Chapter One
Friend Reunited
September 1st, a dry, sunny day for once after
the previous two years were plagued with sheet rain. Professor Slatero Quirrell
woke in a mood of anticipation. Slatero had taught at Hogwarts for one year, and
today marked the second. His aim was to improve vastly on last year's steep
learning curve about teaching. There was a soft knock at his chamber door.
"Slatero, are you up?" A female voice called, muffled slightly. The
young professor turned to his mirror, visualised the clothes he required and a
click of his fingers later he was wearing them.
"Come in." He called, straightening his tie and smoothing his academic
cloak over his shoulders, giving a hopeless look at the short crop of brown hair
that had grown back over the summer. It was never tidy. The oak door opened
slowly, and Professor Davina Aquarius put her head round.
"Thought I'd check." She said with a smile. Slatero saw the reflection
of her face in the mirror, the early morning sunlight dancing across it, and
turned to greet her.
"Davina, come in! I was worried you'd miss the start of term
altogether!" He exchanged a grin and a hug with his tall friend. He noticed
several changes in the Muggle studies professor since their last meeting in
early summer before Davina had left to travel the world. She had spent the whole
summer travelling, trying to broaden her mind in other fields of magic and
studying the co-operation of Muggles and magic folk in many countries. Slatero
and Davina had personalities that had clicked from day one, and their friendship
had blossomed throughout the previous year. There had never been anything more
than colleagues and good friends between them. Davina had invited him to join
her on the travels throughout the summer, but Slatero had declined, scared the
relationship would go too far and be wrecked. Beside he also favoured studying
out of books, must safer.
"You've cut your hair, and you look... healthier." The Defence Against
the Dark Arts teacher commented, taking in her appearance with a sweep down her
body and then up it in approval.
"I've so much to tell you Slatero you won't believe. I've got to report to
Albus and Minerva first, explain myself."
"Alright, I'll see you at breakfast." The young witch left his
chambers. Slatero sniffed gently, smelling the faint smell of lavender, or was
it apple blossom, something floral. Whatever it was, it was new too.
He made his way down to the Great Hall for
breakfast with a smile on his face.
"Good morning Slatero, Davina popped in to see you too?" He gave a
smile at Minerva's comment as he approached the staff table in the virtually
empty great hall. Tonight the hall would be filled with students for the
sorting.
"You mean that Muggle fanatic has returned? Didn't she kill herself
travelling?" Severus asked, a glass in his hand. Silence followed as
everyone stared at the head of Slytherin. He took a sip from the glass in his
hand, avoiding eyes. Suddenly he blurted out:
"For Merlin's sake, I was trying to be sarcastic...!" Slatero raised
his eyebrows comically and sat down beside Severus in his normal seat, reaching
for a thick slice of brown bread. As he was buttering it, he heard Davina's
laugh echo down the corridor outside the hall.
"I'm serious Miss Aquarius..." Albus was saying, smiling, his cheeks
coloured from laughing himself. He didn't look too serious.
"Well I managed to come back in one piece, so it must mean something."
Davina laughed. Albus took his seat beside Minerva and Davina took hers beside
Slatero. She slipped her hand beneath the table and gave her friend's leg a
squeeze. Slatero smiled and blinked slowly at her, watching her beam round the
table, happy to be back. He'd missed her company for sure.
"I like your hair Davina, when did you get it cut?" Professor Sprout
commented, spearing another cube of melon off her plate with her fork.
"When I was in Bulgaria. I just needed it to be out of my face while I was
hiking. It's grown back since, I can just about tie it back."
"Why don't you use magic?" Minerva asked.
"I was working around Muggles, I didn't want to take the risk."
"Did you get your report finished?" Severus asked, peering round
Slatero at Davina.
"Almost Severus, it's almost all written, the last couple of pages that's
all. Fascinating the variety of techniques used." Slatero and Davina met
eyes and she gave a look that said she'd really missed him. He returned it with
a pat on her arm.
"I don't know about you, but Davina looks,
well... better. I think she's had a summer full of experiences and she looks
better for it." Minerva said to Severus as they watched Davina and Slatero
talking. Davina was using grand gestures with her arms, her shoulder-length
brown hair dances across her shoulders. Slatero was listening intently, his eyes
wider.
"Slatero looks a bit... stiff doesn't he?"
"She asked him to go with her, what they call 'cold feet'." Severus
explained, recalling the conversation between him and Slatero after Davina had
offered him to travel with her. They shared the dungeons to teach in, and for
this reason they were on better terms. The younger man had turned to Severus of
all people.
"Slatero was probably wise. If they took it further, we could see a
wonderful relationship- as friends- I hasten to add- ruined." Severus
raised an eyebrow at his shorter colleague.
"Come upstairs, surely you can leave the
menagerie of yours for a while longer?"
"Menagerie- I'll have you know those animals are prime examples of each
species!" Slatero said with a smile.
"If it makes you any faster, I'll give you a hand."
"Deal." He said with a smile. They climbed the spiral stairs down to
the dungeon classroom.
"I don't know how you survive down here. Especially in winter." Davina
commented, walking behind him with her hands lightly on his hips. He guided her
across the room like this, towards a large reptile tank.
"I missed you." Slatero said softly, turning his head to the right.
Davina kissed him gently on the cheek and wrapped her arms around his chest and
arms tightly, putting her head against his.
"Ah, I saw one of these in the wild!" She exclaimed, seeing the lizard
move.
"Name it, get it wrong and you clean him out alone." Slatero
challenged.
"Err... A Sempko, when threatened, sprays a fine mist of sleeping solution
of its own. When bred in captivity by dark wizards, they can be transformed to
spray other more deadly things and used for malicious reasons."
"Correct, country observed in?" Slatero asked, their cheeks within a
centimetre of each other.
"Edge of China actually."
"Liar."
"Check my report." She challenged in his ear, releasing him from her
grasp. "I'll give you a hand anyway." As they cleaned out Silcon the
Sempko, the lizard sat across Slatero's shoulders. Davina talked endlessly about
her time in China. She and Slatero had corresponded regularly throughout her
trip, but Slatero understood a letter could only just touch the tip of the
iceberg.
The two young professors spent most of the day
with each other, attending the mid-afternoon staff briefing. Davina had bought
presents back and surprised Dumbledore with a living portrait of the Niagara
Falls. The sun rose and set and the weather and seasons occurred, For Professor
McGonagall, an all-seeing eye. A glass ball with what appeared to be a cat's eye
inside. Davina explained it would watch the class if she looked down for a
while, or turned her back. For Severus, she gave a Bulgarian Quidditch whistle
for when he refereed the house matches. Last season he'd complained about being
ignored (and took points off for it), but with this whistle he could silence the
whole stadium, if not the Hogwarts grounds. She gave other things to further
members of staff, and finally she reached Slatero. She revealed a peace orb to
him.
"Need to test it with you though, it worked with me... Severus, could you
possibly assist in this experiment?"
"With pleasure." Severus cleared his throat, looked straight at the
Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, "Slatero, I don't think I've seen
such idiotic behaviour towards a woman before. If everyone knew about what you
were asked-."
"Severus!" Slatero snapped, and Davina handed him the ball. The
effects were instant.
"No offence meant, partly." Severus gave a slight sneer, enjoying the
fact he'd got something on Slatero.
"What was he going to say anyway?" Davina asked as she sat down beside
Slatero.
"I don't know."
"You looked angry."
"I jumped to conclusions." Slatero replied before Minerva called the
staff briefing together.
