Chapter Twenty-Two
The Christmas Flight
The next day was the first of Yule, and if Jennifer had expected Thomas to stay close to home, she found out how wrong she was when he finished his eggs benedict first thing in the morning and went out the door again, barely acknowledging the reminder of what day it was. He did, however, arrive just before sunset, almost begrudgingly greeting Sirius, Anna and their other guests before grabbing Stock and cornering him over some business matters, despite Jennifer's protests.
"I don't get to see the boy much, Jennifer, and I am paying him after all," Thomas said.
"But it's the first of Yule!"
"So go harvest mistletoe, but leave us to our business," Thomas grumbled.
"It's okay, Professor, I don't mind," Stock said with a smile. Folding her arms and glaring, Jennifer let the matter stand, attempting to listen to the conversation between Severus, Sirius and Anna until she decided to check up the kids who were busy raiding the biscuit trays in the kitchen.
"If what happened doesn't scare her into straightening up, nothing will," Sirius murmured.
"Maybe, but Severus is right. If she doesn't get over this shock and actually start talking to someone about it… anyone… she's just going to fall back into old habits to try and force herself to forget it. The further away from it she gets from what happened, the more tempting it'll be to deny it ever happened," Anna said.
"So then we get her to talk," Sirius said.
"It's not that easy. She has to come to us on her own," Anna said.
"Frankly, Anna, it is very unlikely she would turn to either of you," Severus said.
"Well, she'd definitely not turn to you after everything you've done," Sirius said.
"No, I have a feeling she may be looking for a less hostile alternative, someone who hasn't been involved in her disciplinary measures," Severus said, glancing through the doorway at Jennifer. "It's important right now to make your presence known to her at all times. Don't give her a reason to test you… and that includes even having minor disputes in front of her."
"Don't worry, Severus, we've worked all of that out," Sirius said. Severus looked between them.
"Good," Severus replied dubiously.
In the kitchen, Jennifer didn't take too long straightening up the kitchen before going over to where Aurelius and Stock were, leaning on the bar and talking softly about Quidditch. The conversation abruptly ended when she came over, however, and Jennifer merely chuckled.
"Don't worry. I don't talk about Quidditch strategy with the Ravenclaw team, let alone the others. Last time I did that, someone I won't name accused me of reading faces before games to use it to our advantage… as if Ravenclaw wins that many games to begin with," she winked.
"Hey, I heard that!" Alex scowled from where she sat in the dining room with the others.
"So, would this particular someone happen to be in the living room?" Stock asked daringly.
"I would say that that might be a definite possibility," Jennifer grinned, Aurelius smirking slightly in response. "So, Stock, how's the mine work coming? My father's not overburdening you with it, I hope."
"No, Professor," Stock said. "In fact, he's made a point on saying several times my schoolwork comes first. He knows I'm going for Magical Industry and Finance."
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised," Jennifer chuckled, picking out a biscuit casually. "By the way, did he happen to mention where he was going to you before he left?" Aurelius squinted at her.
"Not really, why?" Stock asked.
"Oh, I was just wondering. With everything going on, I can't help but worry a bit, and for some reason I couldn't read him well," Jennifer added, barely glancing at Aurelius.
"Mother, the man is sixty-five years old. I think he is entitled to some privacy," Aurelius said bluntly.
"I agree," Severus said from the doorway. Jennifer gazed up at him then, and for a moment it looked as if they were having a silent battle before Jennifer finally turned away, grabbing the tea tray and taking it to the living room.
"Personally, I don't blame her for being concerned," Andrew spoke up when the children fell into an uncomfortable silence. "What with all this talk of the tribunal and all that, wouldn't it be better if he stayed close to home?"
"Not necessarily. In point, it is the very fact that he wasn't at home during the time of all occurrences so far that gave him solid alibis. Had he been home, it would have been merely his word against everyone else's," Severus said. "I see no reason as yet that he should change his daily habits over this, and he's given me no reason to think he's been doing anything else. Has he given anyone else a reason to think otherwise?"
"He just talks business with me. I really don't know him outside of it," Stock said.
"He seems like the same old grandfather to me," Alex said. Andrew and Alicia agreed. Severus glanced at Aurelius, who looked thoughtful.
"I'm sure he's concerned about it and is watching the situation carefully," Aurelius said slowly. "But I don't think he's gotten involved in it."
"Good, then it sounds like we're in agreement on this issue," Severus said with a nod as he went through the cabinets until he found where Jennifer had hidden the extra dozen springerle.
"Now you just have to get Mum to agree," Alex said mischievously. Andrew and Alicia grinned at each other knowingly.
"Good luck," Aurelius smirked, tapping his glass to have it filled again.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Severus said, his tone slightly sarcastic as he went back into the living room.
As much as Jennifer tried not to worry, the fact that Thomas continued to be absent during most of the daylight hours and sometimes not getting home until long after they had gone to bed put her on a constant edge. Severus, who was used to his morning paper, often found it confiscated before he even got up as Jennifer checked and double-checked to make sure that there were no sightings of the imposter or the Mark. She was often agitated and quick-tempered, so the four children decided to stay out of her path before Christmas lest they find the living room filled with coal, retreating to the attic for hours on end. Even Severus' best attempts to placate her had met with a lukewarm reception, and he found himself retreating to his study to keep his own temper calm, the sharp notes of his violin unsuccessfully piercing through the tension that plagued the entire household.
Only Thomas himself didn't seem to notice, or if he did he ignored it well as he went about his business as if nothing was wrong in his world at all…waving off the papers and indulging in a precious half an hour of television in the morning before walking out the door. But before he had settled in for breakfast on the twenty-fourth, Jennifer had broke away from making coffee in the kitchen and stood in front of him with her arms crossed.
"You'll be coming home early tonight, of course?" Jennifer asked in an almost threatening tone. Thomas looked up at her as if sizing up her motives before turning back to the business of cracking his egg.
"And why would I?"
"Because it's Christmas Eve? Or have you forgotten?" Jennifer said. Severus, who had just come in from the hall to get his coffee, wisely decided to keep moving but kept in hearing distance.
"Not that that means anything to me, Jen-girl, but what does it matter? I'll be here most of the day tomorrow if that is what you're worried about."
"Most of the day?" Jennifer said in disbelief. "I can't believe you're even skipping out on us at Christmas! And after you've spent every day of our vacation gone!"
"What I do with my time is my own concern!" Thomas snapped. "I wouldn't cater to it at all if wasn't for my grandchildren and wanting to give them things you wouldn't normally let me give them. It's not like I get anything out of the holiday but a bunch of socks and ties and socks made out of ties. You'd think after raising you and teaching you how to survive in this world you would be a little more grateful!"
"Fine," Jennifer said in annoyance. "So, short of Malfoy's head, just what do you want for Christmas, Father?" Thomas looked thoughtful for a moment before an evil smile crept on his face.
"I'd settle for a French upstairs maid, Wizardborn of course; preferably one who can cook and knows how to properly keep the sheets warm…"
"Oh, that's very funny!" Jennifer snapped angrily.
"Was it? I was being serious," Thomas said casually. "I suppose you think I'm too old for that sort of thing." Jennifer snorted at him.
"As if I'd think for a moment that you would do something like that after what happened to Mother…"
"Your mother is dead, Jen-girl," Thomas said in a voice suddenly so fierce that Jennifer was taken aback. "Part of me died with her as did a part of you, but that gives neither of us the right to use her death as an excuse to screw up the rest of our lives! You have used it to turn into a spoiled, ungrateful creature who has absolutely no sense of what others have sacrificed to get you where you are! Your mother sacrificed her life for you. Don't expect me to do the same."
He got up then, grabbed his coat, and walked out the door before the initial sting of his words had begun to ease into something harder to shake. Jennifer glanced back at Severus, who simply turned back into the kitchen. Jennifer walked into her room and slammed the door behind herself.
It was late afternoon when Severus finally gave up waiting for Jennifer to cool off and went in after her only to find that she had fallen asleep. She seemed strangely exhausted, but when he put a hand on her she awoke, gazing at him with bewilderment.
"Are you all right? How long have you been asleep?" Severus frowned.
"What time is it?" Jennifer asked tiredly, looking around.
"Half past five."
"Half past five?" Jennifer said with surprise, immediately getting up.
"Don't worry, Mercy has taken care of dinner arrangements…"
"Well you should have woken me sooner," Jennifer scolded him, and then sighed. "At least I'll be well rested for tonight."
"Had you taken something before your nap?"
"Oh…perhaps something to calm my nerves," Jennifer admitted slowly.
"Well, apparently you overdid it," he chided her. "You best get ready for dinner. I hear from Alex that they have something special planned tonight."
Quickly she pulled herself together, slipping into the bathroom long enough to spring open her Puzzlebox to grab a phial. But before she took it, she frowned at it and went for something milder, wondering if that hadn't been the cause of her exhaustion. She then glanced at the mirror, and then nodded in confirmation that none of the Invisibility Cream had come off. Short of taking a shower it never seemed to wear off, and Jennifer couldn't help but privately be impressed by that. Perhaps she would have been better off if it wasn't so efficient. She allowed herself a short dry chuckle, but it faded as quickly as it came. It was hardly a laughing matter. If only there was a way to slip in such a way her involvement would seem like an accident…no, she sighed softly. Perhaps she could get Malfoy to buy it was an accident, but the curse's cold magic could not be fooled by such a ploy. Throwing her box back under the cabinet, Jennifer came out to find everyone waiting impatiently for her…everyone except Thomas.
Jennifer frowned only once at the empty chair before attempting to ignore it, listening to the chatter of the children and testimonials that they had successfully gone through all their old things as they had been asked to do, and Severus' careful questioning that revealed they hadn't gotten rid of as much as either parent may have liked.
After dinner, Andrew and Alicia banked the Yule log with smaller ones so that the flames would rise higher, grinning at each other knowingly when Alex and Aurelius disappeared upstairs.
"So what are these plans of yours you spoke of?" Severus asked, curious in spite of himself as he looked at the position of the couch turned sideways from its normal direction and now facing the fire. "And why is the couch like that?"
"You'll see in just a moment," Alicia said with a grin, helping Andrew spread out the rug in front of them and rearranging some chairs before running into the entry hall. "Just get comfortable and have something to drink."
"Tea, Severus?" Jennifer asked, getting a cup and saucer off the tray.
"I believe I'll break open the wine. We do still have a bottle somewhere I suppose?"
"Gathering dust in the cabinet. You're the only one who drinks it," Jennifer chuckled.
But as Severus got up he had to pause and stare as Aurelius and Alex walked in, for Aurelius was wearing Andrew's oversized nightshirt and his grandfather's nightcap. Jennifer turned around and had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
"I know. I look ridiculous, don't I?" Aurelius said glumly.
"Nonsense! You look great!" Alex insisted, leading him reluctantly in front of the fire as the other two came up behind them. "Instead of the normal recitation we do every year, we thought it might be fun to do a play! That's what we've been working on the last few days."
"Not at the expense of your homework, I hope?" Severus frowned.
"Oh, well, we'll get to that after Christmas," Alex said, waving the question away.
"I think I'd better get my wine," Severus decided and slipped to the cabinet in the dining room, ignoring the amused look on Jennifer's face.
"Anyhow, Aurelius got voted unanimously to be the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge," Alex continued.
"It was not unanimous. I didn't vote," Aurelius retorted.
"Well, that's your own fault. Anyhow, let's see…I am going to be the Ghost of Christmas Past, Alicia is Present, and Andrew is Future…oh, and he's Bob Cratchit and the nephew too…and Alicia does visual effects, and Andrew does the special effects and costuming since he's good at that transfiguring material thing…"
"I hope you're not planning to use magic for this," Severus warned as he stepped back in with a glass in hand.
"Only a little," Andrew protested.
"Oh, honestly, Severus, no one is going to say anything about a small play," Jennifer added in support. "And what do you do besides play Christmas Past, Alex?"
"Me? I direct, of course," Alex said. Aurelius rolled his eyes. "Oh, and I do the voice of Marley's Ghost. But we're going to use the fireplace for that too."
"Let's just get this over with," Aurelius said with a sigh.
"Ignore him, he's a method actor," Alex said, and then pulled everyone to the side except Aurelius and waved him on. Sighing, Aurelius folded his arms and walked slowly from one side of the carpet slowly towards where the others were standing
"All right, here I am strolling the Burroughs on Christmas Eve…everyone is too disgustingly cheerful when they should be making money, all those carolers asking for handouts, how I hate Christmas gluttony and Christmas cheer and most of all how I hate Christmas plays!"
"Aurelius! No ad-libbing!" Alex scowled at him.
"Bah, humbug," Aurelius said to his sister in way that made it sound like he meant something else.
Andrew, who was suddenly wearing a suit with a cranberry cravat walked to Aurelius.
"Why, hullo Uncle, and Happy Christmas!" Andrew beamed.
"Bah humbug," Aurelius repeated.
"Bah humbug? To Christmas? Surely you must be joking! Can't you be nice even now? Can there be any bigger event in all the year?" Andrew asked with a royally fake gentile accent.
"I dunno, I bet if you sneezed it might be," Aurelius mused.
"Aurelius! No ad-libbing!" Alex hissed at him.
"Well you can't blame me for spicing up these lines a bit," Aurelius retorted, as Jennifer attempted to curb her chuckle by taking a long drink of tea. "Bah humbug again," he added boredly. That was when Alicia, dressed in a dark calico shawl and a long bonnet over her head walked over and stiffly put out a rattling can in front of them.
"Happy Christmas! Won't you donate some sickles for the poor this holiday?" Alicia said nervously, grinning at her parents a little embarrassed by the whole thing.
"No. They get enough from me from tax money. Aren't there enough poor houses and orphanages to get around?" Aurelius said.
"But surely the children deserve a decent Christmas!" Alicia insisted.
"They deserve it least of all! Feed 'em once and they're always expecting more. Take them in, and they turn into alchemists!" Aurelius said.
"Aurelius, no ad-libbing," Severus warned him.
"Fine," Aurelius sighed. "Bah, humbug."
"Well, I will donate, miss," Andrew said, drawing out two coins. "One galleon for me, and one for my uncle."
"If that's for me, it's better off in my pocket than in some waif's mouth," Aurelius said, but Alicia pulled the cup away from him before he could try and fish it back out, walking back to the sidelines.
"You just need to find your Christmas spirit, uncle, come to dinner with me and my family tomorrow. We would be grateful to have you as our guest."
"Nonsense, I'm going to work. Besides the way you eat, there won't be enough to go around anyhow, especially the way you throw your money away so carelessly."
"And let them starve?"
"Why not? It'll help decrease the surplus population," Aurelius said, and then looked thoughtful. "You know, I actually rather like that line." Andrew then gave him an overzealous hug, and began to walk away, when he noticed something forming in the fire.
"Hullo, what's that?" Andrew said with a frown.
"Andrew, it's not quite time for the Marley scene yet, he's got to walk home first," Alex said, gazing at the face starting to form in the flames.
"It isn't me," Andrew insisted.
"Someone else must be trying to contact us," Jennifer said. Severus stood and the face cleared. It was the image of Essie Brim's head, her face looking strangely haunted in the burning flames.
"Essie?" Severus said.
"Uncle Severus, hurry! You must get everyone out of that house and flee at once. There's no time to lose!" Essie said quickly.
"Why?" Severus said in alarm.
"Lucius Malfoy knows where you live! I see dozens of black forms surrounding the house as we speak!" Essie said. Immediately Severus went over to the front window just in time to see several hooded figures Apparating beside a smaller group who were already standing upon the curb facing the house.
"Aurelius, check the back," Severus snapped, and immediately he went to the kitchen.
"How on earth did they find us?" Jennifer asked.
"But what about the curse? What does this mean?" Alex asked fretfully.
"There's at least a dozen of them in the backyard, and more Apparating in all the time," Aurelius said.
"There's no time to hesitate! You must get out now before enough arrive to storm the house!" Essie insisted. "You must go to Hogwarts! It's the only safe place to be tonight!"
"But what about Corey's…"
"No! No, please go!" Essie pleaded. Severus grabbed Jennifer's arm.
"Open the windows in our room, let Darwin, Dodger and Ratfly out, and grab our chests. Aurelius, grab the snake and cat! The rest of you head to the basement!" Severus snapped, pulling out his wand. He began to chant in cryptic, ominous tones, a strange shadow coming over his face and a blue light spun out from the tip of the wand as he gently twirled it straight upwards. Jennifer stared at him when she came back in, then noticed Aurelius doing the same and quickly went over to hand him Tes and coax him down the stairs. The moment everyone was down, Severus suddenly broke the chant and dove towards the basement door just as a loud blast hit the front of the house. Slamming the door shut he aimed his wand at it, filling the entire surface with locks.
"Jennifer! Curse it!" he barked, and quickly Jennifer came back to the bottom of the stairs as he ran down and pointed at the door, the locks suddenly oozing with a pale green substance. Hurrying to his desk to grab his snoop chain, Severus called them all together as he heaved Rasputin off the shelf and Jennifer ran to get Descartes. "Grab a hold, everyone!" he said, holding out an ornate key.
At that very instant, Severus felt his necklace grow warm, and even as everything melted and they appeared near the gates of the castle, the necklace didn't grow cold again.
"Severus, what if Dad comes home…"
"Not yet, Jennifer," Severus snapped. "Everyone straight up to Dumbledore's office."
"Look!" Alex said, and instinctively everyone looked over at the fading flash of light above the outline of the Dark Forest.
"In," Severus ordered again. "In in, straight to the study."
"But what if that's Hogsmeade…" Jennifer began.
"That can't be helped! We must see to their safety first!" Severus snapped, hurrying them through the courtyard. "Hogsmeade will have to take care of itself for now."
