Fanfiction based in the world of Harry Potter, created by JKR. Her characters are hers. Original characters are mine. No pecuniary rewards. Please see first chapter for full disclaimers and description.

Thank you to my Betas, Elaine and JL for the speedy and awesome beta work! A special thank you to JL who spent a great deal of time on this chapter to help me portray the Irish Brogue more accurately with our new DADA Professor.

I failed to make clear in preceding chapters that the German translations were provided by Lady Claire, including the lyrics and translation for the common German lullaby. Also, Surgical Steel is my source for the reference to 'Cotton Eyed Joe' dance at the wedding as well as appropriate country-music selections. I start getting in a hurry and I forget to credit people who have helped me! Sorry!

For more detailed credits and comments in response to reviews, please see my livejournal, I am weasleyfan and anyone may read my journal.

Chapter 48: New Acquaintances

Once again the Defense Against the Dark Arts position was open with no ready candidate to fill it. The Board of Governors stepped in with their suggestion, which was an unusual occurrence, but, as Albus had no other applicants and no real reason to refuse, this individual was hired.

Caitlin Garvey was a witch from Ireland a few years older than Severus Snape. She had been schooled privately in a small all-girls academy, her parents not wanting her to get involved in the war which even then seemed to focus upon Hogwarts, or at least its Headmaster. She had made her living since then as a private tutor between dueling contests, which she almost always won. Filius was anxious to meet her, having been out of the contest circuit himself by the time she joined it, though he had fond memories of his days on the road.

That she had no known links to Voldemort or his Death Eaters was a point in her favor, though she had no known links to Dumbledore or his Order as well. She was, essentially, an Unknown. Lucius Malfoy invited her to his home at once as soon as he knew she was on the short list of potentials to fill the job.

Harry spent the remainder of the summer at Number 12. Rowena did not see Severus again except through Harry's odd link with Voldemort. Even this they practiced with decreasing frequency, partially because Harry seemed to have mastered the technique as well as he was going to without new instruction from Severus and partially because neither of them could stomach witnessing atrocities that they were helpless to prevent or alleviate.

Joseph, Henry, and Antoine seemed to accept Rowena, though they could not be called friendly. They remained hidden from all but her and Katrina, though Remus did give his permission for them to come into the house and interact with Katrina however they might like.

"Master Sevvie trusts Joseph with his most important secrets," the elf said to her one day in the middle of August. Harry received his school book list on the same day and he and Rowena sat in the drawing room discussing the best way for Harry to go shopping for his new supplies. In the end they decided they would need to ask Albus' advice and perhaps have Tonks or Remus do the actual shopping for him. Harry left the room to send an Owl to Ron, leaving Rowena by herself by the empty fireplace idly reading a Charms Journal, though her attention wasn't much focused on it.

"Master says you is not to help the Potter boy shopping. You is to stay in the house."

"I know, Joseph," she said with a weary smile. She was very grateful that house-elves tended to refer to themselves in the third person, or she would never be able to tell the three apart. The weeks since she had last seen Severus were weighing heavily on her so that she felt more anxious every day. The ache of the severed Bond seemed mild compared to the constriction of her heart in worry.

"I promised him that Katrina and I would stay safely in here. I won't break that now; the least I can do is make sure he has that much peace of mind."

The house elf gave her a piercing look reminiscent of his master, before nodding.

"Joseph is supposed to give you this when you is needing it most. You is working hard to be helping my Master. I is thinking you is needing this just now."

He produced a small black wireless cube, gave it to her before bowing very formally, and disappeared from the room with a loud 'pop'. She held the cube tightly in her hand, as though it might disappear like the elf, but then ran upstairs to the room Remus and Tonks had designated as hers, and put it in the wireless with the other two at once.

Somewhere Out There by Kenny Loggins

"…And even though I know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star
And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky…"

She had very little time to savor the joyful sorrow that had come to accompany these uncharacteristically tender messages when one of the house elves appeared again, bowing low.

"The Headmaster is here and is wanting to see you. He is waiting in the drawing room."

Another low bow and 'pop' and the creature vanished before she could make a guess as to which one it was. She turned off the wireless, wiped away the nearly ever-present tears, and headed downstairs.

Albus was sitting in the chair Harry had been using an hour before.

"Well, the train is in working order once again. We'll have two officers from Magical Law Enforcement per car and one Auror for every two cars. Are you ready for school to resume, Rowena?"

"Yes," she said decisively. She would miss all the extra time with Katrina, but she couldn't stand much more of the worry over Severus. Albus seemed to understand because he smiled gently and nodded.

"This has been a very long summer. I'm immensely grateful to Severus for his sacrifice. I doubt we'd have had such a quiet summer if he was not... doing what he is doing. Hopefully it will be sufficient."

"It has to be," she said, almost desperately. "It just has to be. He's been through enough."

"I certainly hope so, Rowena. I very much hope so." He sighed and looked at her very gravely. "You have also been through quite an ordeal and I'm afraid it is not over. I have no idea of the loyalties of my newest Defense Professor. When it was Dylan that hardly seemed to matter, as he came from such a distance away—it is unlikely that Voldemort has been seeking supporters in America.

"However, in the case of Caitlin Garvey, I have a good many concerns. She has lived in Ireland nearly all her life and was never a Hogwarts student. However, her parents had contacts with the Blacks and Malfoys, among others, and I believe she went to the same 'finishing school' as some of those women. She must be considered suspect at best.

"It is very possible that she is eyes and ears for Voldemort, specifically set to spy—not on me, or even on Harry, but on Severus. He is the key now, and his every action will be closely watched by the students and perhaps by Professor Garvey."

"I see," she said, resignedly. If she had been hoping for a happy reunion when they both returned to the school, she was now shown how mistaken such a hope would be. If anything, he would have to be colder and more distant with her now than before. "Thank you for telling me."

"I think there have been enough obstacles between the two of you, without adding miscommunication to the mix," Albus said, unknowingly echoing her comment to Severus at Remus' wedding.

He stood and patted her rather absently on her shoulder before leaving, saying something about needing to have a word with Harry before going back to the school.

Caitlin Garvey was gorgeous. She had thick, shoulder-length auburn-red hair that framed her porcelain smooth face in gentle waves. Her eyes were a clear, crystal blue that seemed to be always smiling and laughing. Her voice was rich and deep, her accent a thick Irish brogue that all but rolled off her tongue as she chatted and laughed amicably with the other Professors. She was bright and vivid where Rowena was dull and mousy. She was vivacious and outgoing where Rowena was quiet and reserved. She had a full, lush figure and wore her robes to show it off to perfect advantage.

She was, in short, everything Rowena was NOT.

She was also sitting in Rowena's chair, next to the empty seat that would eventually be occupied by Severus. The Hall was already full of students, the excited hum of conversation filling the air like the buzzing of a thousand lazy honeybees on a warm summer afternoon. Rowena had taken great care with her own appearance today, simply in excited anticipation of seeing Severus again at last.

For all her care, she still felt like a dandelion in comparison to the exotic rose that was Caitlin Garvey—and she hadn't even officially MET the other woman yet. She paused briefly as she walked into the hall, being momentarily distressed at finding her normal chair occupied. Minerva gave her a rather sympathetic glance with a half shrug, and Rowena merely walked around the table to the seat which had been Dylan's all of last year, almost directly across from Severus.

"Who's the wee Colleen?" asked Caitlin, laughingly as she spied Rowena. "Sure, I didna tink tere'd be children teachin' students!"

"This is Professor Lupin, Professor Garvey," Minerva said coolly. "She is not a student, but a fellow teacher. Her class is Magical Theory."

"Pleased to meet you, Professor Garvey," Rowena said icily.

'Child' indeed! She wasn't THAT short! The flashy woman's attention was immediately drawn from Rowena, however, and instead her gaze snapped to the door.

"Now tere be a man t'hold a woman's attention," she said appreciatively. Rowena didn't need to turn her head to know that Severus had just entered the hall. He approached his chair and stopped, scowling down at the gorgeous woman in Rowena's chair without the slightest hint of masculine appreciation.

"Who the hell are you?" he snarled. Caitlin merely smiled.

"I'd be the new Defense Professor," she said in her thick brogue. She held out a perfectly manicured hand to him as though leaving it for him to decide whether to shake it or to kiss it. "I'm Caitlin Garvey."

"Splendid," he said sarcastically. He raised a brow at her outstretched hand and sneered. He glanced across the table at Rowena as he took his seat. "Perhaps eventually we will get someone in the job actually capable of performing the task. Lupin, is your brother unavailable? At least he wasn't afraid of breaking a claw in the line of duty."

He only looked at her very briefly before scanning his eyes about the room, carefully cataloging the students as he did at the start of every term. Caitlin did not seem the least bit embarrassed by his treatment and merely reached for her goblet with her outstretched hand.

"Lupin? Was he no' the werewolf what taught here a few years ago?" she asked, turning to Rowena, intrigued. "I saw articles in the Prophet 'bout him. I didna associate the name 'til now--he was your brother?"

Rowena followed Severus' lead and carefully paid no more attention to Severus than to any of the other teachers.

"He is my brother," she corrected the woman coolly, before answering Severus' question. "I dare say Remus would love to come back and teach, Snape. Unfortunately, the Ministry hasn't seen fit to lift certain employment restrictions."

"I should tink no'!" Garvey exclaimed. "Vicious beasts tey are. I've been on a few hunts m'self. Had a couple o'close calls. I never have understood why the Ministry changed the laws on extermination."

"That would be because the lycanthrope is a human-being with a disease, Garvey," Snape said, looking at her with his haughtiest disdain. "It is the failure of the medical and magical community not to be able to cure the disease. It is not the fault of the afflicted. You have, perhaps, heard of the Wolfsbane potion? It is an effective treatment if the lycanthrope is responsible enough to remember to consume it in a timely manner."

It was the first time Rowena had ever had opportunity to witness and fully appreciate Severus' gift for being contrary, just for the sake of being contrary. Had Albus tried to hire Remus again, or even another werewolf with no past history with Severus, she was certain that he would have argued just as vehemently against the appointment as he was defending the 'afflicted' now.

No wonder he hadn't made many friends over the years!

She glanced up at him to see if she could read his expression, just as Hagrid was noisily introducing himself to Garvey, going on about how 'happy' he was to meet her. Severus' eyes met hers and he gave her a very small wink before returning to his personal inventory of the student body.

"So, then, I didna catch your name," Garvey said, returning her attention to Severus with an almost rapt expression.

"That would be because I did not offer it," he said dryly. "Are you always this astute?"

She laughed airily and Minerva cut in, as Albus had not yet arrived and she seemed to feel it was her duty to make the introductions before Severus succeeded in scaring off yet another Defense Professor.

"Caitlin Garvey, this is our Potions Master, Severus Snape. Severus, I must go and greet the first year students. I trust I can leave before Albus arrives and not fear that you will frighten away our Defense Professor before she even conducts her first class?"

"If she is easily frightened off by the obvious truth, then she has no business teaching Defense, Minerva. I assure you, I am completely harmless."

Hooch made no effort to hide her laugh at THAT comment, and even Rowena had to struggle to conceal her grin.

"Not at all, Professor McGonagall," Caitlin said reassuringly. She turned her attention back to Severus just as Albus was entering the Hall.

"I see everyone has arrived already—I am seldom the last to a feast. Usually that is Severus' prerogative," he said genially as he took his seat at the head of the table. "Caitlin, I am sorry I was not here to greet you. Have you met everyone now?"

"Minerva was just making the happy introductions, Headmaster. I believe we have met all the requirements of etiquette," Severus said irritably. Albus merely beamed around the table, ignoring him.

"Aye, Albus," Caitlin said, "I've met everyone just fine. I see Potions Professors are the same the world over, be they man or woman. Our Potions Mistress was a right Beansidhe, an' that was on a good day."

"Really? I've not had much opportunity to study the subject. Perhaps it is all those fumes from student cauldrons," Albus said conversationally.

Severus rolled his eyes in disgust, but thankfully Minerva herded in the first year students then with the sorting hat and stool and so conversation was blessedly at an end.

As the sorting began, Rowena felt a nudging of her foot. At first, she thought it was merely an accident, as she did have her legs slightly stretched out beneath the table. However, the second time, she risked another glance at Severus, who was sitting almost directly across from her, and a foot covered her toes and pressed down lightly.

After that, the sorting was much more interesting as she tried not to give herself away by smiling too much at Severus playing 'footsie' with her, unseen beneath the long tablecloth.

She tried not to be disappointed that he didn't come and see her for days on end. Granted, she didn't go and see HIM, either, but that was because whenever she had a legitimate reason to accidentally pass by his lab on the way to her own, that revolting Garvey woman was hanging about, flirting with him outrageously. Or his door would be closed altogether and Albus would hint that he was away for the evening.

Now, if Rowena had been in a state of mind to be fair or rational about the scenario, she would have admitted that Severus did not pay the slightest attention to the flamboyant woman. It galled her to think that she was now almost in exactly Severus' shoes from the year before. That, of course, was entirely different, because Dylan was nice; he was her friend; and he was gay (though as far as she knew, Severus still didn't know that part.)

However, she was in no mood to be fair, OR rational. She was very careful not to show any jealousy that could make Garvey suspicious, but she made no effort to pretend to be friendly with her, either.

The woman sat in 'her' chair every day and seemed to constantly scoot it closer to Severus as she reached for this or that dish on the table. Rowena might have chalked that particular complaint up as a figment of her own irrational jealousy if Severus himself had not commented upon it scathingly one morning. Garvey had just leaned heavily across him when he suddenly scooted his chair a foot away from the table accompanied by the loud scraping of chair-legs on the stone floor. He allowed his voice to fall into the firm, carrying tones he used with his more noxious students.

"Garvey, I do not know what sort of barn you were born in or who taught you your abominable table manners, but HERE, it is considered proper etiquette to request a dish to be PASSED to you."

The redhead had actually blushed in embarrassment at the sudden pause in conversation that his actions and words had caused. He did not move his chair back into the table until she had moved HER chair a good six inches away from his. At which time Rowena felt the gentle tapping of heavy boots against her shoes. The 'footsie' was the only thing keeping Rowena from hexing the woman herself.

Often in the evenings she left the castle to go to Number 12 and be with Katrina, just to keep her mind off of her increasing jealousy. However, that was not always possible either and there were occasions when the obnoxious woman would pay a 'friendly' visit to Rowena in her lab, which vexed her almost as much as the thought of her in Severus' lab.

"The man is a pouf," Caitlin announced without preamble, as she flounced into Rowena's lab, vivid curls bouncing, and flopped onto one of the few comfy chairs in the place.

"Excuse me?" Rowena asked politely, trying to appear engrossed in her work so that perhaps Garvey would leave quickly.

"Snape. He be the only single bloke 'round here anywhere near the right age, aside from Hagrid who's just no' me type. I tink that if he cut his hair an' did sometin' a little different wit' it, he wouldna be half-bad t'look at."

"What?" Rowena asked, unable to keep herself from looking up in shock.

"No, really. He's got very distinctive features; he just hides them behind all that hair. Wit' all t'ose cauldrons steamin' 'round him all the time, someone ought t'tell him he should wash it twice a day. Tere be some charms that could prevent the steam from weighin' it down so much. I'd bet wit' work he might even be attractive."

"With WORK," Rowena repeated indignantly. Garvey appeared to take her indignation for disbelief and shrugged.

"Sure. You've got t' work wit' what's available. He's got a ready mind, sharp wit -- a bit too sharp fer that matter. He's definitely got potential. The right woman could fix him right up," she said decisively.

"Perhaps Professor Snape is satisfied with himself as he is. Perhaps in his mind the right woman would accept that."

"Tosh! Dinna be ridiculous. That's why I'm sure he be a Nancy. I've never had a man resist me this long once I decided what I wanted. As soon as I saw him I tought he'd liven up this school year just fine, but for nought," she said, waving her wand to reheat the water in Rowena's teapot so that she could help herself to Rowena's tea, uninvited.

It was impossible to coherently answer that statement without revealing too much. Somehow the woman had so far been left out of the 'rumor mill' that ought to have told her of the aborted 'engagement' from last term. Rowena wasn't about to be the one to enlighten her. She merely shrugged and returned to her work.

Eventually Garvey gave her up as a bad job and left.

The golden Announcer arrived with breakfast three weeks into the term. She had been trying to surreptitiously look at Severus, who was only half-heartedly tapping at her toes even though Garvey was not bothering him for a change. He looked exhausted and Albus was casting him worried glances as well. She knew he was still making regular excursions from the castle to do... whatever he was doing and the tight lines about his face told her of too little sleep and Cruciatus exposure.

She only caught the flutter of gold out of the corner of her eye and barely paid it any heed until the owl carrying it scratched her impatiently with one long talon.

"Ow! Hey... oh, sorry, is that for me?" she said apologetically to the creature, which ruffled its wings in annoyance before flying away.

An Announcer is much the same as a Howler in mechanics for sending--but on the opposite spectrum as far as effect and reason for usage. She opened the golden envelope and a shower of brightly colored confetti exploded over her, while magically magnified music, "Brahms Lullaby", played into the Hall. A male voice spoke over the music, as follows:

"Kevin and Elizabeth Miller announce the birth of their son, Garrett Michael, born this 19th day of September, 1997. Weight 7 pounds 3 oz, length 21 inches long. Mother and baby are doing fine, and will be accepting visitors at St. Mungo's until September 22, at which time visitors will be cheerfully received at home."

The envelope then shredded itself into still more confetti and the music died away. The students in the hall listened with interest, but as it was nothing scandalous or involving anyone they knew, they lost interest as soon as the noise was over. The teachers regarded Rowena curiously.

"Oh!" Rowena said with a smile that was both happy and wistful. "My friend Eliza... I haven't seen her since I left the Ministry and we were so close before. I didn't even know she was expecting!"

She took out a small pocket calendar from her bag and wrote down the dates.

"They live in Kent," she said, frowning. "Albus... I know you don't want us traveling unless absolutely necessary... but is there any way I could go and see her while she's still at the Hospital? It would be safer then waiting until she goes home."

"I'm certain we can work something out, Rowena. I'll want someone to go with you, of course."

"I can ask Remus...oh, damn," she said, looking back at her calendar, "full moon, that won't work. And Tonks will have to be with Katrina."

"Sure, I'd go with you, but I hate babies," said Garvey with her nose wrinkled in distaste.

"Besides, I've got a date this weekend," she added, casting a look at Severus under her lashes as though hoping he would be disturbed by this news.

"Let me contact Alastor, Rowena, and I'll get back to you," said Dumbledore.

"I have need to visit London this weekend to retrieve a shipment of very delicate Potions ingredients, Headmaster. I would be willing to escort Lupin to the Hospital, so long as I am not expected to follow her about," Severus said in bored tones as he flipped the page of The Daily Prophet.

"Is that acceptable to you, Rowena?" Albus said, clearly trying not to smile too broadly. "You would have to be available for transportation at Severus' whim, I'm afraid. You'd be safe enough inside the Hospital itself."

"Well, when are you going to London, Snape? How long will I have to visit?" she asked, working hard to keep her voice casual as though considering his offer.

"Today or tomorrow. I would be willing to find some means to entertain myself in London, aside from my primary task, for no more than three hours. Leave by four; return to Hogwarts by nine. For this shipment, I fly, as it is too fragile to remain stable during magical transportation."

"Alright, then. I can manage that, if it's not too much inconvenience. I would prefer to go tomorrow if it doesn't matter to you. That way I can have time to shop in Hogsmeade for a gift."

Severus shrugged, not even glancing up at her, apparently engrossed in his newspaper.

"I will not wait; do not be late. So long as you do not interfere with my own errand, the inconvenience is minor."

It was with a very strong sense of deja-vu that Rowena strode out onto the lawns in the lengthening shadows of early evening, her bag slung at her hip full of presents for the baby and Elizabeth. Hagrid stood next to his cabin beaming at her, with a Thestral waiting.

"Yeh ever met a sneakier bloke than that Snape?" Hagrid said in an exaggerated whisper as he grinned at her. "Tryin' t' preten' that he didn't wan' ta go with ya."

"Hagrid, hush," said Rowena, even as she tried not to giggle. "What if Garvey hears?"

"Nah, she left the grounds last night; don't 'spect her back 'til tomorrow. Dumbledore had her followed; she's in Ireland with a bloke.

"There's a scarlet woman if ever I seen one! I dunno how she ever got approved fer teachin' students. She's got all them boys droolin' after her and all them girls cryin' in their shoes in jealousy. None of 'em can pay attention to their lessons. Wonder how long she spends with vanity charms before she looks like that, anyhow."

"Hours, probably," said a dry voice behind her and her smiling face lit up even more.

"Severus, what a horrible thing to say about a fellow Professor," she chided without any real reprimand to the words.

"Come, Lupin. I have no time for dawdling," he said sardonically. He gripped her gently at her waist and boosted her up onto the Thestral before swinging up behind her. He reached around her to grasp the mane, and in an instant they were off.

It was heaven. Three weeks of seeing him but not being able to be with him, unsatisfactory 'footsie' under the table, worries over his health... all of it, vanished in the bliss of his arms. She leaned heavily back into his embrace and reached one arm back to twine her fingers into his hair... (that woman had wanted to cut it!)

She turned as much as she could and pulled him forward so that it was just possible to kiss him lightly. His arm around her waist tightened like a band of steel, holding her safe and close. She gave no thought to her fear of heights, her heart soaring in her chest at the bliss of being in his arms again. He kissed and nipped at her ears and the sensitive skin behind them, nuzzling along the nape of her neck. The chill September air ought to have had them half frozen at that altitude, but their bodies paid no heed to it in the warmth of each other.

This was also their first opportunity for free conversation, however, and eventually that desire at least temporarily won over the questing kisses.

"Are you well? Katrina? The elves tell me you never left the house after my visit... thank you," he said, so near to her ear that he did not have to raise his voice to be heard, even in the rushing wind. The low tones thrummed over her skin like warm honey and she shivered slightly as she melted even further against him.

"We're fine. Katrina misses you desperately. What about you? You've been looking so tired lately and gone so much. I've been so worried."

"Well enough, as much as can be expected. We will know soon if it has all been for nothing."

"You never come to see me. Is Garvey a Death Eater?" she asked.

"I am being watched too closely to risk visiting you and I have no idea if she is a Death Eater or not. Her voice and accent are unfamiliar, but that can be faked or magically altered. Lucius speaks highly of her, but then so he did of you last summer. So that means nothing. I believe he has slept with her, though that does not seem to be any sort of a conquest," he said with a tone of disgust.

She giggled.

"You mean you haven't been tempted by her displays just for you?"

"Certainly not," he said with distaste, but then nipped at her ear as he asked silkily, "Why... are you jealous?"

"Yes," she said firmly, without even attempting to equivocate. He laughed, and she wished she could bathe in the rich, uncomplicated sound.

"I think I could learn to like that," he teased. "Imagine, two women fighting over ME, jealous over ME. Who would believe such a thing? Serves you right for your behavior with Howard all of last year."

She laughed in return and squeezed her arms around his tightly. He rewarded her with more drugging kisses of her neck and shoulder so that her insides felt too molten to actually support her weight when at last they landed in St. Mungo's courtyard.

"I truly do have to retrieve some potions ingredients," he said as he helped her off the Thestral. "It won't take long. I will come find you -- your friend's name is Miller?"

"Yes."

"Very well, I will return shortly. Do not leave until I come for you and, if you do not see me by eight o'clock, use your Portkey or find your father to get you safely back to Hogwarts. Do not floo there." He lowered his voice and leaned close, speaking in her ear again. "Research is being done on ways to interrupt and divert floo travel. Do not trust floo transport."

She gave him a horror-stricken look, but he shook his head, preventing further conversation on the topic at present. He escorted her inside the building, and then left again without another word.

Garrett Michael Miller was an adorable baby with full, chubby cheeks and thick dark hair. Rowena sat next to Elizabeth's bed, holding and rocking the infant, while Elizabeth and Kevin opened the presents. There was a blue outfit, a small stuffed crup, and a magical mobile of a Quidditch pitch where the tiny players zoomed about for the baby's entertainment -- faster if the baby cried or fussed, slow and gentle if the baby was quiet or sleeping. There was also a basket of feminine scented bubble bath and lotion for Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was dressed in a very pretty pink set of brand-new lounge robes, surrounded by flowers and balloons. She was a charmingly pretty, friendly-faced blonde woman. Her husband was a dark-haired man whose normally cheerful demeanor looked more than a little bemused and shell-shocked, as though he still couldn't quite believe he was now a father.

Severus knocked on the frame of the open door after Rowena had been there not quite an hour. Kevin regarded the stranger with alarm until Rowena spoke.

"Severus, come in; meet my friends," she said smilingly. "This is Elizabeth; I've known her since I started work at the Ministry ages ago. It was her sister... who was court reporter for the Wizengamot."

She glanced up at him sheepishly and knew by the slight raise of one brow that he understood the reference, that it was this woman's sister who had told her of Dumbledore's testimony on his behalf all those years ago.

"And this is her husband Kevin, whom I am sorry to say I only met at their wedding and have never managed to see since," she said, smiling at her friend's husband. "This is Professor Severus Snape. He teaches Potions at Hogwarts."

"A pleasure to meet you," Severus said very formally.

Elizabeth grinned as she looked from Rowena's faint blush to Severus' inscrutable gaze as he stared at Rowena holding the baby.

"I've heard a great deal about you over the years, Professor Snape. I have almost been led to believe that no one else in the wizarding world is remotely competent at Potions, at least when compared to you," she said, smiling brightly.

Severus smirked and bowed his head slightly.

"I think that would be an accurate summation," he dead-panned. Rowena and Eliza both laughed.

The baby squeaked at the sudden noise and Rowena tightened his blankets around him, crooning softly and rocking. She nestled him closer to her and almost involuntarily ran her nose through the soft downy hair of his head.

"Why do babies always smell so good?" she asked Elizabeth, as they both began to fuss over how 'cute' he was and how 'perfect'.

"Ugh, watch out, mate. That's how this whole thing got started. Lizzy's sister had a baby, and she got to smelling her hair. Pretty soon, she decided she had to have one of her own," Kevin said jokingly to Severus.

"You mistake the situation, sir. Rowena making such a decision would have no bearing on me," he said calmly.

"Oh, right then," Kevin said. Severus was too busy watching Rowena with the baby to notice the look of blatant skepticism on the other man's face.

"Would you like to hold him, Professor?" Elizabeth asked as she caught his gaze.

"Oh... Severus hasn't been around babies much," Rowena said hurriedly, as though she was afraid he might say something unpleasant or insulting about her friend's infant.

"What little experience I have had leads me to surmise that they are less unpleasant at this stage then when standing near a cauldron in my classroom," he said dryly.

"Severus!" Rowena said, laughing again. "You'll make Eliza afraid to send little Garret to Hogwarts talking like that. We heard enough of how 'mean' you were to the students at work, didn't we Lizzy? The parents always went on and on about how 'unfair' your grading strictures are."

"They still do," Elizabeth agreed, smiling. "But I was a Ravenclaw with Rowena. We always thought the harder marks were the only ones worth earning, didn't we?"

Severus merely smirked in response, though he did move closer to Rowena to have a better look at the creature in her arms. The infant was a stark contrast to his memories of his sister. The eyes were bright and alert, though unfocused; the plump face pink and healthy. Tiny arms flailed about randomly through the air and he held out a finger, letting the tiny fist reflexively close over it.

It was bittersweet to behold and for a moment he allowed his memory to superimpose this 'snapshot' to contrast with images of his sister. Rowena appeared to him to be every bit as radiant as the new mother was. In another life, perhaps, this might have been the two of them peering at their child, rather than another's. Another life, another reality that he was becoming increasingly certain would not be occurring in this one.

It only took a few moments before the internal longing for the impossible became enough. He gently extracted his finger from the chubby hand and retreated to a chair near the father, waiting with carefully practiced patient boredom for Rowena to have done and say her good-byes.

He hardened his heart firmly against wistful wishes for the impossible.

He claimed that it was due to the bulkiness of his ingredients in the satchel hung over his left hip, but he did not settle Rowena astride the Thestral. Instead he mounted first and pulled her up, sidesaddle, in front of him. She made no objections, and as soon as they were in the air, away from prying eyes, she twisted slightly from facing forward to facing him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you for coming with me," she said, nuzzling his ear while moving close enough to be heard. "Lizzy's been my best friend for years. I feel awful that I haven't seen her since I moved to Hogwarts."

"It was no hardship to accompany you, Lupin," he said, smirking at her. "I had to make this trip anyway. I concede your company is more pleasant than warming charms."

"Thanks a lot!" she exclaimed, laughing in playful indignation. He decided that enough time had been wasted in banter and silenced her with a demanding kiss.

His resolve not to long for the impossible crumbled, as he found himself wishing that the flight could last forever.

A/N: Beansidhe -- Banshee, though JL gave me the Gaelic spelling to add color and realism to Caitlin's dialect.

Brit Pickers: In the interest of time I did not have a chance to research how you folks do your birth announcements—do you measure your babies in grams/ centimeters? I believe I understood that things like this were still predominantly given in 'English' measurements, even though metric is in common use there as well.

London, and all of the people in the UK are in my thoughts and prayers as you face and deal with the horrific bombings that occurred yesterday.