Sub Rosa

Sorry about the delay in posting, I am having trouble with my DSL


Chapter 25 – A Moment of Calm

They hadn’t spoken about what had happened that night, but he knew that whatever was between them was more than either of them had expected. Severus had always believed that if ever he fell in love, as unlikely as thad had seemed, it would be something he would be happy about.

Instead, all he could think about was Kathryn lying dead at his feet, killed by Voldemort or one of the other Death Eaters. He knew it was the one thing that could drive him to kill again and he feared it. Narcissa was quiet now, but that could change. Kathryn wasn’t a Death Eater and her neutral stance could only last so long. Her family connections and pure blood would only carry her so far with Voldemort. He still had a with-me-or-against-me philosophy when it came to the pureblooded families.

He had fa har hard, but his brain was still functioning and his survival instincts hadn’t faded. Of course, Marie would avenge her granddaughter and he had to admit that the thought of Voldemort being taken to task by the tiny Creole woman made him smile. However, he would prefer to have Kathryn in one piece at the end of this.

He had slept in rather late that morning as the trip to New Orleans had lasted far into the English night, but the rest of the weekend had been …pleasant. Sex with someone who cared about you was far more satisfying somehow than the purely physical encounters he had experienced in the past. Actually, just having someone care at all was surprisingly addictive.

He found his mind wande at at the oddest time, memories of lips and hands stealing over him and softening the rough edges. He hadn’t given any detentions in a week, unwilling to spend an evening with a student rather than curled up beside Kathryn. He was snarky and sharp tongued with the students, but even Longbottom (And how he got an O in a his Potion’s OWL, Severus would never know.) wasn’t shaking as hard as he usually did. Either the boy was growing inured to his sarcasm or Severus was going soft.

Kathryn, he noted, had her classes living in terror of her. He heard them whispering in the halls about her. It made him smile ear ear of her sharp remarks and strict discipline. The running argument about which of them was more feared amused him greatly. Yet, they also adored her and he couldn’t figure out how she did that, they spoke of her with respect as well as fear.

His last class of the day fled his presence and he picked up a small vial with smirk. He had a present for Kathryn an kne knew it was something she would like.

He found her in her classroom, repairing the room from what looked like an “incedere” hex gone wrong. Scorch marks on the walls and the foamy remains of the counter hex “Spuma” littered the room. Her neat wand work, with no flashy gestures or extra flourishes, had the room neat and tidy in a few short minutes.
She turned, saw him standing in the doorway and gave him a soft smile that caused warmth to seep into his heart. It should have been alarming, but he was beginning to not care anymore. He accepted what they had and tried not to think to hard about the coming of May.

“Severus, how has your day been so far?” Kathryn asked as she limped up to him. He smiled and handed her the vial. She looked at it with confusion on her face.

“Drink that please.” Her face showed a moment’s indecision as her natural suspicion warred with her trust in him and then she tossed it back. Her eyes widened in shock as the potion took effect.

“Severus, I can feel my leg!” Her voice was slightly higher pitched in surprise, but the light in her eyes was all incandescent joy. She stepped into his arms and hugged him tight. “You are absolutely the most brilliant man!” She whispered fervently into his ear.

“At last, I am recognized for my genius.” He drawled, pleased and flattered by her reaction.

“Ah, it’s your modesty I admire most.” She teased as she took his arm. They headed off to Dinner, with Kathryn moving with much greater fluidity than before.

“I am still working on a potion to deal with the scar tissue, but after that is done, and with three more doses of the nerve regenerator you should be completely healed.” He caught a look in her eye, a fleeting look of sadness, before she turned a smiling face towards him.

“Wonderful, you really are wasted as a teacher.”

“So I keep telling Albus, but he refuses to listen.” She laughed and then paused at ther tor to the Great Hall.
“Thank you, Severus.” Her voice was back to the controlled contralto she used to shield her emotions, but her eyes were too expressive for him to miss the mixed emotions there.

“You’re welcome, Kathryn.” He too had mixed emotions, since once she was healed there would be nothing to hold her here after the year ended. He had told Albus he wouldn’t play games with her treatment just to keep here there and he wouldn’t, despite his feelings for her.

The earth began to tremble again and Kathryn grabbed him and held him upright against her as the floor lurched and he began to fall.

“I really can’t wait till midwinter!” She snarled, frustrated. The screams of students and the crashing of cutlery were loud, but the underlying sounds of stone and earth were unmistakable. There was a final jerk of the floor and then it became silent again.

“What I don’t understand is why.” Severus muttered.

“Help me out here, Severus.” She stood, hands on her hips, cane dangling unused from her hand. “Why what?”

“Why is the elemental so restless? Whatever that idiot Potter and his compatriots did by reading that scroll it shouldn’t have caused the Elemental to become so testy.” Severus’s voice had gone back to the steel quality he used when thinking.

“I’ll think better after I’ve eaten.” She shrugged and headed towards food. He waited this time and gave her a moment to settle before entering.

The Great Hall mirrored the clear night sky outside and the students were agitated and fearful, shaken by the earthquake. Kathryn fell upon her food with eagerness, the potion triggering her appetite as it healed her leg with such speed. Severus was patient through the meal, since it was obvious that she would pay him no heed till she had eaten.

“What about those books you got?” He asked after they had finished eating and as dessert appeared before them.

“Tons of info on Elementals, how to summon them, how to banish them, etc. Jack on why the Earth Elemental would shake us like dice at Vegas.” She frowned as she spooned Key Lime pie into her mouth. He watched her eat the sweet with some bemusement. Where did the house elves learn that recipe?

“Perhaps the legends of the Founders?” The eyebrow was up as he regarded her.

“Want some?” She offered him a forkful of the pie and he grimaced.

“Absolutely not.” She gave him that Mona Lisa smile that drove him mad. She tilted her head, thinking deeply. Her eyes had gone vague, the way they did when she worked an equation.

“The Founders. Hmmm, maybe the Elemental wants something from us?” Her voice had gone soft and distant and then she was off in her own little world. She pulled a quill, inkwell and some parchment from a pocket and began jotting down notes at a rapid pace, pushing aside her half-eaten desert.

Severus was amused by her single-mindedness. Her tongue caught in her teeth, her fingers moving rapidly across the parchment, she was the image of concentration. He noted Vector moving a little closer, eyes drifting across the equations as Kathryn calculated at a lightning fast pace. Vector fro at at the runes, numbers and symbols and then leaned over Kathryn’s shoulder.

“Isn’t that Mayan?” She pointed to a figure Kathryn had jotted down.

“There is no rune for Animagus so I use the Mayan symbol for Jaguar priest, since they all had a jaguar animagus form.” She muttered, so involved in the equations that she didn’t even notice who asked the question. Vector’s eyes were darting across the page, following Kathryn’s quill.

Vector looked up and met Severus’s eyes, a look of bewilderment on her face.

“I understand about two-thirds of it and the rest is way beyond me.” She admitted to hi
“K
“Kathryn got her Doctorate in Arithmancy at the age of fourteen, my dear.” Albus’s voice was tinged with amusement and both Vector and Severus looked up at him in amazement. “She has been publishing her findings in the field since she was ten.”

“I knew she was clever, Albus, but I didn’t realize she was a genius.” Vector was looking humbled.

“It’s not my fault. I was born this way.” Kathryn grumbled and laughter erupted at the Head Table. “I think I know what’s happening though.” She came to the end of her equation and then glanced back over her previous figures and nodded.

“Perhaps we should continue this discussion in the teacher’s lounge.” Albus suggested gently, his eyes crinkled and his lips twitching. Severus’s eyes roamed over the Great Hall and saw the attention of the students focused on them all. They were craning their necks to see what she was doing. He motioned to Kathryn to rise.

“Uh huh, sure.” Kathryn muttered and stood up, still staring at her notes.

“Youg isg is better!” Hooch barked.

“Yeah, Severus has mostly fixed it.” Kathryn noddbsenbsently and wandered out still fixated on her equations.

“She was much more effusive earlier.” Severus rolled his eyes and put a hand under her elbow, guiding her so that she didn’t bounce off of a wall in her preoccupation. Albus and the others just laughed again.