"You look like you're about a million miles away from here."
"Hmmm?" Dierna looked up dreamily from the letter she was reading.
Morgan smiled, "I've been trying to get your attention for a full five minutes, that must be an interesting letter."
Dierna's cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink, "it's from Stefan," she admitted quietly.
"Does he have anything interesting to say?" Morgan asked as she sat down at the kitchen table across from her daughter.
"Not really, he can't tell me anything about his mission. Mum, can I ask you something?"
"Of course darling."
Dierna's blush deepened, "well, I was wondering... I mean... when did you know you loved Dad? And when did you know you wanted to marry him?"
Morgan smiled as a dreamy look crossed her face, "it all seems so long ago..." she sighed, "Let's see... I knew that I was completely taken with your father when I was only a few months older than you are now, it was the middle of my seventh year..."
"How many more you think you can do?" Kamen's speech was a bit slurred as he looked across the grimy table at William.
"At least three, hell, I'll even go for four," William pushed aside empty shot glasses as he reached for the bottle that sat between them.
"You're on," Kamen poured his own drink, "wanna go till we pass out?"
"Why not?" William raised his glass, "to my almost step-father, and the hell that my life is!"
"Amen to that!" Kamen spilled part of his drink as he threw it back.
The shifty eyed bartender made his way over to clear away some of the empty glasses, mumbling about worthless kids.
"Come on mate, how about another bottle?" William brandished their empty one.
The bartender shook his head, "you two have had too much already, I'm not carrying you out of here."
"Fine we'll leave and get our drink on somewhere else!" Kamen stood up angrily and ran into a large hulking man on his way out the door, "out of my way!" the teenager growled.
"On the contrary, I think you're the one in my way," the large man thumped a large meaty fist into the palm of his other hand.
"I had a crush on him for the longest time, the dark hair and eyes, the silky voice... the ideal romantic hero; I compared him in my mind to a desperate Heathcliff, or a brooding Mr. Rochester," Morgan smiled fondly at her memories, "and then one night I was out long after curfew. I had received a letter from a neighbor saying that my father had fallen asleep in a drunken stupor and knocked over a candle, but that the fire had been put out quickly and with little damage.
"I was feeling very sorry for myself; I walked the halls, blinded by tears, trying to come to terms with the fact that my father was a good for nothing drunk who didn't love me or my sister. Your father found me, cried out, sitting on the floor in a damp dungeon corridor. He took me back to his office and let me sit on his sofa drinking countless cups of tea and pouring my heart out to him. He knew about my home situation, most of the teachers did, and he told me that everything would be alright.
"I gave him some impertinent reply, about no one understanding. He told me that he understood better than anyone and that I was a survivor. He said I was a beautiful and talented woman, and that I would rise above it. The way he spoke to me that night... the way he cared for me... I was instantly in head over heels."
"That's so sweet..." Dierna twirled the cameo ring on her right hand round and round her finger, her own thoughts straying to the young man who had given it to her.
"You love Stefan," it wasn't a question; it was a statement, simply laid out on the table.
"Yes, I do," Dierna whispered, her eyes shinning as she thought about him. "Mum... I think I want to marry him."
Morgan reached for her daughter's hand, "I know that sweetie, just do me one favor. Wait until you've graduated, don't rush into anything."
Severus stared for a moment at the notice from the Ministry in disbelief. "I'm going to kill him..." he muttered as he rose from the desk in his study and reached for his cloak. He stopped in the kitchen just long enough to inform Morgan that he was going out and then disapparated to a nearby residence.
Severus banged on the door, "Sirius, I know you're in there! Open this door now!"
"What do you want?" A rumpled looking Sirius asked as he opened the door, he had been napping and his hair was tousled and his robes were twisted.
Severus gave Sirius a disgusted look, "I need your help."
"Wait a minute! The egotistic, slimy, git is asking for my help?!"
"Shut up Black! I came to you because I wanted to save Elizabeth some added stress before her wedding day; you on the other hand, need all the parenting practice you can get..."
"You've lost me; just tell me what is going on?"
Snape held up several sheets of parchment, "first off, my son and your stepson as of tomorrow broke into Hogwarts this morning; secondly, they were arrested for starting a brawl in the Hog's Head. Care to join me to bail them out?"
"Is that Avalon?" Nimue asked in a small voice as she looked across the water to the mist enshrouded island.
"Yes and no," Kalliope answered as she drew her cloak closer around her shoulders, "many centuries ago anyone could cross the lake waters and come to the holy isle. That was during the time of the Roman invaders. For awhile the priestesses and the Christians who came to Briton lived side by side peacefully, but eventually the Christian men tried to throw down the holy stones on top of the tor. The head priestess at that time removed Avalon from the world of men; it is no longer part of the world, but of the world."
"How do we get there?" Nimue's soft eyes scanned the island as dusk began to settle.
"Look," Kalliope pointed across the lake where a barge drifted towards them, poled by a small dark man covered in blue markings, carrying a tall blond woman robed in bright colors.
"Greetings from the Lady Sianna, Lady of the Lake and High Priestess of Avalon," the woman bowed her head in greeting, "I am the lady Ana, priestess of the goddess. I shall take you across the lake to Avalon, so that you may meet with the High Priestess."
"Dad, I can explain everything," Kamen's speech was still slurred and he was still a bit unsteady on his feet.
"I bet you can," Severus crossed his arms over his chest and scowled darkly, "what will be interesting is whether or not you live to see your next birthday."
"Dad, really it's not our fault! We had to fight these guys!"
"Would you like to keep going? Because you're only making things worse," Severus glared at his son. "We are going home now, and we will discuss this further when you are sober. I will see you tomorrow Sirius," Severus said as he grabbed Kamen and headed for the door, "enjoy the practice."
Sirius found that it was harder than he thought it would be to control his temper, "we're going to my place to get you sobered up, your mother is not seeing you like this," he growled.
"Don't tell me what to do!" William snapped back.
Sirius frowned, "You will do exactly what I tell you. We are going back to my place, and once you have slept this off for a few hours we're going to discuss your behavior today."
"You're not my father, so don't act like it!" William's dislike of Sirius was only magnified by his inebriated state.
"You're damn right I'm not your father, but I'm going to act like it now. And if that thug who gave you this black eye didn't beat some sense into you, then I'm going to."
"Has Stefan asked you to marry him?" Morgan asked gently.
Dierna blushed again, she couldn't remember ever spending so much of an evening with a red face, "no... but we have talked about it."
"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about...?" Morgan teased.
"Mum!!! No there is not!" Dierna glared at her mother.
"Are you sure? Because if you need any advice..."
"Nononononono!!!! Stop that, I don't want to here about anything that involves you and Dad, please stop!" Dierna clamped her hands over her ears as her mother dissolved into a fit of giggles.
The two women turned around when the kitchen door banged open, admitting a stumbling Kamen and a livid Severus. "In your room now!" Severus bellowed, "and if I see you back down here before you are sober a hangover is going to be the least of your problems!"
Kamen mumbled something unintelligible as he headed towards his room.
"And you," Severus turned on Dierna, "what does he have planned for next week? And what does he have hidden in his room that I should know about?"
"Ummm..." Dierna looked for a way to stall.
"So help me Dierna, if you try to cover for him now you will be grounded until you leave this house."
"He was planning a party and he has a rather large liquor collection in his room," Dierna quickly supplied, eager to save herself, even if it meant sacrificing her brother.
Severus sighed and ran a hand over his face, "that boy is going to be grounded until he graduates..."
"Sev," Morgan kept her voice low and calm, "remember what we talked about before," she gave him a meaningful look.
Severus frowned at his wife, "I hardly think that counts in this situation."
Dierna looked between her parents with interest, "Is this about the whole, 'they're going to try drinking at least once, we might as well resign ourselves to it' conversation?"
Severus crossed his arms over his chest, his eyebrows going up, as he looked at his daughter, "and how do you know about that?"
Dierna's eyes got large as she tried to pull off an innocent expression, while mentally reminding herself to find a better hiding place for the extendable ears she had purchased from Weasley Wizard Wheezes, she didn't want to lose them, "I just figured... ummm... I don't really know..."
"Do yourself a favor and stop now," Severus told his daughter, while reminding himself that he had taken more than enough time to cool off about the boggart incident, and that he was going to talk to her about it tomorrow before he left for Paris.
"I think I'm just going to go to my room for awhile," Dierna decided to make her retreat while she could.
As soon as she left Severus gave his wife a weary look, "and I think I am going to go clear out our son's liquor collection, and try to restrain myself from killing him. You had better be wearing something very revealing when I join you for bed, I am going to need the distraction."
William groaned as he sat up, he had spent several hours sleeping on Sirius' couch, and he couldn't remember ever feeling this bad before. "Oh Merlin... I think my head is going to fall off..."
"Think next time you'll think twice before drinking that much?" Sirius asked from the doorway. But William didn't reply, he bolted instead for the bathroom. Sirius made his way back to the kitchen while his almost stepson retched, he understood from firsthand experience how bad the very first bad hangover felt.
"I'm not doing that again..." William mumbled as he joined Sirius in the kitchen, gladly accepting the mug of coffee he was handed, "I've never had this bad a hangover before."
"You look like hell," Sirius provided his own opinion.
"Look, I don't need your help, and I didn't ask you to bring me here."
"Well, you're going to stay here awhile longer; your mother is not going to see you like this."
"If you think that by doing this I'm going to be your friend you're wrong!" William growled.
"Let's get a few things straight," Sirius' eyes were dangerously hard, "I'm not keeping you here in an attempt to win you over; I'm keeping you here to save your mother from additional pain."
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
"Watch your language, and don't talk to me like that. Do you realize how many tear stained letters I've received from your mother this year? Filled with messages about how much she loves me but that because of your behavior she's considered calling off the marriage, you have caused her no small amount of heartache this year William, and its going to stop now."
Whatever Nimue had been expecting to find upon her arrival at Avalon, this wasn't it. She had been expecting something along the lines of a grand temple, displaying all the power and might of Avalon; instead, she found herself in the midst of a cluster of small, rather common looking, stone and thatch buildings, bathed in the soft light of yellow torches.
She nervously stayed by Kalliope's side as they approached one of the small buildings. Two large men stood in front of it, and as they approached, one of them lifted the leather flap that covered the entry way, ushering them inside.
What happened next seemed was all a whirl to Nimue; she vaguely realized that she was being presented to the Head Priestess, and that there were other women in the room. However, she was exhausted, and could barely keep her eyes open.
The next thing she knew she was being ushered along a dirt path by a plump older woman.
"Where are we going?" Nimue asked between yawns.
When she was told that she would spend the night with the other young novices she merely nodded mutely in response. She was too tired to care that she had been separated from Kalliope or that she was alone in a world of strangers. Those things didn't seem to matter here.
Dierna bounded down the stairs the next morning and practically skipped into her father's office, intent on borrowing a new book on medieval potions he had just acquired. "Morning Dad! Can I borrow that new book by Malacus?"
Severus saw this as the opportunity he had been waiting for and jumped right in, "Are you pregnant?" He saw no reason not to be blunt.
"What?!" Dierna's mouth fell open.
"It is both rude and ungrammatical to answer a question with another question. I just want a simple yes or no answer."
Dierna bristled; she knew her Dad was in a bad mood when he started picking on her grammar, "No, I'm not. How dare you just accuse me of that with no reason!" Her temper, as red hot as her hair, was quickly rising.
"NO REASON!?! I know about your little boggart experience young lady, what else am I supposed to think?!"
Dierna barred her teeth, "I can't believe you think so little of me that you would jump to conclusions like that! I hate you!!!"
"Don't you dare take that tone of voice with me young lady," Severus closed in on his daughter, he hadn't intended for this conversation to get so heated but she was making this difficult, "you know nothing of hate! You have only been shown love your entire life and this is the way you treat that?! How do you think I should have reacted to the story about your boggart experience?!"
"You could try trusting me!"
"I know how you snuck around the school when Stefan visited you, and I know that you spent the night with him on at least one occasion, tell me why I should trust you."
Dierna had had enough, how dare he insult her by doubting her word like this! She uttered two fateful words, "fuck you!"
It took her a moment to realize that the gunshot-like crack she heard was her father's open hand connecting with her cheek, jerking her head to the side. It was possibly the last thing she had been expecting.