Death Whispers

Chapter Thirteen - An Interlude

Hogwarts, January 19th 1982

He had received a letter from Bellatrix Lestrange that had demanded his presence next week. It had shocked him into some sort of state of mind. Severus was eventually able to drag himself to classes. He walked through the corridors in his own world. Every action seemed calculated and taken with great effort. And it didn't help that Minerva McGonagall kept popping up at every turn.

He was able to get through classes, as the subjects were so elementary, he could talk about them in his sleep but it was difficult not to be distracted by memories. He was halfway through an Engorging Potion lecture when he fell silent. A small boy in the class had looked up; his eyes were that same familiar blue. Severus went blank for a moment. The boy took his teachers lapse in concentration as an opportunity to shake his hand for feeling.

The action cleared the air. Severus scrutinised him closely before continuing.

He had a light complexion and blonde wavy hair. It was the first of the flashes, like the fall of soft blonde hair or the light reflected off damp pink lips or the gentle curve of a cheek, these images haunted him.

Severus, he coaxed himself mentally, you're losing it.

I most certainly am not! he snapped, and started stalking up and down the classroom.

Terrorising the students brought a small relief. He had been given free reign, and he was going to use it despite what that old Gryffindor woman would campaign about. Apparently her precious Gryffindors had been complaining about unfair treatment. Such an idiotic house, like they would know the first thing about unfair!

Flaming red hair and bumbling hands fell over the potion. Severus would have contained it by instinct had he not been so preoccupied. However the cauldron turned bright red and then blasted in a small explosion.

"Idiot!" Severus screamed, lunging at the student's worktable. Charlie cried out in fear as he jumped back, his oversized lip, swollen by the potion, pouting to hold back tears. Other students were crying out as various pieces of anatomy swelled to astronomical sizes.

"What have I told you, Weasley!" - "This is the worst behaviour I have ever seen!" - "Can't make a simple potion!" - "A danger to himself and his peers!"

Severus yelled in this manner while handing out antidotes, that he had thankfully prepared, to effected students. The class cowered in his presence and only after a brave Slytherin drank the antidote did the others follow suit.

Severus didn't seem to notice his irritation was palatable and he stopped yelling long enough to turn and whisper, "Fifty points from Gryffindor."

The lab was quiet. A small voice whispered, "Fifty? But sir, it was an accident. A simple mistake."

"An accident? Do you have any idea what the cost can be for one simple mistake," he muttered dangerously, "there will be no more mistakes in this class, am I clear?"

The students charged from the room when the bell went and Severus fell to his desk holding his head in his hands taking deep ragged breaths.

*****

The Burrow

Arthur Weasley kissed his wife on the cheek getting ready to leave for the Ministry again. Molly was stressed and her flaming red hair was fierier than usual, standing on end like a nervous aura. She didn't even notice Arthur instead her knuckles were white as she gripped the letter she had received from her son Charlie, rereading it while her eyes darted back and forth in fear. Her face looked even older in the flickering candlelight.

Arthur looked back again at Molly and contemplated staying. His workload had tripled since the end of the war and his presence at the Ministry was vital. During the war, Arthur had climbed the ranks and worked for both the Aurors and the Unspeakables while maintaining his leadership position in the Department of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. He was a powerful wizard and intelligent, too. An obvious choice for Minister of Magic. Dumbledore had been at the Ministry these past weeks, helping out, and pressuring Arthur to go for the top job. There wasn't much competition; people wanted Crouch but without Dumbledore's support - Dumbledore wouldn't support Crouch after that nasty business with the Unforgivables - he wouldn't be elected.

Of course, Lucius could stand against him, but he too busy protecting his name and using his influence elsewhere to be a contender. Plus Malfoys don't work. Still, Lucius had been at the Ministry a lot in past weeks and Arthur wouldn't have been surprised if the Malfoy was responsible for the Ministers recent demise. Arthur gritted his teeth, what was that man up too?

Money had always been a problem for the Weasley family especially with all the new children. He felt bitter for a moment, the demands of his family getting in the way of his career. He shook himself in disgust; Arthur always put his family first.

I haven't though, he realised as he looked at Molly's pale face, not during the war. He had of course left Molly, to fight, to succeed, all the men had and now he was home, an alien in his own kitchen. He felt out of place within his own home. He scrutinised Molly closely, he was needed as father and husband, too.

Molly continued to fraught over the letter and Arthur sighed.

"Molly," he whispered. She looked horrible. She hadn't been well during the war and Arthur blamed himself for that - for not being there. It made him feel even worse about considering the option of Minister. How can he have regrets with all this guilt?

She had miscarried twice during the war, she couldn't handle the stress; he wouldn't let her do that again. He tried to remember the confident woman he married. She was beautiful, happy, powerful and always in control. It was hard to juxtaposition her with the pregnant depressed lost woman slumped at the table. The guilt consumed him and he bent down to hug her.

"Molly dear," he whispered.

"It's Charlie, he's in trouble, the new teacher," Molly said quickly.

"Shhh, slow down," said Arthur, conjuring some tea and sitting at the table.

Molly read the letter to Arthur who sat and listened.

"What was the teacher's name again?" he asked when she had finished.

"Snape," Molly answered.

"I've heard that name before," Arthur said as he tried to remember where from. Was it from the trials? He wasn't sure.

"I know the family," interrupted Molly, "they were into the Dark Arts, Slytherin family the lot of them. A few years above us at school, remember Urdic or something, he was head boy."

"Ah yes," said Arthur, taking a sip of his tea, "we looked into them during the war, the family moved to Europe. They remained neutral." Arthur nodded, as if that cleared the matter up.

"What about his son," Molly pressed,

"Come now Molly, Dumbledore knows what he is doing, and the children tend to exaggerate these things. Tell you what, we can get Charlie to talk to Bill; maybe he just needs some help in potions. They can work it out themselves, and if not I'll talk to Dumbledore. No need to worry about this Molly," he assured her.

"You're right," she said finally, taking her tea, "don't you have to work?"

"Not tonight Molly," he smiled and she grinned, too. It was nice to see her smiling and he had forgotten that anything else mattered. Or more accurately, remembered the things that did.

"I'll send Dumbledore an owl, he'll be at the Ministry tonight and I'll tell him that I am taking tomorrow off. I'll help out here, we still have those extra bedrooms to add on and you can't do it in your condition."

Molly nodded smiling again, "Good, we need those bedrooms now the twins are running about. They are terrors, I bet they'll be Slytherins."

Arthur laughed.

"But what about the Minister's job," she continued, "surely you can't afford to take time off now."

"I'm not going for the Minister's position," Arthur said soothingly, "I want to be here."

Molly cried silently but furiously. Tears streamed down her face clouding her vision. Arthur grabbed a napkin and gently wiped her damp face. He propped her up and hugged her round the middle, slowly caressing her bump. He tilted her head to look down into her deep wet puppy dog eyes and couldn't help but smile.

"There, there," he coaxed, kissing her on the nose. "You know I've always wanted some time to work on my plug collection."

She sniffled and chuckled.

"It's the hormones," she complained as she sat, tears still streaming from her face. Hormones or not, Arthur hugged her fiercely like he would never let go. Molly melted into his arms and the two stood in the kitchen hugging each other tightly.

"Are you sure?" she asked, pulling away slightly.

"Positive," Arthur smiled, and kissed her gently.

The two stood clutched in each other's arms long into the night. Molly's hair seemed to flatten as she held on and slumped her head on Arthur's shoulder. He held her, not wiping the smile from his face. He looked around the kitchen and saw the scattered toys, leftover food, dirty dishes piled in the sink and the grandfather clock with eight hands. It didn't feel restrictive; it felt right, content and peaceful. For the Weasleys, peacetime had come at last.