Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by the brilliant mind that is J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers

Chapter 61

Sev's POV

"I don't expect her to understand, and I don't see how you should?"

I ignored the enthusiastic nodding from Phineas Nigellus Black and stared into Copernicus' Eye, a metallic bowl that reflected astronomical constellations with the aid of the amblygonite crystal at its base.

I watched as the Water Jar Star glowed brighter as a new constellation took form, and I turned away from the Eye, recalling why I never look upon it just as I heard the swish of a cloak behind me.

Meddlesome fool, I turned to the window as he observed the Eye with interest, "Ahhh, well, centuries have past but Copernicus' instrument hums with the vigour of youth. Debate surrounds the creator, what do you believe Severus?"

My eyes flickered to his silver hair as he continued to gaze into the ancient instrument, "I believe an expulsion is fairer than he deserves."

"Ahh, I believe that Copernicus was wiser than those gave him credit. He understood the soul better than many of those that claim to understand the mind. Look upon the Eye and see the stars to which your heart truly yearns to see. The constellation is unique to the viewer, but what use of it?" He turned to me as I sighed, leaning against the shelf, already bored with the lecture and his attempt at a change of subject. "Only you know what is in your heart, and only your heart knows what you wish for in the stars, and only the stars know what holds your future-"

"And only Harry Potter can get away with murder!" I snapped, annoyed with his spiel. For a man who lived nearly a century alone he was too much of a romantic. With his circumstances there lay promises of a cynical, old, bitter fool that wallowed in his solitude. No, I will be cursed with the old lonesome fool that was the greatest advocate for love.

"Harry murdered nobody, Severus."

I turned away from the slowly rising sun and glared at the man, "Try explaining that to Narcissa. Who you will not be surprised, has already written to the Governors about last night. You expect me to tell her that all the boy gets is detention and suspension from his Quidditch duties? Is that supposed to appease her, when her son was nearly murdered by the boy? You expect me to tell her all that and let her still believe that I wish to protect her son from harm?"

"I don't expect to appease Narcissa Malfoy, Severus. I doubt much would these days. And I do not advocate Harry's behaviour. It was a terrible mistake-"

I scoffed at that. Of course, Potter would strike down a boy with a lethal curse and it would be chalked up to a measly mistake.

"It was a mistake Severus, dislike the boy all you want but you must know that he has a good heart. Even with the death of Sirius fresh in his mind he could never perform an unforgivable, for Harry to have done this he must have been ignorant to the effects of this particularly unkind curse."

I looked back out the window as I felt his eyes on me, half moon spectacles lowered on the ridge of his nose so as to not interfere with the x-ray he was currently performing.

"What I find most strange is how Harry came about such a spell. It surely wouldn't be found in the library at this school, Restricted Section or not, I don't recall you publishing your earlier works. Or did you perhaps teach-"

"I taught no one!" I snapped, annoyed with the man and the insinuation. Teach Potter! Like it's possible to teach that arrogant little shit anything. "The thieving little..." I took a deep breath, regaining composure, "He stole my old text book. I had some spells written down... it actually explains his sudden knack for Potions that Horace was proclaiming. Should have guessed it from the beginning, the boy is as original as his father."

"Spells such as that should not be created in the first place Severus, mayhap then impressionable young-"

"Are you seriously blaming me for creating the spell! What of Potter and his gross ignorance for reciting such a spell without knowledge of what it can accomplish! What kind of wizard does such a thing! A reckless, selfish-"

"Young wizard who was clutching at a way to defend himself. Harry may be a fighter Severus, but I do not for a second believe he sought to fight Mr Malfoy, and definitely not to harm him. Perhaps we must wonder what Mr Malfoy had done to warrant such an act on Harry's part." He sighed and walked to his desk, "Severus, I do not wish to blame either boy."

"Especially when it is so evident that one is in the wrong."

The man was impossible, and they wondered why I favoured my Snakes? How could I not when everyone else would heap blame at their door even if there was nought a sign of their entry.

"Severus, you may not care to admit, but you know Harry. You know he would not intentionally cause Mr Malfoy harm. And I would like to award Mr Malfoy with the same courtesy."

He interlinked his fingers and my anger dimmed slightly as I observed the blackened limb that his chin now rested on.

"Detention may seem like a small punishment, but prohibiting Harry from helping his team play in the final match of the School Championship is more punishment than any suspension served outside these doors. And as for an expulsion, who would it benefit, except Voldemort? He is safer in school, Severus."

"But apparently his fellow students are not!" I barged forward and gripped the back of the leather armchair that he conjured for my visits, "What if it hit Bane! She was there you know! I would not have known! I would not have gone there for there is no magic that binds us, like the magic that binds me to Draco and allows me to keep him from harm! She would have bled out and died!"

"Harry would never harm Kyrianna, Severus!"

"One never intends to do such things, Albus! But you know too well what happens when anger is high and curses are loose!"

The regret churned within me as the last words flew out my mouth and I looked out the window in frustration, away from his eyes which fell to the desk as they flooded with memory.

I stepped away from the chair, "I apologise."

I ignored the whispers of chastisement that rippled from the surrounding portraits as I pulled my eyes to the Headmaster. He made me uncomfortable, with his wizened hands and thin shoulders, his wrinkled face and watery eyes. Dumbledore had aged a decade in the year that had passed, but it wasn't his features that made me uncomfortable. It was what it symbolised. Every second stolen from his reflexes, every moment etched on his face, was that many closer to the job that he had bestowed on me. Cursed me with... gifting him a hero's death.

"Never apologise for caring for Kyrianna's safety. I like to attribute the quiet year she has had to both you and Minerva, and of course to Kyrianna herself. She has grown from the girl that lay rampage to this castle three years ago, has she not Severus?"

I settled into the armchair, I hadn't spoken to Bane since I saw her in that bathroom last night. The relief I felt that the blood that stained her hands and flooded the floor was not hers was the only thing that stayed my hand against Potter.

"I fear the quiet has come to an end. She and Potter are back together, no good ever comes from it."

"Oh Severus, Kyrianna would be gravely insulted if you insinuate that she relies on Harry to stir up trouble. She is independently proficient in such acts."

I ignored his response, knowing that any talk of Bane caused him stress. I realised earlier in the year what the Old Fool had been doing by avoiding Bane. Not that he didn't really have affairs to see to outside the Castle, he had much too many affairs to see to these days, but he could make an effort to see more of her.

Something she was painfully aware of. Unfortunately she wasn't painfully aware of the truth behind his actions. The year may have been a quiet one for Bane, but it was also an uncomfortably sad one for her. How many times did I catch her gazing at the empty Head chair at Breakfast, or staring off at the Headmasters tower during Defence?

"I know you think you're helping her by seeing less of her, that you're somehow preparing her... but you're not. She misses you, and when it does happen she'll miss you just as much, irrelevant if she sees more or less of you. You can't make her love you less, Albus."

"I am much too selfish to ever wish such a thing." He cleared his throat, laying his blackened hand on the table surface to cool it from the itch that plagued him every so often. I made a mental note to send some balm up, knowing the old fool was too proud to ask of such things at times. "My absence from Kyrianna's life of late is not of her benefit. But my own."

He gazed out the window, the day properly beginning and I thought on his words. The man might be one of the bravest men I knew, the most self sacrificing of all of us, but he was a man. Bane could persuade him to stay, to turn down this martyrdom and choose to live with just a chuckle, look of adoration, embrace full of love... the more time he spent with the child, the more time he doubted his decisions... she was drilling uncertainty into his lion heart without even knowing what she was doing.

"It's ironic; I lived such a long life without my family, to find them at the dawn of my end."

I swallowed, uncomfortable at the thought his words summoned, knowing full well who would wield his destruction. "Fate is cruel."

"No Severus. Fate is forgiving. For all I have done, she has still bestowed me with the fleeting moments at the end, where I bathed in the radiance that was my grandchildren."

I straightened up from my chair as he smiled in a serene way that made me want to strike him. He shouldn't be complacent just yet. There was enough fight left in him and I would only deliver the final blow at the very end, if there were no other choice in this world. I bit my lip as my heart hastened at his words. It was one thing to talk of his death but another to talk of his murder.

"Do you think she will forgive me?" My eyes were glued to the warm wooden surface, as my fist gripped my knees. He would be dead and gone, and I would be left with blood on my hands. There'd be tears in her eyes for him, but hatred in her heart for me.

"The beauty of Kyrianna is her ability to forgive. I would not ask this of you if I thought it meant the ends of one of the most mesmerising relationships that I have had the privilege to witness unfold. A child forgives their parents more than they do themselves, Severus. It is their greatest strength and weakness."

I stood, walking back to the window, my back to the old man. I had never been privileged with forgiveness; I glanced at the Eye and the Aquarian constellation that shorn up at me.

Her favourite, her emerald eyes would brim with such pride when she would pin point it in the velvet top that covered our little green haven. She was smart to know it at such a young age.

Everything about her was smart.

Everything about her was beautiful.

Everything about her was pure.

It was a slight on nature itself for her to even look my way, but for her to take my hand in friendship... it was a slap in the face and nature had its vengeance.

How would nature avenge Bane's existence in my life?

I don't deserve her adoration any more than I deserved Lily's friendship. And I never earned Lily's forgiveness, just like I would never earn Bane's...

I failed Lily. I failed to keep her safe and protected, irrelevant of where her heart lay.

I cannot fail Bane. I may break her heart, but safe and protected is what I will keep her.

She'll hate me... but she'll live.

"Severus?" I took a soft breath, blinking once to clear my eyes and twice to clear my thoughts and turned to the new occupant.

"Silvestre. About time." I nodded in greeting at the man who was observing me curiously; the man was much too perceptive for my liking.

"Apologies. I was at St Mungo's helping." He turned to Dumbledore who had risen in greeting, "It's good to see you Headmaster."

"Feeling is very much mutual Silvestre. Would you like some breakfast, forgive me for saying, but you look quite in need of it."

"I'll have to decline; I need to go back to the Hospital. They're short staffed and as you are aware, the Death Eater's were much too active last night. I was just bringing this here for Severus." I claimed the black pouch he offered me, the spiny Gotu Kola seeds poking into my flesh. "Careful not to crush it too fine... it's very concentrated, I have Calendula as well, it probably won't cause as much burning and discomfort."

"The wounds are quite severe and if we wish to prevent permanent scarring, this is the only way I can think of."

He nodded, "You know what will work best." He then faltered, pulling out two envelopes from the inside of his robes and holding them out to me, a glint in his amber eyes that was both unsettling and unfamiliar."Anyway, would you mind giving this to Ky?"

"Both of them?" I frowned, looking at the mismatched envelopes that were now in my hand. One looked distinctly muggle... which muggle would be writing to Bane?

The blonde's amber eyes flickered to the Headmaster who was sipping his tea, pretending to not be listening. "The other is for you."

My frown disappeared instantly and I pocketed the letters swiftly. Damn Charlie Weasley! I glared at the blonde as he bit down a smile and bid us farewell, and I followed his exit in haste. Out the door before the meddlesome old man voiced any curiosities.

I could feel the cool envelope tickle my chest as it lay in my pocket. It had been ages since I saw pen ink on paper. Paper? It was so much colder than parchment... I stepped off the staircase and heard the wall slide shut behind me.

I touched my chest... it was uncomfortable sitting there, much too cold. I should just read it and be done with it. I fished out the paper and glanced down at the little blue letters...

Bӑile Tuşnad, Romania

I glanced away from the large black writing and swiftly observed my surroundings, my wand steady in my right hand. The night was silent but for the sounds of nature, a common occurrence considering I seemed to be at the perimeter of a large forest, the trickling sound of a water source within. My ears pricked as I heard sounds of voices in the distance and I turned, wand raised.

There in the distance lay a great house, which resembled a cabin more than it did a Manor even though it was quite the size of the latter. The eyes of the house glowed warmly and inviting, happy shadows dancing in its orbs...

I frowned, turning left and right in the darkness, I can't have apparated to the wrong place? Impossible, I carefully chose the four cities that broke each of my apparitions well within the range so as to not make this very mistake.

Perhaps I should not have skipped over Budapest?

"Se-"

A clap of light erupted as my violet spell met a shield of luminescent silver and I caught the hazel eyes just behind the shield charm and stepped forward, raising my wand again.

"What's your favourite drink?"

The hazel eyes flickered to his left, and I squared my shoulders as another man approached, "Cosmopolitans." The boy muttered as the stranger guffawed; Lenzo lowered his wand and turned to the dark man, "Hey! It's very refreshing! And it may be pink but it's strong as fuck if you mix it right."

I lowered my wand and sighed, "You said Python. You do know that codes are there for a reason, and this definitely does not seem like things have gone south with the Vampires. "

"Yeah yeah, I know what I said." The boy walked forward with a charming smile and I was reminded just where Bane got her mischievous streak from, "I know you wouldn't have come if I told you why you're really here."

"And why am I really here?" I raised a brow, observing his companion with the corner of my eye. It was evident that he was a native with his dark skin accompanied with high cheekbones and a square jaw that I could just make out amidst the thick beard, his face shining from consumption.

I heard the breaking of a twig behind me but didn't raise my wand, Len's face was much too welcoming for our new arrivals to be enemies.

"I can't believe it. You did it!" Linus smiled in greeting, observing me as if I spouted a second head, Silvestre on his tail. The blonde turned to me with a sigh, "Python?"

My response was a glare at the older boy, the supposed responsible one, the one I hoped Ky would take after a little more...

It was unnerving how alike he was to his grandfather in mannerisms, I doubt he even realised it. The midnight blue eyes may be thanks to genetics, but the way they twinkled, arming him with a persuasive edge over most others, was inexplicable. Most, being the key word. I was quite attuned to ignoring the manipulations of the twinkling blue hue, unless of course its owner was requesting life threatening tasks for me to accomplish.

I doubt Linus had me here for a life threatening task, the ruddy complexion of his cheeks made me realise what had made the usual responsible boy go off the tracks to such an extent he abused Order protocol and summoned me across four countries in deception.

"Severus, Silvestre, please. Listen. I would never have called if it wasn't important." Linus held his arms open in welcome, "Charlie needs our help."

"Unless the Vampires have challenged us to a drinking contest where the victor wins their helping hand, I highly doubt Charlie could need any help you might offer at present."

I smirked at the Frenchman's remark as Linus gaped at him. Silent he may be, when he did speak, it was always worth the listen.

"I'm not... drunk." Linus added, his hands falling to the side, "I've just drank... a lot. And you can't make me feel guilty about it because I have permission from my wife to be here... not that I need permission..." He muttered as his younger brother chortled at him.

"Darius!" My eyes flickered to the left, but my hands remained relaxed as the voice portrayed all I needed to know of the newcomer. She was intoxicated, and my reflexes would quite outplay her even if they were delayed.

The dark man lost his amused grin as he turned to the girl. She was a child, appearing to be close to Bane in age, and judging by the eye colour and cheekbones, a relative of the man. Her smile was much too charming for her age as she straightened up, pointedly staring at every one of us.

"Felicia, I told you-"

"Ya, ya!" She dismissed his words, "Party is moving outside." She nodded her head behind her; a trickle of people started exiting the house and I glared at Len as he grabbed me around the shoulders and pulled me into the forest.

"I know, I know, you don't like to be touched, just bare with me for a second. Charlie invited us here, and by us I mean ALL of us. I knew you wouldn't come without some persuasion so I told a little fib, and I'm not sorry for it. A few things you need to know-"

"I don't need to know a thing, because I am not staying!" I pushed the boy off me and straightened up, glancing about the clearing we just walked into. I stepped back, ready to disapparate on the spot, humouring them for much too long as is.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I glanced up, the hand disappearing instantly as the blonde nodded an apology, "You can't apparate. They're mostly muggles."

I turned to the bronze haired boy as he held his hands up pleadingly, dodging a group of men who had started on a fire in the middle of the clearing. As if to reiterate Silvestre's words, the man took out a lighter and begun scrounging around for wood.

"Look, Charlie's girlfriend is a muggleborn, and this is her family. They invited him and his family for a wedding, her brother's wedding and weddings to Romanians are a whole week affair. Anyway, Charlie isn't quite ready to bring his folks into the picture, but it's considered extremely rude to show up alone to these pre wedding celebrations. Now, I went to Darius' bachelor party, but it's nice for him to-"

"Severus!" I ground my teeth as I felt a hand on my shoulder once again. Salazar, they wanted me to blow this place up, "I can't believe you came. Ileana, this is Severus." Charlie Weasley thankfully removed his hand and swung it around the petite girl at his side.

"I've heard much about you; it's a pleasure to meet you." I held my face passively, and nodded once, not in the mood to make pleasantries. The clearing was filling up quickly as I searched for the path Len had just pulled me through. If I make it back there I can apparate to Hogwart's and start on the Seventh year essays that were promising to be just as torturous as reading every one of the essays Neville Longbottom ever penned for me.

"Thank you so much." I glanced down at the girl who had touched my left arm to regain my attention. Salazar, she was lucky she was a woman. She rubbed her slender fingers up and down a few times, "I can't imagine what would have happened to Charlie if you were not there that night."

Merlin, they were talking about the Palbei fight. The night the unnatural creatures were all put to rest, we all had been summoned for backup. Back in the good old days when Linus Thornton did not abuse codes for his own benefit. I glanced at the tall boy who had been conversing with Bill Weasley and Darius.

The girl was looking at me expectantly, her light brown eyes reflecting the flames that now danced beside us, the quicker I nod, the quicker she let's go of my arm.

I nodded in gratitude, although experiencing none. I wasn't grateful for the comment, the comment was unnecessary. I helped the boy defeat a particularly unpleasant Garou, it had nothing to do with him in particular. I was just following protocol. Minimizing damage to the Order. He was young, and a steady hand in a duel, a benefit to our side.

Plus we needed the vampires on our side if we can manage it, and Charlie seemed to be making much progress with them, having already been acquaintances with some of the Transylvanian royalty due to his geographic placement.

"It's an insult to your host to not partake in the celebrations!" I turned to the voice, recognizing the high pitch from earlier. It was the girl, the relative of Darius' and now my sole company as the couple finally walked away.

"Ţuicӑ." She giggled, offering me a large wooden mug, when I hesitated, her giggling grew more pronounced. "It's bad luck to refuse to drink in the happiness of the family that is to be born on Sunday. The plums for this drink were grown especially for my brother and Emmalina. You do not wish ill will on my family, do you Severus?"

I relieved her of the mug, positive she wouldn't stop talking until I did so. I wondered how she knew my name as she smiled up at me, her exposed shoulder shining in the moonlight as my eyes roved the clearing. With all the people around here, it was hard to pinpoint the exit.

She seemed to be telling the truth about the ale, everyone was nursing one, some looking like they nursed a few too many. I felt fingers at my elbow and quickly raised the mug to my lips so as to dodge the girl's attempt at holding my arm. Salazar, why were they all so touchy.

It was like rubbing a grater over my throat, the drink was one of the strongest that ever touched my lips and I regretted gulping it down, but I was damned if I showed it, finishing it in a few gulps as the girl laughed up at me.

"Wow! You're the first Englishman I've seen to drink Ţuicӑ in one go. Charlie cried the first time he drank it, then again he was recovering from quite a bad bear bite. That's how my sister knows him; they work together in the reserve. They're protecting the Brown Bear, Ileana loves them. She loves them so much my mother worried if she ever would find a husband. Then Charlie came along, I think they'll get married? Don't you. They're very cute together, but father says it's very disrespectful of him not to have brought his family home. Especially when we invited them all to Darius' wedding. It's lucky you all came tonight; it must be so exciting having so many brothers and sisters. He has-"

"Excuse me, I-"

"I'm Felicia by the way!" She hopped out of the way of two men carrying a drum filled with spirits and I stepped back, unsure whether the distinct feeling of hardened flesh at my left arm was an innocent mistake due to the breezy night or the girl was attempting a seduction. I glanced down at her as she licked her lips up at me, her hazel eyes shining darkly up at me.

"Felicia, Bunӑ is looking for you, she wants you to start the hora, Rahela and Romana won't start dancing without you."

"Ahhh Maria, tell Bunӑ I am busy. I am entertaining Charlie's friend." The girl smirked up at me, ignoring the woman who approached from our right.

"Felicia!"

"Fine, I'll go, if Severus comes with me?" She lurched forward but I stepped back.

"I'm sorry, I actually have to-"

"You wouldn't deny a girl a dance, now would you?"

"Of course not!" I closed my eyes, harnessing patience as Len's voice cut in, "Severus is a gentleman, as well as a teacher, how can he deny any such thing from a beautiful woman such as yourself."

I grit my teeth as Len's whispering voice filled my ears just as the two women began arguing in Romanian, "What are you doing! She has daddy issues plastered all over her face."

I glared at the boy, "Are you insinuating I should attempt to enjoy the company of a girl old enough to be my daughter?"

"Fucks sakes Severus, you're thirty six years old, she's in her twenties, you do the math."

"I'm turning eighteen in August! I am not a child!" Len snapped around just as the woman sighed in exasperation as the girl argued with her.

"Did you just say... eighteen." The girl nodded proudly as the boy took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck in thought, "Ky's turning..."

"Seventeen in June." I watched as the clogs churned in his mind as he gasped, turning to the girl.

"Severus-"

"No! No!" Len gestured emphatically with his hands, relieving the girl of her drink, "You should be in bed, go, get, now!" The boy grabbed her by the arm and began searching for her parents, suddenly dead set on returning her to adult supervision.

I dodged a dancing pair, and glanced about the clearing, finally seeing the exit just behind the groom to be. I crossed the clearing with ease, all the occupants entertained by the dozen or so girls dancing the hora or enjoying the flagrante drinks that were gushing out of the many kegs.

I trod carefully on the darkened path, choosing not to light my wand in case of an unannounced spectator. The path was longer than I recalled. I glanced up, contemplating apparating on the spot, but knew it better to do so in the light, knowing that Deliberation was always better when the surroundings were visible.

I frowned at the full moon, realising why the werewolf had not been invited. I pushed the collar of my cloak up against my neck, the wind uncomfortably caressing my skin as the trees thinned out. I stopped when I breeched the end of the thick forest and I froze.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

My fingers clenched around the wand in my pocket, but they never resurfaced as I found the voice somewhat familiar. I heard the crunch of wood but what stayed my hand was the distinct perfume that travelled on the gust of wind.

Lily of the Valley.

"Do you have a light?"

My eyes flickered away from the mass of water that lay feet in front of me, the shimmering lake that was the heart of the forest. They landed on the woman, Maria, who had chided the girl moments ago.

Her honey head was bent as she searched the pockets of her coat, searching for the machine that would bring to life the stick that dangled at her mouth. Her perfume made my throat constrict, and I fought the urge not to lean into her scarf clad neck.

It was like meeting an old friend, the images resurfaced at the olfactory assault I was under.

"Found it!" She laughed as I leaned against a trunk. It must be the drink, but it was becoming harder not to lean in and drink in all that I could of her. I straightened against the trunk as she lifted her head, her red lips caressing the ends of the cigarette that singed to life.

"You want one?"

My hands clutched my wand tighter as I fought the urge to flee whilst simultaneously fighting the urge to stay just as she swept the lock of hair from her eyes and any thoughts of my departure with it.

Her emerald green eyes found mine and soldered me to the spot. As I blinked I realised how wrong I was and my shoulders relaxed. They were not like Lily's. None were like Lily's, save the boy's, but even the boy's never portrayed the same warmth, passion, life that hers did.

With every blink I realised how different they were to Lily's, they weren't her full orbs, but almond shaped and lacking the sparkle that she conveyed with a mere flutter of eyelashes, hers being much too dark and thick to be Lily's.

"Erm... I could put it out, if it's troubling you that much."

I swallowed, adjusting my senses as I realised I had backed up from the woman quite a bit and stared at her for an inappropriate time. "No, it's OK, I was just about to leave."

"Were you planning to swim across Lake Saint Anna?" She smirked.

I realised my mistake, glancing to the few feet of grass that separated the lake from the forest and turned on my heel, deciding it's better to find the right path and disapparate from there than answer the woman's question.

"I know what you are." She sighed as I stopped; her back was to me as she leaned against a large trunk.

As if to keep me rooted to the spot the wind picked up and trickled her scent into my nostrils, "I am aware of that. You were present when Lorenzo informed Felicia that I was a teacher."

Her shoulders shook as she laughed softly, "Poor Felicia, she's heartbroken. Men do not turn her away, and never with such indifference. How old is she?"

"Who?" I watched as the little puffs of smoke ascended into invisibility.

"Your daughter."

I observed her silhouette as I thought on her question. Not much of her could be seen behind the cloak, there was a suspicious lilt in her voice though. It made me want to stay, figure out why she followed me out here, for I was positive she followed me.

Maybe she was as much an innocent muggle as I was?

"Seventeen this June." I murmured, "How did you know I had a daughter?"

"Men do not turn Felicia away. But fathers would."

"Or perhaps teachers with a moral compass."

She laughed and it was soft and mocking as she turned around and I was attacked by the emerald gaze, "Hmmm. Teacher? So Mr Teacher, what do you teach?"

"Science." I answered without hesitation, "Highschool in Scotland. What do you do for a living?"

"I also teach." She dragged the cigarette from her lips, "University. Political Science."

I nodded, not understanding what science one could find in politics. "Here?"

She shook her head in the negative, "Paris. I'm just here for Darius' wedding. How do you know Charlie?"

"He was a student at my school a few years ago."Always best to work with some facts.

"Do you keep in touch with all the students that leave your school?"

"No, but they do tend to keep in touch with me. Another one?"

The alcohol was probably making me loose tongued, but I never liked the habit of smoking much, my father being rather fond of it.

"Weddings always make me angsty." The flame flashed before her face momentarily. She clicked at the lighter again but it just sputtered. She glanced up at me and I fought the urge to step back. "Will you?"

"I don't smoke." I muttered, annoyed that the woman unsettled me so. She stepped forward and my throat constricted as her perfume swept about her, she leaned toward me conspiratorially and I gripped my wand tighter.

"An old man like you doesn't know a simple flame spell?"

My wand was on her in moments but her only response was laughter, "For an old man, you sure have fast reflexes!"

I stepped forward threateningly, slightly annoyed by the old man insult, she held her hands up in surrender, letting the cigarette fall to the floor, "No need to be so hostile, I know Charlie is a wizard and he went to a wizarding school in Scotland. Ileana is my best friend since childhood, unlike her younger sister, I am well aware of her ability and her real job."

I contemplated obliviating her and apparating away, but just then she tilted her head up at me, the moonlight shining over her heart shaped face. Those eyes.

"Forgive my teasing. I couldn't help it. Will you please put that down?" She glanced at the wand in my hand but I hesitated, "Please."

I lowered it at the tremble in her voice, growing curious instantly. She swallowed, fingering a locket at her neck as she watched me pocket my wand.

"Felicia doesn't know of Ileana being a witch?" I assumed the girl had thought I was also a muggle, hence the lies about bears. But it was strange that she didn't know the truth. Blood relatives were allowed to know one's status as governed by the law. It's why Petunia Evans made Lily's life a living hell as often as she could. If anyone should be in the dark in concern with Ileana's ability, it should be Maria.

"No. She can only find out on her eighteenth birthday, which thankfully is in a few months from now. Romanian Wizarding law states that muggle relatives can only be informed of a witch or wizards ability when they are legal in the eyes of the muggle law." She turned around, staring at the lake, "Romania is very particular about these sorts of things."

"Then how do you know of magic?"

"A wizard is allowed to disclose that sort of information to their spouse."

I nodded, letting the information sink in. "Your husband is a wizard."

"Was." It was a whisper but it echoed in the silent night. She curled her arms about her, "Stelian died six years ago."

The generic response never left my mouth as I abhorred it. I'm sorry? What would that do? It wouldn't seal the gaping hole in her heart. I glanced at the lake which was eerily still.

"Your wife?"

I frowned, unsure why she would assume I had a wife, and why she would assume that wife be dead. I should probably tell her the truth, Charlie surely would.

"Sixteen years this October."

Inexplicable. The lie was inexplicable. She turned, her emerald eyes brimming with tears as she lowerd her head. Something about her screamed to be touched. Something about her yearned for conversation.

"How did he die?" The question was forthright but she never even quivered.

"The riots. In '89. We'd only been married a few months, once I finished high school. I know that sounds crazy, but we've known each other all our life, it seemed silly to sit around and wait for the age that society deemed suitable for us to be one. But that was Stelian, he was passionate and thought with his heart. He was one of the leaders in the '89 Riots. He... had big ideas." She shook her head, "He wanted the Statute of Secrecy to be wavered. He thought it selfish of magical folk to turn a blind eye to the silent pleas of muggles. He felt that he had a gift and that gift should be used to help all people."

I bit back my opinions at how naive that was. Muggles knowing about magic? Muggles were greedy and outnumbered us and would have us working like dogs to appease them.

"After the riots the Romanian government buckled down on legislature, bringing on more stringent laws so as to prevent extremist behaviours such as that. It's why I left Romania. This used to be a place where folklore brimmed with the imaginings of vampires and magic and werewolves. Instead they are building the bridge wider between our kinds, sometimes I'm grateful that Stelian is not around to see all of this."

I spent days imagining Lily was around, but never imagining her to exist in this world. A world where her son was haunted by a Dark Lord and her friends and family would live with fear in their eyes. If Lily lived, it all would be different. There would be no war. And no Death Eaters. No Dark Lord.

Naive? Who was I to call anyone naive?

"Why did you follow me?" My voice was soft, dwindled by the confusing feelings the woman was igniting within me.

She leaned back and I awaited a response, her long hair trickling across the bark, "You reminded me of someone."

Could it be possible? Could I remind her of her husband in the way she reminded me of Lily.

"Who?"

She straightened off the bark and I felt smoothness at my lower lip as she ran a finger across it. I fought the urge to run. To back away. To shy away from it.

She ran her finger across my jaw and down my neck and my heart beat faster as her eyes trembled with intrigue as she slowly lifted her head up.

"Me."

Her fingers gathered at the back of my neck but I didn't need physical persuasion to lean forward, to capture her full lips that were strong, decisive, unyielding.

There was nothing soft about this woman even if her waist felt like silk and soft breasts against my chest was like a hammer to my walls, knocking them down with a twist of a tongue and roving hands.

It must have been the alcohol.

It must have been her eyes.

And her scent.

I should stop. I should turn and walk away. Disapparate.

I drank in the scent of her bare neck as I did away with her scarf as her thighs clung to my hips as the dress I didn't know she was wearing bunched at her waist.

I pushed her neck back and stared down at her eyes, those beautiful emerald orbs that lived in my dreams as her moans floated through the night, the tinkles of laughter, of music, of life in the distance and I knew she was right.

It was but one thing.

She reminded me of someone.

I jolted upright as I felt something bump into me, glancing up the corridor and realising that I had walked down to the Hospital Wing.

"Morning Sensei!"

Fuck. I pushed the letter back into my breast pocket and straightened to my full height.

Bane was smiling up at me, her large grey eyes bright and her cheeks red from the chilly morning. Her eyes flickered to the group of girls behind her, who were all in varying degrees of shock.

Really, I should get an award for being this intimidating. My eyes narrowed at Miss Brown who was gaping at me and I glanced back at Bane.

There was something about that smile.

"Well... see you in defence!" She chirped, skirting around me as my eyes fell on her attire.

Salazar it was that damned black shots that kept cropping up. She pushed a strand of her dark mane behind her ear and my frown deepened.

"Wait." She halted, glancing at her friends to which I dismissed with a flick of my hand, the three girls walking away in vary degrees of haste.

She sighed and I perused her attire and her location. Why was she outside the Hospital Wing in her pyjamas at seven in the morning? She may have a free period now but Bane was known to spend those valuable hours sleeping in...

"What have you been up to?"

"Me?" She gasped and I cocked a brow at the girl, surely she even knows how deceitful she comes across when she attempts innocence. "This and that."

Vague. She was being vague. She was definitely up to something.

"What's that?" I swallowed, thinking of an excuse for the letter she obviously noticed. Not that I needed one... she was just too much like her grandfather. Meddlesome, the both of them, and the last thing I needed was meddling. "Oh give it here."

I suppressed a relieved sigh as her hands shot out and grabbed the black pouch, realising that she had in fact, not seen the letter. She pulled on the drawstrings with bright eyed wonder and I bit down a smile. She loved ingredients didn't she?

"What're they for? Where did you get them? Are you brewing something new? Can I help?"

I licked my lips and straightened up, watching her tired face transform into an energetic engine of anticipation.

There was a pang in my chest as I realised that one day... one day those grey eyes would hold nothing but contempt for me.

"Under one condition." I cleared my throat and walked towards the Hospital Wing doors.

"What?" Her feet pattered across the floor as she followed me.

Forgive me when the time comes.

"You burn those shorts."

She rolled her eyes and snuck her hand through my elbow, leaning her dark bed of hair against my arm, "If I burn these shorts, then what would you have to complain about?"

"Oh, I'm sure he will think of something. Those shorts, after all, are the least of your problems."

I felt her hand grip my elbow momentarily in shock and I stepped forward protectively as Narcissa Malfoy walked down the corridor... her niece right on her heels.

Feedback as always will be appreciated!

Kalina