This is a three chapter story. I wanted to have a couple of things explained and a new character added, before I began posting my longer fic at the beginning of next year.
I hope you enjoy.
Once again, I have to give thanks to the wonderful Selened and also June for being so kind, and looking this over for me.
These characters are not mine, they belong to JKR.
Chapter 1
It was a lovely summer morning, and Severus woke up to find a hawk tapping on his bedroom window. He looked at the bedside clock and noted it was eight o’clock. Knowing he should have been up already, he didn’t grumble too much. He tried to move slowly, as to not wake up his very pregnant wife. Hermione was due to have their second child, a daughter, in two weeks, and it was getting harder and harder for her to get any sleep. After managing to untangle himself without waking her, he let in a large hawk, he readily recognized as Lucius’. He took the scroll from his leg and sat down on the bed to read it.
Dear Severus:
I hope this note finds you and your family in good health. I was told by Draco just the other day that Hermione will be giving birth soon. I am very happy for you, truly I am.
With that said however, I wonder if it would be too much of an inconvenience to ask you what I am about to ask you.
As I am sure you recall, I have not visited my father’s home since he passed some fifteen years ago. I would like to settle my new family there, yet there is much cleaning, which needs to be done, and I’m not talking about dust.
There is darkness in that house, and I cannot dispel my father's evil on my own. I have asked Draco to help me, but I am in need of an expert in the Dark Arts. I will be eternally in your debt if you could assist me in this. I have consulted several volumes in my library, and as you will agree, this cleansing is best done before the first full moon of the summer solstice, which will occur in seven days.
Under your present circumstances, I will understand if you cannot accompany me. Please give me your answerer as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Lucius
Hermione had woken up and begun to read over his shoulder. He turned and nipped at her lips playfully. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his chest. He could feel her belly against his back, and felt the movement of their daughter.
“Where is this house?” she asked.
“It’s in Wiltshire actually, not far from our estate,” he turned and looked at her as he smiled, “You’ve seen it. Remember during the Christmas holidays, we were taking a carriage ride with your parents? You pointed out a rather imposing mansion covered with ivy?” She nodded. “That’s it.”
“It's not far at all, and fairly close to Draco.” She settled herself back against the headboard as Severus placed his head on her lap, and began to caress her belly with his hand.
“I’m glad he’s finally figured it out,” he said, looking up at her.
“Figured what out?” asked Hermione, as she ran her fingers through his hair.
“How wonderful it is to love, and be loved.” He smiled and kissed her round belly, then rose to kiss her lips. “I’m going to have to tell him I can’t help him though.”
“Why not?” she asked, as she moved to get out of bed.
“Hermione, I would have to leave immediately. It will take several days to clean that house of all the dark magic and what not. I can’t leave you just as you are almost ready to give birth.” Severus rose and helped her out of bed.
“Severus, my due date is still almost two weeks away. I’ll be fine. Besides, its not like I’ll be here alone. Poppy is here, and Albus, and Minerva, then there’s Harry and Pansy and…” Severus held his hands up.
“All right, all right,” he wrapped his arms around her waist, “It’s just, well, you have had a difficult time with this one. She has taken a lot out of you.” He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.
“I’ll be fine, love. But I’ll miss you terribly. We haven’t been apart for longer than a few hours since we were married.” She squeezed him tightly, and then looked into his eyes. “At least I’ll have Raven, and Osiris and Crooks to keep me company.” He sighed. He wanted to be here for her, but she was right as usual. Her due date was far enough away that he knew he would be back in time. And she did have plenty of people who would look out for her while he was gone. He kissed her one last time, and then wrote a reply to Lucius.
Dear Lucius:
Thank you for the good wishes. I hope all is well with you and your family as well.
Hermione is not due until well after I have finish helping you with your father’s old house.
I will arrive at your home this morning, and we can go from there.
Until then, best regards,
Severus
Just two rooms away, Osiris noticed the large hawk flying past his window. He also noticed that it had a scroll attached to one of its legs, and then turned to Crookshanks.
“Did you see that?”
“Hmm,” answered Crookshanks, half asleep.
“That was Lucius’ hawk Odin. I wonder what’s going on?”
“Come away from the window and shut up. I’m trying to sleep.”
“Imagine that, you’re trying to sleep, it’s all you ever do. Come on, let's find out what Lucius wants.”
“I could give a rat’s ass what he wants, I want to sleep, and I’m tired.”
“Then you shouldn’t have stayed up so late watching ‘Animal House’ again,” he swatted Crookshanks and left. Four months prior, Harry had finally figured out how to charm a television and DVD player to play inside the castle. Since that time, practically all the professors in the castle had one. The first thing Severus did was to buy all of his favorite Bond films, as well as some of Hermione’s favorite romances. He also had a television and DVD player installed in Osiris and Crookshanks’ room as well. After that first night, though, he threatened to take it away from them unless they put a silencing spell in their room, since they had both stayed up the entire night watching movies.
Osiris flew out to the living room, where he found Severus dressed and having a cup of coffee.
“Was that Odin I saw earlier?” Severus looked up.
“Yes, Lucius needs my help with his father's home. He wants to move back to England, and we need to dispel the home of the dark magic.”
“That awful place? I get chills just thinking about it,” said Osiris, as his feathers ruffled.
“I know. I’m not looking forward to going, but he asked me to assist him, and he is one of my oldest friends.”
“Didn’t he try to kill you once?” asked Osiris with a slight tilt to his head.
“Yes, then I tried to kill him, then he tried to kill me, and it turned into a vicious cycle,” Severus said as he nodded.
“So I suppose you two are over trying to kill each other then?”
“Osiris, we haven’t tried to off each other in several years. Besides, that was before he turned against Voldemort. Much has changed for us both these past years.” He rose and looked around the room for his cloak. “There is no need to worry, trust me. Now, I want you and Crookshanks to look after Hermione and Raven. You know how difficult it is for her to get around, being so close to her due date, so don’t let her do anything strenuous, and make sure she rests. You know how to get a hold of Albus or Harry. If you need me, you know where I will be.”
He began to walk out the door, and then turned back to Osiris as Crookshanks joined him. “One more thing, I don’t want to hear any complaints about you two.” He closed the door, leaving the two looking at each other.
“You know what that means, don’t you?” asked Crookshanks.
“Yes, we have to stop getting caught.” answered Osiris.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Don't worry, Lucius is not trying to lure Severus into some dangerous scheme. I also hope you liked my addition of some modern day entertainment for our gang. It seems only natural that Hermione after being raised as a muggle would want some items in her life that are muggle.