“Can I go play outside after this?” Olivia asked as she scurried back and forth between the bookshelf and the stack of books. Often only able to carry one at a time due to the size of some of them.
“No, you can put away everything in your room first,” Morgan said as she smiled wearily. She swore the move back into Hogwarts got more tiring and more trying every year. Of course a seven year old running around and constantly getting in the way did complicate matters.
“What about after I put my stuff away?”
“Not unless I find some free time to go out with you. You could always ask your sisters to take you though.”
“Maybe…” Olivia lugged the rest of the books to the bookshelf, putting them up as high as she could reach. Once she finished with them she went in search of Tristan and curled up with him in a large chair as she watched Morgan work at unpacking and organizing.
Morgan was about to ask Olivia if she was feeling alright, it wasn’t like the girl to sit so quietly when she could be running around, but Severus chose that moment to come storming into their quarters, looking thoroughly enraged.
“Do you know what that meddling woman…”
Morgan actually winced at the string of profanity that followed. It was obvious that Severus had not noted Olivia’s presence in the room, or at least she hoped he hadn’t noticed rather than he had and was using that sort of phraseology anyways. She also hoped that Olivia wouldn’t try to repeat anything that was being said.
Severus had removed his outer robes and rolled up the sleeves of his white linen shirt as he practically threw himself into the nearest chair.
“What did Minerva do?” Morgan asked tentatively. She tried to gesture for Olivia to leave the room, but the girl was too intent on staring at her father, who was the angriest she had ever seen him, to notice.
“She, in her infinite wisdom,” he practically spat the words, the loathing evident in them, “has decided that faculty will be required to do nightly rounds as a means of enforcing security.”
“Alright…” Morgan wasn’t quite sure why that was so bad, and didn’t want to get too involved.
“She is being entirely…”
“Sev,” Morgan cut her husband off and inclined her head in the direction of Olivia, who was listening intently.
Severus’ first thought was to send the girl to bed so that he could speak his mind. However, he snapped his mouth shut instead and handed Morgan a piece of parchment, it was amazing how far a scrap of paper could go towards running one’s life.
Morgan took the paper and nearly laughed. So, this was the source of her husband’s displeasure… It was a schedule for the nightly patrols once the student arrived. Each faculty member would perform rounds twice a week in pairs. Severus was paired with either Harry or Sirius for the entire first term. “It’s not that bad,” she told him, trying hard not to smile.
Severus snorted, “as if we did not have enough to be worried about already she has seen fit to decide that the entire faculty will be deprived of sleep for the purpose of nightly rounds that will not be an adequate form of defense.”
“I could be worse,” Morgan pointed out.
“I swear, Minerva is intent on driving me mad this term. First she sticks me with Miss Bhaer, now this. Next she is going to insist that I take tea with my students in hopes of building a stronger sense of family!!!” He spat the last word and rose to pour himself a drink before resuming his seat.
Morgan glanced down that the schedule again and suddenly realized the main reason for her husband’s agitation. They would both be patrolling two nights a week, but they were different nights. They were in what was probably the safest location of all Western Europe and yet they were still being torn apart. She looked back up and was going to say something, but decided against it. She opted instead to take a seat and quietly observe her husband.
Olivia had left Tristan behind so that she could climb unimpeded into Severus’ lap, “I have a question,” she said as she tugged on her father’s sleeve.
Severus sighed, “yes?”
“What’s a tribas?”
Morgan quickly picked up a book and pretended not to be listening as she hunkered down in her chair, smiling to herself.
Traitor, you’re a damn traitor and a coward Severus thought as he watched his wife try to hide. He cleared his throat awkwardly as he looked down at Olivia, who was looking up at him expectantly. He moved Olivia out of her curled up position on his lap and sat her on his knee so that he could look her in the face, “it is a word one does not often hear in polite society…” he began.
Morgan raised the book, which she was holding upside-down, to cover her face as she started to turn red from trying not to laugh.
Severus shot a glare in his wife’s direction, “it is a woman who…” he faltered over his words for a moment quickly running several scenarios through his head, “she is of a rather aggressive sort and does not need a man to…”
“To what?” Olivia was swinging her legs back and forth innocently as she waited for an answer.
Morgan was snickering uncontrollably behind her book as she sank lower and lower in her chair. Finally, not able to control herself any longer she made a dash for the bedroom. Once safely inside she leaned against the door and laughed loud and hard.
“It is a rude and insulting word that little girls should not use, that is all you need to know.”
“Why did you use it?” Olivia asked.
“Because, sometimes, when adults are under extreme provocation and know the consequences of using those words it is acceptable.”
“What’s extreme provocation?”
“It means you’re very upset.”
“So… if I’m really upset am I allowed to say tribas?”
“No.”
“But, what if…”
“If I hear you say it, or any other similar words, I will wash your mouth out.”
Olivia clamped both hands over her mouth, she had already had one date with a bar of soap and didn’t want to repeat the process.
“Are we understood on this issue?”
Olivia nodded mutely, in response to her father’s raised eyebrow she quickly muttered, “yes sir.”
“Bedtime,” Severus said as he gave Olivia a slight push so that she would hop off his lap.
Olivia retrieved Tristan and dashed off to her room to change into her nightgown. Severus followed her a few moments later and saw to it that she was in bed, Tristan next to her on the pillow, and even conceded to her request to read one story out of her fairy tale book before the lights were turned out.
“That coward is still hiding,” he muttered as he returned to the living room to find that Morgan had not yet reappeared. He decided to give her a chance to redeem herself and settled down in a chair to finish his drink and look over a new journal that LeBeau had sent him with a request for an opinion.
Nearly an hour later he was convinced that Morgan was not going to come to him. That meant he was going to have to go to her.
“You certainly took your time in coming to find me,” Morgan commented as Severus joined her in their bedroom.
“And a lot of bloody help you were out there earlier,” Severus snapped as he sat down to remove his boots.
“That was your own fault. If you would learn to watch your language when the children are around…”
“I didn’t say one foul word in English…”
“Well that obviously didn’t matter, did it?” Morgan flopped down on their bed on her stomach, propping her chin up on her hands and swinging her feet in the air.
Severus snorted as he unbuttoned his shirt, “you still could have given me a hand out there. The amount of Gryffindor bravery you displayed was absolutely astounding. Especially the way you turned tail and fled right when it started to get messy. Although I can’t say that I really expected more. I am not, nor have I ever been or will be, an optimist.”
Morgan covered her smile, “exactly how much detail did you go into in your explanation?”
“I believe you caught most of it. I most certainly was not going to give Olivia a lecture on Roman sexual practices.”
“Care to give me that lecture?”
“I wasn’t aware that you needed it.”
“Maybe I could give it to you,” Morgan suggested impishly.
“You little minx…”
Morgan sat up to remove the silk dressing gown she had on, reveling that there was nothing beneath it.
“Have you been in here planning this the entire time?” Severus asked with a smirk as he sat on the edge of their bed, grabbing the robe from Morgan’s hands and tossing it aside.
“Perhaps…”
“I believe that you owe me an apology for leaving me out there alone with Olivia.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” Morgan promised as she lay back on the bed.
“I’ll make sure that you do.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Kalliope swore that Remus was going to drive her mad one of these days with the way he was hanging over her. She rolled all of the hexes she knew through her mind, trying to come up with the best one to use next time he took to hanging over her in his incredibly sweet and increasingly annoying manner.
And no matter what anyone said her hormones were not out of whack, thank you very much.
“Kalliope darling, can I get you anything?” Remus asked as he leaned over his wife’s shoulder to kiss her cheek.
“Hades’ balls Remus! Can you stop hanging over me for five bloody seconds or is that too much to ask?” she snapped at him as she moved out of his reach to stare moodily out the window.
Remus stared after his wife in shock. He wasn’t sure if he should follow her to the window or leave her alone. He had the nasty suspicion that he was playing with a double-edged sword. If he went to Kalliope she would probably snap at him to leave her alone again. But if he stayed where he was she would probably get angry at him for not following her.
He thought that a class entitled ‘dealing with pregnant women’ should be added to the Hogwarts’ curriculum and required for every male student.
He decided to choose his first option and quietly and carefully walked across the room so that he was standing behind Kalliope. “I love you,” he whispered softly as he traced a single finger down her arm.
Kalliope turned and buried her face in Remus’ shoulder, embracing him tightly, which was becoming more and more difficult due to her increasing size. She didn’t bother to ask for forgiveness for her earlier shortness, not that she thought she had any reason to, she knew Remus would offer it freely without it being requested.
“I’m worried about the satyr encampment,” Kalliope confessed as she broke away from Remus and took a weary seat on the bench beneath the window.
“They haven’t caused any problems so far,” Remus reassured her.
“I know, but they could… I worry enough as it is with Cadmus and his men so close by,” she hurried on to explain herself at Remus’ confused look, “Cadmus is a good man, but nomadic warriors can get out of line quickly and if they should try to take the temple... it would not be pretty. The satyrs tend not to be a violent group, but it’s not like the followers of Dionysus to stay in one place for so long.”
“Could it be connected to a festival of Ariadne?”
“No, and I don’t like not knowing what they are doing here.”
“Could you send someone down to talk to them?”
Kalliope frowned for a moment, “I’d rather not. I’m not sure I could trust them with any of my priestesses and Cadmus has never been very diplomatic. Charming and cunning yes, but diplomacy… I think not. If one of them took so much as a step out of line he’d draw his sword.”
“Funny, I would have thought that soldiers would be the type of people most likely to get along with Bacchic revelers.”
Kalliope smiled, “oh, they do, but the satyrs are rather a tricky bunch to handle. One learns that one should never expect anything of them. Unfortunately that leaves us always open to surprise, such as their current encampment. Usually they try to blend in a bit more, which is fairly easy. A hood over their heads to cover their pointed ears and a long tunic to cover their tails… they look just like humans.”
“What can we do?”
Kalliope shrugged, and then realized that Remus was still standing, so she gestured for him to sit next to her, “for now I have Cadmus keeping an eye on things. He’s not worried at the moment, so I just have to trust his judgment for now. He’ll let me know if things get out of hand.”
“So all we can do is wait…” Remus sighed, “all we can do is wait, for everything. To see what Voldemort has planned, to see who his allies are, to see if we even survive… we can’t plan anything. We just wait.”
“We can hope. We can always hope.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
