“I can’t believe you did that to me in Harry’s classroom,” Morgan said disapprovingly as she handed Severus a glass of wine, all while keeping well out of his reach.
“Hmpf! It was well worth the look on his face. And it’s no where near what he deserved.”
“I’m glad you felt free to use me in a manner to cause discomfort for our colleagues, it reminds me of my importance,” Morgan said sarcastically.
“Stop sulking over there. I want you over here,” he gestured to the empty couch space next to him.
Morgan complied, although she rolled her eyes, “you’re entirely too demanding and you expect to get your way all the time.”
“And I usually do,” Severus said as Morgan sank down next to him. He couldn’t quite suppress a faint smile when she yawned and then stretched out on her side, her head pillowed on his lap. Her hand playing at his knee ran a strong chance of getting her more than she was currently looking for.
“You’re incorrigible,” Morgan said around another yawn as Severus’ right hand crept under her sweater and brushed against her skin.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” His fingers tripped over the soft skin of her stomach. It wasn’t nearly as flat as it had been when they first married. Their children were responsible for that. But she was still on the slender side. He rather liked the weight that children and the years had added to her. Her breasts were fuller, her hips were gracefully curved… she was entirely softer. His fingers inched further up under her shirt.
“Perhaps insatiable is closer to it…”
“That is entirely your fault. Had you been fat and ugly I would have no trouble containing myself. Instead you are…”
“Ravishingly beautiful?” Morgan asked teasingly.
“Adequately passable,” Severus shot back with a smirk, relishing in the easy banter that had disappeared of late. It felt so safe and comfortable.
“Greasy old bat,” Morgan pinched the inside of his leg firmly, close enough up his thigh to send home exactly what she thought of his comment.
Severus hand stopped in it’s roaming and he set aside his wine glass, “do that again,” he threatened silkily, “and you shall pay the forfeit.”
Morgan twisted enough so that she could see her husband’s face, “does that mean you’re going to ravish me senseless?” her hand lingered just above his leg, thumb and forefinger ready to pinch him again.
Severus slipped his hand out from under his wife’s shirt and rested it on her hip, squeezing it gently, “I knew you were in the classroom today.”
“What?!” Morgan tried to sit up, but her husband held her down where she was. She frowned as she settled back down, “how did you know I was there?” she had thought that with Harry’s invisibility cloak and the way she had trailed in just behind Minerva there was no way for him to know.
“Your perfume,” Severus returned his hand to where it had been previously, gods but he loved how soft her skin was. “You walked right by me Morgan, and you always wear the same perfume. It was rather obvious.”
“You didn’t say anything…”
“I figured that since you had gone to so much trouble I might as well let you stay.”
“I wish you wouldn’t do things like that. It almost makes me feel bad for being mad at you.”
“At least that gives me assurance that the cold heartless woman I married has some conscience left,” Severus said dryly. He smiled when Morgan muttered something incomprehensible in reply, he should probably just carry her to bed…
Morgan closed her eyes against the soft light of the crackly fire as she thought about why her husband would let her stay to watch his session with Harry’s class. She wasn’t quite sure what to think about it. He hadn’t said overly much, but what he had said… she tensed under his hands, “Draco was one of them, wasn’t he?”
“One of what?” Severus feigned ignorance.
“One of the ones who was forced to be a Death Eater, who didn’t have a choice… is that why you trust him?”
“That’s one of the reasons. And yes, he was forced. Much of the time he was controlled with the Imperius curse.”
“Did he ever try to resist?”
“Yes, but he was always controlled by a wizard much stronger than he was, it was necessary that he do the actions required of him, or he would have been killed.”
Morgan was instantly wide awake, she hadn’t failed to notice the careful way in which her husband had worded that last response. She rolled over onto her stomach, chin prompted up on his thigh, arms wrapped around his legs, “did you ever… were you ever the one to…?”
“Yes.”
Morgan instantly thought of at least a dozen specific questions she wanted to ask, but knew she would receive no answers is she started throwing them at her husband. “Do you want to stop talking about this?” she tried her hardest to suppress her curiosity and be the loving considerate wife she wanted to be.
“I would appreciate it if the topic were dropped.”
Morgan chewed on her lip, trying to decide exactly what she could say without forcing her husband to shut her out, “can I ask one more question before its dropped?”
“I suppose,” Severus said as he tangled his fingers in her curls. Her mass of ringlets never failed to amaze him. They had a life of their own, and were so soft and feminine, smelling sweetly of his wife’s gentle sent… if he concentrated on that he could allow her one more question.
“Kalliope’s daughter,” Morgan began tentatively, “I know you were still spying then, were you controlling Draco?”
“No. I had nothing to do with that operation.”
“But he was being controlled?” Morgan broke the one more question agreement. She had to know. If her daughter was going to be spending everyday with him she had to know if he had killed a child of his own free will, no matter how much pressure was involved.
Severus overlooked the breach of agreement, he knew his wife needed to hear this. “He wasn’t under the Imperius, but they used a potion Voldemort was fond of that made him highly suggestive. Not quite as strong as the curse but with similar results. He had no choice in the matter.”
Morgan sighed in relief. She still didn’t completely trust Malfoy, but she had been given a small window into why her husband trusted him. She supposed she would just have to live with that for now, it was the best she was going to get. But she still didn’t know what to feel about this situation in general. She felt justified in being angry with her husband for making a former Death Eater their daughter’s tutor without explaining to her why. And then he went and explained part of it and assumed that it fixed everything… it felt as though it was calculated to make her feel guilty for being mad at him. She didn’t like that.
But situation wasn’t perfect. It would never be perfect. She supposed she would just have to deal with it as it was. Her husband wouldn’t apologize and she wouldn’t push him for an apology. He didn’t feel that it was needed and she had grown accustomed to his refusal to apologize. If he had told her about Draco to begin with they wouldn’t have fought. Of course he would insist that she should have just trusted him to begin with… it was a vicious cycle, and the only way out of it was to just let it go and accept that her husband was the way he was and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Miserable git… she couldn’t help but love him. She was fast asleep and completely unaware of how he carried her to bed and gently tucked her in. But she slept soundly wrapped in his arms. Enfolded in his embrace she slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Do you need something?” Severus asked. He looked down at Olivia who was standing patiently by the side of his chair. She had been standing there patiently for the last five minutes while he tore apart a rather dismal bunch of 2nd Year essays on the properties of sleeping potions. He had to wonder how the same students who sat in his classroom managed to produce such worthless ramblings. Did they ever listen to him or so much as open a textbook? His sleeve was now being ruthlessly pulled on. He set his quill aside and turned in his chair to give his youngest his full attention.
“Here,” she handed him a sheet of parchment covered in her shaky script. Draco had been impressed with her printing but made her promise to only write in cursive until he was satisfied with its level of improvement.
“And what is this?” Severus raised an eyebrow as Olivia smiled at him angelically and leaned against his knee.
“It’s my Christmas list…”
“Hmmm… the length of it is rather impressive. Do you really think you deserve all of this?”
“Yes,” Olivia answered sincerely.
Severus slipped his reading glasses on as he observed the list closer. “I don’t think it would be fair to harbor any false hopes…” he dipped his quill in red ink and crossed out several items before handing the list back to his daughter.
Olivia frowned at him, “why can’t I have a unicorn?”
“Beyond the numerous reasons involving the impracticality of it… because I said so.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good reason,” Olivia said, crossing her arms over her chest in imitation of her father’s characteristic stance.
“Then how about this,” he leaned back in his chair, hands folded across his stomach, “I am your father and I have the power to send you to bed early every night for the remainder of your years living under my roof.”
“And then I could have bad dreams and end up in your bed every night that I’m living under your roof.”
Severus snorted in amusement. No wonder Morgan complained about how Olivia was beginning to pick up his patterns of speech. He, on the other hand, found it rather endearing. At least wit was one of his few positive traits, one that he wanted his children to have. “No unicorns,” he said decisively.
Olivia sighed dramatically, “fine…” her expression clearly showed that she didn’t agree.
“I see you’ve been bombarded with the list as well,” Morgan grinned as her husband rolled his eyes heavenward.
“Mum…”
“No unicorns,” Morgan said, “I already told you that and I’ll wager your father did as well. You’re going to be late for your lessons if you don’t get dressed,” she shooed Olivia back to her bedroom with orders to be ready to leave in five minutes.
“Sometimes it’s hard to believe that we’ve had her for not quite a year.”
Morgan smiled, “I can hardly remember life without her. Once we rid ourselves of Voldemort once and for all I believe our lives may very well be as close to perfect as they can get. I’ve been thinking…”
“Should I brace myself?”
Morgan gave him an exasperated look, but let it slide. “I know how much you love your students,” she paused for the snort of indignation that she knew was coming. “But what if, in a few years from now, you retired. You could have so much more time for your research, I could quit teaching…”
“What would you do with yourself?”
“Be your assistant,” Morgan said coyly.
“Never! You’re nearly as volatile as Longbottom was.”
“Well, I’ll certainly find something to keep myself busy. But we’ll have so much more time to just be together, not nearly as much to worry about…”
“When Olivia graduates from Hogwarts, then I shall be ready to retire. I want to see one of our children through my House first.”
“I can’t believe you’re still so confidant that she’ll be in Slytherin…”
Olivia chose that moment to come running back in, dressed in a little green dress with black trim.
“I have no doubts,” Severus said, a satisfied smirk on his face.
~~~~~~~~~~
