Iron Dragons and Firelegs *COMPLETE*

Cht. 6 A Refreshing Change

They glided back over the
lake, keeping parallel to a snaking stream below. This, Lacey thought, taking a
breath and relaxing out of the turn, was an experience. Never had she known the
freeing feeling of having nothing between her and the ground far below but an animal. Even
the parachutes training she had done could not compare to this. The wind teased
the curls out of her rigid braid and the sun broke through the cloud bank above
them, setting the water below to glisten as a shimmering strand of crystal
through the tufts of dark emerald trees. It was a languid feeling, rocking with
the beating of wings as they glided through the crisp Scottish air. Now fully at
ease, Lacey had no compunction about laying her cheek against the scratchy wool
of Severus' overcoat. She felt him tense slightly, but before she could think it
was because of her, he swept the hippogriff into another arc, this time lowering
gently into a clearing flanking the stream. She glanced around them as the
animal touched down, noting the tinkling water was due to a gentle fall that fed
into a shady pool.

Lacey dismounted after Severus, taking his hand as he helped her down
wordlessly. She looked around, taking in the peace and unspoiled beauty of the
place, sighing deeply. "Oh, this is paradise. It's exactly what I needed,
thanks." As she said this, the birdlike creature pawed at the ground a bit
before settling onto a thatch of pine needles nearby under one of the trees.
Touched by the strangeness of it all as it rested its beak on its front hooves,
Lacey laughed and turned to Severus. He had sat down against a large boulder
near the pool and was watching her thoughtfully.

"I guess that's twice today you've saved me," she said, moving to
sit on a large stone opposite him. "That's not even counting last night
when you helped me escape. Keep it up and it'll get to be a habit."

"I'm in the business of rescue it seems."

Lacey smiled, now completely at ease. "Yeah, well I'm not used to being
the damsel in distress or fair maiden or whatever. Though to my defense I wasn't
prepared to step out of the shower and be surprised by a house elf literally
popping in. How'd you get there so fast? I didn't see you anywhere when I woke
up."

"I was in my office, mapping out coordinates for a plan of attack as it
were when I decided to check on you. When I entered the sitting room again, I
saw you were not there, but round about that time you screamed and in I
came."

Lacey blushed at the mere memory of what happened next. "Well it's good
to know you can move so fast and that your reflexes are quick too."

"Good for who? You or the house elf?" he countered.

She started and stared for a moment before throwing her head back and
laughing so hard she snorted. "Both," she said, wiping away tears.
"God, who knew you were a comedian? I guess I should find him and apologize
for nearly squashing him with my boot... I just wasn't expecting something like
that first thing in the morning."

"To his defense, I think Pokey was not expecting anyone to be in my
showers at that time of day. He is used to my routine and I typically shower in
the evenings."

"Well, I didn't want to look like Walk of Shame girl and you weren't
around to ask so I just helped myself."

"How do you mean?"

"What the Walk of Shame? I guess it's an American slang thing... you
know, for when you've spent the night with somebody and come back home looking
like you had a night of it, wearing the same clothes you had on the night
before... It's actually a saying we picked up in college, for girls who meet
some guy at a frat party and hook up, then have to walk back to the dorm the
next morning. But it's the same thing in the military. Somebody would have said
something, so I decided to freshen up a bit before I headed upstairs. I'm just
not ready for them to start harassing me like that. They just gave me so much
grief a few months ago when I actually went out with a guy that I decided it
wasn't worth the hassle. I've been divorced for almost a year; it was a rebound
kind of thing. I mean, that's probably a TMI kind of thing, but that's why I did
what I did."

"TMI?"

"Oh, too much information. Sorry."

They lapsed into silence for a moment as Severus regarded her. Feeling
awkward, as if she had invited too close a confidence or perhaps insulted him by
saying that she didn't want her colleagues to think they had slept together,
Lacey began fidgeting with a tall piece of grass growing beside the boulder.

"I'm sorry," he said at last.

"For what?" she said, wondering what he thought he might have done.

"For your divorce."

"Oh. Well. I think he just... didn't realize what 'for better or worse'
meant. We started having problems after I got back from Desert Storm--that was
in '93--and I couldn't even deal with myself. There's no way I could really
expect him to, so it didn't really come as a surprise. Barely a year later he
told me he couldn't do it anymore and had spoken with a lawyer. I think I
started laughing."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I was just really bitter. I figured this was the one
person who was supposed to stand beside me and help me through it, and he was
walking out. My parents were both gone by then." She took a deep breath.
"Luckily though, I got transferred to Menwith Air Force Base and found
Dodds and Brynne. They really helped me through it."

"So what about you?" she asked, casting about for a change of
topics. "Any great love of your life?"

"There was someone once," he said slowly, haltingly. "She
died."

"Sorry. God," she smiled ruefully, "I don't know how not to be
awkward with you. I keep saying and doing exactly the wrong things. I'm not
socially retarded I swear."

"I hadn't thought so, honestly. It's no bother."

At that moment, Lacey's stomach rumbled loudly. She clutched her belly and
snickered. "And on that note, I guess we should be heading back." As
they both rose, the creature came trotting over and apparently had been fishing,
as he swallowed a large trout in one big chomp, his tail swishing gaily.
"What exactly is this?"

"A hippogriff," replied Severus as he turned to offer her a leg up,
only to have her almost bump into him. Scarcely a breath away from each other,
she tipped her gaze up to his and felt her pulse kick into a rapid staccato. His
eyes were the color of mink and heavy with sadness. She was tempted to reach up
and brush away the hair that hung over the side of his face, but even as she
moved her hand, he cupped his hands and offered her a leg up. Once she was
seated, Lacey let out a breath she had not realized she was holding as he swung
up behind her. He leaned forward over her, hanging on to the downy feathers of
the hippogriff's neck as they bounded up and set off for the castle.