Chapter Thirty-Four

A Memorable Birthday

When Severus finally woke up in his sitting room, he realized after a great deal of stretching that either his sofa needed replaced or he was just getting to the age where an uncomfortable resting position had more painful consequences. He had been contemplating going to the gym to do some defense forms, so he went into the Headmaster's Study to make certain he had the time that morning to do so.

But after opening the curtain, he stood in the doorway and stared at the state of his desk... what he could see of it, anyway... because it was entirely covered with gifts. Descartes eyed them from his stand with his neck stretched out as if hoping one of the packages was for him. Severus heard some flapping and could see a line of owls waiting on the Observatory railing with envelopes in their talons.

"Armando... what is all of this?" Severus asked at last, staring at the gifts dubiously.

"Birthday presents, I believe," Armando replied.

"Have any of these been checked over by anyone?" Severus asked, wondering if someone wasn't attempting to get revenge somehow.

"Yes, Severus, I believe Andrew went through them," Armando replied. "Perhaps you should ask your sister when she arrives?"

"Oh, am I expecting her?" Severus asked, taking out his wand and cautiously moving a box off of his appointment journal to try and get a peek at it.

"You have an appointment with her for breakfast, Severus. She should be up in five minutes or so," Armando replied.

Descartes cawed curiously.

"No, no. I doubt there are in any fish in there," Severus said, taking a moment to carry him out to the nursery balcony. "There, go fish... and just fish, if you don't mind. Don't go worrying the hens at the Pumpkin Farm again."

Descartes cawed again and flew out. By the time Severus came back in there was a covered tray and a coffee service set up on a side table. He heard a quick knock on the door and Anna let herself in.

"Good morning, happy birthday," Anna said with a smile, deciding to leave the doors open.

"Yes, thank you, but you know I prefer not to fuss over such things," Severus said, glancing critically at his desk before pouring them some coffee.

"Yes, well, you're overruled this year, if you haven't noticed," Anna said with a knowing smile.

"I take it you know something about all of this?" Severus asked.

"A couple of weeks ago during our last Hogsmeade trip, some of your student relatives... namely Leu, Viorica, Chuck, and his sisters, decided that you seemed a bit down lately and so they were going to get your something other than licorice this year. As they walked to Toby's Trinkets, Andrew heard about it and followed along, and when they got there, the entire shop was completely filled with possible gifts for you personally. Andrew ran out and got Alicia, and it snowballed from there," Anna explained with a smile. "And now you're seeing the results. Even Quintin was able to get a present in there, thanks to Pyther bringing him over... and spoilers; he's the one who actually got you licorice this year," she said with amusement. "And I'm here not only because having breakfast with someone is a more typical adult sibling way to spend a birthday... but also because I have no idea what I bought you and I want to see what it is," she admitted. "Some of the presents were a bit vague about what was in them."

"Should I be worried?" Severus wondered, but walked over to the table with more wonder than suspicion this time. "I suppose you expect me to try and sort out which of these is yours?"

"How about starting with some of the food parcels? Maybe there's something in there that could go along with breakfast," Anna suggested, removing the tray cover. Severus glanced over them with interest, then picked up a box of pastries with amusement.

"How about some American cheese danishes," Severus replied, reading the tag. From Charles... P.S. Amber's present is supposed to go with mine. Severus glanced next to it and found a small rectangular box with her name on it and opened the top. "And orange pekoe tea," he added with a smirk.

"Well, it's a start. Did anyone end up buying you that box of springerle I saw in there?" Anna asked with a grin.

"Laura, it would seem, perhaps Andrew suggested it," Severus said, noting that Andrew's present was a wrapped book. At least that present he could easily guess, since they had been discussing a particular book lately. So Severus set it aside, and picked up another food box. "Hadrian, it seems, bought me some pryaniki," he added, bringing it over and sitting down.

"What in the world is pryaniki?" Anna asked curiously.

"It's a spiced Russian biscuit that was my favorite as a child. My mother used to make them for me for my birthdays," Severus explained, handing her one and taking one for himself. "Really, I had nearly forgotten all about them, it's been so long. I suppose my uncle must have suggested it."

"Interesting, so it's tied to a memory too," Anna thought with a smile.

"In a way, all of these things are," Severus agreed. "Even the tea that Amber gave me reminds me of the first day I stepped foot in Kingler's Cafe. I asked what sort of tea they had, and this was the only one they served at the time. And of course, the springerle reminds me of Christmas. Our grandmother used to make them every Christmas when we were children, and I believe Jennifer must have picked that memory up from me just after we were married and she made it a part of our family tradition as well."

"I'm sensing a pattern here," Anna said, finishing her biscuit and standing up. She looked over the small boxes on the desk and began reading the tags. "It looks like all of these mystery boxes we got out of Toby's shop have something to do with memories too. Here's Leu's," she said, handing it to him. He opened the sweets box curiously and lifted out a silver coin.

"Oh yes, this is one of the coins that Leu found on our trip to the Florida Keys," Severus explained. "It took him forever to clean this one up. Salt water reacts to silver, and over time it creates a hard shell around the silver... trying to get it off is quite tedious, really. I ended up having to find a spell to help him with it so that he didn't damage it. It was not long after we took him in; it was one of our first trips as a family, and he wanted to go somewhere interesting to dive. Of course, the real reason he wanted to go diving was to try to pay us back for giving him a home," Severus recalled. "You know, there are many times that he still exasperates me. Every time he gets so focused on one thing that he can't see the big picture, I ask myself if he's ever going to make any progress. And yet, when I look at this, I can see how far he's come since then."

Anna listened to him with intense interest, then handed him another box.

"Are you ever going to eat your breakfast?" Severus asked her, reluctantly taking it.

"No, I'm too curious. This one is from Corey," Anna said.

"You're going to make me go through that entire pile, aren't you?" Severus said critically. "Eat something, or I won't open it." Sighing with exasperation, Anna stomped over to her plate and took a bite of toast.

"Okay, go," Anna said. After a quick stare off, Severus resignedly opened the next one.

"There, now don't you feel silly? It's simply a box of licorice and a note," Severus told her, showing it to her.

"Well, yes, but the tag said there was a confession in it," Anna pressed.

"If he's making some sort of confession, I seriously doubt he means for me to share it," Severus pointed out, opening the note.

"Oh, I promise to keep it a secret," Anna said. Severus gave her a dirty look before finally reading the note. He read it a second time then leaned back in his seat, looking thoughtful. "Well?"

"Corey put his sister's name down in the book," Severus said distantly.

"Book?" Anna repeated in confusion.

"And Dumbledore added Corey's name... well, that part I had long suspected," Severus admitted, glancing at the note once more before folding it again. "Corey didn't even tell Dumbledore he had added her name until after Essie was already in Hogwarts."

"I can't say that I blame him," Anna admitted, turning her attention back to her food thoughtfully.

"No, nor do I," Severus admitted. "To think of all of that talent of hers being lost... not to mention how many times her gift of Sight has saved the family, as well as her discovering that Trelawney was responsible for nearly killing Jennifer," he recalled.

"Yes, I agree. Essie is something special... but so is Corey," Anna said. "If Jennifer and you hadn't gotten involved and he hadn't been at Hogwarts, he might have died... assuming he didn't go to his aunt's like Essie had that night."

"Essie was at her aunt's house that night to help with all of the Christmas baking for the next day, because her family didn't believe in cooking on Christmas," Severus explained. "Corey never would have volunteered for such a workload, especially in those days. He would have been at home. And you're right, Anna. When I think of Corey, I can't just fathom how much our family would have lost, what the school would have lost, not to mention our entire community as a whole. Just think of all the good he's done... from helping the other Haveners find acceptance in Hogsmeade, to fighting for better conditions on behalf of the goblin society... and, of course, he is a leader in the alchemist community."

"To be fair, all of your children have a strong sense of civic duty, Severus," Anna said with a smile.

"All but Andrew, really," Severus admitted, "but I'm certain he'll get there eventually, even if Laura has to drag him there kicking and screaming."

"The voice of experience," Anna decided. Severus nodded at that with a mild smirk. Anna frowned at the desk again.

"Okay, I admit now that there are too many to go through them all at once, but I really want to see what I got you," Anna decided, holding it out. "A happy memory from when we were children."

"There can't have been too many of those," Severus decided, taking the box. But as he opened it, he smiled at the contents in a way that made Anna even more curious. "Ah, yes," he said and held up a sand dollar. Then he reached in for a cloth pouch and poured it out, revealing a fifteen sand dollar doves. "Do you remember these?" he asked.

"No," Anna admitted.

"Yes well, perhaps not, but I suspect you will remember these," Severus said, then pulled out some cut paper. He unfolded the paper to display rows and rows of paper doves, cut out of a large sheet of paper just like paper dolls.

"Yes, I do remember those! You used to make them for me all the time when I was little," Anna admitted with a grin.

"Back when you were very little, perhaps three or so, our parents took us to visit some of your mother's relatives during the summer. We spent a decent amount of that holiday on a beach somewhere in the States," Severus explained. "I'm not sure if you know this or not, but doves were a prominent part of my mother's family crest, and when she died, I had been given many of the items that was embroidered with it. So, our father purchased a bag of sand dollars and showed me how to open them to reveal the doves inside, and I began breaking them open to collect them in a bag such as this," he explained, showing her the cloth bag. "Of course, you were curious as to what I was doing, just like you always were, and you wanted some of doves for yourself to play with. But Father and Meryl both asked me not to give them to you. They were a bit afraid at that age that you might accidentally swallow them, so I kept them away from you. Of course, I really didn't want to share them and was grateful for the excuse," he admitted, Anna grinning at that. "But as you might expect from a three year old after someone tells them they won't share, you had a tantrum of impressive proportions. Meryl had to mute the entire cottage from the outside to keep the neighbors from 'calling the cops', as she put it. Desperate for a compromise, I began making you these to collect. It always used to amaze you how all I need to do was make a few cuts in a piece of paper and all of the sudden you had your own little flock of doves. Sometimes you colored them or drew on them, but often you'd simply put them in a box so you could keep them all to yourself. And that is why, for a very long time, my Patronus was a flock of doves. Some used to marvel that it was more than one animal, but it truly wasn't... it was all one piece of the same paper."

"So by was, I suppose you mean it's changed now," Anna said, accepting the paper doves with a smile.

"Yes, it changed recently, but this will always be a powerful memory for me," Severus replied. "All of these things have been so far, really."

"I bet most of the other ones will be too," Anna ventured.

"Perhaps," Severus said, refilling his coffee just to warm it again. "I think now that we have cleared some out, I will set them all on one side of my desk, and every time I get a lull in the day, I will open one. Unless someone comes in and insists I open it right away, of course, like someone else I know."

"It could happen," Anna agreed with a grin. "When are you going to pick up Quintin?"

"During my lunch, and Jennifer's breakfast. We're meeting at Kingler's, but I'll only be gone for an hour or two," Severus replied.

"Well, enjoy it anyway. I should get ready for class," Anna said, getting up.

"Thank you," Severus said, pointedly putting the pouch of doves in his pocket.

Anna nodded with a smile, slipping back out the door. She heard footsteps on the spiral stairs and saw Hermione walking up with a folder of paperwork and a couple of scrolls.

"Good morning," Anna said with a smile.

"Oh, good morning! How is he today?" Hermione asked.

"In a much better mood," Anna replied.

"Great! Has he opened mine yet?" Hermione asked with a grin.

"No, but I know he will, if you insist," Anna advised.

"Good, because I really want to know what I got him," Hermione said. Chuckling knowingly at that, Anna stepped into the Doorlift.

When Severus got to Kingler's, he was actually expecting Jennifer to still be waking up, but she and Quintin were in their normal booth with drinks in their hands, and Jennifer had a bag beside her.

"Good morning," Severus said, gesturing to Sally and sitting down.

"Good afternoon," Jennifer said mischievously. "Are you buried in licorice yet?"

"Buried in presents, yes, in licorice, far from it," Severus replied. "Quintin got me licorice, of course. Thank you Quintin," he said and Quintin beamed at him. "And have you been behaving?"

"Yes, but I slept late. But late was too early! So I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't, because it was too late! So I woke up Mum, and we both got up," Quintin replied.

"I think he's going to need a nap later, Severus. With the time change, he really didn't get much sleep last night at all," Jennifer explained. "If I didn't have classes today, I think I'd be tempted to take a nap myself," she added with a chuckle.

"Good morning, Severus, happy birthday," Sally said with a smile, putting down his coffee.

"Thank you," Severus replied.

"I'd ask you what you want to eat, but I think she's already got plans," Sally said.

"Yes, I do... and the usual for us two," Jennifer added for good measure, pointing to Quintin and herself.

"No problem, Jennifer," Sally said with a wink, then went over to see how Jenny was doing at the counter.

"So what did she mean by that?" Severus inquired suspiciously.

"Well, I'm sure you don't need a second breakfast, Severus, and I have something else and mind... birthday related," Jennifer explained.

She reached for the bag, pulling out a pastrami sandwich and spinach knishes. Holding up a finger to tell him to wait, she then pulled out a small candle, putting it in one of the knishes before lighting it. Severus smiled knowingly at that, but Quintin squinted at it suspiciously.

"That doesn't look like cake," Quintin said.

"It isn't, that's his lunch. That's what we had on our second first date," Jennifer explained. "Which went decidedly better than our first first date," she added wickedly.

"Decidedly," Severus agreed, taking out the candle.

"And I also got you a new pipe cleaning kit," Jennifer announced, putting a second bag on the table. "I just couldn't bring myself to get you tobacco since I don't want you to get in the habit again, but I did want something from the smoke shop, so I settled on that."

"That does mean I would have to use the pipe to have an excuse to make use of the cleaning kit," Severus pointed out.

"Well, you can use it to keep the dust off," Jennifer teased.

"Smoking is bad for you," Quintin informed his father.

"Yes, and so is sugar. Perhaps we should make you order something besides waffles with blueberries and cream?" Severus replied.

Quintin stared at him for a long time in an attempt to figure out if he was serious or not, hoping that if he stayed quiet, his father wouldn't bring it up again. Fortunately, it seemed like his father was more interested in talking to his mother than calling Sally back over.

"It's quite ironic that you decided to get this for me," Severus told Jennifer quietly. "A great many people have been sending me things relating to old memories today."

"Well, mainly I did it because we were meeting here for your birthday, and considering what I've been working on, I've been thinking of that year quite a lot, really," Jennifer admitted.

"Yes, that's understandable. How is it going?" Severus asked.

"Well, I'm still on the research stage, Severus, but I have a team of assistants now, all members of Libris. Well, they weren't all members starting out, actually, but Kay, Lavender, and Gretchen were given bronze cards after we formed the team. It's not a really full membership; it's for witches that the platinum card holders decide have the potential to contribute to society over the long term. But it helps because it means someone else doesn't have to be there to escort them in, and that's good when some of us have bell choir practice or are running late for a planned meeting for some reason," Jennifer explained. "Anyway, we have gone over the memories of what the unicorns did a few times now, and the only conclusion we've made so far is that we're certain it's feasible to find a cure even without having a unicorn bond. We noticed that parts of my memories were starting to come together even before that bond exchange I had with Keki; it merely helped to speed up the process, it wasn't what started it. The Unicorns found the cure through the knowledge stored in Keki's horn... knowledge that she was endowed with when she served as the Sentinel of Magic."

"How was that knowledge passed down to her originally?" Severus asked, wondering why he never asked himself that question before.

"She was born with it, I think... it was something that was in her for the start. Something having to do with the Dark Forest and the fact that the Spear of Lugh was hidden in it," Jennifer said distantly, then focused in on Severus with a shrug. "That's all I know for certain, Severus, but I'm not sure it's the connection to Wild Magic itself that's actually important in this case, other than the fact that Wild Magic is the basis of all healing magic. It's simply that Wild Magic is the only form of magic they understood," Jennifer explained, Severus nodding thoughtfully at that. "We do know a couple of things for certain, however. All of the memories that I had while I was in the maze involved more than just me... typically, it was a shared memory with me and one other person, or me and the family. Also, are fairly certain that keeping the person isolated is an important part of the process."

"I understand," Severus said, taking a bite out of his knish. Jennifer stared at him with a frown.

"You do? Because I certainly don't," Jennifer admitted.

"It's a forced sabbatical," Severus explained, Jennifer staring at him. "It took you away from everything you thought you knew about yourself and placed you in a different environment so that you could rediscover yourself, just as you are doing this year by going back to Whitebridge."

"Severus, that's brilliant," Jennifer said, stunned in spite of herself.

"Elementary," Severus replied, causing his wife to sigh with exasperation at him. "There are patterns and parallels in everything, Jennifer. Especially when it comes to events in one's life, which constantly goes through cycles. It's simply that the older I get, the more I notice the parallels. And since the outcome to your isolation in the Maze was your restoration, I am quite certain that this current sabbatical will help you find the solution you're looking for," he said with certainty. "Every gift I was given today invoked a memory, from Hermione's bound-up Charm book with the words, 'Never Again' written on it to Pyther's gift of a pair of ultra-lite slippers."

"What? Why would he give you those?" Jennifer asked with a laugh.

"He said he got it out of Toby's shop, and considering the pun that went with it, it was to remind me of the first time I asked you to dance, and that the fact that falling in love with you helped me step out of the darkness... with you providing the light," Severus replied. Jennifer turned bright red.

"Honestly, Severus. In front of Quintin, no less," Jennifer said.

"I lost all pretense of formality in that respect when I surrendered to your mercy that dreadful year, Jennifer, surely you've realized that by now," Severus replied, then looked at Quintin, who was studying them curiously. "Quintin, Dad loves Mum. So there, now you know," Severus told him.

"I love Mum too!" Quintin declared, and Jennifer found herself getting hugged. She looked up when she noticed Sally coming over with a tray.

"Sorry, sorry! It got busy at the counter all of the sudden," Sally began. "Jennifer, you're as red as a beet. Is the Professor behaving himself?"

"No, he most certainly isn't," Jennifer replied with chuckle.

"Oh. Well, it is his birthday after all, he should get a bit of leeway," Sally decided, putting Jennifer and Quintin's breakfasts down and then refilled their drinks.

"I don't think we should. He'll take advantage," Jennifer warned.

"She has a point," Severus decided. Sally chuckled and went to the next table.