Clarice and Severus had woken up the following morning feeling more refreshed than the previous day. Their walk through the castle was more than what Clarice could have ever imagined. Not only was it a beautiful, historical work of art, but it was littered in her family's history and she even got to meet a few of the distant family members. Of course, they were ghosts, but she couldn't care less.
The walk was pleasant, but what Clarice enjoyed most was stargazing with someone else who shared the same affinity as her. With both women in sync, it was as if their senses were doubled and they had to quit sooner than usual because it drained them so quickly. Although they had to stop short, the knowledge they had gained from one another, the ghosts, and the help of the stars was more than what they needed to overcome the curse set over the town.
"Breakfast?" Freja called as the pair sauntered in.
"Please," Clarice smiled and took a plate to fill the eggs and bacon Anastasia had cooked for them.
"So do you guys have a plan yet?" Anastasia asked them once everyone was sitting down.
"Er..." Freja started.
"We're going to need to scavenge around for some herbs." Clarice said.
"What kind?" Severus asked.
"Well, there's a lot of things actually." Freja found.
"Like?" Asked Anastasia.
"We need the herbs to represent..." Clarice looked to Freja.
"Courage, Happiness, Love, Luck, Peace, Protection..." Freja trailed off, this time looking to Clarice.
"Success, Wisdom, and Health." Clarice finished.
"Nine different herbs?" Severus asked.
"They're actually quite common herbs." Clarice informed them.
"Well are you going to tell us?" He asked her.
"For Courage we need stinging nettle, happiness needs feverfew, Love needs sorrel, Luck needs heather, Peace needs clary sage, Protection needs marjoram, Success need Lovage, Wisdom needs Chervil, Health needs chamomile," She finished and noticed Anastasia writing it down.
"I have a few of these in my cupboard actually." Anastasia spoke and stood up. Severus eyed Clarice, they hadn't gotten to talk much since she came to bed after he was already asleep.
Clarice understood what he was thinking, for he knew everything about every single potion that was invented and even more. He knew the potion they had to brew and it wasn't an easy one; in fact, it was quite dangerous and only ever knew of very few wizards being able to successfully brew it.
"Those aren't all of the ingredients though, is it?" Severus asked as Anastasia walked back with seven different vials. Clarice shook her head quickly and looked over the vials.
"I'm missing the nettle and chervil, but that should be easy to forage." She spoke.
"What are the other ingredients?" Severus asked Clarice.
"Venomous Tentacula, Snargaluff, Arnica Syrup, and... Cromwell blood." Clarice spoke.
"All extremely deadly ingredients? Minus your blood I guess..." Severus muttered and sighed. "Might I add this potion is going to take a while to brew?"
"I realized that... I already sent Albus an owl... and Grandma." Clarice said while thinking of their little Elio.
"Eli will have the time of his life with Aggie, don't worry about him love," Severus assured.
"Sorry, but where are we going to find all those ingredients?" Freja asked.
"I have the arnica and tentacula in my stores back at Hogwarts... the snargaluff is another story." Severus said.
"What is snargaluff?" Anastasia asked.
"A flesh eating tree stump," Clarice laughed and stopped when she realized no one else was laughing with her.
"Where do we find it?" Freja asked.
"Have you ever wandered the forests around here? There has to be some out there." Clarice said.
"Claire? Why don't you and Freja go into the forest to look for it while I go back to Hogwarts for a bit." Severus suggested and Clarice frowned. Before she could argue, Severus spoke again.
"Listen, I know you want to go back with me to see Elio, but you know those plants better than all of us. It just makes sense. I'll be quick. I promise." He said.
"Alright..." Was all she replied with.
"Do we need any other ingredients?" He asked her. She thought for a moment and shook her head. Severus stood up and kissed her forehead before leaving out the front door.
"Finish up and get ready, these woods are no joke," Freja said while Anastasia scooped up Aubree and headed into the living room.
Clarice was quick to get put together, putting on her jeans and tucking them into her wool socks. She threw on a white long sleeve shirt and tucked that into her jeans as well. She walked downstairs to find her jacket and zippered it up.
"Ready?" Freja asked as she saw Clarice lacing up her brown boots. Clarice nodded and the pair walked out.
"It's a bit of a walk," Freja said.
"Can't we apparate?" Clarice asked.
"Not exactly. I haven't been to these woods before. I've only heard stories of what's happened in them." She responded.
"What stories?"
"Oh you know, the legends of people that go in and never come back." Freja said.
"They could be true." Clarice said.
"Could be, that's why I've never entered." She said while they walked up a hill. They remained silent for a while until they could see the outskirts of the forest from atop of one of the many hills they had to climb.
"There it is," Freja whispered.
"Seems... Eerie." Clarice said while looking over the forest pine.
"Seems a little too quiet." Freja laughed.
"Shall we?" Clarice motioned and the two women set off into the woods.
The weather was not in their favor, it started to snow and Clarice wished she had her mittens and knit hat on her.
"Did you hear that?" Freja suddenly stopped and Clarice followed. They stopped and listened closely.
It wasn't loud, but Clarice recognized the sound.
"Ah shit... we gotta get out of here." Clarice whispered and looked to see where the snarls were coming from.
"What was that?" Freja asked.
"It's a damn snallygaster." Clarice took a cautious step forward.
"A what?"
"Snallygaster. It's like a dragon hippogriff hybrid." She explained.
"Oh... great." Freja breathed.
"Come on," Clarice motioned for Freja to follow her footsteps.
"Are they dangerous?" Freja asked innocently.
"Are dragons dangerous?" Clarice asked back.
"Er..."
"They're a class XXXX beast according to the ministry." Clarice said. "They're just curious creatures is all. But they'll attack if they feel threatened."
"Are we a threat?"
"Reckon we're traveling through her land, yes." Clarice said.
"What happens then?"
"If it attacks? Uhh we run for it or apparate back to the castle and try again." Clarice chuckled.
"You can't stun it?"
"No, it's got a dragon scale hide that repels spells." Clarice said.
"How do you know so much about them?"
"I studied them in America when I was traveling with my mom." Clarice said. "I think we're in the clear."
"What exactly are we looking for?"
"It's like a stump or old looking peice of wood that has vines littered in thorns around it." She replied.
"Like that?" Freja asked while pointing to something that looked exactly how Clarice described it.
"Yes!" She exclaimed while walking over to it carefully. "Now, I'm going to need help. It's easier with two people."
"Just tell me what to do."
"There's the vines, I'll need you to distract them without getting bit while I reach in to grab the pods." Clarice said.
"Reach into what?"
"It's mouth, see?" She pointed to the little opening that was moving slightly while the vines started inching their way towards them.
"Bloody hell." Clarice heard Freja say as she picked out her wand. It wasn't easy, but Freja managed to braid the vines and knot them up. Clarice plunged her hand into the opening and pulled out three pods the size of grapefruits.
"Alright, let's get out of here." Clarice said while linking arms with Freja and apparating them back to the castle.
"That wasn't so bad." Freja said while collapsing on her couch.
"Yous were quicker than I expected." Anastasia said popping her head in from the kitchen.
"It's nice to have someone who knows what they're doing." Freja said whil Clarice showed Anastasia the pods.
They had their dinner and wasn't until they were all sitting on the couch when they heard the door open then shut.
"It's just me," Clarice heard Severus yell.
"Hey you." Clarice stood up and pecked his lips quickly. "How is Eli?"
"Having the time of his life. You'll never believe it." Severus said while hanging his jacket up.
"What's that?" Clarice questioned.
"Aggie is teaching my class while we're going to be away this month." Severus chuckled.
"You're kidding? I thought she retired years ago." Clarice laughed, but knew her grandma was more than capable of handling the students and the potions lessons.
"And apparently Gwen is taking over your classroom for the time being." He said.
"No way, what about her kids?" Clarice asked.
"They're staying with her in the castle." Severus said.
"Albus must really be desperate for help then." Clarice said. "Having practically two toddlers running theough the castle?"
Severus chuckled.
"I think he just wanted someone trustworthy and someone he already knew." Severus said.
"Did you get the ingredients?" She asked as he held up the vials.
"When do we start?" He asked.
"We have to wait for the new moon to begin." Clarice said.
"And that's when?" Severus asked.
"In two days," She replied.
"And what do we do in the meantime?" He asked.
"Prepare. We're going to have to summon the elements in a ritual while we begin the potion in the base of the tree. We'll have to remove the dead parts. There's plenty to do in the meantime." She replied.
"An element ritual? Have you ever done one before?" He asked.
"Yes actually," She chuckled. "More than once. My mother taught me when she realized we shared the same affinity for the elements. She taught me how to respect them and that helps you control them better."
"Intriguing, do you need anything for it?" He asked.
"Typically, it takes five or six people, but since it will only be me and Freja, I don't think we'll need anything." She replied.
"What would you typically need?" He asked.
"An assortment of things. Candles, sage, certain gems and minerals, and very rarely blood." Clarice said nonchalant.
"Who's blood? Your own?" He questioned.
"Yeah," She nodded.
"I don't know Claire, I don't like the idea of this whole thing." Severus said.
"We need that book Sev." She said simply.
"But why?" He questioned her.
"If Grandma sent us out all this way, it's for a good reason." She replied in defense. He only sighed and rested his head on her shoulder.
"Listen, once we get it, we can leave and go back." Clarice said.
"You do know the potion is going to take about a month to make?" He asked.
"Well yes, it has to brew for an entire moon cycle." She said.
"An entire month without seeing Eli?" He asked.
"Severus-"
"Do you think you can handle this yourself?" He asked.
"I... don't want to." She said.
"Think about it. I could go back with him... At least one of us would be with him." He suggested. She did think about it, but couldn't understand why he wanted that.
"I don't think I can brew this by myself." She said.
"I believe you can." He kissed her forehead.
"Wait a minute. You don't think grandma can teach your classes. Is that why you want to go back?" She chuckled.
"I'd trust Aggie over anyone else actually." Severus confessed.
"Listen Sev...." Clarice started.
"Claire, I know you want me to stay with you, but I didn't sign up for a month long mission that I thought was supposed to be our honeymoon." He said flatly.
"It's not just some dinky little mission Severus... It's important to me; to my family." She said.
"You don't even know why Aggie sent you here." He said and she didn't say anything for a while. She merely bit the inside of the cheek and fiddled with the ring on her hand. It wasn't until Severus shifted in his seat that she spoke again.
"Fine. Leave if that's what you want to do." She said quickly before getting up, brushing off her pants, and headed off to their room.
Clarice thought he would at least follow her. The only thing is that he didn't. She waited for him for about thirty minutes before sighing and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She peered into the living room they sat in prior, but frowned when she didn't see anyone. As she finished her glass, she washed it off in the sink and went towards the playroom Freja was sitting in with Aubree.
"Have you seen Severus?" Clarice asked her and Freja gave her a confused look.
"He left about twenty minutes ago dear. Said goodbye and was off." She confessed and Clarice's face was stone. The man actually did it.
"He- did?" She choked.
"He didn't tell you?" Freja asked concerned. Clarice only shook her head quickly.
"Never mind, must've just slipped my mind. Goodnight." She turned around while wiping a tear that didn't go unnoticed by Freja.
"I'm sure he'll come back," Freja said loud enough for her to hear.
"Maybe."