Chapter Fourteen

The Games People Play

Severus returned later in the evening to find Jennifer helping Colette by washing the dishes after dinner.

"Oh! Hello, Severus. I thought Andrew might show up to visit while you were at the castle," Jennifer admitted.

"No, he said he'd rather stay close to the castle so that I may visit whenever I have the time. He said that he'll drop by in a couple of days," Severus replied.

"I see. So in other words, he's avoiding me," Jennifer said knowingly, picking up another glass to dry. "Maybe I should apologize for snapping at him like that..."

"No, you should not," Severus said firmly. "He was wrong to step in and you were right to correct him, and he is undeniably the most chauvinistic member of this family. We should have begun correcting it long before he graduated. Unfortunately, his father was just as bad as he was at one point, and therefore didn't see it." Jennifer smiled at him knowingly, then nodded gently.

"Well, Severus, I haven't exactly gone out of my way to correct it either. I admit that I've been more than a bit too accepting that it's just the way things are without questioning it too much," Jennifer said.

"Yes, for the most part, unless it got under your skin. Do you recall that Quidditch game after I suggested that all of the witches stay close to the castle when it came to security patrols?" Severus reminded her.

"Do I ever. I could barely stay upright on my broom at that point," Jennifer chuckled.

"I was so busy attempting to keep you from getting killed that we got slaughtered... and then Harry closed in and decided to tie the game at the finish," Severus reminded her.

"Yes, I remember," Jennifer said. "There was also that fight we had when I was pregnant and your sister somehow managed to make us switch forms."

"Oh God, yes, how uncomfortable that was," Severus agreed. "Not to mention what I had to go through after using the W. word to give you my powers when you were pregnant with Andrew without knowing it was a permanent arrangement."

"Some of the stunts I pulled when I was pregnant! It's amazing that those children came out as normal as they did," Jennifer agreed with exasperation, handing him glasses to put away.

"You call Quintin normal?" he inquired.

"That one was not my fault," Jennifer protested.

"Overusing W. magic while we were in Tir Na Nog was," Severus replied.

"True," Jennifer agreed. "But it all worked out in the end, and I suppose that's what really matters."

"As far as we know, at any rate, not that we should worry about anything but the present," Severus replied, getting another glass to dry. "You're right that we should make certain that Quintin doesn't start falling into the same trap as Andrew, and now that I think of it, it may already need a minor adjustment."

"Why do you say that?" Jennifer asked curiously.

"Quintin likes to play knights and princes with the castle ghosts, and both of those games often involve damsels to be rescued," Severus pointed out. Jennifer chuckled.

"Oh, come now, Severus, surely that sort of game is quite standard at his age. I remember Alex's games being a lot like that..."

"And who played the hero in Alex's games, Jennifer?" Severus challenged her.

"Alex, typically," Jennifer admitted with a grin.

"Yes. I don't know how we did it exactly, but somehow not one of our daughters turned into the damsel in distress type. If anything, the three of them can actually be a bit too dominant in their relationships," Severus pointed out.

"You do have a point, although Pyther and Dale can hold their own if they needed to, and Ben will if he's has to."

"Only if he's up against the wall and has to either fight her or face a squad of marksman," Severus replied knowingly.

"What about Aurelius? He's done well for himself," Jennifer pointed out.

"The most balanced relationship at present to be certain," Severus agreed. "And I think Leu isn't likely to ever look at witches as damsels in distress either, considering all of his crushes up to this point have been very strong-willed girls."

"If he ever even hinted Diana was a damsel in distress in any sense of the term, I think it would be quite likely that he'd end up in the Hospital Wing," Jennifer chuckled.

"Assuming he ever makes his mind up on whether or not to pursue that relationship or not, as dangerous as that would be," Severus agreed.

"Well yes, but... if they ever did come to terms... if he ever did manage to defeat her at something she thought was worthy of her, I'm quite certain all of that rough play would stop immediately," Jennifer decided.

"An expert on Fomorians all of the sudden, are you?" Severus challenged her.

"No, Severus. But I know a destined couple when I see one," Jennifer said with a sigh. "Which is what makes it all the more heart wrenching to watch them, knowing that Leu may very well choose to let it slip away." Severus nodded somberly at that, leaning on the counter.

"Yes, I noticed it as well. And yet... when you consider the cultural gap between them, not to mention the ramifications if they were to get together..." Severus began.

"Yes. I know. But Severus, surely as big as that gap is, it pales in comparison to what Francis and Alicia went through," Jennifer pointed out quietly.

"Pyther risked his life for her and I risked my own life to see them together... but once it was done and he was human, it was over, Jennifer," Severus replied. "Diana will never stop being a Fomorian. Whether or not the rest of her culture chooses to accept him, they will have to adapt to being a part of two very different cultures for the rest of their lives, as well as have to deal with the challenges of raising children that will have many of the same problems that other half-giants do."

"True," Jennifer said. "This is another one of those cases where being Fated for each other causes a lot of complications above and beyond it."

"Yes," Severus agreed. "Which is why it's rather important that Llewellyn stays in the dark about the fact that they're a Cosmic Match, Jennifer. He must face the complications of their relationship straight on and make an honest decision on whether or not he wants to pursue it without that knowledge getting in the way. So, I'd appreciate it if you don't tell him about it. Let's give Free Will a chance to work its way into their relationship. You of all people know that it needs an equal part in this decision."

"I understand, Severus," Jennifer replied. "I think that Diana may already suspect something, though."

"I think so as well," Severus acknowledged. "But back to the subject at hand, Jennifer. There is little we can do to help Andrew with his gender bias, other than to point it out when we notice it. If I'm not mistaken, there is only one person that can help him get over that now and it's not either of us. I suppose I don't need to tell you who that is," he added for good measure, getting a soft chuckle from Jennifer.

"No, I rather think it's obvious," Jennifer agreed. "I suppose that means there's going to be a lot more near breaches and even possible breaches of Section Three of the Ethics rule in their future."

"Quite likely. Do you remember your second year at Hogwarts and how much we fought that year, Jennifer?" Severus asked. Jennifer cringed in pain, then nodded at him with a grin. "Yes, well, I think it's safe to say that I am probably going to have my hands full," he concluded.

Laura knocked on the door of Andrew's study, causing him to look up.

"About ready to go?" Laura asked.

"Yes, just finishing the last touches on the syllabi for the sixth and seventh year books," Andrew said, setting them both out to give the ink time to dry as he stood up.

"I'm glad I didn't replace any books this year, but I bet I'm going to have to next year," Laura said as he grabbed his cloak. "Having them scour the papers for new things gives me plenty of chances to talk about new Defense spells, so I really haven't felt the need yet. But I think once I'm more comfortable with teaching in general, I'm going to research and pick out some books of my own, instead of relying on what my father picked out a couple of years ago."

"I suggest you start by doing what I did this year and just refreshing the fifth year and up books," Andrew suggested, leading her out and locking the door. "It's easier if you change half of the books at a time, that way you aren't bogged down at the start of the year trying to write out seven different tests and itineraries," he suggested as they walked out into the corridors.

"Yes, that does make a lot of sense," Laura agreed.

"Mother always changes all of her books at once, and that's despite having that enormous amount of potions to make at the beginning of the year. I simply don't know how she does it. I'd like to save what little sanity I have left," Andrew said dryly.

"How is your mother doing, by the way?" Laura asked.

"She's at the Craw Manor if you want to see her," Andrew said stiffly.

"I was just asking in general, since that's why we didn't have to go to tennis this week," Laura explained. "I spent the day helping Uncle John and Uncle Mitch with the new house."

"Oh, I see. How is it coming?" Andrew asked, grateful for the change of subject.

"Better now. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen putting away boxes of dishes and pans and things that Uncle Mitch bought at a restaurant supply store, and then we spent some time going through boxes that Uncle Sirius, my mother, and grandfather donated. They gave them some basic hand me down furniture, as well as curtains and the like, so I spiffed up the living room while they worked on the bedroom. Even after all of the boxes were emptied out, it still looked a bit scarce. Mitch will have plenty of finishing touches to do, but it's a beautiful house. The gym and kitchen are a great deal bigger, and even the living room is large enough to hosts some guests now and then," Laura said.

"Like it would ever get used for guests at that house," Andrew said skeptically.

"Oh, Mitch will probably invite family over, as well as Anna and Sirius and the like," Laura explained. "Actually, Mitch was talking about wanting to show Conner and Lindsay the new house. Apparently he and Conner became friends while they were living down the hall from each other."

Andrew squinted at her, then opened the door so they could step outside.

"I'm not sure I trust that," Andrew admitted. "In fact, I'm positive I don't."

"To be honest, neither do I. I'm sure this is some sneaky attempt of Conner's to get him into therapy," Laura admitted. "But now that he and Lindsay are married, there's no escaping Conner. Mitch may not be as close to the Blacks as he is to my parents, but he does know them well and doesn't mind being around them in small doses."

"Well, I hope Mitch has enough sense to keep his distance. I like him the way he is," Andrew said defensively.

"Me too," Laura agreed. "Fortunately, Mitch is an expert at keeping his distance."

"True, unless he thinks it'll trouble someone more if he stays away for some reason," Andrew mused. Laura squinted.

"True, we should keep an eye on the situation," Laura decided.

"But first, we need to keep an eye on Conner for our own self preservation," Andrew reminded her with a chuckle. They stepped out the gate and Apparated to the office to make their appointments. "So what are you reading today, anyway?" he asked.

"I still have to finish up my reread of Emma, then I'm going to start on the Scarlet Pimpernel series like you suggested," Laura replied as they stepped in.

"I thought you'd have that reread finished by now," Andrew admitted, nodding to Mindy and signing in.

"Me too, really, but refreshing my tests from last year took longer than I thought. I've turned everything in now, though, so I'm all ready for next week."

"I should be done tomorrow myself," Andrew agreed, letting her sign in and the two of them sat down. "Once the paperwork is turned in, I need to go through my recycling supplies to see what I can add to it. I'll probably be spending Friday in the scrapyard. Did you want to go?"

"To a scrapyard?" Laura repeated. "A nonmagic one?"

"No, I go to one that the goblins run, actually," Andrew replied. "You have to be careful going through it since broken magical devices can sometimes get mixed in with the basic materials pile, so it means you spend a lot of time running detection charms on things. But it's still easier than going to a Muggle one, because I can still use my wand to miniaturize my haul and cart it all out of there."

"Hang on. I understand the basic principals of just making something smaller, Andrew, but how does that effect weight and mass? Isn't it still going to weigh a lot? I thought mass didn't scale the same as dimension," Laura said.

"With a normal charm, correct, it's not a 1 to 1 proportion. But with Microtransfiguration..."

The two of them heard Conner clear his throat so dramatically and loudly that they wondered if he wasn't going to cough up a lung. They both looked up to see him standing there with his arms folded.

"Can't the two of you talk shop during the 166 hours you're not in my office each week?" Conner asked.

"Fine," Andrew said and he went in the open door, while Laura simply sat down and brought out her book.

The office was back to normal now after all of the havoc from last year. Andrew wandered around, wondering if he could quickly pick a game before Conner coaxed into another round of poker. Conner closed the office door and walked over, sitting at the counter.

"So how's your mother doing?" Conner asked conversationally.

"Ask her yourself. She's still probably at the Craw Mansion," Andrew immediately retorted.

"That's right, Lindsay said the Craws had their twins. She really does like to take off any time a family member has kids, doesn't she?" Conner said.

"Yes, she's always done that. Can we move on?" Andrew insisted firmly.

"Sure we can. As soon as you tell me why you're angry at your mother this time," Conner agreed. Andrew gave him a dirty look and pulled the pool rack off its hook. "Okay," Conner said, getting up and grabbing his cue stick. Conner didn't say a word as Andrew broke and set up the game, but he refused to let him play alone, either, making certain that it was obvious from the start that he was playing as well. Andrew kept looking at his watch throughout the session, and after wasting it on pool, he walked back out to the lobby and sat down beside Laura.

"That bad?" Laura whispered.

"No, he just couldn't take a hint, so we played pool all session," Andrew murmured back. Conner watched the short exchange from the door as Laura put away her book, going inside.

"Hi, how are you?" Conner said, closing the door. Laura shrugged.

"Okay," Laura said.

"And how are things between you and Andrew?" Conner said.

"Good," Laura replied.

"No fighting or anything?" Conner asked.

"Are we going to spend the whole session with you attempting to find out what's up with Andrew?" Laura challenged him. "Besides, the whole reason we have a session with both of us is so that you can see us interacting, isn't it?"

"True, but that doesn't really tell me how you feel about the relationship in general, because I know perfectly well that if you have any reservations about it, you're not going to spill it out in front of him, now are you?" Conner explained. "Fine, we don't have to talk about that. How have your nightmares been lately? Any that stick out that have been especially troubling?"

"How about I pick out a game and we talk about Andrew," Laura suggested.

"Good idea," Conner agreed. She pulled out a board game. "So how are things going, really?"

"Good," Laura said, putting the game on the table. "He cracks me up during the tennis lessons. No matter how hard we try to take it seriously, we both end up picking on each other by the end of it because of one silly mistake or another. But the school seems to think we're making progress as long as we're aren't paired together," she added with a grin. "It seems like when we are facing each other, we're making no progress whatsoever."

"I see," Conner said.

"You're not reading to much into that, are you?" Laura asked, squinting.

"Laura," Conner chuckled, "Can you let me do my job? Pick a color."

"I'm not sure that I should. You may read something into that as well," she said suspiciously, picking blue.

"You're right. I just read the fact that you always pick blue because you were a Ravenclaw," he teased her.

"It's not like you don't do the same thing," she pointed out, when he fished out the red one. "Andrew does it, too."

"Yes, so he does," Conner agreed, and the two of them set up the game. "Did the two of you go out for fun last week?"

"No, we don't have time right now, what with getting ready for school to start next week. To be honest, he didn't have much time all summer, between working on that museum display and his family obligations and his extra duties at the castle," Laura admitted. "He did just invite me go to him to the scrapyard."

"Is that a good place for a date?" Conner said, trying very hard to keep an even expression.

"He needs to go for his class, you see, and sometimes it's a struggle to find the time right now, especially since we have to meet for tennis on Saturdays and all of that..." Laura explained.

"Is that a hint?" Conner asked, at this time he did let out a short laugh.

"Maybe a little one," Laura admitted.

"I tell you what, Laura. The two of you have eight weeks left on the tennis lessons, right? Finish it off, and you won't have to renew the lessons," Conner decided.

"Good. Then maybe I can talk him into something a bit more … fun," Laura finished, then realized straight away that Conner's eyes flicked up when he heard the hesitation in her word choice. "Yeah, okay, I was thinking romantic. Andrew is turning out to be a really slow mover." Conner smiled at that, moving his piece down the board.

"And why do you suppose that is?" Conner inquired.

"I think we both know the answer to that one," Laura said, rolling the dice. "After his past history with throwaway dating, he doesn't want to cheapen the experience."

"Under the circumstances, I would say that's quite a compliment," Conner decided, waiting for her to finish her move before doing the same.

"Yes, I know, he's showing just how serious he is about this. But I think I would prefer... I don't know... a turtle's pace to this relationship, instead of a snail's pace," Laura explained.

"Then maybe it's time for you to take some initiative," he suggested, tapping on the ladder she had landed on.

"Yes, but if I do, I might get bit," Laura pointed out, tapping one of the snakes on the board. "You know how sensitive he is."

"I see," Conner said. Laura squinted at him as he rolled the dice and moved.

"You're thinking about how I'm sensitive too, aren't you?" Laura asked defensively.

"Actually, I'm rather wondering why you keep thinking that I'm going to respond in the same way Andrew might to one of your comments," Conner admitted. Laura frowned at him, becoming much less interested in cooperating after that.

When it was time for Andrew to come in, Andrew looked at her questioningly and noticed she seemed more annoyed than angry or upset. He sat down across from her, smiling sympathetically.

"So," Conner said, leaning on the end of the counter. "Laura has expressed that there have been some time constraints because of work and other obligations, so I've agreed that as long as you finish out your current tennis lessons, we can dispense with that for now to give the two of you more free time."

"How about we keep the tennis lessons and ditch these sessions instead?" Andrew suggested dryly, Laura looking quite amused at that.

"Don't push your luck," Conner advised. "Actually, this comes as a good time anyway, because I was thinking of moving the two of you outside for your group sessions and conducting outdoor activities."

"I'll admit that I'd like that a lot better," Laura replied.

"Yes, I would as well, which makes me wonder what you're up to, Conner," Andrew said, folding his arms.

"You know, the two of you would be getting a lot farther if you trusted me a little more and fought a little less," Conner said sternly.

"Sorry, I'd prefer to go down fighting," Andrew said firmly.

"So would I," Laura said resolutely.

"Did you want to pick out a game, or did you want me to do it?" Conner asked flatly.

Andrew pulled a Wizards of MC card deck out of his pocket and Laura did the same.

"Really?" Conner said, unimpressed.

"It's just another way of getting ready for the new school year," Andrew said, pulling out Professor Frumpet to be his character card while Laura put out a Miss Young for herself. Conner sighed and got himself a tea before he settled in to watch the game.