A Slytherin Arrangement

This story was written in response to the Fiction Alley 2007 fan-fiction challenge series. It was written by a team of writers called BeST; also known for their Betaing prowess. The team is made up of two writers and two grammarians - one American, the other British and PI accredited, who lives in Germany. The Authors are Zarathustra from America and Les Dowich from Australia. We ask that you read and enjoy!

A Slytherin Arrangement

Prompt: Professor Sinistra married Slughorn in a lovely wedding.

Rating: G

Aurora Sinistra stood atop the Astronomy Tower, feet planted wide, head tossed back, clipboard in hand. She blinked and blinked again, the familiar constellations fading in and out of her diminishing sight. A tiny whimper of loss broke out as she slumped; too many hours at the telescope and reading tiny star maps had ruined her eyesight. Why now, when she was so close to securing her place in posterity! Why now? There had to be a way!

~~*~~

Horace Slughorn stared down into the cauldron and licked his lips in anticipation. Only one more step and he would have succeeded, finally, gloriously, and immemorially! His chubby hand groped behind him and came up empty, a few lone crystals of sugar left in a corner of the tin; the final remains of his pineapple supply. He pouted then collapsed. How was he supposed to function now? Oh, Dumbledore had his lemon drops - as common as muck - but Horace had to fixate on pineapple, crystallised pineapple at that, for his continuing use of magic at a useful level. If he was to survive as one of the best Potions masters in the world and keep his hold over his wide circle of contacts, he needed his pineapple fix desperately.

An owl flew in at the window and shook its leg impatiently. Ah, the final step for their potion that would cure wizard kind from failing ocular acuity forever! Master Zamintia Nordestrom had finally come through with the last, key research! He tore into the letter eagerly, then let out a howl of outrage, enough to scare the post owl away and raise an echoing howl from the Forbidden Forest. Apparently, bachelors were not stable enough to handle the ensuing furore that the completion of this potion would engender. So, he needed a wife; to be cosily married before the old fool would send the details, as a wedding present. Horace broke down in defeat, grandiose plans tinkling in fragments around him.

~~*~~

The Great Hall was almost deserted when Aurora stumped in, tossing herself down in her seat. She noticed Horace Slughorn slumped in his seat, an overturned bottle near his hand. Interesting. He was muttering to himself, a constant litany of complaints and self-pitying grumbles, slurred and indistinct until Aurora picked up the word 'eyesight failing' and 'potion to recover it'. Her ears pricked up and she listened attentively while she carefully poured coffee and pretended not to notice. 'Marriage', 'misogynistic old fools' and 'no pineapple' also featured in the Potion master's subdued rant. Aurora had not been sorted into Slytherin for nothing and she instantly added these unguarded mutterings to the other facts and rumours she had picked up over the last few days. Perhaps ... perhaps! A worthy smirk twisted her face as she quietly exited the hall, not realising a pair of very clear and calculating brown eyes followed her progress. Slughorn had not been sorted into Slytherin for nothing, either, and Aurora was a handsome woman

~~*~~

The 'Ua'u circled down and landed near Aurora Sinistra, a package clutched firmly in its claws. She gave the bird a piece of fruit and opened the package carefully making sure she had someone's certain attention as she held the thing up for closer inspection, the stylised pineapple on the gaudy lid clearly visible to interested parties. Sighing, she set it down above her plate and continued to eat her breakfast, ignoring the build up of speculation in the Great Hall.

Horace sidled over at the conclusion of the meal and tapped the box with a pudgy finger. "These people make only the very best of the crystallised pineapple, you know?" he remarked winningly.

Aurora cast the box a disinterested look. "Cousin Howie is trying to get me to part with the family secret recipe. He is only a paternal cousin and is not allowed to have it, only the female line is; Polynesian magic, you know? I have it and he wants it so it makes for interesting family gatherings, believe me!" She laughed softly, sounding almost evil, and Horace grinned. "You are an expert on pineapple, Horace. Here, try this lot and see if he has managed to get even close this time." She thrust the box into his hands and left him with his prize.

~~*~~

Horace stared down into the now-empty pineapple box and sighed deeply. The product had been good - not great - but it had eased him over the blow of Nordestrom's failure to share his research. If Horace wanted to gain his place in posterity, he was going to have to deal with Sinistra, but what did he have to bribe her with? He was going to have to do some research on Aurora Sinistra, witch and holder of the precious pineapple recipe!

It was difficult to follow her habits as she was almost nocturnal, thanks to her profession, but he managed to find out quite a lot about her personal life; only daughter, last female of her line, heiress to the almost legendary sacred plantations on the steep volcanic slopes of Ouahu. If she didn't have a daughter, then she would lose control of the plantations and the secret, and her cousin's daughter would win. Perhaps, it was enough.

~~*~~

"So you are saying that, if I marry you, I can have a daughter and thus secure my inheritance for yet another generation," Aurora reiterated. "But I really don't care about the pineapple plantation or the recipe; I don't even like crystallised pineapple!"

He was so scandalised he nearly fell off his chair in shock. "Don't care? But, but, but it's the food of the gods!" The words were almost forced out involuntarily.

"No, I'm sorry, Horace, much as I like you, it's not something I would actually..."

"Wait! I have a potion..." he blurted out, then settled himself as she paused in her rising. "I am developing a potion that will help with eyesight, making weak eyes new again, for the Boy-Who-Lived, you know. Does first testing of that potion interest you?" he asked softly, watching the rather handsome woman purse her lips in thought.

"I'll want everything in writing," she said, sitting back down to begin their negotiations in earnest.

~~*~~

The Great Hall was bedecked, the wedding of two professors bringing forth the house-elves' best efforts. The guests were milling around and eyeing each other over the canapés with distrustful eyes; the small chamber orchestra was tuning up in the corner, while Horace grinned expansively, rocking on his toes in satisfaction. Zamintia Nordestrom had given him an elaborately beribboned scroll for his wedding present containing his research and his best wishes for a comfortable, well organised life. His new bride, six inches taller than he, laid a protective hand over her still-flat abdomen and smiled toothily at the contingent of Hawaiian relatives who were shivering under the tyranny of the Scottish climate and wondering how their carefully laid plans for inheritance by default had just slipped away from between their fingers.

Aurora smiled graciously at the surrounding mass, her other hand lightly on her new groom's arm as the few students who had been invited looked a little green in one corner. There was a piece of parchment in her pocket, stating that her submission to the Royal College of Astronomers had been accepted and the new comet was to be called Aurora Zone One. Sluggy's potion, even in its incomplete form, was enough for her to finish the final calculations and plot her own private piece of heaven.

Professor Flitwick raised his handkerchief to dab his eyes, turning to Minerva with a watery smile. "It was a lovely wedding," he sniffled. "Such a handsome couple..."

Minerva nodded judiciously, but Snape raised a sceptical eyebrow, his arms crossing automatically across his chest. "Two Slytherins? Together?" he remarked with a derisive snort. Minerva nearly snorted her sherry at his comment and had to turn around to gaze at the now-dancing couple to keep Severus from seeing her amused smirk.

Two Slytherins indeed - she thought. Those two would be plotting rings around each other for the rest of their lives, and Aurora was already expecting! Merlin help the school when that child joined the student population. She sighed and sipped some more sherry before allowing Severus to lead her onto the dance floor in a respectable waltz.