Chapter Thirteen
Kid Gloves
Jennifer stepped in the Dumbledore's study, forcing herself to look straight ahead despite the fact that Vallid, sitting beside him, was eyeing her curiously, and she could feel Severus' eyes on her back.
"Care to sit down, Jennifer?" Dumbledore said.
"I'd rather stand, if it's all the same, sir," Jennifer said softly.
"Very well," Dumbledore said with a sigh, looking at her over the rim of his glasses. "It seems we've all had a rather busy night." He paused then, as if expecting someone else to speak, but no one did. "Severus came to me a couple of hours ago, Jennifer, to report that you had left the castle and he wasn't certain about where you were, and that you had tried to potion him last night so he wouldn't notice."
"It's nothing that he hasn't done to me in the past, sir," Jennifer said.
"A point which I find very disturbing. That either of you would consider doing such a thing to each other after all of these years is unsettling, even to me. Be that as it may, I had a hunch this had something to do with Baylor's death, and thought it would be better if Severus stayed here and helped keep watch for your return. I had actually hoped, with too much optimism, no doubt, that you would come back with little more than a short explanation of why you did this and it would soon turn to a water-under-the-bridge matter. And then Vallid arrived, not short of an hour ago, to tell me that there was an incident involving a witch who had taken up the image of a Muggle woman named Margaret Clark, who was found dead at her desk in the County Morgue," Dumbledore said. Jennifer merely nodded. "Several dark spells had been reportedly cast in that room, so a wizard team arrived to investigate. She had apparently been a victim of the Killing Curse, but there was another oddity; a Sleeping Potion was found in the woman's system. It had not yet worn off at the time that she died. Do you know anything about these events, Jennifer?"
"I am aware that they happened, yes," Jennifer said. Vallid frowned gravely, watching her fixedly. Severus came to stand closer to Vallid and Dumbledore, but had a hard time convincing himself to look at her.
"You were there, were you not?" Dumbledore asked.
"I had gone to make certain that Baylor was dead. I felt I owed myself that much," Jennifer said quietly. "I didn't want to worry Severus with my plans, so I admit to putting something in his tea. I brought a partially finished Polyjuice Potion with me and put Margaret to sleep, intending to keep her only there long enough for me to go take a look at the corpse and then head back to her office. But she was dead when I returned," Jennifer said, ignoring the burning sensation in her eyes and keeping her head steady. "I grew worried for my friends and immediately went to check on them to find they were in terrible danger. I Apparated down and blasted the doors of the Kingler's café to help those trapped inside because of a raging fire, and then went up and got a mother and child upstairs and brought them to safety. Then the fire department arrived, and I made a quick exit."
"You definitely did that," Vallid said dryly. "In fact, you gave the Magic Containment Agency a hundred-Muggle headache… Apparating… casting spells… riding a broom in public…"
"I had no choice!" Jennifer snapped.
"One always has a choice," Dumbledore said quietly.
"To do what? Sit there and watch those people die? People that were, for a short time in my life, the only family I had? I did what I had to!" Jennifer snapped.
"Why didn't you just put the fire out, Jennifer?" Severus frowned.
"It wasn't a normal fire," Jennifer said. "It was magic."
"Yes, there can be little doubt of that," Vallid nodded. "But who started it?" Jennifer paused a moment, thinking.
"I wasn't there to see," Jennifer said.
"Well, wasn't that a well placed answer. Vallid, who was it?" Severus asked with frustration.
"I don't know," Vallid said quietly. "I can't read her." Severus' eyes widened, staring at his wife in disbelief.
"Jennifer, have you by any chance spoken to Aurelius this evening?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"Yes, I have," Jennifer admitted. "But I have just told you everything I can about what happened tonight. The precaution with Aurelius is merely to protect the innocent."
"Say the word, Dumbledore, and I'll go get a Veritaserum and give it to her myself," Severus said.
"Do it and it'll be the last thing you ever give me!" Jennifer shouted, turning on him furiously. "You have been nothing but a pain in the ass since we came to school! Spying on my classrooms, questioning my every word and action, and not giving me one moment to breathe! Keeping an eye on Zoë is one thing, but giving me no space whatsoever when the only provocation you have to do so is your suspicious nature is absolutely uncalled for! As for the rest of you, I told you the truth to the best of my ability, and if you have so little faith in me, you can all turn into Craters as far as I'm concerned! Here, take it!" Jennifer snapped, pulling out her wand and handing it out to Vallid. "You'll find that the last spell I cast on it is probably grounds for me to go to jail. I had to cast the Imperius Curse on the woman and her son to get them out of a burning building, and if I'm to get in trouble for that, then fine. I do what I have to do, as I've always done, and I'm not going to stop just because some people have so little respect for me that he can't trust me to mind my own classroom without interfering!"
As Jennifer stormed out the door and slammed it behind her, no one said a word. Severus stood staring at the door in complete disbelief, Vallid gazed at the wand in her hands, and Dumbledore brought out the map, watching in silence as Jennifer retreated to her office.
"Well," he said at last. "Where to go from here?"
"I for one think it's time to have a little talk with Aurelius," Severus growled angrily.
"No wait, Severus. Not so fast. I think it's evident now that we need to be a bit more cautious," Dumbledore said, meeting Severus' gaze evenly. "Severus, is there any truth that you have been a bit overbearing lately? Have you been spying on her classes?"
"I admit I may pass through there at times when she is having class, but I'm merely taking a short cut…"
"Through the dungeon, Severus?" Dumbledore interrupted disapprovingly. "I suggest that whatever it is you're doing to get her this defensive, you should stop doing it. Immediately. If she's got something troubling her to the point she's willing to go to Aurelius about it, she's going to do nothing if not put up more barriers every time you try to push them. Thoughts, Lunette?"
"I believe that what she told us was the truth, Albus. She respects both of us too much to do any different. But I also think she omitted a great deal. For one thing, if she were just 'checking up' on them, I doubt she would have Apparated in front of all those Muggles, and if she were close enough to them to see the fire, she wouldn't need to. I also think she has at least an idea of who might have murdered Dr. Clark, but for whatever reason feels that revealing that will endanger her friends. That would explain what she means by going to Aurelius to protect the innocent."
"Yes, and that very much sounds like something Jennifer would do," Dumbledore agreed. "How much trouble is she in, Lunette?"
Lunette glanced at the wand and took out her own casting a spell at it. Just as she suspected, it was exactly the spell that Jennifer had said. She looked thoughtful.
"In her opinion, she didn't have much choice in the matter but to save her friends. Of course, I could name more harmless suggestion spells she could have used, but this is Jennifer we're talking about, after all. And there is the matter of her giving that Sleeping Potion to the Muggle, Albus. Any Alchemist worth a grain of salt would be able to tell whose lab that came from. More than likely, she'll get a fine and probation if I can convince them she did so with no intent to harm her, but considering that she's dead…I suppose I'd better get to work," Vallid finished, getting up and putting the wand on Albus' desk. "Besides, I have to set up someone to watch the Kinglers."
"That definitely sounds like a plan. I will watch over her... from a safe distance, of course... and see if I can learn anything," Dumbledore said, glancing at Severus. "And since I've taken that upon myself, Severus, you may feel free to focus your attention on Zoë and let your wife have a little time. Encourage situations that gives her opportunities to speak with you without pressing the matter."
"And just how do you expect me to do that?" Severus said, still obviously put off with the way she had just run out.
"Goodness, Severus, that's not my place to say," Dumbledore said. "I know how subtle and tactful you can be. Oh, and you'd better take these with you," Dumbledore said, pulling out a pair of soft goat-hide gloves and handing them over. Getting the hint, Severus sighed and left, but didn't try to go back to Jennifer's office.
But after Dumbledore walked Vallid down the stairs, he himself went down to the dungeons, knocking gently at the door.
Panicking slightly, Jennifer took the handkerchief she had been biting on out of her mouth and put the tweezers away, gazing worriedly at the pieces of bloody glass on the floor as she painfully pulled her cloak back over her shoulders and walked over to the door, opening it only a little bit to see Albus Dumbledore standing there, gazing searchingly at her with his blue eyes.
"So? Am I going or staying?" Jennifer asked evenly, not offering to let him in. But Dumbledore seemed neither worried nor offended by it.
"You left this in my office," Dumbledore said simply, extending the handle of the wand to her. "Lunette wanted me to tell you she'll be in touch over this incident."
"Thank you," Jennifer said softly, taking her wand back. "I suppose everyone's pretty angry with me." Dumbledore tilted his head slightly as if mulling it over.
"No," he said. "A bit puzzled, perhaps, a bit hurt on Severus' part, but I wouldn't say any of us are truly angry."
"You don't believe me though, do you?" Jennifer frowned. But Dumbledore smiled softly, closing her hand around her wand with his own.
"We believe in you, Jennifer," he said firmly. "And I think in many ways that's much more important, don't you? Have a good morning," he said then turned around, glancing in the cages as he made his way out. "You may want to take a quick look in the cages, Jennifer, I do believe you lost one of your mice. Keep up the good work."
"Yes, Professor," Jennifer said softly, stepping over to the cages curiously as soon as the Headmaster left. But her face immediately turned grave as she saw which cage the dead mouse was in, double-checking her charts and doses to make double sure. It was the one with the heavy painkiller she herself had been using every day. Leaning against the glass of the cage, Jennifer took a deep breath, and then went to her bookshelf to come up with a safer alternative.
If Severus had any doubts of giving Jennifer a wider berth, those doubts were put on hold a few days later when Fleur came downstairs with her hood up. Jennifer's mood quickly went from bad to worse as many of the male students stopped dead in their tracks with mesmerized looks on their faces when the woman went past them, so Jennifer refused to let any male into the lab without a sip of the anti-charm potion.
It was also, it seemed, Severus' turn to be watched carefully. Jennifer had plenty more excuses why she had to pass his classroom than he had to watch hers, also periodically wandering by Transfiguration as well. No one on staff commented on the behavior even though they had all noticed it. Much to Severus' relief, Fleur had also excused herself from mealtimes until the three days had passed.
But as the days finally came to an end and Fleur unhooded to reveal her 'plain old ordinary' self, Severus found himself gazing at the calendar with a frown, helplessly hoping that his calculations were incorrect. For it seemed, if he had gotten the dates right since the first time they had met, that the next time would hit on Halloween, and there was little doubt that Fleur would not be willing to miss it.
Once again, Jennifer had begun to spend an extraordinary amount of time in the lab, but Severus was careful not to comment on it, merely insisting she break for meals and then only discussing teaching or sometimes the children or Zoë. But if Jennifer was feeling any more comfortable about being around Severus, she made little sign, and neither of them brought up that night in Dumbledore's study. The papers, of course, had not been as forgiving. Ever since the day it happened, The Oracle had been going out of their way to print any little thing they could get on Jennifer's behavior. Pictures of the rescue had gone out the next day, and speculations that the true cause of death had been a potion turned into a rumor that wouldn't be shaken. To make matters worse, somehow the paper had found out about the case of invisibility cream, and soon the gossip columnist Nixie Nosegay began to question exactly how many potions Jennifer was on for her looks, even offering a reward to anyone who could catch a candid shot of her without it.
That was something Severus couldn't stand for. After chasing away students who were hovering around their sitting rooms and lurking around the office, Severus moved Rasputin to Jennifer's office for a few days afterwards and borrowed a gargoyle from Dumbledore ugly enough to break any camera that had its lens exposed to it and sat it right outside of their sitting rooms.
It was, of course, highly predictable that the moment Jennifer found out Fleur's condition during the ball that she was planning to go to unusual lengths to make herself presentable, but Severus found himself getting quite impatient after waiting an hour and a half for her to come out of the bathroom. Not that she hadn't been spending increasingly more time in there over the last couple of months, but when Severus was able to finish nearly three Holmes short stories in the time it took for her to come out, he believed he had good reason to get impatient. Finally glancing up at the clock, he snapped his book closed and went into their bedroom to bang on the door.
"Jennifer, aren't you done yet? We really need to be getting downstairs, our guests are probably already here," Severus said.
"I'm almost done," Jennifer said.
"You said that over half an hour ago," Severus pointed out, scowling at the door until it finally opened.
But the scowl disappeared off his face then as she came out in a drop-sleeve black dress trimmed with black sequin bats around the bottom of the skirt, the same sequins trimming the form-fitting bodice. Her hair was piled up and over her crested barrette; while lone curled strands were left to frame her face.
"Now I know black is hardly my color, but being Halloween, Minerva thought it might suit me," Jennifer protested before he had a chance to open his mouth. "Do you suppose it makes me look too pale?"
"Jennifer, what am I going to do with you?" Severus murmured. "If I say anything I know I'll just be playing to that vanity of yours, and yet how could I not notice the beauty which exudes from every fibre of your being?" Gently he took her hand, pulling her away from the mirror. "I don't care what anyone else may think. You're ten times more beautiful than any Veela. And also ten times more frightening when you're angry." Jennifer couldn't help but chuckle softly at that.
"Severus, I… if only…" she hesitated then, but he brought his own hand to her lips.
"When you're ready," Severus said softly. "A pledge of faith, if you promise not to lose all faith in me." Jennifer's gaze softened then, a loving gaze that made him realize how long it had been since he had seen it.
"I couldn't lose my faith in you, Severus," Jennifer said softly. "Nothing can change that." Severus paused then, wanting to say more… ask more… but instead he chose to kiss her; a very gentle heartfelt kiss that for some reason made Jennifer tear a bit. She looked away a moment.
"Well, we should get downstairs…"
"Jennifer, let's go Cloaking later," Severus said, Jennifer staring at him in surprise. "We haven't spent any time together lately that I haven't felt like a burden has been hanging over us and it would be nice, if only for an evening, if we could just enjoy one another's company again."
"Oh, Severus, I don't know… and with all the company in the building… you know they're all staying for the game tomorrow…"
"Well, that'll just make it all the more interesting," Severus said wickedly.
"All right, we'll see how we feel in a couple of hours," Jennifer said with an exasperated sigh.
"Then let's get this over with, shall we?" Severus said, offering her an arm and leading her out the door.
