Chapter Twenty
The Broken Path of Destiny
As Alex went off with Mandria and Rose, Aurelius caught up with Stock and Heph, who were sitting outside of Honeydukes with bags of candy and drinking steaming tankards of cream-topped cocoa.
"So, how's the shop coming?" Stock asked politely, handing Aurelius a bag and a mug as well.
"It's an absolute eyesore. What an embarrassment! I swear he can't do anything right. He finally gets a respectable location and then rents the worst shop in town," Aurelius snorted.
"At least he's got a good spot there on the corner. Location and marketing, that's what it's all about. Galemaster Brooms have completely taken off… literally. I imagine I'll have another good two thousand galleons in the bank come Christmas."
"Lovely, and we Snapes will be the only ones I know without them," Aurelius said ruefully.
"Didn't I tell you? My father turned down the broom," Heph said. "He doesn't get along with Malfoy and doesn't want to 'encourage his business practices' or some sort of rubbish." Heph rolled his eyes. "I think he must owe him money or something. That's usually when Father says that," he said, getting chuckles from the other two.
"Well, I don't see why everyone's so against him. He's always been there for me," Stock said.
"Perhaps because he was a known Death Eater?" Heph replied.
"Well, so was Aurelius' father, but you don't hear everyone going on about him, do you?" Stock pointed out.
"Well, yes, but he was a traitor," Heph shrugged.
"Can we change the subject?" Aurelius snapped, getting out a string of rope licorice to gnaw on. "Let's go to the joke shop after this. There are a few things I need to pick up."
"Sounds good to me," Heph grinned. "I need to get a stash of things ready for the holidays. I figure as long as I leave them in my footlocker, Filch won't have cause to confiscate them before I get home."
"That reminds me. Are you still going to stay at the school over the holidays?" Stock asked.
"Where else do we have to go?" Aurelius asked disdainfully.
"Well, I know you're probably not interested, but my father wants to know if you two want to spend the first of Yule with us; sleepover, you know. If so, he'll write your parents and ask. But don't worry, I'll make sure we don't have to do anything with the rest of my family, unless I have to legally, of course."
"Anything to get away from my sister," Heph said.
"That's the date they set for that stupid Ministry ball, but I'll ask," Aurelius agreed.
"Does that mean the Snapes are going?"
Aurelius and his friends looked up to see Xavier Platt standing there, looking at Aurelius with a thin smile.
"Yes, and yes," Aurelius said.
"Yes as in going and yes as in Alex?" Xavier asked.
"Well, both, although I'd talk to her beforehand if I were you. She wasn't keen on my asking her about it instead of you asking her," Aurelius said. "Especially since she knows that I don't trust you."
"That's the spirit. Never trust anyone," Xavier said, "Seeker," he added with a wink before he went to find Alex. Aurelius shook his head.
"My sister has absolutely no taste in men," he declared.
"Runs in the family," Heph said, earning a dirty look from Aurelius. "What is with you lately? Can't you take a joke?"
"I think I'm going to take a walk," Aurelius said, setting down the cup and putting the bag in his pocket.
"Where do you suppose he's off to?" Heph sighed.
"My guess would be that he's going to go visit that wretched scar-faced brute of his," Stock said disdainfully. "Come on, let's head to the joke shop. My purse is too full."
"Well we can't have that, can we?" Heph grinned, getting up and following him next door.
But the moment that Aurelius was by himself, he heard a soft hoot of an owl. Glancing up, he saw the dark feathered bird and watched as it flew behind the building he had been perched upon. Hesitating only momentarily, Aurelius hurriedly walked to the next tiny alley and back behind the shops, having to dodge around empty crates and trash barrels until he finally caught up with the owl. He stood beneath where it had perched and looked around, not seeing anyone at first. Then he heard a shuffle in the snow behind him and turned to see Lucius standing there.
"So how is school?" Lucius asked politely.
"Chaotic. Why didn't you warn me about Ciardoth?" Aurelius snapped.
"Ciardoth? Has she done something else?" Lucius asked.
"She stole Dagda's Cauldron when the class was dealing with the exploding potions… which, by the way, ended up going off in my class," Aurelius explained.
"You weren't hurt?" Lucius said with a frown.
"You would know if I was, wouldn't you?" Aurelius said testily. "No, it was a harmless spell and I was prepared. Besides, I had the Shield on."
"Good, very good," Lucius said, patting his shoulder a bit. "I do not know what Ciardoth thinks she is doing, but I advise you to stay out of her path should you encounter her. Do whatever you can to save yourself, and then leave her to me to deal with. Where is the egg?"
"Oh, it hatched, and the bird is stuck in the Defense room. By the way, its mother almost killed my sister and I think it did kill my father's familiar."
"Really?" Lucius said with open interest. "The one-eyed lizard is gone?"
"He was protecting my sister," Aurelius snapped. "When the egg's mother came in, she refused to get out of her seat and it tried to come after her!"
"Foolish girl," Lucius growled, shaking his head. "From now on, you will have to be more cautious. Get a copy of all your siblings' schedules and keep it on you before sending your plans to me."
"Actually, I'm really not sure I'm going to need any more plans," Aurelius said, Lucius raising an eyebrow in response. "They've been punished enough, and I'm afraid someone's just going to end up getting hurt."
"This is no time to be timid. There is still much to be done if you are to truly gain the respect you desire, Aurelius. I am still the only one you can turn to, the only one you can trust," Lucius told him quietly. "But when we are done, it will be everyone else turning to you, and then you can truly show them just how much they have taken you for granted. I promised you in the beginning that neither you nor I would cause your family any physical harm, and I plan to keep that promise. And I must. You know that," he added, Aurelius frowning thoughtfully. "Now, if I do not see you over the holiday, I will attend the first Quidditch game. I understand from my sources that there will be a substitute Seeker for the game?"
"Yes sir," Aurelius nodded, wondering how he knew that. Lucius smiled slightly.
"Pity then that you can't have a Dutchman. Oh, don't worry. I'm hardly going to hold it against you that your father lets his grudge with me keep you from the best money can buy. Of course, between Willowby and all of the Ministry fines, I suspect that he should have given in considering how low on finances they must be getting. It would explain why your mother is so reluctant to try and find another home, wouldn't it?" Lucius said quietly, Aurelius blinking at that. "Well, I certainly am not going to let you be affected by their irresponsible actions and their careless spendthrift nature with their charity case. You deserve better, much better, than all of this," he said in a voice almost a whisper, placing a heavy coin purse in his hand. "I will be in touch soon. Until then, take extra care… and never take the Shield off, never. It may be the only thing standing in Ciardoth's way of harming you. She wants all of you dead; there can be no doubt of that. Do whatever you must to insure that doesn't happen." With that, Lucius closed his hand around the pouch and Disapparated, leaving Aurelius standing there alone.
Glancing at the pouch, Aurelius stuffed it in his pocket and slipped back into town, a bit disoriented. He went towards the Brooms, feeling that he could use a nice warm butterbeer and a semi-quiet corner near the fire to think. But as was walking down the main street of town, an unusually large shadow passed by overhead and he felt a chill down his spine. Then he glanced up, paralyzed by what he saw.
"Dragon!" Several voices screamed. Everyone looked up at once, a panic erupting in the streets as people ran to get indoors.
Standing in the middle of the street, Aurelius remembered his brother's game and knew that inside was hardly the place to be… neither was he about to stand there and try to face that thing. Instead, he turned tail and ran down the hill and towards the Grove as fast as he could. The dragon let out a roar, instigating several of the wizards in town to take feeble shots at the thing with their wands as it began to dive.
"Back! Get back in the Grove!" Aurelius shouted at a group of students coming out. As they looked up to see the terrible beast flying towards them, they decided to take his advice, running back into the trees.
But as Aurelius got to the edge of the Grove and tried to step a foot onto the path, the trees on either side seemed to come to life, their branches blocking his way.
"Let me in! What are you doing?" Aurelius asked in a panic, trying to get around them. When that didn't work, he climbed over them. The moment his feet left the ground, he found himself launched backwards several yards, hitting the snow with a groan and landing on his slightly twisted arm. Strangely he felt little pain, looking his arm over curiously to make sure it wasn't broken. It was as he tried to get to his feet that he noticed a growing shadow on the trees in front of him. Before he had time to even turn around, the dragon had come up from behind him and scooped him up in her talons.
"Having trouble getting in, boy?" the dragon growled in hollow but understandable English. "Perhaps I should help you. But first you'll help me!" Pulling around in a tight turn, Aurelius cried out involuntarily as he was beaten by the winter winds and the firm grip of the dragon as it dipped back down dangerously close to the tops of the buildings.
Ciardoth roared again to make sure she had everyone's attention as Jennifer, Severus, and Corey scrambled out of the shop, looking up with horror to see Aurelius dangling from her talons.
"Aurelius!" someone screamed. From the doorways, everyone saw Alex running down the street with her wand in hand. Immediately Severus reacted, chasing his daughter down and pulling her out of the street just as Ciardoth came back through. She blasted the road with flames, a hot steam rising as the snow melted.
"Get in Toby's shop and stay there!" Severus ordered her, pushing her in the right direction. Alex passed her mother who urged her on, watching her daughter go in before rushing to Severus' side. "We should try to force her down!"
"No! We risk her dropping him!" Jennifer shouted.
"We risk that anyhow! Come on!" Severus snapped. The two of them raced after the dragon as a sparkle of lights burst into the sky. The reason for the signal didn't register at first; Jennifer was too busy realizing the futility of trying to chase a dragon on foot. But as they ran down the hill to where the dragon was circling the outer perimeter of the Grove, four brooms passed overhead.
"It's them! It's them!" Rose said excitedly from the door of Toby's shop. "Look, Alex! The Four Musketeers! You have nothing to worry about now. They'll save your brother!" But Alex looked even more worried than she had been before as Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and d'Artagnan swept out of view.
"Oh God, rescue by the fashion reject committee," Aurelius murmured miserably when he saw the four brooms tailing them.
Ciardoth, however, seemed positively delighted to see them. She turned around and hovered in midair, tightening her grip on Aurelius so suddenly that he cried out again, despite the fact it hadn't seemed to crush him. In front of her, four brooms had pulled up, looking at the dragon with grim faces.
"Ciardoth! Cease this attack and put down the boy at once if you want this to end peacefully!" d'Artagnan called out, earning the dragon's snarling laughter in response.
"There is no peace for me or those who know me, and there will be no peace for you," the dragon growled. "You pit yourself a hero, but with every fight you're only racing towards your own death by sword, and a grave in Holland will bear your name, d'Artagnan!"
"Yes, I know this, although I admit surprise that you know it," the leader said.
"I know all," Ciardoth hissed. "And I know this does not end well. Do you truly want me to put the boy down?" she taunted. Unexpectedly she loosened her grip, and Aurelius found himself scrambling to hold on, slipping out of the dragon's talons only to be snatched back up by one of his feet, dangling over the Grove at a height perhaps greater than the top of a pitch. But d'Artagnan leaned down against the broom, merely waving a hand in a silent command.
The other three suddenly shot forward, Athos brandishing his glinting sword as he swung around while the other two pointed their swords towards their foe and charged, spells of water and ice aimed at her open maul. Still grasping Aurelius by the leg, the dragon reared away from the spells, swiping at them with a foreleg. Porthos quickly dodged, but Aramis was a bit slow, his broom spinning shakily around until he finally got control. Meanwhile, d'Artagnan had backed up to get out of the dragon's reach, but his eyes were still focused on Aurelius, who was starting to turn bright red from being upside down so long, being swung about so quickly that he was beginning to wish she would just let go.
But Ciardoth, who had momentarily been distracted, turned as Athos flew close enough to her to pierce her wing, a cry of pain and fury sounding through her.
"How dare you cut me! I shall rip you in half!" she said, twisting so quickly around that Aurelius thought he was going to be sick. He heard the ringing echo of screams in his ears, but it hadn't occurred to him that it wasn't him they were worried about until a drop of blood hit Aurelius' face. That was when he realized that Athos had been seized within her jaws, which the others were trying to desperately trying to free him from.
"No, back away! Save Rel!" Athos rasped weakly, somehow managing to Disapparate just as a flaming breath came out, the others having to dive out of the way. D'Artagnan was too close and his cloak caught on fire. Aramis quickly put it out with the same water spell that he had doused Ciardoth with before. Porthos had somehow managed to get below Aurelius, holding him prone while attempting to slowly release his foot.
"Enough! You are no match for me. Go die your intended deaths! Face your own destinies as this one will face his," Ciardoth said. Violently she pulled Aurelius out of Porthos' desperate grip and climbed up to a new height, her talons tossing him into a terrifying freefall before snatching him up again. Aurelius found himself facing downward, but at least not upside down, as she spiraled closer to the Grove below.
"Now, you will open the Grove for me!" Ciardoth declared. Somehow as he dropped this time, he knew she wasn't going to pick him up again. He fell sprawled on his front, closing his eyes as the trees seemed to charge up at him.
But just then he felt a strange puff, and he opened his eyes to see eagle feathers around him. The spell slowed his descent as he came crashing through the trees and onto the ground, the impact still more than enough to knock the wind out of him. He rolled over and curled himself up as he tried to regain it, but he had little time to recover. A strange prickling feeling of danger was going through him and he scrambled to his feet, staring in confusion as the trees around him started to loom over him menacingly.
"What's wrong?" he demanded, knowing this wasn't right at all. "What is it, what's wrong with you?" Their leaves looked strange; a grey tone began to creep along the branches, and icicles shuttered as if in pain and shattered at his feet, but as he tried to back away, he heard a neigh. "Pali?"
The Unicorn stood in the distance, merely a shadow in the trees. Behind him were others, some Aurelius recognized and some not, all with their horns down towards him and their eyes flaming red.
Just then, a figure stepped between Aurelius and the Unicorns, and they began trying to push both of them back. It was d'Artagnan, looking singed and smelling like brimstone but otherwise seemingly all right.
"What is wrong with this place?" Aurelius demanded.
"I do not know, but it seems we are not wanted," d'Artagnan said. "Are you hurt?"
"No," Aurelius said, as d'Artagnan risked a second to look him over. Just then, the Unicorns suddenly reared as if startled, taking off through the trees. "What's wrong now?"
D'Artagnan felt the hair on his back stand up and quickly pushed Aurelius to the ground as flames spewed out overhead, lighting the trees above them.
"It is mine! It is mine! The Stone is mine!" The dragon declared, spewing another cone of flames deeper into the grove. It was then that d'Artagnan noticed that the dragon had a large rock clutched in her claws, and realized it was none other than the Stone of Destiny itself, the Lia Fáil.
Just then there was a sound; a horrific, terrifying sound that made d'Artagnan roll over and hold his ears, clutching them in pain. Above, the dragon too seemed momentarily stunned and furious.
"Sisters! Call me not! Sisters! Do not call me now!" she snarled angrily, the same screeching sound coming out of her as well. Aurelius noticed that something was developing behind her… a black cloud that grew ever larger and more menacing. Distracted by the Shrieking Death spell, the dragon had not noticed the cloud until it was too late. She turned and found herself being pulled within the blackness, which suddenly became less like a cloud and more like a sphere that pulled in everything around her.
Aurelius found himself mesmerized by the collapsing darkness and felt himself unable to fight it, and darkness fell over him like a suffocating black cowl. But just before the last of the light began to dim, Aurelius heard his name whispered softly by someone as if commanding him to stay. Fear gripped him, not only fear of the darkness around him but a sincere fear of obeying the voice that called him back to an uncertain future. As the two sides began to clash within him, a hand reached over and yanked him firmly back into the light just as the darkness buckled, taking Ciardoth with it.
Severus let go of Aurelius. He stared at his father in surprise, wondering where he had come from. But Severus' color was fading fast, and before Aurelius could react, his father collapsed at his feet.
Jennifer slipped out of the back room of the hospital wing, taking a couple of deep breaths to try and control her worry before turning around. Nearby, Severus was lying on one of the beds snoring loudly, while on the far side of the room, Aurelius sat on the foot of a bed. She put on a forced smile as she came over to him, waving her hand to light the candles and lanterns since it had begun to get dark outside.
"What's going on in there? Am I going to have to be here all night?" Aurelius asked irritably.
"Pomfrey will be out as soon as she can, Aurelius. I know you must be bored. Do you have any books in your cloak?" she suggested.
"Yes, but I left my earmuffs under my pillow," Aurelius said, scowling at his father. Jennifer chuckled softly.
"He tends to snore when he overexerts himself. Ancient magic can drain the caster quite thoroughly, especially if one loses control over the spell. In fact, it can be very dangerous, even life threatening. That's one of the reasons why we don't normally use it any more," Jennifer explained softly, sitting beside him. "Unfortunately, since normal magic doesn't seem to have much effect on Ciardoth, we didn't have much choice."
"So what did he do to her?"Aurelius asked
"Ciardoth is consumed by her own dark feelings… hatred, despair, and a need for vengeance. He was able to create a sort of vacuum from them to send her away. He should have been all right… but something went wrong at the end. I suppose we'll find out what when he wakes up, but it looked to me as if somehow he was being pulled in as well," Jennifer said, looking at Severus thoughtfully. "For a moment I thought he had been, until we ran to put the fire in the Grove out and saw he was there with you."
The door opened behind them and Jennifer stood up quickly as Poppy Pomfrey came out. Jennifer immediately walked over to her with an anxious expression.
"We've given Corey a Sleeping Potion," Poppy told her softly. "We can't give him anything for the pain until the potion Dumbledore gave him takes full effect, so it'll help him not be consciously aware of it."
"What sort of potion?" Jennifer asked, Poppy turning quickly away from her and walking towards Aurelius.
"Only what was necessary to save him," she murmured to her. "Hello, Aurelius! I hear you took quite a nasty fall!"
"Yes, but I'm fine," Aurelius said.
"There will be no bravado here, Mr. Snape," she chided him, feeling around his ribs gently. "Does that hurt? Answer truthfully now," she asked, watching his face for signs of wincing.
"No, not at all," Aurelius sighed resignedly. "Really, I was just a bit winded."
"Take off your shirt and let me have a listen," Poppy said, taking out her stethoscope. Aurelius hesitated. "Well, come on, off with it."
"What is with you, Aurelius? You've never been skittish around doctors before," Jennifer asked with a frown.
"The sooner we do this, the sooner you can get back to your rooms, Mr. Snape," Poppy told him impatiently. Reluctantly he took off his shirt, Poppy looking him over with a mildly surprised look on his face. "Not a bruise in sight," she murmured.
"Well, come take a look at his back," Jennifer told her. His back was heavily scratched as if he had been whipped and heavily bruised. Pomfrey took one look and went to grab a poultice. As Jennifer waited, she became curious at the heavy bronze chain around Aurelius' neck. "Where did you get this?" she asked curiously, raising the medallion up to look at it.
"I… I bought it," Aurelius said.
"It seems familiar for some reason," Jennifer murmured, gazing thoughtfully at the incredibly detailed gorgon head in the center, running her finger over the inscription. "Truth is enveloped in obscurity… or would that be Truth is hidden in darkness?" Jennifer murmured. "Interesting how the snakes are placed."
"I was told it's supposed to protect one from harm," Aurelius said slowly.
"Well, next time maybe you should wear it on your back," Jennifer said dryly, stepping out of the way as Pomfrey gently put a potion-soaked cloth on his back. Aurelius winced. "I hope you didn't pay too much for that thing."
"I don't know," Aurelius said softly. "I may have."
"Well, if you need money for Christmas, find me once everything settles down. I'm sure I can find plenty for you to do to earn some," Jennifer said, watching as Pomfrey slowly pulled the poultice back off.
"So you mean we aren't broke?" Aurelius asked. Jennifer stared at him.
"Broke? What on earth gave you that idea?" Jennifer asked, completely puzzled. Aurelius shrugged, then touched his back experimentally when it didn't hurt.
"There we are! Good as new short of a scratch or two and a bit of tenderness. You might want to lie on your front tonight, Mr. Snape. Let me get you something to put on until you get back to your room," Poppy said. "You're very lucky to have gotten away from what happened with only a few bumps."
"Perhaps that overpriced divination charm worked after all," Jennifer said wistfully. "If only your brother had one."
"Why, what happened to Andrew?" Aurelius asked with a frown.
"I meant the brother whose still fighting for his life after saving yours," Jennifer said, her face turning stern and serious. "Poppy, is he free to go?"
"Yes, I suppose," she said, handing him the shirt.
"Good. Come on, Aurelius," Jennifer said, waiting only long enough for him to throw the shirt over his shoulders before taking him by the arm.
"Goodness, Jennifer, you're not planning to take him in there, are you?" Poppy said aghast.
"He has to see him, Poppy," Jennifer said firmly, knocking softly and opening the door, nudging Aurelius forward. Sagittari and Dumbledore looked up from where they leaned over the bed, Sagittari's expression completely disapproving when he saw the young boy. In the back of the room sat Doug, Essie, Taylor, and Danny, also quite surprised that Jennifer brought him in. Dumbledore merely stepped back, nodding to her. "How is he?"
"He is not out of the woods yet," Dumbledore said. "The bleeding has only recently stopped, but he's lost quite a bit, perhaps too much," he said, glancing up understandingly at Sagittari's alarmed face. "I am sorry, Doctor, but if she has brought him here, she wants him to know the truth. And the truth is there is a chance that when the Sleeping Potion wears off, he may not wake up."
"You mean he's going to die?" Aurelius inhaled sharply.
"Sagittari and I have used the most potent magic we have, Aurelius, we can only wait and see. But the greatest magic in all of the world cannot stop someone from going if its their time," Dumbledore explained gently. "Now we have our hopes and prayers to depend upon."
"You've both pulled me out of closer calls," Jennifer said softly.
"You are needed here, Jennifer," Dumbledore replied.
"Yes, and so is Corey," Jennifer said firmly, gazing back over to Aurelius who had stepped over to the bed.
He was so grey, Aurelius thought, and his face was strange; neither calm nor relaxed, eyes twitching rapidly in his forced sleep. His entire torso was bandaged from under his arms down, parts of what was showing was still stained with blood. His mind wandered back then, remembering the blood on his face and the quick image of Corey caught within Ciardoth's jaws. Fervently he tried to get the image out of his mind, taking a quick step back only to bump into Dumbledore, who put a hand on Aurelius' shoulder.
"Don't give up hope, Aurelius. Your mother is right. He has much to live for, and a great many friends who care about him," Dumbledore said quietly. "Do not worry your siblings with this yet. By tomorrow, we shall have some better idea how is doing, and I am optimistic that he'll pull through."
"Corey is too stubborn to let Ciardoth win something like this," Essie said, coming to sit on the foot of the bed. "He's survived goblin daggers and rogue Bludger bats, he'll survive this."
"Of course he will," Jennifer said, leaning down to kiss his forehead gently before turning to Aurelius again. "I'd best see you out now. You can come back and visit when he's doing better."
"And I've actually given them permission to visit," Sagittari added sternly. Jennifer ignored him, walking Aurelius out and shutting the door behind herself.
"Don't worry about your homework tonight, Aurelius, just relax. There's not a teacher here that'll question you being a day late considering what you just went through. Not even the snoring wonder over there," Jennifer joked as she walked him towards the door.
"Are you sure Father's going to be all right?" Aurelius frowned.
"Oh sure, there's no need to worry about him. He'll just wake up with a monstrous headache and fizzling magic for a few days. Maybe a bit grumpy," she warned with a grin.
"Isn't he always," Aurelius said, as he stepped past Hermione Weasley and out into the hall. Immediately he found himself surrounded as Alex, Andrew, Alicia, and the twins, who had been studying their homework outside the door. They leapt to their feet and hugged him warmly, asking him a ton of questions.
"Hey! You're being too loud!" Hermione protested. "Go find somewhere else to talk!"
"Somewhere safe!" Jennifer added in a warning tone.
"Let's go work on some models," Andrew suggested. "That's safe, isn't it?"
"Just make sure you're in your rooms on time. I will be checking," Jennifer promised. "And if the lights flicker, straight to the Great Hall, all of you."
"Then Ciardoth will be back? But I thought father banished her." Alex frowned.
"We don't know how long it will last," Jennifer sighed. "But I'm afraid one thing is certain. She will be back."
Trunks and bags were packed before Corey was able to open his eyes for more than how long it took them to swallow a potion. He recognized them all; from the pain medicine to those made to help him replenish his blood, his mind fitfully found itself reciting each ingredient. But he thought of other things too; for it wasn't the first time he had been in that bed, nor the first Christmas he had spent there. He drifted often back in time to mixed comfort and pain… as if his memories were expressing what his body was feeling.
It was the sound of the train as it left the station that finally woke him again, glancing around blindly and feeling a sudden panic.
"Don't leave me. Professor Dusthorn, they're leaving me," he said, disoriented.
"No one is leaving you, son," the old woman's voice reassured him. "The children are going home, but your family is here, and so am I."
Weak but startled, Corey stared a long time at where he heard the voice coming from. At last his eyes focused on the painting that Caprica Dusthorn had commandeered.
"What are you doing awake?" he rasped.
"Lately, I've been hanging about here waiting for you to wake up," Caprica admitted. "I hope you don't mind. I've been spying on you for little Alicia."
"Oho, so she's who woke you up."
"Nonsense, I woke myself up," Caprica said indignantly.
"Does the staff know?" Corey murmured.
"I suspect Severus has an inkling. At least he's come into the Trophy Room to stare suspiciously at me from time to time. Not so much lately. He's been too worried about you and Aurelius to do much. Well, that, and all that business with the Stymphalian," Caprica sighed. "Someone tipped off to the Ministry that the school was holding a protected creature here without permission and it got a bit nasty, with fines thrown left and right. Fortunately, Draco stepped in and pointed out they had no evidence where the egg came from or how it got there, so they dropped the charges against Severus personally."
"You don't know how strange it is to hear you say anything about Draco sticking up for Dad," Corey said with a soft sigh. "Every time anyone tells me 'he's changed,' I cringe. Malfoys don't change. Once you start down that path, there's no turning back."
"What about Severus?" Caprica inquired.
"That was different," Corey murmured.
"I wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you," Caprica said. "And even if it is different, I hope you're wrong for your brother's sake."
"Come on Caprica," Corey said, coughing lightly but painfully. "Aurelius may be a rotten kid sometimes, but he'd never do anything to go against his family."
"Then how was it that you knew I was talking about Aurelius?" Caprica asked, but then glanced up. "Someone's coming. I shall speak with you later," she promised with a smile, slipping out of the frame. Corey slowly turned his head to the door just as Severus opened it with a tray of potions in hand, attempting to close the door as quietly as possible.
"What's wrong, Dad? Afraid of waking the dead?" Corey said with a teeth gritting grin as Severus turned to look at him with surprise.
"Or near dead. Again. By someone attempting to be someone he's not. Again," Severus said in a low voice, putting the tray down.
"Feel-Me-Not Draught first please," Corey said.
"Let's pretend for a moment that you are the patient and know nothing of alchemy and I am the one under instruction to do these in a specific order," Severus frowned at him. "At least this time I don't have to force it down your throat, although I imagine that some of these taste no better than you must have tasted to Ciardoth."
"At least you haven't lost your sense of humor," Corey said, reluctantly stopping to take the first dose. "How's Aurelius?"
"He managed to get out of the incident virtually unscathed," Severus said, helping him with the next phial. "If I could only say the same for the Grove. A magical blight has taken over, and many of the trees are sick. The centaurs are doing what they can, but it won't be until spring that they'll know whether or not the Grove will recover. It seems that the Grove became corrupted when someone who wasn't supposed to enter the Grove ended up at the very heart of it."
"Aurelius?" Corey asked softly. Severus merely set down the phial and picked up the last decanter.
"The Grove and the Unicorns didn't attack him as they would have attacked her or any other, for it remembered him. I'm afraid that was its own undoing. In the process, the Lia Fáil, which has been in the Grove for ten years now is in Ciardoth's hands."
"Does he know? That the blight was him?" Corey whispered.
"No," Severus said, putting the last phial down, his expression suddenly distant. "At least, we did not tell him. I'm not really sure how much he knows or guesses. He's walking down a path that few can follow him down, and at the end there is only a broken bridge that I find myself watching him march towards, knowing that if he gets too far upon it, he'll fall through."
"Then do something, Dad. It wouldn't be the first time you've intervened in something like this. Stop him before he falls!"
"If I attempt to stop him too soon, he'll merely break into a run to get by me," Severus murmured, sitting down. "And when all is said and done and there's only one path left that leads back, there is also no guarantee that he will want to take that offered hand."