Turnings
The first two hours of that Friday morning the Slys had Herbology. Sev thought, Ugh…the greenhouses, Lauren. The last thing I want after the trip with the Gryffs has done me so well is to deal with her and her head-biting.
I almost don't care what she decides. I want Jack to be okay and I have Lily, so if she doesn't project to me I'm going to leave her alone. Lily has recommended that I not insist. Well, that, to wait for her to be the one to do it.
As soon as the teacher finished explaining what they were going to do that day, Lauren projected to him, "How about in the cave?"
"I've been with the Gryffs," he replied.
"Also with Lily?" with wonder and joy.
Sev thought, Oh, Lily didn't tell her anything, of course, she's barely let her talk to her these days. "Sure, with all three."
"Wow... how glad I am."
Relieved. She is relieved of the responsibility of taking care of me.
"Tell me, come on," Lauren asked.
Sev told her everything.
"Wonderful. I also want to…" she said.
Ugh... poor girl... We won't be able to do this together for almost a year, Sev thought. "A year from now I will take you, when we can Apparate."
"Yeah... how long."
She is dying to do it with me. I'll probe her out about Jack, he sure could take her if he knows the place. "If Albus does it with the Slys too, Jack will be able to take you."
"Yeah…"
She still hasn't decided on him. She is probing me, to see how I am. And I am perfectly fine, it is she who is not well, so she is the one who must decide. "And you, what have you done since yesterday?" he asked.
"Study and sleep."
She has responded immediately. She wasn't with him last night either and she wants me to know it. "How are you with your studies?"
"Very good," she replied. "I am almost sure that with the break from not having to read I will reach the level."
What a relief. Look, I've given her work. Unpayable debts. "You don't know how glad I am, Lauren."
They continued chatting about non-controversial topics. Well, now at least she talks to me. Of course, now she has no excuse, in the greenhouses we don't need so much concentration. Dissimulation Sly. You'll see how in Runes she doesn't speak to me.
That's how it was, in Runes she asked him to attend the class. Sev thought, Turning about the topic again, she doesn't need it for OWLs. Better for me, I do need it, and even more so for studying Red Magic. I have to go to the Classification Library for the book. The next time I'll go with Jack to the piano classroom we'll take it.
He talked to Lily at lunch, she asked him, "How about Lauren?"
He told her.
"What do you have this afternoon?" Lily asked.
"History."
"That neither of you need it."
"That is," he replied.
"Then bring it up, Sev. You won't see each other again until Monday."
"And how do I do it, Lily, so that she doesn't shut down?"
"Ugh... you know more about subtleties and hints than I do, you just told me."
"I am fed up with so much subtlety and hints and turning about the same thing. I'm going to say things to her face and that's it. If she doesn't talk to me, let her get by."
"You're becoming Gryff, Sev."
"Well, for these topics I prefer it. You don't know how comfortable I've been with you this morning, being able to openly show what I feel and receiving love all the time, it's been great for me. That's what I need right now, warmth. This afternoon I'm going to ask Ariel to get into bed with me for a nap."
"Of course, Sev, don't hesitate."
"With all the trouble, I have hardly paid attention to him this week."
"Ugh… poor boy. Then we're going to cut and you talk to him what's left of lunch. We'll go on tonight."
"Thanks my love. Until dinner," he said goodbye. "Are you liking the second one, Ariel?" Sev asked him out loud.
"Yeah."
"I not at all, these greasy stews make me feel terrible. I eat it by force."
"Oh…"
"In fact, I'm not going to finish it," Sev said. "If I'm hungry at four I'll stop by the kitchens for a snack."
"Sure. Don't eat it if you doesn't feel like it."
"I don't. It's enough for me what I have already eaten." Another thing that would have to be changed at school, the food. It is very bad, and that would not be as expensive as installing electricity, it would be enough to vary the menus. I have to propose it to the old man.
"Sure, Sev. But have a snack at four."
"Yes, yes, I'll have a snack. By the way, do you want to come to my room at four o'clock and get into bed with me like the other day?"
"It's just that Friday is when I usually do my homework and study."
Oh… what a pity. "Oh…" Sev lamented.
"But I'll stay with you until you fall asleep."
Oh... how cute. "Sure? I don't want to bother you."
"No, sure, sure," Ariel replied. "And since I'm not going to read the History of Science book today, I can leave it for you when you wake up from your nap."
"Really? Okay. I really want to start it."
"I have almost finished it already, I have three chapters left."
"Okay, so I'll start it today, at night I'll give it back to you and as soon as you finish it, you'll pass it on to me," Sev proposed.
"Maybe it's too advanced for you and there are things you won't understand, because you didn't take Muggle Studies."
"Yeah."
"Start it, and if you don't understand it I'll get you third-year syllabus books," the little one suggested.
"Sure." What a shame, that a thirteen-year-old boy teaches me things, Sev thought. But then again, he only missed two years of Muggle education, the first two from Hogwarts. And I only had two, from six to eight years old. I am ignorant. "And they won't let me check out books from the Library?"
"I don't know. Not having the subject and not being from your year…"
Another thing to ask the old man. Right now. Sev projected to him, "Albus, I am Prince. Can you tell Pince to let me check out third-year Muggle Studies books without taking the subject?"
He saw Dumbledore laugh out loud. He's already laughing at me. I don't care about it, as long as he leaves me.
"I see that you haven't seen her since Saturday," said the Headmaster. "She's looking forward to having you drop by."
Wow... I can't believe it. "Wow, man. In the end, even she likes me, and look how difficult it is." He laughs again. Minerva must be wondering what the joke is. We have to teach her to project.
Sev continued talking to Ariel, "Look, we'll do one thing, don't leave me that book. When we finish lunch, you leave me the third-year syllabus so that I can copy it and I'll try to check them out."
"Okay."
He continued to talk to him as he finished eating, telling him what he had done that morning with the Gryffs. Before going home, he asked his fifth-year classmates to accompany him to the Library before classes, and when he got to the dungeons, he settled in his corner of the Common Room to copy the third-year Muggle Studies syllabus and the corresponding bibliography.
Since it's divided into blocks, I can start with whatever I like, so I'm going to start with Science. They went to the Library and he checked out the first book corresponding to the Science block. Pince lent it to him with a smirk. Incredible. I have managed to make this woman smile, that is quite a feat.
From there they went directly to History of Magic. If Lauren doesn't talk to me, I'll start with the book now, I can't wait. But first I'm going to try.
He projected to her, "What, Lauren? Have you already made up your mind or are you still turning the topic about?"
She does not answer me, I have left her in shock. Well, let's wait for her to recover.
He took the Muggle book out of the backpack. It's much thiner than the usual magic treatises, so I'll hide it under the History one and read it. The teacher, the ghost Binns, doesn't notice anything.
Wow, it's a third-year syllabus and still there are things that escape me. I'm going to need a dictionary too, after class we'll go for it. I'm going to project to Lauren again. "What? Haven't you recovered from the shock yet?"
She doesn't talk to me. She doesn't. "Well, you still have more than an hour and a half to do it," Sev continued. "If you haven't done it by half past three, I'll speak to you very clearly. I'm not going to see you again until Monday and I'm not going to ruminate it all weekend."
He read on for more than another hour, noting on a parchment the words he did not understand. At 15:25, Lauren projected to him, "How are you?"
"I'm wonderful, Lauren, I already told you. From Wednesday at noon. The question is how are you, yesterday I took a berry and it tasted very bitter. And it's not Lily, it's you."
"I'm a mess, Severus."
Ugh… poor girl. I'm already about to cry.
"I know, Lauren, we are getting to know each other. I'll leave you alone if you want, I'm in no rush for you to make up your mind, I'll be fine whatever you do. What I don't want is for you to suffer, you're very alone and you don't have to. You don't even talk to Lily."
"I do not deserve you."
No. Again with the same, no, he thought. "Don't start with that again, you know it's not true. I wouldn't love someone who didn't deserve it, I'm very selective."
Twenty minutes of silence. She's going to spend the whole weekend alone.
At quarter to four she projected to him, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, Lauren, ask whatever you want."
"What time do you go to sleep and wake up?"
She's decided to be with Jack. "From eleven to seven, and when I get up, I start to study in the Common Room facing the Lake. If I have used the Time Turner, I go to sleep earlier and that's it."
"Thank you, Severus."
She is crying. How difficult. Well, I hope she's with Jack this weekend, I'll have another berry on Monday and see if she's okay. "Lauren, listen to me, you are not going to lose me for this. I already told you in the letter, read it every day. We'll be together whenever you want."
She does not respond to me. He turned to look at her. She keeps crying. I'm sure she's not able to be with him today either. Another thirty hours of suffering. Ugh…
They left History. They went back to the Library and Sev pulled out a dictionary of scientific terms. Again Pince smiled at him. She's even pretty when she smiles.
Today Jack, Deborah, Frank and Alice have met to train the fifth-year Huffles for the OWLs and the seventh-years for the Auror Academy. If I hadn't appointed Ariel, I'd hang out there for a while, but I can't make him wait, because he has to go do his homework and study. We are going home.
I'm going to take a break today. In the afternoon, nap and book, and at night, piano. I'll study tomorrow and Sunday. If I've been able to keep up with this hectic week, I'll have enough time to study the whole OWLs theory.
He went up to his room. Ariel was already waiting for him, tucked into bed. "Hi, Sev."
"Hi."
Sev started to undress.
"Have you had a snack?" the boy asked.
"I haven't. I have forgotten it, and I did not want to make you wait."
"Well, you have to eat, you've eaten very little at noon."
"Well, it's okay, I'll have dinner. I'm not a big eater," Sev replied.
"Well, you're still growing, you have to eat more. You hardly ever finish the plates and you don't have dessert."
How cute, how he takes care of me. "I don't have dessert because I don't like sweets and because I'm already full with food. I'm thin but strong, that's what matters. Since Christmas I have gained about ten pounds, before I was much skinnier."
Sev got into bed and his little boy hugged him until he fell asleep. He woke up at six and stayed in bed reading. He first consulted in the dictionary the words that he had written down. What a mess. I also do not understand the definitions in the dictionary, for each word I look for, I have to look for another or more. How ignorant I am.
Another plan for the summer, to read a lot of these books. I'm going to take as many as I can fit in my trunk, now that Pince lends me what I want. And I'll buy a dictionary like this at Cokeworth, I'm sure Lily knows where they sell them.
At dinner Lily asked him, "Have you talked to Lauren?"
"Yes, she stays with Jack," Sev replied. "But she has still had a hard time making up her mind for the entire two hours and she has ended up crying. Have you talked with her?"
"I haven't, I have left her alone. She has sat far away."
"She is still turning it about. At least she has asked me my schedule."
"Well, then when she makes up her mind, she already knows it," Lily said.
"That is. I don't want to give more thought to the subject. Let's talk about other things."
He told her what he had done in the afternoon.
"Wow, Sev, how interesting. And has the cave ritual worked? Do you remember everything you have read?"
"Let's see. Let me think." Sev thought about what he had read. "I think so, what happens is that I don't understand half of the things."
"Great."
"Tomorrow I will check it in training," he said. "If I remember the names of the people I have already introduced myself to."
"Check it tonight at home."
"Also, of course. But I'm going to go play the piano again, yesterday I almost didn't play."
"Great, Sev, but don't go alone."
"No, calm down, Jack accompanies me and then he goes to look for me, I already asked him. Last night they gave us a scolding for escaping and I had to put them the dots on de i's, no one controls me."
After dinner they did so and took the opportunity to take the Red Magic book from the Classification Library. Sev was left practicing alone, and after almost two hours he managed to get the two-handed introduction out.
Ugh… two hours for a fragment that lasts less than a minute, how difficult is this. I hope that, at least, with the ritual in the cave, I won't forget it anymore. And the bridge and the ending repeat the same thing, so I'm almost halfway through the song.
Jack arrived at twenty to ten. "Hey, Prince. Have you made any progress?"
"I have. I already get the introduction with two hands."
"Great, then you can sing it now. Play the intro, sing the verse, play the bridge, sing the second verse, and play the ending."
"Of course! I had not thought of it," Sev exclaimed.
"Well, come on, do it, I want to hear it again."
Sev did.
"Wow, Prince. You're a phenomenon. Let's go home, the others get nervous if they don't see you there."
"Come on, let's go…"