Chapter 19- Dreams
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Contemplating the bottle of champagne on the table by the bed, Severus began to have second thoughts. His plan to celebrate his knighthood with Eris had been made when his intellect had been devoid of feeling. Gaze wandering from the bed, to the flames in the fireplace, reality set in. He downed the contents of his glass and set it down beside its match on the table. When she knocked on his door, he would tell her…
Knock, knock, knock...
He tightened the sash on his silk robe. Crossing to the door, Severus opened it and said, "I have reconsidered." An unseen body brushed his. Turning on his heel, he shut the door. "I did not invite you in."
Eris broke the Disillusionment charm. She said smilingly, "You're virtue is safe. I just wanted to see you, make sure you were okay."
"Why would I not be?"
"Clive came back looking dazed. I worried for you," she admitted.
He took in her fleecy red robe, and the bit of nightgown peeking through the opened neck. Severus further noted she was wearing fuzzy red and white striped socks. She looked ready for Father Christmas, not seduction. He smiled. "That is the Hufflepuff coming out."
Eris took a step closer. "You don't mind that I care, do you?"
Slowly, he moved toward her, shaking his head. "No. In fact, I was planning on using that to my advantage earlier, when calculation overruled my own…caring."
It was if she only then became aware of the romantic lighting, the champagne, the fire, and his bare chest showing. Blushing, she offered, "I'll drink to your continued good health and Christmas, if you'd like."
His health, but not to his knighthood or his bright future within the organisation her own family supported. Perhaps he should've felt disappointed, but Severus was pleased that her only concern was his welfare. Eris was no Bella or Narcissa. Pouring the champagne, he handed her a flute. "Happy Christmas, Eris."
As their glasses touched, she said softly, "Happy Christmas, Severus."
After the toast, he took her glass and set it aside before taking her into his arms. Their kiss was like her robe--warm, soft, and sweet. Parting her lips to deepen the embrace, a vision of removing her robe and unfastening all those tiny buttons on her gown tempted him to steer them toward the bed. The thought of dealing with his own emotions afterwards kept his feet planted.
When the kiss ended, and Eris rested her head against his shoulder, she confessed, "Afi told me you might need me tonight, after what you experienced."
His arms tightened around her. "I did."
"He also said the dream you saw might be upsetting." She pulled back to look up into his face, blue eyes appearing black in concern. "Was it?"
Severus gave a short laugh. "You should be flattered. Thoughts of seducing you put that completely out of mind."
Her answering smile was wry. "I am, but now I wish my grandfather hadn't meddled. You-Know-Who's dreams can't be pleasant."
He said, "It would be too dangerous to share it with you, but if you wish to stay..."
She nodded. "I want to be here for you."
They sat together on the side of the bed. Severus allowed Eris to hold one of his hands in both of hers while he closed his eyes and focused on unlocking the memory of the dream he'd taken from Voldemort. It was like being drawn down a dark tunnel toward a point of light. When he reached it, Severus stepped into another man's dream.
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The Morsmordre lighting the sky of never-ending darkness revealed a ruined landscape. The emerald stars comprising the serpent- tongued skull bathed the wasteland in a green glow. In every direction, rubble and ashes were all that remained of the mortals that had once polluted the world. Hearing the sound of bones snapping beneath his feet, gloating, high-pitched laughter filled the air.
The old man waiting looked at him with loathing and pity. "You have succeeded in destroying everything and everyone. Betrayed your followers after defeating your enemies, gaining immortality at the expense of all living things…who shall you rule now, Tom?"
Dumbledore's irreverent use of a name long discarded no longer angered the most powerful being on the planet. With a nod to the Dementors holding the wizard he'd held in suspension until this final triumph, Lord Voldemort savoured the moment he'd worked toward all of his life. In a way that caused his nemesis to slump in defeat before receiving a 'kiss', he smiled.
"Death."
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"Severus, open your eyes! Merlin, what do I do? You're shaking so hard. Come back to me, please, come back!"
Eris' tear-choked voice calling and the sensation of wet kisses being pressed to his mouth and face brought Severus out of the horror he had plummeted into. His arms reached for her, wanting nothing more than to absorb her warmth. He was so very cold, his mind recoiling from the implications of the dream. Pressing her back onto the mattress, Severus buried his face in the crook of her neck, allowing the heat of her skin to seep into his.
He is insane.
The thought should have plunged him into darkest despair, but instead lifted him out of it. That dream would never be realised. Eradicating all life on the planet was as inconceivable as immortality. Voldemort was proof that extended use of Dark magic carried a price too high for the mind to pay. The leader of the Knights of Walpurgis, of the elite Death Eaters, was brilliant and powerful, but he was also fatally flawed. Well before Voldemort could betray his followers, he would surely be betrayed by one of them.
"It is all right." Severus spoke the words for his own sake as much as Eris'. He refused to be embarrassed by the natural reaction to a sinister vision.
"Are you sure?" she whispered, while her hands continued to stroke his hair.
Bracing himself to look down into her lovely tear-streaked face, the corner of his lips turned up. "Yes. You were right, the dream was indescribably…unpleasant…but it was only a vision of his imaginings, not a reality."
Eris exhaled a shaky breath and said, "He told father there is no evil, just power and those willing to take it, but I don't believe that, and I won't follow him. Do you understand?"
Searching her eyes, he used Legilimency and 'saw' a few of the exercises of power that she'd witnessed as a child. Marvelling that Eris hadn't become hardened to the pain of others, he replied, "Yes. Can you understand why I will?"
Severus knew the answer before she nodded. Her ability to love without approving family members' beliefs and actions was something he could not help but be grateful for.
He kissed her, feeling as though he was trying to convey a complex mixture of gratitude, caring, and a pledge of understanding in a simple press of lips. Her tongue caressing turned reassurance into passion. Their bodies and mouths moulded together in a way that caused skin to flush and hands to tremble with eagerness.
Eventually tearing himself away from temptation, Severus rose and turned his back. Raking unsteady fingers through his hair, he rasped, "I cannot express what your support means to me, but it would be best if you returned to your room."
"You did just fine, and I'll go just as soon as I button just a few of these annoyingly tiny buttons."
Turning, he strode over and brushed her hands away. Fastening the buttons of her nightdress, there was only the slightest regret that he hadn't undone just a couple more. They exchanged smiles as he briskly tied the belt to her robe.
Escorting her to his door, Severus kissed her in appreciation for being just what he needed--a Slytherin with Hufflepuff tendencies.
After engaging the Disillusionment charm, Eris said, "I'll send Elpis with a Christmas present."
"No," he protested half-heartedly. She'd given him too much already. He shouldn't allow her to give up her cat's company as well.
"I already told Elpis she could. It's her gift from Father Christmas, along with some catnip." The smile in her voice made his mouth curve. He bid her goodnight and allowed the door to remain ajar.
Crossing to the wardrobe, he opened a drawer and withdrew black pyjama bottoms. Ever since the cat had watched him so intently, Severus felt more at ease properly clothed. Absurd, but then so was that dream, now that the shock of it had faded, and only the irrationality of the vision remained. Voldemort…flight from death…obviously the man's fears had warped his purpose and would no doubt result in ignominious defeat one day.
Cheered by the thought, Severus extinguished the magicked candles and lay in bed watching the flames dance in the fireplace.
"Meowrrr…"
The elegant Siamese acted like a playful kitten. Leaping up to the bed, she rolled over and over before batting shadows like a feline boxer and making pouncing hops up to his chest. Amused by the way she sprawled across him and raised her head like she was demanding praise, he chuckled. "Yes, you were brilliantly entertaining and…what is this?"
Tied to the black ribbon was a tiny vial. Reaching for his wand, Severus muttered 'Lumos' and then read the label. Yule Oil, for pleasant dreams. He had heard of the substance, but his mother had frowned upon such frivolities--perhaps because pleasing visions would make her real life unbearable.
Refusing to allow thoughts of his parents to ruin the holiday, he pulled the tiny cork and breathed in the aroma. After identifying all the ingredients, he anointed a couple of pulse points and placed the wand and diminutive bottle beneath his pillow.
A cool nose rubbed Severus' palm before the cat's head butted his hand in demand.
"Is this the gift you want? So be it. Happy Christmas, Elpis." Stroking the cat was soothing at first, and then led to thoughts of petting a different species of responsive femininity. As his eyes closed, Severus chuckled at the thought of the girl purring.
Drifting into sleep, he dreamt of a fire casting a rosy glow across Eris' bare skin as she moved toward him in a sinuous dance that engendered his ardent participation.
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"Your door was left open. Was that an invitation?"
Bellatrix's voice brought one of the sleepers to wakefulness. Severus had drawn the bed curtains sometime during the night, so the girl--who was currently a cat--thought quickly and made a sound deep in her throat.
"Good gods, are you with someone? That Greyback girl?"
Flashing a quick glance at Severus, 'Elpis' made a series of sounds that were quite suggestive, at least to the woman on the other side of the curtains.
"Well, as your attention is currently occupied, I'll wish you a Happy Christmas later..."
The sound of the door closing with a resounding thud brought the Siamese to all fours. Unable to contain her glee, she rolled, straight into Severus' face.
"Thbppth…cat hairs are not my idea of Christmas sweets, thank-you-very-much." Lifting and placing her on the other side of the bed, the boy stared at her with narrowed eyes. "How fortuitous that you decided to become vocal at precisely the moment Bellatrix barged into the room."
Pricking her ears up as if it was the sound of a voice that had garnered the response; she worked her way through the range of vocalizations available to a Siamese cat. They were extensive, and the suspicious look on Severus' face relaxed.
"I suppose you are telling me you want to go see your mistress. That makes two of us." Reaching out through the curtains to open a bedside table drawer, he took out a small black velvet jeweller's bag and tied the strings to her ribbon collar. "You can deliver my present, since I highly doubt her family would welcome my presence in her room at this hour."
Sitting up, he yanked apart the bed curtains and swung his legs over the side.
She darted a glance at the end of the bed and made a yowling-growling sound.
Severus looked at her in surprise. "What the blazes is your--what is that?" His gaze had landed on the stocking and presents. Eyebrows arching in astonishment, he said blankly, "For me?" Shaking his head, he immediately answered, "No, for the cat." Slanting the feline a look, he smiled. "I see you eyeing them. Sorry, Elpis, they are mine, and I do not share."
Padding to the small pile, she batted the stocking with her paw. Severus scooted down to end of the bed and picked it up. "I have never had a stocking and presents. This is a unique holiday in many ways."
Elpis rubbed his arm with her forehead.
He chuckled. "Want me to dump it, do you?"
Since she'd personally stuffed the stocking, she kept her attention on Severus' face while he examined the assortment of sweets; practical presents like socks and embroidered handkerchiefs, and jars and vials of potions ingredients. Lean, intense features were alight with boyish pleasure. Watching his dark eyes gleam as he examined each item made her heart swell.
"Why are you purring so- I am the one getting all the gifts."
His teasing smile was a gift that she would treasure over any of the presents waiting for her in her own room. The one attached to her ribbon might be an exception.
Gesturing to the wrapped presents, he asked drolly, "Which should I open first?"
She pounced on a present. He gave a huff of amusement and picked it up. "A bottle of Ogden's Finest from Tom, who sends it in case there's no random snogging with Eris under mistletoe." Chuckling, he set it aside. "I will not need that, and frankly, I hope never to descend to drowning my sorrows over what could have been."
He opened and admired the desk set and the zip up jumper she'd given and the dragon-hide gloves from his hosts. When the wrapping to the tome she'd found in Flourish & Blott's was discarded, Severus ran his hands over it in a way that made her a bit jealous and murmured, "Memoriter, from memory, is just what I wanted." Running a hand down her back, he said, "My Legilimency and Occlumency skills need to be honed to a fine edge if I am to achieve my ambitions."
Scratching behind her ears, he picked up the last, small present and said, "More? Eris gave me too much. I will have to find a way to thank her." His complacent smile faded upon reading aloud the tiny card attached. Thank you for the gift basket. I had never tasted passionata fruit before. It was most unique. Happy Christmas, Mother.
Removing the lid to the box to stare down at the fine, milled soap, he laughed shortly.
Worried that sending the fruit in Severus' name would not be appreciated, the girl in Animagus form tried to distract. Brushing against his side, she rubbed her forehead across his bare abdomen, enjoying the flexing musculature. As she hoped, he was ticklish.
Laughing naturally, he picked her up and gazed into her innocent looking eyes. "Return to your Hufflepuff mistress." She growled a protest. He smirked. "Dislike the term, do you? Well, we both shall have to get used to it."
After he'd carried her to the door and checked to make sure the corridor was clear, Severus set her down. "Go on, and feel free to tickle Eris for me." Dashing to the stairs, she soon entered her room through the invisible cat door. Transforming back, the girl untied her 'collar' with fingers trembling with excitement.
Cupping the contents of the velvet bag in her hand, Eris felt her eyes welling with happy tears. The delicate cameo on a ribbon matching her eyes had a simple 'To Eris, from Severus' etched on the back. Tracing the words with a fingertip, she brought the cameo to her lips before setting it down on the dresser. Hurrying into the shower, she sang a carol in a voice wobbly with emotion.
After choosing a cashmere dress to match the ribbon, Eris fastened the choker's clasp and admired the cameo resting against her throat. Her dreamy smile vanished when a knock sounded and a voice called, "Open up, I want to see what you got for Christmas!"
Rushing to the bedside, the girl grabbed her wand and waved it to remove the wrapping on all the gifts. Dumping the stocking onto the coverlet, she tossed things about to look as though she'd been sorting through her presents. Scurrying to the door, she opened it with a wide smile. "Happy Christmas, Cissy. Come in and see, so you can drag me down to your room and awe me with all the gifts Malfoy lavished upon you."
Dressed all in white, Narcissa's answering smile was devilish rather than angelic. "It's beyond awe-inspiring, mate. It's sinful, how I've been spoilt." Hugging her friend, she gushed, "I've never had such a fabulous Christmas in my life!"
Returning the affectionate embrace, Eris said truthfully, "Neither have I."
Later, before Christmas Dinner was served, Eris approached her parents and thanked them for their gifts. Ulrik, due to Christmas spirit or the spirits in his eggnog, returned the thanks for their presents from her. Danica caressed her daughter's cheek before kissing it and praising, "Did you transfigure the porcelain couple's features to resemble ours yourself?"
She nodded.
Her father smiled briefly. "You're very talented."
Knowing that he would consider misty eyes further proof of her 'weakness', Eris blinked rapidly. "Thank you, Father."
Erik and Fenrir joined them. After the exchange of greetings and thanks, the girl moved away to join her grandfather by the bowl of wassail. He offered her a cup. She accepted with a smile. "Mmm…thank you, Afi, and for my necklace as well."
"I see you chose to wear another one this morning."
His twinkling eyes told her he guessed who the cameo was from. She kissed both his cheeks. "Yes, but yours will always have a special place in my heart." How sad that she couldn't tell her family she loved them directly. They were so stoic and obsessed with presenting an indomitable front to the world.
Her grandfather kissed her cheek and surprised her by saying openly, "You have always held a special place in my heart as well, Kettling."
Eris' smile became radiant when she glimpsed Severus entering the drawing room.
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All good things must come to an end.
Stowing his luggage in the overhead compartment, Severus remembered the saying and shrugged. He'd enjoyed the holiday, dark dreams notwithstanding, and had regretted that the days seemed to pass so quickly. Although he had never felt completely at home with the purebloods he had socialised with, he had become comfortable. Removing his cloak, he stored it, acknowledging that Eris had given him confidence with her transfigurations and support.
Remembering the kisses she had given him last night, he smiled while taking out the Daily Prophet and settling down to read. When the compartment door slid open, he said while continuing to read about a 'mysterious disappearance', "Skivving off Prefect Duties?"
"Nobody in their right mind would make me prefect, Tyke."
Meeting Wilkes' mocking gaze, Severus concurred, "No, they would not." He lifted a brow. "Did you stop by to ask what Father Christmas brought me?"
Entering and shutting the door, Tom stretched out on the bench opposite. "I can see he brought you some posh clothes." Assessing, black eyes were rueful. "That Eris is a reight gooid sooart. It's nut jannock that you got to cuddle up to her while I had to play whist with incontinent old gaffers."
"Yes, she is very kind, but whoever tells you life is supposed to be fair is selling something." When Tom was finished snickering, Severus added, "I highly doubt you 'had' to do anything. How much did you fleece your relatives for?"
"Nobbut a mention..." His companion's disbelieving look brought a grin. "Maybe more than just a little--ten galleons, actually." Sitting up and leaning forward, Tom confided, "Claire Forbes has been owling me, trying to turn me up sweet so I'll give her a little help with her love life."
"What is in it for you?"
Tom laughed wickedly. "The gawby she wants to fall under her spell is our pal Sutton. Should I, a gallant Knight, render assistance to a fair Slytherin maiden?"
Severus took a moment to consider. Clive had trailed Eris like a forlorn puppy after being rejected by the Knights. Even with the hope of one day attaining knighthood remaining, the boy had been downcast and looking for his 'friend' to cheer him. The idea of Sutton's attentions being diverted elsewhere was compelling. Slowly, he nodded. "If it pleases you."
"Oh, it does, it does." Tom said, "I'm off to tell Claire her dream will come true. Enjoy your time alone with the girlfriend."
"She is not my girlfriend." Severus wondered why he bothered trying to conceal the extent of his relationship with Eris.
Tom snorted in patent disbelief. "Yeah, right." When the other boy returned his stare coolly, Wilkes said thoughtfully, "Right canny, that is. Greyback can't tell his little girl not to be friends." Snapping off a salute, he left the compartment saying, "Give your close, personal friend a kiss for me."
Severus returned his attention to the paper and time passed peacefully until he heard a muffled conversation taking place in the corridor. Utilising the same amplification charm he had engaged during the Christmas Eve Feast, he listened to the conversation with mixed emotions.
"…and the skating idea was ace. We had the best time, and that was the best holiday I ever had." James Potter's insufferably earnest voice lowered as he shared, "Taking your advice was the smartest thing--outside kissing Lily--that I've ever done. Thanks, Eris."
"You're so welcome, James. I'm happy for you both."
"I can't say I'm happy for you, if you're going with Snape, but I owe you, so I promise not to tell anyone if that's what you want." Potter sounded doubtful.
"Not everyone is as bold in their relationships, Gryffindor. I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it to your friends."
"I won't, and I'll cover for you if you were planning to duck out of duty early, too."
Severus was relieved that Potter would not use his relationship with Eris as ammunition against him, but he was ambivalent about knowing the extent to which Eris had helped James with Lily. Could she possibly be aware of his former admiration for the girl? Was she trying to ensure that a potential rival was removed?
Eris entered the compartment, removing her cloak while smilingly confessing, "Hi, I'm being naughty and skiving off duty. I'm so used to spending all my time with you that it's hard to be apart."
The moment she sat on the bench beside him, he pulled her into his arms. If her association with Potter was based on self-interest as well as Hufflepuff-type generosity of spirit, then he only liked Eris the more for it. Brushing his mouth to tease open soft lips, Severus kissed her in a way that evoked feelings too perilous to acknowledge.
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A/N: Only five chapters left! So much to do, sigh...yes, that's a happy sigh. As always, must thank the wonderful, encouraging readers who make my oft grey New England days brighter with their fabulous reviews! Thanks so much ♥ 40/16 ♥ Beauty Eclipsed ♥ cupcakeswirl ♥ die Loreley ♥ ElspethBates ♥ Embellished ♥ FNP ♥ gothic-wildhorse ♥ GraceRichie ♥ Machiavelli Jr ♥ NazgulGirl ♥ silver-pensieve ♥ Slipknot-3113 ♥ Slytherin Love Goddess♥ and ♥ sunny9847 ♥ and ♥ The Ravishing Enchantress♥