Chapter Thirteen
Julie and Severus spent the morning much as they had spent the previous afternoon: within inches of one another. This suited them both just fine. She turned out to be as nearly as dexterous with berries as Severus and kept pace with him pretty well, even though their minds weren't totally on picking berries.
The issue of privacy had reared its head; both Severus and Julie wanted to to be able to have private head space of their own. So Severus explained to her about the mental technique of 'thinking behind a wall', as it didn't require magic to use. They practiced it as their hands kept busy working the berries, and it didn't take long before they both had the equivalent of, if not yet walls, at least screens behind which they could retreat at need.
Before they knew it, it was mid-morning; Julie trooped off with Severus and the Nortons to the barn to get the berries stored away. It was then that Severus realized he'd forgotten something.
"Erm, Mr. Norton?" he said, as they entered the barn.
"Yes?"
"I've – I've told Julie about me. About who I am."
"Ah." A pause. "And she doesn't mind?"
"No."
"Did you tell her grandma?"
"No." Truth be told, we weren't sure she'd remember it, anyway...
Another pause. "So we can go ahead and use the newfangled freezing technique in front of her?"
"Erm, yes, sir, exactly."
"Then let's get crackin'. Julie, come over here, you're going to love this..."
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The time flew by in the field, and it was soon lunchtime.
There was still plenty of food left over from last night, so it was no trouble at all for Mrs. Norton to heat it up and serve it. Julie was invited to stay for lunch, but she declined, saying that she'd better check in on her grandmother.
Standing outside the kitchen door, Severus watched Julie as she walked back to her grandmother's house, right until the moment she disappeared inside of it. Mr. Norton didn't fail to notice this.
"She's a really sweet girl, son."
There was a short silence before Severus finally replied. "Yes, she is."
"I'm glad to see her making friends her own age. She's a pretty smart girl, but she's shy – doesn't like to hang around with other boys and girls, prefers to read books and things. And here she's been by herself with only her grandma for company."
"Yes." Severus turned towards Mr. Norton. "How long has her grandmother been ill?"
Mr. Norton leaned against the side of the house and stared off at nothing in particular, then let out a sigh. "With the gout, about a year. With the memory trouble, a little bit longer. Her kids have been trying to take care of her, taking turns coming down to look after her, but they're all moved to the Cities and they want to put her in a nursing home up there so they don't have to make a three-hour drive to look in on her."
"Ah."
"She doesn't want to leave her farm. But she's going to have to, pretty quick here."
Severus nodded. There wasn't much more for him to say.
He followed Mr. Norton into the house.
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All through lunch, something was nagging at Severus' brain. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
In the midst of biting into his veal, he looked out the kitchen window and saw the herb box. And then he found it.
He recalled thinking of a line from Shakespeare yesterday, when communing with Julie: Rosemary, that's for remembrance...
He forced himself to finish his lunch, and even to hang around and help with the dishes, but as soon as he could he ran upstairs to get his copy of Encyclopedia of Potions. He flipped it open to the index, scanning the pages feverishly until he found the reference he wanted.
Perfect. Not only did he have all of the ingredients for it in his trunk, he even had a fresh supply of rosemary as well.
Severus tucked the book under his arm and raced back down the stairs, nearly colliding with Mr. Norton on the way down.
"Whoa, son! Take it easy! What's the big hurry?"
"Mr. Norton," he said, holding up the book, "I think I've found something to help Mrs. Halvorson..."
Mr. Norton looked at Severus for a moment. "You have?" he said quietly.
"Yes, sir. Not with the gout, unfortunately. But I think I can help her with her memory..."
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The top of the Norton's kitchentable was covered with various and sundry things. Fresh sprigs of rosemary were piled in one spot, giving the air an invigorating scentHeaps of chopped ginkgo, periwinkle, and Chinese club moss were also to hand. A cutting board and knife sat next to a book on potions. And in the midst of everything, the contents of a small iron cauldron, heated by a portable magical flame, bubbled away merrily.
"Why not use the stove, son?" Mr. Norton had asked as Severus was setting out his supplies.
"I'm not familiar enough with how quickly it heats things, or how hot," Severus replied as he cast a Cooling Charm on the trivet on which the portable flame would sit; he didn't want to leave scorch marks on the table. "And with potions it's always best not to have to guess at anything. One must be sure, utterly sure, of what one is doing..."
When the time was right, Severus poured the contents of the cauldron into a dozen glass canning jars, then sealed them tightly. A cardboard box stood ready to receive the jars.
"There," he said, pleased with himself. "That should be a six-month supply. It's not a cure, but she should be fairly well sorted as long as she drinks it an ounce of it once a day, mixed in with a glass of water."
"You sure it won't harm her, Severus?" said Mrs. Norton, looking somewhat dazedly at the ranks of sealed Ball jars.
"Not at all, Ma'am. All the ingredients are quite safe – you yourself use the rosemary for cooking – and all they'll do is stimulate the blood flow to her brain and enhance general brain function."
Mr. Norton stood and stared at the cauldron, then at the jars. "I will be dipped. Can we take them over to her right now?"
"Certainly, sir."
"Then let's get these jars in the box so we can get 'em over to her."
They soon had the jars packed; Mr. Norton himself picked up the box, grunting a little as he did so. Severus surreptitiously cast a Levitating spell on the box, and suddenly Mr. Norton found the box to be a lot easier to carry.
"Thanks, son," he said, as Mrs. Norton held the door open for them to go outside.
Julie Halvorson was tidying up the sitting room when she looked out the window and saw Severus and the Nortons coming her way. Severus saw Julie and caught her eye.
Julie...
Yes?
I... I think I might know of something to help your gran's mind...
Her eyes went wide, and her face nearly glowed with hope and apprehension. You do? But... how!
I have some training in the use of medicinal herbs...
To Severus' mind, the look that suddenly appeared on Julie's face really was worth a thousand scythe-cuts.
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Three figures walking along a gravel road in the heat of a September afternoon, one of them talking rather animatedly:
"First I'd spent weeks tracking him down, but I couldn't do anything because of the state of the Muggle government in America at the time – the wizarding authorities were on tenterhooks there watching over that Nixon fellow to make sure he didn't blow up the world out of pique; they didn't have time to look for a lost child. It wasn't until after he was safely out of office, and that Ford fellow installed in his place, that they were able to spare us any attention." The speaker kicked a rock in frustration. "And if I'd known what she was going to do – to insist on, once we'd found him..."
"Quite understandable, Molly," one of her companions, the tall elderly male one, said soothingly. "You were acting in good faith. Lobelia Prince was not."
"She didn't even want him, Professor! That's the part that sticks in my craw. She didn't even want him. She didn't lift a finger to look for him. It was only after we'd found him that she exerted any sort of effort, and that –" here she slapped her thigh, in angry emphasis "– was to keep us from letting him stay with the Nortons."
"Yes – the mere idea of him being happier as a Muggle seemed to infuriate her, didn't it?" said the third person of the party, a light Scottish burr ornamenting her voice. "Ah, but here we are..."
A house was at the top of the slight rise they were walking along. A figure had stepped out of the front door, and was looking their way.
"Here we are, indeed."