Slightly Off-Kilter

It took two days to calm Severus down and another three to talk him into taking back Gayle, who was subdued and like a mouse around him. Whenever he glanced at her, she flinched and wouldn't look him in the face. When she thought he wasn't looking, though she watched his every move very carefully, as if gauging what she had done wrong to make him angry with her.

Her green bear had been magically repaired by Albus but it lay ignored on the sofa in Severus' quarters. She had no interest in cuddling it, cooing to it or playing with it. She no longer treated the bear as if it were fine china or the most precious object in the world just because Severus had given it to her. It was neglected. Only the elves paid much mind to it, keeping the dust from accumulating on its dark green fur.

Severus stepped into his chambers one early afternoon, looking around for the shadow called Gayle and not finding her. Thinking Minerva had taken Gayle for their daily walks, he wandered over to the bear and stared down at it pensively. It still looked slightly singed on the tips of its ears and the silver ribbon didn't shine quite so brightly as before but otherwise it looked the same.

And neglected.

He sighed, sitting next to the bear and picking it up, his long fingers sinking into the soft fur and stuffing. Experimentally he gave it a brief hug and had to admit hugging the damned thing was rather comforting. He sniffed it, hoping for Gayle's peculiar flowery scent but he came up only with the smell of burnt plastic. He frowned.

"That won't do," he murmured. "I wouldn't want to hug you either with that smell," he informed the bear, who stared at him unblinkingly with brown button eyes. He drew out his wand, pointed it at the bear and murmured a charm to make the bear perpetually smell like plumeria, her favorite scent.

He gave the bear another experimental sniff and visions of the tropics floated from it. He smiled in satisfaction. Thus resolved, he tucked the bear under his right arm and quit the room, intent on finding Gayle and making his apologies for his outburst. It had taken a bit but he realized that he had not expected taking care of her would be so wearing upon him. It broke his heart to see how far gone she was from the dignified, slightly devious, and determined young woman she had been. Now she was like a child.

But maybe not for long.

He thought he had a breakthrough with his Sanity Potion. The ingredients were right but he added essence of sand crab to it as well. One sniff of the potion had made him more somber than usual and clear headed for half a day. He was hoping that a sip would do wonders for Gayle. He just had to convince her he wasn't going to poison her.

"Details," he muttered to himself. "Its always the damned details."

"You talking to yourself, Snape?" asked a voice from the staff room. Remus and Sirius stepped from the room when they saw him pass.

"Yes, I'm daft, go away."

"Where's Gayle?" The two men looked around for her but there was no sign.

"With Minerva I suppose," Snape informed them politely.

Remus shook his head. "No, she's not. Minerva's in here with us."

Snape's attention focused completely on them. "What?"

"Minvera McGonagall is in the staff room with us. We were playing with tarot cards. Sirius has a gift with them, it seems, and is trying to tell Minerva's future. So far, she's going to be visited by a dead relative on Christmas and -" Remus dodged out of the way as Snape barelled into the staff room.

"Minerva, is Gayle with Albus?"

McGonagall looked startled. "I don't think so, he went to London to speak with Fudge." Already sensing that trouble was afoot, Minerva stood up, scattering the tarot cards haphazardly over the table. "She isn't in your rooms?"

"No," he said tersely, "she's not."

"Damn!" blasphemed Sirius and he shifted into dog form. He ran over to sniff the bear and gave a huge doggy sneeze. He shifted back into human form. "What the devil did she dip that bear in? Perfume?"

"It smelled of charred plastic," snapped Severus peevishly, "so I charmed it to her favorite scent. She avoids the bear more than she does me."

Remus couldn't help but grin. "How romantic of you."

"Shut your hole and help me find the girl," Severus growled at him. Remus continued to grin but nodded.

"Take me to your room and show me someplace I can get her scent, that way I can track her," Sirius told him and Snape reluctantly agreed. Sirius followed Severus to his chambers and Severus pointed him to her trundle bed, now on the far side of the bedroom from its former position right next to Severus' large four-poster.

Sirius shifted into his massive dog form, sniffed the blankets and sheets carefully, gave a satisfied woof and put his nose to the ground. After sniffing a trail all over the room he headed out the door and down the corridor. Without hesitating, Sirius tracked the trail to the front door, outside into the sunshine and toward the road to Hogsmeade.

"Oh no," groaned Minerva fretfully. "I'll send Albus an owl, telling him she's lost."

"Wait until we know she's lost first," Remus said, stopping her. The group silently followed the snuffling dog all the way to Hogsmeade and through town (with slight detours at several shops where she made purchases and placed the bills on Severus' account). At the edge of town Sirius stopped and shifted.

"The scent stops here. Can she Apparate?" Everyone blanched at the mere idea. "Snape, could she Apparate before she went raving?"

"Yes, very well in fact. Could Apparate other objects and people with her as well." Severus' voice was a little shaky.

"Merlin's beard," breathed Remus worriedly. "Where could she have gone?"

"My guess," Sirius said grimly, "would be where the X marks the spot. Shetland Islands wasn't it? Papa Stour?"

"I'll go and send an owl to Albus," Minerva told them. "Follow her and see if you can bring her back. If you do not return by nightfall we shall come there as well."

The three men nodded and, wands held high, they Apparated with one plumeria smelling bear in tow.