Chapter Thirty-Three

The House on Baker Street

It was hard to tell who seemed more skeptical - Jennifer or the children - when their new house magically unfolded, squeezing itself into existence between 221 and 223. Severus led them up a short set of steps and into an empty foyer, lit by an old bronze chandelier with gas flames surrounded in flutes of frosted glass. The stairs led up to a landing where another light danced, shining on an ornate carpet runner that looked to be of oriental flavor. Jennifer grimaced at the style but didn't say anything, wondering at the oddly shaped railing near the wall. Alex noticed it as well, going over to stare with wonder at a wheeled platform wired to it.

"What is this for?" she said curiously, peering underneath to stare at the belt and wheels.

"It's a sort of personal lift, a Muggle contraption so they don't have to climb stairs. Don't mess with it, please, I'll have Sirius dismantle it," Severus said.

"I thought this was a wizard's home," Aurelius said, squinting at the device suspiciously.

"It is, but I was told that one of the original owners had a Muggle wife, so it was updated with many of the features of that time. You may go explore upstairs and find which rooms you want if you like, but keep out of the far left rooms."

"I hope there's better lighting upstairs," Alicia said.

"I hope there's a yard," Andrew added.

"You can inspect the yard after you figure out which room to empty your wardrobes into," Severus told them.

Jennifer in the meantime, had stepped into the double room that comprised of the parlor and living area, their old furniture already put into some sort of haphazard order within.

"It's so… big," Jennifer said, not sounding very impressed by that fact. "Where are all of our books?"

"This way," Severus said, leading her back through to the hallway. "The door under the stairs to the right leads to the basement, the door on the left to the dining room and kitchen and this…" he paused, turning into a niche past the first stair to lead them up narrow steps to a walnut door, "…is the study."

The study seemed to take up the majority of the second floor, long but somewhat narrow. Three walls were covered with bookshelves, and two small half-circle windows were nestled at each end under the vaulted wooden beams of an otherwise flat ceiling. The wood floors were spaced with ornate rugs, while a couple of lone chairs had been set by the fireplace.

"What do you think?"

"Rather empty," Jennifer said. "And I don't much care for the red wallpaper."

"Scarlet," Severus corrected, and Jennifer couldn't help but give him a dirty look. "I copied it from the Sherlock Holmes museum next door," he admitted. "I rather like it." Jennifer sighed, knowing better than to argue now.

"So what's the room under this one?"

"That will be our room, actually, but I assumed you would want to arrange that room yourself."

"You might as well have done it," Jennifer said, Severus paused thoughtfully. "Look at this place… the location, this library, the late nineteenth century architecture… I mean, I can see why you wouldn't want to pass this up, Severus, because it's your house as if made to order… I just don't really see myself in it."

"I wouldn't say that," Severus said, motioning her to follow. He led her back down and opened the kitchen door to let her in. Jennifer's eyes quickly swept the room, knowing instantly it was a hybrid kitchen; a microwave hung under the white cabinets beside a traditional ice box, and a set of gas burners sat on the top of a heavy iron stove. But that quick observation was instantly forgotten when she saw the coffee maker sitting on the end of the counter. Giving Severus a quick glance of amazement, she stepped over to it, taking off a small lavender tag and reading it:

Jennifer ~ I confiscated this from the confiscated goods office just after the Council ruling, and have since given it an unofficial pardon. I hope that you can someday offer me the same for my reluctant part in what happened, and wish you only the best in your new home. Arnie Peasegood.

"I have something else to show you," Severus said, going to the back door. "Another refugee from Haven's Bluff." Curious, Jennifer tore her eyes away from the kitchen and stepped into a long narrow yard walled with red brick. Jennifer's eyes immediately widened as she saw the tall maple tree, freshly transplanted in the back of the yard.

"It's impossible," she whispered. "It can't be."

"The same tree? Yes," Severus said calmly. "In fact, it was the first thing I had Sirius look into once the deed was turned over… well, and also once it got late enough to liberate it. Think anyone will miss it?" he pondered thoughtfully. Jennifer suddenly chuckled at his serious expression and tears soon followed as she hugged him, taking the handkerchief that was offered a moment later.

"It is hardly the Broom Closet," Severus admitted. "And perhaps we do need a bit more furniture to fill it out… perhaps a small greenhouse… I could use a new lab while we're at it," he put in, getting an exasperated grin for the last comment. "But do you suppose you could tolerate it?"

"I suppose it might grow on me," Jennifer decided, "although I'm still not sure we need all this room."

"Perhaps the extra space will help you from killing the third of our refugees," Severus mused. Jennifer looked at him searchingly. "He's upstairs, I believe. He's probably kidnapped all of our children and is even now holding them hostage."

Jennifer hurried back in and straight up the stairs, immediately heading to the rooms that Severus has asked them to stay away from. Sure enough, all four of them were planted on the floor of a small sitting room near where the ex-Warden of Azkaban sat, telling them all a highly questionable and age inappropriate story of how some of the more lurid prisoners of Azkaban prisoner earned their stripes.

"Dad!" Jennifer said, unsure of whether to scold him or to greet him, shaking her head and laughing.

"About time you got here, Jen-girl! These children have been pestering me for nearly half an hour!"

"And you've been enjoying every minute of it," Jennifer said knowingly.

"Well, get out. I have company coming over. Boltin needs to inspect the house to make sure I can function without magic. What are with all those Muggle contraptions in the kitchen, anyhow? None of them even work!" Thomas complained.

"Did you try plugging them in, Dad?"

"In English, please?"

"I can show you!" Alex said excitedly.

"I think you should just let Mercy cook, Dad," Jennifer said. "By the way, how many House Elves do we have now?" she asked, looking curiously over at Severus.

"Still eight. None came with the house," Severus said.

"Eight House Elves! For a house this size! Isn't living without magic bad enough without having to live like a pauper?" As Thomas began to rant, Jennifer let out a long deep sigh, earning a pat from her husband.

"Welcome home, Dad," Jennifer said dryly. "I think the house is going to be easier to get used to than you are."

"Hey Grandfather, did you show Mum the tattoo you got before you left prison yet?" Alex asked.

"Er, I doubt your mother would be interested in such things," he said quickly.

"Grandfather says he used to have lunch with a tattoo artist who sometimes took bribes to curse the tattoos he put on people," Alex said cheerfully.

"Everyone has to have a hobby," Thomas said indignantly.

"Dad? You got a tattoo?" Jennifer said disapprovingly.

"Just something to take the place of the mark I used to have," Thomas said in a strangely cold voice before rolling up his sleeve and turning his arm over. Just where the Dark Mark had been and just a bit larger in size was a mark encased with folded ribbons, textured to seem as if covered in blood stains while in the center was an almost grotesquely realistic heart, severed in four pieces and its parts separated by two long daggers with red dripping blades, making a crest-like design. In the center, a name was inscribed in ancient runes.

Jennifer looked over at Severus unhappily, and even he had the same disapproving look on his face when he saw it.

"It's a blood mark," Jennifer murmured.

"What's a blood mark?" Alicia asked curiously.

"It's a mark of revenge," Alex explained. "It means that the person wearing the mark has an old grievance with someone, in this case Lucius Malfoy. By custom, if two wizards are hunting the same person for reasons of revenge, the one with the mark, or if they both have it the one with the oldest grievance, wins the right to kill the victim. It's been in practice with Dark wizards for centuries now. Perhaps that's where the idea of the Dark Mark came from and why…"

"Thank you, Professor Alex, that's more than enough history," Severus said. "Exactly when did you become an expert? It's not something we talk about in Defense until seventh year."

"It was in one of the books Mum got out of the Craw vault on Dark wizard traditions," Alex said, her parents exchanging grimaces again.

"From now on, I'd prefer if you asked before you borrowed any of my books, Alex," Jennifer said, getting a sheepish grin of apology in return.

"So, is someone going to explain that kitchen to me, or not?" Thomas asked.

"I will!" Alex said quickly.

"Good! Why don't you go on ahead and my grandson and I will join you," Thomas said. Jennifer frowned again as Alex, Andrew, and Alicia hurried to the staircase, Thomas coming out with a hand on Aurelius' shoulder. Aurelius looked a bit uncomfortable, but smiled slightly at him as his grandfather asked about school.

"Dad, Andrew's your grandson too," Jennifer said.

"He's a grandson, yes, but he's not my grandson," Thomas said, patting Aurelius before the two of them walked off. "So tell me about what you've learned so far in Slytherin."

Jennifer shook her head.

"Severus, I don't like the idea of leaving him alone here," Jennifer said after they were out of hearing distance. "It's dangerous. He'll be after Malfoy the first chance he gets."

"If that were true, don't you think he would have already been gone? He was here when we arrived," Severus pointed out.

"He also knew we were coming and he wanted to see Aurelius."

"Precisely. He has other priorities now. If anyone had questioned that in the slightest, he wouldn't have made parole. Now why don't you try taking a chance and trust him, or is trusting family too much of an ask these days?"

"At least I can still read him," Jennifer said coolly. "He still wants Malfoy dead."

"Yes, and so do I, but neither of us is likely to ruin our lives to do it," Severus said firmly. "If wearing a blood mark helps him deal with his hatred and gives him a bit of personal peace of mind, who are we to argue?"

"Let's just hope his parole officer doesn't see it," Jennifer said, leaning over the railing. "I don't know if this is going to work, Severus. He'll never abide by all of the rules they've put on him." Severus sighed softly; realizing any argument he could give wouldn't get through at this point.

Just then there was a strange sound coming from the kitchen and several loud exclamations. Jennifer and Severus Apparated into the kitchen with wands in hand only to see a sparking smoking microwave and everyone else backed against the wall, staring at it. Jennifer quickly unplugged it, while Severus calmly dissipated the smoke.

"This…" Thomas began, straightening his robe, "Is another example of how Muggle invention is inferior to magic." Jennifer rolled her eyes cautiously opened the oven door.

"Alex, I suppose it was your idea to put the coffee pot in here?"

"I was trying to show how it could boil water in only a couple of minutes!" Alex said.

Jennifer frowned at her dubiously, taking out the stainless steel coffee pot.

"Lesson number one. There's no metal allowed in microwaves," Jennifer said.

"Lesson number two. No one uses the Muggle contraptions except your mother or are being supervised by your mother," Severus put in.

"Does that include the lift on the stairs?"

"That includes everything!" Severus snapped.

"Yes, Alex, your father's right. After all, I know you are taking classes and all that, but after last year, your mother practically is one," Thomas said. Jennifer growled and would have snapped outright if Severus had grabbed her arm and pulled her into the dining room.

"Count to ten, let's not start with the two of you trying to kill each other," Severus said in a low voice.

"This isn't going to work. I may be able to get used to the house, but there's no way I can live with him here," Jennifer hissed. "That'd be like putting you and Sirius in the same house together!"

"The difference being that the two of you actually care about each other, and also I don't think you want him stewing in Azkaban prison any more than he already has, do you?"

"No, but I don't want him here, either! There's got to be another way." Jennifer said.

"If there were another way, he'd have been out in January. Jennifer, the parole board wouldn't approve any residence on his own. And since I seriously doubt he would be in favor of going back, I suggest you learn to live with him."

"Live with him? We'll end up babysitting him! Give him a week at most and he's going to get bored and start trying to find a way to get to Malfoy again," Jennifer whispered, but Severus seemed to be distracted by something outside.

"Oh, I'm not so sure you need to worry about that," Severus said and began to move over to the front door, Jennifer peered out curiously just as someone knocked. She hurried over as Severus opened it so that she could hug Audacious Belle the moment she stepped in. Then she greeted Thatcher Boltin and Auror Moody.

"Well! Good to see you, Jen-girl! We didn't know you were going to be here already!" Audi cackled.

"Just showing them the house," Severus said.

"You bought the house without letting them see it first?" Boltin asked.

"He likes living dangerously," Jennifer said dryly.

"About time you got here, Boltin," Thomas grunted as he stepped out of the kitchen.

"I didn't say a specific time I would be here," Boltin pointed out with a grin. "I know better."

"I hope you don't mind us tagging along, Craw, but I thought I'd check the security on the house while Boltin is at it," Moody said.

"Oh? Putting more magic sensors in to make sure I don't break the rules?" Thomas asked with a slight tinge of disdain in the voice.

"No, no… I meant… well, security against the outside. This house must not be found. I think we all know what would happen if Malfoy got in here," Moody said.

"Yes. He'd be dead," Thomas said simply. Jennifer glanced at Severus.

"Yes, and because of it, you'd be put to death, and we can't be having that," Audi said firmly. "You're not a prisoner anymore, Thomas…"

"Like hell I'm not."

"…but as your friends, we're all going to make sure you don't, well, screw it up," Audi said bluntly. "At the same time, I'm not going to have you spending your first full day off the island sulking in here. As soon as the boys are done with this inspecting business, we're taking you out on the town."

"Yes, that sounds really safe," Jennifer said with a frown.

"Goodness, Jennifer, you're as open as a book today! What you're thinking isn't going to happen, as well as what you're also thinking! You just worry about your job and family and how much it's going to cost you to properly furnish this place, and let us worry about that other stuff," Audi said. Thomas squinted at his daughter suspiciously. "So what do you think? Dinner? Shopping? Maybe a few drinks? Toilet paper the Malfoy Mansion?"

"We can't, it's out of his jurisdiction and he's not been approved for escorts out of it yet," Moody grunted, ignoring the murderous look Jennifer was giving them.

"Oh. Well, we'll find someone closer then. I know! We'll hit Harry's!" Audi said. The two of them broke into a chuckle. Fed up, Jennifer stomped back into the kitchen to see what the kids were into. "You know, the older she gets, the less humor she has. I think you're rubbing off on her, son," Audi said to Severus, who decided not to comment.

"Well, I've seen enough for one day," Jennifer said to the children when she came in. "It's time we got back."

"Then we aren't going to have to unpack our things?" Andrew asked brightly. "I was hoping to keep my wardrobe at the school until summer."

"Honestly, I don't see why you can't keep it. It's not like we'll be spending much time here until then," Jennifer said.

"You don't like it at all, do you?" Aurelius asked almost accusingly.

"Well… as long as we're all together," Jennifer said quickly. "I'll go let your father know we're ready." With that, she slipped out the door, leaving the four children to exchange glances.

"Actually, I rather like it here. We'll be close to everything during the summer. We could practically walk to Diagon Alley from here," Andrew said.

"Better yet, we could take the tubes!" Alex said excitedly. "Maybe we'll even run into Ben again!"

"Oh please! The last thing we need is to get associated with that crowd!" Aurelius snapped.

"Better that crowd than what you've been hanging around with lately," Alex said daringly. Andrew kicked her in the leg warningly, but Aurelius fixed his gaze on her.

"Just what exactly do you mean by that?" he asked dangerously, and then glanced at Andrew. "Have you been spying on me again?"

"And if I were?" Andrew asked.

"If you were, then I expect you had better be telling me exactly what you think you know before someone ends up getting hurt," Aurelius said.

"Aurelius, you wouldn't really hurt any of us, would you?" Alicia asked, putting an arm on Andrew's shoulder. "You wouldn't hurt anyone, but most especially not family."

"Who says I already haven't?" Aurelius said in a tone that made Alicia feel a chill down her spine.

"And what if I decide to tell Father about all that I might know?" Alex said daringly.

"I wouldn't recommend it," Aurelius said calmly. "Even if he did actually believe you, I think right now you have enough problems to worry about. Or you soon will have."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex said.

But just then Jennifer stepped back in and began to speak, pausing when she saw the hostile looks on their faces.

"Something going on here?" she asked.

"Nothing, just a bit of a disagreement over personal space," Aurelius said.

"Well, don't start fighting over rooms or I'll have your father assign you one instead. Anyhow, let's get back. I still have some papers left to mark before tomorrow morning," Jennifer said, impatient to get out. Andrew moved first, the girls falling suit with Aurelius leading up the rear, knowing that this matter was far from over.