Cucurbita!
Alina sat cross-legged on her bed. A long piece of parchment—at least four feet, the lower end still rolled up—was spread out in front of her. On her lap the orphaned baby-Jarvey lay curled up and gazed at her with adoring eyes as she read to the little animal.
‘Cucurbita. Asine. Stulte. Puga. Fatue. Caudex. Nugator. Stolide. Frutices. Vappa…’
‘Alina? What are you doing?’ Geilis asked and inched closer, peeking at the parchment full of curiosity.
‘I’m teaching Cicero. I’ve also prepared lists for you, Mika, and Dorothy. I’ve done some research, and the next four weeks are critical for Cicero’s development. He will pick up on any insults he hears and imprint on them. Therefore it’s very important that he stays in the dorm all the time, and that the only insults he gets to hear are Latin insults.’
‘Are you really sure that Professor Snape doesn’t understand enough Latin to get angry about your new pet?’
Alina pursed her lips and sighed. ‘I don’t know,’ she finally admitted. ‘But it’s the only language I know well enough to train Cicero in. If they don’t successfully imprint on one language, they go mad. So Latin it has to be. And even if Professor Snape understands the insults, I know that the other students won’t understand them. So he can’t claim that Cicero is a bad influence and take him away from me because of that.’
Geilis didn’t look convinced. ‘And Mika and Dorothy have agreed to help you?’
Alina grimaced. ‘Yes, but now I have to help them with their Potions homework for the rest of the year.’
‘Hmm.’ Geilis fished the scroll from her bed and unrolled it. ‘So we just read that to him? And eventually he starts repeating them?’
Alina nodded, carefully stroking the soft pelt of the tiny Jarvey.
‘Oh, all right. Let’s see. Ructabunde. Spurcissime. Os putidum. Oh, I like that one.’ She giggled. ‘Nugae! Gerrae! Fabulae! Bliteus belua es!—No, wait. That has to be “Blitea belua esâ€! And it’s true, too. You really are a silly beast, Alina.’
oooOooo
Hermione looked tired tonight. There were dark circles under her eyes. When she didn’t press her hand on her stomach, she was rubbing an itchy spot next to her nose where she’d applied Anti-Blemish Potion. On the table next to her sat a stack of history of magic books from the Restricted Section of the library. Every now and again she shook her head or huffed quietly.
‘Hermione?’
‘Hmm.’
He almost smiled when she didn’t look up, completely enthralled by her reading.
‘Hermione? Did you hear me?’
‘Hmm?’
‘I have something for you, but if you’re too tired…’
This time her reaction was instantaneous. She snatched up a bookmark, inserted it in the book she was currently engrossed in, snapped it shut, set it aside, and smiled at him. He knew that she loved him, but still—to see her so readily abandoning something she enjoyed, just to listen to whatever he had to say, with a smile on her face, although he could see that she was not feeling well…it left him…bewildered…shaken to the core. He studied her face, the way she pressed her lips together, the way the skin tightened around her eyes. It was the coldest day of this autumn yet. Did she possibly suffer from another attack of Cruciatus after-effects?
‘Hermione, if you are in pain again because of the Cruciatus, you need to tell me. There’s no reason for unnecessary suffering.’
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and wouldn’t look at him. Severus frowned. Was there something she was keeping from him? ‘Hermione?’
‘It’s nothing. Don’t worry.’
He raised an eyebrow at her. ‘I haven’t been Head of Slytherin House all those years without learning that “It’s nothing. Don’t worry.†are sentences that send any prudent man running for cover. Hermione. Please. Tell me what’s wrong.’
She proceeded to stare at the tips of her slippers in rapt concentration. ‘It’s that time of the month, and my stomach hurts, and I’d been hoping…well …’
Her cheeks flushed, and he could see that she was biting down on her lower lip again.
She had been hoping…
She wanted…
A wave of nausea flowed over him. Suddenly the air around him felt icy. He shivered. Then time started again, and he knew he had to say something. Anything.
He swallowed dryly. ‘There are several things I could say right now. I should say right now. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any of them.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Hermione. We…we should have talked about that. I never expected you to…that you’d…Merlin’s bollocks. Most days when I wake I’m still surprised that I wake up at all! Not to mention that I wake in a bed with you beside me.’ He exhaled deeply. ‘I’m taking a potion. I’m…I’m sorry, Hermione.’
To his surprise she didn’t throw a tantrum. She just looked at him, eyes wide and sad, her hands pressed to her cramping midsection. Another deep breath. This wasn’t that much different from comforting his little snakes. Only of course it was, and he couldn’t fool himself for a minute.
‘Come to me, Hermione.’
Another surprise. She didn’t argue. She simply came to him. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands on her stomach. He closed his eyes and silently concentrated on a healing charm. When she slumped against him with a sigh, he knew the magic was working. ‘Blood and semen can be used for powerful and very dark magic. I had not much say in how much of my body’s fluids would be spilt on any given evening. But I could control the potency of those substances.’ He didn’t move his hands. Inclining his head, he briefly touched his lips to her temple. ‘I don’t think I’ve truly realised yet just how much my life has changed.’
“Binder. Someone who can banish and bind demons, zombies, and spectres easier than others.”
Why am i not surprised that he is some kind of exorcist of the magical underworld?
“My personal theory is that it is shaped by centuries of mythology and shared beliefs.”
How do you do it? Really, how do things in your “worlds” make perfect sense?
*hypnotized*
“For a moment she felt a stinging stab of jealousy deep in her chest because she was not the first. Followed quickly by a pang of pain at the knowledge that—while she had not been the first he had ever loved—she was the first to truly love him.”
That’s beautiful.
“obviously Charmed Manolo Blahnik stilettos.” and that made me laugh, ehe
Mona?? Don’t tell me! Did i miss something ? Da Vinci? *huh*
And something Severus didn’t know! Did he at least know that “the art of painting wizarding portraits was actually a kind of Necromantic magic?”
Intriguing,indeed!
I wonder where Alina will fit in all this!
So sad, a portrait to fade away, because there is no one left to remember them!
And what is happening with Hermione’s magic? hmmm
What could mess with her magic like that? *hmm*
Now that really surprised me!
Someone…we-know-who…is draining peoples magic through the tattoo?
Muggle-borns and half-bloods will lose their magic?
EVIL!
That’s even worse than what the Dark Lord did.
But how did we-know-who manage to move around the Other World ?
No, not alone, she is not alone, there is someone else doing all this with her.
And the Veil…
I must make another list…
I knew these tattoos were bad news. So, someone is siphoning magic off the muggle-witches/wizards through the tattoos. Presumably so that person has more magic at his/her disposal. An evil trick and even worse plan. So, what to do against it? First they have to find out who is doing that. And Alina better find the rest of the bells soon. I think they will need every one of them.
Yes, of course the tattoos were a really, really bad idea. *grins*
Finally! I’ve been antsy since Madam Pomfrey mentioned the unusually high need for pepper-up, etc, confirming my theory. I really needed somebody to put two and two together. Whew!
On another note, poor Alina when she discovers her head of house is proficient in Latin – the man creates his own spells among other things.
And about those Jarveys — it was the resurrection stone Ron and Lois saw them playing with wasn’t it? and that’s why nine Jarveys were killed that one night? and there’s a connection between their propensity for chattering insults and the Colin inferius isn’t there?
Hah! I knew those tattoos were siphoning energy back when Harry was feeling tired more than ten chapters ago! Finally someone else knows!!!
Also, I love your name for the library in the Middle East. I’ve always been devastated by the idea of all that knowledge being lost, and I love the idea that someone can still benefit from the books and scrolls at Alexandria!