Serena wrapped her arms around her legs and glared at the dancing flames. Even the comforting warmth of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room did nothing to lift her spirits. She brushed away a few tears, but was convinced that she'd never feel better.

"What's wrong?" Kamen knelt down beside her, showing uncharacteristic brotherly concern.

"Nothing."

"I think we both know that's not true, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting on the floor crying. What's wrong?"

Serena sniffed as more tears spilled over, "I broke up with Mark today."

Kamen's brows shot up in surprise, "Wow... I thought you two were really serious."

"That was the problem, it was all physical, I can't remember the last time we talked to each other."

Kamen shrugged, "I've never understood the whole talking thing. As long as you can get some good snogging in I've never paid much attention to anything else."

Serena glared at him, "that's why you've broken so many hearts."

"Hey, I've never been one to go in for the emotional attachment. I try to make it very clear that I'm just looking for action."

Serena snorted in disgust, "Grow up Kamen. You're no help whatsoever."

"Sorry, I was trying to be sympathetic."

"Well it didn't work."

Dierna dragged herself to detention that night. She had been on the receiving end of her father's anger over her behavior for the last couple of hours; detention was almost starting to look like a refuge.

"You're early," Remus said as he let Dierna into his office.

"I know, but it was either come to detention early or continue to endure the longest lecture ever. You seemed like the better choice."

"We'll have to see if you still feel that way by the time you leave tonight."

Dierna groaned, "What if I promise to be a model student for the rest of the year, will you go easy on me?"

Remus smiled, "not a chance. Although I thought I would use this time to give you a chance to practice. There's a boggart in the cabinet over there, take care of it."

Dierna mumbled something about the unfairness of detentions as she opened the cabinet, letting the boggart out. Remus stood by, watching in case he was needed.

The boggart stepped out, in the form of Madame Pomphrey. Remus was shocked as he watched. Boggart Madame Pomphrey looked sad, "I'm so sorry dear. But the Ministry has confirmed that Stefan was one of the fatalities. And your test was positive, you are pregnant."

Dierna let her wand clatter to the floor as the words 'alone and pregnant' echoed in her mind. "No..." She didn't appear to notice when Lupin stepped in front of her and dispatched the boggart. She was shaking, why couldn't she get Stefan's words out of her head? She closed her eyes, hoping it would just disappear.

Remus laid his hand on her shoulder, and cleared his throat a couple of times before he spoke. "Do you want to talk about this?"

"No," it came out as a ragged whisper.

Severus was only too happy to set aside his book when Morgan crawled into his lap. She had been extremely clingy since the miscarriage, desperate for contact. He was glad to provide it, it seemed like it was the only thing he could do for her.

"I've been thinking."

"Should I be scared?"

Morgan smiled and laid her head on his shoulder, "no. But I have been talking with Kalliope and Elizabeth and we've made plans."

"Am I involved in any of the plans?"

"Maybe..."

"Hmmm... I think I should be worried."

"Stop it Sev! Let me finish. First, I want you to know that Kalliope talked with me today about taking Nimue to Avalon with her for a week during Christmas break and I gave my consent." She felt her husband tense. "Sev, it's alright, really..."

"Morgan, I don't want her to go."

Morgan laid a hand across her husband's mouth to stop his protests, "it'll be fine. I think she needs this. Anything that will help her control the visions will be for the best." She smiled when Severus relented, "now, about the other stuff. Sirius and Elizabeth's wedding is going to be at the beginning of Christmas break, and they're going on a week long honeymoon. Nimue will be in Avalon during that week. I thought it would be the perfect time for us to go to Paris."

"And who is going to look after the children? Because that leaves three of ours, Elizabeth's two and Sophia without supervision, does it not?"

Morgan smiled enchantingly, "I already thought of that. They'll all stay at our house."

"Alone?"

"Of course not! Remus agreed to be chaperone for a week. I think he wants to prove to a certain priestess that he can handle some parenting responsibilities."

"I don't like it."

"But Sev, we'll be able to spend a whole week in Paris that way. We won't have to worry about the kids; you know Remus will keep a close eye on them. And it will be just the two of us, alone, in Paris."

Severus sighed, "You know I can't deny you anything."

Morgan squirmed a bit, that had been the same thing he said when she told him she wanted another child. And while they were on the subject of denying... he had spent the last couple of nights on the couch, she hadn't meant to be distant. But while she craved physical contact during the day, she had been more than a bit standoffish in the bedroom.

"Are you alright?"

Morgan looked up in surprise, blushing deeply as she realized she had been lost in thought for awhile. "I suppose..."

"Can I get anything for you?"

She could hear the desire to please in his voice. He cared so much for her, and she had been so distant... she wanted desperately to make it up to him. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Sleep well," Severus stood up, removing Morgan from his lap.

Morgan took a couple of steps towards their bedroom before turning around. "Aren't you coming?"

The couple shared a long look, and without any words being said everything was forgiven. All the blame that Morgan had been carrying over the miscarriage seemed to melt away as she looked into the black eyes that she loved so much. All the walls that they had built between them the last few days came back down. There was still a dull ache of sadness left. But Morgan knew she could find comfort in his strong arms.

Remus was only too happy to let Dierna leave after three hours of detention. He sat at his desk for a long time, trying to come to terms with what he had to do. According to Hogwarts' rules he was obligated to inform the parents of his students about major concerns, including personal harm, major school rule violations and pregnancies.

But he knew Severus too well to have any doubts about how this bit of information would be received. And he didn't even know for certain that Dierna was pregnant.

He drummed his fingers on the top of his desk in contemplation. He decided to give Dierna a few days to see if she brought it up. If she didn't he had to follow school policy and tell her parents about the incident with the boggart.

"Hon are you sure you're ok? You've been awfully quiet..." Dierna looked at her twin with concern.

"I'm fine, really. Me and Mark decided together that we should break up, it just takes some getting used to, I'm going to need more than just a couple of days to be completely over it."

"Alright.... But let me know if you want to talk, 'k?"

"Of course. But I want you to know that it's going to be really lonely in Divination without you today."

Dierna nervously chewed on her knuckle, "yeah, this is the first time we won't be in class together." Today was Friday, she had her first independent study with their father, and she wasn't quite sure what to suspect. She had had only two classes on Friday, Divination and Potions. Now she would be spending the whole day in the dungeons, she wasn't sure if she should be excited or terrified.

"It'll be fine," Serena reached out and hugged her twin, "Dad never stays mad long, I'm sure he'll have nearly forgotten the whole Trelawny thing by now."

"I hope so... try to have fun with in Divination."

"Thanks, see ya' later."

Dierna slowly made her way down to the dungeons, dragging her feet the whole way. It had not been a good year for her so far, and she really didn't want it to get any worse. She vowed to herself that she would stay out of trouble for the rest of the year, no matter how much self control it took.

"You are late."

Dierna, remembering her resolve, bit back the reply she would have loved to make, and smiled sweetly instead, "sorry, it won't happen again sir."

Severus narrowed his eyes; he knew that her innocent expression was an act. "I'm going to make a couple of things very clear before we begin," he said as he ushered her into the room. "First, I will not tolerate any disrespect from you. You are here as a consequence of your quick temper and even quicker mouth. If you put one toe out of line, this will cease to be an independent study and will become a detention period."

Dierna chewed her bottom lip, "yes sir, I promise I won't cause any more trouble."

"Good. And second, you will work hard for me. I am going to expect a lot from you, but it won't be anything that you can't handle. I want to see you reach your full potential Dierna, you have a lot of talent."

"I'll try not to let you down."

"I'm not worried about that;" Severus crossed his arms, "at least as far as your skill at Potions is concerned. You're behavior on the other hand... that I am worried about."

Dierna had enough sense to look a bit ashamed of herself, "I really will try harder."

"I know you will, because if you don't I will make your life miserable."

"I can't believe you're going to Avalon!" Ophelia and Nimue were talking excitedly over lunch, "you're sooo lucky."

"I'm really excited! But I wish you could come with me..."

Ophelia brushed it off, "I'm content to just be happy for you. Do you think they'll want to make you a priestess?"

"Why would they do that?" Nimue tipped her head to the side.

Ophelia rolled her eyes, "because the priestesses there are some of the most famous seers ever. You have visions; you could probably be one of them."

"I hadn't thought of that before..." Nimue looked a little worried.

"Would you rather be a priestess in Avalon or in Greece? I'm sorry," Ophelia noticed Nimue's anxious look, "I didn't mean to pressure you."

"It's alright, I just hadn't thought about it before. Do you think that they will try to get me to leave Hogwarts?"

"Would you want to leave if you were given the choice? You'd learn soooo much from them, it could be a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Nimue shrugged, "it just seems so incredible, like a dream, a bad one..."

"What's so bad about it? You have visions, you can see the future! I think it sounds exciting."

"It's been horrible," tears formed in her eyes, "I've seen so many things... I wish I could forget them. I'm scared, what if they ask more of me than I can handle? What if it is all too much? Ophelia, I'm terrified, I want out of this whole thing."

Morgan tried desperately to pay attention to what Minerva was saying at their staff meeting that night. But sitting between her husband and Remus she found that she became distracted rather easily. She was attempting to provoke Severus, by running her hand up his leg under the table when Remus slipped a piece of paper in front of her.

She gave him a sideways glance as she unfolded the slip of paper which was covered in his bold writing:

Theognis once wrote that:
"A young woman isn't right for an old man,
she won't respond to the rudder like a boat,
anchors won't hold her, she'll often break
the ropes, find another harbor in the night"
was he right? Or have you resigned yourself to the greasy git that you married, who, I should remind you, is nearly old enough to be your father...

Morgan covered her smile with her hand, and quickly scribbled back an answer which she passed back to Remus:

My dear sir, I take great offense to your insult of my husband, who is not greasy, although occasionally a git. As to our difference in age, is not love blind? Or perhaps I should retaliate with a similar weapon. Since you used the ancients to prove your point, I shall use them to prove mine. The words of Catullus best describe my affection for my husband:
"That man seems to me to be a god,
that man, if it can be, leaves gods behind."

Remus failed to conceal his amusement over Morgan's wordy response and had to turn his laughter into a cough.

"Behave yourself," Severus whispered in his wife's ear.

Morgan felt her cheeks flame as she turned her attention back to what Minerva was saying about school protection over the winter holidays, she could feel her husband's eyes on her, even though she didn't look up at him. By the time the meeting ended the heat in her face subsided, but she made a quick retreat to where Remus, Charlie, Zach, and Alberto were involved in a conversation before her husband could catch her.

"Would you gentlemen care for some company with one of the fairer sex?" she asked innocently.

"And would the 'fairer sex' be hiding from her husband?" Remus asked.

Morgan smiled sweetly, "not hiding, just avoiding the scolding I'm going to get for not paying attention." In a desperate bid to turn attention elsewhere she turned to Charlie, "how was the twins' birthday?"

Charlie beamed in fatherly pride, "it was great. I can't believe they're already four. And I think it was the first party at our house where Alberto hasn't gotten himself thrown out."

Morgan grinned impishly, "no nifflers this year 'Berto?"

Alberto gave his trademark, gold toothed smile, "No, Zach and I opted for a pair of stuffed dragon toys, they went over much better with Meg than anything I would have picked out on my own."

Morgan laughed at Alberto's contrite expression, and joined in teasing him about his enjoyment for baiting Mrs. Charlie Weasley. Even when Severus came to claim her she was still smiling over the 'boys' witty comments. "Are you going to scold me for acting like a disobedient school girl during that meeting?" She couldn't help asking.

Severus almost smiled, "no, I'm just glad that even after all that has happened you can still act like the little imp I married."

Morgan glanced down at the floor, "and do you ever regret marrying a headstrong Gryffindor who can be more trouble than she's worth?"

"I wouldn't say that, any lesser woman wouldn't be worth the trouble you cause, but you... you're an exception."

Morgan chewed her lower lip, "Then you don't think I'm too much of an imp?"

"I didn't say that either. You are most certainly an imp, one that I have been tempted, on many occasions, to upend over my knee."

Morgan giggled as she took the arm Severus offered her. "If I promise to be good will you take me to the opera while we're in Paris?"

"I'll think about it. But I did have some other things in mind, since we'll be alone, without any chance for interruption in I don't know how long."

"I think I might be up for that... but only if you take me to the opera."