Okay, I'm updating early for those of you who had to miss the last chapter - I don't want you to have to wait too long. This one's kind of short, but it's important.

Chapter 25 Sev's Final Gift

Muriel stood apprehensively before the glaring goblin at Gringotts. She'd handed him the key to the Deesia vault, hoping against hope that her father hadn't already written to tell the bank that she'd been disowned for not coming home when ordered. It was a given that she would be, as he really did have to save face among his friends. She knew she should have been here a day sooner. The goblin frowned at her, if goblins could frown, and waddled away. He was gone several minutes, and when he returned he silently handed her a letter, which she read quickly.

The goblin made no apology, and there was no sign of her key. She nodded to him resignedly and handed her father's letter back to him. But before she could turn to go, he handed her yet another letter. She read it as well, her brow furrowed as she tried to understand. Finally she finished and her face broke into a relieved grin. "Show me," she demanded.

When she arrived back at Hogwarts, she went straight to the Great Hall. Lunch would be nearly over, but maybe she would find the person she wanted to talk to there. Severus was sitting at one end of the Slytherin table with Regalus Black and Macnair. Sirius was sitting alone at the Gryffindor table and he didn't look happy. It was a tough call for her, who she ought to speak with first. In the end she made her way to the Slytherins and sat down beside Macnair, who looked at her sideways, but didn't speak.

"Sod off, Deesia. No one here wants to talk with you," Regalus said scathingly. Muriel was unfazed.

"That doesn't mean no one wants to listen to me, Black," she replied dryly. He opened his mouth to contradict her, but Severus, who hadn't looked up, held up a hand to silence him. His mouth snapped shut abruptly. It was more encouragement than Muriel had expected.

"I came over here to say thank you. You know what for, and you know how much it means to me." She waited, but received no acknowledgement, except a confused look from Macnair, and a silent nod from Regalus.

She screwed up her courage and said the only other thing she'd wanted to tell him. "The date will be almost a year to the day from next Halloween. I'll send the note to your mother, since I don't know where you'll be by then. I hope -"

"You expect him to attend your WEDDING?" Macnair asked incredulously, his voice just a bit too loud. Muriel could feel Sirius' attention snap to them from across the room. Obviously Macnair had finally been told exactly why Severus had been drinking at Christmas. For some reason this irked her.

"No, Macnair, after the way YOU turned on me, I don't EXPECT anything from any of you," she replied heatedly, fingering her wand inside the pocket of her robes. The anger that emanated from her in that instant was too much for even Severus to block. But still he didn't meet her eyes, afraid of what she might see in his.

"ME?" Macnair sputtered. "You think I'M the disloyal friend??!!" He was absolutely indignant, and for a moment Muriel couldn't help but think how like a Gryffindor he was behaving. So sure that he was in the right.

"Do you think I didn't notice you laughing each time Jolina came to gloat to me, you ignorant prat?" she hissed. At this comment, Severus' head snapped up and he met her eyes. An instant later he was striding away and hauling Jolina Avery up from the table by her elbow, a furious expression on his face. Everyone left at the Slytherin table watched him drag her out of the hall. Then Mur turned back to Macnair.

"When we leave here, I'm not going to be able to watch out for him, so you're going to have to do it. She's been trying to trap him in a marriage since he started with her in January." Mur knew she sounded bossy, but she also knew that Macnair would do just about anything for Severus. "Make sure that doesn't happen. For both their sakes." He nodded, dumbstruck. "Do you know the charm I mean?" she asked quickly, not sure if Severus would be coming back or not. When Macnair nodded again, she stood up.

"Regalus, thank you again for whatever Severus talked you into with regards to Gringotts," she said formally. He nodded as well, surprised that the blood traitor still held so much sway at the Slytherin table.

She'd just turned to go when he spoke up. "Have you told Sirius yet?" His voice sounded thin, as though he was afraid to ask.

"No." She looked over at the Gryffindor table to find Sirius staring intently at her, and it made her blush horribly. When she thought her face had returned to a normal color, she turned back to Regalus. "You can tell him if you like."

"No! I mean, I'll leave that to you. Just – ask him not to come over here. One scene is plenty. He can owl me or something." It was obvious to Muriel, then, how much Regalus liked his brother. More than anyone would have thought, considering how they complained about one another.

"Alright. I'll thank you for him." She walked back over and kissed the younger boy on his forehead. "It will mean the world to him that you did this," she whispered, hoping Macnair didn't hear.

"I'll expect an invitation," he whispered back, grinning.

When Mur turned back toward Sirius, she nearly stopped walking. Remus had joined him. She'd thought Remus was home for the holiday. If he was still here, that meant he'd been in the room last night. She forced herself to keep walking towards them, in spite of the uncharacteristic glare that Remus had fixed her with.