I Don't Want to be a Hero - Second Year
Chapter Forty-One
A Little Bit of Lunch
9 Jan 1993
Poppy had worn a travelling coat of soft caramel-coloured wool tailored to her figure. The coat was embellished with embroidery that someone had added in by their own hand of Autumn colors in an abstract, free-form pattern that gave the sense of a breeze causing leaves to dance. She had also worn a heavy cloak of wool in charcoal grey. Her hair was not in its usual severe bun but a much softer coiling of her tresses that had been casually secured to the back of her head by a large, pearl comb.
Poppy was the appearance of a Victorian lady that had travelled by horse and carriage but for the fact she had travelled by a portkey Severus had given her. Upon her arrival at the doorstep of the cottage on Prince Lighthouse Island she realised she had dressed too warmly for the 50 degree weather which sported a slight chill from a breeze off the ocean.
With a flick of her wand the cloak was shrunken, and she tucked it away in a pocket. She then smoothed her skirt, tugged the hem of her jacket unnecessarily, and knocked upon the red painted door.
The door opened to a grinning Harry, and a slightly nervously formal Severus.
"Welcome, Madame Pomfrey!" enthused Harry.
"Welcome, Poppy," Severus managed a brief smile that was not stiffened by nerves but natural.
"Thank you," she acknowledge as she was ushered inside. She quickly undid the buttons and removed the coat (which Severus took from her) to reveal a long tailored, cap-sleeved afternoon gown of antique-coloured satin and silk embellished along the scooped neckline, and sleeves in a delicate ruffling of lace.
The gown was not festooned with extra draping in front or back but was a smooth spill of silk to her ankles. Her only jewelry was a beaded choker of Autumn coloured beads.
Severus was stunned by the vision of the woman before him. Harry smirked at his paralysed father, took Poppy's coat, and hung it up on the coat rack by the door. When he returned both adults were just staring into each other's eyes. He coughed, and woke them up from their trances.
"I made lunch, Madame Pomfrey," said Harry once the two adults were blinking.
"I'm starved," smiled Poppy. She then glanced at Severus, and blushed.
Harry served a chicken and bacon crumb salad, half sandwiches of ham, turkey, tomato with a sauce Harry smiled secretly about, and his father's favourite, a small bowl of cubed fruit. Severus served everyone a glass of the sparkling cranberry cider he had switched to instead of wine or whiskey.
Severus lifted his wine glass of cranberry cider first towards his son, then towards Poppy. "Harry, you have created a wonderful lunch for us. Poppy, you are… a breath of the finest air in creation." He sipped at his cider as Poppy blushed, and Harry toasted him.
Lunch began in silence with an awkward tension in the air as if waiting for something to happen.
Harry knew the strain was from Madame Pomfrey and his father, and he was not certain what, if anything, to do about it. Finally, he just blurted, "We can have a garden year round."
"Can you?" Poppy asked. "Does it change at all when the weather gets cooler?"
"Dad warms the ground with this neat modification he did to the Warming Charm that keeps the area warm for 24 hours using a…" he faltered, and frowned, and glanced at his father for help.
"From a Ley line," Severus replied. "They are like the veins of the Earth that aid in keeping our planet alive. They are also, from what I discovered, lines of magic. They pulse and by using the energy they emit I am able to keep the garden warm so that it nurtures the plants if it gets too cool."
"I've heard of Ley lines," replied Poppy. "They were a favourite subject of my mentor Healer Ganglion. He called them 'the Fairy Paths', and he claimed he was able to see them."
"Could he?" Severus inquired with interest.
"I know he had a particular skill in seeing the auras of magical folk. It aided him in diagnosing his patients." Warming to her subject Poppy sipped her cranberry cider, and continued, "Healer Ganglion taught me that the Fairy Paths were the flow of the Earth's spirit. They glowed, as auras did, and he could see them."
"My mother described them as 'a spider's web that kept the land alive with the breath of magic'," remarked Severus.
"That's beautiful, Severus," smiled Poppy. "Did your mother know about the 'Gathering of Spirits'?"
Severus had just about been to take a bite of his sandwich when he paused, "You know about the 'Gathering of Spirits'?"
Poppy nodded. "What's the 'Gathering of Spirits'?" asked Harry.
Poppy deferred to Severus and he answered, "A working of magic that connects one's own magic to that of the Earth in order to gather the ethereal effluences… the spirits of emotions… and to capture them as one might collect ingredients for a potion."
"Healer Ganglion taught me that the 'Gathering of Spirits' was a rite that was older than the designation of man and woman. He said that legend claimed that it was the 'Gathering of Spirits' that separated man from woman, and thereafter they were attracted to become one."
Harry glanced oddly as Poppy blushed at her words, but when he glimpsed his father quickly he was certain he saw a dusting of pale rose to his father's cheeks. Not really understanding what was being said he decided that this was a part of the subject he was just too young to delve into.
"Can you gather spirits whenever you want to?" asked Harry to stop those mushy blushes.
"You cannot, Harry. A 'Gathering of Spirits' is something that calls to a witch or wizard that has the talent. My mother gathered the spirits thrice in her time - at her wedding, when I was born, and a very rare day spent seaside with her family," explained Severus.
"Has the 'Gathering of Spirits' ever called to you, Severus?" Poppy asked carefully. She knew that his life up until he had adopted Harry had been a difficult one.
A haunted shadow passed over Severus' features as he replied, "Once. I did not capture the spirits, though, for the memory alone has been a nightmare. I never wanted to know, forever, the emotions."
Harry glanced between both adults. "Can you capture bad spirits?" asked Harry worriedly. Severus nodded solemnly. "I don't think I want to catch spirits… ever."
Lunch left the talk of spirits, and ley lines, and remained upon conversation that dealt with Severus new apothecary, and the potions he planned to work on.
Once lunch was complete he suggested a walk outside to the lighthouse.
A covered walkway connected cottage to lighthouse but Harry thought the best way to see the lighthouse was to walk down the curving path to the smaller plateau upon which the lighthouse itself rested. There was a railing along the winding path, and Severus assured Poppy that there was also a ward to prevent falling. The view was spectacular, but it was also frightening with the sight of the ocean so near, and just below the base of the lighthouse.
The lighthouse itself had been built by hand with stones so perfectly placed that there was not a whit of mortar between them. The stones had been placed in such a way to show that they spiralled upward to the lamp house. The lighthouse exterior had been whitewashed white but the lamp house was all shuttered prism glass.
Severus led them to a door at the base of the lighthouse on the cliff-wall side, and beneath the walkway.
Inside the lighthouse the first floor was very utilitarian with a variety of tools used for maintenance, and other cleaning products, and cans of whitewash paint. At the center of this floor was an iron staircase that was a spiral that led to a small kitchen, a bedroom, and then up to the lamp house and its outer railing.
The lamp itself was a magik'd perpetual flame that fed itself upon the moisture in the air; thus the reasoning behind the glass bars of shuttered prism. The flame was reflected with a shallow mirror upon one side. The entire lamp turned leisurely in a clockwise path.
Severus led them through a narrow door of paned glass that led to the balcony that circled the lamp house. The balcony, and its encircling railing were of sturdy, black iron, and Severus had added further wards to protect the lamp house from all weather, and to keep a curious boy from falling from the lighthouse's great height.
Even with the wards the wind blew roughly in their faces, and Poppy, regretting she had not the forethought to expand her woolen cloak, leaned in closer to Severus. His arm over her shoulders was a delight but Harry had added his own warmth in leaning against her. She released the arm across Severus' waist to drop over Harry's shoulders and to draw him closer.
A pretty picture they made, wind-blown but clinging tightly and satisfyingly to each other.