Chapter Twenty-Two

An Argument for Fate

Within minutes, the entire family was standing out in the rain-sloshed streets of Hogsmeade, stepping up as Essie quickly opened the door to let them in.

"Good evening! No, it's all right, Doctor Sagittari is with her in Ashley's room," Essie said. "I'm afraid Corey's a bit of a mess, though," she murmured to Jennifer and Severus as she gestured to the hall to where Corey paced. Severus immediately went over, while Jennifer was distracted by Essie's daughter Winnie, who was doing everything in her power to get everyone's attention from where she stood in the crib. Alex quickly went over to her. "Care for some coffee?" Essie offered.

"Sure, let me help you," Jennifer said as the others made themselves comfortable in the living room; Andrew and Alicia peering curiously in the pile of packages for the Owl Post to see if any of their names were on them while Aurelius looked out one of the open windows distractedly.

"You really didn't have to bring everyone out here in this, you know," Corey said after Severus had stood there for a while.

"Do you truly think I could have stopped them from coming?" Severus asked expressionlessly. "So you were banished to the hall, I understand."

"He said I was in the way," Corey growled. "Never mind that his bloody horse's ass takes up most of the room!"

"No one ever said you had to keep him as your family doctor," Severus said in a low voice. "And I believe what he truly wants is for you to pull yourself together."

"But why did it have to be tonight?" Corey snapped, pacing again. "Why couldn't it have been yesterday, or a week ago? Perhaps she can hold out until tomorrow?" Severus glanced at his watch and shook his head doubtfully.

A sound made Corey jump, looking down the hall to see Doug, Danny and Taylor had come in. Sighing, Corey began to pace again, but Severus merely stood and watched him, knowing there was nothing he could say that would help him with what he was going through.

"Sticking it out here, I see," Danny said, hugging Corey when they came over.

"I told them to go to St. Mungo's. They'd sedate Athos real good there," Doug said.

"I don't need to be sedated!" Corey snarled, his friends sharing a private smile.

"Fresh coffee anyone?" Jennifer suggested, from the kitchen door.

"None for Athos," Doug decided. "Coming to join the throng?"

"No… I'd rather keep busy," Jennifer decided disappearing back inside.

"Perhaps we should sit down instead of crowding the hall," Danny suggested. "Come on, Athos, it'll go much faster if you'd relax."

"I'd prefer to stay here in case someone needs me," Corey said curtly, his friends stepping aside so he could lengthen his pace. "Wait a minute, what's that? Everyone be quiet!"

"You are the only one who's been talking," Doug pointed out, getting hushed again. Just then the door of the bedroom opened and a very solemn centaur came out, gazing at each one.

"I do not think all of us can fit in this hall at the same time," Sagittari decided.

"Never mind that! How is she?"

"If you mean your wife, she is doing well. If you mean your daughter, she also seems to be doing well," Sagittari said solemnly. Blinking once, Corey somehow managed to get past the doctor, while the centaur managed to somehow maneuver around the hovering crowd and into the kitchen.

"Well, I guess that means you're Grandpa Snape, then, eh, Grandpa?" Doug said cheerfully as Severus forced a thin smile on his face.

"You never did know when to keep quiet, did you, Mr. Brim?" Severus said.

"Sure I do. You won't hear me mentioning it to Jennifer," Doug said snidely, getting a jab in the side by Taylor.

"Wise move," Severus agreed, gently pushing the door slightly to try and get a peek in, a moment later Jennifer was behind him insisting he got out of the way, and making such a fuss that Ashley came out, closing the door behind her with a smile.

"Well, don't just stand there like the cat that ate the canary, we want to see her too!" Jennifer said impatiently.

"I think Corey needs a moment alone with his daughter first. I promise I will bring her out in a moment," Ashley said.

"Oh, no you don't, you've had time with her all ready. I've a right to see my granddaughter too!" she pleaded.

"All the sudden she wants to be a grandmother?" Danny teased Jennifer.

"How is Corey?" Severus asked thoughtfully.

"Sobbing profusely still, now please have the decency to let the man regain himself," Ashley said.

"He must be really upset, her being born tonight of all nights," Taylor murmured, glancing at his friends.

"On the contrary, I think that was nothing short of a miracle," Ashley said with a smile, looking around as she heard the door behind her. A moment later, Corey appeared with a bundle in hand and a strange grin on his face. But Corey didn't hold her for very long before he found himself handing her to Jennifer who looked as if she were going to burst if she had to wait a second more.

"Mom, meet Natalie Aine Willowby… Natalie meet… well, whatever you want to be called…"

"Natalie! How perfect!" Jennifer decided brightly. "We couldn't have had a nicer Christmas present! Severus, isn't she perfect? She needs to meet her aunts and uncles," she decided, whisking her off to the living room.

"Fifteen minutes into the world and already whisked away from me," Corey said, shaking his head as he waved his friends to join her.

"Get used to the feeling," Severus advised dryly. "Still sorry about the date?" Corey took a deep breath then, to keep back the tears threatening to well up again.

"She has my Mum's eyes," Corey murmured, looking towards the crowd in the front room distantly, and the decorations lining the walls. "You know, Dad, I know you don't take much stock in the whole fate thing, and God knows it has done its share of smacking us around from time to time. Still, I can't help but feel that this was too significant to be a coincidence. For the first time since I was eleven years old, I actually feel complete at Christmas… truly complete," he said, his voice turning into a whisper as his throat tightened. "I need to see Rose," Corey decided and slipped away again.

But before Severus himself turned into the front room, he spied the centaur standing outside the kitchen door and went to join him where he stood still, looking up into the rainy sky and at the glow of the moon behind the clouds.

"Not a good night to read the stars," Severus said quietly.

"Even if there were no clouds, it would not be a good night to read them," Sagittari said quietly. "But I must at least attempt it, despite the fact that the heavens no longer heed us."

"Was it spoken of at your Constellation's meeting this Solstice?" Severus asked softly.

"There was no meeting," Sagittari said quietly. Severus turned and frowned at him concernedly, but Sagittari kept his eyes on the sky. "There was no meeting, for the winter Solstice has not yet been reached. The days grow shorter still, Severus."

"How can that be possible?" Severus murmured, despite the fact that he had suspected it himself.

"I do not know," Sagittari admitted, his voice still gravely solemn. "But we have decided not to meet until the shortest day finally happens…even if that means, as many believe, the end of everything. We are but insignificant beings, truly, within our vast universe. What can we mere mortals do if these really are merely symptoms that it is failing?"

"Whatever is causing this, Ciardoth is behind it," Severus said firmly. "And if she has the power to cause it, we have the power to correct it."

"Let us hope so," Sagittari nodded. "I would like to believe that our newest arrival has more of a future than this darkness."

Severus really didn't feel much like going back in after that, although he knew very well he could hardly stand in the rain for hours, either, despite the fact that the doctor showed no signs of moving himself. Reluctantly he found his way into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, but he wasn't in there long before Jennifer wandered in.

"Oh, Severus! You're all wet! And what are you doing sulking in here, don't you want to hold your granddaughter?" she scolded him.

"I doubt she's going anywhere anytime soon. I think I can spare a cup of coffee first," Severus decided. "Besides, I was under the impression that you were not in any hurry to become a grandmother."

"Well, perhaps I wasn't," Jennifer admitted, pulling out her pocket mirror. "To be perfectly honest, it's just getting old that I mind…is that a wrinkle?"

"Oh, no, here we go again," Severus groaned.

"Well, maybe I should have one. I don't look like a grandmother…I don't feel like one either, really…"

"Jennifer…" Severus began but then paused when he noticed someone approaching and saw Aurelius. "Yes?"

"Mind if I run to Toby's real quick to see if the shop is there? I'll only be ten minutes," Aurelius said.

"But it's Christmas Eve!" Jennifer protested.

"Five minutes," Severus said sternly. Aurelius didn't argue; he merely nodded and left, while Jennifer looked at Severus curiously. "I am rather interested to find out if he's there as well. I would like a word with him myself."

"Well, you're not doing anything else tonight until you come in and hold Natalie," Jennifer said stubbornly, coaxing him into the living room and taking the baby from Essie, plopping her in Severus' arms.

"Well, he's definitely become an old pro at this, hasn't he?" Essie teased lightly when she saw how quickly Severus adjusted her in his arms.

"Someone get a camera," Doug suggested.

"Don't even think about it," Severus warned, several of the others laughing.

"You know, we should probably get her settled. She's had far too much excitement for her first day," Ashley said anxiously.

"Yes, you are probably right," Severus agreed, taking her to the back himself.

"So, does it feel as strange as you to be a grandmother as it does me?" Jennifer asked Ashley in a low voice, handing her a fresh cup of coffee.

"I suppose," Ashley said distantly. Jennifer gazed at her with concern. "There will be plenty to do around here, I'm sure, now," she said, but Jennifer smiled knowingly and nodded.

"I know, I feel sort of lost too," Jennifer admitted in a voice low enough that no one else could hear. But Ashley turned to look out the window, not wanting to betray any more of her own thoughts.

Aurelius dodged as many puddles as possible as he ran to Toby's Tinker Shop, now visible in the distance, its lanterns unmistakably lit. Taking a moment to make sure there was no mud on his shoes he walked in, ignoring whatever signage Toby had put up for the evening. The Tinker, who had been reading a book behind the counter in an otherwise empty shop, looked up with a warm smile when Aurelius came in, taking off his glasses and looking over at him with icy blue eyes.

"Why, Mr. Snape, you are looking quite festive this evening. And what have you there on your feet?" Toby asked innocently.

"Honestly, I don't know exactly why I decided to try them on today," Aurelius said with a shrug.

"Perhaps just because you were ready," Toby smiled and nodded.

"Maybe. I've had some strange revelations lately," Aurelius admitted, coming over to the counter.

"Such as?" Toby asked with open interest.

"Well, I guess the main one that has come up… for other members of my family as well as myself… not naming any names…"

"Of course not," Toby waved him to continue.

"Well, that just because an idea or a way of thinking has worked effectively for a group of people or a family in the past doesn't mean it's effective now," Aurelius said.

"If that is your way of declaring that all that matters is what you do in the present, Mr. Snape, I believe you are very much on the right path, and now you have the shoes to prove it. I hope that means you've finally learned to live with yourself."

"Well, maybe not completely," Aurelius admitted. "But I'm learning."

"Good! Then maybe I can start concentrating on getting your father on the right path," Toby said mischievously, pulling out a wrapped pink parcel from under the counter. "I don't suppose since you're here that you'd be willing to deliver a present to Natalie for me?"

"Word travels fast, I see, considering that Rose hadn't made up her mind on a name until today," Aurelius said. "Or is it something you had already remembered?"

"You should always ask a lot of questions, Aurelius, it really is the best way to get answers, even if they're not answered directly," Toby advised. But while Aurelius was still attempting to figure out if there was a hidden answer in that, they heard the bell at the door and Albus Dumbledore walked in wearing an unusually long brimmed hat in a vain attempt to keep the rain off of his beard. With a simple shake of the hat and a brush of his overcoat, however, his clothes became dry once more. "Ah, here you are at last! I've been expecting you," Toby said.

Aurelius watched the Headmaster carefully as he walked up to the counter with a distant look in his eyes. He missed a step when he saw Aurelius but quickly recovered and gazed at him curiously.

"Happy Christmas, Toby, Aurelius. Were you and your parents not going to the Ministry Ball this evening?"

"Yes, but we were called away when Rose went into labor. She had a girl, Natalie," Aurelius explained.

"Really? Well, perhaps I should stop by tomorrow then. I would stop by now, but I still have much too many errands to run tonight," Albus admitted, Toby smiling at him knowingly.

"So you really are Father Christmas after all then, Professor?" Aurelius asked daringly. Toby laughed at that.

"Perhaps every now and then," Albus said with an enigmatic smile, gently lifting a basket with a large reddish-golden egg off the counter. "But now I must finish my business with Mr. Toby, for I really do have much to do."

"Sure," Aurelius said, accepting the parcel from Toby. "Happy Christmas, sir, Professor."

"And to you as well. Oh, and let your father know that I'll be available when he needs me but there's no rush yet," Toby told Aurelius, waving him out the door before turning to Dumbledore. "Well! I don't suppose I need to send along a list of instructions of what to do with that."

"No, thank you. I'd prefer to write him myself," Albus said, gazing into his pouch of galleons with a frown. "Do you know, I really don't like putting a price on this. I rather think that ultimately I really don't have enough were I to close every vault I own."

"Then you will just have to accept it as a gift, I suppose," Toby shrugged.

"I cannot do that either," Albus said.

"Not even on his behalf?"

"Especially not on his behalf," Albus protested.

"Then perhaps on behalf of your world," Toby said gently. "For if ever it needed a flicker of hope in the last ten thousand years I've experienced it, now would run a close second."

"I don't suppose I need ask what the first time was," Albus said thoughtfully, helping Toby cover the egg in a small cozy quilt.

"Yes, I believe you've already heard of that event," Toby said with a smile. "Happy Christmas, Albus."

"Thank you, Happy Christmas," Albus said.

Toby watched the Headmaster walk out of the store and disappear into the rain, but he didn't bother to take up his book again, for he knew there wouldn't be time.

Sure enough, only a couple of minutes later, the third customer he had been waiting on that evening walked in the door. With a small basket in hand, Ashley arrived, immediately taking off her rain bonnet open entering. Toby greeted her warmly, standing and gesturing her over to the counter.

"I hope I'm not troubling you," Ashley said, glancing at the basket before placing it on the counter. "Aurelius mentioned you were here and it suddenly occurred to me you might be stuck here alone."

"Ah, no man is an island, is that it?" Toby smiled mischievously. "Well, if that is true, I will admit to being on a peninsula with a very narrow causeway, waiting for the next wave." Ashley laughed and shook her head.

"Oh, come now. I don't really believe that," she said.

"Then you're a very kindhearted and intelligent woman, but I'll forgive you for both of your vices since you are the first person who has given me a gift since… well, it's rather hard to remember exactly when actually," Toby said, apparently thinking quite hard about it while nibbling on a biscuit from the basket.

"Then it has been far too long, especially after all you've done here," Ashley said.

"I do hope you don't mean that as an accusation," Toby chuckled. "Care for some tea? Now where did I put that teapot," he wondered, looking around.

"I'll take a rain check," Ashley laughed.

"Well, considering how much it's been raining, I suppose it's warranted," he decided. "But I should do something for you, you see, it's only fair with you going to the trouble of the basket and all."

"No, it's no trouble really. Actually, you're doing me a favor just by being here, it gave me a reason to go for a walk," Ashley admitted. "You see, my daughter had her baby tonight."

"Did she now? Well, that's splendid, and on Christmas Eve too."

"Yes, it was providence if you ask me…well, if you believe in that sort of thing…"

"It does come up from time to time," Toby admitted. "Although it makes me wonder all the more why you wanted to be here."

"Well, would you believe I felt like I was in the way?" Ashley said, leaning on the counter with a sigh. "Felt like? Do feel like is what I should say. But I'm sure you don't want to hear about all that."

"No, please go on, I have an ear or two to spare," he insisted politely, and she let out a short sigh.

"Well, I suppose it was all well and fine when it was just the three of us, my daughter and her husband and myself, as it were…and I am positively thrilled to have a granddaughter. But tonight when I held my granddaughter for the first time, I realized that once my daughter gets back to her feet again that she, Corey and the baby were going to need the time and room to stub their toes and figure out this whole parenting thing without me being constantly in the way. Oh, don't get me wrong, I want to help…in fact, I need to help, that's always been my problem, and I'm afraid I'll help too much. Not to mention, I also don't want to end up being a burden to them either."

"Goodness, Ms. Bailey, you are anything but a burden to them as much effort as you have put into the shop as you have."

"Perhaps not before," Ashley murmured. "But now that the business is strong enough to stand on its own and my daughter having her own child to take care of, things are different. They don't need me any more… not truly, and I don't want them to have to plan their lives around me."

"Like you had to with your grandfather?" Toby asked quietly.

"I loved him, Mr. Toby, I really did," Ashley said. "He was there for me when there was no one else. I was barely out of school when I became pregnant, very much like Rose, only with nowhere to turn after my husband died. But Grandfather was there and took me in, so I wiped off my slate of dreams and ambitions, pulled up my sleeves, and became an alchemist's assistant…which honestly wasn't a bad life for that, not even at the end. And yet now as I look over my life I see four decades of living and very little to show for it besides a daughter who can stand on her own now. My life has always been devoted to family. I know nothing else, and I don't really want to leave it either but I also need to feel needed. Two months into forty, and already I feel like my life is over and I have no direction other than the fact that I don't feel like I'm serving a purpose anymore."

"Tell me, Ashley, before you wiped your slate, what did you want to do with your life?" Toby asked.

"Well, like any other backwater country girl, I wanted a large family and a noisy house…perhaps open a daycare for the neighborhood and take them all on long nature outings, and always busy with something to do…but never too busy to spend time with Ryan. But that didn't happen…we didn't have the time, or anything else," Ashley murmured. Toby patted her hand gently.

"My dear, you are much too young to spend so much time reminiscing on the past," he chided her. "The present is all that truly matters, and right now it is opening for you in any direction you would like to take it."

"But that's just it, Mr. Toby. I have no sense of direction," Ashley said with a chuckle. "I don't suppose you have anything in this store that would help me with that!"

"Well, I could offer you a suggestion on something, I'm sure, of course whether or not you'd accept it is entirely up to you," Mr. Toby said.

"What sort of suggestion?" Ashley asked curiously.

"A business proposition of sorts," Toby said taking out a small blank card and a quill and writing something on it. "But I really don't think here and now is appropriate for that. I am prepared, however, to make you a very straightforward offer to provide you with a possible direction mutually beneficial both of us…if you agree to meet me for lunch, perhaps? Later this week?"

"Any obligations?"

"None whatsoever," he promised with a smile, handing out the card with a time, date and place. Feeling strangely timid, Ashley managed to talk herself into reaching up and taking it, wondering about the weird tingling sense of déjà vu she was getting. "Now, then, I'm sure your daughter and son-in-law will begin to worry if you're gone too long, not that that's necessarily a bad thing," he added mischievously. "But after all, it is Christmas, and I do hope it will be a happy one."

"For some reason, I do feel better already," Ashley said with a smile. "Thank you, Mr. Toby."

"Tut, save it for when I've actually done something to deserve it, my dear," he protested, walking her to the door.

As Ashley put on her bonnet and walked out into the rain, Toby watched her walk down the street. Catching himself attempting to pull on his own beard despite the fact that he didn't have one, Toby chuckled to himself and walked back inside.

Ginny sighed loudly after she had sat up from where she had fallen asleep on the couch, pushing her hair back as she tried to focus her eyes in the dim light.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, making Harry stop in his tracks. He had slipped off his shoes at the door and was trying to cross into the kitchen when she spotted him, but was now frozen like a startled buck in the forest. "Any sign of Thurspire?"

"He hadn't come in yet, no, but I heard from another Auror that DeMille saw a post from him come in tonight. It was signed 'for the Minister of Magic's eyes' only…who of course left the office hours ago. I saw Megan though; she and her daughter were keeping Anna company."

"Sirius still hasn't come out his depression yet?" Ginny asked. Harry shook his head.

"Can anyone really blame him? He has trouble telling his nightmares from reality, and yet in some of the cases, the reality is the harder pill to swallow. If only he could see how much he has going for him now…how his friends and family are there standing right with him…but all he could see is that two people died because of one of his nightmares, despite the fact that even the Ministry knows it was manipulation," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'm really worried about him, now more than ever," he admitted. "But then with everything going on, I'm worried about everything. I wouldn't be surprised if the world decided to pick this moment to just split apart."

"Not on Christmas," Ginny said, kissing him lovingly.

"Is it?" Harry said, glancing at the clock and then grinning, putting his arms around her. "Well then, Happy Christmas. Time to open presents. So where are you hiding them?" He asked and attempted to check under her night robe, her squealing protest only getting him more interested as she playfully tried to bat and kick at him.

"Aha! A slipper, maybe it's in here," he said, raising a brow at the furry pink thing before chucking it behind the couch.

"Harry, stop it! You're going to wake up the children!"

"Well, you're the one squealing… Ginny… hey, watch where you are putting that foot! I'm going to get my wand…"

"Which one?" she laughed, but was backed up to the armrest now, and so with nowhere else to go, the two went tumbling to the floor. But despite the fact that the move to the floor seemed to give Harry the advantage against her squirming, he suddenly found himself distracted by a rather small basket with an overly large egg in it.

"What's that?" Harry wondered out loud.

"You don't know?" Ginny asked flirtatiously.

"No I meant…um…hold that thought a moment. Don't go anywhere," Harry said, crawling over to it curiously. Ginny rolled on her side and proper her head up in her hand, exasperated as she watched him untie the small card on the basket.

"So, who's it for?" Ginny asked.

"Apparently it's for me. It looks like Dumbledore's handwriting…it is, there's his private signature," Harry said, unfolding the card. "'Place the basket and the egg in a lit fireplace and stand back. Happy Christmas,'" he read.

"In a lit fireplace? He wants you to burn it?" Ginny said dubiously, but Harry was shaking his head in disbelief.

"No, it can't be what I think it is," Harry murmured.

"What is it, Harry?" Ginny asked. Harry gazed at her thoughtfully then grabbed the basket and went over to the living room fireplace, setting several logs on the glowing embers. A moment later, when the fire was going strong, Harry carefully put the basket in and waited, watching as the flames finally began to black and catch on the dry straw.

Suddenly, the entire thing burst into roaring flames with such intensity that Harry and Ginny both had to back away further, shielding their eyes from the blaze until it abruptly died down, the fire's full energy spent in those few quick seconds. A strange noise came from the fireplace then, and the two of them stared in amazement at the newly hatched Phoenix chick nestled in the ashes.