The Last Horcrux

The Night Circus

Sev managed to choke down some toast and tea the morning after his encounter with food poisoning. He dragged himself into St. Mungo's, but he still felt a heavy weight in his stomach and his head felt as if it was floating above his shoulders. He settled grimly to work, mixing up an antidote for a nasty case of dragon pox and then replenishing the stock of pepper up potion, which was always in demand. He felt grateful for the dull, routine work. He wasn't up for anything more challenging.

His mood was not improved by an owl from Minerva. "Dear Severus," the letter read. "I do hope you will think about our conversation last night and consider coming back to Hogwarts to teach, at least part time. I am deeply concerned about the rise of Death Eater sentiments in Slytherin house and feel your presence as a role model and guide would be an invaluable counterweight."

Sev grimaced as he read the letter, wishing his headache would go away. "They should be offering a job to Remus, not me," he thought. "He's the one who really wants to teach." Anger flared in his chest on behalf of Remus. The injustices that werewolves had to suffer were simply unfair. He sampled a beaker of the pepper up potion he had just completed. It helped his headache, but it made his nausea worse.

Distracted and slow, he dragged through the duties of his day. He finished late and had to hurry to Madame Marples' to pick up Oakley. He stood at the fence and watched the children streaming out. They clutched crudely painted flower pots, planted with spring bulbs.

Oakley was not among them.

Neither was Delphi.

Sev went inside to look for them. The main playroom was empty. Madame Marple, with a smudge of earth across her cheek, was cleaning up.

"Where's Oakley?" Sev asked.

"Oh, he went home with Delphi. Eltanin picked them up early. They had a playdate. They were quite excited."

"I.....what?" said Sev, his unease growing.

"He had a note from you," said Madame Marple, her young face suddenly concerned.

"No he didn't," said Sev. "I never wrote a note."

She smiled at him weakly. "I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," she said.

********

As the Animagus charm took hold, Amanda started having strange dreams. She dreamed she was an animal, sometimes different animals, one after the other. She'd be a lion then a mouse then a giraffe then a gryphon in breathless succession. It was as if her soul was trying on different identities, searching for the right one. And she dreamed of other things too. She dreamed of her mother, who she tried not to think about, because it hurt too much. Her mother smiling at her, her warm arms. When Amanda had been very little she had liked to bury her face in her mother's hair, which was long and sleek and honey brown. And she dreamed of bad things too, the nightmare things - her mother and Jack sitting on the floor, their eyes open but not seeing. The bad man - the snake-faced man - Amanda always thought of him like that, although of course she knew his name - Voldemort. In these dreams he was coming for her, appearing in unexpected places, looking at her hungrily, as if he wanted her for something, his red eyes gleaming. Or she would dream that Gavin and Oakley were in danger and she had to rescue them. She would startle awake from these dreams in a cold sweat.

Still, she kept the mandrake leaf in her mouth. She said the incantation every night and every morning, hiding in a toilet stall with her wand pointing to her heart. "Amato, Animo, Animato, Animagus." Dreams were just dreams, she told herself, wondering what kind of animal she would transform into. She hoped fervently that it would be an animal she liked.