Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 14.
Fillius leaned back a little, so he could catch Georgina's eye behind Albus and they exchanged a worried look. The two of them had both offered to make the announcement themselves, or to arrange for the students to be informed of what had happened in their common rooms, something a little less… well it would have left the headmaster a little less vulnerable. And though they had both agreed that he looked far better today than he had yesterday, there was no other way to describe him as he stood in front of the assembled students and faculty and told them as much of what had happened over the last few days, but vulnerable. The charms instructor thought that for the first time since he had met the legendary Albus Dumbledore, the other man looked his age. He spoke calmly, his control was outstanding as he stood there and told them what had happened to the woman few would argue he had, he did, love.
That afternoon the staff room was certainly busier than was usual for a Saturday but the atmosphere was somewhat more subdued. Fillius noticed that there seemed to be an all round surprise that Minerva had been placed in Severus care, and certainly a resounding feeling that they would all like to see her and ensure that the Slytherin hadn't accidentally misplaced her or added her to one of his stranger concoctions. The Ravenclaw was a little disappointed that most of his colleagues seemed so stuck in their beliefs about his fellow head of house.
Oh, he didn't delude himself, Severus Snape was as caustic as ever and he was certainly somewhat prickly to deal with on the surface but since the end of the war there was no doubt that he had loosened up a little. He suspected that that might have quite a lot to do with a certain werewolf though. This thought brought a smile to his face, he remembered seeing the two of them at the Order's Christmas party the year after they had been called together again. Oh, they had been subtle, he doubted those who didn't know them well would have noticed, but there was certainly something. It wasn't until after the defeat of the Dark Lord that they had 'come-out' so to speak.
Though the wizarding community was not totally un-prejudice when it came to individual's sexual orientation the two of them were subtle enough not to attract any more unwanted attention than absolutely necessary. After all, a couple comprising of a former Death Eater-turned spy, and a Werewolf were going to stand out a little whatever their gender and as both had played a fairly major part in the war they were both something akin to celebrities. But they just got on with it, and for that he had a huge amount of respect for them. It was rather sweet really…
Fillius was in the middle of a conversation with Georgina about arranging cover for the Transfiguration classes for the near future when an eerie silence descended upon the great hall at dinner that night. Both of them looked up towards the door just in time to see the entrance that was causing all this astonishment. Severus and Remus were standing either side of the young Minerva, who was looking even cuter than she had done when he had seen her the previous day.
Albus had told the staff that he had sent the Potions master to get some proper clothes and the like for the infant but he was willing to bet that he hadn't been allowed sole choice in what had been purchased. As they walked down the center isle of the room, it seemed that every eye followed them. Little hands gripped those of her protectors tightly but she appeared as calm as anything as they approached the table. Slowly a general murmur began to spread around the room and the silence disappeared entirely as the two men seated their charge and then themselves on the other side of the headmaster from where the charms instructor was positioned.
Thinking about it, he realised that Dumbledore must have been expecting them, as the spaces were clear and there was a pile of cushions, not unlike his own, sitting on the centre chair. He couldn't help but smile as a look of concentration crept over her face as she tried to keep balance in her somewhat precarious position, until Remus had the sense to pull her chair in close so that she was trapped up against the table. Out of experience he also knew that this meant that she actually had a chance of being able to reach her dinner when it arrived. He was fascinated by the interactions between the three of them as they set about eating. Snape transfigured her heavy goblet into a simple glass and poured her water while his partner seemed to be engrossed in identifying child friendly food amongst that which had appeared on the serving dishes.
"You might like to try this." Albus said handing over a bowl filled with creamed potatoes. Fillius couldn't quite believe his eyes when the older man met the three year olds eyes. She tipped her head a little as if contemplating something before carefully wriggling down from her seat. The look on the Potions master's face was classic as she walked calmly around the back of his chair, tugged gently on the Headmaster's sleeve.
"Amhairc!" She said pointing downwards. From where he was sitting Fillius couldn't see what it was she was pointing at but he could see that whatever it was, it had an observable affect on Albus. His shoulders started to shake and the Ravenclaw glanced behind him at where Sylvia was biting her lip. Their apprehension was soon banished when it became clear that their superior was laughing at the child's antics.
"Really Severus," he said with a chuckle as he lifted Minerva up and onto his knee, "red shoes?" The girl quite happily wiggled her feet back and forth at Severus to accentuate this. The Slytherin scowled before rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"I can assure you that we purchased a perfectly sensible pair of black ones. It just seems that it will be a feat to actually get her to wear them." Fillius narrowly avoided snorting out pumpkin juice through his nose.
"That was quite possibly the worst joke I've ever heard you tell Severus." Remus commented.
"However, it proves I do tell them on occasion. In any case it's hardly my fault that I have to dumb down my sense of humour for you to be able to 'catch on' so to speak."
"Well do forgive us mere mortals but I think someone here is ready to eat." Albus said handing the child in question back across so that she could be re-instated in her own seat. The rest of the meal passed in pleasant conversation and a generally light atmosphere and it would have been easy to believe that there guest was simply a relative of one of the two men were it not for the quietly palpable absence of the Deputy Headmistress. The news that Remus was going to be covering Minerva's classes was met fairly well by the staff with most of them having no worries about the werewolf's re-appointment and any who did have issues with it were wise enough to keep their mouths shut.
After the students had finished eating, and staring at their professors, the adults all adjourned to the staff room. All that was, bar Remus who had to return to London to start on his packing if he was to move to the castle the following day, and Severus who had taken a very sleepy looking girl off to bed.
"They really did look like a family, didn't they?" Georgina said as she handed him a cup of tea and sat down at the other end of the sofa.
"Yes, I suspect it probably hasn't done Severus's 'the bat from hell' reputation any good." He added with another smile.
"I'm glad Poppy made the right decision, in any case." His fellow dead of house offered. "Where is she by the way?" She added looking around the room.
"Oh, Xiomara provided her with some more patients after this afternoons practice session." The Hufflepuff chuckled at this. There continued from there a conversation about Quidditch teams that was unusual in that the four teams were much more closely balanced this year than they had been for a long time and therefore the cup was still within both their houses' reach. A few minutes later they were interrupted however, when Albus approached and sat in a high-winged chair opposite them.
"I have been considering the issue of well… child care." He said with a quiet smile. "Having looked at the Potions and Transfigurations class timetables, I think it ought to be possible to have Remus and Severus teach all the senior classes and in almost all cases have one of them free to look after the gi… Minerva. I think that would be the best idea." Fillius nodded in agreement, he knew enough about children to realise that continuity was going to be something of a necessity.
"That sounds most sensible." Georgina agreed. "And it shouldn't be too hard to arrange cover the rest of the time. Especially if the younger classes are only going to be doing theory."
"Well it shall certainly do in the short term. In two weeks we'll have something of a watershed anyway." Dumbledore conceded.
"I'll look into getting the rest of their timetables covered if you like?" He volunteered.
"Oh, thank you." Albus replied a little absently.
"You do know that we'll be here if you need anything Albus?" Georgina interjected. "Anything at all." She reinforced the point, sitting forward and placing a hand on his forearm. Albus smiled softly again before sighing a little.
"Thank you, but at this point in time there seems little for us to do but wait and see what the Department of Magical Advancement come up with." With this the headmaster stood and excused himself.
"Well how about I give you a hand with the time-tabling?" Fillius shook his head a little to clear the reverie that had settled throughout him before accepting her offer.
"It shouldn't be too hard to do, I suspect most people will agree to cover Minerva's classes when they can if they know it's to make it easier to care for Min… I think I'm getting too old of all this." He admitted. "This is going to get terribly confusing." He said with a sigh as they began to look at the class schedules before them.
A/N:
Amhairc – look
Hey, hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you did (or if you didn't) let me know!!!!!
Review junkie in withdrawal
thanks for reading
xLx
