E Pluribus Unum

A/N - A little party interlude in which we catch up with some of the other characters. - Kate has beta\'d all of this, so it should be relatively error free. Thank you Kate!

TQ - Welcome to the fold, my child and hang on for the ride. :) Thank you for both of your lovely reviews!
Ghaeth - you are very welcome.
Estrilda - More story coming right up
Jeannette - Thank you, your answer about Fauna is in this chapter and there will be much more on her later.
Deblovesdragon - Thank you and yes, our Severus is a talented man, non?
Droxy - No lemons for Harry and Min for some time to come, I am afraid. Too young! Sev with blood in his eyes! EEK!


Chapter 16 – Halloween

Severus was preparing himself for the seasonal annoyance of the Halloween Ball. This year he expected to ble ble to dance with Kathryn at least once, little enough compensation for having to patrol the corridors for snogging couples.

Voldemort had been congratulating him again on capturing Kathryn’s heart at the last meeting and his contemptuous remarks had made Severus’ blood boil. Pretending to be unaffected by Kathryn was difficult enough without the Dark Lorkingking coarse remarks.

“Really Severus, you must be using up your whole supply of love potions.” Shiv had chortled cruelly and Severus had simply smiled.

“Potions are not necessary, Shiv. Perhaps if you learned the meaning of the word ‘foreplay’ you could attract women of a higher quality yourself.” Severus had snapped. The other Death Eaters had laughed at Shiv’s sputtering anger; they saw weakness and went in for the kill.

Severus had quit the group the instant attention was no longer on him only to be pounced on by Miss Mangle. She was dressed in a Hogwarts school uniform this time. Slytherin, of course; with the skirt a little too short and the blouse open at the neck, it was far too obvious for Severus’ taste and she seemed to know it.

“You don’t like to play with me, do you Severus?” Such an adult tone from the illusory child was unsettling.

“No, Miss Mangle. Unlike some, I know the price for your company and I choose to spend myself more wisely.” He gave her a little bow and she smiled at him, not her usual predatory look, but shinghing deeper and more speculative.

“You interest me. You play here but you do not ‘spend yourself’, as you say. You obey but you do not seek praise. You show loyalty but no greed. You puzzle me.” The last she said with a crinkling of her brow that made her seem almost human. She was prying around the edges of him, trying to get him to respond to her, to give her something of himself.

“I doubt a creature as old as you would deem me at all interesting.” He reto and and then moved on, avoiding her for the rest of the evening. She scared him on a primal level, she made his guts clench every time she came near. He couldn’t understand how Franco could leer at her and Shiv kept eyeing her hungrily; he felt no hunger, only disgust.

Her words kept playing through his mind -- did she suspect he was a traitor, or was she genuinely incapable of puzzling out his soul? That thought gave him a soft glow in his heart. If he had been truly evil, wouldn’t he have been drawn to Miss Mangle, the way Shiv and Franco were? If his soul was truly damnehe whe would understand him, wouldn’t she?

He had long ago decided that his past was unpardonable but what was Miss Mangle’s confusion if not evidence of some sort of personal redemption? Perhaps he wasn’t quite the loathsome creature he had once thought himself.

On that cheery thought he dressed for the Halloween Ball. Kathryn had warned him that Harry was dating Min, so there were likely to be fireworks. Neither of them was stupid enough to make their relationship public but the tension between them was palpable and Harry was a lousy actor. The first time someone leered at Min, he would give himself away by his expression alone.

This unexpected development put all their lives in danger. Her life hung by a thread with Voldemort, only Severus’ constant assurances of her loyalty was keeping her alive right now. If it were discovered that she was snogging Potter, there’d be hell to pay, not to mention that Voldemort would want to know how a fifteen-year-old girl could have fooled Severus. At the least, it would be hours of Cruciatus and other tortures; at worst, Ryan would be short a father.

He touched his son lightly. Ryan still spent most of his time sleeping and eating but the wriggling bundle was of utmost importance to his doting father.

Faerie blessings were always mixed, Kathryn had said, and they were all finding out how true that was. Harry may be in love eternally and truly, but the likelihood that either of them would survive the experience was mal aal at best. Minuet was also only fifteen; she may be in the throes of a crush. In five years it might be “Harry, who?” and Potter would be stuck with a broken heart and no hope of happiness.

Severus wondered when he starto gio give a damn about Potter’s happiness. Shouldn’t he be rejoicing at the prospect? Why wasn’t he dancing in the aisles, celebrating the downfall of the Potter line?

He straightened his robes and stalked from the room with a nod at Winky, who was fussing happily over the baby. He put on his most menacing scowl and proceeded to snarl his way through the hallways, scattering students before him.

It wasn’t as fun as it normally was. He was worried about Minuet. The two months she had spent at the cottage ovee sue summer with her little sister following in her wake, had been wonderful. He had decided again that little girls were dhtfuhtful, not that he would ever let on, of course.

As he had watched the two girls, both of them dark-hairnd end eyed with pale skin, it was easy to pretend they were his. Fortina, having just turned seven, was convinced she was all grown up and her attempts to be mature and gracious had given him much amusement -- amusement that he hid with the same care he used when dealing with Voldemort.

Tina was fragile and his urge was to bring her to live at Hogwarts with him instead of leaving her at his parents’ home. How he would extract her from her mother was the problem. Despite the woman’s tears and misery, Tina was attached to her mother and having already lost her father, Severus was unsure whether another such loss would prove too much for her to bear. He supposed he could move the mother and daughter to Hogsmeade, maybe buy a little cottage there for them, but Allegra Ravagienne was much like Narcissa -- she craved luxury and beauty.

There were no mansions in Hogsmeade and Allegra was unlikely to want to live in a less magnificent fashion. Well, Tina would be attending Hogwarts in only four years and by then she would be far more easily watched over.

Severus swept into the Great Hall and was momentarily stunned by the décor. Albus and Filius had once more managed to defy all conventions of taste and restraint to create a cacophony of clashing colors.

“It’s the flying black cats that get me.” Kathryn slipped up beside him and muttered.

“What is that on the walls? It is making me nauseated.” He sighed.

“Orange and black glitter, I think, though it could be fairy vomit -- hard to tell. It is interesting the way it swirls across the walls, isn’t it?” She chuckled and he escorted her to Minerva immediately. He really needed the whisky tonight.

Minerva was in her most fiercely black robes, hair so tightly pinned it looked painful and lips pursed in an expression of disapproval. Severus ducked as one of the kamikaze cats dive-bombed the snack table and he wondered, not for the first time, whether Albus was really all there.

“Those cats are a menace.” Minerva snapped as they approached and Severus nodded. He darted away to fetch punch for the ladies, his eyes sweeping the room for any sign of Potter or Min. He dodged as one of the cats landed face-first in the smoked salmon and began to roll and purr while gnawing happily on the fish.

Severus levitated three glasses and filled them, deciding to forgo the buffet tonight. Minerva dumped a heavy dose of the Glenfidditch into the cups and they all clinked glasses.

He soon found himself, along with Minerva and Kathryn drinking heavily in a corner as the cats discovered aerial acrobatics. They dived, swam through the air, chased each other and generally made a nuisance of themselves. Minerva muttered something and gave a surreptitious wand wave about the time one of the female cats began to sing, while several male cats perked up ears and headed for her. Suddenly, they transfigured into a rain of candy and the children scrabbled for them, laughing.

Severus gave a slow smile to Minerva and Kathryn dropped a kiss on the older woman’s cheek.

“Brilliant! I wish I had your skill at transfiguration.” Kathryn sighed.

“Well, I wish I had your facility with hexes. Which reminds me, those gentlemen who attackou iou in Hogsmeade in May, did you ever go and release the curse on them?” Minerva asked quietly, with a quirked eyebrow.

“But Mine wha what could I do about them? Everyone knows Harry is the one who was attacked.” Kathryn batted her eyes innocently at Minerva and Severus tried not to choke on his punch. He had forgotten all about the men in St. Mungo’s, but he agreed with Kathryn that they were best left as they were.

“Well, as soon as you-know-who is defeated, you march yourself to St. Mungo’s and fix them; they might be sane enough to be witnesses.” Minerva sounded scolding, but her words were mild and her eyes danced with amusement.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Kathryn tried to sound chastened but Severus could see the mischief in her eyes and the subtle shaking of her shoulders.

He extended a hand to her and she took it with a smile. He drew her onto the dance floor and pulled her into his arms with a glare at one of the second-year Hufflepuffs who was staring at them in horror. Kathryn moved with precision through the steps, elegant and graceful; her Elven ancestry granted her a smoothness to her movements that made her a joy to dance with.

He noted the looks of stunned amazement on the faces of the students as he whirled Kathryn around the dance floor and chuckled inwardly at their shock. Didn’t think the old bat could dance, did they? Kathryn smiled up at him with her eyes and he stopped caring what the students were thinking.

Her body so close to his was giving him ideas and he wanted to whisk her off to the dungeons and do terrible horrible things to her. With a sigh, he released her after the dance and went to vent his frustration on the students.

Draco was moving Helena Goyle through the intricate steps of a quadrille, performing it with the innate arrogance of a Malfoy and a pureblood. Unlike her older brother, Helena was a delicate, ethereal creature with a sharp wit. The only resemblance to her gorilla-like older brother was in the almost fanatical loyalty she showed to Draco. At eleven she was tiny beside Draco, but she was glaring daggers at anyone who seemed likely to harm her dance partner.

Draco’s pain-filled eyes met Severus’ and the Potions Master felt again the helplessness of his position. Draco had been near silent since the attack in the woods. He never came to Severus’ lab any more and he hardly ever spoke in class.

“Professor?” Miss Granger’s voice cut through his introspection and he looked down at the school’s resident know-it-all with a quirked eyebrow. “Is Malfoy okay?” She echoed his thoughts with a tiny frown. He glanced about and realized that she had timed her approach for a moment when he was far from anyone else. The music was loud and kept their voices from being overheard. She might make a decent spy one day, for a Gryffindor.

“No, Miss Granger, he is not.” Severus replied with an expression of distaste at odds with his voice. Miss Granger looked chastened but glanced up at him through her lashes.

“Is there anything I can do?” Severus was startled by her offer, though he shouldn’t be. She was so eager to rescue and help the downtrodden that Malfoy’s plight must have assuredly roused her compassion.

“I am restarting the special potions classes, Miss Granger. You shall be attending them.” He commanded but Miss Granger smiled up at him and nodded with a look of incandescent joy. Perhaps not so good as a spy, he chuckled inwardly at her transparent emotions.

“I know they were for Minuet, but I really learned a lot.” She added with the eagerness of a puppy seeing the leash come down from the wall and knowing a walk was in store. She was too bright to be kept back with the dunderheads he admitted to himself.

“I am pleased that they met your high standards.” He growled at her, but like Ginny, she seemed to have developed immunity to his biting sarcasm and she merely nodded before moving away from him and back to the dance. Weasley claimed her for a waltz and did a creditable job of it, though as Arthur and Molly’s son he should have done even better. They had been Hogsmeade’s dance champions two years running after all.

Nearby he spotted Fauna, she stood alone, her gaze distant and unfocused. She was another burden for him to shoulder. Minuet moved up beside the other girl with a glass of punch and Fauna came awake enough to accept it with a small smile. It was a shadow of the girl he had known that stood there now, but she was alive and perhaps with time she would mend. Minuet’s loyalty and friendship was almost Hufflepuffian, but Severus could not help but be grateful.

Fauna had nightmares most nights and Minuet’s care and attention to kep kept Severus from having to spend every night soothing the traumatized girl. Fauna flinched from human contact and especially from males of any kind. It made it very hard for him to help her; he knew he would have to turn her over to Kathryn, but he was reluctant to admit himself at a loss, even to her.

He strode through the hallways and chased snogging students out of dark corners and empty classrooms. He stalked through the rose garden only to stop short as soft whispers came to his ears. He turned a corner and found Minuet and Harry sitting side by side on a bench. They held hands but they were the only couple he had found that evening that wasn’t locked in a clumsy embrace.

“We have to keep it quiet. Draco is okay but who knows which of the Slyths are writing home to Death Eater parents.” Harry said gently to the younger girl. “Professor Snape could get in serious trouble for this.” He heard Min sigh and nod.

“I don’t want Uncle Severus to get in trouble but I wish we could dance together.” Minuet’s voice had taken on a wistful quality and Harry dropped a kiss on her hand, which was gentle and almost chaste.

Severus was amazed by the boy’s self-control. Not only was he finally thinking about the consequences of his actions, but he also wasn’t snogging the younger girl uncontrollably. Perhaps he had grown up more than Severus had given him credit for. Severus cast a warding charm around the young couple to keep them from being noticed by the other students and then left them sitting on the bench in the darkness.