Chapter 12
They Saw, She Saw and Off He Ran.
Severus, Remus and Harry trouped up to the Divination Tower to ask Sybil Trelawny for help in finding me. Harry and Remus had finished Divination in NEWTS and knew all the basics, although Severus and I thought it was a huge crock. It was hard to believe that Sybil had been a Slytherin and was only 3 years older than Severus and Remus. I thought she was just an old fraud, but apparently she'd had her moments and had come up with a couple of believable prophecies.
Sybil always dressed the part, with her scarves, beads and baubles you'd mistake her for a carnival fortuneteller. Perhaps it was the standard uniform for seers, 'dress yea as a caravan gypsy would'. I always thought it was the eyes. Because she was incredibly short sighted her glasses were as thick as coke bottles. This made her eyes look enormously magnified and quite scary to the nervous students. I think I'm one of the only ones that actually walked out on her class and refused to go back, apparently she'd foretold I'd do that. Uh huh!
The men chatted all the way up to the Tower. Aimless chat tossing back and forth theories on where I might be. It took about 15 minutes to get to the top of the stairs and they paused before opening the door.
"You'd better let me talk to Sybil it might make things easier" Remus suggested.
Severus nodded in agreement; he really didn't want to have to choke the Seer to make her comply with his request.
Harry opened the door and went to enter the room first but froze suddenly listening intently.
"Shhh, can you hear that?" he asked the other men.
They paused on the threshold and listened carefully. A low moan echoed through the chamber.
"Peeves?" Remus turned and whispered to Severus.
Severus shrugged and took another step inside the narrow entryway and listened. The moan was louder this time and sounded like someone was in pain. He motioned to the others to be quiet and follow him into the room; Harry and Remus formed a single file and followed Severus into the dark incense filled chamber.
The groans grew in intensity the further into the room they ventured. It was dark and visibility was extremely low.
"Ooh, Ahhhh" the voice groaned aloud "Yeeessssssss!"
They quietly approached the source of the sounds until they were extremely close "Lumos" Severus pointed his wand towards the groans.
"Oh crap!" Harry grimaced and turned his back quickly running from the room and stumbling over a low table in his haste.
"Merlin" Remus managed to croak out though he held his footing being frozen to the spot in shock.
Severus simply laughed.
"Turn off the fuck'n light would ya!"
Severus laughed again louder and more hysterically than before. Remus was unable to join in as he was shocked into silence by the spotty bare white arse he couldn't help but stare at.
"Stop laughin' ya great bat and help me up off the floor" Argus Filch demanded.
Sybil Trelawny was trying to cover herself with her scarves but was having trouble finding them as her glasses were no where to be found.
"Oh my" Sybil said "Hand me my glasses dear boy" she waved her hand towards Remus.
Remus unfroze and like a gentleman looked around for Sybil's glasses, finding them under a nearby chair he handed them to her.
Argus Filch and Sybil Trelawny having sex on the floor amongst several brightly coloured cushions was one of the most extraordinary things Severus had ever seen. He'd thought there was not much left to amaze him in this world but this was fairly noteworthy. Who'd have thought Argus had it in him, or more precisely who'd have thought Sybil would have Argus in her. He shook his head to clear the image from his mind
'Oh for a well placed Obliviate' he thought.
Ten minutes later after Argus had scampered out the door clutching his clothes and Sybil had managed to find hers and dress they were seated around a table taking tea. The Seer didn't seem the least bit embarrassed by her earlier performance and was being quite the affable hostess to her guests. Harry had decided to wait outside as he didn't think he could look Sybil in the eye after what he'd witnessed. He had a rather delicate constitution for the 'Hero of the Wizarding World' and one couldn't imagine him taking on The Dark Lord if he couldn't face a naked janitor.
"So she is gone, taken, and we need to find her?" Sybil rounded up the discussion.
"Yes Sybil, that's right" Remus answered.
"Do you have anything personal of hers for me to use in the search?"
Severus took the dog tags from around his neck caressing them before finally handing them to Sybil.
"Yes, yes" Sybil mumbled as she held the tags closing her eyes "I see her, yes I can" she sounded like Winky after a few butterbeers.
As much as Severus though Trelawny was a fake he was drawn in by her act and watched mesmerised as she muttered and clutched the objects tightly to her chest.
Sybil swayed and groaned as if she was still in Argus' eager arms making Severus grimace at the thought. Her eyes rolled and her head flopped back as she entered a trance like state.
"Hermione, Hermione" she chanted softly.
After 10 minutes Severus was ready to give up hope. Whilst the chanting of his wife's name and the swaying of the Seer was interesting it didn't seem to be helping. Remus however was sitting on the edge of his seat expecting the unexpected from Sybil. His mouth was slightly ajar and his eyes wide as he watched her sway from side to side.
Suddenly the swaying stopped as did Sybil's breathing. She promptly collapsed on the floor and started to convulse in a seizure.
Both the men jumped up from their seats and moved the furniture away so that she didn't hurt herself in her writhing. They knew that the safest thing to do when someone had a fit was to save them from hurting themselves and allow the seizure to finish.
Just as suddenly as the convulsions started they finished. Severus and Remus looked with interest at the now still and prone Sybil, Severus shrugging at Remus before he dropped to his knees beside the woman.
"Sybil" Severus shook her gingerly "Sybil, are you alright?"
Her eyes flashed open staring at the ceiling before moving to focus on him.
"Frolicking ferrets like to collect pretty things" she said.Her eyes closed again and she drifted off with a smile playing around the edges of her mouth.
Harry was bowled over by Severus in the older mans haste to leave the Tower rooms. He watched in amazement as Severus jumped over the railing straight down to the lower levels of the castle, his robes billowing out like a mythical creature in flight. He landed with the aid of a cushioning charm on the floor of the main hallway and continued to run straight out of the doors and directly down to the gates so he could apparate away to his destination.
In his haste to leave the Castle Severus missed Draco Malfoy by only a few minutes. Draco had flooed to Minerva's office and stepped out of the fireplace as Remus burst into the room dragging Harry behind him.
Minerva was looking out the window watching her Potions Master practically flying through the air in his quest to exit the Castle grounds. The arrival of the other men did not really surprise her after that.
"What news?" she asked them.
In as few words as possible Draco explained the situation to everyone delicately telling of his father's recent bad behaviour. Although he was certain it was all just a misunderstanding and Severus would laugh about it later Minerva suggested they make haste back to the Manor just in case Severus' sense of humour was currently eluding him.
In the interim Kitty the House Elf had taken young Damien for a walk in the gardens whilst Hermione sat quietly watching Narcissa chastise Lucius.
"You have to stop doing this Lucius" she poked him in the chest with her finger and tried to sound as annoyed as she felt "This time you've gone too far taking a witch from Hogwarts!"
Lucius failed to see anything wrong with what he'd done. He saw a pretty girl so he collected her. At the time he wasn't aware that it was Hermione, I was just a dark angel he'd caught frolicking in the moonlight.
As poetic as his descriptions of me sounded I was getting a tad tired of this and just wanted to be back safely with my Severus. I'd suggested they just let me leave but Narcissa wanted me to wait until I was collected properly. I felt like baggage waiting on an airport carousel going round and round with no one to claim me.
Lucius kept trying to eye me around his wife who eventually had to slap his face to get his attention. She took him by his ear like an errant child and manhandled him further away from the settee I was sitting on.
As fascinating as this domestic tiff was to watch I tried to occupy myself elsewhere and looked about the room from my seat for a few minutes before pouring myself another cup of tea. The tea service was beautiful and probably very old. I must ask Narcissa where she'd bought it from…
A loud explosion had us all looking in the direction of the front door as a manic Severus burst into the living room. I immediately stood up with relief hoping my Knight had come to save me from tedium in a room without books.
"Arghhh" he shouted in fury launching himself bodily at Lucius. Narcissa wisely backed up to where I was standing and took my hand comfortingly.
We watched the school boy style brawl as the two old friends rolled on the floor in a frenzy of flying punches and flailing limbs. Much grunting came from both men as Lucius kicked Severus and tried to crawl away from him across the Persian Rug. Severus leapt the short distance and landed heavily upon Lucius and the brawl continued.
Without taking her eyes off the men I heard Narcissa say calmly to me "It's been a long time coming. I always expected them to come to blows one day." I simply squeezed her hand and continued to watch the scrap enthralled by the action.
A few minutes later the fireplace glowed green as Draco, Harry and Remus exploded into the room tripping upon each other and landing on top of Severus and Lucius.
It was World Wrestling Federation gone mad as Draco trying to save his father elbowed Harry hard in the stomach by accident. Harry crumbled to the floor in pain as Remus leapt into the fray to protect "The Boy Wonder" and tripped on the crumpled rug landing on top of Draco. Draco fought like a cat all but hissing at his opponent as he scratched at Remus trying to shove him off of him. Remus smelt the tension and started to snarl like a rabid dog and bit Draco on the hand as it connected with his face.
That bite made Draco squeal alerting Lucius to his son's torment. He shook Severus off and jumped on top of Remus pummeling him ineffectively in the back. Harry had finally regained his feet and smiled when he saw me and managed a small wave. Narcissa and I both waved back smiling at him as Draco tackled him face first onto the rug. Severus regained his momentum and dived back into the fray locking Lucius into a half-nelson and trying desperately to break his arm.
By this point Narcissa and I had tired of the entertainment so we sat down on the settee together and had a spot of chit-chat. The tea service was indeed old and had belonged to her grandmother. Damien's mother was Pansy but she was with her mother in France for a short while visiting with relatives. We discussed the merits of child care and pre-schools and the availability of the same in the Wizarding world.
20 minutes later we grew tired of the boy scrap which continued unabated on the rug. Luckily they had not used their wands nor managed to break any of the furniture in the melee.
"Do you think they're bruised enough yet Narcissa" I asked.
"Yes I suspect so, and it's almost lunch time. We best do something about it" she replied.
"Allow me" I offered and cast a wandless spell to freeze the men in mid action.
"Oooh, you must teach me that spell" Narcissa enthused in delight as she walked over to the frozen statues and observed my handiwork.
I explained the spell as we levitated the men a safe distance apart from each other and lined them up in a row facing into the room like garden sculptures frozen in comical relief.
I stroked Severus' face and kissed his split and bruised lips "My hero" I murmured.
"Young love" Narcissa sighed just before she slapped Lucius' face and then caressed Harry's. "He's rather cute don't you think?"
We both laughed at that and I wished that the circumstances were different and we could be friends. It would be so nice if we were just two women having a spot of brunch on a sunny Sunday morning together.
I cast a binding spell before I unfroze the men and they all stumbled into their former action and fell flat on the floor groaning. It was really quite comical to watch.
"Enough" Narcissa shouted in a commanding voice. "This finishes here and now."
There were murmured sounds of assent and Remus and Severus managed to get up on their knees. Harry groaned and Draco whimpered. Lucius was trying to crawl away but was being rather unsuccessful in his bid for freedom.
I unbound the men and rushed over to hug Severus falling onto my knees in front of him. He clutched me close and kissed my whole face before descending on my lips and knocking me to the floor in his relief. We lay on the rug kissing and caressing each other and moaning in pleasure. Harry turned his back and covered his ears whilst Draco watched intently.
"Get a room you two" Remus said as he helped Lucius up off the floor.
Eventually we stopped the kissing and managed to stand up though Severus didn't release me from his hold.
Lucius looked sullen. Narcissa was scolding him whilst she healed his scratches and was telling him to apologise to us. By the sounds of the discussion he didn't seem to want to do as he was told and then Draco joined in the family discussion.
They pulled away from Lucius and both took an arm each as they frog-marched the sullen Malfoy towards us. He just stared at Severus and I with his black eye and swollen lip, his hair very messy. Narcissa eventually elbowed him in the ribs to jolt him into action.
"Sorry" he mumbled.
"Well, that was unconvincing" I replied holding Severus still so he wouldn't attack Lucius again.
"Alright, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have taken your wife Severus and I'm sorry OK!" he almost shouted out.
He stared at Severus, and Severus stared back at him. They had both puffed themselves up to their full heights and glared obstinately daring the other to break first.
"You should keep him on a shorter lead" Severus said to Narcissa. She nodded, kissed me on the cheek then led Lucius away towards the stairs.
Severus watched the pair leave then turned to Draco when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Look I'm really sorry this happened Severus, I'll call the doctor and get him put into rehab for a bit" he released Severus' arm and turned as the chattering sound of Kitty returning with his son was heard from the French doors.
It was then that we decided to leave Malfoy Manor for the relative safety of Hogwarts and I took hold of Severus' hand as we all flooed back to the Castle.
An interesting start to my honeymoon, hopefully the rest of my vacation would be less exciting and I could spend some quality time with my husband.