Of Shadow, Shine, and Shades

Ch.22 In with the Old

It took Caelum five minutes of lying in bed before he realized what was different. Around him the magic of the ancient castle hummed with a familiar tune and the air smelled of something that was uniquely Hogwarts. There was nothing threatening here, nothing to unnerve him.

He had had his first good night sleep in... forever, really.

And it was all because, no matter the dimension, Hogwarts was his home, second only to Severus. And even some version of the snarky Potions Master existed and lived here and so Caelum had slept like a baby all through the night, only to wake up at the crack of dawn as had always been customary for him in Hogwarts. He was utterly relaxed and for a fleeting moment he could imagine turning on his side and being enveloped by familiar arms.

But that moment passed and light caught on his tattoo, casting a flicker on the wall. No, it was not the past but something that was old and familiar yet new and exciting all at the same time. He was something new that was borne from the mistakes and experiences of his past. Would the past him have welcomed a stranger into his family? And if he hadn't, Zahra would have been left living a life unimaginably horrifying.

Speaking of his daughter, Caelum could sense her pulsing magical core in the other room. There was something peaceful about knowing his daughter was alive in the room next to him and he could live in the castle that he loved most in the world. Hogwarts was home even in this strange new form that he was to come to know it and he hoped that one day Zahra would see it that way as well.

With the eager giddiness that had not vanished even overnight, Caelum threw his covers to the side and got out of bed. His arms reached towards the ceiling as the man stretched and heard the satisfying pops from his spine.

"Too early..." he heard Syl mumble but only grinned and nearly hopped to the main room. His eyes were shining with excitement so powerfully it even rivalled the shimmer of his silvery tattoo. Now, to fix the place up...

By the time one sleepy headed girl emerged from her bedroom, rubbing at her eyes, the small apartment had gone through such a total transformation that some of it even slipped past her lethargy and she did a double take.

"What's this?"

Zahra took a curious look around and Caelum smiled at her. The nearly barren quarters had been transformed into something that to him screamed home. A long brown couch sat in front of the fireplace with a glass table between them while two recliners were set in front of one of the two windows with a table in the middle.

The kitchenette to the left from the entrance now sported a counter and yet another table, this one round, stood in the free space between the kitchenette and the couch with high-backed chairs surrounding it. The sliver of wall between the toilet and Caelum's bedroom door held host to a small altar with two lit black candles, a bowl of water and a dagger on the wall. Every other free wall-space was taken over by shelves and shelves of books and various items. Warm coloured rugs were scattered all over the cold, hard stone floors.

But none of these were the dominating feature of the quarters. No, the first thing Zahra's eyes took notice of were the green vines climbing in the boundaries between walls and ceiling, floor and walls, and corners of walls. Her eyes followed the never-ending loops of green leaves that changed from one plant to another without a single regard to natural order. Caelum waited with baited breath.

"They're for the privacy wards, right?" she finally guessed, her purple eyes casting towards the altar, "and that's the central point. Blood wards?"

"Yes and no. Dumbledore's curiosity knows no boundaries, but we need something more than blood wards to keep him at bay. Earth of protection herbs, Fire of candles and Water in the bowl with Life completing the cycle when blood is sacrificed." The man shrugged but he was practically vibrating with excitement, and light danced merrily in his currently black eyes. "I would have liked to add Air but Fire feeds on it anyway and Air is a fickle friend when used in protection spells."