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Symptoms

I should get up.

Why bother? The moment you do, you won't have another moment's peace. Brats that won't stay where they are supposed to, a curse that you still haven't narrowed down a cause, not to mention all the headaches coming up with the governor's board and getting ready for the school year. Let someone else deal with it for a change, you are getting to old for this sort of thing.

"Rubbish," Severus murmured. Realizing he had spoken out loud, Severus slowly opened his eyes and scowled at the blinding light daring to beam through the open window above him. It also didn't help that it was raining lightly, and some of it was seeping in, dampening the rugs and even his blankets. He sat up then and realized that all the windows were open. Jennifer was nowhere to be seen.

Severus waved the windows shut and got up, opening the door of her sitting room to find her sleeping on the couch looking quite uncomfortable. Sighing silently, Severus began closing the windows in there as well, but as they snapped shut, Jennifer's eyes opened.

"Kicking or snoring?" Severus inquired.

"Nightmare," Jennifer admitted.

"That would have been my third choice," Severus said. "Worried about Corey and Ambrose?"

"No…well, yes of course, but that wasn't really what the nightmare was about," Jennifer said, slowly sitting up. "It was about the night Voldemort died, when Harry and I were still buried…I dreamt that Harry died in there. The spell he had cast beforehand was dissipating, and I remember thinking that there was no way I could manage to get a Patronus up above the surface on my own, and that no one would ever find me."

"As if I would ever stop looking," Severus snorted.

"But Severus, you had stopped," Jennifer reminded him quietly. "You thought I was dead." Jennifer didn't miss the range of emotions and memories behind Severus' surprised expression, despite the fact he recovered quite quickly.

"Logic and circumstances being as they were, one couldn't hardly help but believe the worst. Of course, times have changed. Dumbledore made sure that being more optimistic was in my contract when I accepted this position," he said dryly. Jennifer couldn't help but grin at him at that. "You really need to get up, there is too much to be done. Perhaps some breakfast? Tea, or coffee?"

"Oh, I can't possibly drink the coffee here after being spoiled so at Kingler's," Jennifer admitted. "I wonder how Lucky is doing?" Severus got up quickly then and hurried over to the breakfast tray, his back turned to her. Jennifer squinted. She had seen him do that hundreds of times before. "All right, Severus, what are you hiding? Why were you in such a hurry to keep me from seeing your face?"

"Perhaps I was simply attempting to get your tea," Severus suggested calmly.

"If you were, you wouldn't start with the word, 'perhaps,'" Jennifer said. "There's something going on with Lucky you don't want me to know about, isn't there?"

"If you must know, Fortuna's troubled record is keeping her out of any hopes of magic school, Jennifer," Severus said. "Scone?"

"That poor girl," Jennifer said, shaking her head. "Isn't there anything you can do? Surely you haven't tried everything…"
"What makes you think I've had the time for such a thing, what with everything going on? Raisin, pumpkin, or plain?"

"Really, Severus! How can you think of eating anything right now?" Jennifer said with exasperation and was ready to lay into him when there was a knock on his sitting room door. "Well, who do you suppose is in the Headmaster's Study?"

"Considering how many bad guesses I've already made this morning, I won't bother to hazard another," Severus said, sitting the tray back down to answer the door. "Hermione? What are you doing here?"

"Schedules, of course," Hermione said, gazing at Severus oddly. "I have to get them done before the rest of the staff arrives next week. I hope you haven't forgotten about the board meeting coming up as well? It's in your appointment book," she added, pointing the quill in her hand behind her towards the large book on his desk.

"No, I have not forgotten, precisely," Severus said defensively. "But I'm sure you know that I have had a bit on my mind."

"I know," Hermione said, sounding a little more apologetic. "Mrs. Bailey wants to see you. She is in the hospital wing visiting Corey at the moment. Doctor Sagittari thinks you should come down as well."

"We'll be right down then," Severus nodded. "I'll be in to speak with you after lunch."

"Take your time, I have lots to catch up on," Hermione said briskly. "In fact, I should get on it. I'll be in my office if you need me. Excuse me."

As Hermione turned and went back through the Headmaster's Study and down the spiral stairs, Severus closed to the door with a sigh, looking over his shoulder. Jennifer had already gone into the bedroom to pull herself together. Severus reluctantly did the same, then the two of them left by way of Jennifer's sitting room door, which like the actual rooms themselves was still connected to the fifth floor; only the door to Severus' sitting room had been changed for convenience.

Corey was sitting up on a pile of pillows when they arrived, looking very tired but much more alert, a wan smile on his face when they came in. Ashley, who had been sitting beside him, got up quickly when Severus and Jennifer came in.

"You have some news?" Jennifer asked when Ashley came over.

"Yes, although I'm not sure exactly how helpful it is," Ashley said, pulling out a note and handing it out to Severus. "I found this near the door this morning."

"'Dear Mum, please don't try to worry. I need some time to sort things out on my own. I will write to let you know I'm all right. Ambrose,'" Severus read out loud, glancing at Jennifer.

"Sort things out on his own? But he's only seven!" Jennifer murmured.

"Only part of him is seven, Jennifer," Ashley said with a sigh. "You know as well as I do his mind is far beyond that. His father first left home when he was three."

"All the same, he's still more human than not, and he's much to young to be on his own. He needs guidance now more than ever," Jennifer said.

"Guidance that I can't give him," Ashley sighed. "I can give him a mother's love, Jennifer, a firm hand and a sense of morality, but I'm afraid I've failed miserably in what he really needs. To be perfectly honest, it's been troubling me so much that I have wondered about perhaps getting married again."

"Oh, Ashley. I understand why you're concerned, but it's certainly no basis for marriage," Jennifer said, shaking her head. "I'd think it'd cause more problems than it would solve."

"Perhaps it's just not knowing the truth that is plaguing him," Ashley said, glancing at Severus again. "He knows he's different than the others, and he doesn't know why…"

"The fact that he is irresponsible enough to do something like this, not to mention put himself in danger and worry those who care about him, is proof enough to me that he is not yet mature enough to know the truth," Severus said firmly, folding the note and tapping it thoughtfully. "I'd like to borrow this, if you don't mind. I'll use my resources to see if I can't track down the owl who sent it. I believe we will most likely find him with a friend."

"He doesn't have many, I'm afraid. He doesn't have much in common with many children in the Hogsmeade school," Ashley said, "and I've already contacted all of their parents."

"I'm sure he's all right," Jennifer said. "After all, he did write."

"That is true," Ashley said quietly. "I only wish that…" she faltered then, but Jennifer nodded in understanding and hugged her.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Ashley, you have been nothing if not a good mother. I'm sure when he gets older and sees more clearly, he'll come to see that as well," Jennifer reassured her.

"If only he had been a girl, perhaps he wouldn't have rebelled so," Ashley said. "He's his father's son in so many ways."

"Was there any question that he would be?" Severus said so bluntly that Jennifer gave him a dirty look. "I'm sorry, Jennifer, but she did know what she was getting into."

"Perhaps I did," Ashley admitted after a moment. "But that doesn't make it any easier now. I think I'd better return and see if there's any more news. Take care, Corey. I'll send Rose along now," she said, raising her voice so he could hear.

"Tell her my head is as hard as ever," Corey said tiredly.

"I don't doubt it," Ashley said with a smile, taking her leave.

"That was quite harsh, Severus," Jennifer whispered after she left. "Where did that come from?"

"It is the truth, isn't it? What the boy is going through is partially her fault, after all," Severus said. Jennifer raised an eyebrow at him, but Severus ignored it, going over to Corey's bedside instead. "I see you are still with us."

"Well, I hardly wanted to leave a stupid accident like that on Ambrose, especially since his leaving is probably my doing," Corey admitted as Severus sat down. "I'm afraid I was rather hard on him the other day. Much more than common for me. It may have started this, to be frank."

"The boy will turn up. What caused the accident?" Severus asked. Jennifer came up and sat down beside them.

"I…well, I felt strange, to be honest. I found myself clinging to the broom while the entire world spun around me and I couldn't tell which end was up, or even which way the broom was facing. I tried to right it, but it only made it worse…"

"Vertigo," Severus interrupted.

"Vertigo? Isn't that just some name they put on people with a fear of heights?"

"No, it's a real phenomenon…a step above common dizziness, to be sure, but…do you remember ever in your youth feeling a sense of movement while in a high place, perhaps having to sit down until your head righted itself?"

"Dad, you're talking to a person who spent his entire life standing toe-to-toe on rugged cliff tops looking downwards while my older brother had heart-attacks every time he caught me doing it," Corey chuckled at the memory.

"Yes, but I am quite sure that is what happened," Severus said. "Think of the poem you were given, Corey."

"So it's the curse?" Corey said blankly. "So the curse is giving me some sort of fear of heights?"

"Or flying, it would seem," Severus agreed.

"A curse can't really inspire a fear that has never existed before, can it?" Corey asked.

"Corey, you have had a couple of close calls while on a broom, not only that Bludger, but also that flight after you got hit with that Goblin knife," Jennifer pointed out. "I'm sure it's those events the curse is pulling on to cause this."

"So who else is starting to feel the effects of this thing?" Corey asked after a moment.

"I would say everyone is beginning to," Severus said, "although it seems that yours at least is quite manageable. All you have to do to avoid yours is to stop flying."

"Stop flying?" Corey repeated, then shook his head. "What if there's an emergency? What if my friends call?"

"Then you'll either have to Apparate or bow out. I'll inform Danyelle of the situation," Severus said, standing. "It seems you are fortunate that it's something that you can easily avoid and not something you have to constantly fight. It'll be an advantage in the days ahead."

"Why? Is yours not so easy to avoid?" Corey frowned.

"No, but quite controllable," Severus said, waving it away. Corey didn't miss the look that crossed Jennifer's face. "Right now, concern yourself with your recovery. You, at least, have a condition that you can live with if necessary. I am not so certain everyone else has." It was then that he noticed that Aurelius was standing by the door and found himself gazing speculatively at him. Jennifer, however, couldn't contain herself, crying out in surprise.

"My goodness, Aurelius! Your skin is so red! Have you been out in the sun somewhere?" she asked.

"No, not at all, thank you," he said. "But do you have anything for severe burns, all the same? Preferably something to stop blistering in uncomfortable places…"

"I'll get it, Jennifer, why don't you wait here with Corey?" Severus suggested and got up. Corey waited until they left before turning to Jennifer again.

"He is all right, isn't he?" he asked.

"For the moment at least," Jennifer assured him, but Corey didn't look too reassured. "Trust me, if anything does happen, I will be the first to know."