Forty-Six

Interviewing Icarus

The next morning, Jennifer knocked on Laura's open office door to see that Laura and Icarus were sorting a stack of tests.

"Oh, good morning! How are OWLS and NEWT exams going?" Jennifer asked.

"I'll be glad when they're all over with," Laura said unenthusiastically. "I don't suppose you've ever thought of banning these kinds of tests here like they did in Whitebridge?"

"Yes well, as you know, I have a lot more say in policies at Whitebridge than I do in Hogwarts, but I'm sure after ten or twenty years of positive results, we might be able to build a case," Jennifer replied mischievously.

"That is not long at all," Icarus commented, while Laura blew her hair out of her face in exasperation.

"Anyway, the real reason I dropped by was to talk to you, Icarus. I was wondering if you were open to being interviewed for the new house's research project, and if you're alright with them viewing any memories hidden in items, if there are any," Jennifer asked.

"And just how does Severus feel about it?" Icarus asked warily.

"The Headmaster said that he doesn't mind as long as it's supervised, while Severus says that he trusts my judgment in the matter," Jennifer replied.

"The way you answered that, Jennifer, makes him sound like he's two different people," Laura observed.

"It's just a matter of which hat he has on, really," Jennifer explained, then seemed privately amused at herself.

"I suppose I don't mind, although I only have one that's in tact. I'm afraid that the majority of my memories went up in flames, thanks to Lorcan," Icarus explained.

"The Cloak, of course," Jennifer realized with a sigh. "Very well, which evening would be best?"

"I have no night classes this week due to testing, so any will do," Icarus replied.

"I'll see if I can arrange it for Friday, then. I'll let you know," Jennifer said with a smile, stepping back out again. Laura stared at the open door for a moment.

"Is it just me, or has my father-in-law been way, way too accommodating this year?" Laura asked suspiciously.

"It's quite alright. It's in his chart until June," Icarus said unconcernedly.

"Oh? What happens in June?" Laura asked.

"He enters into another period of meddling against his Free Will," Icarus explained. Unsure if Icarus was joking again or not, Laura shrugged it off and got back to work.

It was just after Friday dinner when Quintin, Jack, and Jeremy made the climb up the long, winding stairs to the North Tower. A few steps behind them, Jennifer was wearing the Sorting Hat and talking quietly with Zack Black, getting caught up on family gossip.

"All the way to the top," Jennifer called up when they paused at the door near the top of the stairs, wondering why there was no break in the railing.

Jeremy and Jack shrugged and followed Quintin up, the three of them stepping into classroom. They gave themselves a moment to take everything in, including the wooden shelves filled with small crystal balls and scrying pools, the star charts and wise sayings on the wall, and a partially covered blackboard with sliding panels showing that evening's star patterns. The only light came from single candles scattered about the room, creating a dim and rather hazy atmosphere.

"Is there a window?" Jeremy wondered, peeking behind the nearest curtain. He sighed, pulling it back. "Look, there's a Doorlift. Why did we just bother climbing up all of those stairs?" he complained.

"It's for guests and faculty only, you know," said Icarus as he floated through his office door. "I'm afraid students must use more conventional means to enter the tower."

"Aren't we your guests?" Quintin challenged him.

"On this occasion, perhaps... do come in. I see you have an escort," Icarus commented when Jennifer and Zack stepped in with an apologetic smile.

"It wasn't my idea," Quintin protested.

"It's quite alright, they're more than welcome. Come," Icarus beckoned and led them into his office.

The walls were cluttered with shelves crammed with divination tools, star charts, and more. Somehow there was still room for a tea table and chairs, as well as a smaller table near the desk with a single chair, the tea already prepared. Quintin was more interested in the frame on Ravenclaw's desk, curious to see who was in the photo. Seeing the small dial at the bottom, Quintin realized it held more than one photo, and currently showed a woman's ghost studying in the library.

"That's Dame Rachel, isn't it?" Quintin asked.

"Oh yes, my surrogate mother," Icarus said with a smile. "Ron took that photo as a student to try and get used to the ghost settings on the camera. He gave me the photo for Christmas some years ago, and Zacchius gave me the frame a year before that. You may look at the rest while we have our tea if you would like."

Deciding that it would give them a good insight into Icarus' personality, Jeremy nodded to Quintin encouragingly.

"Thanks," Quintin said. He brought it back to the main table so that Jeremy could see the pictures as well as he turned the wheel to the next one.

"Who's that?" Jeremy asked, gazing at a familiar witch with young features and curly strawberry blonde hair.

"Essie Brim, she's family... Corey's sister," Quintin replied.

"One of my best pupils ever... as was the next," Icarus said with a smile. Quintin turned it to show a very young Ambrose giving them a large grin. He was pulling Lucky's arm to try to keep her in the frame when it was obvious the girl wasn't all that keen at the idea of getting her photo taken.

"It's Ambrose and Lucky," Quintin told Jeremy.

"I gave him that one," Jennifer commented, then looked apologetic at interrupting, taking the back corner and accepting the floating teacup.

"Oh, and this one's a sketch... Alicia holding up Dawn as a baby," Quintin explained to Jeremy.

"Yes, I cannot convince Alicia to give me a photo, but I have several of her and Dawn stashed away anyway... this sketch was done by Pyther," Icarus said. "And the last one is a photo of Thatcher Boltin, Adam Hinge, and Thomas Craw... sent to me quite recently, in fact," he explained as they turned to it. The three of them were in Thomas Craw's office... Thomas behind the desk while the other leaned on either side of it.

"That's great," Quintin said with a smile.

"You don't have any of Quintin?" Jeremy asked.

"I do have one, but it's not in that particular frame. You see, I borrowed Mr. Carnegie's camera without his permission and took the photo myself. I had a devil of a time convincing him to give it up when he found it on his roll of developed photos... he ended up making copies," Icarus said enthusiastically, pulling out a different frame. Quintin put his hand over his eyes with embarrassment when he saw it. It was a photo of Quintin marching down the hall at five years old and wearing the Sorting Hat, which looked as if it would swallow his head at any moment. He was being followed by a basilisk and several ghosts, including Nick and the Baron, and they were all pretending to be Brave Knights patrolling the castle.

"Aw, how cute!" Jeremy said with a grin.

"Adorable, simply adorable... and such a handful," Icarus agreed.

"Can we move on? This isn't supposed to be about me, you know," Quintin protested.

"The photos a person keeps says a lot about their personality," Jeremy told him. "Private people tend to keep landscapes of places they've been or would like to visit, for example, while family types keep photos of friends and family around."

"There are other ways of catching memories other than Pensieves, after all," Icarus teased. "Anyway, I'm glad to finally have this opportunity to talk, although I would have liked to have contributed when you were researching Bedivere and Caprica."

"Perhaps you can tell us something about them now," Quintin suggested, folding his notebook to the right page.

"Well, I met Bedivere in a classroom, when Mother suggested that I study Symbology. He taught me how to pick up the patterns in the world around me, which helped me a great deal when my mother was teaching me Augury and Scrying," Icarus said. Jeremy frowned.

"Hang on... no offense and all, but why learn something like Augury when you had memories of the future? You already knew what was going to happen."

"Yes, but it all came out rather confused at times, especially when I was really young," Icarus replied. "My mother taught me Augury and Divination to help me make sense of my world. She was adjusting to my needs, just like your parents had to adjust to yours, Quintin, when your sense of time proved challenging. Special talents tend to bring up special problems," he explained.

"I don't see how my sense of time could have caused any problems," Quintin said.

"Oh, trust me. It did," Jennifer confirmed, the Sorting Hat nodding in agreement from on top of her head.

"So you learned Augury, Divination, and likely Astrology when you were really young," Jeremy repeated after highlighting the Dictation Quill's note on it. Icarus nodded with a smile. "So when did you learn about Potions?"

"In the beginning, I learned them during class. I learned herb identification and cultivation from both my mother and from Helga Hufflepuff, and then I learned healing salves from Caprica Dusthorn," Icarus said. "When I grew older and my father grew more interested in me, I learned Potion Making from my father and his apprentices, including Janus Craw. I knew a great deal at that point about Healing Potions, but I knew nothing at all about bottling up magic in a potion like Janus and the other apprentices could do, or the vast uses for plants that are generally poisonous in nature; my lessons before that only taught us how to avoid them," he explained. "I grew interested in experimenting to see if I could use those herbs and techniques in more productive ways other than just keeping slugs out of the garden. After seeing my progress, my mother suggested that I put it in my first book. It's not really well written," he admitted, "my other books were better, and I've discovered in recent years that many who came afterwards borrowed some of the techniques I developed and adapted them into more modern practices. It's rather satisfying to see some of my work hidden in theirs... even before my contributions to Jennifer's preventative dose for Lycanthropy."

"I see," Quintin said, feeling a bit awkward about asking the next question on his list. "So what was it like, having them as parents?"

Icarus frowned slightly, then decided to get some moldy tea at his little table.

"My mother... whom I only thought was my adopted mother at the time... I thought Dame Rachel was my real mother until I died," he explained before going on, "was very thoughtful and patient, although I often wished she could have spent more time with me as I grew up. The older I got, the more she let the school attend my needs, until it eventually got to the point that I saw her perhaps once a week outside of class." Quintin nodded at that, knowing just how hard that transition could be. "Of course, as she was beginning to let go so that I could gain more independence, my father was gaining interest in me after hearing from his apprentices that I had memories of the future."

"But since you did have memories of the future, doesn't that mean you knew before he even began trying to get close to you that he would?" Jeremy asked suddenly.

"Yes," Icarus admitted.

"Does that mean you knew he was going to use you to see into the future? And that he was going to push you beyond your limits?" Jeremy went on.

"Yes, I knew that as well," Icarus replied solemnly.

"Then why the hell did you go through with it, you dumbass?" Jack exclaimed.

"Jack, calm down, please," Zack warned him sternly.

"Well, ever since I was a small child, I had horrible nightmares about the future, and my mother would constantly tell me to concentrate on the good memories rather than the bad ones," Icarus explained evenly. "Every morning, every night, as I tried to combat my constant fear, the advice had always been the same; do not fret over the bad memories. Don't even think about them. Good memories are much more important than bad ones."

"Stars and constellations," Jennifer said, taking in a deep breath in realization. "Rowena didn't know how much danger you were in... you must not have told her much about what was in those nightmares..."

"I had nightmares before I even learned how to speak, Jennifer, and even after that point, I had no way of communicating the complex scenes that I was seeing in my mind," Icarus explained. "When I could finally communicate well enough that she realized I had Merlin's Curse of Time, I was too afraid of those bad memories to put them into words. And as I grew, I knew that my mother would simply remind me to concentrate on my good memories. Knowing what her first response would if I did say something about my nightmares, I naturally stopped bringing it up.

"When the inevitable happened and my father finally called me to his side, I thought about how he was going to teach me potions, and would give me gifts like my magnificent cloak. I tried not to think about how often he had me standing in the Inner Chamber, asking me about what I could see in the school's future. When he began pressing me further and further ahead, I concentrated on meeting my wife, becoming a Professor, and having children, and how close I would become to Janus, Caprica, and Bedivere. I thought about my mother training me to become the Sentinel of Ancient magic, and how happy I was to let my father know that my dear friend Janus would be the next Sentinel of Dark Magic, carrying on that legacy in his own family," Icarus said. He smiled at Jennifer, but she was still frowning in sympathy as to what he must have gone through.

"Unfortunately, there came a time when I grasped to find good memories and could no longer find any. I saw only the evils of my father, his apprentices, and the Dark Heir who would someday rise up in an attempt to finally bring my father's ideals and his vengeance to fruition. When I got to the point I saw nothing but darkness, my friends rescued me from the terror of my every day life, persuading me to fight back. They offered ways to stop those terrible memories, by attempting to curtail Voldemort ever being born in the first place. Just in case the attempt failed, we created a time capsule that contained four items to help defeat Voldemort, and we sent messages through Symbology and items imbued with our memories to lead Afterwards, Caprica and Bedivere contrived a way to prove that our plans would succeed by having me focus on the memories of the Ravenclaw line, to see if there were signs of hope beyond Voldemort's death."

"And that's when you discovered Alicia and Dawn for the first time," Quintin concluded.

"Yes, it was," Icarus agreed. "I must admit that the first time I saw Alicia it was quite disorientating," he confessed. "Because it wasn't just the first time I saw her, it was the first time I saw myself... sitting in this very room... sitting at this very table, no less, having tea with her in my spectral form. I immediately noticed that my ghost couldn't have been more than a year or two older than my living self was when I first remembered it. It was very jarring," Icarus explained. "I decided not to mention that I had seen my own ghost because I was afraid that it might alarm my friends. They might have tried to stop whatever it was that put me in such a position. I was... rather torn about knowing I had a ghost... it was both frightening and comforting at the same time. In fact, the memory of seeing Alicia and my ghost together that day kept me carrying on, even at the point when I could no longer tell the difference between my nightmares and being awake."

There was a pause after that, and everyone saw a reason to wait for their cups to be refilled and biscuits selected. Quintin was very glad that Jeremy was beside him, and was not surprised when Jeremy was ready to soldier on the moment he had all of his notes down.

"So... about Dagda's Cauldron," Jeremy began, Icarus nodding somberly. "We've been going through some of the memories we've been finding. Last weekend, we went through some of Caprica's, and two of her memories were about the Cauldron... one showing how Slytherin and Gryffindor were fighting about it, and another one was Slytherin confronting Rowena about it when it went missing, and accusing Wuscfrea of taking off with it. That memory mentioned fighting between Gryffindor and Slytherin as well. What can you tell us about it?"

"There was a famine going on, caused by a battle that happened close to the farmlands that helped feed this castle," Icarus explained quietly. "Gryffindor was doing what he could to help the Muggle farmers who worked the fields, and asked the other founders to chip in and help. Knowing that Slytherin was unlikely to contribute directly, Gryffindor asked to borrow the Cauldron for a short time, knowing its power to sustain. Obviously, my father refused." Icarus gazed at his moldy toast distractedly.

"The more the winter wore on and the more dire things got for the peasants, the worse the fighting became. Things were so dire, in fact, that even Slytherin's own students began hearing worrying stories, especially as game became leaner and Gryffindor's hunts less successful. But Caprica had some of Slytherin's students in her healing potions classes, teaching them the basics of grading potions and making salves, and still had some influence with them. Many of the younger students especially weren't as convinced that ignoring the famine was the best plan. Moreover, Caprica knew his students well enough to realize that even if she couldn't play to their sympathy, she could express just how dire things would get for the school if the farmers who supplied the castle died from starvation, and that it wouldn't be long before the school could no longer sustain its students if the food stores ran out. Somehow she convinced a handful of Slytherin's students and younger apprentices to help her sneak a large supply of grain over to those farms in the middle of the night... large enough that it could see them through the rest of winter. You see, at the time, there used to be a long secret passage under the lake that connected to the closest farm, but you could only get to it from their apprentice quarters, which is a large part of where Slytherin house is currently. The only way anyone could possibly sneak anything out of the castle and over to those farms without anyone finding out about it was by taking it through that tunnel. Convinced that saving the Muggles was the only way to insure their own survival, the Slytherin students got together and for the first time in their lives did something against their master's wishes; they got up in the middle of the night and snuck the grain over to the farmers' grain cellars.

"Unfortunately, it was only a week before my father did found out about it. Gryffindor's constant demands about the Cauldron had grown much less persistent, and Father noticed that the other founders didn't seem as worried about the famine as they had been. Father knew that as well as anyone that no one could have gotten that much grain out of the castle without notice unless that tunnel had been used. He confronted his own students about the matter and used his mental powers to separate several of the students who were involved. He pulled them into the common room and flogged them to near death in front of all of the other members of his house. Their blood stained the carpets for many years afterwards, and any time new students were brought into the house, the stains were pointed out to them, and they were warned that was what happened to anyone who conspired against Slytherin."

"Woah, hang on a moment! What?" Jack interrupted in surprise. "Are you telling me that was the conspiracy that actually earned that room its name?" he asked for clarification, Icarus nodded somberly. "But that's the exact opposite of the story we're told during our first meeting of the year! "We're told that the students went over there to raid Muggle farm barons that encroached Hogwarts and Hogsmeade's land!"

"Are you truly surprised the tale is so different now?" Icarus inquired. "I heard from Janus that Quintin has been pulling out dozens of books on the life of Slytherin lately, have you had a chance to look at any of them yourself? They are no doubt more in line with the modern telling of that story, are they not?"

"Yeah," Jack admitted unhappily.

"I'm sure it wasn't more than a decade or so before that carpet came up and the representatives of Slytherin house began retelling the story so that it no longer implicated Slytherin in brutal beating of his own students, leaving the Conspiracies title and revised the tale so that they would be seen as 'the only house who would save the school from the evil Muggles'," Icarus said with disdain. "Those students were brutalized solely because they went against Slytherin's wishes and did the right thing. I'm sure the Caprica painting and Janus will back me up on the facts if you don't believe my story."

"I believe you," Jack said evenly. "I just wonder why Janus Craw never said anything about it? He's always in that room during the first meeting of the year."

"Yes, well, you'll have to ask him about that yourself," Icarus said, sipping his tea.

"He doesn't want to talk to us again," Jeremy explained. "After he came in that one day and spoke in your defense, he decided that he didn't want to help any more, especially when he found out we were searching to see if we could find any items that were memory bound."

Icarus glanced over at Jennifer.

"I have his journal at the moment," she informed him after seeing his questioning glance.

"Then I suppose you know why he doesn't want to share," Icarus conjectured.

"Yes," Jennifer agreed. "But I'll talk to him about it."

"Let's not worry about that just yet. There's something else we wanted to ask you about, Icarus... about the Cauldron," Quintin said. "After your mother was able to feign off Slytherin's questions about the Cauldron, it felt like the Cauldron wasn't stolen because of the fighting between Slytherin and Gryffindor. It was almost like there was another reason entirely, but I couldn't really read her in that moment. Do you know what the reason was?" he asked.

Icarus looked into his cup as if struggling to find the words to answer, and even opened his mouth as if trying to speak. Suddenly he broke into sobs, breaking down completely. Zack immediately jumped up and went over to him, the gloves he wore glowing blue as he reached out to put an arm on his shoulder.

"We should probably take a break and call it a day," Zack said. "He's going to need time. Obviously he's not as ready to talk about it as he thought it was."

"But we haven't even asked him about Wuscfrea yet," Jeremy said. Quintin nudged him.

"It's okay. We don't really want to upset him anymore," Quintin said, getting up.

"No... wait," Icarus said blearily, despite not looking like he was in any state to speak. "I have a memory hidden in the Dewhurst painting. If you want to know more than that, you'll have to speak with Janus," he sobbed.

"Thanks, Professor," Quintin said sincerely. He glanced at Jeremy, who nodded to confirm that he got everything down. Then he looked at Jack and then back at his mother.

"I'll escort the students to their rooms so the two of you can talk," Jennifer told Zack as she got up.

"Thanks, Aunt Jennifer," Zack said with a nod. Jennifer escorted them out into the classroom, shutting the door behind them.

"Is everyone alright?" Jennifer inquired.

"Sure, it wasn't a difficult interview," Jeremy shrugged.

"I was just a bit shocked about that Conspiracy thing, but I'm alright," Jack replied.

"It left a lot more questions than answers in a lot of ways, but I thought Professor Ravenclaw was doing alright until the end," Quintin ventured.

"Yes," Jennifer agreed. "Bringing up the Cauldron just reminded him of those last bad days, that's all."

"Did you know there was a memory hidden in the Dewhurst painting?" Quintin asked.

"No, I didn't, this is the first I've heard about it as well," Jennifer admitted. "I'll take a peek at them tomorrow morning, and then we'll head down to your research room after Tennis Club. It'll be fun to see how Truman's gadget works, I've yet to see it."

"It's just a jerry-rigged Pensieve, really," Jack said.

"Could you have done it?" Jeremy challenged him.

"Well... maybe not as quickly, but with a bit more time, yes," Jack said defensively.

"Jack is in my Items II class as well," Jennifer explained. "Perhaps one or both of you will be interested in taking Items in a couple of years."

"Sure!" Jeremy said.

"We'll have to see what the schedules says first, of course," Quintin said. "I'd like to take Symbology as one of my first electives."

"Really?" Jeremy asked.

"When we were researching Bedivere, Professor Weasley let me borrow a couple of her text books so I could understand Bedivere's teaching a bit better. I rather like looking for patterns and things... it puts some order to life, and I like having a lot of order in my life," Quintin explained.

Jennifer had to curb her urge to laugh, escorting them to the Guard Wing before turning and escorting Jack through to the opposite side of the castle, coming out between the secret passage to the Great Hall and the door guard to Conspiracies.

"They wouldn't believe me about Conspiracies, you know," Jack said out of the blue, and Jennifer gazed at him searchingly. "All of those books on Slytherin, you see... most of my housemates actually believe some of the wilder ones. Maybe there should be a warning label on them or something."

"Well, most of those books have a forward at the beginning stating that they're hypothetical suppositions based on limited facts," Jennifer pointed out.

"Nobody reads the forward, Aunt Jennifer," Jack replied.

"I also happen to know that our two History teachers would take issue with any student who tried to pass those suppositions off as facts," Jennifer added.

"Well, yes that's true, but that's not the point. They believe them anyway, and after all I've learned over the last couple of weeks helping the new house, I know that most of them aren't. Of course, if I tried to mention what we've learned, or if I suggested there might be something a bit off in the logic behind some of those stories, I'd probably find something either questionable or alive in my bed the next morning," Jack grumbled.

"You have a very dependable Housemaster and House assistant that you can talk to about it," Jennifer offered. "Yes, I know that isn't the point. The point is that sometimes it's very hard to bite one's tongue when you're surrounded by people who believe something different than you do, especially when they believe something that you know isn't quite right. It's even harder when they are your friends or a family member, and even if you did try to reason with them, they would only argue all the louder that they're right."

"You mean like Jay does," Jack said bluntly.

"I know it's difficult, and I know it's very frustrating, but trying to point out why their viewpoint isn't based on facts will simply backfire. Most people want to make up their own minds about things. Be patient, be respectful, and try asking tactful questions so that they have the opportunity to question themselves, but be understanding and don't try to force your opinion on them," Jennifer advised.

"Well, what if they're trying to force their opinions on me?" Jack asked.

"Then politely tell them that you understand what they mean and walk away... and feel free to ask for help from me or one of your house leaders if you need more advice or it becomes a chronic problem," Jennifer suggested.

"Alright, I will. See you tomorrow," Jack said.

"Good night... get some homework done," she suggested. Then she walked back through the Doorlift, taking the Hat off as she stepped into the Headmaster's Study.

"It's about time you got back in... no, not you. I meant the Sorting Hat," Severus said, pointing at the nursery door. "In there."

"Do you mind spending some time with the princess, Sir Hat?" Jennifer asked the Hat with a polite grin.

"Is she a princess now?" the Hat asked with interest.

"If she doesn't fit that description, I don't know who else does in this castle," Severus replied briskly.

Jennifer chuckled softly as she went into the nursery long enough to drop the Hat on Seren's head, and then stepped back into the Headmaster's Study.

"So how did it go?" he inquired.

"Well, your advice about trying to arrange it on a Friday was good advice," Jennifer warned.

"Oh no. He broke down," Severus said flatly.

"He did, yes, quite suddenly really. He was fine until the end," Jennifer replied, sitting in her favorite chair and grateful to find a cup of coffee waiting for her. "He didn't say anything altogether shocking, but we did find out that the story behind the name of Conspiracies had been warped over the centuries, and that while most of his memories were burnt up with the Avian Cloak, he also hid one in the Dewhurst painting. I assume I have permission to take it down temporarily?"

"Fine, just use my door until it's back," Severus said distractedly, picking up his work for the night. "So how is the research going? In the final stages, I hope, considering the amount of editing Ambrose and Quintin will certainly have to do."

"Yes, Severus, we are near the end," Jennifer said distantly, causing Severus to glance up. "Although Janus still doesn't want to cooperate, and I feel a bit guilty about the idea of going through his journal, even if it is technically mine. And yet, while I don't feel right about it, I don't feel right about letting it go either."

"Did you mean to be vague, or did it simply come out that way?" Severus inquired.

"Oh... well, sort of. I can explain without getting into the details, though. It's all a matter of Craw pride, really. The memories that he doesn't want me to share with Quintin are hard memories, but they're very important to understanding what really happened. The problem is that Janus is afraid that everyone will think less of him... especially Quintin... when they realize that he made some mistakes."

"If he hadn't made any mistakes, he wouldn't have died on that island," Severus pointed out. "Still, I understand the problem. I've seen often enough what happens when Thomas, Maurice, and yes, even you and the children react when you're faced with the unpleasant task of having to admit that no one is perfect. And worse, having to admit it to someone who respects you, because you don't want to lose that respect," Severus said knowingly.

"Yes," Jennifer agreed solemnly. "That's exactly what Janus is going through right now."

"Well, don't worry," Severus said calmly. "Craws are all about family. They may get angry at each other from time to time, but they always forgive each other in the end. Even when they feel violated because a family member decides to share their personal memories against their will... I'm sure it'll all be forgiven eventually."

"Gee, thanks for the reassurance," Jennifer said dryly, finishing her coffee before going back into the nursery.