Lauralie Black and the Dragons of Yorkshire (YEAR 2)
Chapter 11: Gifts
The Library was reassuringly empty when Severus and Lauralie entered the next morning.
Lauralie reveled in the silent peacefulness of the Library. Even the empty Slytherin Common Room didn't have the calming quality that was found amongst the shelves. She headed straight to a table all the way in the back, Severus following obediently.
They didn't know what exactly they were looking for. They knew that Lucius' parents had mentioned the dragons migrating once before. But they didn't know when, or to where, or how to find out.
Lauralie dropped her bag in a chair at the table and flopped down. She had dark circles under her eyes, and Severus suspected she hadn't slept very much the night before.
After much persuasion he had convinced her to stop taking the Dreamless Sleep potion. The idea of her becoming addicted to it made him feel ill, and she finally agreed he was probably right. Together they'd dumped the remainder of it down the toilet.
"Where do you suppose we should look first?" she asked, gazing at the shelves around them in a dispirited manner.
"Well, I say we try to look into books about the history of dragons," Severus answered. "I mean it would make sense that this migration would be documented somewhere."
"You hope," she said.
They hunched over the Library catalogue for a while, jotting down a list of any and all books that could possibly mention the migration, even in passing. Once they were done gathering them all they sat amongst the stacks and read silently, occasionally tossing comments to each other.
"Nothing about dragon migration in Dragons: Not Just Full Of Hot Air," Lauralie said, tossing the book into their 'read' pile, which had, after two hours or so of reading, grown quite large.
Severus made an annoyed groan. "Maybe we are approaching this at the wrong angle," he said, tossing the volume he had been reading aside as well.
"And what other angle is there?"
"If we had a name, any name, of someone who studied the phenomenon," he said. "Or… or we knew where they migrated to, we could go at it that way."
"But we don't know any of that," she hissed. "Or we wouldn't be looking for it!"
They were both beyond frustrated. Lauralie just shook her head and picked up another book, flipping to the index.
"I think I've seen enough indexes to last me my entire lifespan," she said. "Maybe you are right, this isn't working we should just give u-"
She stopped, and Severus looked up sharply. "Did you find something?"
She was flipping rapidly through the pages of the book as he rushed to her side of the table. He read over her shoulder:
There is no real evidence that dragons migrate in the same fashion that birds do. It is rumored that a migration was documented boy Salvatore Slytherin, but none of his papers or research have ever been found to prove this. And no dragon migration has been documented since.
"Who on earth is Salvatore Slytherin?" Lauralie asked.
"I have no idea," he answered, his hair brushed her shoulder as he looked down at the book. "But it is a start." He squeezed her shoulder encouragingly.
"Yeah," she agreed. "Now we just have to find out who he is."
* * *
Diagon Alley was crowded with people rushing to and fro doing their holiday shopping. In fact, Sirius had to fight to grab an empty table at the Leaky Cauldron. He ordered a Butterbeer and waited impatiently, watching the wizards and witches at the bar chatting about their purchases over drinks.
He smiled as a mildly disgruntled Magdalene Martinez flopped in the chair opposite him, still brushing cinders from her curly hair.
"All right, I'm here," she said. "Now what is this big important favor you need?"
"I need you to help me find a Christmas present for Lauralie," he said.
She blinked at him. "And you asked me?"
"Well, you're a girl," he explained. "And I'm... well, I'm not."
She just sat and stared at him, torn between rolling her eyes and hugging him.
"Look, the thing is, I didn't send her a present last year," Sirius continued. "It was in the middle of all the hubbub and we weren't speaking. And she sent me a Christmas card anyway. And I mean, I know that's not much, but I felt so horrible because she'd at least acknowledged me and I had pretended like she didn't exist. So I need to get her something she'll really love this year to make up for it. But I'm hopeless, Mags."
"That is so sweet," Magdalene said.
His face flushed bright red, but she ignored it. She stood, grabbed him by the arm and forced him up as well.
"Okay then, we can do this," she said. "But you will definitely owe me."
"I'll buy you a nice present as well," he said. "I'll just have to drag Lily out here to help me pick it out."
They laughed as they joined the crowds of shoppers on the Diagon Alley streets.
* * *
Severus and Lauralie had abandoned their previous table and had stacked another one up with books on old Wizarding families. It had taken them an hour to find even the smallest mention of a person by the name of Salvatore Slytherin. There were hundreds of references to Salazar Slytherin, but nothing that helped.
Finally they came across a book with a full outline of the Slytherin family tree, beginning with Salazar Slytherin, and ending sometime in the earlier part of the century.
"There he is," Severus said, triumphantly, jabbing his finger at the page.
"So he was Salazar Slytherin's son?"
"Looks like it, the younger of two," Severus said, flipping through the book to find the page about him.
Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was father to two boys. Kyne Slytherin, the eldest, succeeded to his father's position of Head of Slytherin House after Salazar died of an unknown illness at the age of sixty. Kyne is said to have harbored a dangerous fascination with the Dark Arts. So much so that the other staff members fought to keep him from taking over his father's position. Salvatore Slytherin was a scholar who stayed on at Hogwarts to teach both Potions and Care of Magical Creatures. He had a great fascination with nature and animals.
"So it would make sense that he had studied Dragons," Lauralie said. "If only we could find out what he saw."
Severus slammed the book closed, looking disgruntled. "I don't think we are going to find anything." He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb.
As much as she didn't want to, she had to agree with him. He'd done so much already and he looked both tired and bored. Glancing out the window, she realized that the sun was setting and they hadn't left the Library since they came in shortly after breakfast.
"You're right. I know you're right," she mumbled, collapsing in the chair next to him. "This may just be as close as we are going to get. Let's just put the books up and go to dinner."
He gazed at the two tables piled high with thick volumes.
"You take that table, I'll take this one," Severus said. "I'll race you."
"No fair, that table has less books," she said, giggling as she ran to grab a stack.
"No it doesn't!" He'd dashed down a row of shelves, shoving books back in their places.
Lauralie grabbed a stack of books from her table and dumped them on his, laughing.
"Loser pays the winner a Galleon," she called, following him down the aisle.
"Fine, but those books you added to my table don't count."
* * *
Magdalene and Sirius were pouring over a jewelry counter in Diagon Alley. They'd been shopping all day and it was already well into the evening, yet Sirius hadn't picked out a single thing for his sister.
"You are too picky," Mags said, poking him in the arm.
"I just can't make myself buy her jewelry," he said. "That's something you buy a girl when you like them."
Magdalene nodded thoughtfully. "Didn't Snape give her a bracelet for her birthday?" She spoke casually but she knew how he'd react.
"Snape does not like my sister like that," he growled.
"See, so Severus can buy Lauralie jewelry but you can't?" she asked gently.
He'd fallen right into the trap, just as she'd predicted. She had to hide a smile as he muttered to himself. He looks so adorable when he's flustered.
She'd spend the last twenty minutes trying to convince him to buy her a ring she'd found in an old second hand store. It was a snake coiled around a small green stone. The creepy thing about it was the snake itself had tiny gems for its eyes that glittered and made the snake seem almost alive.
It was the perfect gift for any Slytherin, and Mags was quite sure Lauralie would love it. But Sirius had reservations.
He slipped it on his pinky finger. He turned to her and in the girliest voice he could muster asked: "Does it look good on me?"
"Simply stunning, darling," she cooed and they dissolved into giggles.
A couple of passing customers glared at them which only caused them to laugh harder, in the end Sirius was holding onto Mags' shoulder to keep from sinking to the ground. She regained control first, gazing at where his hand rested on her arm, and then back up at his face.
He smiled down at her for a moment before realizing he was still touching her and pulling his hand away. They stood in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.
"So, um... you really think she'll like it?" he asked, slipping it off his finger.
"I know she will."
* * *
The week before Christmas was entirely uneventful for the students of Hogwarts and consisted mainly of lazy days wandering in the snow on the grounds, and evenings huddling near the fire in the Common room.
Lauralie enjoyed the opportunity to stay up late in Severus' company, instead of forcing herself into bed and waiting for sleep to finally overcome her.
They had sat up and played chess into the wee hours of Christmas morning before they finally went to bed, yet Lauralie still awoke at the first light of dawn.
She smiled when she saw the small heap of presents at the foot of her bed, neatly stacked and ready for her to open. She slipped on her slippers and sank down on the floor next to them.
The first present was from her mother and it was a fuzzy black muff to keep her hands warm. Lauralie slipped her hands into it for a moment and smiled. She sat it aside and moved onto her presents from Narcissa and Lucius, which, incidentally, happened to coincide. From Lucius a bottle of magical shimmering ink that changed colors depending on the mood of the writer, and from Narcissa a set of highly ornate quills.
The next present was from Severus, and it was another charm to go on her charm bracelet, this one was a broom. She clipped it on gently and smiled. She hadn't realized on her birthday, but she supposed this was his way of making any future shopping easy. Just buy her another charm. In a way it was the best present in the world. The first charm, the chess piece, was for their nights playing chess. This one was because of Quidditch.
If he kept at it she would have a wrist full of memories, and that was the best gift he could ever give her.
Mags had been right, she loved the ring, and put it on immediately. I never knew Sirius had such nice taste. She marveled at it for a moment. It was odd for him to pick a piece of jewelry with a snake on it. Even if they were getting along better as of recently, he had still never fully accepted the fact that she was Slytherin. At least, he had never admitted to it. In a way, the ring was almost a way of saying that he didn't mind her being associated with Slytherin.
The next present she should have expected, it was from Remus.
She looked down at the tag suspiciously. She hadn't expected anything from him. She had not sent him so much as a card. Simply because he hadn't tried to talk to her in over a month, she assumed that any fragment of friendship that could have been salvaged was long gone.
She ripped off the paper to reveal a camera. It took her a moment to realize what it was: it was an InstaMagic, the newest in photographic technology. You hit the button it spits out a piece of paper and in a couple minutes you have a fully developed wizard picture. The quality would not be as good as a normal camera, but it was cool nonetheless.
Lauralie smiled as she picked up the photo that had fallen out of the wrappings, it was a group shot of the entire Gryffindor gang posing in front of the fire in their common room. She turned it over and on the back was a note, scrawled in Remus' hand.
"This just seemed like something you would have fun with. I'm sorry for being such a ridiculous prat recently. Forgive me? - Remus"
She held it in her hand for a moment, gazing back and forth from the camera to the picture before making a silent decision. She held up the camera, put on her best smile and took a picture of herself. She flipped over the undeveloped picture and wrote a single word on the back: "Forgiven."
She was about to get up and go owl it when a plain brown package on her bedside table caught her eye.
She'd been wondering for a couple weeks now if she'd receive another present from the mystery benefactor who sent her the Cloak of Destiny. She dropped the picture on the bed and snatched it up.
It was smaller than she had expected, and she tore the brown paper from it , her pulse racing through her veins.
* * *
Severus was jolted awake when his dormitory door opened with a loud BANG that reverberated through the room.
"Severus, you won't believe it."
Only Lauralie could wake up Severus before he was ready to get up and not be cursed for it.
"I won't believe what?" he asked groggily.
"He... she... they sent me another present," she said. "With a note saying it might be useful. Open your eyes and look will you."
He opened his eyes as she shoved what looked to be a leather-bound book into his hand. No, not leather, dragon hide.
"So he sent you a diary, what is your point?"
"It's already been written in," she hissed.
"He gave you someone else's diary," Severus asked, clearly not awake enough to absorb everything.
"YES! And look inside the cover."
Severus relented, opening the book and what he saw there woke him up in an instant. Scribbled in the top left corner of the cover was the name that had been weaving its way in and out of their conversations all week: Salvatore Slytherin.
~~~~~~~~
WARNING: SHAMELESS PLUG AHEAD.
THE FOLLOWING IS A PREVIEW FOR ANOTHER ONE OF MY STORIES:
In
a world where war rages...
A woman, cloaked in black Death Eater robes, steps silently over bodies in a
bloodied battle field.
And fear reigns...
A group of onlookers, still in their nightclothes, look on as Flourish and
Blotts burns. The dark mark shines in the midnight sky above them.
The few brave at heart fight for the freedom of all.
Wizards and witches gathered in a round room covered in old portraits
(Dumbledore's Office). Dumbledore steps forward, his eyes moving slowly from
one person to another.
"We now must decide our next course of action," he says, "Do we
take the offense, and attack. Or do we stand back and wait, and prepare
ourselves for the final siege."
A woman with dark, curly hair trades look with the hansom man next to her
(Sirius Black). He shakes his head solemnly, his eyes full of worry.
Heroes will surface from the least likely of places...
Severus Snape, his hair tied back, franticly brews a potion. The dark cauldron
bubbles rapidly as he pours in ingredients. A figure lies, unconscious, on a
cot behind him.
And enemies will arise from allies...
Peter Pettigrew sits with Sirius, James, and Remus. He is smiling and laughing
with them as they talk.
Some choose to live their lives in fear...
Zenobia stops on the sidewalk, wind tossing about her hair. She watches
silently as a wizarding family boards up their windows and barriers their door.
But others choose to forge on...
James Potter and Lily Evans stand at the altar. Sirius Black smiles as he
watches them kiss.
Unfortunately, regardless of how pure the intentions...
Lily cradles her newborn child in her arms, smiling broadly.
"I think I'll name him Harry."
Dark times...
Remus kneels on the floor, shackled with pure silver chains. He gazes up at his
captor with pure disgust. His hair is disheveled, and one of his left eyelid
droops over his eye.
"What have you to say for yourself, werewolf?"
Call for Dark Measures...
Sirius and Zenobia stand over a Death Eater. Zenobia's dress is badly torn, her
eyes angry and brooding. Sirius stands behind her, waiting for her to act.
The screen goes dark and a voice rings out: CRUCIO!
Sirius: You can't die on me now, Boss.
Zenobia and Remus sit on a bench in the hallway at St. Mungo's, a doctor comes
out to meet them. Remus reaches over and takes her hand.
You know the ending...
A hooded figure laughs maliciously, as a red haired woman falls to his feet. He
turns his wand on a young boy with sparkling green eyes.
"AVADA KEDAVRA."
Sirius, hunched over and chained, is lead solemnly into Azkaban.
But have you read the beginning?
Scenes flash by quickly:
A dark mark rising into the sky.
Zenobia breaking down a door, her wand in front of her.
Sirius rushing to the side of a figure on the ground.
Remus pulling Zenobia into his arms.
James rocking baby Harry in his arms.
Sirius lighting a cigarette with shaking hands.
Voldemort: It is time to make our true capabilities known.
The screen goes blank and the title comes up:
CHRONICLES OF DARKNESS: DARK MEASURES
(You can read it here at FFN, just click on my name at the top and go to my profile.)