Summer School

Opening quote

Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.
Daniel J. Boorstin

Severus quietly stood in the corner of his new livingroom and, with raised eyebrow, watched Jacob Black manoeuver a box much higher than himself towards the couch. What Jacob couldn't see from behind this particular box was the other box sitting smack dab in the middle of his chosen path. Severus silently watched, knowing nothing fragile was contained in either box. Jake kept walking, and then he encountered the obstacle and the box, including the boy, went flying. He landed on his feet, to Severus' amazement and shot the silent observer a look of contempt. It wouldn't be that simple to trip him up, the adult thought. The boy ran past him again with a smirk.

It hadn't taken long to transport Severus' things to the place he was about to call home from now on. It had helped that he'd enchanted his trunk to hold all his belongings in shrunken form and could retrieve them with a simple spell. Of course he'd done this alone, knowing full well that it would cause questions, but knowing also that he'd find a way to handle them. He now had a bedroom with a skylight that allowed him to watch the very different sky above La Push and let his mind wander. The rest of his apartment consisted of a small but efficient bathroom with a toilet and a shower, a kitchenette, a living-/diningroom area and a small room he'd chosen to use as his office. He'd bought a carved desk from one of the small shops on the reservation. Irene's brilliant smile when she saw him locomote it up the stairs had been truly worth it.

That's how the summer began. Severus didn't get much time to rest. Billy Black took him under his wing soon enough and while that had the benefits of Nora Black's cooking, it also made him aware of how much responsibility his place in the tribe carried. Billy was ruthless in his training of Severus' ability to "phase", as he called the shapeshifting, and there were days when he literally couldn't make heads or tails of anything.

One of those evenings he sat down to eat with the Blacks and Irene. Nora had brought the kids and cooked at his grandmother's place.

Jacob and Dale were busy running through the clearing, and Nora looked relieved to have all that noise and energy OUT of the house for a while. Little Beth was helping set the table, smiling sweetly at Severus and even though kids were not his cup of tea, he couldn't resist smiling back. Beth had inherited her mother's deep brown eyes and black hair. But where Nora's was straight and appeared to fall in sheets when she turned her head, Beth's was wavy and seemed to fluidly follow every one of her motions.

She's a smart kid, Severus thought. Then he corrected himself. Actually, a better description would be that she's inherited the wisdom of the tribe. She gives me looks sometimes that make me feel as if I'm transparent and she can see to the bottom of my soul. At that, he felt as if something had just walked across his grave and shivered. Not his normal type of reaction, and then he looked at Beth who had watched him silently. Unexpectedly she launched herself at him and said, "Sev? Can we go outside and play panta with the boys?" He picked her up and carried her to the porch in his usual careful, dignified manner. The boys raced to the steps and stopped there, panting from all their running around, wondering what their little sister was doing with the man they alternately looked up to and laughed about. After all, they were in awe of his transformed shape, but they had no respect for his awkward ways and were driving him to distraction often enough with their teasing.

He let Beth down, expecting a further demand to play with her, but she was already off, chasing her brothers, laughing happily, all child again. Severus went to sit down again when Irene called everyone in to eat and, completely unselfconscious, licked his hand and wiped his face and hair with it. Every single person in the room went still, holding a collective breath, watching him silently. "So, how… "Severus' question came to an abrupt halt as he noticed the looks. He frantically rewound the few previous seconds, only to realise in the space of one millisecond what he had done. His mind raced from abject humiliation to the intense desire to just run away and never return and finally ended its frazzled efforts in a cough that turned into a chuckle... and dissolved in laughter that left him breathless, eyes tearing and soon the whole table followed his example. Even as she laughed, Irene felt a profound relief. She could only sense how much this had cost him and considered it another hurdle crossed in his healing from Tobias' wounds. The day faded into a comfortable quiet where they all felt how much they had shared and the bond that had drawn Severus into the tribe had drawn him closer still.

Charlie Swan was sitting at his desk even after the nightshift had come on duty, lost in thought. He knew he should get himself together but something was bothering him and at home he wouldn't have a chance to think through it undistracted. Something about his family bothered him but he wasn't quite sure what precisely that something was. Yet. He would figure it out, he promised himself. With a tired sigh he turned off his computer, grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and walked out the door into Forks' fresh night air. The rain had washed everything clean and to Charlie it seemed as if every living being located in his town was taking advantage of that – he met whole families out for evening walks which made him smile and forget about his worries as he got into his car.

The moment he parked in front of his house, his daughter came running down the steps. "Dad, can we go camping this weekend? Can we? Please! Angela and Jessica and their parents are going too!" Bella enthusiastically hugged him and her look would shame every cute begging puppy in existence. Charlie hated camping. But he hated disappointing his one and only daughter even more. Since he knew better than to foist an unplanned camping trip on Renee though, he answered, "Bells, I'll have to talk it over with your Mom or we'll really be in trouble before the weekend even starts." Her smile turned into a half annoyed, half understanding grimace and he laughed. "Come on, what's for supper? I'm about to fall down and starve right here on the stairs," Charlie groaned and climbed said stairs with Bella dragging him most of the way. By the time they arrived in the kitchen, both were laughing. He went to embrace Renee who gave him a quick kiss and told him to wash as supper was ready to be served. As they ate, Bella did her level best to convince her parents that a camping trip to La Push was just what they needed that weekend. The looks passing between Charlie and Renee would have told her how enthusiastic they were about such an outing (NOT), but Bella was too busy eating and talking at almost the same time to notice any of their silent exchange. Bella's trump card was that she'd run across Billy Black and Jacob on her way home and they'd agreed to come to the campground too if she could convince her parents to come. That was the last straw for Charlie – it held the promise of early morning fishing with his best friend, after all. For Renee it worked the other way. Camping AND rising early? Not even untamed equines could force her to accompany them now. Out loud she said she'd think about it, but her mind was made up. A chance to spend more time with Carlisle, she thought to herself and smiled, which Bella falsely interpreted as a hopeful sign. She voluntarily cleared the table and got ready for bed without having to be reminded. She hated actually going to bed without knowing what her parents had decided, but she wasn't given a choice. Both hugged her and kissed her goodnight and then she was left to make her own way to dreamland. She drifted off to the sounds of the TV running and her parents softly talking. She smiled as sleep claimed her.