Chapter 18, Home Is Where The Heart Is
"May I read for a bit before I sleep,"Severus asked in an excited rush. He knew he would never be able to sleep without knowing what would happen next with Merlin and Nimue in his newest favorite book.
"Sure," Raislen said with a shrug. "Go ahead. When you're sleepy, your things were put in the room next door to mine. It's the one on the right."
"Great," Severus said, bounding eagerly to his feet. "Good night, then."
"Night," Raislen replied around another yawn. Severus hurried out, closing the door to Raislen's bedroom softly behind him. Once back downstairs and in the library, he returned to his spot on the sofa. The room was full of a soft, warm light, perfect for reading. Not too bright, but instead just bright enough to easily see without putting a strain on the eyes. It was perfect. His book was waiting right there on the sofa cushion where he'd left it. Lifting it lovingly into his hands, he reverently opened it, quickly finding just where he'd left off. Just like that, he was once more immersed in the world of Merlin, Nimue and Arthur, the Muggle they loved as a son. The next thing he knew, there were three voices speaking over him and morning light was poring in through the windows. This light, far brighter than the soft lamp lit glow of the previous night, was jarring. As he hastily straightened, a sharp pain in his neck made him groan. Raislen and his parents stood over him, bemused grins on their faces. They were speaking, but his mind was still partially fuzzy with memories of the dream he was having before their presence roused him from sleep. He'd been with Merlin and Nimue, hadn't he? Were they speaking to him? Something about not being able to find Arthur, but Severus had found them somehow. He'd traveled some natural path in his mind and found them."
"The poor dear fell asleep on the sofa," Raislen's mum was saying, and with her words, the vague recollections of his dream faded even more. If only he could remember!
"You alright, Kid," Raislen asked, concern taking the place of amusement in his large green eyes as he regarded Severus.
"I...My neck hurts," Severus said, feeling silly about talking of his dream in front of Raislen's parents. And it was true, his neck did hurt. It sent sharp stabbing pains from his neck into his shoulder every time he moved his head so much as a fraction.
"Of course it does, poor boy," Raislen's mum said. "You were sleeping at such an odd angle. I'll get you a cold compress and a pain potion for it right away. Only you must eat breakfast for otherwise that potion shall upset your stomach."
"Yes Mam," Severus said automatically as he slowly rose to his feet, feeling rather like an old man with his stiff movements. He placed the book on the sofa as he stood to follow the Westcravens from the room. He hoped to get back to it later in the day. Breakfast and a pain killing potion for his neck both sounded great. Nearly as good as reading, in fact. An hour later, his belly was full and the pain in his neck was gone. He and Raislen went out to play in the snow, because they wanted to build a snowman and animate it. The building part went as planned, and was quite fun. Before they'd left Hogwarts for the Christmas Holiday, Severus told Raislen and Heather the story of Frosty and they all thought animating a snowman would be grand fun. When first watching Frosty with his father when he was three years old, Severus was certain a wizard had animated the snowman, or rather that the hat Frosty wore had been created by a wizard to animate snowmen. For that reason, he'd always wanted to try making a Frosty of his own, and Raislen thought it sounded like great fun.
His father even donated a dashing green top hat and holiday scarf. Though the building process went well, the animating bit wasn't as successful. In fact it wasn't successful at all. When they tried enchanting Frosty's hat, the snowman simply fell apart when he tried to move. When they attempted to enchant the snowman himself directly, it simply turned into a block of ice that cracked when movement was attempted. Eventually they gave up for the time being and simply rebuilt their Frosty just to be a regular snowman to decorate the front lawn of Westcraven manor. Though the enjoyed crafting spells, it was the holidays, and mostly they wanted to enjoy their off time and just play.
If crafting a spell ended up feeling like play, it was all well and good, but when it became frustrating, they decided such puzzles were better picked apart with Heather when they returned to Hogwarts and had nothing better to do. After they'd made their new un-animated Frosty the Snowman as perfect as he could be, the two abandoned him for a rousing snowball fight. When being pelted with snow chilled them to the point that it was no longer fun to be outside in the freezing Christmas weather, the two retreated inside for lunch. They had hot chocolate, thick turkey sandwiches and plum pudding. Raislen's mum dosed Severus with another draft of the pain killing potion just to make sure the stiffness in his neck would not return. "Neck pain is a monster. I hope sleeping in the library was worth it," Mr. Westcraven teased with a chuckle.
"It was, Sir," Severus said in all seriousness.
Mr. Westcraven chuckled again. "A boy who loves books enough to sleep among them is one after my own heart."
Severus sighed happily, smiling back. "Your library is, by far, the best place in the world."
"And it's always expanding," Raislen said. "Each year we ad more so it shall just keep getting better and better. When I grow up I'll ad more and my children shall do the same."
"You're having children," Severus asked, somehow startled by the idea.
"I guess I will. Doesn't everyone," Raislen asked.
Severus shrugged. "I shan't. I don't like children."
Raislen's parents laughed good naturedly, exchanging a glance. "You are a child. Raislen is a child. So you must like children," Mrs. Westcraven pointed out.
Severus frowned. "I like us, and Heather, but not most other children. Especially those in my own year at Hogwarts," he said firmly.
"Some of them give the kid shit," Raislen said. "I don't know why except they're gits."
"Similarly to the way I don't know why you're swearing," Mrs. Westcraven suggested with an arched brow at her son.
Raislen sighed. "Sorry, Mum, but they're dreadful Gryffindor prats who appear needlessly and vastly offended by any sort of Dark book."
Severus nodded. "This is true. If it matters, though, I don't like most other children either, even if they aren't attempting to pick fights with me over my choices in reading material. They're loud and dirty and too frequently stupid."
"Can't argue with that," Raislen said. "I don't dislike people as much as you do, but you do have a point or two," he told Severus.
"Perhaps it's the fact that the two of you are only children," Mrs. Westcraven mused. "Heather is an only too, isn't she, Raislen?"
Raislen nodded thoughtfully. "Would you have liked a sibling, Kid," he asked Severus.
"Perhaps," Severus said after a moment of serious consideration. "So long as he or she wasn't a prat." He smiled at Raislen. "I've got you and Heather, though, and that's enough."
An odd expression flickered over Raislen's face that made Severus feel suddenly embarrassed. "Damn, Kid, I'm touched. And same here."
"Raislen, the swearing," his mother complained.
"Sorry, Mum. It's all the older boys at school, they swear a lot and I hear it in the common room. It sticks in the mind. I'll try to watch it."
Severus grinned. He didn't recall Raislen swearing at school much if at all. Perhaps talk of gits simply brought it out in him.
Mrs. Westcraven smiled at her son. "Thank you. What are you boys doing for the afternoon?"
"I guess we'll check out some of the new books," Raislen replied.
"What? With Severus already falling asleep in there, don't you think he'll be booked out...or is it up," Mrs. Westcraven laughed.
"Never," Severus insisted and Raislen chuckled.
"That's what I thought. With us, there are never enough books, as you well know, Mum."
"Alright then," Mrs. Westcraven said. "If you change your minds, I am considering cleaning out the attic later. I would be more motivated with a bit of help.""
"Well we can still do that," Raislen said and Severus nodded.
"We move about at school to get the blood flowing properly to our brains, so helping you in the attic should work nicely for that here," he told Raislen's mum cheerfully.
Mrs. Westcraven smiled at Severus. "Thank you. You're a good boy. It's your vacation, yet you're not even complaining about helping out."
Severus shrugged, feeling his cheeks heating. He wasn't accustom to receiving compliments other than from his Mum. Other adults calling him a good boy was refreshing, though. He was finding more and more reasons to love being here as the visit progressed. Raislen and Severus spent the afternoon in the library. An hour before dinner, Mrs. Westcraven did call upon them to assist her in the attic. Though neither boy expected to find any treasure while helping her to carry out junk, Raislen came across an old notebook that excited him very much. It had apparently belonged to his great grandfather, and held records of everywhere he'd shopped for books all around the world. The records were extremely detailed, with lists of where had what sorts of books. Raislen's parents considered the findings useless. "Likely all those book shops are gone by now," Mrs. Westcraven pointed out. "That or their inventory likely won't be the same."
"You never know, though," Raislen said, clutching the old notepad possessively to his chest. "I'm going to use this when I start going on my own book hunting travels." Turning excitedly to Severus he continued."It has shops listed from all around the world. Some are quite literally underground shops! Those ones are in Persia and Egypt."
"Brilliant," Severus breathed excitedly. "At least some of them should still be around." The idea of a shop under the ground sounded like the most exciting thing ever. He could picture walking down narrow stairs, down and down into a darkened earthy shelter that was lined wall to wall with ancient rare tomes.
Raislen nodded. "Yeah! And you can come along with me on my first book hunt if you'd like."
Severus's heart leapt in excitement, but it fell just as quickly. "That shan't work. After you graduate, I shall still be in school."
"I'll go in the summer," Raislen assured. "Directly after graduation, so you can come along."
Severus brightened. "Good. Thanks."
"Do you think Heather Toy will want to come too," Raislen asked hopefully.
Severus snickered. "Perhaps not if you call her Heather Toy."
Raislen and Severus spent the next few days in the library or playing wizarding chess or helping Mrs. Westcraven with some project or other about the manor. Their house elf attended to the chores, but when it came to matters of arranging or clearing things out, Mrs. Westcraven liked to attend to such herself. Each night, Severus asked to read when Raislen went to bed, and each night, he ended up falling asleep in the library. On the third morning of him waking up on the sofa with a stiff neck, Mr. Westcraven decided to fix the situation.
"Would you like it If I brought in a cot so that you can just sleep in here," he asked Severus. "We have one in the attic."
"Oh could I truly, Sir? That would be amazing!"
Mr. Westcraven chuckled. "I shall bring it down directly after breakfast." Severus slept far more comfortably in the library every night after that.