Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and resisted the urge to kick the wall again. She had been warned twice already and was pretty sure she didn't want to find out how the professor was going to carry out his threat to make sure she would stay still if she did it again. Her bottom lip was sticking out a mile as she stared at the stone wall. She had quickly decided that this had to be the most boring corner in all of the school. And she wasn't even aloud to hold Tristan for company.

She didn't dare risk looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was still in the room. She squirmed on the hard wooden chair and waited for a command to sit still but none came. Maybe she was alone now... She remembered what she was supposed to be thinking about, how dangerous it was to run off like she had, how much worry she caused, how it was her job to go to class even if she had just wanted to have fun. It was all so boring, just like this stupid corner!

Still no sounds from the room behind her. She very carefully extended one leg until her toes hit the wall in front of her gently, not making any noise. No response. She tapped the wall a bit harder this time. And again. She was about to draw her foot back to kick the wall a fourth time when she was suddenly hoisted out of her seat and one stinging smack was delivered to her backside. She was too shocked to make any noise.

"You were told repeatedly to sit still, how much effort does that take child?" Severus asked in exasperation as he set her on her feet.

"A lot," Olivia answered sullenly.

"Do you really want to give me more of that attitude after what you did today?"

Olivia scowled at him, "we just wanted to have fun..."

"And you ended up having half the castle searching frantically for you, besides the fact that your mother and I were beside ourselves with worry. Did you think about that?"

Olivia sniffed as she looked down at the floor, several tears dripped off of her nose.

"There is no use crying over it now child, tears are not going to change how much trouble you are in."

"But..." she sniffed and ran a grimy fist over her eyes, "you're not going to want me anymore now. Are you going to send me away 'cause I'm so bad?"

Severus glanced around the room, his eyes landing on his wife, but the look she was giving him clearly said that this was a question he had to answer. Sighing, Severus knelt down so that he was closer to eye level with the girl. "Olivia Cathleen I want you to look at me," he waited until her watery blue eyes rose to meet his, "you are not now, nor have you ever been bad. Your actions today were far from exemplary, and will not ever be repeated, but that does not change your position in this family. We would never send you away."

"Really? Even when I do not so good things like today?" Olivia eyes shown with hope.

"Even then," Severus assured her, "and even when you are in desperate need of a bath," he added, his mouth twitching slightly in amusement as he assessed the grimy state of her hands and face.

"I'm sorry," Olivia said morosely as she hung her head again and more tears flowed.

"That's enough of that now," Severus hated tears, "you are getting a bath and then going to bed early. In fact, I think an early bed time is in order for the rest of the week."

"'k..." Olivia hesitated a moment before throwing her arms around the professor's neck. He was still a little scary, and she wasn't ready to think of him as her father yet, even though she already thought of Morgan as her mum. But she did like him.

Severus awkwardly hugged the little girl back, "right then, go get ready for your bath," he directed as he disengaged her arms from his neck and watched her dash towards her room.

"Would it kill you to show a little more emotion sometimes Sev?" Morgan asked from her spot leaning against the wall.

"Just because you are angry with me does not mean..."

"Dammit Sev, do not change the subject. I don't understand this wall you have built up around you, I never have. When it's just the two of us you are one of the most passionate people I know, but I don't understand why it is so hard for you to show affection to anyone else. Not even to the children."

"They know I love them."

"Knowing it and hearing it are too completely different things. Olivia needs to hear it from you, especially now if you want to really make her your daughter."

Severus sighed, "I will try harder, does that make you happy?"

"What would make me happy is if you hadn't given Misty the good pillow cases. I saw what she was wearing. Those were wedding gifts."

"They are pink." Severus stated, that was all the excuse he felt he needed.

"I liked them."

"You would."

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at her husband stubbornly, "you are unfeeling, callous, and cold-hearted, with no idea how..."

Severus gently covered his wife's mouth with his hand, silencing her. "You are worn out, and have had two daughters to worry over today more than usual. Don't run yourself into the ground Morgan, and do not start picking fights with me because you don't know what else to do."

"I really did like those pillow cases," she mumbled miserably.

"Shhhh... go to bed Morgan. I'll see that Olivia gets tucked in, you take care of yourself tonight."

"You could at least wipe your feet when you come in," Ginny snapped at her husband, "I don't need to spend the rest of my night cleaning up after you."

"I'll take care of it."

"You always say that, and you never do."

"I will, don't get so riled up over a little mud."

"Don't start with me Harry, the only company I've had the last couple of weeks has been our daughter. When you said you were coming home I would have liked to at least have an adult conversation, and not spend that time repairing the wreck you make of our house!"

Harry fought a smile as his aggravated wife turned back to the dishes she was working on, "I told Minerva that I'm not living at the school next year. I'm going to live here with you and Lily."
"What?!"

Harry frowned, "I thought that was what you wanted, but if you think we still need more time to work this out..."

Ginny cut him off by throwing herself into his arms and sobbing, "that's exactly what I want you git! I want us to be a family again. I love you Harry, you've just been too dense the last couple of years to understand that."

Harry knew he was grinning like an idiot as he picked Ginny up off the floor and spun her around, "as long as we realized that we still have a ways to go in putting this marriage back together..."

"and that we're going to fight..."

"but then we get to make up again..."

"I'm not used to having you around the house, I'm going to have to get used to it again."

"I can't wait. I want to have dinner with you every night Ginny, I want to go to bed next to you, and wake to find you beside me in the morning. I want our children to know that we love each other. I want the kind of passion we had when we first got married..."

Ginny suddenly became sober, "it's ironic you know. We were in the middle of a war against Voldemort when we first realized we loved each other, and now we entering another one... there have only been a handful of our years together as a couple that have been blessed with peace. But, I like thinking that I have you again. That we're going to start living as a married couple again, and I'll have you here beside me."

"I like it too," Harry pushed up his glasses, which had started to slip off when he spun his wife around, "maybe we can even..."

"Daddy!" Lily flew into the room and attacked Harry's legs.

"And how's my little girl?" Harry asked as he swung her up into her arms.

She responded by burying her face against his shoulder, "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Lily, how would you like it if Daddy stayed here with us next year instead of living at the school?" Ginny traced her fingers in a feather soft caress up her husband's sleeve. She hadn't felt this giddy in a long time.

Lily bit her lip in indecision, "if you live here will you bring Ralph back too? I think he'd be lonely living at the school all by himself."

Harry fought the urge to laugh, realizing that his daughter was completely serious, "of course Ralph will come back. If you want I can bring him home to you now."

Lily shook her head, "no, you still need him to keep you company at school, just make sure nothing happens to him."
Viviane tried to untangle herself from Colin's arms, "let me go, I have to get the door."

"It's no one, just let it go."

Viviane rolled her eyes at him, "you need to go out into the desert more often Mr. Bennet, you're very attentive when you come back. But I do need to get the door."

"If you must," Colin heaved a long suffering sigh as he let his wife go.

"Brute," she called back over her shoulder.

"Brat," he returned affectionately.

Viviane was still smiling when she opened the door, "can I help you?" she asked, a bit confused. She didn't recognize the man standing outside their door and this was a protected community.

"Mrs. Bennet?" he asked a bit uncertainly.

"Yes, I'm Mrs. Bennet," a fact that caused the smile to return.

The man, she placed him in his late 20s maybe early 30s, removed his hat, "I'm from the Ministry ma'am, I've been sent to... well... the fact is I have just about the worst job at the Ministry. I never have been any good at this," he withdrew a sheet of parchment from the bag slung across his shoulder. "I've just come from giving the news to the MacNeills, one of the aurors at the Ministry, red haired chap, think he is the Head Minister's, the real Head Minister's not this son-of-a... well, he said you had a right to know to, seeing how you worked with him and all."

Viviane found her hand was shaking slightly as she took the parchment. It was that particular shade of dark, dull, gold that was only used for one purpose.

The messenger noticed as the color drained from her face and observed her shaking hands, "real sorry to be the bearer of bad news ma'am. Do you have someone at home, or a neighbor you're close to? No one should be alone when they get news like this."

It took Viviane a minute to respond to his question, "yes, yes my husband is home. I'll be fine, thank you. But, could you tell me, please... how are his parents doing, did they seem..."

"They were about as well as can be expected under the circumstances. And now if you'll excuse me," he placed his hat back on his head, "I've got a couple more of these to deliver tonight. And once again, sorry about your lose."

Viviane closed the door, her hands still shaking violently. She barely noticed when Colin came up behind her and laid his hands on her shoulder. Barely aware of how his strong, capable hands covered hers and helped her unfold that horrible piece of parchment. A death notice.

"So, it's official now," Colin hugged his wife close to him.

"Yes... I..." Viviane closed her eyes, trying to remember Ministry policy on these death notices.

"They have to have found the body Viv, or have undeniable proof," Colin said gently.

Viviane nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I'm going to go write to my sister, she deserves to hear it from me, not from anyone else."
"Are you dragging your feet this morning for a reason miss?" Morgan asked as she escorted Olivia to class the next morning.

"Yes."

Morgan resisted the temptation to smile, "well see if you can't walk just a little bit faster, otherwise I'm going to be late to class too."

They reached the door to the classroom at the same time as Charlie, who was holding both Cassandra and Diana by the hand.

Mrs. Figg came stepped out of the room, "I'm so glad both of you are alright girls, I was so worried about you yesterday."

Morgan nudged Olivia, who took the hint and spoke up in a small voice, "I'm sorry we ran off yesterday and worried you."

Diana responded to a similar nudge, "Me too, I'm sorry."

Morgan knelt down in front of her daughter, "I want you to remember what we talked about yesterday, and make sure you wear your hat and your scarf if you go outside to play this morning. I don't want you catching cold."

"Yes Mum," Olivia rolled her eyes, which started a whole new lecture.

As soon as their parents were gone Diana grabbed Olivia's hand and dragged her across the classroom over to the window, "I guess the tea party wasn't such a good idea," she admitted.

"Guess not," Olivia agreed.

"How much trouble did you get in?"

Olivia wrinkled her nose in disgust, "I had to listen to a really long lecture, and then I had to sit in the corner like forever!!! And they made me go to bed early, and I have an early bedtime for a week. It's not fair..."

Diana's pout matched Olivia's, "yeah, I got it bad too. They took away most of my toys for a whole week! Don't think I'm gonna make it..."

The girls finished commiserating with each other and settled down to their lessons. Midmorning Mrs. Figg announced that they were going to go outside to play for awhile, as long as they all stayed together and stayed out of the worst mud puddles. The spring thaw had started and the Hogwarts' grounds were only dotted with a few last snow drifts, with a lot of wet, brown yard in between.

Olivia and Diana held hands as they raced across the school grounds; both well bundled up against the still cold weather. Mrs. Figg had said that as long as they were where she could see them and that they could hear her calling them to come in they could play where they wanted.

The girls made a few rather slushy snowballs, but decided that it just wasn't that much fun with just the two of them. They decided to explore the big rock near the lake, and had a race to see which of them could climb up the shoulder height boulder fastest.

They sat up there for awhile, pointing at the clouds and trying to figure out what they looked the most like.

"Mrs. Figg's calling, we better go," Diana said, finally sitting up.

"Wait, my scarf!" Olivia looked frantically between the path back up to the school where Mrs. Figg was waiting and the way down to the lake where her scarf had been blown off to, "I gotta get my scarf," she clambered down the rock and after her scarf which had blown onto the ice of the lake, as she tried to get it the thin ice gave way beneath her and she went under the water with a shriek.
"What are we working on today?" Dierna asked as she entered her father's office, ready to start a new project in her independent study. She had received Viviane's letter that morning, read it dry eyed, and decided that throwing herself into her school work was the best thing she could do to keep her mind off the horrible truth.

"We are going to sit down and talk," Severus informed her.

"About what?"

Severus leveled her with a piercing stare, "you know what," he grasped her elbow in his hand and steered her to the couch and sat down beside her. "I know you miss Stefan, but..."&

"He can't really be gone..." Dierna mumbled.

"But he is."

Dierna leaned her head against her father's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. He ran a hand over her bright curls, as he gently brushed the hair out of her eyes.

Dierna closed her eyes; she was exhausted, both mentally and physically. But she couldn't sleep, not with her world spinning out of control the way it was. She snuggled closer into her father's embrace as she felt his arms tighten around her. All she wanted was to be held.

Severus readjusted his hold on his daughter, trying to make her more comfortable. He sighed audibly as she leaned against him, wishing he could make everything in the world right for her.

Dierna shifted so that she could look up at her father when he sighed, "what is it?"

Severus smiled sadly, "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Dierna had the edge of his robe in her hand, and was absently fingering the border on it, something that Severus could remember her doing when she was very young when she was scared or hurt.

"I was thinking about when you were a little girl. When you were hurt or scared or upset all I had to do was hold you in my lap and you would be happy again. I could chase away all your sorrows so easily. I wish I could do that for you now, I hate seeing you hurt like this." There was a touch of sadness and regret in his voice as he closed his eyes against the pain he felt for his daughter.

A single tear rolled down Dierna's face. Severus looked down at the grief stricken face of his little girl, thinking that she was too young to have to know sorrow like this, as he gently brushed the single tear from her face. "Dierna, cry if you want, you don't have to put up this brave front. Don not try to hide your sorrow; I know that you have lost a large part of your life."

"If I cry, I'll be recognizing that he's really gone. I can't do that. He can't really be gone, I would feel it if he was, instead I feel nothing."

"I know accepting this is hard, but you need to keep living. I have watched you walk around here the last few days; you've only become a ghost of your old self. You haven't slept, you haven't eaten. I'm not going to watch you waste away. Remember what you had with Stefan, mourn him, but live your life."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that," Dierna reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring, "Stefan left this for me, it was supposed to be my engagement ring. But I can't wear it, not when I was waiting for him to give it to me..."

Severus fought down the initial feeling of anger he felt over knowing that someone wanted to marry his little girl, she was still so young. His heart squeezed with compassion as he realized how torn his daughter was. "Sit tight for a moment, I have an idea." He went over to his desk and rummaged in the top drawer for a moment before withdrawing a necklace Morgan had left in his classroom earlier that week. He slipped the charm off of it and carried the chain back to his daughter, "here, I know your loyalty to that boy; perhaps you could wear the ring around your neck?"

Dierna nodded thoughtfully, "I think I can do that now. I'm just not ready to wear it on my hand."

They sat in silence for awhile after that, Severus doing his best, which wasn't that much, to comfort his daughter. He knew he wasn't good at this sort of thing, but at least he could try.

The silence was interrupted by the sound of feet running down the hallway, and then the office door being thrown open.

"Professor!" Mrs. Figg burst into the room, carrying a dripping wet, and slightly blue looking Olivia, "she fell into the lake, I got her out right away but it was closer to bring her here than the infirmary."
Eva tried to shift the precariously balanced stack of books in her arms as she reached her room so that she could get to the door handle. She almost had it when the stack started to topple, the weight and the sudden change enough to throw her off balance so that she started to fall.

But she was caught by a strong pair of hands before she could hit the floor. She looked up as she was set back on her feet, brushing her blond hair out of her eyes, "Zach, danke schön."

Zach smiled, "I'm sorry I couldn't catch the books too, but my first concern was you."

Eva felt her cheeks turn pink, not sure what the implications of that simple statement were. "The books do not matter; I can easily pick them up."

"Here, let me help," Zach bent to reach for one text at the same time as Eva and they ended up knocking heads.

Eva giggled as she brought a hand up to her forehead, "I'm not sure how much help you are Herr O'Hara, perhaps you are just making things worse?"

"Can I make it up to you?"

Eva caught her lower lip between her teeth and looked shyly up at him, not quite sure how to respond. "What does this making up include?"

Zach had to think quickly, he hadn't had anything specific in mind, "could I take you to dinner? They've started to rebuild Hogsmeade and a couple of the restaurants have reopened. Maybe we could go..."

"Ja, I would like that," Eva interrupted, red staining her cheeks.

"Yay!!! It took you two long enough," Clara said, sticking her head out the door.

"Clara!!! How long have you been there?" Eva spun around, her face, if possible, turning several shades closer to crimson.

"Long enough to know that you too like each other," the girl said in a sing- song voice, "Tante Eva, du liebst Zach, und er liebt dich auch!

Eva brought her hands up to her flaming cheeks as she turned to face Zach again, "I'm sorry, but I should go now. We'll talk about this dinner later, ja?"

"Of course," Zach could feel the heat rising in his own face as he realized what Clara had said.