II

Jennifer Craw Snape had been looking forward to her tennis lesson after a busy morning shopping, but now she was already quite exhausted and was forced to admit to herself that she was not in as good of shape as she wanted to be. Too many days by the beach with lightly potion-laced drinks in hand, she decided, as once again the ball whiffed out of her range. Of course, it wasn't a sentiment that her instructor shared, and he would have been quite surprised to find that his vibrant auburn-haired student was well on her way to fifty. As usual, Jennifer was oblivious to the scrutiny as she concentrated more on her serve; for although she was a Truth-Seeker and could read people's faces, she often was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice.

This day was no exception; it was difficult enough to learn all the rules of this Muggle sport and his meticulous placement of her hands and feet, which were quite different than those she used for forms. At least perhaps it would help her reaction time. She grinned to herself as she imagined the surprised lift of the brow she might receive if she took a more aggressive stance in a duel instead of defensive. But as her thoughts strayed, she lost track of the game, and caught herself just in time to make a futile reach out with her racket, tipping the ball out of bounds.

"Whatever happened to real handles on these silly rackets?" Jennifer exclaimed as Nicolai started to laugh at her attempt. "I need a badminton one."

"You were distracted, I could tell," Nicolai said. "You always end up chopping like a flyswatter when you get like that! Here, you should be working on your backhand, then you will not pull the ball down so much…it should seem natural, more flowing…" he explained. Jennifer sighed impatiently. She had been shown this several times before, and nodded with frustration at herself for not getting it as he attempted to show her again. But it wasn't until he slowed down her arm movements that she began to realize she was in an awkward position.

"I think I have the hang of it, thank you," Jennifer said, shrugging and stepping away. "Shall we try again?"

"Very well, signora. Shall we play for real? If I win, you let me take you to dinner at my favorite restaurant," he suggested.

"I'm married," Jennifer reminded him.

"Yes, but I know he is not here, and it is simply a friendly little dinner so you don't have to eat alone…" he coaxed her. "As friends."

Jennifer was about to answer when Nicolai felt a sharp tap on his shoulder. He turned about to get a brief glimpse of a very tall man with long thin blonde hair tied into a tail and a prominent hawk nose…but a glimpse was all he got before he saw a fist aiming straight towards his own nose. Jennifer let out a yelp of surprise as Nicolai went sprawling into the net, slumping down in a mild stun.

"Goodness, Andrew! Did you have to do that?" Jennifer said in horror.

"I very well couldn't use any sort of normal methods, could I, Mother?" Andrew said, taking a few steps up between her and Nicolai.

"Mother?" Nicolai repeated, staring at the man who was nearly as old as he was.

"Yes, be grateful that it is me here instead of my Father or any of my brothers and sisters, or I seriously doubt anyone would ever discover what happened to you," Andrew said crisply. "Let me give you a bit of sound advice. When a lady says she is married, she means she is married happily. If she wasn't, she'd deny being married, despite wearing a ring or having a tan line on her finger. Therefore, you should always take such a proclamation of marriage as a 'no'. You will find you will live a lot longer taking 'no' for an answer, because to be perfectly honest, she could have killed you too. Lesson over! Shall we go, Mother? I think I've caused enough of a racket for one tennis court."

"Andrew!" Jennifer said with exasperation, barely keeping herself from laughing as he offered her an arm and they walked off the court. "The punch was bad enough, but that pun was absolutely unforgivable!"

"I can't help it. Somehow I ended up inheriting Father's sense of humor," Andrew said. "Sorry to barge in. Alicia told me where you were."

"Just what are you doing here, anyhow?"

"Saving you from someone like me, apparently, but someone who has a bit less sense," Andrew answered smoothly. "Hardly surprising though, considering that outfit you are wearing."

"This is what women always wear to play tennis," Jennifer said defensively. "Not that you have any say so in anything I wear, son. Really, you know perfectly well I'm capable of taking care of myself."

"Of course you are," Andrew nodded solemnly. "I was just saving you the trouble of having to try and cover up whatever your response would have been had that situation continued." Jennifer merely grinned at him, but had little intention of telling her son what she might have been planning, adult or not.

"So what brings you to Florence, Andrew? You still haven't told me," Jennifer pointed out.

"In the studio," Andrew insisted as the two of them turning down a narrow street laid with stone. In some strange way, the houses even looked almost narrower than the street; packed like sardines along the cobbled road. Flowerboxes poked out of windows and half-circle planters. But Andrew quickly noted that baskets of oregano and rosemary also carried herbs that the local Muggles might find quite 'unorthodox,' and there was little doubt that this quiet little cul-de-sac, as innocent on its surface as it seemed, was one made up of their own kind.

Up a steep stair and towards the back of one of the furthest houses, Jennifer and Andrew found Alicia hard at work, attempting to sculpt again, using a different sculpture beside it as a model. A large chunk she hadn't intended to come off broke and went clattering to the floor. She sighed at it, and slipped her wand out of her sleeve, putting it back in place.

"I saw that," Jennifer said, startling her and nearly messing her up again. "I thought you were here to study classical forms and not magical ones?"

"I can't help it if marble is so brittle," Alicia said defensively.

"Well, take care around this lad's private parts then," Andrew teased. "I'd hate for you to turn him into a eunuch."

"That's David, it's a copy of one of Michaelangelo's pieces," Alica said, carefully chiseling away again. "I really don't think I'll ever get the knack of this sort of art, but I thought it'd help me work out some of the stiffness in my paintings."

"She's studying anatomy," Jennifer explained, heading over to a small kitchen area to grab the teapot.

"Yes, care to model for me?" Alicia teased.

"What? You mean like that?" he said, pointing at the statue.

"Just for practice, no one will see it," Alicia coaxed. Andrew began to say something, but then paused.

"Well, what's the fun in me doing it then, if no one is going to see it?" he asked. Alicia rolled her eyes, while Jennifer slapped him in the arm.

"You could be more supportive of your sister's work," Jennifer said.

"There are limits, Mum."

"It's not like half the witches in Britain haven't seen you in the buff as it is," Alicia said.

"Oh, stop exaggerating. I can only account for a quarter of them. Besides, you said yourself this is hardly your medium. This sketch over here is rather good," Andrew said, gesturing to one of a young man on the back wall.

"Oh, that's a copy I did of a Leonardo. I mainly came here to research DaVinci's anatomy, but I'm starting to branch out a bit," she said. "You should visit the monastery with us while you're here. There's all sorts of neat drawings of ancient Muggle gadgets and things you may find fascinating…"

"I'm sorry, but I can't, and actually, Mum probably can't either," Andrew admitted. "Father sent me to ask you to come back. Something's come up and he may need you at the school."

"Really? Already? Is he in trouble with the board again?" Jennifer asked with a frown.

"Oh, no, nothing that serious…well, not exactly. Actually, it's more about Aurelius and what he…well what we…" he paused then, for he noted that her gaze had gone completely intense.

"Lovely. Quite lovely," Jennifer said in a tone that indicated nothing of the sort. Curiously, Alicia looked over at them. "I would think that after all those years of Defense not to mention teaching both at home and abroad, you would have enough sense than to give water to a siren!"

"She looked like she was going to faint!" Andrew protested.

"Don't sirens normally have an ocean full?" Alicia asked.

"Prisoner transfer, he was helping Aurelius," Jennifer said disapprovingly.

"Really? I didn't think Rel was that stupid…"

"Spare me, please!" Andrew pleaded, only half joking. "Trust me, I've already heard it all from Father already."

"Your Father!" Jennifer froze, staring at him a moment. "And with a siren in the Dark Forest! Oh, we must go home at once! Alicia, might we get a lift to Corey's?"

"Fine," Alicia said, glancing at Andrew who had the smug look of someone who had ducked a fatal blow. "But I won't stay."

"Even if I agree to pose for you, long as I get it afterwards?" Andrew asked in a low voice as Jennifer went to get her things together.

"He has no right to try to run my life anymore, Andrew…"

"Ah yes, back to that," Andrew said somberly.

"I am twenty years old, and he still treats me like a child!"

"And he still does to me as well, at times…"

"Yet he seems to have no trouble at all with your horrid exploits and yet I am denied the only man I ever wanted!" Alicia said with frustration. "Just because I'm a girl, and you're not…"

"Alicia, come on, you can't really believe that's what this is about…"

"Isn't it?" she challenged him, her eyes sparkling dangerously. Jennifer walked back in, and the two broke off their gazes, Alicia taking a moment to take off her apron.

"Well…" Jennifer said, glancing between them. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Fine, but I'm still not staying," Alicia said. But unlike Andrew, Jennifer merely nodded acceptingly.

"Of course, I'm sure you have a lot to do here," she said calmly. "As for me, I suspect a more agreeable dinner date awaits me compared to my other offer today." A grin crept back on Andrew's face again, glad to leave on a lighter note despite the tinge of regret he felt when Alicia pulled them through the painting and returned to Florence alone.