Chapter 49, Welcome To My Nightmare
When Severus's visit at #12 Grimmauld Place was over, he returned home to a surprisingly quiet summer. Old man Prince had taken to playing bridge with some of his friends in Knockturn Alley of an evening, leaving Severus to spend time with his mum in relative peace. Often he and Eileen even had the place to themselves for dinner, allowing them the easy relaxed banter that he'd so enjoyed when visiting the Blacks. A few weeks before term began, he finally got a letter from Heather who had just gotten back home.
Dear Severus,
I hope you had a better summer than I did in spite of your shit of a grandfather. It was hot, sticky and boring. I got sick three times from questionable food. I am truly beginning to think my parents are insane, though I do love them most of the time. I now have roughly two weeks to enjoy a clean comfortable home and plenty of quiet time for reading until term begins.
How was your visit with Regulus? I hope the two of you had fun. I have no mail from Raislen here so I assume he is not back yet?
Heather
Severus found himself smiling as he held the letter briefly to his chest. It was nearly as if his friends had come to visit, silly as that sounded. Though Raislen had not written him yet either, Heather's mention of him made it somehow feel as if the three of them were already riding the Hogwarts Express together. He'd missed them more than he'd realized, and his joy over a letter from one of them finally arriving made this clear.
He wrote Heather back at once, happily reporting how peaceful things were at Prince manor for as long as his grandfather enjoyed playing Bridge. Gleefully he wrote of how uncomfortable he and Regulus along with Kreacher and the Lestranges had made Sirius during the visit to #12 Grimmauld Place. He concluded the letter by inquiring as to if she happened to have a need for some human bones with dead skin still on and a book on how to use them. He was still grinning as he sealed the letter, knowing how disgusting she would find such an offer! So amused by imagining her horrified reaction was he that he wrote Regulus to share the amusement. Regulus wrote back nearly at once, saying that he'd been so amused that he'd just written to offer her his as well! Severus found himself wondering what Raislen would think of Bellatrix's little bony Borgin and Burkes finds. Heather wrote back the next day, and Severus opened the letter, eager for her reaction concerning his offer. It was sure to be amusing, after all.
Dear Severus,
You are a sorry excuse for a human being, and no I do not want disgusting bones! You are learning too well from Raislen, and that is not a compliment, so take it as such at your own risk. I am right now picturing hexing that stupid grin off your face that I am certain is plastered all over it. I heard from Regulus. Not funny. You two are not funny! If you offer me anything disgusting again, I will send you a rotting possessed shrunken head that shall chew your fingers off when you open the package that contains it. So there! I have no idea where I shall get such a head, but I will. Just for you! Be warned.
Now back to our normal back and forth. I am truly pleased that you have had a decent summer, and the fact that you helped Sirius Black not to have one truly makes my heart sing!
Before he wrote Heather back, Severus penned a quick warning note to Regulus that girls could not take jokes. Let him make of that what he would. He wrote Heather apologizing for the fact that she could not take a joke. Of course he would not apologize for his joke. He then asked if she had found anything interesting on her travels in way of good books. He doubted it else she should've said, but one had to ask. That night, he had an actual nightmare for the first time in at least a year and a half. It involved a disgusting shrunken head with curly short hair biting his fingers. The thing's little sharp teeth really hurt too! He'd never experienced actual pain in a dream. He wrote Heather before breakfast to give her all of the details before he forgot them. He closed with an observation.
It fascinates me that you have no interest in the bones, but your imagination allows you to cook up such nightmare fodder without being bothered in the slightest.
Severus
Though he had not yet received a reply from yesterday's letter, he sent this one ahead anyway. It was after lunch when Heather wrote him back.
Dear Severus,
I am mollified to have given you nightmares. It makes my heart smile, because those bones you offered me sounded horrific. I better never see them at school either. I mean it. I paid Regulus back for his 'kind' offer by threatening not to defend him a single time against Sirius this year. Of course I could never stick to that, but he won't know. It's a grand torture allowing someone's mind to play with what you said and do the work for you. Ha!
You two need to bloody learn how to treat girls, that's what. Have you been reading anything interesting? I am reading a book on weather magic. It is only for wizards with a true affinity for it because if one casts a weather spell and it goes wrong, which it usually does, there could be grave consequences. For example, trying to make it rain when it has been too dry for too long can go wrong in ways you would never suspect because weather is tricky.
The book has an accounting of Merlin casting a rain spell because he has an affinity for water. Well he made it rain, but not in the area where he actually wanted it. It rained a country away. It rained so much that there were floods and people drowned. So if even Merlin had trouble with weather magic, I don't think I shall be trying it, though some wizards can manage it with ease if they have that particular talent. What do you think? And don't forget to tell me what you are reading.
Heather
Of course Severus wrote back at once. He wisely decided to leave the topic of bones and Heather's revenge alone, focusing instead on the books bit of her letter. He told her that he was reading a book on poisons and asked to borrow the weather book, assuring her that he did not plan to make it rain. He did express confusion over Merlin's failure, considering he was said to be a water mage. In Merlin's time wizards focused magic on elements.
Spells were often based on water, air, fire and earth. Much had changed over the centuries in the way magic was constructed though. In some ways it had gotten more complex, but in some ways those complexities diluted what Severus and his friends felt was a stronger more pure form of magic. Much of those old spells had been lost to time, though. What Severus would not give to actually find one of Merlin's own spell books! Perhaps some day Raislen would come across one on his travels. If anyone had a chance of finding something so rare, it would be one of the WestCravens. Having the largest private library in the wizarding world made it far more likely for one to find the most prized books.
Severus started packing for school three days before term was to begin. It was then that it hit him that it was his last year with Heather and Raislen. They would be graduating at the end of the year. The realization was stunning and left a hard fist sized lump in the center of his chest that rose into his throat from time to time. The idea of them being gone inspired feelings of loneliness and anxiety. He could not imagine Hogwarts without them. It was going to be a nightmare, he just knew it. He and Regulus would be alone with the Gryffindor Gang of Gits two to four.
With Heather and Raislen gone, it would no longer be four against four. Not just that, though. Nothing would be the same from playing on Dumbledore's stairs to studying together in the common room or out at the lake. Nothing would be the same and there would be nothing to look forward to. School would turn into another place that he hated to be. He just knew it! He had one more good year ahead of him at Hogwarts and that was it.
Fleetingly he wondered if his Mum would allow him to quit after he completed his OWLS. Though the idea was tempting, he banished it nearly at once as impossible. He would never make enough money if he stopped his education so soon. He needed to study advanced Alchemy if he had any chance at being the greatest potions master to ever live. Not to mention, getting back at Voldemort took skills, and he needed to pour all the various types of knowledge into his head that he could. He needed to be more than prepared to go up against the likes of Voldemort so he would take all that Hogwarts had to offer, remaining there for the entire seven years to do so.
He would have Regulus to spend time with, with Heather and Raislen gone, but it did not feel like enough. Though Regulus was a good friend, he would never be Heather or Raislen. He had one more year with them, though, so as Severus completed his packing and closed the lid of his trunk, he pushed down his feelings of anxiety and sadness. This year would take ages to pass, after all.
He would have plenty of time to spend with Heather and Raislen. Perhaps they would at last discover Lupin's secret, which would insure his safety when Heather and Raislen were gone. Having something to hold over Lupin meant he would call his bullying friends off, after all. If not, hopefully Severus would have at least sorted the dagger spell. A spell that Dark and dangerous should have the four gits too afraid to start with him. He had a whole year, and a lot could happen in a year.