Chapter Thirty-One

Around the Beaten Bushes

If Aurelius was aware of his siblings' suspicions the week following what had happened, he made little sign. Nor did he seem to do anything too unexpected… spending most of his free time when not at Quidditch or sparring in the library, his nose stuck in books that not even Alex recognized, although Rose mentioned seeing one of the tomes during their research of Dark Arts for OWLS the year before.

Of course, Alex knew that Aurelius had always studied ahead in school; he had always been a perfectionist in earlier years, although she had thought he had given up the pursuit of unblemished marks after his last two disagreeable years in Potions. But even that, Andrew reported, seemed to be something Aurelius was trying to overcome, spending an extra night a week in the Potion Lab, tutored by Xavier or one of the older Slytherin in the art.

That Friday was the witch teachers' monthly Coven Night, and Jennifer, both stressed and depressed, had been encouraged not only by her friends and fellow teachers but Severus himself to go, hoping that perhaps it'd cheer her up. In the process, it gave Severus a bit of freedom in the lab, allowing him to bubble up a potion or two while watching over the Dabbler's class and helping Aurelius with a project that needed constant supervision.

It was during this time that Sirius Black arrived, knocking casually on the door before striding over to where Severus stood over a putrescent smelling cauldron. He grimaced the moment he got near enough to smell it, coughing slightly and rubbing his watering eyes.

"I'm not sure what that is but I swear it smells even viler than you do," Sirius said.

"If you came here to insult me, I'm much too busy. And if you came here because your son's in detention again, I'm much too busy for that too. Take it to Dumbledore," Severus said, stirring the bubbling liquid.

"As a matter of fact, neither are correct, although I'm now beginning to regret coming at all," Sirius said, grimacing at the mixture.

"Good. Leave," Severus said.

"What is that?"

"Toad skin mash, just one part of a strong sedative used before risky surgeries, not that it's any of your business. What did you want again?" Severus asked.

"Well, how long do you think it would take you to wrap things up here?" Sirius asked, trying to stay out of the direct smoke, which was making him feel a bit queasy.

"Why would I need to?" Severus asked, getting annoyed at his obvious avoidance of the question.

"Because you need to come look at a house with me, and it's got to be now. Tonight."

"A house? Tonight?" Severus said skeptically. "This doesn't have anything to do with that dilapidated old property off of…"

"No, no… this is a different house. One I haven't told you about. In fact, it's not even on the market yet. I talked the owner into wait on putting it up for auction until I talked to you about it first. Severus, trust me, you want this house. But if it goes to auction, it'll be well out of your price range. Now I mean it, you have to come with me." Sirius said.

"I'm hardly going to leave the students or a potion hanging because you think I want to look at a house we haven't even discussed yet. Where is it?" Severus asked.

"Severus, it has everything on your list and more, I promise you," Sirius said, becoming even more insistent as he held his hands up and counted them off. "It has four regular bedrooms with a common bath, plus a master suite with bath all on the third floor, and a servant's suite with a bath on the main floor. It has a large grass yard and even a library built on the second floor with its own private staircase. It even has electric wired in the parlor and the kitchen on the bottom floor and gas lighting throughout. There's an attic and a basement, which, granted, the basement could use work to make it a lab, but it does have running water hooked up down there. Seriously. You need to come with me and see this house."

"A wired house, eh? Gas? It's in the city, isn't it?" Severus said expressionlessly.

"Severus, for once in your life, will you trust me? You would very much like the neighborhood. It's in a very historic section of town."

"Sirius, it's London. Everything is in a historic section of town," Severus said crisply. "And I believe I have told you, no I am quite certain I have told you, that I do not under any circumstances want to live in the city limits. No townhouses."

"Severus, please, just humor me and come look at the house, just this once."

"Sirius, if you don't mind, as you can quite plainly see, I'm very busy."

"You will not mind living in the city if you can live here, Severus. There's even a very intriguing museum right next door… really, a very distinguished residence…"

"I don't care if it's on the lawn of Buckingham Palace. I'm not living in London."

"Severus, I swear if you don't come with me to see this house, you will be kicking yourself for the rest of your life. Or, even more likely, you'll be kicking me for the rest of your life and blaming me for it despite the fact that it's your pigheaded full-snouted stubbornness that's responsible for your loss!" Sirius snapped. As the students looked up curiously, Severus merely stared at Sirius with a completely unyielding expression. "Okay, fine! Have it your way! Don't listen to me! Never mind that I went out on a limb to secure a viewing tonight so that you could have a whack at it before it went to market, risking you taking the commission I'd have made if it went full blown public. I'll just tell the owner of two hundred twenty-one-and-a-half Baker Street that you are not interested and that you told me to shove it up my…" Severus suddenly grabbed his sleeve, staring at him.

"Where did you say it was again?"

"221 ½ Baker Street. Idiot," Sirius said again, enunciating every syllable, especially on the word 'Idiot.' Severus met his gaze searchingly, his black eyes squinting as it attempted to gauge if he were being serious.

"I'll get my cloak," Severus said at last, Sirius snorting softly as Severus went towards his office and told the students to wrap things up on his way.

Jennifer was a bit surprised the next morning when she saw Severus had already left, wondering if she had overslept. But by the time she got dressed, she heard movement from his sitting room and walked in to find him rapidly searching through a small filing cabinet he had pulled out of his Storage Wardrobe.

"Good morning," she said in a normal tone. Severus jumped up like a startled cat, completely taken by surprise. Jennifer smiled at him thoughtfully. "You know, after years of you sneaking up behind me, I think that's the first time I have ever caught you off guard. Is something wrong? What are you looking for?"

"Um… just the inventory records of the old vault for your father. I was planning on going down there today."

"On a Saturday?"

"Yes, well, I may have some information on a possible home for him to get him out of there. By the way, Dumbledore would like to see you. I had a chat with him this morning and he mentioned he needed to speak with you. He was down in the staff room a moment ago if you want to look for him," Severus said. Jennifer nodded slowly, still watching him sort through a folder.

"That's the wrong folder," she said. Severus stopped short, gazing up at her. "You put it in the insurance folder instead of assets. Remember? I argued about whether or not it should go in there, and you said it didn't." Severus grimaced, putting the folder down and sifting to find the other one. "What does Dumbledore want to see me about?"

"I don't know, he didn't tell me. In fact, he's gotten quite tight-lipped about a lot of things lately," he grumbled.

"Yes, well, he's hardly the only one," Jennifer said dryly.

"Oh, and would you do me a favor and feed Descartes if I'm not back by noon? I'm not sure how long I'll be today," he admitted, managing to slip the assets folder into the insurance one without her noticing.

"Fine. See you at dinner then?" Jennifer asked.

"You might be busy for dinner," Severus said, flipping through the folder.

Jennifer watched him silently for a moment before finally storming out the door, slamming it behind her. How would he know if she were busy for dinner or not if he didn't know what Dumbledore wanted? She glared at the painting of the sleeping dragon almost accusingly before grabbing her pocket mirror, flipping it open and judging her face, nodding in agreement to herself. Blocked mind or not, Severus was obviously not telling her the complete truth. She had often caught him avoiding parts of the truth over the years, but he had never really lied to her before this estrangement happened… an estrangement that had started with her not being able to read him on Christmas.

Jennifer sighed, her thoughts going back to the year before. She couldn't read him when she had been on those drugs as Jackie, but she had trusted him implicitly. Even when they had first met, when it had taken extra effort to get through the walls he had built around himself, she had trusted him. Why didn't she trust him now? It was a question not easy to answer, no matter how long she looked in the mirror to try and figure it out. Reluctantly, she put it away and slipped down the stairs, taking her time, finding herself hoping that he wouldn't be there still by the time she wandered in.

But Dumbledore was still there, staring in complete fascination into an empty teacup. Jennifer curiously came over to him but he put his hand up to keep her from disturbing him but pointed her to another cup nearby, still empty. Sighing, she sat down and the teapot immediately poured her some.

"I never knew you were into Tasseomancy," Jennifer said.

"One can never have too much information," Dumbledore said, Jennifer raising her eyebrows at him skeptically. "I suppose you never had Divination, did you Jennifer? Try the tea, it's quite good."

"No, Whitebridge only covered Divination in connection with Muggle magic myths," Jennifer said.

"Yes, as I was given to understand. Pity, really," Dumbledore said, looking up from his cup. "You know, off and on over the years the subject has been challenged by the board, parents, and even staff now and then, on whether or not it should be taught at all… written off as a dead subject by some, and sheer nonsense by others. And perhaps it is true that in the majority of hands, this teacup means nothing with the exception that I do not filter my tea properly," he said, earning a slight smile from Jennifer. "But in the hands of one truly gifted with the sight, it can open up a world of possibilities, and perhaps a real peek at what may come if things proceed as they do now. So what would you have me do? Abandon that one in a thousand gifted with this form of magic in favor of progress, or keep it on despite the fact that the students will get little more out of it than a bit of classical culture?"

"Professor Albus Dumbledore leaves no one behind," Jennifer declared, Dumbledore nodding.

"Just so, Jennifer. Although I must admit, I have gained much more foresight from experience over the years than I ever have from what was inside my teacup," he said, gazing into his cup. "Just as to most people, a mirror is just a mirror, to most people, a teacup is just a teacup," he said, Jennifer feeling a bit uncomfortable with the analogy.

"So what do you see, Albus?" she prompted at last, when he furrowed his brow at it.

"It seems that I'm going to have a surprise visitor today who will be arriving at approximately four o'clock this afternoon! I suppose I should be ready then. Do you suppose you would be available to escort our guest? Security first, you know," Dumbledore said.

"And exactly how is it that we have a surprise visitor coming if you know what time that visitor is coming?" Jennifer challenged. Albus furrowed his brows at the teacup again.

"It doesn't say," he admitted. "Have you finished yours yet? Perhaps I can learn more." Shaking her head with exasperation, Jennifer finished her tea and humored him by handing him the cup. "Ah, good. I see that you shall come and help me welcome our surprise visitor! Well, this has been very informative," Dumbledore said cheerfully, Jennifer still regarding him with a dubious smile. "I suppose I shall see you this afternoon then," he said, putting the teacups back on the tray.

The tea set was immediately whisked away by the overly industrious elves of the castle as the Headmaster walked out the door. Jennifer propped her head up and drummed her fingers in annoyance, wondering how many other members of the staff had ever been recruited by a teacup.

But Jennifer forgave him that afternoon after her trip to the Defense room to feed Descartes. Reluctantly she handed the bird the warm and slightly smelly tray of ground beef, wrinkling her nose as it began to devour it.

"Well it may be a convenient solution for now, but I think you're getting too big for this diet you're on," Jennifer decided. "What do you birds eat when you can't get human?"

Descartes merely gazed at her intently a moment, but as it went back to pick at the tray for every morsel, Jennifer realized it was likely that the bird didn't understand a word of anything although it did seem to like the sound of her voice. Deciding to talk to Sagittari about it when she had more time, Jennifer washed her hands, trying to get the smell of raw meat off before hurrying up to the Headmaster's office, expecting him to be alone.

What she saw instead was a tall Native American standing by the desk in ceremonial robes and a medicine pouch around his neck. It seemed that the surprise guest had come earlier than Dumbledore had indicated, but from the mischievous glimmer in Dumbledore's eyes, Jennifer could tell she herself was right on time.

"Mr. Elk! Dean Elk, I mean!" Jennifer said, going over to her old school teacher who welcomed her with open arms, giving her a hug. "I can't believe it! It's been years!"

"Ah, the cup was right after all, it was a surprise visitor," Dumbledore said with a smile, gesturing her towards a chair. Wind Elk, the Dean of Whitebridge, sat beside her in the high-backed chair, but Jennifer hardly begrudged him using her favorite chair.

"It is good to see you, Jennifer," Elk smiled at her warmly. "Albus has been telling me what a dedicated teacher you have become. I always knew you would do well."

"I probably wouldn't have even thought of going into teaching without your guidance," Jennifer admitted.

"That would have been a tragedy for everyone," Dumbledore said. "One of the best decisions I think I have ever made was taking a chance on a young assistant professor from Beauxbatons."

"Yes and you did it on the merits of my parents, as I recall," Jennifer teased.

"Perhaps, but it was your dedication and undaunted style in the face of the dark times we lived through that kept you here, despite occasional protests from the board," Dumbledore added with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Jennifer has always had a strong spirit for helping the greater good, even considering and perhaps because of her challenging childhood," Elk said.

"Challenging? Say rather practically nonexistent," Jennifer said with a wry chuckle. "Ever since we fled to America, it was nothing but endless training, only to find out that none of it was going to help me in school."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. You had disciplines coming in that none of the other students had, and it was a good thing too, considering that your talents in telepathy began blossoming over your time there. I admit I was afraid for a while that it would hurt your confidence," the Dean said.

"So it did, to some extent," Jennifer admitted with a sigh, pulling out her pocket mirror. "I felt like a desert tortoise in the middle of the ocean. No other student talked to me except to jeer, and if it hadn't been for you and Carmody, I probably wouldn't have even graduated. I thought about quitting so many times. Of course, the fear of my father might have had something to do with sticking with it too," she added with a grin.

"Yes, your father was a forceful man then, with much anger and much reason for anger," Dean Elk said quietly. "Albus has told me that he is to released soon. I hope this is a sign that he has finally come to peace with his own spirit."

"I believe he has, Wind," Dumbledore said. "He doesn't turn against the world to satisfy his ambitions any longer. Once he lived for revenge alone, but now he has his daughter's family and a great many friends including myself to think about."

"I notice, however, that you do not claim he that he no longer seeks revenge, merely that that isn't his only concern," Elk said.

"He's a Craw," Jennifer said with a good-humored smile.

"Yes, and so are you, but you have not ever been one to seek revenge yourself," Elk pointed out.

"That's true. I only inherited his temper."

"And perhaps his unbending nature," Dumbledore said in such a tone that Jennifer frowned at him.

"And I see you still have that mirror of yours," Elk said. Jennifer, who had forgotten she had even pulled it out of her pocket, smiled sheepishly. "Do you rely on it as much as you used to?"

"Um, well, sometimes," Jennifer said, quickly putting it away. "I find it comforting when there's no one around to talk to."

"Well then, you need not consult it tonight. I for one would like to catch up on what you've been doing since you left school. Would you care to have dinner with me in the Coven Suites Restaurant? I doubt the menu includes much to satisfy our eclectic tastes, but the company would more than make up to it," Elk smiled.

Jennifer hesitated, hardly wanting to take Dumbledore's guest away from him. But as she paused, she was able to take a moment to read him, realizing with complete certainty that she had always been the real reason behind his visit. And Severus had known about it?

"All the sudden, I feel as if I just stepped into a another one of your conspiracies, Albus," she said with a weak grin.

"Of course you did, Jennifer," Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "Although I cannot take credit for this one. Severus thought it might cheer you up to see an old friend."

"So that's what he was up to!" Jennifer said, feeling a bit relieved. "Very well! I'll go."

"But not until we give Wind a full tour of the castle," Dumbledore insisted, Jennifer immediately agreeing and making it impossible for Elk to refuse.

"I have never seen such an insane amount of homework," Zoë grumbled. They were in the Great Hall, attempting to make some leeway on the pile of books in front of them. "We never get this sort of treatment in the States. Do you know what we normally do on the weekends? Go places, eat out, have parties, have fun. I swear I haven't so much as been to a skate park since I've been here."

"If the two of you had been here last weekend, you wouldn't be so far behind on your report," Alicia told them.

"Yes, we know, little Miss Defense suck-up of the year," Zack said, in no better mood than his sister. "Why does he want our notes on Monday anyhow? The reports aren't due until the end of the week."

"Because by Monday you should have finished a first draft of your topic and should be well into editing," Andrew said patiently. He had been busy trying to help Halbert study for a Herbology test, one of his worst subjects, while agreeing congenially to help his younger sister and cousin make some headway on theirs.

"Edit this? But it's in ink! I'd have to write the whole thing over!" Zack said.

"Well, I'd advise you to anyway. It looks like chicken scratch. And look at all the ink blots," Andrew pointed out.

"He always writes like that," Zoë snorted.

"Well, it's not going to get a good mark in that condition no matter how good the report is. Halbert here can tell you first hand that messy reports don't go over well in Snape's class," Andrew continued looking it over.

"You can say that again, mon ami," he sighed. "Whatever you do, don't let a Cu Sith get a hold of your homework."

Zack stared at him a moment, then shook his head.

"You have some misspellings to fix too. Didn't Uncle Sirius give you a talking dictionary to help correct your papers?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah," Zack said. "But it talked so much I finally gagged it and threw it in my footlocker."

"All right, Zack," Zoë said, "I tell you what. If you finish listing my notes for me, I'll clean your paper up."

"You know, I think you would benefit a lot more from this if the two of you would do your own work for a change," Andrew said sternly, setting the report down and flipping through his notebook to see what his assignments were. "Look, it's really not as much homework as you might think. You merely need to get organized. Let's put this aside a moment. Finish your routine homework first to eliminate it and get it off your mind, then tackle your best subjects first, your worst subjects last, unless you're studying for a test, then that goes at the very end."

"Why best subjects first?" Zoë asked curiously.

"Because whatever you study last is what you retain more of. If you're good at a subject, it's not as important if you forget something, because if a test does come up, you can probably guess," Andrew said.

"Scary, that actually makes sense," Zack grunted.

"You start organizing your notes, Zack, and I'll organize this in something you won't stress out over. The two of you really need to pick up a bit more studying skills," Andrew said, "Especially if you're going to take off every other weekend."

"What we need is a school that doesn't give an amount of homework equal to a college premed student," Zoë said. "I mean, come on. When am I or anyone else going to run into an Angle-finned Sonorous Sea Serpent in our lifetimes?"

"Oh, I don't know, you may want to go to Bermuda one day…"

"Andrew, if I go to Bermuda, it's going to be on a high end cruise line, and they have enough sense to stay away from those," Zoë she said, leaning back into her brother who looked at her with annoyance as she sprawled out. "That's life on the sea! A boat the size of a small city with buffets at my fingertips, dancing until dawn or at least until Mom tracks us down… sunning on coconut scented decks beside warm sparkling pools and mirrored shades to scope out the lifeguards." Zack rolled his eyes, pushing her away. "There's no room in the modern world for sea serpents. It won't be long before they go the way of the dinosaurs."

"You don't really mean that, do you?" Halbert said. "What would be next then, dragons? Hippogriffs? Every beast on the endangered magical creatures list? It'd be a sad day when that happens."

"Survival of the fittest, that's the way of the world," Zoë said.

"Well if that's true, I hope you both do better on the next Defense test than you did the last one," Alicia said.

"Oh don't start, Alicia. We aced the multiple choices. You know as well as we do that Snape intentionally finds every single fault he can in our essays," Zack said.

"All the more reason to make sure you edit your report," Andrew pointed out, tapping his notes.

"Hey, who do you suppose that is?" Zoë said suddenly, ignoring the books in front of her to get a better view.

"Who?" Andrew asked.

"The Indian that your mother is cozying up to," Zoë said. That comment was enough to get every one of them to look over towards the doors. Sure enough, Craw had her arm tucked companionably around the older man's, talking to him happily while Dumbledore walked beside them, showing them around the Hall.

"I don't know," Andrew admitted.

"Hey, didn't you say Snape left early this morning for some reason?" Zack said. "You think maybe… you know."

"Oh, honestly, Zack!" Alicia exclaimed. "I'm sure if there was anything going on, she wouldn't be waltzing him through Hogwarts in front of Dumbledore! I'm sure he's just a family friend or relative we were neglected ever to be told about." Zack smirked at her. "Besides, he looks much too old for her."

"So does Snape," Zack said, earning a dirty look from Alicia.

"Look out, they're heading this way," Zoë said. Andrew looked up to see his mother meeting his eyes with a glowing smile that had become rarer as of late.

"Andrew, Alicia!" Jennifer said as they stepped over. "Dean Elk, these are my youngest two children, my niece Zoë, nephew Zacchius, and Andrew's friend Halbert. Children, this is the Dean of Whitebridge in America, and my former teacher in Enchanted Items, besides other things."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Andrew said, standing up and offering his hand.

"Likewise. What a very tall handsome boy you have, Jennifer," Elk said, Zoë and Zack exchange raised eyebrows at that.

"Yes, he looks a great deal like his father, besides the hair," Jennifer smiled proudly. "Alicia fairs my mother, really."

"Yes, she must have been beautiful as well at that age," the Dean smiled, nodding to Alicia. "She does have your eyes, for certain, Jennifer. Studying hard, I see? And what might the topic be?"

"Just finishing a report on Infamous Gruesomes," Alicia said shyly.

"Ah yes. Not something you want to meet in the dark," Dean Elk said solemnly. "But every spirit born under the sun has a purpose. Learning to respect that is one of the truest ways of defense."

"How very true," Dumbledore said, but Jennifer chuckled outright.

"Do you ever stop teaching?" she laughed. "You're supposed to be on holiday."

"Can you stop a fish from swimming? A bird from flying? I cannot stop being who I am, nor would I want to try," Elk said with a smile. "The trick is discovering who you are. Everything after that is simple provided that you stay true to yourself. Whether you know it or not, children, you are coming to an age of your life where you will be challenged with that task. But do not forget while on your journey to allow yourself to support and be supported by those around you, for no man walks this Earth alone."

The five children merely looked at him as if trying to work out exactly what he meant, but Jennifer was gazing at him with open admiration, chuckling again.

"Andrew, have you seen Alex or Aurelius?"

"Alex is helping Rose plant the new tree," Andrew said. "I haven't seen Aurelius."

"Really? Well, I suppose we'll run into him," Jennifer said thoughtfully.

"If not, I'm sure I can meet him after our dinner, Jennifer. I still have some school exchange ideas to go over with Professor Dumbledore tonight."

"Don't either of you rush on my account, please. Do take your time and just enjoy yourselves," Albus insisted, waving to the children before the three of them wandered further into the hall and out the back.

"Goodbye kemosabe," Zoë said. "Anybody ever tell that guy that most Indians don't dress like that anymore?"

"He didn't look Indian to me. I think he was Native American," Halbert said, surprised at the dirty look Zoë gave him. "What?"

"Well, in any case, apparently that Native American is going out to dinner with your mother," Zack said in an 'I told you so' tone.

"Zack, he was her teacher," Andrew sighed at him.

"Makes you wonder what your mother meant by him teaching her 'other things' doesn't it?" Zack said.

"You don't think there's really anything going on, do you?" Alicia said anxiously.

"Of course not," said Andrew.

"Of course there is," Zack said at the same time. "When was the last time you saw her arm clinging to your father like that?"

Alicia had to think about it for a while.

"The Christmas dance?"

"That doesn't count, it's a dance. I meant for real."

"Well… last summer then, when mother had her memories restored," Alicia said.

"She was clinging to everyone then," Zack snorted. "Besides, that was almost a year ago. I think maybe she's given up on making something out of him and is looking for something better."

"I think you've been watching too many of those American daytime dramas again," Andrew said. "You're making something out of nothing when you should be doing your work."

"Well, if it was one of my parents, I'd be demanding to know what was going on."

"Our parents are nothing like your parents, Zack."

"You can say that again."

"Can't we leave the sibling rivalry for now, please?" Halbert pleaded. "I'd like to have this done before we go riding tomorrow."

"You really like Babe, don't you?" Alicia smiled, grateful for the chance to change the subject.

"Ah, oui. My parents said if I get good enough marks this year, they might even let me have one of father's," Halbert said enthusiastically.

"Well, you won't unless we get back to studying for this test," Andrew pointed out.

"Andrew! Alicia!" Alex and Mandria hurried over to them, their coats slightly damp and boots muddy. "The Elf Willow has been planted. Come see!"

Leaving all of their papers where they were, the five at the table got up and followed them out to the courtyard where Rose and Professor Sprout stood, the Elf Willow's branches encircling Rose as if hugging her from where it was nestled in the ground where its father had been. The loose earth had been filled in with rich loam and covered with a layer of brush and needles to protect it, while nearby sat the magic plant pot, wandering about as if looking for something to do.

"They had to fill in all the old cavern to give the tree some solid ground to root in," Alex murmured to them as they walked over. "I'm afraid that's the end of our hiding place."

"At least there are six other ways out of the castle," Halbert said, Andrew grinning at him as they walked over to Rose.

"See? People are here to see you already," Rose told the tree. "You won't be lonely, I promise. Students will be through here all the time, I'm sure. And of course we'll have picnics here, won't we?"

"Of course we will!" Alex said. "Although it isn't going to be the same not having the tree following us around."

"I'm sure it'll be much happier here," Sprout said. "Really, he was growing out of that pot. Now he'll have plenty of room to really stretch out those roots. You've done the right thing, Rose, really you have," she added, patting the girl's shoulder. "Perhaps now that you don't have to worry about the willow anymore, you could get an animal familiar!"

"No, I think I'll just use my free time to start another hybrid," Rose decided. Mandria and Alex exchanged glances but didn't say anything.

Back by the door into the castle, Aurelius watched them for a while without a word. Andrew suddenly looked up feeling eyes upon him, catching the sight of his older brother just as he began to slip away. An instant later, Andrew was gone.