IV

It was not long after they arrived back at the castle that the inevitable happened. Severus and Jennifer had hardly stepped foot into their room when Jennifer began to watch him with severe scrutiny.

"So, what do you make of all of that?" Jennifer said.

"Make of all of what?" Severus asked, going over to the breakfast table. "Shall I have Mercy make us something? I dare think you haven't eaten all day."

"I can hardly eat right now. Why would anyone murder that creature?"

"Self-defense comes to mind…"

"Then why not step forward?" Jennifer pressed, then paused thoughtfully. "There's something else that puzzles me too. If she got attacked in the Forest like that, why didn't she try a voice attack? Surely she'd still be able to muster up something. I think I'll go look it up," Jennifer said, walking through to her sitting room. Severus let out a short sigh, wondering why he had answered her at all.

"I dare think you should be more concerned with unpacking," he said through the doorway, then glanced around. "Tea and sandwiches in Jennifer's room, if you don't mind," he said into the air before following after her. As he had expected, she was already sitting at her desk and flipping through a large tome. "Shall I help you go through your cloak chest?"

"Severus! Aren't you even a bit concerned about what happened?" Jennifer said, turning to him with obvious exasperation.

"My concern extended merely to the school's safety having such a creature in the Forest, which is obviously no longer an issue," Severus pointed out.

"Well, whoever murdered that siren may pose a threat to the school as well, you know."

"We are teachers, Jennifer, not Aurors. Now, why don't you just relax and let your father and your son do their jobs for a change. That is a new necklace, isn't it? I don't recall buying that."

"I bought it, of course! You didn't think I'd come back from Italy without a bit of gold, did you? I discovered a skilled enchanter right down the street from the studio…now don't think you can distract me!" Jennifer said sternly, wagging her finger at his back as he turned towards the tray. "And I'm not trusting any of your tea, either. Knowing you, you've already put something in it to put me to sleep."

"Let me assure you then that right now such a plan is the farthest thing from my mind," Severus said easily, handing out a cup and meeting her dubious gaze. "If I have any ulterior motives at all, it is to get your mind off of other people's business long enough to spend some quality time with a husband that you have not, as you protested yourself earlier, seen in over a month and a half."

Jennifer let out a soft sigh and took the cup, curbing the urge to smile.

"I'm still not convinced that you aren't merely trying to distract me," she said after taking a sip.

"I didn't meant to imply that I wasn't going to distract you, simply that I wasn't going to put you to sleep," Severus said. Despite the lack of expression, Jennifer could hardly miss the spark in his black eyes or the thoughts behind it.

"Well, I suppose I could be persuaded to drop the matter…until after breakfast," she added quickly. "Don't you think for one moment this conversation is over."

"Jennifer, we've been married for twenty-five years, and there has never been a subject you have brought up that you have ever been willing to drop, no matter how many times it has been beaten to death."

"Well, at least I bring things up. If it wasn't for me, I dare think that you wouldn't bring up anything at all. You would be content to sit by yourself in the corner for hours on end and fan away anyone who tries to disturb your tomb," Jennifer retorted.

"Yes," Severus mused, glancing at his tea and then looking up at her. "How was it we ended up together again?"

"You needed me," Jennifer said, Severus squinting.

"As I recall, I was not the one marked for death."

"Yes, but I was not the one with the mark," Jennifer answered with a thin smile.

"Was I not the one who saved your life?" Severus pointed out.

"Yes, but I think I saved more than that," Jennifer answered easily. Severus paused then, frowning at her.

"Since when are you good at this?" he asked.

"I've been good at it for years now. You just forgot during my absence," Jennifer teased him.

"Care to remind me of anything else I may have forgotten in your absence?" Severus inquired back.

Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Why is it," Severus said with annoyance, "that despite the fact it is the middle of summer and the entire school is empty that I am completely unsurprised by what just happened?"

"I'll go get it, I'm sure it must be important," Jennifer said, ignoring his scowl as she hurried over and opened it. Tonks was on the other side, looking apologetic.

"I've a message for you from your father," she said with a note in his hand.

"He couldn't just send it by owl?" Jennifer complained, glancing at the Ministry envelope and opening it, while Severus came over curiously. "Formally requesting your presence at the Ministry for a statement concerning the death of a Ministry prisoner at your earliest inconvenience?" she read out loud.

"In other words, he means now," Severus said dryly.

"I'm supposed to make sure you get there," Tonks explained.

"Well, I am hardly letting Jennifer go by herself nor am I going to leave the school unattended. You will just have to wait here," Severus said.

"As long as you plan to take the blame for it, sure," Tonks said cheerfully. "I can use the time helping doctor Sagittari get the lake back in order."

"I just simply don't see why this couldn't wait until morning," Jennifer said in annoyance, slipping her wand up her sleeve.

"Well, if it's some sort of plan to try and get me directly involved in this, your father is in for a rude awakening," Severus said. "I've enough to do without bothering with this."

"Like what? It's summer!" Tonks said, but Severus seemed not to hear the question.

"Try not to break anything," Severus advised with a dubious expression as they headed down the stairs. Jennifer merely gave him an exasperated smile as they headed down the stairs, leaving Tonks to figure out how she was going to get to the lake without doing just that. "You know, we really ought to move the doorways to our room. These interruptions are getting quite tedious."

"You hardly had to come along this time. Besides, you knew when you took the job that you would forever be on demand, Severus," Jennifer pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we need to make it easy for them to find us," Severus said. Jennifer simply shook her head and followed him out of the castle.

It was late in the evening when they arrived at the Ministry, so much of the building had been vacated in favor of their families and homes. But it was not remotely unusual for the Minister of Law Enforcement to work far into the night when something was pestering him, and even Jennifer had to admit to herself that he seemed even more worked up than usual when they arrived, pacing with the powerful fury of a wild tiger pushed into a small cramped cage.

"It is about time you got here. What did you do, walk?" Thomas snapped.

"Part of the way, yes," Severus said calmly, gesturing Jennifer to a chair before she had a chance to bristle. "Might I ask what was so important that it couldn't wait?"

"Well, let me answer that with a question of my own," Thomas said, glancing over at his daughter. "I understand Andrew was the one who came and brought you back today. When did he leave you?"

"When did he leave?" Jennifer blinked, glancing at Severus who seemed just as mystified as she was. "Once we got to Hogsmeade, of course. He missed some obligations the night before because of everything that happened and needed to go take care of them…"

"Did he say to whom?"

"Well, he did mention that Ginger was apt to be livid…"

"And you got to Hogsmeade at what time?" Thomas interrupted patiently.

"Just before lunchtime, actually, around eleven. Rose was trying to set the table when we arrived, that's when Andrew said he couldn't stay and why," Jennifer said.

"Then we do in fact have a definite problem, for that leaves him quite a large window of opportunity," Thomas said. "The flare went up between two and three, and I happen to know after a short inquiry that he didn't arrive at Miss Davidson's until well after five."

"Surely you don't think Andrew had anything to do with this!" Jennifer said aghast, raising to her feet. Severus put a firm hand on her arm. "He's your own grandson, you know him better than that!"

"His wand was found in the water near the mud dam, Jennifer. Care to explain that?"

"Simply enough, he must have misplaced it during the fight when she broke away from them the day before," Severus mused.

"Except that by Rel's statement, they lost hold of her because Andrew mistakenly 'gave her water.' They weren't anywhere near the brook, Severus, nor would they have taken a route that passes it. Aurelius knows that Forest better than most centaurs let alone wizards…he would never have strayed so near."

"And yet, Thomas, had Andrew truly had any reason to want her dead, he could have easily done so that first night and justifiably so," Severus said.

"Andrew isn't capable of murder. It's just not in his nature," Jennifer said angrily before Thomas could reply.

"Anyone is capable of murder, Jennifer! No one knows that better than I," Thomas said crisply. "And although I understand your sentiment and Severus' reasoning in this, the facts of this case are far from adding up. Were it my decision, I probably would have let the matter stand, if she hadn't been a prisoner of my department and therefore technically under our direct care. Charles Weasley has already come pounding on my door hinting he'd take the matter to the council if I don't do something…my hands are tied, and family or not, all the evidence right now, including wand tests, are pointing at your son."

"Preposterous," Severus evenly. "There is no logical motive."

"Absolutely not!" Jennifer said emphatically.

"Personally, I agree, but he is still our primary suspect," Thomas said. "He has refused to give any further statements on where he was during that time and has stated nothing except his innocence, and that is not helping his position. Trust me, I want nothing less than to have to arrest my own grandson, not to mention the scandal that's bound to follow if the press gets a hold of this, both for me as well as the school, since he works there. And so to answer your question, Jennifer, that is why I called you here tonight…perhaps you can convince Andrew to account for the missing time before this thing erupts into a family catastrophe."

"Tell me, was Andrew questioned before or after he knew you had the wand, Thomas?"

"Both," Thomas said evenly. "I was hoping by showing it to him I would coax him into saying more, but he simply stated as you implied that he lost it in the fight."

"Perhaps he did, perhaps someone else picked it up," Jennifer said quickly.

"There weren't any other prints on the wand, Jen-girl, I checked that."

"Yes, well, there are ways around that, and it was found in the brook. Besides, for some strange reason I don't consider a wand report as indisputable evidence," Severus said, his eyes flashing.

"I hardly forget what happened to you, Severus," Thomas said. "But as of this moment, I have yet to discover any other leads, despite attempts by both Aurelius and Harry to scrupulously look for them. So unless you have any ideas, we seem to be in a bind, don't we?" he said, meeting Severus gaze.

"Very well, I can hardly stay out of this now, can I?" Severus said dryly. "Consider us involved." Jennifer nodded firmly in agreement, despite the fact she felt rather deflated thinking of the position her youngest son was in.