Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lizards and Moles

It wasn't too surprising when the next day a pair of Howlers arrived; one from Mandria's father and one from Rose's mother. But the worst part for Rose (besides having to detail the Great Hall floors before breakfast only to see them egg splattered a half an hour later) was the reception she had gotten from her house when they learned they had lost fifty more points. It also didn't help when Zoë and Zack made a point of congratulating her when it was her turn to supervise them, asking her if she was going to have to have a chaperone as well. And although Alex was lucky enough not to have a Howler, she hardly came out of it unscathed, earning a private tongue lashing from her mother and then silence at the table when Mandria decided she wasn't speaking to her. Tes gave her some comfort, rubbing against her sympathetically and causing her hair to stand on end. Aurelius and his friends had made it to breakfast that morning, attempting to completely ignore her and pretending he didn't know her. Andrew, Halbert, and Alicia weren't there at all.

Instead, they were sitting on the fence near the barn, waiting for any sign of movement from Sagittari's hut.

"They've been in there now for over twelve hours," Alicia sighed. "Do you suppose Rasputin's all right?"

"Hard to say. It depends on how long he's been like that," Halbert said. "If he's been like than since October, I wouldn't think his chances are too good."

"Alex said he looked very beat up," Andrew added. "Poor fellow, I hope he'll be all right."

Inside, Severus was hoping the same thing, pacing the length of the centaur's table, tapping his fingers upon it every now and then before pacing again. His eyes were red from having been up all night, and no amount of Sagittari's herbal tea was able to calm him down. At last the centaur's office door opened and the doctor stepped out, looking Severus over thoughtfully before giving him a faint, solemn smile.

"Well?" Severus said impatiently.

"It is still too soon to tell. He had a great many injuries before he rendered himself petrified," Sagittari said. "He is awake at the moment if you want to see him. But just for a few minutes while I'm getting his potions ready. Don't excite him," he added sternly.

"Rasputin doesn't get excited easily," Severus said with annoyance, slipping in the door.

It was difficult to see the basilisk under all the bandages he was wrapped in. Only his right front claw and jaw were free of bandages. The rest, including both eyes, were bandaged heavily. Severus hissed softly to make sure he was awake and he saw the lizard tilt its head a bit. Severus let out a sigh of relief as he sat down beside him. "Good to see you, my friend," Severus hissed softly.

"I can't see you. I lost my eye. But I can smell you," Rasputin said matter-of-factly.

"I've been up all night worried about you," Severus said in annoyance. "We all thought you were dead. What happened to you?" The basilisk grew quiet for a moment, resting his head on the table thoughtfully.

"Big metal bird came at small girl. I came at bird. Bird didn't care if I looked at it and was not very tasty to bite. You came and made loud noise and I chased bird out. Never chase a bird out of a window," Rasputin advised.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Severus said dryly. "What happened to the bird?"

"We fought in air and it took my pretty eye. I bit its wing and we fell in water. It sank and grabbed tail, but it broke. Water took me far away through trees and I could not see without turning things into food. I did not smell anything but food. Then I smelled the first boy, but he was far. I tried to find, but I hurt, and I got sleepy. It was very cold."

"So you went into hibernation?" Severus asked.

"I slept for a while. But I was hungry, so I tried to find food. But the food ran and didn't look at me. Can I have a mouse?"

"What happened then?" Severus insisted.

"I was hurt and weak. I went back to water to get a drink and lie in the sun."

"Yes? Then?"

"I saw a handsome basilisk," Rasputin said. "Then I smelled a stinky centaur."

"Don't let Doctor Sagittari hear you say that," Severus warned him, patting his nose gently. As if hearing his name, the centaur knocked softly and came in with a tray of potions and a bowl.

"I need to give him these and then he needs to sleep," Sagittari said quietly.

"He says he's hungry," Severus said, looking at the grey mud in the bowl skeptically.

"He's just going to have to deal with a liquid diet for awhile."

"But he's so thin now…"

"Yes, it's the one good piece of news in all of this," Sagittari said. "He had become much too stout. And once he is ready to go home and on solids again, I am putting him on a strict diet. It'll add a few hundred years to his life, you know. That is, if he stops chasing Stymphalians out of windows."

"And stoning himself," Severus muttered, nodding his thanks to Sagittari before hissing a goodbye to Rasputin and stepping outside, allowing himself to pause and breathe a moment.

"Professor?"

Severus turned around to see Andrew, Halbert, and Alicia walk up, all talking at once.

"I don't know how he's going to be yet," Severus admitted. "It may be weeks before we know. I only spoke to him for a moment, but he seems glad to be home."

"I am so glad he's home too!" Alicia said. "Relieved, is more like it."

"Yes, although I still wonder how Pyther suspected that Rasputin was there in the first place," Severus said, squinting. Alicia immediately grew quiet.

"So how did Rasputin take it when you told him about Descartes?" Andrew asked.

"I didn't," Severus said, scowling at him. "And I had better not hear of anyone telling him until he's ready for it."

"I don't think he's ever going to be ready for that," Halbert chuckled, stopping short when Severus glanced in his direction.

"Well, they will just have to learn to get along," Severus said, frowning critically at them. "Don't the three of you have something better to do?"

"Probably," Alicia agreed. "But I'm worried about Corey too. Is he going to get into trouble? For teaching potions to the Muggles, I mean?"

"Your brother is in the process of realizing for the first time in his life that you don't necessarily have to break rules to change them," Severus said curtly, taking a paper out of his cloak pocket and glancing at it before handing it to her. "Hopefully it won't take the three of you quite so long to learn that. Or at least the two of you," he amended, looking skeptically at Halbert before turning and heading back inside. Halbert looked thoughtfully after him while Alicia scanned the Daily Prophet.

"How very strange, he didn't sound vindictive that time. I think he was actually teasing me!" Halbert mused.

"Father's too relieved about Rasputin to put up too much of a front today," Andrew grinned.

"Not just about Rasputin either, listen to this," Alicia said, the other two peering over her shoulder. "'Attempted Hate Crime in Hogsmeade Ends in Scandal. Counselor Farley Bowyer, longtime solicitor and senior partner of Walter Rummert was jailed for his involvement and apparent leadership position in an attack against Hogsmeade's controversial new citizens, refugees from the town of Haven's Bluff. Minister of Law Enforcement pro-tem Ederick Thurspire has stated that investigations revealed no connection between Rummert and the botched raid to try and scare the new citizens into leaving. However, some members of the Council of Wizards still believe there may be a possible connection. Rummert, already behind in the polls, is expected to have another setback because of the occurrence, and many analysts believe his chances of getting back into public graces within these last remaining weeks before the election 'will take a miracle.'"

"Good! I guess we don't have to worry about him anymore," Andrew said.

"What about Draco Malfoy? You're not worried about him in office, not even a little?" Halbert asked.

"Rummert took our home, Halbert," Alicia said. "And if Mum thinks Draco is all right, being a Truth Seeker and all, I'm sure he is."

"I thought Father said there was something about Corey in there?" Andrew said, peering over Alicia's shoulder.

"Not in this article," Alicia said, scanning over the front page before turning it. "Ah, here it is! Hmph! Since when has this family not been a headliner?" she said indignantly.

"Here, let me see," Andrew said, pulling it over. "'Local Alchemist Under Scrutiny. Corey Willowby, proprietor of Hogsmeade's new apothecary Willowby's Wands and Weeds, has admitted to teaching Hogsmeade's newest residents, self labeled as 'the Haveners,' how to properly use prepared potions that he himself makes for them. However, despite the protests of several locals, council members, and persons of interest, the Ministry has released a statement saying that all permits necessary to instruct were filed by Mr. Willowby before lessons took place, accompanied by copies of the citizens residency forms, which secures them all rights given to the magically challenged members of our communities.'"

"So they registered as squibs?" Alicia said with a frown. "But they're not! They're Muggles! Goodness, if it were me, I'd find that… well, degrading."

"Why? It's better for them, really, it means they can't be pushed around anymore," Halbert said. "They're under our laws instead of Muggle ones… and I'd think they'd have to be, to live in Hogsmeade. Besides, what's the difference between a squib and a Muggle, really?"

"I suppose that comes down to a matter of opinion. Personally, I just don't like labels of any sort," Alicia said.

"Bravo, Sis, and I agree with you in principle. But still I am glad that the Haveners now have the right to protect themselves, even though you're right in that they shouldn't have had to," Andrew said. "Who are we to say what they can and can't do?"

"I think your sister Alex is beginning to rub off on the two of you," Halbert said, looking between them. "The laws are only there to protect them."

"Maybe that was the original intention," Andrew sighed. "Amazing how often good intentions end up backfiring in the end," he said as he watched his father step into the castle.

Jennifer still had her nose in the paper when Severus came into her office. She glanced up questioningly.

"I swear that basilisk has more lives than a cat," Severus said, Jennifer smiling softly as he went over and sat down beside the desk. "Not that you can hardly tell he's even a basilisk at the moment."

"Amazing that Pyther even recognized him," Jennifer said. "You know how he found out where Rasputin was, don't you?"

"I imagine Alicia had something to do with it. Alex was quite careful not to mention her by name," Severus said, rubbing his eyes a moment.

"Yes, although there's something about that I find quite strange," Jennifer said, leaning back in her chair.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why didn't Aurelius find Rasputin when he and his friends went there in the afternoon? Why wasn't he found until the evening?" Jennifer asked.

"I imagine it was rather full in there with the rally," Severus said, shrugging it off tiredly.

"Busy, yes, but Rasputin was hardly hidden. If someone was actively looking for him in there, he would have been easy to find," Jennifer said. "That means that Aurelius wasn't looking. Severus, don't you see? The others didn't tell Aurelius about Rasputin."

Severus raised his hand away from his face, looking at her for a long time before answering.

"Now really, is there any reason to jump to that sort of conclusion? The incident happened quite a bit later in the evening. It only proves that he wasn't present at the time it was discovered," Severus said.

"But Francis hadn't talked to Alicia since her last lesson. He's known about it all the while, I saw that much from his face. So why then didn't the others tell Aurelius?" Jennifer asked.

"I don't know, why don't you ask them?" Severus yawned, wishing he could think more clearly and wondering why Jennifer had to pick right then to be this insistent.

"I think that's a good idea," Jennifer said, getting up. "If the other three are singling him out, there's got to be a reason for it and I don't like it at all. It's not like them to keep things from one another, especially Aurelius. But how do I ask them about it without just getting them to clam up? If only I could read them!"

"Why don't you try Andrew? Perhaps he will tell you something. But right now, I'm going to take a short nap," Severus declared, closing his eyes. But Jennifer wasn't really listening, glancing at her potion shelf thoughtfully before quickly tweaking three of them into her robe pockets.

"I'm sorry, I forgot you were up all night. Don't worry about it, I'll take care of everything," Jennifer reassured him with a gentle hug before slipping out of the room. But as Severus tried to get comfortable, he found himself unable to sleep as he began to wonder exactly what she had meant by that.

The great spring cram had started, and Jennifer used the opportunity to get the information she needed to carry out her plan. It was Dodger who proved to be the biggest help that next weekend, hooting loudly as he entered her sitting room. Hushing him, Jennifer paused to listen, but Severus was still 'practicing' his violin in the next room, the screech evidently preventing him from hearing the fuss. Quickly she grabbed the note and read it, nodding to herself.

"This is it," she said as much to herself as the owl, rolling the note. "Okay, go ahead and deliver this. Thanks, Dodger," she said, petting the owl before he headed out the window. She looked thoughtfully through the bedroom at the other door, wondering what excuse she could come up with. No, anything would sound suspicious; she mused, and then decided using the time it would take him to notice she was gone to her advantage. Slipping in one of the passages, she hurried down to the Slytherin rooms just in time to see Aurelius coming in the passage door. "Oh, hello, Aurelius," she said almost casually as he jumped at the sight of her. "What are you doing out this late? It's nearly curfew."

"I…was going to get a quick snack, actually," he said slowly.

"Well, I hope you don't plan to stay up too late studying, Aurelius, it's not worth staying first in the class if you have to kill yourself for it. You take it too personally if you're not! What you really need is a good night's sleep. Could you hold this for me for a moment?" Jennifer asked. She had been fumbling in her cloak for something and had handed him a phial, twisting it as if to close it rather then open it. But as he took the phial and she started going through her cloak again, he suddenly fell at her feet. "By the way, I wouldn't inhale too deeply if I were you," she added before she took out a pair of scissors and snipped off a lock of his hair. She paused, kissing his forehead. "Sleep tight. I promise I'll get you back in bed once I get back from your little rendezvous," she said before heading to the laundry room, taking out potions one by one as she went through the castle.

The Voicevice potion took affect first, the least painful of the three, the Poly and Regenderize potions were much more uncomfortable… leaving her for a moment bent over in pain before he realized he wasn't a 'she' anymore. Taking out his pocket mirror, Jennifer tried to slick down his disheveled hair, staring at the image of Aurelius. But the strangest sensation of all was the fact that it was the first time that Jennifer ever remembered being able to read his face. Gathering up his courage, Jennifer hurried on, trying not to guess whose Slytherin uniform he had borrowed as he got dressed and threw his cloak back over his shoulders.

Making sure the Polyjuice potion was easily accessible in case he needed another dose, Jennifer hurried out of the castle, Disapparating the moment he got off the grounds.

He was slightly disoriented as his eyes tried to adjust to the dark Hogsmeade streets, pulling his cloak over his head. A scruffy, large grey owl hooted at him from where it sat on the awning above the Pig's Pannage, and Jennifer couldn't help but stare at it a moment, wondering whose it was. He stepped in, cautiously looking around the smoky room before walking towards the bar. Patrons quickly got out of the way, and Jennifer realized that his height definitely set him apart from most of the others in the room… only a group of dwarves and goblins in the back of the room were any shorter.

The bartender seemed to recognize him as well, immediately hustling him towards the back room and knocking twice, opening the door for him. Reluctantly, Jennifer went in to see two figures there, sitting on either side of a table with a crystal decanter. Whatever they had been talking about had been silenced by the entry, the figure sitting next to the door turning his head almost warily towards him. The other man gestured with a hand; a hand gloved in grey silk and three rings upon his hand. Two of the rings were diamond and white gold of a marquis design and runes around them, but the third was different; it had the setting of a spider, holding a tiny red beryl between its front two legs.

"Well? It is safe to speak," Lucius said, Jennifer glancing up from his hands catching only a brief glimpse of his face. "What took you so long?"

"A momentary delay. I had to avoid running into my mother," Jennifer said carefully.

"Oh, she's finally taken some interest, has she?" Lucius said in a snide voice that didn't really seem all that worried about it. "Well, there's little she can do to interfere now. The recreant is still covering for you, I assume?"

"Yes, of course," Jennifer said softly.

"Well, keep an eye on him. The man may be overly trusting but he's hardly a fool. At the first sign he knows more than you're telling him, lead him to Ciardoth."

"Ciardoth?" Jennifer repeated.

"Yes, I know I promised that you could deal with him yourself, but one must be realistic about these sorts of things. If she ends his life, we are free of the blame... and that will free us to finish what we started."

"I don't know, that sounds like indirect involvement to me," Jennifer said, trying not to grit her teeth in anger.

"The agreement I made with her states without question that I am not responsible for anything she does, son, as I have told you before. You need not concern yourself with my welfare, only the plan. We must get the Spear before Ciardoth does. You must. And there can be no more stalling, time is running out. During the last Quidditch game, someone will be seriously injured. Sagittari will then of course be obligated to go to the ward and that is when you will take the Spear. I will attend the game and meet you afterwards at the designated place so that you can deliver it to me. Then, I will have the means to deal with Ciardoth once and for all."

"How will someone get injured?" Jennifer asked.

"You need not concern yourself with that. I will take care of it myself," Lucius said firmly. "I know you have never been keen on anyone getting hurt in this affair, Aurelius, but it's time you woke up and realized that for one to rise above another, toes need stepped on. One does not thrive in this world without others suffering, there is little one can do about it. All a wizard must truly decide is if they plan to be someone who suffers, or someone who thrives. Tell, me, Aurelius, are you not done with suffering?"

"Yes," Jennifer murmured, and Lucius nodded.

"Then we will proceed. Now, go. I now have other things that must be attended to."

"The elections, sir?" Jennifer asked daringly.

"Rummert may not be popular among commoners, but among the Council itself he's highly respected. Rest assured that the race is much closer in than it might appear from the Daily Weasel," Lucius said snidely. "With enough of a majority, Rummert can and will overturn the fifty popular votes and win the election."

"Yes, that's true," Jennifer admitted. "But wasn't the last time that happened when old Cleaver got elected and the public stuffed him in a boot and kicked him out of office?"

"I see you are keeping up with your history," Lucius said frostily, "but rest assured, nothing will happen to our candidate. I will make certain of that. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir," Jennifer said.

Jennifer got up and hesitated only briefly, half tempted to take out his wand and blast Lucius then and there, but a flood of repercussions entered his mind and Jennifer forced himself to leave, Disapparating the moment he turned the corner and reappearing just inside the forest border. Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned against a tree and thought about what had just happened, shaking his head but unable to keep his tears at bay. But Jennifer didn't have long to think about it when he heard something behind him, turning in time to see a stallion Unicorn charging down on him. Yelping in surprise, Jennifer Disapparated out of the way as Pali thundered past with his horn down, turning for another charge. He was between Jennifer and the school border, so Jennifer Disapparated again. But quite unexpectedly, Pali was somehow right with him and charging again.

"Wait! Please! I know I'm not Aurelius, but let me explain!" Jennifer got out before he dove out of Pali's path, his backside nearly getting slashed by his jagged horn as he did so. Realizing that he wasn't going to get to the edge of the forest in time, Jennifer found himself scrambling up a nearby tree, quite certain the Unicorn couldn't follow him there. In fact, he charged it, but pushed right through it as if it didn't exist, not even shaking the branches above. With perfect grace and poise, Pali rounded the tree to stand underneath it, pointing his horn towards the intruder menacingly.

"Look, Pali. It's me, Jennifer! I know I don't look like me, or sound like me and I may be male at the moment but…oh, you're not going to believe me," he sighed, glancing at his watch before sitting back on the branch. "I guess I'm just going to have to wait the Polyjuice potion out. Maybe in the meantime, I can try to figure out what to do about the real Aurelius."

But it wasn't long before Jennifer began to feel strange again, nearly crying out and barely able to keep her grips on the tree as she realized that she wasn't a he anymore.

"What in the world? But that potion's supposed to last two hours!" she said, her voice sounding strange as well as she grabbed her mirror, staring at the image for a long time in disbelief. "Huh. Aurelius would have made a pretty girl at that," she mused to herself, but then grew quiet as she heard footsteps approach. Pali neighed loudly in response, and as Severus tracked to trace the neigh to its source, Jennifer groaned softly. He stared at her for a long time before speaking, taking in the situation while drumming his fingers against his side in apparent exasperation.

"Miss Aurelius Snape, is it?" he said at last. "Decided to take a nice walk in someone else's shoes before bed? I told you that dried Doppleganger had gotten moldy from the weather."

"Please, Severus, not now! Can't you see I'm in a bit of a bind? Pali's not listening to me!"

"Yes, I wonder why," Severus said dryly. "Don't worry, Pali. I can take over from here, and yes, I agree, someone has quite a bit of explaining to do."

Pali made a sound as if agreeing with him before reluctantly stepping into the trees, still watching from his protected cover while Jennifer slowly worked her way down until she stood in front of Severus, who loomed over her with his arms folded and an unreadable expression on his face.

"You know, you're really tall," Jennifer said. "I don't suppose we can wait another five or ten minutes for the Polyjuice to wear off before we head in?"

"Any thoughts to what will happen to those robes when it does?" Severus said. Jennifer grimaced. "We'll go to your office so you can change. And then I want you to tell me in every detail what you've been up to since you launched this outrageous scheme!"

"It wasn't outrageous," Jennifer snapped, pulling up the hood of her cloak before following him. "Severus, our son is in real danger, and not only that, I think he's taking advantage of you. You can't trust him!"

"And neither, apparently, can I trust you," Severus snapped. "I thought we agreed that you were going to stay out of this."

"No, you agreed. And that was before things got this out of hand. Severus, he's helping Malfoy and… and Ciardoth," Jennifer said, barely getting her voice out above a whisper. "We can't let this go on! We have to stop these meetings!"

"And what do you expect us to do, chain him to a wall? Lock him in one of the towers? Although I admit I've been tempted to do that to you often enough. It's no wonder where he gets his recklessness from."

"Yes, or the tendency to lash out rather than to take any blame," Jennifer snapped angrily, the expression on Severus' face enough to show it hit home as they slipped into the castle and down the stairs.

By the time they arrived in the office, Jennifer's hair had returned to her normal length. She grabbed something to pull it up while she glanced back, a bit relieved to be able to look at Severus with her normal height again.

"Now, you are going to tell me everything that happened, without leaving out one detail," Severus told her. "And after this I'd appreciate it if you didn't get involved again!"

"You have no right to tell me not to get involved! He's my son too! I'm the one that carried him! I'm the one…" Jennifer suddenly stammered, unable to go on and sat down, breaking into tears while Severus watched helplessly, unsure at first what to do.

"Let me get you some tea, then we can talk," he said at last, slowly heading over to the cups and turning it over then made a play at taking off his cloak, evening out the folds before tossing it in a chair then paused to put milk in her tea and handed it to her. "I can't possibly start a conversation about this when you're like this, you need to relax."

"I don't see how you can stay so calm about this," Jennifer said, still sounding angry but taking the drink.

"Probably because I realize that getting upset isn't going to solve anything," Severus said, sipping his own tea.

"You are going to tell me everything, Severus," Jennifer said stubbornly, reluctantly sipping her tea.

"Very well, I will tell you everything," Severus said, quickly jumping over beside her to grab the teacup out of her hand as she fell into a deep slumber, "someday," he added softly, slumping into a chair and watching her sleep.