Elio's birthday was everything he dreamed it would be. He waited patiently all day until classes were over to finally ask his mother.
"When are we having cake?" He asked when her final class left. Clarice sat at her desk, glasses perched on her nose, while marking a few papers for Severus.
"Soon lovebug, very soon." She smiled up from the desk down to him and he beamed back at her.
"And presents?" He pressed.
"After cake." She spoke without looking up this time.
"What's that about cake?" Clarice looked up from her papers to see her husband walking in. "Is it a special occasion or something?"
"It's my birthday!" Elio yelled at his dad as if he had forgotten.
"How could I forget!" He picked Elio up. "Ready to go?"
"Almost... I'm just finishing up your fifth years papers... and... done!" She dropped her quill and stood up.
"How did they do?" He asked.
"Not terrible, but they could use some extra help with the measurements. I'll make a study guide for them." Clarice kissed his cheek.
"You're the best." He kissed her back.
"Now let's go have dinner." Clarice led the way to the great hall and occasionally had to stop so students could wish Elio a happy birthday.
After dinner, Albus gave his usual updates on what was going on, but also made the entire hall sing happy birthday to Elio. He also made sure everyone had a slice of chocolate cake.
"Present time?" Elio asked while pointing to the table filled with gifts. Clarice sighed. She didn't realize how popular her son was. He had a gift from each staff member and almost half of the students have gifted him something as well. She was astonished.
"I suppose so." She said while bringing him over. Most students had cleared out, but some waited around to see Elio's face when he opened their gifts.
Some of his favorite gifts included a toy broomstick from Minerva, his own Pygmy Puff from Hagrid who was named Green Bean, a pair of socks from Albus, some odd crystals from Sybil that Clarice quickly hid due to them being a choking hazard, and an enormous amount of candy from students and other staff members. He had gotten other knick knacks like clothes and various baby toys as well. Clarice sent everything back to their quarters dreading having to find a place to hide all of the sweets.
Laying in bed had never felt sweeter than that night. As Severus closed the gap between them, she turned to him.
"I love you." She said.
"As do I." He replied in a very tired husky voice.
"I'm going to resume occlumency lessons with the boys I think." She said while laying on her back.
"I think they would appreciate that."
"Do you want to come?" She asked.
"If I'm welcome."
"I need your help with the dreaming aspect of it all. I don't quite understand that and wouldn't know how to explain that." She said.
"I'll make a guest appearance if you let me sleep woman." He chuckled deeply and Clarice sighed.
"Fine." She rolled over into his chest and just as she was about to fall asleep, her door crept open.
"Mommy I threw up."
Clarice groaned internally, but quickly swept the blankets off of her and slipped on her slippers.
"You okay love?" She rubbed his back and used her wand to turn on the lights. Severus had already fallen asleep and she didn't bother waking him up. She easily cleaned up the vomit on his bed and floor and changed his pajamas.
"Must have been all that candy you had. Do you feel any better?" She asked. He hesitated before nodding that he did feel a little better.
"Can I sleep with you?" He asked. This time it was her turn to hesitate before nodding yes. She did however give him her side instead of sticking him in between her and Severus. That way he could throw up on the floor and not on them if it happened again.
Feeling even more exhausted, she passed out quickly with her hand around her son.
"Claire darling it's time to wake up. You're class is in twenty minutes. We overslept." Severus nudged her gently.
"Shit." She panicked.
"Shit! Shit!" Elio copied while dancing in his underwear.
"Eli! Don't say that!" Clarice used magic to put her navy blue dress on and quickly fastened her yellow cloak. Doing the same to Elio with his gray overalls and green jumper.
"Here's some waffles to go and a cup of coffee. Love you, I gotta run." Severus pecked her lips and have Elio a kiss on the forehead before leaving quickly.
"Looks like we're having breakfast during class," She told Elio while she grabbed some toys and extra fruit for him. They barely made it to class on time and some students had made it there before her.
"Sorry guys. Overslept." She laughed it off.
"See! Even teachers oversleep!" She heard Ron tell Hermione. She always made sure they were ten minutes early to nearly every class.
"That we do Mr. Weasley. Unfortunately it's because I was up all night with Eli who overindulged in the sweets many of you had gifted him." She eyed them with a smirk.
" I threw up!" He exclaimed like it was an accomplishment. Clarice was only sighed while she heard some snickers.
She sent a charmed note to Harry and Draco that read 'Be here at 8PM" before they left and got nods in return.
Clarice entered back into her classroom around 7:30PM to grade a few assignments before the boys showed up. Elio was content on the floor playing with Green Bean as she wrote encouraging notes back to the students.
"Daddy!" She heard Elio squeal and run up to his father. Clarice smiled at the sight while pushing her glasses up more. She then noticed Harry and Draco standing sheepishly behind Severus.
"Evening boys. Why don't you make yourself comfortable. I'll fix some tea." She spoke sweetly while smoothing out her dress and waving her hand for the kettle.
"Now I know we haven't met for a while, but I'm confident you two haven't completely given up how to use occlumency." Clarice poured the tea.
"Well not entirely... We've actually been practicing on eachother." Harry spoke first.
"In private of course." Draco added quickly. Clarice paused what she was doing for half a second, shocked at what she had heard. The boys had, in their free time, been hanging out and practicing. Who would have thought?
"Any news?" Clarice asked.
"We've both been able to completely block out one another." Harry said.
"And create different visions to fool each other." Draco said.
"Have you tried while sleeping?" Clarice asked. The boys both shook their heads no. "We'll have to start working on that."
"How though?" Draco asked.
"It's a complicated subject." Severus intervened. "It's more than just blocking and its harder than when you're awake. For starters, you always need to be aware that you're dreaming. Ever heard of lucid dreaming?"
"It's when you know you're dreaming." Draco answered.
"Correct. Before we even start learning about occlumency, you have to learn how to lucid dream." He stated.
"That can't be easy." Harry said.
"It's not. We'll start by giving you some potions to take before going to bed. It will put you in REM sleep almost immediately to give you more time to figure out you're dreaming." Clarice said while walking over to the cabinet.
"But how?" Draco asked.
"You'll need to document your dreams. Here's a journal for both of you. Laying very still is another tip." She handed them leather journals.
"But it's also important during the day to do reality checks. Frequently ask yourself 'Am I dreaming?' and pinch your nose while keeping your mouth shut to test if you can breathe. Also look at your hands and feet because in dreams, they are usually distorted." Severus went on.
"Look for the nearest clock to try and tell the time. You can also try to push your index finger through your palm. If you start doing these frequently every day, you'll learn to do them in your dreams and you can figure out whether or not you're dreaming." Clarice helped explain.
"And if that doesn't work?" Harry asked.
"I'll just drug you up until it does." Clarice laughed. "Sorry, probably shouldn't have said that."
Harry and Draco took the vials, said goodnight, and left together.
"Would you really drug them?" Severus asked amused.
"Nothing serious, just some galantamine." She smiled.
"Clever." He said and with that Severus yawned.
"Bedtime I presume?" She asked. He nodded while still holding Elio and Green Bean.
After a long hour of fighting with Elio to go to bed, sleep overcame Clarice as she melted into her own dreams.