Pride
Sev took a two and a half hour nap with the Restorative potion after lunch to catch up on sleep, and to be fresh for the five hours of Time Turner he was going to have with Lauren after dinner. The rest of the afternoon he tried to relax and not worry by doing his homework and studying, his Sly friends accompanied him once more.
(How nice it is, it's like being alone without being alone, I can concentrate on my things, and if I feel like it, comment on something or talk for a while. They are always willing to talk, it is the complete opposite of my coexistence with the malefics, in which I was constantly accompanied and chatting and even so I always felt lonely.)
He spent dinner talking to Lily about the results of Alice, Frank and Remus' talks with Potter and Black and about the readings she and Remus had done. They had both decided to go to training without saying anything to Pettigrew for now, and in the rat, Lily had read that he had no intention of becoming a Death Eater, let alone after the lynching of the five malefics.
On her own initiative, without Sev's prompting, Lily had read Potter and Black more deeply as well, while she, Cecile, and Remus talked to them, and Alice and Frank continued to entertain Pettigrew.
"Lily, you shouldn't have done it," Sev told her.
"Yes, Sev, it was worth it."
"Why? What have you discovered that Remus hasn't read in their recents thoughts?"
"A couple of very interesting things," Lily replied.
"Tell me."
"That they both despise Pettigrew, they don't consider him up to their standards, and for a long time, too."
"Well, to know that you didn't have to read them, it's more than obvious," he said. "Tell me the other."
"That they are deeply sorry for having broken your arm, since that night also, Cecile and Remus opened their eyes. They've been thinking about the issue for almost a month, you're going to make them happy when you forgive them."
"Wow… then it was worth it for you to read them. And are they afraid of me?"
"In the recents no, Remus has convinced them that you are a good guy, and they think that if you forgave him, you will forgive them too," she answered.
"Do they trust my change of side?"
"Of course, Sev. Who wouldn't trust you after what you've done to the malefics? You have cleaned Hogwarts, they admire you."
"Wow… Lily, thanks for reading them, they are very good news. I have to design a new strategy for tomorrow. I no longer consider it necessary to trap them, I will tell them from the beginning of the training that I want to chat with them."
"Sure, Sev. Do it like this."
"And about you, have you read anything in Potter?"
"I didn't want to find out anything about that subject."
"Wrongly done, Lily, because the main cause of the rivalry between us is you. It's going to be my turn to do it tomorrow, while I talk to them."
"It's better that you don't do it, Sev, you may discover thoughts that make you feel very bad, that's precisely why I didn't do it."
"You're right, Lily, if he's infatuated with you, he must have fantasies about you, and it's better that neither of us know about them, both for ourselves and for our relationship with him."
"That is."
"How much I still have to learn from you."
"And I from you, Sev, you are teaching me to forgive. I no longer hate Potter, I pity him."
"Now don't go falling in love with him."
"Well, Sev, don't say nonsense. How am I going to fall in love with him having you? He doesn't reach the bottom of your shoe."
"But now I have abandoned you. Do you want to meet tomorrow night?"
"Only if you want, Sev, don't do it for me, I'll resist. Look, you have five hours of Time-Turning today and another three on Monday morning."
"Ugh... Lily, I don't know what to do... I want to be with you."
"Sev, don't torment yourself, resist too. Now you have more people who support you, give you love and everything else, don't be dependent. Think about it between now and tomorrow, if you can't wait, we'll meet."
"I am very afraid that you will abandon me."
"Well, don't talk nonsense, Sev, please, if I live for you. Didn't you check it out on Monday at the fir tree? How little trust you have in me."
"No, Lily, it is not a lack of confidence in you, but in myself, in not being good enough for you."
"Come on, Sev, if you're good enough to make three women happy at the same time."
"But they are with someone else, you are alone."
"I am with my four good friends from home, who I know will never fail me. I also have Lauren and I know I'm going to have you for two whole months in the summer almost all to myself."
"Of course, Lily, I can't wait for summer to arrive."
"We have less than a month left, honey, with exams in between. It's going to pass in a flight, you'll see."
"Well, I'll think about tomorrow anyway."
"I prefer that better not, Sev. You have to rest, enjoy now with Lauren and stay at ease. If you can, we'll see each other later."
"I don't deserve you, Lily."
"Sev, always with your nonsense. Of course you deserve me, without you I wouldn't be who I am, I thought I had made it clear to you at Easter. This Potter and Black thing is affecting you too much, you are feeling guilty and responsible for things in which you cannot intervene, and all because you had certain crazy ideas in difficult moments of your life. You are already paying more than enough, stop torturing yourself. You have not been and will never be a criminal, but the antithesis of it."
"Thank you, Lily," crying.
"Come on, Sev, don't cry. With how well you started the week and you have sunk again. Come on, finish dinner in peace and don't think about it anymore, don't think about it again until tomorrow."
"I'm going to have to, I want to tell Lauren."
"Well, do it if you want, but the rest of the time forget it and enjoy."
"I'll try that."
After dinner, Lauren and Severus went alone and separately to the Room of Requirement. They knew there was no danger of Dumbledore looking at the Map, since he had Occlumency class with Frank. They used the Time Turner again outside the Room, to be able to change its appearance if they needed it, since they had almost seven hours ahead of them, the five of Time Turner and the almost two until the curfew.
They also entered the Room separately, first Lauren, since it was now a little after three in the afternoon and the Headmaster could be watching. They went to the refuge, it was a sun of justice and very hot.
They took a closer look at the map in the living room, discovering that much of the path, which started from the refuge itself, ran through open ground, without forest. They spoke bonded.
"Ugh… Severus, we don't come prepared. If it is also almost certainly uphill, we are going to have a terrible time with this sun, we are too warm and have nothing to cover our heads."
A very good idea has already occurred to me, Sev thought. "Well, let's go naked and use the shirts as hats, wetting them with an Aquamenti to keep them fresh."
"Oh! Like a turban, very good idea."
"What is a turban?"
"A long scarf that wraps around the head," Lauren explained. "It is worn by desert people to protect themselves from the sun and wind, because it is lighter than a hat."
"Wow… how interesting."
"But if we go naked we are going to burn with the sun. We are both very light skinned, we would have needed sunscreen."
"What is that sunscreen?" he asked.
Lauren laughed. "My... Severus, it's true that you have no idea about anything."
"Lauren, don't laugh at me, it's not my fault."
She caressed his face tenderly. "It's true, sorry, my love, I'll explain it to you. It is a Muggle product that protects the skin from the sun's rays. If you go on holidays to the beach this summer with Lily's family, you will need it, and so will she, she also has very fair skin."
"Where do you buy it?"
"Where the cleaning products."
"Thank you Lauren."
They began to get ready, taking off their boots, trousers, and robes and putting their boots back on as they continued to chat.
"So, for now, I'm going to try to Summon some of those long scarves to wrap our heads around," Sev suggested.
"Yes, better, so we keep our shirts on even if we take off our trousers. The skin that suffers the most is that of the shoulders and torso."
Sev laughed. "We are going to look very weird, with the boots, without trousers, the shirts and the turbans."
Lauren too. "Well, we'll have a good time for a while, nobody except us is going to see us. Let's also carry our trousers in the backpack to put them on when we get to the cave, we can get cold there."
"Sure, and maybe also on the way back."
"I don't think so on the way back, we will arrive here before seven."
"Maybe it will take us more time, remember that we are also going to make a joint ritual in a tree that is on the way," he said.
"Did you bring short or long sleeves?"
"Short."
"Good, me too," she said.
"Otherwise we rolled up our sleeves and that's it."
"Of course, or we simply cut them."
"No, not that, Lauren, it would spoil the clothes. By the way, thanks for giving me short-sleeved shirts, I didn't buy those at Easter."
"You have nothing to thank me for, Severus, I was delighted to do it."
"Let's take the map and the dictionary, and before leaving we are going to consult the Druid Magic book, to see what tree corresponds to today and if it is on the way or nearby. Although we already know that it doesn't matter, I'm excited to do it in the tree that corresponds, I'm already a little fed up with the fir tree."
"We could also drink water from the well before leaving. We would acquire a new power, Insight, and the ritual in the cave would perhaps be more powerful, at least in the aspect of getting to know each other better."
"Ugh… I don't know if I want to, Lauren. Possessing Clairvoyance has not done me any good. It surpasses me, I feel extremely responsible."
"I understand you. But Insight would help you greatly to know the people and the implications of the situations in which you find yourself, and carry out your mission."
"But I have realized that the more conscious I am of things, the more I suffer. The ignorant are much happier."
"It is the price one must pay to fully develop as a person, Severus."
"Okay, let's do it. It will suit me well for the serious chat I have tomorrow with Potter and Black."
"Do you plan to talk to them?" surprised. "You haven't told me anything."
"Because I was planning to do it on the way, face to face," he said. "Let's finish preparing and go, it's already past half past three."
Sev Summoned long scarves, which they wrapped around each other's heads. They laughed a lot putting them on, Sev's was much better than Lauren's. She's much more adept at these things. Sev was laughing.
"You should see yourself, Lauren, you'd fall over laughing."
She too, touching it. "Yeah… sorry for mirrors in the house. It turned out very well on you, you look like a Bedouin."
"What is a Bedouin?"
"One of the inhabitants of the desert that I told you. They are nomads, traveling on horseback or camels, depending on the region."
"Wow… how interesting."
She was looking at him entranced. "You look very handsome."
"Well, well, don't give me flowers. We both know you find me handsome anyway. You don't have very good taste, Lauren, I'm not handsome at all."
"No, maybe not handsome, but you're extremely attractive, with your fair skin and your eyes and dark hair, and the look you have, so piercing, since you were little, besides. To look into your eyes is to dive into a very deep well."
Wow... All the months she spent just looking me in the eyes. "Wow, Lauren, no one has ever told me that, and you're the one who knows best."
"Of course."
"Kiss me, gorgeous."
They kissed hard for a few minutes, they got horny.
"Let's do it before we go out, Lauren."
"No, Severus, we have a long walk and we are going to end up exhausted."
She is already beginning to play difficult to provoke me more, but I know she wants to. Let's see if I convince her. "Ugh... I want to... I am the eternal 'unsatisfied lover'," feigning sad, continuing to kiss her and hug her against his body and his hardness.
"And so?"
"One of my features of the Celtic horoscope that I did not read to you. The one that best defines me, even better than mystery."
"True," she broke away laughing. "Come on, hold on for a bit and take advantage of the adrenaline to use it to walk."
It is true that she does not want to. Do I force her? She would get at a hundred. No, she's right, we'd better leave it for later. "What is adrenaline?"
"A hormone. Do you know what a hormone is?"
"I do. Deborah told me about them the other day, and then I looked it up in the dictionary. What function does it have?" Sev asked.
"Put you on alert, give you energy."
"Wow, how interesting. I am very interested in Biology, specifically the functioning of the human body."
"Well, now you'll learn about that with Belby," Lauren said.
"Of course, I had not realized. Also what you told me the other day about animal behavior is very interesting."
"Of course, if I were a Muggle I would study that career."
"Do it when you finish Hogwarts, like Remus," he suggested.
"No, Severus, the war."
"I don't want you to fight in the war."
"But I do want," she said.
"Yeah. You'll be bringing up the rear, with Lily and me."
"Of course."
They searched in the Druid Magic book for the tree corresponding to the date, June 5th, exact crescent quarter, propitious for a second ritual, the hornbeam corresponded. Then they looked on the map if it was on the way or close. It was not on the way, they had to deviate from it for about fifteen minutes. They decided to do it, they had plenty of time.
As the tree was still in the section where there was forest, they thought that it would be best to do it before the ritual in the cave, to be less tired, to avoid the sun during the hottest hours of the day for a longer time and that perhaps the ritual of the cave was even more powerful.
They detached the map from the wall and folded it carefully so that they had located the first stretch of trail. Sev loaded the backpack and carried the map, Lauren the dictionary, to consult the signposts. They went outside and drew water from the well to drink.
They searched for the path by which they should leave the refuge clearing, to the northeast. They took it.
"The sea is to the west," Lauren said, "It would be nice, if we can, to come and see the sunset one day."
"Right, that would be great."
"It is also very symbolic, the path of the sun, from its birth until it sets, dying in the sea."
"Wow, I never thought of that," said Sev.
"The Celts had a sacred path, not here in the UK, but in the Iberian Peninsula, in what is now Spain and Portugal. You know where they are?"
"Yes, I was looking at an atlas with my mother at Easter. To the south, on the other side of the Cantabrian Sea."
"That is. United to the continent by the border with France," she explained.
"Yes, I remember."
"The road crosses the entire north of the peninsula and advances from east to west, going to die in the Atlantic Ocean, like the sun. The place where it ends is a cape, a land projection in the sea called Finisterre, in Latin, the end of the earth."
"Wow… it's fantastic. When did you hear about it?" he asked.
"I was also in Diagon during Easter, researching about the Celts, about history, because I knew you wouldn't have time to do it."
"Wow, Lauren, how quiet you were."
"Waiting for the opportune moment, you know that I like to keep information to myself."
"Yes, too much. Tell me, come on."
"It was called 'Star Path', because the Milky Way, the galaxy, traces that direction in the sky, from east to west," she explained.
"Sure…"
"The Christians appropriated it and now it is called 'Way of St James'. For them it does not end at the sea, but in a city in the northwest, in a region called Galicia, Santiago de Compostela. Compostela means 'Field of stars', by the original path."
"Christians appropriate everything and in a bad way, because if it doesn't end up in the sea, it stops making sense," Sev complained.
"Of course, for them it has another sacred meaning, since it is where one of the apostles of Christ, St James, is said to be buried."
"What is an apostle?"
"One of the twelve companions that he had and who dedicated themselves to preaching Christianity after his death," Lauren answered. "In theory, St James traveled to Spain, in those days Hispania, and died there. In the Middle Ages it was a very important place of pilgrimage."
"What does pilgrimage mean?"
"A trip that is made for spiritual reasons, they exist in all religions."
"Wow... So it seems equally interesting to me even though now it has another meaning than the one the Celts gave it," he commented.
"Of course, and so, luckily, the tradition has been maintained and can be done."
"It would be great to do it."
"There are routes that cross all of Europe, converging on the Pyrenees, the mountain range that separates France from Spain," she continued. "The medieval tradition was to walk out of the door of your house."
"Booah… but we can't, the sea."
"Of course not, we should start from the Pyrenees themselves or from a French city, because besides, crossing all of France and Spain would take us more than two months, and you will never have more than two consecutive months of holidays."
"True. Two months walking is a lot," Sev said.
"And that's counting on us doing it for five or six hours a day, a minimum of twelve or fifteen miles."
"Booah… What a mess!"
"And there are high mountain ranges to overcome. Without going any further, the Pyrenees."
"That's very hard, Lauren."
"That's nothing, Severus, medieval pilgrims walked twice as long, from sunrise to sunset."
"Oh…"
"Christians did it as a way to atone for their faults."
"I understand. Is all this information also from Diagon?" he asked.
"No, my parents looked for it in a Muggle bookstore in London and they sent me the book."
"You got it?" very excited.
"Yes, you carry both in the backpack," Lauren replied. "If we have time to spare, we watch them together."
Sev exclaimed out loud. "Good!"
Lauren continued to speak bonded, "I knew you were going to love the idea, I keep telling you. The road is actually a rite of passage, being in direct contact with nature for a long time, even sleeping in the open air and traveling with very little luggage, since you have to carry it."
"Sure…"
"We will do it the following summer when we finish with Voldemort, the whole family of warriors. It won't take so much effort, we will be at the peak of our physical abilities, a little over twenty years old."
"Of course…"
"It will be a way to break with the past and start a new life," she added.
"I think it's a great idea. But won't it be too hot in France and Spain in summer?"
"Yes, on the one hand that is annoying, perhaps it would be better in spring or autumn, but on the other hand, we will avoid bad weather and be able to sleep in the open."
"We could do it anyway, we are sorcerers, with the Druid Magic itself we control the weather," he suggested.
"Sure, you're right, but you and Lily couldn't be absent from Hogwarts in the spring or fall. It must be in summer."
"Sure…"
"Besides, this way you can get us pregnant during the trip, so that the girls are born in spring, the breeding season for animals in temperate and cold zones, the best time for childs to be born."
"Lauren, you already had all this planned."
She smiled at him charmingly, continuing to walk. "Of course, I've been dreaming since we saw the premonition."
"And why is it better for children to be born in spring?"
Lauren laughed. "What a stupid question, Severus. To take advantage of the good weather in their first months of life."
"Sure…"
"And not only that. It must be awful to be pregnant in the summer, in the heat."
"Of course."
"And make sure that all three are born before August 31st of the following year, so that they are in the same year at school," she added.
"Lauren, you have everything planned in detail."
She laughed. "Of course, who else has taught you to design strategies?"
Sev too. "You're right. And wouldn't it be harmful for you to walk so much while you are already pregnant?"
"No, Severus, the first few months nothing happens, it's even recommended. In addition, there are potions that alleviate the discomfort of the first trimester of pregnancy. We're lucky to be witches in that, Muggles don't have proper medicines for that."
"You already knew it? Or have you been researching?"
Lauren laughed. "No, I did not know. I was consulting it in the Medimagic section of the Library."
Sev too. "Wow… planning everything in detail instead of studying."
"You know, Severus, I need gasoline to hold out."
"You have that trait in common with your brother, you are both dreamers. How about with him? Has he told you about me?"
"Of course he did. You won him over, Severus, in an hour," deeply admired.
"Is he still thinking of becoming a Death Eater?"
"He hasn't told me about that, I suppose he's ashamed."
"Sure. What has he told you then?" he asked.
Lauren burst out laughing. "That he wants to go around the world with you in eighty days, like in Verne's book."
Sev too. "Well, I have to read it."
"Sure, Severus. Put down 'Oliver Twist' and read that one."
"Yes, maybe I will, I haven't read again all week. What else has he told you?"
Lauren laughed again. "That he wants to do it Muggle-style, by train, by boat, in a balloon, everything like in the book."
Sev too. "Oh… he's lovely. My little brother-in-law."
"And not only that, he will invite you to everything because you don't have money, as the protagonist did with his servant."
Sev said out loud. "How awesome!"
Lauren continued bonded and laughing. "And that he will look for a girlfriend in India as the protagonist does."
They were dying of laughter.
"How cute! He no longer has hope with his friend?" Sev asked.
"He didn't tell me about her. For him there was only you."
Sev turned serious. "Ugh... that doesn't suit him either. Is he hanging out with the other kids?"
"Not yet. But you did talk to him on Thursday, Severus, give him time."
"I have to talk to him again and encourage him to do it."
"Do it when you can, don't rush, little by little. I'm doing it too and my parents will do it in the summer. I am convinced that now he will pay much more attention to us, he will no longer have bad influences at home or at school."
"It was a success that of Muggle literature," he commented.
"Of course, Severus, my parents instilled it in all of us since we were little, as a way of connecting with the Muggle world on the sly, so that when the time came for us to know their true ideology, it wouldn't shock us so much."
"Sure, that's an excellent idea."
"You know, the strategists, they are also cunning snakes like us. But you have been the one who has known how to take advantage of it and relate it to a possible aspiration in life that is attractive to my brother. Neither me nor my parents had thought of it, despite we know the books. You surpass us."
"Have you told them?" Sev asked.
"Of course I have, as soon as my brother spoke to me yesterday. I haven't received the answer yet, but I can tell you that they are deeply grateful to you, as am I, for what you have done, Severus. You have already paid us back more than what we did for you."
"It hardly took me any effort, Lauren, and it was a pleasure doing it, you have nothing to thank me for."
"Well, you had to put up with being called a traitor, that must have been hard for you."
"Not at all, I perfectly understood his vision of things, and as soon as I explained mine he changed his mind, it was very easy," he replied. "Are you going to reveal the secrets to him now?"
"My parents will assess that when they see him in the summer, but yes, maybe yes, having to spend nine months a year in a new situation in Sly, in which he continues to feel out of place."
"Great, Lauren. You will no longer be alone in that aspect at school."
"Let's see what they decide, because next year my other brother is coming in, maybe they'll tell both of them."
"Aren't they having problems in their environment because you are still at Hogwarts?"
"Not at all, they don't let themselves be handled," she answered. "They are independent and respected, for a reason they are invited to meetings despite being only sympathizers."
"It is admirable that they know how to cope in those situations."
"A lifetime of dissimulation, from the age of fifteen."
"Wow…"
"Not even Narcissa attends the meetings," Lauren added.
"Oh… Speaking of Narcissa and Lucius. You haven't told me anything about them since the torture. How are they doing?"
"Fine fine. They see my parents two or even three times a week, like we did at the beginning, and Narcissa has already started teaching Andromeda Occlumency."
"Wow... And isn't she taking a risk by relating to her secretly from the rest of her family, with everything so recent?" Sev asked.
"She is also a queen of dissimulation, nobody finds out. She Apparates directly to her house, like they do to my parents'."
"And Andromeda's husband? They could read him."
"He doesn't know anything at the moment, he works during the day and Narcissa usually goes to see her sister in the morning," she replied. "In time they will teach him too."
"Great."
"Besides, she is very satisfied to have recovered her relationship with her sister and met her niece, Nimphadora, the girl from our premonition."
"And the girl can't tell her father?" he asked.
"They are also teaching her to keep secrets, as my parents did with us before they began to instruct us in Mental Arts."
"Ugh, that seems risky to me."
"They have decided so, Severus, it has been a great joy for both of them to resume their relationship, especially for Narcissa. Nimphadora is the only niece she has, Lucius doesn't have any siblings and Bellatrix doesn't have any children." Lauren said out loud, "And I hope she never has them!" very upset.
Sev laughed and responded bonded. "Of course. Calm down, Lauren."
Lauren continued bonded as well. "It's that you bring it up. I want to forget about her, just thinking about what she could have done to you…"
"Well, I want to ask you more things."
"Ask, come on."
"How is Lucius? Have they done something to him again?" he inquired.
"No, Severus, easy about that. He is handling himself perfectly, they have already regained confidence in him. What I'm telling you, they are very easy to fool, he and Narcissa often visit Bellatrix and charm her."
"After what they did to him…"
"That is what it is about, to put peace and hide, they are extraordinary," said Lauren. "For something I was so happy when I saw them in the mirror, they are also the heart of the team."
"And the investigation about me?"
"Sailing wind, Severus. He already Obliviated those who found out about your fellowship at St. Mungo's."
"They discovered it?" alarmed.
"Of course. What did you expect?"
"Why didn't you tell me anything?" he asked.
"Because it wasn't necessary."
"And if they find out again?"
"He will Obliviate them again, it will not reach the ears of the slut," she answered. "Don't worry about it anymore, you're safe in that aspect, you can go and come back from St. Mungo's whenever you want."
"Oh, Lauren… but in return he must be constantly worried."
"Now it is his mission in life. Staying alive to defeat Voldemort, he on his side and you on yours, an excellent dumbbell. Who would have said?"
"How satisfied you are, Lauren."
"It is to be, everything is going very well."
"I want to get in touch with him."
"No, Severus, not yet."
"Not even by letter?"
"The mail is dangerous, for something he doesn't write to you either."
"And see each other in summer?" he insisted.
"Even less, Severus. You cannot Apparate."
"Lauren, I want him to know that I know."
"That should be decided by my parents, they haven't told him yet that we're in contact and I don't think they will," she replied.
"Ugh… Lauren, how difficult. I want him to know that I'm fine."
"He knows, Severus, he's not stupid, quite the contrary."
"Did you talk to your parents about the lynchings?"
"Of course I did, briefly but yes, on Thursday."
"And they told him?" he asked.
"Yes, that same afternoon, the owl arrived while they were with them."
"And what did he think of it?"
Lauren went on loudly. "What a stupid question, Severus," emphatic and gesticulating. "You have them on right!"
They laughed and continued talking bonded.
"And he wasn't afraid of me being denounced?" Sev asked.
"Of course, they were talking about it. He is waiting for them to do so and also reach out to the Ministry, eliminating the delation and Obliviating the officials."
"Ugh… how much is he risking."
"You are doing it too. You are on par, an excellent dumbbell," proud. She went on loudly, gesturing, vehement and triumphant, "He's so proud that you've rid Hogwarts of Death Eaters! Dying with envy that he can't do the same with Voldemort's henchmen with whom he has to interact almost daily!"
Sev also spoke. "Ugh… poor."
They continued bonded.
"Do not pity him, he is in awe, he has drawn his own conclusions from the investigation at the Ministry," Lauren said.
"Oh really? Which are them?"
"Let's see, let's play riddles, imagine it for yourself. Did he know you were a scholarship holder?"
"Yeah."
"And if they haven't found anything in the Scholarship Registry, what could he have imagined?" she asked.
"That the old man personally took charge of eliminating my tracks."
Lauren spoke, triumphant again. "Well done, Severus! He knows that the old man is also protecting you at all costs. And that gives him a lot of confidence, he knows that you are not going to lack for anything outside the Ministry and that he will defend you in a possible trial for the lynchings if he cannot avoid it. Doubly protected. Let's see, what else has he found out?"
"That a research fellowship is being processed for me at St. Mungo's."
"That is. Research on what?"
"In Medimagic," he replied.
"What else does Lucius know interesting about you related to Medimagic?"
"I don't realize, Lauren."
"Think a bit, Severus."
"I don't know, I never told him that I created spells."
"But he already deduces it by himself knowing you. Also, the fellowship is not for Charms, but for Potions. Why are we going to study Potions in the Defense NEWT?"
"Because there are Potions that are remedies against Dark Magic," he answered.
"Do you already have it? What Lucius knows about you interesting?"
Sev laughed, a bit embarrassed. "Yes, that I like Dark Magic."
"And that therefore you will not be daunted by the possibility of investigating it and creating remedies against it, remedies that will save lives on our side when war breaks out."
"Sure…"
"He is very proud of you!" triumphantly and gesturing with her hands. "That you are also dedicating yourself to that with all the mess you are involved in, and even more so without having even started the Medimagic NEWT! He admires you and loves you even more! He would leave Narcissa and marry you! He told my parents so in front of her!"
Sev laughed and spoke too, "And Narcissa, how did she take it?"
"With a lot of humor, it wasn't the first time she heard him say it. She replied that she would also leave him for you."
They laughed happily.
"I would stay with her, not with him. She is also beautiful and I admire her as a person."
"I know, Severus, but don't steal her from him, she said it jokingly."
"I was kidding too, it would never cross my mind."
"Besides, she told them that Lucius doesn't talk about anything else when they're alone and at ease. She also considers you her brother now. You've made them happy, Severus, completely healed of the misfortune they had back there, responding to the level that they have shown."
"Oh… I want to be with them… I also love and admire them very much and I want them to know it," very sorry.
"You'll be, Severus…" patiently, taking him by his shoulders, "When it's safe for everyone."