"Anything else I need to know?" Remus asked, smiling at the way Morgan flitted about, her movements reminding him of a bird as she gave him last minute instructions.

Morgan paused for a moment, thinking fast, "You know the situation with the new dark forces; I want none of my children out after dark. They can go into Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley if they like, but only during the day and only if at least three of them are together. I don't know Remus; just use your best judgment. You have my permission to deal with anything arises as you see fit."

Remus nodded, "alright, I think we'll be fine. Elizabeth and Kalliope told me that whatever rules you set down applied to theirs too. We shouldn't have any problems."

Morgan snorted, "Well, for your sake I hope that's true, but I know my children too well to agree with that."

"Mum, stop worrying, we'll be fine, nothing is going to happen," Kamen smiled angelically.

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest, "it better not, because if I hear anything, and I mean anything negative about the way you behave while I'm gone there will be hell to pay."

"Awww... Mrs. S, you don't have anything to worry about," William hugged his best friend's mother, "trust us."

"That," Morgan said, still frowning but with her eyes sparkling, "is the thing that scares me the most."

Zach rolled his head back in a half circle, trying to work out the knots in his neck.

"Stop working amigo, its vacation time," Alberto plopped down on the sofa next to him.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have safety reports to fill out for the school, and you don't have a crazy grandfather pestering you to come to Paris every chance he gets."

"Well I'm glad you're in such a good mood," Alberto said dryly, "you're just full of sunshine today. But what does the old man want now? He usually leaves you alone."

Zach sighed, "He says he has something that will be very beneficial to our 'cause'. At least that's the way he put it."

"What in the world is that batty old kook talking about?"

"An assistant whom he has acquired, who apparently has a great deal of knowledge about very old and very obscure potions. He wants me to get this person into the Order."

"I'd say that it's at least worth checking out," Alberto gave his friend a sly smile, "and who knows, this assistant may turn out to be a beautiful woman, you may just hit the jackpot on this one, and Paris is the city of love..."

Zach rolled his eyes as he stood up and stretched, "nice try 'Berto, but I'm not interested in pursuing a love life at the moment. But I will pay my dear grandfather a visit after Christmas, we need all the help we can get."

Morgan couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she stepped over the threshold into the muggle hotel room. Sev had certainly not spared any expense, when he took her on vacation he did it right.

She quickly explored, taking in the large sunk in jacuzzi in the bathroom, and the large ornate bedroom, decorated in mint green with lots of gold leaf. She hopped up on the bed, and sat cross legged, glancing up at her husband as he watched her. "Sooo... what now?"

Severus chuckled as he crossed the room in several long strides and kissed his wife deeply, "whatever you want love."

Morgan grinned wickedly, bolting up from the bed and grabbing Sev's hand, "you're taking me shopping, and you are at least going to pretend to be enjoying yourself."

She laughed as Severus caught her around the waist and pulled her against him for another passionate kiss, "whatever you want darling, but you better make this shopping excursion worth my trouble tonight," he growled seductively.

"What is that!?" Sophia squeaked as she glanced out the window.

William glanced up and shrugged, "it's snowing."

"That's snow!?" Sophia grabbed William's hand and dragged him out of his chair, where he had been reading, "let's go outside I want to see it!"

William started to protest, but couldn't after he saw how excited Sophia was, "fine, lets go get our cloaks, and then we can go outside and see the snow," he was starting to warm up to the idea, "maybe by tomorrow there will be enough to have a snowball fight, and we'll have to go to Diagon Alley when it's all snowy and decorated for Christmas, that's always fun."

Sophia paused in her frantic search for her cloak, "why do they decorate?"

William couldn't help laughing, "Just get your cloak, and I'll try to explain Christmas to you while we see the snow."

"Dammit Harry, you can't keep hovering over me like this!" Ginny exclaimed in exasperation, and then sighed as she saw her husband's face drop. "Harry, I'm sorry, and I am trying. I just don't know what to do with you here; I'm not used to having you around underfoot."

"That's my fault; I should have made more of an effort years ago. Tell me what to do so that you can get your work done," his tone practically begged to please.

Ginny glanced at the pile of paperwork she had to fill out for work. Sometimes she loved her job at St. Mungo's and then there were days like this when she didn't even want to think about work. She looked up at her husband, and then past him out the window where snow was silently falling, obscuring the moors. "How long did you talk my mother into keeping the kids for?"

"She said she'd keep them until Christmas if we wanted."

Ginny chewed her lip thoughtfully, if only she could keep from snapping at her husband the way she had the past couple of days... he was trying, and even though they'd certainly been through more than their fair share of rough spots, she still loved him.

She arched her back, trying to relieve the tension in her spine, "let's go for a walk." The two of them had just been sitting around the house so far, and had been tactfully trying not to step on each other's toes by talking about there problems, but that needed to stop if they were going to have any chance of mending their problems. "We need to talk, and maybe the fresh air will help."

Nimue breathed in the sharp cold air as minuscule snowflakes fell silently around her.

"Can you feel it little one?"

Nimue took a deep breath and help it, "yes," she whispered as she breathed out again. She felt all tingly, and her senses seemed to be heightened.

"I can't say that I agree with what Kalliope told you about the elements choosing priestesses," the Lady Sianna spoke softly, "that is a belief that is central to her own temple, here we embrace everything. Feel the earth beneath you, it is the goddess, you can feel Her breathing. Feel the air around you, that is Her voice. The holy water that springs from the well by the temple, that is Her nectar, given to us, Her children, to sustain us. Fire is Her heartbeat. They are all connected, just as we are as women. Mothers, daughters, sisters, wives... we are all connected in service to the goddess."

"But I had never heard of your goddess until I started having the visions, how can I serve her?" Nimue's voice was little more than a frightened whisper in the stark wintery air.

"Because she is your goddess too. She is a part of you."

"Lady!!! Lady Sianna!!!"

Sianna shaded her eyes against the glare of the winter sun, "what is it Ana?"

The pale priestess ran up, clutching her side from her exertion, "Latis is dead Lady. Remember what she prophesized, about your successor..." Ana's gaze fell on Nimue.

"Hush, now is not the time to discuss that," Sianna commanded briskly, "we have to prepare her for burial. Her death is a great loss to the service of the goddess."

Nimue suddenly felt very cold, and she knew that it had nothing to do with the winter wind.

Morgan glanced behind her and suppressed a smile. Her husband was obviously trying his hardest not to enjoy this. But damn... did he look good in the muggle clothes he had found, black slacks and a black turtle neck sweater. Not that different from his normal black robes, but Morgan appreciated it nonetheless.

Now if only he would actually walk with her... Morgan sniffed, he was probably afraid that her buoyant shopping mood was infectious, and her husband made a point of never showing any emotion other than irritation when he was in public. She glanced over her shoulder again; he was several yards behind her.

Shaking her head in amusement Morgan ducked into an upscale clothing shop, knowing that Severus would follow her. So, she was a bit surprised when she browsed for nearly an hour with no sight of her husband. She resisted the temptation to worry; her husband could take care of himself after all.

She sighed as she fingered the hem of a dress on display in front of her; it was the perfect little black dress. She was half tempted to buy it, not that she had anyplace to wear it in the wizarding world, but she did have a certain fondness for muggle clothes. And the little cocktail number was charming... when a friendly sales clerk came to ask her if she would like to at least try the dress on she had to bite her tongue to keep from answering too fast.

"We'll take it, in a size 6, and wrap it up."

Morgan jumped slightly, and turned to find herself facing her husband's chest. "I really don't need the dress Sev..."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "nonsense, you'll look stunning in it."

Morgan rolled her eyes, "and where am I going to wear a dress like that?"

Severus put a possessive arm around her waist, "you just let me worry about that."

Morgan gave him an inquisitive look, but dropped the subject, "so, where have you been for the last hour?"

"Shopping."

Morgan frowned at his short and unlikely answer, "For what?"

"That, my dear, is none of your business."

Morgan sighed, giving up, "well, if you're going to keep secrets from me than you better take me somewhere nice for dinner."

"With pleasure," Severus guided Morgan's arm through the crook in his elbow as he escorted her out of the store, the new dress, now packaged up, securely held in his other arm.

Remus glanced at the clock, 3AM. He couldn't believe that the boys had just now gone to bed. This week was definitely going to be longer than he had thought. He decided to run downstairs for a minute to make sure the boys hadn't destroyed anything, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what they had been doing, but figured he was responsible for making sure that none of the kids did something like blowing up the house.

He blinked wearily as he reached the bottom of the stairs, noticing that there was light and noise coming from the direction of the kitchen, "what now..." he mumbled to himself, while deciding that everyone would be in bed by midnight the next night.

Remus shaded his eyes against the sudden rush of light as he stepped into the bright kitchen. He watched silently for a moment, as Dierna finished making a pot of tea, "do any of you ever sleep?"

Dierna looked up and smiled, "Want a cup?" she asked as she reached for another mug. "The boys will probably go to bed earlier tomorrow, don't worry about them."

"And you? I expect all of you to be in bed by midnight tomorrow."

Dierna smiled over the rim of her mug, "didn't Mum or Dad warn you about my nighttime habits?"

Remus shook his head as he took the mug of tea Dierna handed him, "what were they supposed to warn me about?"

"That I don't sleep, at least not for most of the night. I inherited Dad's sleeping habits. Mum and all of my siblings sleep like the dead; you literally can't wake them up. Me and Dad are both really light sleepers, everything wakes us up, and since Serena talks in her sleep, I usually spend several hours of every night trying to find ways to tire myself out. I only sleep four or five hours every night."

"I can't believe you make it through the school year like that..."

Dierna grinned, "It used to be worse, when I was younger I walked in my sleep."

Remus ran a hand over his face, "well, I'm too tired to keep you company for any longer, so I'm trusting you to get yourself to bed sometime while it's still dark out."

"What are we doing today?" Morgan leaned over her husband.

Severus squinted against the early morning sunlight as he woke up, to find his wife crouching beside him on the bed. "Good god woman, can't you let a man sleep in on vacation?" he growled.

Morgan giggled, "Not when I'm ready to go do something."

Severus closed his eyes again, "I would have thought that after last night you would have needed your sleep too."

Morgan brushed her lips against her husband's as she fought back another fit of giggles, "come on Sev, get up. I want to go shopping again."

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?" Morgan pouted.

Severus opened his eyes slowly, "because, I don't want you tiring yourself out. I thought that we would take it easy today, I have something special planned for tonight."

"What is it?"

"You will just have to wait."

"How can you have so much energy after how little sleep you got last night?" Remus looked up as the Kamen, William, Dierna, and Serena jostled their way into the kitchen after a morning run.

"It's nothing, you're just getting old Lupin," William said as he grabbed a piece of toast off of Willow's plate.

"That's mine!" Willow cried in outrage.

"Not anymore," William teased.

"Meanie," Willow pouted.

Remus rolled his eyes heavenward, "it's going to be a very long week..." he muttered.

"Where do we stand with Eric?" Draco asked as he reached for his drink.

"He is working with a new apprentice, someone who could potentially be very dangerous to us," Macnair answered tentatively.

Draco swirled the drink in his hand, "the one from Bremen?"

"Yes."

"I'm not concerned."

"But sir, if what they're saying is true..."

"I told you not to worry about it." Draco sneered.

"Of course sir, I just wanted to make sure that we take all the precautions we can, to have come this far and fail..."

"We will not fail, all the insurance we need is sitting in the cellar of this house. And if that fails us, well, then we have young MacNeill at our disposal."

"Sev... are you going to tell me now?" Morgan draped herself over her husband's shoulders from behind his chair, and snatched the Daily Prophet out of his hand, "I'm getting impatient."

"I can tell," Severus remarked dryly. "Fine, go put on your new dress, and then I'll tell you."

Morgan gave her husband a curious look but hurried to do what he said. A short time later she emerged in the clingy black dress, her hair gathered in a knot at the back of her neck, "what do you think?" she asked, smiling at her husband.

"I think that you are the most beautiful woman to have ever graced the face of the earth."

Morgan blushed with pleasure, "well, you're obviously in a giving mood tonight. Care to tell me where we're going now."

"Close your eyes."

Morgan narrowed her eyes at her husband for a moment, trying to figure out what he was up to, but complied. She bit back a giggle when he took her hands in his and led her across the room, but then left her. She frowned, and was just about to call for him when she felt him come up behind her, and slide something that felt cool to the touch around her neck.

"Open your eyes."

Morgan sighed as she looked in the mirror, realizing the reason her husband had positioned her here, as she raised her hand to finger the string of emeralds around her neck, "Oh Sev... it's gorgeous."

"There are ballet tickets that go with that necklace..."

Morgan turned around and threw herself into her husband's arms, "I love you Sev," she whispered as she buried her face in his shoulder.

Severus held his small wife for a long moment, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. "We better get going," he finally said, not really wanting the moment to end.

Morgan grabbed a thin, red cashmere shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders, smiling at the way her husband frowned at it, knowing exactly what he was thinking, "don't worry Sev, it has a warming charm on it."

Morgan gladly apparated with her husband to a location close to the old opera house, which now housed the Paris ballet. "Do you think Eric will make an appearance tonight?" she whispered.

"Hopefully not." Severus was immensely grateful that the opera house's disturbed resident did not make an appearance that night, and that after the ballet, which he had barely followed, being too wrapped up in the way his wife leaned against him, they were able to escape the crowd quickly.

"Can we walk for awhile Sev, I'm not ready to go back to the hotel yet," Morgan clutched her husband's arm.

"Are you sure you won't be too cold?"

"Positive," Morgan asserted, "maybe a walk along the Seine... by the Eiffel tower...?"

Severus chuckled at his wife's not so subtle hints as they apparated to an area closer to the Eiffel tower.

"It's beautiful like this," Morgan breathed in cold air deeply, "all lit up against the night sky... it didn't impress me during the day... but now..."

Severus squeezed her hand in response, thinking about how complete his love for this woman was.

"Look, its snowing!" Morgan exclaimed as she danced a couple of steps out of Severus' reach, turning her face up to the falling snow. She looked back over at her husband and closed the distance between them, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair, "you're starting to grey a bit, right here at your temples," she murmured.

"You make me feel old."

"That's not what I meant! I think it looks dignified," she rose up on her toes to kiss her husband. "I think I'm ready to go back now..."

Remus was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the day had gone by. The kids had behaved themselves relatively well, Willow had been put to bed several hours ago with no complaints, and now the rest of them were heading up, save Dierna who insisted she couldn't sleep yet.

"Play me a game of chess Professor and I'll think about going to bed," she said cheekily.

Remus couldn't help smiling, "promise? Because I need my sleep, especially since apparently I'm 'old' now."

Dierna gave him a sly smile, "I bet that's not what Kalliope thinks..."

Remus felt his mouth drop open and quickly recovered himself, "that, young lady, is none of your concern."

Dierna shrugged, "maybe not... but there's a pool going in Gryffindor tower to see how soon you two get married."