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.