"What's taking him so long?" Sarah wondered. Dinner had arrived and after waiting a proper amount of time, Sarah uncovered her tray and started eating a hearty beef stew. She found a battered copy of Hogwarts: A History among the books in the case, and settled in to wait. She was warm from the fire and relaxed. After all the walking they had done in the past few days, Sarah was grateful for a chance to sit and lounge.
Looking over at his still covered tray, seeing that the steam wasn't rising from his cup anymore, Sarah stood, swaying slightly. "I must be more tired than I thought," she said to herself. Her intent was to explore his rooms more to see if he was alright.
She didn't even make it one step, when she heard, "Sarah?" being called through the front door.
"Jareth," she said in disbelief, turning towards the door, which opened, revealing her husband's head peeking around the corner.
"Sarah," he said joyously, fully opening the door and stepping through. She launched herself towards him with open arms. He embraced her warmly, nudging the door closed, before drawing back to kiss her deeply. Using a free hand, he locked and warded the door behind him.
Sarah didn't notice, for she was so excited to see him again. "How, I've missed you!" She hugged him once more, relishing the feeling of him pressed against her. Parting, she led him to the chairs. "Severus is supposed to be back soon, I'm sure we can get another plate for you." She offered him her half-drank cup of tea. He politely declined, so she drank from it.
Something niggled at her mind. "How did you know where I was?"
Jareth smiled at her warmly. "You mentioned it in your last letter, Precious, that you were touring the castle. When I arrived, I asked a passing student who said you were last seen heading towards the dungeons. I figured things out from there."
"Oh." She blinked. Her vision of Jareth blurred slightly, forming two of him. After a minute, it settled once more into place. Sarah turned, looking around the room. "Where's…?"
"Precious," Jareth called her attention back to him. "He's been called away on an urgent errand. It'll just be us for a while. And," he said, standing smoothly and pulling her up from her seat. "I have missed you so very much, my Pet."
His kiss was deep and possessive, clouding Sarah's mind with, not need but something else. She felt funny like she had after eating that long-ago peach which swept her into a dream. Disengaging herself gently, she regarded her husband. He had the same mismatched eyes and upturned brows, silken, wild hair, his usual clothes, but something felt off.
"Oh," he murmured. "You haven't finished your tea." He picked up the cup and held it out to her with an anticipatory look in his eyes.
"No," Sarah said, taking the cup and putting it back on the table. "I've had enough."
"Are you certain?" he asked silkily. "You're not one to leave a cup half full." He wrapped a gloved hand around her back, feeling the pearl buttons which held her gown together. Inching his hand upward, he began to undo them.
Sarah stood there focusing her breathing, trying to clear her head. She left half-drunk cups of tea all over the castle at home. What was Jareth talking about? He tipped her head up and kissed her again and she could feel her gown loosen with every button undone. A few more and it would fall from her shoulders.
"Jareth?" she asked as he took the opportunity to kiss her along her jaw and neck. "Since when have you started calling me 'pet'?"
"Hmm?" He stopped what he was doing. "You must have misheard, darling." He took her hand and started to lead her from the room, but not towards the front door. As they passed the bookcase, she stopped and grabbed it with her free hand. Looking down, she shook her head. This felt wrong.
Jareth paused and came back around behind her. Seeing the exposed flesh of her back, he wound his hands around her waist, and started planting kisses over every inch of her skin. He pushed one sleeve from her shoulder and kissed that too. "Seeing as how we have to entertain ourselves, I can think of much better things we could be doing than talking." He ground his growing erecting into Sarah's lower back, letting her understand his full intentions.
The tiny crystal on Sarah's necklace glowed slightly, unseen by both.
All in all, he was very pleased at how the castle had been run in his absence. No deaths, no wars, adoption for the Wished Away set up. He knew Sarah would do just fine. Jareth smiled a proud smile. He would have to congratulate her when she got home.
The letters that he had received were full of her happiness and wonder; he knew that she would be enjoying herself. He was just about to pop into the kitchens when a wave of pain overtook him. His muscles felt like they were on fire. Collapsing into a nearby chair, he waited for the pain to ebb. Thinking as to what was causing it, his eyes widened. Conjuring a crystal, he tossed it, where it hung in midair before transforming into a portal leading into London. He walked through it and headed towards the tavern in the distance.
Sarah plopped onto the emerald green velvet coverlet. How did she end up here? 'Oh, that's right, Jareth.' But this wasn't their bedroom. Where was she again? She looked over at him; he was working his boots off and pulling his grey breeches off, releasing his thick erection and letting it jut proudly in front of him.
She looked down at herself. Aside from the top of her gown being loose, Sarah was fully dressed. 'That's different. Usually he undresses me first. Or at least makes both of our clothes disappear before I even hit the bed.' She steeled herself. She really had to fight the grogginess. 'This couldn't be the English food and all the walking… but it could be the tea.' The realization cleared some of the fog from her mind. 'The tea….'
Jareth padded towards her, clad only in one of his ruffled shirts, opened to the waist. He peeled off his gloves and tossed them to the side. Climbing upon the bed and trapping her legs in between his, he delved one hand underneath her skirts, caressing her leg. 'So soft and smooth.' Kissing her, he pulled at the top of her dress to work the front down.
The two prefects, one Ravenclaw, the other Hufflepuff, didn't startle when a barn owl landed rather hard in front of them. They were used to all manner of things landing in the courtyard of Hogwarts.
They did startle briefly when the owl transformed into a man with wild blond hair, who, after giving them a quick nod, took off practically running for the front doors of the castle.
"Hmm…" said the Hufflepuff, brushing her red hair out of her eyes. "Who do you think that was?"
The Ravenclaw turned back to her friend, dark brown hair whipping in the wind that had kicked up. "I don't know. New Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor?"
"Ooh, he looks interesting," said the Hufflepuff. "I hope so."
"Yeah," snickered the Ravenclaw. "He'd bring about some cha-cha-changes." She giggled at her joke.
"Jessie," said the alarmed Hufflepuff, whipping out her wand. "Are you okay? Why are you stuttering?" She looked around. "Did someone hex you?"
"What? No!" Jessie sighed dejectedly and eyed her friend. "I'm going to have to introduce you to Muggle music."
Jareth made it to the stone spiral staircase deep in the belly of Hogwarts without incident and in record time. Being able to change into an owl at will gave him exceptional night vision and he could see that the staircase went on forever. "This is worse than the Escher Room," he moaned.
Transforming quickly, he glided down the center of the staircase. As soon as his claws hit the stone floor at the bottom, he turned back and dashed down the corridor. A single door greeted him- locked and warded tightly. He pounded on it. "Sarah," he yelled, hoping she'd hear him. No reply came.
Jareth stepped back from the door and rammed it with his shoulder. It didn't budge. "Damn, English oak," he cried. He waved a gloved hand in front of the door in hopes that his adequate knowledge of Wizarding Magic would help. It didn't. He could feel the wards were as strong as ever. With great effort, he conjured a crystal and tossed it at the door. Again, nothing happened. "Damnit!" He pounded both fists against it in aggravation.
A memory of an old Fae revealing spell flitted through his mind. If he altered a few of the syntaxes, it might work. Centering his mind, he worked quickly, waving his hands in an intricate pattern. There… something was starting to glow on the front of the door. Not the result he was looking for, but at least he was making progress. Jareth looked at the light and he gasped. It was words, ancient Wizarding words that represented the wards that Severus had placed. They were a bright green color, not unlike the ones of his half-brother's House. He could make out a few of them and knew what they meant, but the way they flowed didn't make any sense at all.
Experimentally, he plucked a word between his forefinger and thumb, and moved it to another part of the spell. The string of words he placed it in visibly shook and flared into a different color before settling into a Carmel hue. 'Interesting,' he thought.
As Sarah kissed Jareth, she ran her hands down his exposed chest and froze, forgetting that his hand was caressing higher and higher towards the juncture of her thighs. He wasn't wearing his amulet. In all the time they had spent together, even that very first encounter when she was 15, he had his amulet on him or incorporated into his clothing in some fashion. He never went without it. She pushed against his chest and wriggled out from under him. Crawling across the bed to the other side, Sarah stood and faced what she now knew was an imposter. She had a good idea of who he was. The only problem was that her wand was in the front room and he was standing in front of her way there.
"What's wrong, Pet?" He asked softly. Damn, he was close. He could feel the heat radiating from those lovely thighs.
She shook her head again, clearing the last of the tea-induced fog. That was another mark against him, for she was sure he had drugged her. "I'm afraid dinner isn't settling with me, and I would hate to make a mess in here." Sarah pulled her sleeves more securely on her shoulders and started walking around the bed, hoping to edge past him.
The Jareth imposter pursed his lips in annoyance and, reaching behind him, he closed the bedroom door. "Oh, but darling, stay. I'm sure I can take your mind off things," he ended in a purr.
'Damn," Sarah thought. 'Plan B…'
Jareth was more than mildly surprised when the door clicked and the glowing words faded as the spell was broken. He could marvel at his discovery later. For now, he had to get to Sarah. Looking around the office, he spied two doors. Quickly walking towards the left, he reached out with his somewhat limited magic. Not sensing any living beings inside, he dismissed it. Striding over to the right, he encountered a stronger set of wards than what was on the hall one. "His personal quarters," he surmised.
Using the same altered revealing spell, Jareth found that these wards were, in fact, different. The language was more jumbled and the words glowed black, edged in red. "This is going to take time." He worked quickly to move the components around to his liking.
Sarah tried another tactic. "Darling, you never explained what brought you here?"
"I just missed you and I couldn't wait to see you again." His erection was waning and he was starting to droop. Things never went the way he wanted them to.
"Missed your 'pet' so much that you forgot your amulet?" She said silkily, giving him a knowing look.
"Hmm?" He looked at her, seeing the clarity in her eyes, and hearing the edge to her voice. His eyes widened slightly in alarm.
"Yes." She stalked closer towards him. "Your amulet." She gestured to the exposed part of his chest. "I've never seen you without it." As she talked, she stuck one arm behind her back and concentrated, hoping a crystal would form.
"But you wouldn't know that, would you… Severus."
He opened his mouth to reply but no words came out. Sarah wiggled her fingers in hopes that something would appear, but it didn't. Severus took her slight distraction as an opportunity and lunged in a last ditch effort to get what he coveted so badly. Sarah gave a shriek in alarm and put her hands out in front of her to block him, and then something weird happened. A ball of pure light emitted from her palms and hit him square in the chest, rendering Severus unconscious. Not what she had intended it to do, but it still suited her purposes nicely.
Jareth made it through the second door and stalked towards the small dining area. He saw the half-drunk tea and untouched cup and looked around frantically. Then, he heard low talking in the next room. Racing towards the closed door, he prayed to the gods that it wasn't warded. Opening it up, he came face to face with Sarah, who was struggling to cover herself and on the floor. Clad only in a white shirt was his own unconscious form.
"Jareth," she cried, not caring that she was half dressed. She flung herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. "You found me." She leaned back and patted his chest searchingly. There was his amulet. It was really him.
"What's going on? Are you alright? Where's Severus?" He looked her over with concerned eyes. She appeared unharmed.
"There." She pointed to the lifeless form on the floor.
"There?" He looked closely. It was an exact replica of himself. 'Huh, I didn't know my ass looked that good.' Tearing his eyes away, he grabbed Sarah to himself and held her tightly, having an inkling as to what might have transpired.
"Did he…?" He didn't finish the question, not knowing if he wanted the answer.
"No. He wanted to and he had me convinced until I realized he wasn't wearing your amulet. I've never seen you without it."
"But how?" He realized that half the buttons of her gown were undone. He started to redo them for her.
"I don't know," Sarah said honestly. "Thank you," she said when she noticed what he was doing. "I think there was mention of it in one of those books. Something about Polyjuice…"
It clicked in Jareth's mind. "Polyjuice Potion. Yes, I remember reading about it once. It renders the drinker exactly like their intended target." He nudged the body with his foot. "How did you knock him out?"
Sarah pulled herself out of his grasp. "Magic," she said proudly. "I hoped, it would work, I know things don't cross well. It wasn't what I fully wanted, but the end result was good."
Jareth caressed her cheek, glad that she was safe. "What did you intend?"
"To cause him bodily harm. Excuse me." She walked to the sitting room and grabbed her cloak and wand. Coming back, Sarah waved the wand and silver cords appeared and wrapped themselves around the man on the floor. "He needs to see the High King."
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters- they are the property of their respective owners.
Betaed by AnonyMissJ. I wouldn't be able to do this without you.
A/N: So this is all I have. Still haven't come up with a tidy ending yet. Soon.