Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OCs (Katherine, Septimus, Serenity, Helena, Christoph, Elisa, Henry, Nick and any name you don't recognize, and isn't from the HP universe) are entirely my own.
Chapter 26: Starting A New Year
The Christmas break went all too fast for the family of four, and before they knew it, they were back at Union Station. Septimus, along with Helena and the boys departed on the green stream engine, in the late afternoon of January 3rd, as class would resume on Monday.
New Year's Eve had been spent with the Fuerst family again. Katherine had prepared a large dinner for the group, and at midnight Christoph had lit fireworks off over the lake. Brilliant reds, yellows, greens and whites; shocking pink-wheels, rockets with long tails of silver stars, and a fire-breathing dragons...
'Wait!' Severus thought to himself, as he stood beside Christoph on the pier. 'These look awfully familiar.'
"Christoph?" Severus asked, glancing over at the fair-haired wizard. "Where did you get these fireworks?"
"Well...I, umm..." Christoph stuttered, before shooting off another rocket. "I purchased a few of them, the rest are from storage at the office."
"Storage at the office?" Severus asked, raising a questioning brow. "Forgive me, but these fireworks look awfully familiar."
"Doesn't surprise me," Christoph said quietly, as he handed Severus a small label with the familiar "WW" stamped on it. "The sale of international fireworks is illegal in the U.S., and those who try to smuggle them in usually get caught. The fireworks go into storage at headquarters and those of us higher up have the say in what happens to them."
"And do they usually end up being used for personal enjoyment?" Severus smirked at the firecracker in his hand.
"Most," Christoph chuckled, as he lit another one. "And they're not the only thing that gets confiscated at the immigration ports." Casting a quick glance around, making sure the children weren't watching, Christoph reached into his inner cloak pocket.
Severus was shocked when Christoph suddenly thrust a bottle of Odgen's Firewhisky into his hand. He raised an eyebrow in the fair-haired wizard's direction, only to see a smirk spread across the other man's face.
"Happy New Year, Severus," Christoph grinned, as he sent off another firework.
"Happy New Year, Christoph."
On the morning of January ninth, Katherine had outdone herself once again. Not only was Severus awakened with a wonderful birthday snog, before being interrupted by a whimpering infant; he was also welcomed by the sight of his favorite breakfast items set out before him at the kitchen table.
Katherine had forgone her morning run that day, as nasty blizzard had settled itself over the area, and busied herself around the kitchen most of the morning. Poached eggs...fried tomatoes and mushrooms...bacon and sausages...grilled oatcakes...bubble and squeak...and finally potato cakes and black pudding.
Feeling overly stuffed, Severus gave no resistance as Katherine ushered him back into the living room soon after they had finished. With Serenity placed in his lap, Katherine disappeared into the study. Severus inhaled deeply as he sank further back into the chair, holding Serenity close, as she started to drift back to sleep after her morning meal.
Severus had only just closed his eyes himself, when a faint tapping sounded on the living room's French doors. Cracking his eyes open, he saw Katherine reappear, carrying a small green and silver package in hand.
Katherine smiled softly and hurried to the doors; throwing one of them opening quickly. A large black barn owl swooped in gracefully and landed cleanly on the coffee table in front of Severus' chair. Hooting loudly, the bird lifted its' leg out towards the wizard, as almost demanding him to remove the infernal small box that someone had attached to it. Severus frowned deeply; the owl looked oddly familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out why.
"You're early," Katherine chuckled lightly, as she summoned a piece of bread, from the kitchen, for the bird. She quickly untied the package, then offered the owl its' treat. It hooted gratefully in reply, before taking wing again and disappearing through the French doors and out into the blustery snow.
"Katherine," Severus said, still frowning at the spot where the bird once sat. "Why did that owl look familiar?"
"Onyx belongs to Christoph," Katherine smiled, while she exchanged the two boxes in hand for her daughter. "It's his retired government owl. You've probably seen him around here during the summer."
"No," Severus said, his frown growing deeper. "I've seen it somewhere else."
"Just open the packages Severus," Katherine demanded softly, as she settle into a chair with Serenity.
Mumbling under his breath, Severus untied the twine that held the brown paper in place. The wrapping feel away easily, relieving it containments within; a pair of black dragon hid gloves and a small pocket-sized leather journal. Severus stared dumbfounded at the two gifts, as his mind drifted into the past.
A black owl...black dragon hid gloves...a pocket-sized journal...and something else...something else. Severus grabbed the present from Katherine, and uncharacteristically ripped off the wrapping quickly and slid the box open.
There, laying in a bed of green tissue paper was a raven feather quill surrounded by six small crystal ink wells filled with fresh ink; two black and four red.
For a moment Severus swore he was back in the Great Hall on the morning of his birthday. Looking up from his cup of tea and the morning Prophet, to see a black owl flying towards him, with two packages attached to his legs. Every year the owl came, like clockwork; and it always carried a new pair of black dragon hid gloves, a pocket-sized journal, a raven feather quill and the six inks. Always with two black inks and four reds, as though someone knew how he loved to mark the dunderheads' papers in bold reds.
But there were never any notes or greetings that accompanied them, just the black banded owl that no one else recognized either.
"It was you," Severus whispered, as he let his fingers flutter over the crystal ink wells, but something below them caught his eye. Pushing one of the ink wells aside, he slowly pulled out a small stack of gift tags. There were about fifteen tags in all, with the first three in Katherine's writing.
'Happy Birthday Severus...Love Katherine,' is all they simply said. But it was what was on the fourth tag that made Severus' chest tighten. The penmanship was not great, as some of the letters were bigger than others; and it seemed to be written in Muggle children's crayons, something he remembered from his childhood at Lily's.
'Happy Birthday Daddy...Love Sepitmus and Mommy.'
Slowly, Severus sifted through the others. The farther in the pile he went, the neater the writing became. But the message remained the same, with the exception of 'Daddy' going to 'Dad,' and 'Mommy' going to 'Mom' on the eleventh tag.
And finally on the fifteenth tag, Severus paused. The birthday message was the same, but there was something extra written on the very bottom, in Katherine's writing.
'I'll see you soon...'
"Septimus did not realize it at the time," Katherine said softly, causing Severus to look away from the gifts and up into her eyes. "But he wanted so badly to make a tag for the gifts, so that you knew who it was from. But at the last minute, I always had to extract it from the package without him seeing me. It was dangerous enough for us to be sending the gifts to you. Merlin knows what Uncle Albus would have done to me if he found out that we had been sending those to you all these years."
Severus was shocked to say the least. He remembered the first time he had ever received the two gifts, on the ninth of January in 1982. He had first confronted Narcissa, asking her if she was behind them. But after she denied being the sender, he had consulted Albus, making sure there were not any hexes or curses placed upon them. Severus never would have thought that Katherine was behind them for all these years.
Carefully placing the gifts on the coffee table in front of his chair, he rose swiftly and made his way over to Katherine's side. She was looking up at him; her ice blue eyes, he noticed, brimmed with a few tears. Guilt flooded his chest at the sight of them, as he berated himself for never remembering hers until it was too late.
'Never again,' Severus thought to himself. 'Never again will I forget hers.'
"Thank you," he said softly, as he gently reached out and with his thumb, brushed a single tear off her cheek. "Thank you for always remembering me."
The day was far from over though. Severus had forgone working in the lab that Saturday, as he and Katherine had to attend Septimus' Quidditch match in Isla Angel de la Guarda. Katherine seemed a little worried that morning, but Severus could hardly blame her. It was the first time that they would be portkeying with Serenity, and it had Severus himself on edge.
At exactly one thirty in the afternoon, the three met Elisa and Christoph at the Apparation site. Katherine had Serenity secured in a sling around her front, and Severus carried a small pack, that had an extendable charm place on it. He patted his cloak pocket once more, making sure that the vial of stomach soothing potion was still there.
The portkey itself was nothing more than a manky old boot, and as soon as all four of them where touching it, the snow filled pine forest disappeared and was replaced with dry sandy mountains and the smell of salt water.
Hastily the four removed their heavily winter cloaks, and replaced them with lighter ones, before making their way towards the school grounds. The school itself was nestled in the middle of the mountains on this large island; and unlike all the other schools, there was no town nearby or mode of transportation to and from the island, except by portkey or floo.
They soon found themselves in the stands, among the sea of parents and New Salem staff members. Katherine and Serenity were surrounded almost instantly, as most of the mothers cooed over their infant daughter. And Severus found himself being congratulated by many of the fathers of the group as well.
"Severus?" a voice came from behind him. Severus turned around to find Professor Darius Prescott sitting behind them.
"Congratulations," the professor said softly, offering his hand to Severus.
"Thank you," Severus said quietly, still feeling a bit out of place with all the attention he was getting because of his daughter.
"Well, here they are," Prescott said, as he pulled out a small notebook and handed it to Severus. "Part one of my notes for the improvement on the Wolfsbane Potion."
"Excellent," Severus replied, as he pulled out a small notebook of his own. "Here is the first part of mine as well." It had surprised Severus, when during the Christmas holidays Prescott flooed the house to talk to him about the improvements on the potion. And after two long hours the two had agreed to have a first draft of notes ready for exchange on the day of the first Quidditch match after the holidays.
"I looking forward to reading them," Prescott smiled slightly, as they watched Katherine rejoin them on the bench.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN," a voice boomed overhead. "WELCOME TO THE FINAL GAME OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON!" Both sections of the stands cheered excitedly; waving banners and flags in seas of blue and white on one side, and purple and silver on the other.
"Today's match will be the Isla Ángel de la Guarda Pumas versus the New Salem Spoofhounds!" the announcer's voice rang across the stadium. Severus frowned noticing a slight delay in the announcer's voice, as though there was an echo of another voice in the arena.
"Katherine," Severus muttered to his wife. "Is it just me or is there a second announcer announcing at the same time."
"No," Katherine said, looking around the stands. "It is just one announcer, but he's using a translation spell, so that way both schools can understand him at once. Isla Ángel de la Guarda is mainly a Spanish speaking school. Most of the students can speak English, but most of their parents do not."
"Let's welcome the Spoofhounds for the match!" the announcer yelled, as the visiting section of the pitch rose to their feet, as the seven New Salem players took their positions. "Keeper...Kyle Fuchs! Chasers...Gwen Monaco, Carlos Gonzalo and Caroline Matthews! Beaters...Justin Burke and Mike Palmer! And Seeker...Team Captain Septimus Prince!"
"Katherine," Severus shouted over the cheering crowd, as he watched his wife struggle a bit between trying to cheer herself and steadying Serenity in her arms. He knew how overly excited she became at these matches. "Why don't I hold Serenity during the match."
"Thank you," Katherine smiled softly, as she gently place their daughter in his arms.
"Let's welcome our Pumas for the match!" the announcer yelled, as the home section of the pitch roared to life; waving their purple and silver banners high into the air. "Keeper...Horacio Duarte! Chasers...Christopher Martinez, Josie Carmichael, and Isabella Avis! Beaters...Sandra Fernandez and Team Captain David Garcia! And Seeker...Grace Juarez!
"The coaches for today's match are Professor Marie Bonilla for Isla Ángel de la Guarda, and Professor John Mattzinger for New Salem. Today's referees will be Gabriella James and Mario Schakelford, both from the N.A. Quidditch Association," the announcer continued. "And I am your announcer, Daniel Falk, of the N.A.Q.A."
It was a long and hard game for both sides, along with several injuries. The Matthews family had left the stands early in the game, as their daughter Caroline had taken a Bludger to the back and had been rushed to the Infirmary. And even one of the Beaters on the Pumas team had taken a nasty bludger to the shoulder, knocking him from his broom.
And what made the game even worse, was the fact that neither team seemed to score much. After two hours, the score was only twenty to ten, with the Pumas in the lead. Then finally, as the fourth hour approached, Septimus and Juarez streaked off towards the opposite end of the pitch. Both sections of the pitch rose to their feet, and watched as the two players ducked and dodged players and balls in their paths.
Both Septimus and Juarez were almost in reach of the little golden snitch, then all of a sudden, a scream jostled Septimus from his concentration. He glanced to his side to see Juarez's broom take a bludger to its' handle, sending her spiraling downwards towards the ground, and one of her own teammates, a Beater, hovering close by with a worried look and a raised bat in hand.
Without a second thought, Septimus stopped his pursuit of the snitch, and forced the handle of his Firebolt II down into a dive. He lowered himself flush with the broom, gaining speed, until he was just underneath Juarez. He slowed his broom quickly and managed to snag the young girl out of midair and still keep his broom in the air. Carefully, Septimus guided his broom to the ground and placed Juarez on her feet.
"¡Gracias!" the girl panted. "But why would you give up the snitch to help me?" she continued, with a thick accent.
"Because that bludger wasn't meant for you," Septimus said, breathing hard. "Your beater was aiming it at me, but you moved ahead and blocked it."
"Thank you again Prince," Juarez said, still panting slightly.
"You're welcome Juarez."
Two hours later, Septimus finally caught the snitch, with the final score being one hundred and seventy to thirty. All in all, both teams suffered greatly. Caroline had, luckily, not broken her back, but she was surely going to be sore for the next couple of days, and Mike had suffered a broken arm during a midair bludger battle with a Puma.
Septimus greeted Severus and Katherine outside the pitch shortly afterwards, but the boy seemed in no mood to stick around and talk. Severus couldn't blame him; after being in the air for almost six hours straight, he knew the boy was probably both tired and sore.
It was well after eight in the evening when Severus and Katherine returned home. Both were happy that the stomach soothing potion was not needed, as Serenity had endured the portkey quite well. But Severus had noticed that Katherine had gone quiet on their journey home; but he shrugged it off, figuring that she was just tired from the long day. They had grabbed a quick bite to eat at the pitch, so neither wanted nor needed any supper for the night.
"I'm going to put Serenity down, then make us some tea," Katherine said quietly, before making her way to the stairs that led to the nursery. Severus shrugged off his winter cloak, and made his way to the bathroom to prepare for bed.
After Katherine had put Serenity to bed, she made her way back down to the kitchen, to start the kettle. A loud tapping on the kitchen window, caught her attention; and hurrying to it, found Hermes perched on the ledge.
Throwing the window openly quickly, Hermes swooped in, ungracefully, and landed on the kitchen table.
"Who's sending a letter at this time of night," Katherine said out loud to herself, and she walked over to the tiny owl. But it was no letter resting in his claws...it was his dinner. Well, half of it anyway.
"Hermes!" Katherine scolded the tiny owl, as she tried to shoo him from the kitchen. "How many times must I tell you not to..."
The whiff of rotten flesh caught her nose, making Katherine stop instantly in her tracks. It made her sick to her stomach; she couldn't get rid of it. The smell infiltrated her nose, her eyes, her mouth, her pores. Everywhere...it was everywhere. As though someone or something was blowing it towards her face.
Suddenly, her chest became heavy; her arms felt like lead weights. Her feet were rooted on the spot, as her hips leant against the counter near the sink. Her hands grasped the edge so hard that her knuckles went white. Despite the warm robe wrapped around her, her body felt cold as ice, and a shiver went down her spine.
Whispers...she could hear them, but couldn't see who they were coming from. They were laughing at her...taunting her. She could faintly hear Severus yelling for her, as he tried to reach her; only to be overcome by them.
Katherine could hear his footsteps get closer; his disgusting breath whispering across the exposed flesh of her neck. His hands slipping silently onto her hips. Her heart began to race, and her eyes widened in panic and fear.
She could feel it. Hands grasping her waist; a warm body pressing against hers.
'No,' she thought, as tears began cloud her eyes. 'Not again. Not ever again.' Without a second thought, Katherine lashed out; her hands releasing their grip on the countertop. She spun swiftly on her heels, and raised her arm and fist, ready to strike out against him. She swung full force and made direct contact with the intruder.
"Ahhh..." a voice cried, as Katherine's fist made contact with a nose. The sound made Katherine snap back into reality. "Katherine?"
There standing before was not who she had thought it was. Long blonde hair was black. A mere five foot ten inch arrogant frame was a tall six foot one inch slim body. Cold grey eyes were now obsidian. Katherine let out a straggled sob as her legs gave way from under her. For it wasn't Lucius Malfoy that she was fighting off...it had been Severus.
Severus stood there stunned at Katherine's outburst, as his hands clutched his possibly broken nose. But it wasn't his nose that was hurting him the most, it was the look on Katherine's face, as she pulled herself flush to the side of the sink cabinets, and pulled her knees to her chest. She was sobbing hard now, so hard that it shook her small frame violently.
Quickly, Severus grabbed his wand from his pants pocket and silently cast the Episkey spell on his nose. He felt it go very hot, then very cold, and then gently raised a hand to feel that it had been mended. Stowing his wand away, Severus dropped to his knees next to his wife.
"Katherine," Severus whispered, as he gently lifted her chin to see her face. Upon see her tear-stained cheeks, and red and puffy eyes, Severus' mind immediately went into the past; exactly one year ago to date. She had been having a flashback of the night that Lucius had violently taken her; the night that had changed so many things.
Wordlessly, Severus once again slid his hands under her knees and lower back, and gently lifted her from the kitchen floor. And just like the last time, her fragile body shifted with his movements, and her hands clutched the front of his dark grey pajama shirt; and buried her face into the crook of his neck.
He was thankful that Katherine had put Serenity down an hour early, as he made his way through the living room and into their bedroom. He settled into the bed with Katherine still in his arms; holding her close and whispering words of comfort to her.
"It is alright love," Severus murmured into her golden locks, as Katherine still cried earnestly into his neck. "You're home...
"You're safe..."
It was well over a half an hour before Katherine had cried herself to sleep in his arms. But for Severus, sleep wouldn't come easy enough. He mentally slapped himself for not noticing Katherine's distress earlier in the day. She had been on her feet all day, constantly on the go. Her hands and feet were always in motion. And her smile...it didn't seem to quite reach her eyes today. Though she had tried.
It explained all of the fussing over him and their daughter today. And the constant fidgeting at the Quidditch match. Katherine had been trying to put it out of her mind, but in the end, something had triggered the flashback.
Severus sighed heavily, as he leaned back against the headrest of their four-poster bed. Katherine was still clutching his shirt, but at least not as tight as before. Her face had finally relaxed, but the reminisce of tears still stained her pale cheeks. Absentmindedly, Severus stroked her hair as he listened to the harsh winter winds knock at the bedroom's French doors.
A soft cry from the upstairs nursery, broke him of his thoughts. Severus carefully unhinged himself from Katherine's grasp and gently rose from the bed. He quickly grabbed his wand off the nightstand, and padded hastily across the room and up the stairs to the second floor.
The nursery was faintly lit by the magically production nightlight near the door, and Severus could just make out the form of his tiny daughter crying softly in her cot. Using his wand to increase the lighting, he swiftly made his way across the room and peered into the crib.
Serenity instantly stopped crying at the sight of her father's face. Her big blue eyes shone brightly up at him, and her little arms and legs flailed excitedly under the blanket.
"What seems to be the problem?" Severus asked, as he gently scooped her up into his arms. But her extremely warmed bottom had answered his question for her. "Alright, let's get you changed then."
It had only been a month since she had been born, but caring for the infant had easily become almost second nature for Severus. He just kept reminding himself not to become his father. Katherine had been so excited earlier in the week when Serenity had started grasping toys that were placed in her tiny hands. And Severus had also noticed that their little girl had started cooing, gurgling and there were even a few small laughs once in awhile.
In no time, he had Serenity changed and dressed again in her warm pajamas. But the child looked far from sleepy. Her blue eyes were still holding his own gaze, and she cooed softly as he picked her up off of the changing table. Sighing, Severus sat heavily down in the rocking chair and summoned a bottle from the kitchen.
"Well, since you do not seem tired," Severus addressed his daughter, holding her gaze. "Maybe you are hungry instead." Placing a warming charm on the bottle, he positioned Serenity correctly in his arms and settled her down with her bottle. Elisa was pleased that Serenity was taking five ounces of milk during each feeding, considering she had been born early.
After finishing off her bottle and being burped, Severus sent the empty bottle back to the kitchen, and continued to rock her in his arms. Blue still holding the black, as the winds outside rattled the windows.
"Are you not even the least bit tired?" Severus asked, only to receive a gurgle in response. He frowned down at her; a part of him knowing that his eyes were too tired to attempt reading to her, and he knew there was another option, but...no he couldn't. He had never before in his bloody life...well...except for when he had to participate in that silly song at Hogwarts. Katherine was the one that would sing to Serenity, not him. But unfortunately his wife was in no position to do so tonight.
"Bare with me," Severus muttered, settling Serenity further into his chest.
"Lay your head down,
And sleep on my shoulder.
Lay your head down,
And start a new dream.
And for tonight,
The moment is over.
Drift in a lullaby,
Here where the stars reside,
And angels are always seen.
And lay your head down,
The stars they have whispered.
Hear what they say,
And know that it means.
The moon is your guide,
The stars they have kissed her.
As she goes gently by,
Light as a baby's sigh,
Safe on a fairy tale stream.
And start a new dream..."
He couldn't believe himself; he had actually remembered the words, but his voice was nowhere near as melodic as Katherine's. But he had to admit, it wasn't that awful. Severus smiled softly down at his daughter, who had finally drifted off into dreamland. Gently, he rose from the chair and settled her back into the cot, but not before planting a soft kiss on her little forehead.
"Sleep well Serenity," Severus whispered, before dimming the lights once more. He took one more moment to gaze at his daughter, before a small noise from the hallway, caught his attention.
"Sev?" Severus turned around to find Katherine standing in the doorway. Her robe was wrapped tightly around her person, and Severus could see that she had rid the tearstains from her face.
"You remembered..." she continued, as she moved into the room, to stand beside him at the cot.
"No," Severus murmured, so he would not wake Serenity. "Draco remembered."
"Draco?" Katherine whispered.
"Yes," Severus said, watching Katherine's face closely as she looked down at their daughter. "A year ago. On this very night actually. He recited it after we returned to Hogwarts. He remembered you singing it to him."
"He did?" Katherine asked, looking back up at Severus, who nodded in reply. "I am so sorry about earlier love. Is your nose alright?"
"It's fine," he whispered, as he pulled Katherine into his arms. "I am the one who be sorry for not remembering."
"I tried to block it Severus, but I couldn't," she mumbled into his chest, trembling a little. "I just couldn't..."
"Katherine, listen to me," Severus said quietly, as he brought a hand up to lift her chin. "I know it still hurts, but like you told me once, it is in the past. We are safe here. And I will do everything in my power to never let any harm come to our children or you, ever again."
"We're still young Sev," Katherine whispered, as her eyes held his. "We still have a lifetime of challenges ahead of us."
"Then we will face them one day at a time. Together."
A/N: I am so, so sorry. I know two months again, but life and writer's block are still being unkind. But I am slowly getting back into the writing, even though I am writing little bit by little bit everyday.
Now for the explanations!
1) Bubble and Squeak is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fired leftover vegetables from a roast dinner, mainly made with potatoes and cabbage, and sometimes carrots, peas and Brussel sprouts.
2) Grilled oatcakes are a type of cracker or pancake, made from oatmeal, and are cooked on a griddle.
3) Isla Ángel de la Guarda is an island in the Gulf of California, and is a part of the country of Mexico. It is also called Archangel Island or 'Xazl limt,' which actually means 'homes of the pumas' in the Seri language.
4) The song Severus sings to Serenity (image Alan Rickman sing in Sweeney Todd as you read it...it helped me envision it anyway) is from Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Beethoven's Last Night Album and is called 'A Final Dream.'
Whew...I think that's all...Anyways, on with the 'THANKS!'
A big thank you to RemaSofiRuin, Missyick, lightbabe, adellameeka, Reader123, Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape, Furionknight, xxyangxx2006, Backward Mind (x4), Hataki Manahaki, and PMtheHBP fan for their wonderful reviews!
Also thank you to all who have added 'Forever Yours' to their alerts and/or favs! Chapter 27 will be a full of drama, as a certain witch returns!
