“Haven’t I done enough assignments for you already?” Sophia asked as she looked rather disdainfully at the texts.
Remus smiled wearily, after spending a summer in the easy rhythm of life at the temple the crowds and fast paced tempo of Diagon Alley had left him wondering how he had made it through life in the wizarding world for so long, “it won’t hurt you to look ahead.”
“It might.”
“Trust me, you’ll want to get ahead while you can. I have a feeling the pace of schooling at Hogwarts might be a shock for you, and I would hate to have to send you a howler early on in the school year because you’re already falling behind in your classes…”
“You wouldn’t?!”
“I wouldn’t suggest testing me on this one Miss Lupin, I consider it a fatherly duty to keep you in line.”
Sophia glared at him, perhaps it would be beneficial to become a little closer to Sirius, since he was already at the school he probably wouldn’t think of sending any howlers…
“Just don’t do anything that I’ll make you regret later,” Remus advised her. He hoped she would stay out of too much trouble. Gryffindor had enough students with a disregard for the rules already, it made him worry that Sophia might fit in a little too much. He sent Sophia to put all of her purchases away and went in search of his wife.
“…because it reflects the cycle of the moon?” Nimue asked from where she sat at Kalliope’s feet, her snake, which she had named Persephone, was coiled in her lap and she was petting it as though it were a dog.
“Exactly,” Kalliope praised her pupil as she looked up to find Remus in the doorway, “you took longer than I thought you would. I had Theodora bring a tray for you,” she gestured to a tray of food set on a low table near the window.
“I’m just glad I made it back in one piece,” Remus said as he dropped into a chair and reached for an amphora to pour himself some watered down wine. “Oh yes…” Remus reached into one of the pockets of his robes, “Nimue…” he beckoned the girl over to him.
Nimue placed Persephone back in her clay pot and went to kneel at Remus’ feet.
Remus pulled out a simple gold chain that held a teardrop shaped pendent made from a purple stone, which he helped Nimue fasten around her neck.
“It’s beautiful…” Nimue said softly as she picked up the stone from where it now hung around her neck.
Remus leaned down so that he was at her level, “its part of a pair that is charmed. When you hold on to it and think about the person wearing the other one, theirs will grow warm. I owled the other one to your mother.”
Nimue ducked her head to hide the tears in her eyes.
Remus looked over at Kalliope questioningly, not sure how to read Nimue’s action, but Kalliope only shrugged. He opened his mouth to ask Nimue if she liked the necklace, but she flung herself into his arms before he had the chance.
“Thank you,” Nimue said hoarsely as she buried her face in Remus’ shoulder.
“Are you alright?” Remus asked as he felt the tears soaking through his shirt, feeling a little worried.
“Yes,” Nimue sniffed. “The necklace is perfect.”
Remus sighed, then the tears were because she appreciated the gift. “I hope this might help with the homesickness a little bit.”
“It’s getting late,” Kalliope said as she rose to her feet to light a small oil lamp.
Nimue pulled away from Remus and ran a hand over her eyes, “I’m going to go to bed,” she said softly as she reached up to clutch the amulet around her neck tightly in her hand.
“Sleep well little one,” Kalliope said as she saw Nimue to the door and watched the girl walk toward the small building where the novices slept. “You never cease to amaze me,” she said as she turned around to face Remus.
“I hope that’s a good thing.”
“It most certainly is,” Kalliope said with a smile as she worked her way into Remus’ embrace.
“Then I shall contrive to keep amazing you,” Remus said as he kissed his wife. “Are you tired?”
“A little… but not too tired…”
Remus laughed as he buried his face in Kalliope’s neck, “I do want you to get your rest,” he said as he rested a hand on Kalliope’s rounded stomach, “you have this one to think about…”
“But I’m not going to have you to myself for very much longer either…”
Remus left a trail of kisses along his wife’s jaw, “Only two more months now… but I can’t say that I’m at all disappointed about having to share you. In fact, I’m rather looking forward to it.”
“That’s because you don’t get to experience the joy of giving birth.”
“No… but I promise to hold your hand the entire time darling.”
Kalliope just smiled, not wanting to be the one to stomp on Remus’ plans. She figured it might be best to wait and let one of the other priestesses tell him when the time came that there was no way they would allow a man any where near the birthing chamber, especially when the high priestess was involved.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Is the hair crisis solved?”
“Yes, and Olivia is in bed.”
“Are our darling twins at least considering packing for school?”
“Nearly halfway through and promised me they’d have it done before they went to bed.”
“Nothing else that you have to take care of tonight?”
“Not that I can think of,” Morgan’s voice was muffled as she pulled her dress off over her head.
“So there will be no more interruptions?”
“You’re being awfully persistent about something,” Morgan commented as she dug through the wardrobe for one of her husband’s soft linen shirts to slip on. “Well?” she asked impatiently as she buttoned up the shirt, which on her small stature fell to her knees.
Severus made no comment. He simply sat on the edge of their bed and watched as his wife flitted about the room, straightening things up as she went and kicking a stray pair of shoes under the bed.
“You’re being awfully quiet,” Morgan commented as she crawled up on the bed behind Severus and wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder.
“Just a bit lost in thought…”
“And what are you thinking?”
“That I don’t deserve you, that I could never do anything noble enough to deserve you.”
Morgan snorted, “there is not a man alive who deserves me, you just happen to be the lucky bastard who got stuck with me.”
“Very lucky indeed.”
Morgan sighed, so many years had passed and yet her husband still retained such a strong current of self-loathing for the crimes he had committed in the past. She had tried her best to dispel it, and although it no longer made itself so prevalent she had a feeling that it would always be lurking there beneath the surface. Severus had once told her that he did no believe in absolution, but if he did, he was sure it would look just like her. “I love you,” she said softly.
Severus shifted a bit on the bed as he felt Morgan’s warm breath against his neck. “I am not sure what I have done to deserve it.”
“You loved me first,” Morgan said simply.
“That is not an accomplishment Morgan, I couldn’t help myself.”
“But it meant the world to me,” she noticed the slightest hint of softening in her husband’s jaw line. That was good, that meant he was starting to return from the frighteningly dark depths of his mind.
“Poor dear, you really had no idea what you were getting into when you married me,” Severus lifted his arm so that Morgan could duck under it and curl up next to him on the edge of the bed.
“You gave me fair warning,” Morgan said as she looked up at her husband, “you made it very clear that could not help it that you were a miserable, moody, angry, and stubborn bastard. I made the choice of my own free will.”
“And lived to regret it I dare say…”
“That’s not true!”
“Isn’t it?”
Morgan tried to sputter a coherent response, but saw the faintest glimmer of teasing in her husband’s eyes and clamped her mouth shut firmly.
“See, you are not even going to attempt to deny it,” Severus stated calmly as he stared straight ahead.
“I have never regretted marrying you,” Morgan said as she placed a small hand on Severus’ thigh and looked up at him earnestly.
Severus raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
“Oh all right,” Morgan blushed slightly, “there were a few occasions when I regretted marrying you. But that is all in the past, and had been for some time now.”
Severus let a rare genuine smile cross his lips, the kind that none of his students had ever seen. He wrapped an arm firmly around Morgan’s waist and lay back on the bed, taking his wife with him.
“Did you ever regret marrying me?” Morgan asked from her position, securely wrapped in Severus’ arms.
The question took Severus by surprise, but once he was over the initial shock he couldn’t help but laugh, an action that confused Morgan greatly.
“What?” she asked as she removed propped herself up as best she could while still in her husband’s embrace.
“I was just thinking…”
“About what,” Morgan pressed as she poked at her husband, determined to get a straight answer out of him.
“I am surprised you have not figured it out already…”
Morgan frowned for a minute as she tried to figure out what her husband was alluding to. But she couldn’t come up with anything.
Severus smiled to himself as he ran a hand up and down Morgan back. His slipped his hand under the edge of his shirt that she was wearing and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was nothing under it. He let his fingers linger there, softly tapping against her warm flesh, giving her a gentle, but firm, pinch from time to time. “My office…” he hinted.
Morgan’s cheeks flamed red as she realized what her husband was thinking about, “I can’t believe you would bring that up…”
“That was the one time I ever considered throwing you out…” he emphasized his words with a series of mild slaps to Morgan’s backside.
Morgan giggled, at her husband’s serious expression as he teasingly scolded her and gently massaged her nether cheeks, “I certainly hope you’ve never thought about throwing me out again.”
“I have not. But you know that I had every right to be angry.”
Morgan smiled, “now just because I attempted to help out a little was no reason to be angry.”
“You attempted to organize my supply cabinet… alphabetically,” the last word seemed to make him shudder. Severus had his own system of cataloguing that he couldn’t bear to see touched.
“And I still don’t know how I was supposed to know that it would make you angry. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near your damn cabinet if I had known you would react that way!”
“Really?”
“Of course,” Morgan said as she wrapped one of her legs over Severus’. She teasingly rubbed her foot up and down his leg as she watched him become more and more aroused.
“Then why did you try to rearrange my personal supply cabinet downstairs just last week?” Severus asked, a knowing smirk on his face, as he tangled a hand in Morgan’s hair and rolled her over so that she was on top of him. He kept one hand in her hair as he used the other to massage her breasts through the linen fabric of the shirt she wore.
“Because most of the enjoyment I get out of life comes from trying to irritate you,” Morgan said simply. She giggled during the scuffle that ensued, fighting back not with any hope of overpowering her husband, but merely because it was part of the game. She was not going to submit just because she would eventually lose.
“Well?” Severus raised an eyebrow as he pinned his wife beneath him.
“I talked to Minerva today.”
Severus groaned and rolled back off of his wife, “was that absolutely necessary?” he growled in frustration.
Morgan smiled to herself as she sat up and twisted her hair back primly, “she said that we better both have our lesson plans done for the first week because we can expect to spend our time before the term starts enforcing the wards on the school. We’re to make sure that the students’ quarters are especially safe. Poor Filius is going to be up to his ears in work.”
“Hmpf… that is not very much…”
Morgan lightly kicked Severus and gave him a disapproving look, “be nice. I was just trying to be nice and give you a bit of forewarning before Minerva could spring this on you tomorrow.”
“How considerate,” Severus said dryly.
“Well since you obviously don’t find my assistance necessary…”
“I find you very necessary,” Severus said as he joined his wife at the top of the bed.
“I’ll take that as a complement,” Morgan kissed her husband.
“If we are quite through with all unnecessary conversation I would like to show you how necessary I think you are.” Severus gently pushed his wife down so that she was once again lying beneath him. He deftly worked at the buttons on the shirt she wore and pushed it out of the way, enjoying the view it provided him.
“Show away.”
~~~~~~~~~~
