A/N Welcome, welcome to another year at...oh wait that's not my line. Ahem. Welcome to another (hopefully) great adventure of Jennifer Craw and the Snape clan! This is Series, Three,(Begins with Diamonds of Time) Book Six...that means, if you're counting, the Thirteenth book of Jennifer Craw adventures (Which starts out with Jennifer Craw and the Phoenix Wand, and for those of you who keep running into this series and debating whether or not to try it...really, you ought to...despite the light start it gets in depth REAL quick as I'm sure my readers can attest to.)
And now, a quick disclaimer about content...as those you have read this series know, even though my character style really doesn't change, many of the books formats have changed depending on the need of the story...from romance to mystery and even drama, although all have had a fantasy/action side to them. This is the only book in the series I mark as suspense, and for mature readers. It has some use of mild language and suggestive overtones (and in this story, you'll find the suggestive overtones very necessary for story progression) This is also has the darkest content in the first three series, and in many ways, it's even darker than Beyond the Walls (a short story I did specifically for a quick read if you haven't seen it.) Some of my readers especially on the website have mentioned they've gotten their kids hooked on this story as well. You might wanna go ahead and give this a read-through first if they get bothered by scary stuff. Also there are some mild drug references in here, (none given in any favorable light) as I dance a bit on the subject due to a problem which comes up with one of the students. It also has a higher level of violence than the other books. It is also one of the books that is often mentioned as a fan favorite, so I hope you enjoy it as well. Last revision: 5-2016
Chapter One
A Tale of Two Families
It was a balmy day just past midsummer, but Jennifer Craw Snape barely noticed the heat as she and her father Thomas Craw practiced complicated form exercises under the great oak in the backyard. She had never truly gotten along with her father; for her part, her harsh childhood separated them, while on his, the painful memories of her mother often caused him to stiffen around her. But here where all was quiet except the rhythm of their movements they found each other tolerable, and in some ways preferred the company compared to others in the household they sometimes practiced with. It helped that Thomas had become a much more relaxed man in recent weeks, for Thomas had put one of his ghosts to rest. The very company that Lucius Malfoy had used to bankrupt his family had turned into an incredible success with the discovery of scrolls left by King Solomon himself, and his lucrative new business in mining was sure to be showing a profit within the year. The fact that Thomas would not die a pauper did much to help his mood; and as his tendency moved away from brooding, his relationship with his only daughter improved.
But just when Jennifer was really starting to enjoy the workout, the sound of a loud cuckoo clock went off from where it was hanging by the door and Thomas pulled up short.
"Sorry, time for my program," Thomas said, walking inside. Losing her rhythm, Jennifer stopped too and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head at him as he disappeared indoors.
"Of all the people in this house to get addicted to a Muggle contraption, you would have been my last choice," Jennifer muttered.
"What was that, Jen-girl?" Thomas shouted from the kitchen, grabbing a glass before heading into the front room.
"Nothing, Dad," Jennifer said, and then went inside to change.
It had taken a couple of years for Jennifer to actually warm up to the three story house on Baker Street… not only because of her husband buying it without her knowledge, but also because of the emptiness of the overly large rooms and drafty high ceilings. But over time any house with four teenagers gets filled up with all sorts of things from books to strange contraptions, and no longer did it have that imposing feeling Jennifer felt when they first moved in.
The kitchen, much to her father's dismay, was personalized for Jennifer's convenience since she and her younger daughter were the only ones in the house interested in cooking, and the downstairs suite with a small but cozy sitting room, bedroom and bath had turned into a retreat for her when she wanted to get away from the craziness of the rest of the house. Even her husband's side of the bedroom had slowly begun to get overrun with her trinkets, and a little bit of borrowed closet space turned into much more than a little. Not one word of it had ever been spoken about it from her often quiet, taciturn husband Severus Snape, nor would he dare, considering that he himself had completely taken over the basement and the library. In fact, besides the bedroom and the kitchen, every room seemed to have something in it of a distinctly Snapish nature, to the point that even when he wasn't home Jennifer could feel his presence in the house.
As she came back out into the hall Jennifer frowned irritably at the volume of the television set, but really didn't want to get into that battle again. Instead, she turned and slipped into the basement, sighing in relief when she closed the door and the sound was muffled. But as she came down the stairs, her husband's early warning system began calling out loudly and Jennifer couldn't help but chuckle as she reached the bottom of the steps.
"Quiet, Descartes, you infernal bird! It's Jennifer, not Alex," Severus snapped from where he stood at one of the work tables, tinkering with something that looked like an old crystal radio set with a space aged helmet sitting in the center of it. The Stymphalian bird was now a full-grown three feet in size and had adult coloring now in its bronze beak to iron feathers, but its mentality seemed quite childlike in many ways, especially compared to Severus' other familiar, Rasputin. Even now the overgrown monitor basilisk was lounging on the top of the bookshelf next to the basement's small window, although how exactly he got up in that position they had yet to figure out. Lazily he gazed down at his master, content to lie there until Severus finally gave up and helped him get down.
"I see you have an audience as usual," Jennifer joked as she walked over. "Not working on the scrolls today?"
"I was having a hard time concentrating," Severus admitted, turning a dial and picking up the pamphlet came with it to make sure he was doing it right, he paused then, as if lost in thought. "I don't know, there's just something in the air today… a tension that I just can't seem to shake… like a pressurized cauldron ready to blow its lid."
"You know, I think you've been working too hard," Jennifer said gently. "And you've been spending too much time alone this summer despite you telling me that you wanted to spend more time with the children this season."
"It is not lack of interest, I assure you," Severus said. "Alexandria works all week and on the weekend wants only to visit her friends. Aurelius works the weekend and half the week and only wants to sleep or read when he's not, and the other two spend every morning after breakfast at the park leaving each evening to do their reading and painting. They're on their way to the independence we've always encouraged from them, and our reward, it seems, is to do without them."
"Why Severus!" Jennifer said with surprise, rubbing his shoulders. "Such sentiment isn't like you at all!"
"No it isn't, is it?" Severus said glumly. "I have no more idea what's come over me than you have. There just seems to be a dark cloud over things today."
"Well, that's because I don't think you've had an ounce of sun in over a week, and then it was merely to help Corey finalize the details on their house," Jennifer scolded him. "What you need is to get out of here, take a constitutional. Let's go for a walk, Severus," Jennifer suggested insistently. Severus sighed.
"Very well, but if I must humor you, you must first humor me by trying this out since I just spent all this time setting it up. Care to sit down?"
"Oh, all right. Actually I'm rather excited. I've been dying to see you get that telepathic reader out since you got it at Christmas," Jennifer admitted.
"All right, now I need you to clear your mind… if you can."
"That's hardly funny," Jennifer said, but took a deep breath, doing a common forms exercise and relaxing herself as if she were getting ready to sleep. Carefully Severus placed the odd helmet on her head, monitoring the instruments.
"All right, now gaze at me and try to determine what I'm thinking."
"You are thinking about how much you've changed over the years," Jennifer said softly. "And you're thinking about how much of it is… what do you mean it's my fault?"
"That's not what I was thinking. I was thinking how much of it was because of you," Severus said quickly.
"No you weren't. You were thinking it was my fault!" Jennifer said, folding her arms. "Is that your way of telling me you don't like things as they are now?"
"I meant it as a complement."
"No, you trying to instigate me," Jennifer accused him.
"Oh, look, the machine says you have exceptional telepathic ability," Severus said, trying to change the subject.
"Yes I do, which is why I know you were thinking it was my fault," Jennifer reaffirmed.
"Jennifer, do stop trying to pick a fight and help me with this. Here, get up and take this," Severus said, resetting the instruments and giving her the helmet, taking the chair. After a moment, he signaled, and Jennifer put the helmet on his head and gazed at him with an almost flirtatious smile. "Are you thinking of something?"
"Yes."
"Something to do with the children?" Severus guessed. Jennifer made a face.
"No," she said, grinning at him.
"Something to do with last night?" he asked in a low voice.
"Severus, honestly!" Jennifer laughed. "I didn't ask for clues!"
"Well, you are a trained Truth Seeker, and I have no talent in this field whatsoever," Severus said, but Jennifer was glancing at the meter with interest.
"If that is so, how come by this you read as an Exceptional telepath?" Jennifer said. Severus squinted at it. "514, two points better than my rating."
"I must have forgotten to reset it," Severus frowned.
"No you didn't, I remember watching you do so."
"Then it must have been set wrong then, for I assure you I haven't got a clue what you were thinking," Severus said, glancing in the mirror then taking off his glasses before turning back to her. She had a triumphant look on her face. "What now?"
"Only that what I was thinking how I thought you looked better with your glasses on then without them," Jennifer said with a smile. "Are you sure you weren't just resisting wanting to know what I was thinking?"
"Jennifer, the machine is merely not accurate, and I took my glasses off because they were uncomfortable."
"Oh, Severus, those glasses are as light as air," Jennifer chided him. "Besides, even if you didn't pick me up, there are many different ways people focus telepathic ability. I mean, I'm sure Alex couldn't read my mind, but she has to be an amazing telepath because she can pick up written word as well as spoken. And I know for a fact that you used to study Occlumancy quite regularly when we first met, and that is a telepathic art."
"No, it is merely a discipline against the telepathic art, something that even an average person with random hunches can accomplish with practice and meditation," Severus corrected her. "However, once you showed up I found myself spending more and more time having to practice it to the point it became unfeasible for me to continue doing so. Except on special occasions of course… you know… anniversaries, birthdays…" he said, Jennifer shaking her head at him, still grinning. "…but we're getting off the subject. I don't think that machine is working properly."
"Severus, it's time you realized that you're in denial."
"Jennifer, even if I was in denial, which I'm not, if I realized it then it wouldn't be denial," Severus snapped then paused when Jennifer looked triumphant again. "But I'm not in denial so it is a moot point, and is it just me or are you abnormally argumentative today?"
"Let us go for a walk, Severus," Jennifer suggested.
"Now don't start that, now you're patronizing me."
"And you're the one being argumentative," Jennifer pointed out.
"I have no intention of leaving here with you thinking you've won. I'm going to prove to you this thing isn't working," Severus said with determination, putting the helmet down and resetting the equipment.
"Very well, but I would really rather take a walk," Jennifer sighed, watching him work.
Fortunately for Jennifer, it wasn't long before Descartes raised another alarm, and she looked up to see her second born descending the stairs with his midnight black hair so distinguishable from his other siblings. "Hello Aurelius! How was work?"
"Busy as always, but not for me. Everyone wants to get their potions from the 'great Athos'," Aurelius said sarcastically.
"Ah good, perfect, Aurelius come here for a moment," Severus said. "Come sit down, we need you to help with an experiment."
"Well, I haven't done my reading yet, and I was going to ask if I could go to Stock's for dinner…"
"This will only take a moment," Severus assured him. "And afterwards, make sure you check the post, preferably before Alex gets home. Letters should be going out at any time now."
"Still haven't gotten up the nerve to tell her I'm going to be a Prefect, have you?" Aurelius said with a smirk.
"Just don't you say anything about it!" Jennifer warned him. "I would rather her anger be directed at us and not you. Would you sit here, Aurelius?"
"All right," Aurelius sighed and sat down. "I'm not going to have to drink anything this time, am I?"
"No, I merely am trying to test this telepathy reader," Severus assured him, picking up the helmet again. "It's quite simple. This hat works much like the Sorting Hat, picking up your thoughts and how they move when you try to focus on something such as reading someone else's mind. It'll then send a reading by magical wave to this…" he said, tapping a panel with a set of arrows. "Which is supposed to measure your telepathic strength, although I am of the opinion it isn't working correctly," Severus added, and Jennifer merely smiled warmly in attempt to hide a response.
"Why are there two arrows?" Aurelius asked curiously.
"Well, one measure's a person's natural empathy levels… which determines things such as emotions, sensing danger, and heightening one's instinctual awareness…the other one is a measure of telepathy, which are abilities connected with determining how much information you can receive from people and things around you and your ability to manipulate that," Jennifer explained.
"Everyone has some amount of an instinctual higher sense, of course, so the wide section in the middle is in the normal range, then to either side low or high, suppressed or exceptional," Severus pointed out. "Now, all you need to do is clear you mind, and I'll put this on you. You chose one of us to try to read our mind, and then focus on us. It'll record that energy and produce a reading, regardless if you succeed or not. Understand?"
"I believe so, yes," Aurelius said. "I suppose I'll try to read you, then."
"Good. Then clear your mind," Severus said, waiting a moment as Aurelius closed his eyes then slipped the helmet on his head. "Now, focus on my thoughts."
"Very well, I'm focusing," Aurelius said.
"What do you think he's thinking about?" Jennifer asked curiously.
"Does it matter as long as I'm focusing on reading him?" Aurelius asked.
"Yes, well, he does have a point," Severus said, then glanced at the instrument and frowned, tapping it. "Are you still focusing on me?"
"Yes," Aurelius said with a sigh.
"There, look at that, Jennifer. It's on a zero reading."
"But that's impossible!" Jennifer said, standing up wide-eyed.
"Now do you believe me when I tell you it's broken? Thank you, Aurelius, that was a great help," Severus said.
"If you say so," Aurelius said skeptically, taking off the helmet and getting up. "So I can go to Stock's?"
"Make sure you take something with you for Mrs. Stockton… ask Mercy first. And change your shirt! It looks quite tight along the back," Jennifer scolded him.
"Mum, it's the most comfortable shirt I have, and knowing Stock we'll end up finishing his chores before dinner," Aurelius protested.
"Then wear one of your brother's. That should give you some room," Jennifer said, inspecting the helm.
"Just what I've always wanted! More of my little brother's hand-me-downs!" Aurelius said, stomping up the stairs.
"Are you sure this thing was on?" Jennifer asked Severus. Severus rolled his eyes.
"Let's go for a walk," he suggested, putting the helm back on the table.
Andrew had been sitting in the stands with a ton of other kids, a fizz drink in one hand and a bag of nuts in the other. Just then he caught the sight of black out of the corner of his eye and spotted his parents along the outside walking path. Shoving his things at the surprised kid sitting next to him, Andrew leapt up and run over to them.
"Hey, wait up!" he panted, causing Severus and Jennifer to stop and look at him curiously.
"Is something wrong?" Jennifer asked him concernedly.
"No, but you've got to see this game. Everyone says it's the game of the year! Hurry, before someone catches the Snitch!" he insisted, walking a few hurried steps ahead of them. "By the way, did you know Ginger Davidson's grandmother once had a crush on you, Father?" he added. Severus' jaw dropped at the thought of any grandmother no matter who it was having a crush on him.
"I knew," Jennifer said, smiling enigmatically as she took his arm. "Come on, let's go see what all the fuss is about."
The teams had been up for nearly an hour, hand picked by the captains, Alicia Snape and Ginger Davidson, and on each was a bunch of players from mixed houses and schools. Morfinn Bliant took Keeper on Alicia's team, protesting that allergies made it impossible to try anything else, while Phoebe, Jocelyn, and Julia made up the Chaser team and a pair of incoming first years from Stockton rounded out their Beaters. Ginger had a brutal pair of beaters in Eigil Hauk and Hephaestus Grey, but she had secured the Chasers from the Hufflepuff before Alicia could and took the position of Keeper. Alicia knew that in the field, Ginger definitely had the stronger team, but what Alicia was most curious about was her pick for their Seeker, who was none other than Rolanda Hooch Archibald, the Quidditch director from Durmstrang.
Alicia knew she was the faster of the two and most probably could execute tighter turns than the fifty something year old woman, but at the same time she felt a bit anxious about beating her to the Snitch. To make things even more tense, a very large crowd of kids who had come to the park took interest in the game, turning it into a once in a lifetime event.
Rolanda, although constantly looking for the Snitch, also didn't miss a single play in the game, barking out advice to each player as they passed her as serious as if it had been a real game on a pro field. To make Alicia more nervous, she shouted to Eigil in Norwegian, which made Alicia wish that Alex, her Omnivox sister, had been off work to play. Alicia tried to do some routing of her own, but was constantly getting distracted by glints of sun out of the corner of her eye. At last, she realized that it wasn't the sun. Instantly she turned to face it, but even as she spun around, Rolanda barked one last word to Eigil before heading after the Snitch, taking a dramatically lower position under it. At first Alicia frowned at her, feeling shadowed even though Rolanda was almost directly under her. Then a sudden urge to duck helped Alicia avoid a Bludger aimed at her shoulder. In fact, both Beaters had become interested in her position, and Alicia began to weave to keep them off her back while pushing her speed to the limit. Again, Rolanda let her get a little ahead of her, the patience in her movements nerve wracking to Alicia who was used to the straight forward tactic of charging in and grabbing. Alicia forced her nervousness out of her mind and focused in on the Snitch, deciding to trust her speed to protect her from the Bludger as she closed in less than a foot away from it. But just then, the Snitch did a quick zig and then dove, but Alicia looking down realized she couldn't without running into Rolanda who had crept up inches away from her dangling foot.
Easily, the Snitch was snatched up in Rolanda's hand, and the crowd went wild, Alicia slumping a bit as she kept moving forward until she had enough distance to turn to land.
The teams had already gathered around the center, congratulating Rolanda on the catch as Alicia landed, looking glum as she calculated the score. But Rolanda smiled warmly at her, patting her on the shoulder.
"Well! In all my life, I never expected to see any Snape amount to anything in Quidditch!" she said with a laugh. "If you were in a race toe to toe with Harry, I wouldn't want to cast a wager on it!"
"Thanks, although obviously you are much better," Alicia protested, and Rolanda laughed again.
"You have the reaction speed, strength and talent to be one of the best Seekers of your age, Alicia. But that by itself can't make up for seasoned experience," Rolanda said, and then made a face. "And boy, am I seasoned," she added, everyone laughing at that. She looked up then and broke into a very curious smile as she watched Severus, Jennifer and Andrew approach. "Why, Professor Severus Snape, I admit, I can't believe it. I couldn't believe it when Ginger told me and now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I still can't believe it… you actually managed to raise a decent Quidditch player! Who's the father again, Jennifer?"
"Actually we raised four Quidditch players, thank you," Severus said. "Even Andrew plays, despite his trying to get out of it."
"Well, there's no mistaking who your father is, is there?" Rolanda said, looking Andrew over. Andrew merely smiled and shifted the thin golden hair out of his eyes, because despite his hair there could be no mistake that his face and gangly scarecrow build was his father's. "It's still amazing, though, considering Snape here was so slow on a broom you weren't sure if he was moving or not and couldn't hit the side of a barn with his Bludger bat," she said, the students chuckling until Severus' squinting eyes met theirs, "And Craw here showed up at Hogwarts on a training broom of all things, and when she crashed it, she upgraded to an automatic." Jennifer felt her face grow red as several of her students snickered.
"Must you tell them about that?" Jennifer said, gritting her teeth.
"Of course! It's good for your students to know they can do something their teacher's can't, gives them a sense of ego. They'll do much better in the classroom if they know you have flaws too… not counting the obvious flaw in your taste in men," she added with amusement.
"Well, I see you haven't changed much," Severus said dryly.
"Oh, a little older, a little sick of snow, but I'm content. But I've definitely changed more than the two of you! Jennifer, you look just as you did when I left! And Severus, I swear there's not a grey hair in that chaotic black mop of yours. Alvin's greying so much he looks like a zebra," she chuckled. "You both need to stop by and tour Durmstrang sometime this year, I think you'll be amazed at the changes," Rolanda added after she excused herself from the teams so she could join Severus and Jennifer on their walk. "Alvin's made some progress over the last few years. The place no longer feels like a tomb. I know, I think we start our season a week early since we start school earlier… how about coming to the first game, you can see what it's like playing in a cavern."
"All right, we'll try," Jennifer said with a smile, looking at Severus for approval after the fact but he merely nodded tolerantly.
"So," Rolanda said, glancing around to wait for a couple of older students to pass them before continuing. "I hear Hauk was Sorted into Slytherin. How's he adjusting?"
"He's an average student at best although I wonder if his language skills didn't hurt his OWLS a bit," Severus admitted. "He's expressed an interest in sports, and I admit he has excelled both in Quidditch as a Beater and in Sparring second only to Alexandria last year."
"Actually, I was more concerned about his social habits," Rolanda admitted.
"Well, I would say at best within the house feelings are mixed, but he does have a large following of loyal friends," Severus mused.
"I was afraid of that," Rolanda said. "He's been using it to gang up on other students, hasn't he?"
"No, not really. Oh, I admit he had a falling out with one student, but because of certain circumstances I don't believe it'll be in his best interests to pursue it next year," Severus said.
"I'm sure if there was a problem you would know about it, Severus," Rolanda said solemnly, "But all the same, now that he's had a year to get comfortable, I'd keep a close eye on him. He's got a lot of penned up anger left over from what his father did to him and his mother, and he's the type who'll take it out on someone else who he feels can't defend himself."
"I appreciate the warning, but I doubt it'll be a problem," Severus said with a nod.
"Well, I do hope you're right, Severus," Rolanda said, shaking her head. "But from what I saw of him today, I really don't think he's over it."
Jennifer gazed at her thoughtfully, but decided not to say anything, glancing instead around at a strange scene to the left of her. Surrounding the kiddie park near the upside-down slides and tethered practice brooms were a whole slew of Ministry guards, looking extremely bored.
"What do you suppose is going on over there?" Jennifer asked.
"I don't know but knowing you I'm sure we're about to find out," Severus said casually. Rolanda grinned when Jennifer gave him a dirty look.
"Well you can always stay behind," Jennifer said.
"Sure, I'll keep her out of trouble," said Rolanda.
"For that reason alone, I think it's better if I come along," Severus said firmly, and the three of them walked over.
As they came close, the guards shifted to let them through unconcernedly, nodding to them as they passed. It was then that Jennifer saw Parvati sitting on a bench reading and walked towards her, waving and calling her name. But as the other two began to follow her, a young girl came out of nowhere on a toy broom and smacked right into Severus, the blow tossing the girl off the broom and onto her rear. Mary looked up and gaze wide-eyed at the man squinting at her then scrambled to her feet in a panic.
"Snape! Snape! Snape! Snape!" she screamed, running to her mother. Quite a few of the guards sniggered loudly, for many of them had spent their own time in his class. Rolanda was chuckling as well, but didn't try to hide it when he turned her way.
"He always brings that certain something out in people, doesn't he, Cauldwell?" Rolanda commented.
"Well, I know that was always my first reaction," he said, but straightened his expression as Snape squinted at the former Hufflepuff.
"It's all right, it's all right," Parvati said with exasperation as Mary clung to her. Jennifer chuckled and sat down beside them, trying to get Mary's attention.
"Really, he's not all that scary, is he?" Jennifer coaxed her.
"Grandfather told me not to talk to Snapes," Mary mumbled.
"Grandfather isn't always right," Parvati sighed softly, gazing apologetically at Jennifer.
"Hello Parvati!" Rolanda said warmly.
"Madame Hooch… I mean, Archibald! It's been a long time!" Parvati smiled back.
"I see you've been busy. I bet she's a handful," Rolanda grinned.
"She can be! Too much of her father in her," Parvati admitted. "Mary, this is one of mother's old teachers, Madame Archibald."
"Did you have to put the word old in there?" Rolanda laughed. "Hello, Mary! Goodness you look like your mother!" But after peering around her mother's shoulder to peek at the woman with the strange eyes, Mary caught the sight of Severus looming behind them and hid again. "Scary, isn't he?" Rolanda egged on, and Mary nodded with her face still covered. Severus rolled his eyes.
"Mary, if I made him not so scary would you say hello to him?" Jennifer coaxed in a low voice. Severus squinted at her, but Jennifer was too busy watching Mary, who would sneak a quick peek at Jennifer and then back again. Rolanda couldn't help but be curious about what Jennifer had in mind when she began to dig in his cloak pocket, Severus immediately trying to back up in response.
"Jennifer, no," he said firmly.
"It's not going to kill you to be nice," Jennifer argued, taking out his glasses and putting them on his nose. Rolanda took one look at him and had to turn and walk away to keep herself from busting out laughing. "Don't take them off," she scolded him as an unusual amount of color came to his face as the guards took turns grinning at each other. Severus glared at them as well as at Parvati who was having a hard time keeping a smile off her face as Jennifer crouched back down beside Mary. "All right, I promise you he's not so scary now. Look for yourself," she said. Mary peeked again, frowning at him thoughtfully. "Can you say hello now? For me?"
"Hullo," Mary said at last then buried her head again. Jennifer nodded fervently at Severus expectantly. Severus sighed.
"Hello, Miss Malfoy," he said, and then took his glasses off before anyone else could make another comment. Mary giggled softly, thinking how funny him using her last name sounded. "Might we speak with your mother a moment?"
"Yes, why don't you go play now, Mary," Parvati said. But as she began to stand up Mary stopped her, whispering in her ear. "No, you don't have to tell your grandfather you spoke to a Snape," Parvati assured her. Nodding at that, Mary headed off to find her broom. "I suppose you're all wondering why we have the extensive escort," she said.
"We were a bit curious, yes," Rolanda admitted.
"Well, it really is a rather long story. It started just after it came out that the leader of the Musketeers was Danyelle. Lucius was furious… I don't think even I remember ever seeing him that angry before. In fact he was so angry he went to the Pannage afterwards and from what I hear literally ripped one of the paintings off the wall. Draco had him brought to the Ministry, hoping he'd calm down, but it got worse from there instead of better. Lucius decided to change all the security locks throughout the entire mansion to make sure no one could get in or leave without him accompanying them, including all of his relatives," Parvati said, glancing over at Mary who was trying to spin on her broom like a top. "I suppose being parents yourselves you can understand why Draco and I were more than a bit hesitant about allowing Mary over there if we couldn't get to her in an emergency, especially considering her grandfather's state of mind at that point. So, Draco told him that he could only visit Mary at our house or somewhere one of us would be near."
"I'm sure that went well," Severus murmured grimly.
"I'm only glad that Draco decided to talk to him about it at the office. If his guards hadn't jumped in when they did…" Parvati hesitated, "Well, Draco thinks his father might have killed him. He decided then to have him held pending a psychiatric evaluation a week ago, but I'm afraid my husband was just a bit too worried to have it leak out to the press. He attempted to have his father moved somewhere a bit less conspicuous than the Tower last night and he escaped."
"You shouldn't be out here in the open," Severus frowned, looking around. "A dozen guards or not, this is not a safe place to be."
"Severus, we can't keep Mary locked up over this! We can't even explain it to her!" Parvati sighed, shaking her head. "She adores her grandfather, and trying to explain it, or even that anything he is doing is in any way wrong… if only she were a few years older."
"I can't imagine what it must be like to go through what you are," Rolanda said. "If you need any extra support, I'm here until the end of the summer. I'll be glad to help out in any way I can."
"Thank you, but I think there's only one thing right now that will put me at ease. The sooner Lucius is found again, the better," Parvati said. "Would you mind not mentioning this to anyone else, however? I know I can trust you three, but I think Draco would be very upset if it got out. I am glad you were here to tell, though."
"So are we," Jennifer said with a nod. "And if you come to need a safe house, Draco knows the way to ours. I doubt Lucius would want to get anywhere near my father even if he did know where it was."
"Thank you," Parvati said almost distractedly. "What do I tell her? How can I make her understand what's going on?" Rolanda, Jennifer and Severus glanced at each other but said nothing, unsure of what advice to give.
