Wizards in Black

Remus the Wolf is vaguely aware of something moving near him. He turns and flicks his ears, then lifts his nose toward the sounds. He moves toward it slowly, toward the shadows of an empty house, and he can just make out the shape of the observer.

It's another wolf.

The other wolf is as curious about him as he is about it, and as he moves closer to the shadows, the other wolf whines excitedly. He moves slowly, cautiously, forward, and the other wolf moves just as cautiously toward him. As it passes out of the shadows and into the moonlight, Remus sees the other wolf is beautiful; blond fur shot...

Snape rises and dresses silently, then slips out of the room unnoticed. Their laughter follows him and he smiles faintly as he steps into the kitchen. He washes his hands and dries them, then pulls out three pans and begins preparation for lunch. Malfoy enters the kitchen as Snape opens the fridge and asks him if he would like anything in particular. Malfoy tells him he's feeling like something sweet, when there's a sound at the door. "Ah, if you'll get that Severus, I will fix us lunch." Snape looks at him quizzically and Malfoy tells him quietly, "it's Dance, and Shiver, from the feel of...

Snape sits at his desk deep in thought, his mind running over the events of the last few days. He hasn't slept yet. It didn't make any sense to him to even lie down, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He's not sure what he wants to know more, the details of Malfoy's meeting with the Inquisitor, or Elsbet's. Elsbet's, really, Malfoy's he can guess at, and probably be right. But Oddbit...why was she unconsious? What happened to her in there, and will she even tell him? That question is almost worse than the other; she keeps everything bottled up inside and probably always has. Sooner or later...

The door closes and Snape is left alone with the two people dearest to him.

His heart trembles at the sight of them together.

When he first realized what he felt for her was love, he could not tolerate the idea of another man touching her. But now, gazing at her in Malfoy's arms, he is actually comforted. Comforted because he knows that if something happens to him, she will not be left alone. He wants nothing more at this moment than to lay down with them, take his time healing them, but he can't. He doesn't have that luxury. What he does have, besides the burning desire to make love to them,...

Snape opens the door and Therion slips in quickly, clearly agitated. Before any words are spoken, Therion holds a finger to his lips and meets Snape's eyes directly. We can't leave like this, he thinks. Dementors, he makes a circle in the air, and Snape looks at Malfoy. Therion thinks to them, there have been a few developments in the last couple of hours, and it's not very safe to travel. We'll have to go on the wing. Snape nods and Malfoy grabs Snape's robe. I can't...I've never tried it, I don't know how--he thinks, his heart begining to race. He's so close to the light at the end of the...

He's sitting outside watching the peacocks when the messenger arrives, and it takes him a moment to realize that it's not Loki. But the bird certainly knows Snape, Malfoy can feel the slightest imprint of his lover on the bird's mind. And he feels Elsbet's imprint as well! He smiles at this, and knows this must be the invitation. He gazes into the raven's eyes and finds a startlingly clear mind behind them. Time set eight this night. Sevrus take you. You meet at Ellieshome, yes? His heart jumps. No, not at Ellie's, it's not safe, Malfoy thinks to the messenger. Hogsmeade, Malfoy thinks, we...

Snape listens to them chat, glancing from time to time at Elsbet and Malfoy, dying to know what is going on with him. At last, after the meal is nearly done, Malfoy asks him how his day has been. Snape replies that it was fortunately uneventful, then he tells them, "I believe I may be home for a day or two, for the weekend." As the dishes are cleaned up and leftovers stowed, everyone seems to have an idea of what to do for those two days, even the birds. They range from swimming in the small lake in the center of the District (the birds' idea) to visiting the Silhouettes' outpost in the Southfarthing...

Just on the perifery of her mind...

Did she miss something? She must have. Somewhere along the line, she must have. Who was the first to disappear? Lucius. Then Greyback vanished. Then these three, and she's heard the Carrows whispering that Draco is missing.

That's six.

But...Severus couldn't have killed them all. Could he have?

She passes empty rooms as she goes down the long, dimly-lit hallway to the bedroom she shared with Lucius, trying to fit things together in her mind. She reaches the bedroom and something occures to her.

Dumbledore, and the Unbreakable Vow.

She has to sit down. She runs...

In this darker frame of mind, he ponders how things might have been if Dumbledore had simply never put on that damned cursed ring. Ah, but then, there was the equally damned and cursed Unbreakable Vow...if it had just been 'orders from the Dark Lord', he would have found a way...a way to fake Dumbledore's death...but for that Vow. There was the potion the Silhouettes had given him, the potion he never got the chance to try, which he still had. But for that Vow, he thinks. But what about the other Vow? The one he gave that locked him into this life was not to Dumbledore, but to Lily, though...

Malfoy looks up on the wall at Elsbet's odd Muggle timepiece and sighs. He knows Snape will be leaving soon. Everyone's finished their sandwiches, though they're still munching on biscuits...he doesn't wait. There's so much he wants to do before Snape departs for Hogwarts.

"Ellie, let's have a look at the other things," he says, rising, and Elsbet does the same. Carefully, she takes out the other items, looking at each one as she hands them to Malfoy, who looks at them, then passes them to Therion, and so they go around the table. Remus and Snape pay the most attention to them, checking each...

As Snape approaches Perdurabo's grand house, he sees that several Silhouettes are awaiting him. Cappadocius and her group embrace him and tell him that their outpost in the Southfarthing is finished and occupied, and that the rookery is already being settled. Cappadocius tells him that they took the liberty of crafting a lake between the rookery and the outpost, and that their Picadors have seeded the lake with roe from different fish, and shoots of compatable aquatic plants. In a week or so, the lake will be full of life. Snape asks, "what have you named it?" Shiver says, "well, we've planted...

With breakfast ready, the wizards carry their trays into the living room, and through the door Elsbet created. Once outside, they find themselves in a masterpiece in progress. She's creating a little park, a park just for them, complete with shady trees, fragrant flowers, soft grass and even a little pond. Snape's heart skips a beat. A pond...she must know, somehow, that her pond, with all her beloved fish, is gone. He will make it up to her, he will make it right...

There's even a picnic table, and they lay out the trays on it, then look around the little park. "Ellie," Therion smiles, "did...

He feels a soft, feathery touch on his forehead, almost between his eyes. The touch comes and goes and brings with it a very slight pressure, as though something very small were pushing against him. The touch is accompanied by a whisper of a voice in his mind, a voice so small most Magicals would not perceive it. 'k up! 'k up! the little voice says, Lusus, 'k up! He will not let himself laugh, he will not hurt his little visitor's feelings, but his joy is so great he almost can not contain it. His eyes open to find the tiny raven Familiar of his beloved Severus Snape, trying mightily to wake...

Eight am comes entirely too early, and Malfoy isn't sure he really feels like getting out of bed. Especially since he has Elsbet beside him. Or she was...he forces his eyes open and sees the pretty girl sitting on the side of the bed, already dressed for the day. She's braided her hair--he wishes she had waited, he would have done it for her. He reaches for her and she turns quickly when she feels his hand, smiling at him softly. "Did I wake you?" She leans across the bed as she asks him, then kisses him playfully. "No," he says, then realizes she's sucking a cherry candy. "Where'd you get...