, but he wasn't there. She frowned without opening her eyes as her fingers slid across his pillow and closed around a small piece of paper. She pushed herself up on one elbow and unfolded the note that was written in her husband's bold hand. She smiled to herself at the light tone of his note, knowing that it was a side of her Sev that his students never saw:

Darling, you are the most impossible person to wake up. Honestly, a man should be able to expect a proper goodbye from his wife and should not have to resort to stealing a kiss from a woman who sleeps as soundly as the dead. What am I going to do with you? Please attempt to behave yourself while I'm in Paris, and stay away from Lupin, I don't trust him when he's around you. Take care of yourself my darling; I will be home within a week, I love you

Your Severus

"Oh Sev, I'm sorry I didn't wake up for you," Morgan murmured to herself as she held the note to her lips before sliding it beneath her pillow. She groaned as she looked over at the clock, she rushed out of bed and hoped that she wouldn't be late to the short staff meeting that Minerva had requested before classes started for the day.

Morgan moved much more quickly than she usually did in the morning, a small smile played at her lips as she thought about how her Sev usually distracted her from getting ready. She sighed with relief when she entered the staff room and saw that several of the other teachers had not yet arrived, including Minerva. She took a seat between Sirius and Remus and greeted them warmly, noticing that Sirius didn't quite look like he was awake yet.

"Well Lupy, what is this meeting about? I wasn't paying very close attention when Minerva told us about it last night."

"I noticed," Remus commented dryly as he shook his head at Morgan in mock exasperation, "you were far too busy trying to annoy your husband."

Morgan grinned wickedly, "but its so much fun. Really, if you were married to Sev wouldn't you use every opportunity you had to try and aggravate him?"

"That question is far too disturbing for me to even dignify it with an answer," Remus laughed, "but, to answer your first question; Minerva is going to inform us of the new safety precautions the school is implementing. She's taking the new threats to the school's safety very seriously."

"Any ideas on what she has in mind?" Morgan absently twirled a curl around her finger as she tucked her feet underneath her.

Remus nodded in Charlie's direction, "he's really excited about it, I think it has something to do with dragons."

"Really?" Sirius leaned forward, entering the conversation, "too bad Hagrid isn't around anymore, he would have loved to be able to help out with the dragons. But I wonder if they might bring in some extra help, I'd imagine that having multiple full-grown dragons around might be more than even our enthusiastic Care of Magical Creatures professor can handle."

"For shame Sirius, I'm disappointed that you doubt my abilities," Charlie made his way over smiling. "But, I am getting a bit of help. I talked to some of the people I worked with in Romania and they're sending a kid over, he just graduated from an American school and they tell me that he's one of the best dragon handlers they've ever seen."

"So, what are the dragons going to be used for?" Morgan asked as she made herself more comfortable, moving her feet to Remus' lap.

"We're going to feed the Slytherins to them..." Sirius began, earning him a playful smack from Morgan.

"Watch the Slytherin bashing Sirius," she warned good naturedly.

"Why should I? You were a Gryffindor Mrs. Snape; I didn't think you'd mind."

"True enough, but I have to live with one of them. Now stop interrupting Mr. Black or I'll tell Elizabeth," Morgan smiled, "Charlie, are the dragons going to be used to reinforce protections around the gates?"

Charlie nodded, "and around the Forbidden Forrest. Although no one can apparate into the school we've had problems in the past with people sneaking in around the other defenses."

Kalliope looked around her in interest as they walked down a wide paved street, Severus had handed her a long grey coat to cover the thin robes of a Greek priestess that she still wore, and she was grateful for its warmth. "I've never spent much time in the muggle world before..." she murmured as they hurried past several shops and restaurants. She paused briefly in front of a store window of shoes; she pressed her fingers tentatively to the glass and leaned forward, her breath fogging on the cool window.

"A bit different than you're used to?" Severus asked not unkindly as he moved the priestess along, there was no point in delaying what they came here for.

"Very different," Kalliope affirmed. "I've only been in the non-magic world a couple of times, and very briefly at that. I've been to a couple of magical communities in Greece for ceremonies and to do some trading, but other than that I have spent my whole life in the temple."

"It must have taken a great deal of courage for you to leave your home and come here to help my daughter."

Kalliope laughed softly, "That and an order from the high priestess, I can't imagine refusing any of her commands."

They both lapsed into silence again as they continued down the street, that was still fairly empty due to the early hour. Kalliope let her eyes wander over the many shop windows, and found herself wondering about the society that reveled in such excess. She was finding it all rather hard to take in.

"Here we are," Severus spoke quietly jerking Kalliope out of her thoughts and back to the present.

Kalliope looked up at the street sign above them and tried the name on it, "Boulevard Montmartre and the Place de la Opera, their names are so strange here..." she glanced up at her companion, "and where is 'here' exactly?"

Severus pointed in front of them and to the left, "the Paris Opera house. A beautiful building, built between 1862 and 1875, designed by Garnier in the Neo-Baroque style."

Kalliope stared up at the enormous structure as they approached it, "it's very... impressive."

Severus took her arm as the climbed the steps to the main entrance, as they came into the entrance hall on the ground floor Kalliope came to an abrupt halt. She gazed at the wide marble steps in front of them and the lavish decorations surrounding them. "It's incredible; I've never seen a building like this before."

"Well, don't get too used to it, we're going down to the cellars and it's nowhere near as pleasant down there. It's dark and rather dreary and there's a wretched underground lake that I strongly suspect Eric has hidden some victims in."

Severus led the way over to a section of wall, which to the naked eye appeared no different than any other part of the entrance hall. He ran his hand over it finding a hidden latch that sprung the wall open, revealing a narrow staircase leading downwards. "This is it, watch your step and be prepared for anything."

As the two of them made their way down the stairs a haunting voice echoed around them, "who dares intrude upon my privacy?"

"May I walk you up to your classroom?"

"Of course," Morgan replied as Remus took her hand and tucked it into his arm as they left the staff room and headed down the hallway.

Morgan cast a sideways glance at Remus, "you're just trying to get me in trouble, even though Sev isn't here right now he'll find out that you were escorting me around the school."

"My dear Mrs. Snape, do you remember how much trouble you caused me the one year I had you in class? You deserve all the trouble I can get you in." Remus smiled down at her. "Besides, I have to do something while he's off in Paris with the woman I..."

"Love?" Morgan nudged Remus with her shoulder, "good, now you can start to understand how Sev feels when you flirt with me."

Remus laughed, "Point taken, I'll try not to antagonize your husband so much now that I have an idea of how it feels."

"I wasn't trying to get you to stop; Severus is very attentive to me when he thinks you've been flirting with me..."

"That was more than I wanted to know, so I'm now going to tactfully change the subject," Remus pretended to cringe, "what do you think about the dragons? I can't believe that Minerva set up the whole operation so quickly; they should be in place tomorrow. I think the parents will appreciate the added protection."

"Well, speaking as a parent, I can't say that I'm too thrilled with it," Morgan frowned slightly.

"Why not?"

"Remus, remember that I am using my own children as an example, and remember that they have followed in my footsteps in their complete disregard for school rules. Do you honestly think that my children, who I know have snuck out of the school grounds before, will let a few dragons stand in their way? They'll see it as a challenge, and I do not want to have my children end up being mauled by a dragon that is here to protect them."

Remus smiled, "that fact about you completely disregarding school rules is certainly true. And I see your point, but remember, not all of the children in the school are as... independent as yours."

Morgan laughed, "That was a kind way to put it, 'independent' indeed, I know that can be more trouble than they're worth sometimes. At least it keeps things entertaining..."

"I knew he was going to try and pull some ridiculous stunt like this," Severus muttered, then louder, "Damn you Eric! When are you going to learn that the only people that know about this entrance are your friends?!"

"Is that you Severus?" the voice asked, as it echoed around the small stairwell, "Well of course it must be, know one else that knows the way down here is ever this unpleasant. But tell me, who is the lady with you?"

"She is none of your concern Eric, now stop hiding and come out from wherever you're hiding!"

"You could try saying 'please' Severus; didn't you ever learn any manners?" Eric asked as he stepped out of the shadows and dropped the invisibility cloak that he had been concealed under.

Kalliope had to do her best not to gasp when Eric came into view, one side of his face looked like it was... melted. She cast her eyes downward in an attempt not to stare at the deformity.

"This way, this way, let's get started, since you don't have the courtesy to introduce me to your lady friend," Eric went down the rest of the stairs at a fast pace, as Kalliope and Severus followed at a slower rate.

"He had an accident in his potions lab when he was in his early twenties, which is what caused the deformation of his face." Severus whispered to Kalliope.

"Doesn't the magic world have the ability to fix scarring like that?" Kalliope whispered back.

"Yes, but I never wanted it to be fixed," Eric joined them at the base of the stairs, "It has become a part of me. Dumbledore understood my reasons when no one else could; then again, I never met another man quite like Albus..."

"If you're done reminiscing could you just give us the information we came here for?" Severus asked impatiently.

Eric shook his head, "I have very little to actually give you, but I am more then willing to help you figure out the rest of it."

"And what exactly can you give us?"

"A complete list of all the Ministry members who are working towards the return of Voldemort. Don't ask me how I got their names; you really don't want to know," Eric grabbed a candelabra that lit at his touch, and led them down a narrow passageway which opened up into a large area.

Kalliope gasped at the cavernous room they walked into, it was filled by a forest. The trees grew nearly all the way up to the ceiling, which was enchanted to show the sky.

Eric smiled at her reaction, "it is rather amazing isn't it? There are all sorts of plants growing in there, and a number of magical creatures. Due to the terms of my exile I'm not allowed to purchase most potions ingredients, so Albus helped me set up with this forest years ago. It allows me to remain mostly independent, Severus here, who can be quite generous when he feels like it, helps me obtain what I cannot grow or raise."

"It's magnificent," Kalliope took a step towards the forested area.

"Just don't go very far in by yourself," Severus warned, "there are some rather vicious things in there."

"Always the pessimist Severus," Eric shook his head, "there are also many beautiful things in there, such as unicorns, and the Assyrian night lily. We will need both the beautiful and the dangerous to make what you need."

"And what, precisely, is that?" Severus asked, hoping that for one Eric would give him a straight answer.

"It's simple really, Voldemort's followers have figured out the preliminary parts of some ancient magic that would allow them to restore someone who has been issued the dementor's kiss, if they can restore Voldemort he will be more powerful than before. He would be damn near immortal. Ancient magic must be countered with ancient magic, we must figure out how to counter the magic they are using."