Mettle
Smoothing Severus's hair out of his face, Eileen smiled and turned her attention to Quirinus, who waited beside her son. Inspecting him closely, she noted he was just a mite taller and his face fuller. This, interestingly, seemed to affect how the borrowed robe he wore looked on him.
In comparison to Severus, who looked like the - his - robe was swallowing him; Quincy's son wore it well. It seemed to suit him and he looked very comfortable in the article of clothing. Eileen mused that it was as if he'd been the one living the wizard life for the last five years - not Severus.
Cleaning a smudge from the blonde's face, Eileen wished she'd not suggested the robes. Who cared if they would fit in more among the wizards and witches of Hogwarts at this rate? It didn't flatter her son and when people saw the two together, they would think unfavorably of Severus in comparison to Quirinus. She opened her mouth, about to tell them to take them off, but it was too late.
The sound of footfall from behind catching Eileen's attention, she turned around and found Quincy and her mother in the doorway.
Smiling at them, Eileen approached as the boys hung back. "You're sure you wish to take them? My mother and I don't mind watching Quirinus a few more hours while you meet with Dumbledore and McGonagall," the woman offered.
His unshaven face the only hint to the strife he was facing back home with his wife, Quincy waved it off. "It's fine Eileen, I already promised the lads. It wouldn't do to make myself look like a liar, now would it?"
"Of course not," she murmured in agreement. Eileen felt stung by the last part, she knew her friend was just a bit angry about everything and that he didn't mean to come off so gruffly, but...
Eileen was surprised when her mother's voice rose high to declare, "That will do, Mister Quirrell. You may take the boys, if you are ready."
"Yes Missus Prince," Quincy replied as he gestured for the boys to follow him to the floo. A few moments later, the trio was gone and only Eileen and her mother were left standing in the kitchen.
Coming forward, the old woman put a hand on Eileen's arm. "You can tell him you don't like how he's speaking to you, you know," she told her.
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Eileen heard herself answer distantly, "I know." But she wasn't really paying attention, no, Eileen was playing back the conversation she'd had with her friend the day before when he dropped Quirrell off for a sleepover with her son.
-v-v-v-v-v-
"Oh she's mad alright, called me a bloody bastard for keeping such a big secret from her so long," Quincy explained to Eileen as he accepted a cup of tea that was handed to him.
Clucking her tongue, the woman asked, "She - She's not upset with Quirinus, too, is she?"
He shook his head. "No, no, he's her son first and foremost. Magic or Muggle, it doesn't matter to her one bit," her friend said.
Eileen gave a little sigh of relief. That was something, at least, she thought. "Do you think she'll be mad with you much longer?" the woman questioned.
"Who's to say? Dotty might already be cooling off - I mean, she did make Yorkshire Pudding and Beef Tips for dinner the other night; that's my favorite..."
"That is something," the woman agreed.
He ran a hand over his face and looked away. "I really ought to get home, Dotty will only become more upset if I linger here too long..."
Taking the cup handed to her, Eileen nodded in sympathy. "I'll see you tomorrow," she finished.
-v-v-v-v-v-
She wondered if things had not been on the mend as Quincy had hoped. The thought worried Eileen much more than it should have, too. After all, her Quincy would never become anything like Tobias had; he'd always been too kind. From her first days with him, the woman had understood this. Quincy had been the first to talk to her in Gobstones Club. The one to encourage her when others were still laughing...
Another idea struck Eileen. Could Dotty be the Tobias in their relationship? She was small, but Quincy was not a big man by any means and the right kick could easily bring him far enough down for her to-
Shaking, Eileen looked to her mother and declared over her chatter about chivalry, "I think I will lie down for a while."
"Are you alright, my dear?" the old woman asked.
Shaking off the concerned touch of her mother's hand, Eileen put on a smile much too wide. "Yes," she lied. "I just feel a bit peaky. It's probably nothing," and before her mother could question her any further, the woman hurried off for her rooms.
-v-v-v-v-v-
Upon stepping through the fireplace, Headmaster Dumbledore got up to greet Quincy and the children. Blue eyes twinkling, he remarked, "I see you brought along your sons."
Putting a hand on Quirinus's shoulder, the man put on a polite smile. "My son and his friend," Quincy corrected. "This one here is Severus, you might remember his mother, Eileen Prince?"
A look passed over the old man's face. "Ah, yes...she was an excellent student. The top of her class until-"
"Yes, well," Quincy cut in. "Severus is shaping up to be a just the same!" There was no need to talk of death with the boys here - even if it was of one years before their time. He felt as if he'd dealt too much with it lately and Severus! Surely he was even sicker of it than Quincy ever could be.
The Headmaster gave a curious quirk of his head, but he let it pass in favor of ushering them all to his desk. "Minerva should be here in just a moment - she was seeing to some trouble between a couple Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin boy.
"It seems the Slytherin boy thought to take an essay done by one of the Hufflepuffs to use as his own and the another Hufflepuff caught him at it. Subsequently, it turned physical and she is informing their respective heads of houses about the punishments that need to be arranged," he imparted with part amusement and part exasperation.
Quincy had a feeling this was a more or less regular occurrence among the students. Cheating had always been around, and even in his days as a student, he'd stooped to it a time or two. Though, once he got Eileen for a tutor in Herbology, he hadn't needed to peek over the shoulder of another student to find the answer to a question on a test anymore.
"Ah," he said in response with a small smile. Looking to the boys who were seated on either side of him, the man took in that Quirinus was busy craning his neck to take in the many sights that Dumbledore's office offered. When he looked to Severus...
The child was white as a corpse; his little fingers clutching the arms of his chair in a death grip. Quincy hesitated, but more frightened by what he saw ghosting across the boy's vision than what the impact of touch could do to his fragile state, the man laid a hand on his head.
"Severus," he started. "Are you feeling ill?"
This brought Dumbledore's attention in as well and he leaned in and murmured fretfully, "He does look ill, doesn't he? Maybe we should take him to the infirmary for Poppy to take a look at..."
Severus, who was doing a remarkable job of paying attention despite what he was going through, made a scared gasping noise and shook his head. "N-No, I'm fine sir...Floo just disagrees with m-me s-sometimes."
Dumbledore didn't look quite convinced and Quincy felt he oughtn't. This was not the work of the Floo, but he also had no right to know unless Eileen or Severus let him in on the child's secret, either.
Big, dark eyes darting, he called, "Quirinus?"
His son got down from his seat and came to take Severus's hand. "Yeah, Severus?" he questioned in a soft voice Quincy's sure he learned from his mother.
"C-Can you talk to me about something? Maybe about those dino-o-o-"
"Dinosaurs," Quirinus broke in, helping his friend along in his request.
Nodding, Severus took a breath and finished his plea, "Can you talk about those? You learn about them in your muggle school, right?"
"We went to a museum, a couple weeks ago, and it had their bones on display. You know, there was this one, he was as big as the ceiling almost; I tried to imagine him with all his muscle and flesh and..."
Helpless as he watched Severus slowly calm down with the help of his son, Quincy turned to Headmaster Dumbledore.
Lips grimly thin, he suggested, "We could move this to Minerva's office, I did just wish to go over the job with you and answer any questions you may have."
"The boys-"
Dumbledore smiled. "They'll be just fine, Fawkes can keep an eye on them for us," he explained pointing to a Phoenix, which watched from a perch just outside of his direct line of vision.
Relenting, Quincy turned to the children and said, "I'll be back soon."
Quirinus answered for both of them. "That's fine, Dad, maybe when you come back we can see Hogwarts from outside?" he inquired with a hopeful look to him, then Dumbledore.
Smiling, the old man agreed, "A look at the castle from outside, I think we can arrange that Mister Quirrell."
"Oh wow! Thanks Headmaster Dumbledore!" Quirinus yelled.
Severus winced and Quincy did too in sympathy. "Is that fine by you, Severus?" he questioned.
He gave one solid nod. "I would enjoy that very much, sir," the dark-eyed boy replied.
"Come, Quincy, let us go talk," the Headmaster said.
Pulled away finally, the man could only cast the boys one last look before they were lost behind the stones of Hogwarts.
-v-v-v-v-v-
Alone with Severus, Quirinus kept yammering until Severus's hand didn't feel so hard and his eyes were on him instead of something beyond him. When his friend was back, the tow-headed boy grinned and clambered up in the chair - forcing Severus to make room for him in the process.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked.
The dark-haired boy dipped his head.
Kicking his feet, Quirinus was glad Miss Prince hadn't made him change out his trainers for the church shoes Severus was wearing. He didn't like them because they were so black and smooth he was always afraid he'd end up scratching them on something by accident. The two of them were silent for a long while and finally, fed up with it, the blond questioned, "You can still talk, right?"
"Of course!" Severus scoffed.
Smirking, Quirinus snickered at how easy it was to get a rise from the other.
Shoving him, the dark-haired boy complained, "That wasn't very fair!"
"What are you, a Hufflepuff?" Quirinus joked. His daddy had been telling him about the houses since he explained to his mum and him about magic. Hufflepuffs were all about working hard and from the way his dad had been talking about them, Quirinus thought they were the perfect example for the new word he'd been memorizing for his spelling test at school:
Equality.
They sounded like the kind who'd fight to make everything the same for everybody.
Severus, who'd known about magic so much longer and kept it secret just as long, decried his comment, "No!"
"Then don't be a baby!" Hopping off the chair, Quirinus asked, "Wanna see what kinds of books the Headmaster has? Maybe he has a neat one about potions!"
Last night, Severus had told him all about his favorite hobby and while it sounded kind of boring to him, the blond would do anything to make the haunted look disappear from his best friend's eyes.
The dark-haired boy didn't move right away, but, then, with some timidity he joined Quirinus in looking over the titles of the many books lining the shelves of the Headmaster Dumbledore's office.
When his dad came back with the Headmaster and a lady who introduced herself as both Headmistress and Professor, Quirinus oozed polite charm for both he and Severus. This was because the other boy was too busy trying not to shake as Dumbledore's blue eyes studied him like a bug under a magnifying glass.
A bit of chatter later, the Headmistress showed them through the castle to the grounds outside. Once out there, Quirinus couldn't help but be overtaken by awe at the sight of the castle. It was magnificent! Never had he thought a school could look so beautiful until now...
Severus, who was twitchy and the ghastly pale he'd been at the beginning of their visit, looked close to crying as his dad swept him into his arms. Immediately, Quirinus abandoned mooning over the castle to find out what was wrong.
"What's wrong with Severus, Daddy?" he inquired anxiously.
Smiling sadly, the man just ruffled his wispy locks and said, "He's just not feeling well, lad."
The blond felt there was more to it than that, but he couldn't disagree without anything to go on, so glumly, he proclaimed, "Let's go back to Miss Prince's home!"
The Headmistress frowned and remarked, "If you aren't done looking, you do not have to leave now Mister Quirrell. Your father knows the way back to the Headmaster's office."
Shaking his head, Quirinus told her, "No, I'm done."
Neither adult seemed to believe him, but he didn't care. Severus wasn't feeling well and he didn't want him to have to be out in the cold if that was the case.
Sooner than he would have liked, they were stepping back through the hearth in the Prince manor kitchen where Severus's granny was waiting.
At the sight of her grandson, she asked, "What happened?"
Quirinus's father shook his head. "I think it was one of his-" he cast a look to Quirinus who stood mute beside him. "Migraines."
Clucking her tongue, Severus's granny had Dad put his mate down in a chair and as they bustled about finding tea and pain potions, Quirinus went to his friend and took his hand.
"You can tell me," he whispered. "I'll keep a secret."
Severus's eyes opened to reveal scared, fathomless darkness. "Even one like mine?" he squeaked.
Thinking it over, Quirinus nodded. After all, Severus was his very best mate and the best kinds of mates were supposed to know everything about one another. Good and bad. "I will," he swore.
Licking his lips, Severus began his tale.
And this concludes age eight/nine!
How do you feel about the ending? What about the switch away from Eileen's side of things for a bit? I thought it was crucial we got a different perspective - especially for the last scene.
Thanks to reviewers, Biancaruth, The Dark One Rising, Dixie.f.9. Sarah AB, KodeV, Nymphxdora, and NightmarePrince; you guys are the best :)
Before I finish off, I figure you might like to know about some other neat stories that are out there that you can read between this update and the next:
Goldstien by Laazov: "What's a nice Jewish boy like Anthony doing at Hogwarts? Well, for starters, his name isn't really Anthony. Winner of the Fanfiction Booker's Prize 2014."
-This one is a nice study of the integration of a student from a highly religious to Hogwarts.
The Escapades of Teddy Lupin by Nymphxdora: "Teddy Lupin is about to start his first year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little does he know that the next seven years are going to be a roller-coaster of emotions, experiences and events that will challenge everything he has ever known and believed in."
-The best Next-Gen Teddy Lupin multi-chap I've ever read. Great OCs and use of canon-characters
The Lion-Taming of the Shrew by Nightfall Rising: "Sirius babysits and Severus bakes cookies. Neither of these things is strictly true."
-This piece is actually part of an extended series, but you don't need to read it all to read this story. It's very intriguing how Nightfall Rising has Sirius and Severus interact with one another given the situation they are in.
Thanks for reading and please review!
EDITED: 7/9/15