Revert To Type
Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 15.
When they reached Severus' rooms, it was to find several House-elves running around unpacking all of the packages that had already arrived from Diagon Alley. Remus, whose arms were beginning to go to sleep from carrying Minerva, headed straight for the spare room, having been told earlier that that was where she had spent the previous night.
He couldn't help but marvel at the rag-doll like quality that all children develop while asleep and was thankful for it as he slipped her out of her clothes and pulled a nightshirt over her head. Knowing how much Severus disliked his private space being invaded he spoke to one of the elves and assured them that he could deal with the rest of the parcels himself.
"Is it normal for them to sleep this much?" Severus asked, appearing in the doorway moments after a soft pop signalled the departure of the elves.
"Concerned?" He asked with a grin.
"Only from the point of view that I promised to keep the DoMA informed of any other possible effects the potion might have had." Came the defensive response.
"Oh, of course." He agreed with mock sincerity. "And in answer to your earlier question, I don't think it's unusual for three year old to take 'nap's in the afternoon. In any case, the last couple of days have been a little stressful. It should hardly be surprising if she's a little exhausted." He returned to the bed and rearranged the covers now that the girl had settled down. "I see that someone found Lamblet then." He continued seeing the girl reach out for the stuffed toy in her sleep, pulling it close and burying her nose in it once she had found it.
"Hmmmm? What? Oh yes. Albus appeared with it yesterday afternoon." The Slytherin replied, seeming to be brought back down to earth before turning on his heel he striding away. Remus could tell by the sound of the door that swung shut a moment later that the other man had retreated back into his office. Shrugging mentally he acknowledged that there was little he would be able to do to try and draw his stubborn ass of a boyfriend out for at least a while.
He found the simple process of unpacking and sorting the child's clothes to be incredibly therapeutic. Leaving out a red polo-neck, black cord dungarees and of course, the red shoes, he couldn't help the warm glow that spread through him at the thought that he had been able to provide something that had provoked her incredible barely concealed glee. It wasn't that he would have wanted to suppress the feeling exactly, only that he was aware that they were going to have to be careful.
It wasn't hard to see that she was doing a startlingly good job at finding a place in Severus heart and certainly had one in his own. This would be fine, more than fine, thought the Werewolf as he recalled the changes that had been so visible in the Slytherin that day, if it was not so likely that her stay with them would be short. He suspected it would be a trial for them if, no, when they had reconcile the girl before them now with the strict Deputy Headmistress. Once he was done folding the garments and things, he retreated back into the sitting room and went to work on the other parcels. An hour later he was drawn out of the book he had found himself immersed in, when the door to the study opened behind him.
"So, what exactly has Albus sought out for us then?" He asked leaning down by Remus' ear.
"This is a basic guide to Gaelic." He replied. "And I've solved a couple of things that were puzzling me."
"What would they be?" Severus drawled as he moved around the couch and sat down.
"Well Minerva, the girl that is, said her name was Minerva Anna McGonagall."
"Well done Moony, you managed to decipher the accent."
"Ha ha." He replied shaking his head at the other man.
"So why was this such an intrigue?"
"Ah, well, I've only ever seen Minerva's full name written down before now but I could have sworn that her middle name was Anne not Anna."
"I'm assuming that you've managed to decipher this critical problem though?" Despite Severus's condescending attitude Lupin knew that he was only using it as a security blanket of sorts.
"Actually, I have. In Gaelic, names are often pronounced differently, like Peter and Pierre in French."
"Ah, so though her name was written Anne, it's pronounced Anna."
"Yes indeed." He replied and as Severus picked up another book they slipped into silence.
"I was thinking about names earlier." Severus said after another few minutes. "If this is going to be a temporary situation, which believe me I hope it is, it might make the return to the norm easier if there was a clearer separation between this Minerva McGonagall and the Professor McGonagall that the students, and well everybody else, knows. Did that make any sense?"
"A little. So are you suggesting that we might try calling the girl something else?" It might stop him referring to her as 'the girl' or 'the child' either in his head or out loud, which would definitely be a good thing, he added as an after thought.
"Yes I suppose. I don't know if it would be practical – whether she would take to it, but I suppose we could run it past Albus."
"Course. If we went for Anna it might work, it seems fairly clear that she knows that it's part of her name already…"
"So it would be more of an alteration than a change."
"Precisely."
"Well I'm going to try and speak to him about the reading either tonight or tomorrow in any case, so I could bring it up then."
"You might like to speak to Molly Weasley or…" Severus head snapped around at this. "Well do you know anyone else who knows more about children? I hate to point this out to you but neither of us are exactly experts on the subject."
"Which is why I told Poppy that it was ridiculous to place her in my care in the first place." The stress was obviously beginning to tell.
"I'm sure she had her reasons Severus," He said placing a hand on his shoulder. "And no-one could argue that she likes you." The tension that had been building up in his lover's body dissipated a little as he sighed.
"I spoke to Simon at Magical Advancement." The other man said a moment later. This he suspected was what was at the root of this depression in his mood.
"And?" He asked quietly.
"It seems that even the crème de la crème haven't been able to get anything useful out of her robes." The sneering comment was typical but the use of Minerva's sarcastic phrase was perhaps subconscious. "That was our best chance I think." He added.
"There's always hope," Remus said quietly. "you never know when there might be a breakthrough."
"You didn't see the look on Albus face." Severus commented almost below hearing changing the direction of the conversation. "I've never seen him look like that Moony." Remus gave into his urge and shifted across, closer to the potions master.
"It must have been horrible." He thought out loud. Those in the Order had, for the most part, been privileged to see the two Professors' relationship for what it really was and that was something that he would never forget. The quiet devotion between them was totally awe-inspiring, even when they had to cover the depth of their relationship the majority of the time what they had, as it was plain to see for those in their trust, was incredible. Without having thought about it, his arm had found it's way around Severus' shoulder and he was gently stroking the tender spot on the other man's neck.
"Damn it all." Severus sighed resignedly as he let his head fall sideways onto Remus' shoulder.
"You'll come up with something Sev." He said quietly. "Or the DoMA will."
"Not sitting here doing nothing I wont." Said Severus as he stirred to action.
"And not on an empty stomach." Remus countered, having glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's almost dinner time." He continued. "Come on, we'd better get Minerva up."
When Remus arrived back at the castle the following afternoon with the majority of his belongings boxed up, cased and beside him, he was shown to an empty set of rooms by Georgina Sprout.
"Albus is away at the Ministry." She said as they climbed the stairs, all of his things floating sedately behind them.
"DoMA?" He asked suspecting he knew the answer the other woman just nodded. He was greeted at the door by the Gryffindor trio who claimed to be there to help him unpack, and though he suspected their motives were not entirely as stated, he welcomed them in any case.
The four of them, the Hufflepuff having excused herself, then spent several hours rearranging his things in his new living space. Hermione dragged the two boys away eventually after pointing out not entirely subtly that Remus probably wanted to go see 'someone else'.
Just as they were leaving she leaned in and said quietly 'give her our love wont you?' before disappearing behind the other two. He did in fact head straight for the dungeons after that, and was pleased to discover that the distance wasn't as far as he had at first thought and it could all be covered without traversing the main passageways and stairs. The scene he found in Severus' living room was something that before the day before he wouldn't have deemed in the realms of possibilities.
Though they were sitting next to each other, 'cuddled up' wasn't quite what he would have described it but they weren't far off it. He had opened the door quietly and managed not to attract the other man's attention and he stood there for a minute just listening to them.
"…In 1876 a compound containing fluxweed, bundymun and doxy venom was …" As Severus read he seemed to be tracing the words along the page that the girl next to him was looking at attentively. "…reported to have a de-aging affect… Well fat lot of good that is." He trailed off his finger leaving the page and his exasperation clearly audible. Remus couldn't help but chuckle at this and both faces looked up expectantly.
"Hello Moony."
"Afternoon." He said making his way across the room towards them.
"Hálo Moony." Came the quieter greeting. "Is mise Anna." She continued pointing at her chest again.
"Hello." Severus corrected. "My name is Anna." She gave him an odd look before trying to copy him. Remus thought she did rather well.
"Afternoon." He said sitting down on the other end of the couch. "Story time?" He asked peering across to get a closer look at the book he was holding.
"Very funny." Came the droll reply. "Coffee?" Came the offer shortly after though.
"Please." He replied and the other man conjured a set.
"Are you thirsty Anna?" Severus asked pointing to a glass. She nodded fervently. "Yes. No" Severus said plainly holding the glass out towards her and then taking it away again.
"Ye-as." She said quietly and a little hesitantly. Remus smiled. Next Severus pointed to two glass jugs that were sitting on one of the little tables at the side of the room.
"Milk or water." He asked pointing at first one then the other. The girl pointed to the milk.
"Milk?" Severus asked.
"Milk." She repeated and this time Severus handed over the freshly poured glass of milk with a little smile
"Th…Thank you." She said and Severus ruffled her hair.
"Well done Anna." Remus added as they settled themselves back down again.
"That was a breakfast achievement." The other man told him.
"Impressive. What else have you managed to achieve?"
"Not a great deal. Spoke to Albus this morning."
"I suspected so, I'm assuming that he agreed about the name change?"
"Yes," He replied. "and she's taken to it like a duck to water so to speak. We did a couple of tests to and it seems that she is in fact quite a competent reader."
"Good. That's impressive."
"Haven't had a chance to make much of an impact on the research though." Remus could here the regret in the other man's voice. It seemed that the balancing of caring for Anna and trying to find a cure for Minerva was not so easy to do. At least not on his own.
"Well, how about I take Anna for a walk outside after we're done here. Give you some time on your own?"
"That would be… useful." Severus said but at the same time looking somewhat rueful that he wouldn't be joining them.
"We'll see you at dinner, and then I'll put her to bed and then maybe we can get some time to ourselves huh?" He added, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. He received an elegant arch of an eyebrow in return.
"Indeed?"
"Well, if you behave." He said, failing miserably to hide a teasing smile. "Come on Anna, lets go get your cloak and I think we had better put on the black shoes, after all we don't want to ruin the red ones do we?" He said taking her glass and leading her towards her bedroom. Glancing back over his shoulder he shot a wink at Severus who in turn chuckled softly and almost musically before picking up the tome he had been reading from and heading once again towards his study.
A/N: Thanks muchly to all of you who reviewed – I LOVE YOU!!!!! lol Same again please
Linds
xxx
