Owls and Musings

Chapter 15

"And no one knew?" Minerva asked as Esme finished her tale.

"The quartet knew, Wizby knew; but the Dark Lord did not know about them. Dumbledore and Remus were the only wizards who knew about us that we are aware of and I don't even know if Albus knew that Remus had figured it out." She glanced at the nodding portrait. "It was a measure of the trust between the headmaster and Severus. I, myself, was unaware that Albus knew until I was sick."

"He has known love," McGonagall murmured to herself.

"Sorry?" inquired Esme.

"Something Albus once said about Professor Snape. I had always assumed he meant his mother. Tell me, did Severus ever tell you why Albus trusted him?"

"Aye, but it is not for me to say. That was between the two of them. He told me in confidence." She took a deep breath and plunged on. "You need to understand this - it was not cold-blooded murder, Harry could only tell you what he saw. He was unaware of the underlying cause."

"I'm aware of that now." She turned back to the former headmaster. "Albus, why couldn't you have told me this sooner?" she demanded.

"Because it was Severus' secret to reveal. I am assuming he has given Miss Scott leave to speak of these matters to you, and to you only, Minerva."

Minerva glanced at her niece who nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

"Severus is still a spy?" she asked Esme.

"In a manner of speaking." She sighed deeply. "He knows that he has cut all ties to the Order and the school. You must leave it that way. You cannot contact him in any way. Nor can he pass you any further information directly. He will continue trying to undermine the Dark Lord's organisation from within. He is following Dumbledore's final request in this, and who am I to argue?" she finished, a bitter tone in her voice. The tears were threatening to come again and she blinked quickly and bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop them from spilling over. Minerva noticed and, pulling a lace handkerchief from her sleeve, went over to offer it to the younger woman.

"Here, dry your eyes and come sit on the sofa." She led her over to a sofa by the fireplace, sat her down, conjured two more cups of tea and sat down next to her. Esme smiled wanly at her aunt, dabbing at her eyes.

"Sorry for that, Auntie. I know most people would think me daft for it, but I do love him, and I'm afraid that was the last time I'm going to see him alive." She stared down at the cup in her hands.

Minerva was quiet for a moment thinking over all that her niece had just revealed to her. Thirteen years of secrets. It certainly put a new light on several things and some of it gave her a renewed sense of hope. The Protean charm on the school ring was actually very good news! She straightened up.

"Right then," she said with her characteristic Scottish conviction and forthrightness. "Let's move you to my old rooms in Gryffindor tower. With the ring, I think I can convince the governors to leave the school open for those students willing to return. I also think I will have you take Head of House duties. The only other Gryffindor is Hagrid, but he does not qualify, never having graduated, and I do not have enough time for it now."

Esme nodded mutely to this. "I left everything at the cottage. I wasn't sure you would take me in after I told you everything," she murmured.

"Oh, Esme, I wouldn't turn you away. We're family, we stick together. Now, not to worry, I'll send some elves to pack it up. You say Wizby knows your place?"

"Aye, she does. A right help she's been too, over the years."

"Right. Wizby!" she called out to the air. Immediately with a crack of displaced air, Wizby appeared before the Headmistress.

"You called... Miss Essie!" she cried in excitement and rushed over to hug the younger woman.

"Hello, Wizby - you're looking well." She gave the house-elf a squeeze and released her.

"Wizby, Miss Esmerelda is becoming a new teacher with us. I need you to gather up some elves and go fetch her things from the cottage."

Wizby's eyes grew larger with joy. "Of course! To your old rooms, Headmistress?" McGonagall nodded, and Wizby was gone in a flash.

"Well, now that is taken care of, let's go down to the staff room. Dinner should be served soon, and you can meet all the teachers."

"Thank you, Aunt Minerva." She rose up to give her aunt a hug. "I'm sorry I kept this from you. You've taken everything remarkably well, considering. Maybe I should have trusted you sooner. I wasn't going to tell you until Severus insisted I come here and do so."

"No, it is probably for the best that I didn't know until now. At least I know that you have had love in your life all these years. I was really beginning to despair for you!" she jested as they walked along the corridors to the staff room. Esme was silent for a while, soaking in the atmosphere.

"I'll take a look at the syllabus tomorrow and see what supplies I'll need. I could use a lot of advice on the students, themselves," she said, smiling at her aunt.

"Severus didn't give you chapter and verse?"

"Severus taught for several reasons - none of which actually pertained to the students. I made it clear to him early on that I did not care to hear his - shall we say jaded - opinions of them. He rarely praised a student, at least in my hearing," she mused. "Even his own house did not escape the acid tongue. I think he felt they were the worst of the bunch - but of course he couldn't say that to them, they would carry tales back to their Death Eater daddies. He always had to show them favouritism."

Minerva pursed her lips but kept silent on this matter. "Well, when we find out who will be coming back, I'll give you the files to study."

They came to the staff door guarded by the two gargoyles and Minerva opened it, giving Esmerelda the password. "Here is the staff lounge. We eat here during breaks as long as there aren't any students here."

They spent the next few hours talking to the professors still in residence, and Esme gained a new understanding of the school. Slughorn especially was overjoyed to see an old member of his club again. Afterwards Minerva walked her to her new rooms and office.

"Well, it's not the cottage, but it's been home for me for over forty years," McGonagall mused.

Esme looked around at the comfortable set of rooms. Wizby had already performed her magic, and everything important to Esme from the cottage was now put away here. The first room was a sitting room with a large leaded glass window overlooking the grounds. The Gryffindor crest was inset into the middle pane of glass. The mahogany bookcases that surrounded the room were full of all her books and trinkets. Her parlour furniture was here as well. A fire had been lit and warmed the room with its glow.

She peered through the door in a wall and saw a large four poster already made up with her linens. Curled up in the centre of the counterpane was Casey. She could see another door at the far end of the bedchamber leading to the en-suite loo.

"This is perfect, Auntie, thank you. And thank Wizby and her helpers for me as well."

"I'll leave for the night then, and we'll get started in the morning."

"Good night," she said as her aunt left, quietly closing the door behind her. She slowly walked around the room, taking in the area and noticing how different it looked with her items in it than when her aunt had lived there. Minerva's possessions had been comfortable but sparse during her tenure. Esme's belongings filled the space better. She hung up her robes in the clothes press, and went to check out the bathroom, luxuriating in the hot shower, trying out the many different spigots until she found the combination of scents that she loved.

Casey came in and jumped up to the edge of the tub, pacing along the lip crying out his consternation at what he felt was his mistress deliberately drowning herself in water. She laughed at him, finally showing him pity as she shut off the water and wrapping herself in a large bath sheet, sat on the floor and let him curl up on her lap, kneading her thighs through the terry cloth. He always sheathed his claws when he did this, learning early on that if he wanted to indulge in this manoeuvre, the claws had to stay in. He purred contentedly as she stroked his back, transfiguring a piece of lint from her towel into a round cat comb to remove loose fur from his coat. This was their favourite time together, and it was a routine they indulged in nearly every night.

"Well, Casey, the cat is out of the bag now," Esme stated as she brushed the cat's coat. "Auntie knows all about Severus and is alright with it. Can you believe that?" Casey purred louder as she hit a particularly itchy spot. "Now here we are, back at Hogwarts, Severus is on the run, and I am going to be a teacher. We never saw this in our dreams, did we?" She shook her head to herself as she contemplated the perversity of her prophecy dreams. They never, ever told her what she really wanted to know. She almost wished she would never get them. Oh Lord, Trelawney! Severus had said she was batty - but divinators always recognised each other. She would need to steer clear of her. She did not want to get stuck in a conversation with the woman.

She gave herself a mental shake and banishing the comb, raised herself and the cat off the floor and went in to the bedroom to run her wand over her own hair to dry and comb it, then got into a nightdress, and after braiding the mass of knee-length tresses, snuggled in bed with Casey by her side. Severus was right, she thought as she fingered her class ring before drifting off; she definitely felt infinitely safer inside Hogwarts.