Owls and Musings

Chapter 14

When next they woke, it was dark again and the cat had left the room. Severus bestowed a kiss on the palm of Esmerelda's hand where it lay under his cheek.

"What time is it?" she murmured, sleepily.

"Almost time for me to go," he replied, running a hand over her face lovingly and reluctantly swinging his legs off the bed. He started to reach for his clothes.

"I'll go make us something to eat then." She pulled on her dressing gown and headed for the kitchen - hastily re-braiding her plait. He noticed that there were quite a number of white hairs showing among the mahogany. When did that happen?

He sat at the table as she reheated some stew leftover from the night before.

"Esme, you do realise that this will, most likely, be the last time we see each other," he pressed.

A stricken look came to her face. " Of course I realise that," she said as tears weltered in her eyes again.

"Esme..." He started up from his chair, but she waved him back. "Don't, Severus, I'll be fine. I just dread the silent months again. The last few years have been hell; bearing with the communications blackouts, never knowing when I'll see you...I just wish there was some way to know that you are still alive without Him finding out." She brought over a loaf of bread on a cutting board and set a bread knife to slicing it neatly.

Severus pondered her request for a few moments, fiddling with his Slytherin house ring he always wore. A look of hope came over his face...it's worked twice the last two years!

"There might be a way," he murmured aloud.

"What?" She turned to him from where she stood by the sink.

He looked up at her. "There might be a way to stay in contact without anyone knowing about it." He held up the back of his hand, the ring flashing in the stove light. "Do you still have your house ring?" he asked.

"Aye, in my jewellery box. I never wear it though," she pointed out.

"You will now!" He got up swiftly and headed back towards the bedroom. She followed and stood in the doorway, the half-Kneazle twining around her ankles as she watched Severus paw through the plain, wooden box on top of her dresser.

"Esme, don't you ever organise this box?" he complained over his shoulder. "How can you find anything in here?" A look of disgust came over his face as he continued to search for the elusive circlet of gold bearing a Gryffindor house crest.

"Och, move over," she said as she gently pushed him out of the way, lifted the top tray out of the box and fetched the ring from the storage area below. She held it out to him, "Here it is. What do you want with it?"

"A Protean charm," he declared, grinning like a cat that had just eaten the canary. He saw the look of hope dawning in her eyes. "Yes, just like this abysmal mark on my arm. Only this will be linked between our two house rings. You must wear yours from now on, Esme," he insisted.

"You're sure this will work? We won't be able to send messages."

"Not full blown messages, no. And there would probably not be enough time to send one. I think the best use for this is as a warning. If I discover you and the school will be in immediate danger, I can activate the charm on my ring and it will, in turn, activate your ring." He looked down at her quite severely. "I will not be able to give you much time, you understand, a few hours at most."

"It's something though, and at least I'll know you are still alive." She was satisfied with the solution.

She left him to go dish up the meal. Soon Severus was back in the kitchen sitting across the table from her.

"Give me your right hand," he requested. If only it could be her left hand and the ring was the other one in my robes. When she did so, he slipped her house ring onto her third finger. "Never take this off. After tonight this is our only connection to each other."

"I understand, Severus." It felt strange for her to be wearing the ring again. She had originally stopped wearing it because it had been large and cumbersome, now it felt strangely comforting to have it on.

"I want to try this, just to make sure it works correctly."

"Don't you trust your own charms, dear?" she teased.

He stared down his nose at her. "Of course I do. I want you to be aware of what it feel like when I activate it." He casually folded one hand over the other bearing his ring. Immediately a sense of warmth surrounded her finger where the ring set. The look on her face confirmed the charm's effectiveness for him.

"Good." He finished one last spoonful of stew. "It's time for me to go, it's near midnight. If I stay away any longer, He will get suspicious." They both got up, moving towards the door. Esme murmured "Nox" and all the flames in the room went out.

Severus gathered her in his arms, burying his face in her hair and breathing in her scents. She clung to him desperately, the tears silently rolling down her face. Slowly he began to kiss the tears away leaving trails of fire on her skin. She melted into his arms as his lips lingered on hers, pent-up passions and unspoken promises melding them together one last time before he was gone in swirl of black robes - striding across the garden. With one last look back, he turned in place and Disapparated.