Missing him...

Narcissa hears Bellatrix cackling downstairs, and doesn't want to know what has brought her sister such amusement. Quickly, quietly, she packs an emergency bag, then stuffs it into a safe hiding place. She wants to delay her departure for as long as she can; she fears that if she leaves too soon, Snape will be exposed, and her son will be in even greater danger. She wonders where Lucius is right now and what he's doing, and if he thinks of her. She wonders too if they truly are lovers, Snape and Lucius, and if they are, what would she have done if she had caught them together...the idea does...

After Snape had shut the door, Malfoy seemed as if he was going to go and bring her back. Snape took his seat and Malfoy reluctantly finally sat down, and they began their breakfast.

They eat in silence, until Malfoy can't take it anymore. "She's hurting, Severus, why did you let her go?" Snape sighs and tells him as gently as he can, "because she needs healing that only the horses can give." Malfoy closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, then takes a bite of bacon. Remus smiles to himself and muses about how extraordinary it is that someone who had caused so much pain for so many now can not...

When Malfoy emerges he catches Snape's eye, but before he can communicate anything to his Dark lover, Elsbet happily wraps her arms around him and asks if they had a nice chat. He forces the best smile he can muster and tells her that they did, and he knows what he, Snape, Therion and Layne are doing. Keeping Ellie, Remus and Tonks ignorant of the Old Man's fate. In a way, they are his Secret Keepers, and it hurts. Being open-hearted hurts...he remembers how it was when he felt nothing for anyone but his wife and child. It was so much easier then...he kisses the top of Elsbet's head and hugs...

Remus and Tonks find the Teller's Court full of music, with Dance and Sing in the center, entertaining those gathered. They are graceful, their movements reflecting both the appreciation of the musicians' skills, and their love for each other. As the werewolf and his Auror wife take the space Snape and Malfoy made for them, the performance ends, and Dance and Sing bow to one another. For some reason, there seems to be a strange air of discomfort, and the four companions look at each other questioningly. As Snape is about to speak, they hear shouting from behind them and the Dark wizard is the...

Remus and Tonks follow Cilantro hand in hand into a lovely gated area. It's lit by shimmering little bugs, casually going about their business sipping nectar from the asphodel blossoms.

"This is a very special place," she says, pausing to push open the gate. "Enter with care," she looks at them both meaningfully, "for you will see only what you take in with you." She steps away and with a nod from her, Remus and Tonks venture forth side by side. It is peaceful here, it feels mystical, just as in the rest of the Garden of Dreams, but here, there something... more. This feeling grows as they near...

Snape is aware that he is not alone, but he does not allow it to disturb his meditation. He has no idea how much time passes before the visitor speaks, nor does he care. His only concern is that it does not cause him to question his resolve.

"It happens to us all, you know, death."

Snape's brow rises, but he doesn't bother to open his eyes. "Perhaps," says he, "but that need not happen to them now. Nor to me."

There is no sound from the visitor, no indication that they have moved, yet Snape senses that they have. "And you believe, do you, that you have control over their fates? That you can keep...

Therion moves silently, carefully, through the Petra, listening to the soft voices of the stones. They call to him as he passes them, wishing to impart to him their secrets, for they know he appreciates such things. Though he would dearly love to do so he does not stop; no...he is searching for something so near his heart that he dare not even think of it, and he will not be delayed. Elsbet spoke of a 'before-time', when this was but a tiny haven...he hopes to find books set to stone from that time... He is so deep in thought that he arrives at his fondest wish, his heart's one desire at this...

Malfoy sits with his feathered friend, both of them enjoying the Harper's skill. He asks her if she would sing the song that she had sung earlier and she grins widely. "Of course, Lucius, I would be happy to. Now," Chanteuse says, nodding to her Piper companion, "it will be even better." As they begin, another musician, this one with a bodhrán, asks if he may join them and they welcome him warmly. With harp, pipes, Irish drum, and the lady Harper's beautiful voice, the experience could not be more magical.

"Ride it on out like a bird in the sky ways
Ride it on out like if you were a bird
Fly...

"So," the Old Man says as Bea helps him sit up in his chair, "how did it go?" He's grinning impishly at them, and Remus chuckles. "You already know, don't you?" Perdurabo shakes his head. "No," he grins widely, "I was napping actually." They tell him what transpired in the Dragon's Chamber and he is quite pleased. "Well then, the last working stone in our world is safe. What will you do next?" He looks questioningly at them and Snape accepts the case that now holds the Orthanc-stone. "I believe we shall be taking these gifts home, and--" Perdurabo smiles. "Severus, you know what I mean." Snape...

Perdurabo suggested that Snape and his family go down into the Dragon's Chamber on their own, because the experience would be far more profound that way. Capadocius and Thelonius escorted them to the stairway that leads down into the chamber and told them that if they needed anything, they need only to think it, and it would be done. So the family passed through the simple doorway and made their way down the stairs, some of them marking the change in temperature as they went. The birds either hopped down the steps or were carried, as Loki, Johnny Rook and Whiskey Jack were, none of them making...

Laughter in the Wiltshire countryside.

Not something that is heard very often anymore. Well, not sane laughter, anyway.

Narcissa covers her mouth, but can't stop laughing at the tingle in her toes. Now, Cissy, the Grey Lady admonishes her, you mustn't eat those berries, they are for the potion! The raven drops three more leaves into the small cauldron and smells the aroma of a potion reaching the peak of its first stage. I am sorry, Lady, Narcissa thinks, wiping her mouth, but I like them, I've never eaten them before. Narcissa's mentor nods and she drops the rest of the berries into the cauldron....

Perdurabo explains that when the entrance to the chamber was finally found and breached, Escellion was long-dead, but the Master Stone and the Stone of Amon Sûl were hidden safely in her bones. "So much time had passed," he says, "and the stones had been a part of her for so long, that they had absorbed some--well, a great deal, actually--of her magic and added it to their own. But what was truly astounding was that they upheld her vow." The Elder wizard tells them that a great altar was made in the very center of the chamber, and upon it was placed the Master Stone. At that time it became...

"Until we were ready..." Therion echoes, then stretches and rubs his neck. "This is a lot to have to be ready for. And there's something I don't understand." He looks around at the gathered Silhouettes. "You've said that you came here a thousand years ago, but--" there is soft laughter and guilty glances around the study, and the answer comes from behind them. "That is because we still count the passage of time in our years. In yours," Bea chuckles softly as she takes Malfoy into her arms in a loving embrace, and Therion shakes his head. "I don't think I want to know what the conversion is...I...

Thirty years?" Layne and Therion ask, almost in unison. Perdurabo nods, his grin far less disturbing now, and sighs. "It...I think of the stone as he, for certainly the stone possesses a sense of identity, you can't exit as long as he has without developing a kind of awareness, and even the One Ring--" the elder wizard realizes he's rambling and stops. Elsbet giggles and kisses his forehead, and he laughs at himself. "Sorry, it's just that...so few understand. He was alone for so long. He knows this place, Perethil. This city was founded by Elves and Half-Elves, and was already thriving when...

Laughing almost like small children caught sneaking cookies, Snape and his family go up the stairs quickly. The birds play a game with each other as they follow them back up, squawking and cawing loudly as they go, with no clear winner decided once they're up. "They've got the sillies," one of the younger Silhouettes says as she picks up Anubis and gives him a gentle snuggle. Thelonius, Capadocius' first mate, asks them where 'The Rook' has gone off to and Layne opens his jacket. The crow has managed to settle himself into the breast pocket of the shirt quite comfortably, and he peers up at...

The Heir of Aragorn.

All eyes are on Snape, and Tonks moves closer to her husband. "Then..." she begins to speak but can't finish, and Elsbet, bright eyes filled with tears of joy, smiles at him radiantly. "I told you that you are King." He takes her into his arms, his own eyes filling with tears, and he holds her tightly to him. He shakes his head once, and the Chronicler smiles softly. "Good sir," he says in a gentle tone, "the living, indesputable proof is there, warm in your embrace." Malfoy lays his hand gently on the Dark wizard's shoulder as Layne and Therion usher the birds over to the...

Snape steels himself as the Chronicler pulls down a fresh parchment, and silently he glances at his loved ones. These people have come to mean everything to him; now, it is clear to him that they truly are meant to be together, and he wonders how much darker his life would have been if he had never met Elsbet, or if he had turned away from her...

There is strength in unity, he knows. He feels stronger now than he has ever felt before in his life. How much stronger will he become?

He steps up to the parchment and takes a deep breath; Malfoy comes to his side and takes his hand, pricks it gently,...