Tea and Werewolves

[prof_stargazer]

Date: Thursday, 27 March 2002
Time: 2:30pm
Location: Stella's office at Hogwarts
Characters Involved: Stella Moore and Narcissa Malfoy
Rating: PG

Amazingly, Stella was not at all nervous about her meeting with Narcissa Malfoy.  Caleb had thought she'd been a bit mad a few weeks ago when she had told him she'd had tea at Malfoy Manor.  Still, Stella

Comments

[regal_narcissa]

Narcissa was not doing well; her mind was much occupied with other details of the slowly healing Draco lying in his bed. It was unclear if his wounds were improving, and the Full moon was occurring on Friday. She had tried to pretend that nothing was wrong with her family; it was important that others did not know about the attack to her son. So her week had been more stressful for maintaining a vague mask. She had met with her sister; she had meet with Daphne and Isadora about the carnival. She had plans to make another trip to the orphanage. All pretenses had to be maintained. But she agonized internally when she had to leave Draco's presence

[prof_stargazer]

Stella smiled at Narcissa's greeting, opening the Hogwarts gates with a flick of her wand and allowing Mrs. Malfoy to enter the grounds.

"It's good to see you," Stella said, genuinely meaning it and nodding at Narcissa's request. "We can definitely wander around a bit- most of the students are in class now, although I have asked the House Elves to have a bit of tea ready for us in my quarters, whenever we're ready."

They walked the path up to Hogwarts in relative silence- the late March wind was whipping around them, making quiet conversation a bit difficult. Once the great doors had closed behind them, though, Stella smiled again.

"Where shall we wander first, then?" Stella asked, not bringing up the subject of werewolves right away. She knew that Narcissa's curiosity on the subject was the main reason she was here today, but Stella figured she'd let Mrs. Malfoy bring it up- especially with the news earlier in the week about Draco.

[regal_narcissa]

Narcissa was relieved when they reached the doors, and got inside. The first thing that comforted her was the warmth, and then the rich aroma hit her and she smiled. It was this unique scent of old wood, polish and clean floors that was the same after all of the chaos of the wars and the world changing; Hogwarts seemed to never change.

She felt lighter for some reason, more at ease, and turned to Stella, "We don't have to wander about. I think it will be enough just to walk through the halls. I am sure some things have not changed so very much: The Great Hall is the same, isn't it?"

Narcissa paused to wait for Stella, and then they moved together towards the doors that led into the room that seemed to be unaffected by time. Narcissa turned to Stella, "Thank you again for having me here. It is refreshing to be away from the Manor. Would you show me your favorite spot at the school?"

[prof_stargazer]

Stepping into the Great Hall never held any less thrill for Stella, even though she had done it 2 or 3 times a day for the past twenty years or so. It was still impressive, no matter what

[regal_narcissa]

It was magnificent, all of it. The Great Hall, with the chatter of students' studies at the table, then the walk up the stairs. She smiled, listening to some of the paintings salutations, and noting that the arrangement had been changed since she had been here last to visit with Draco. That was before the war, and so much had been changed. They passed huddles of students, who seemed to catch sight of her and gawk a bit. They passed classrooms, where instruction was still occurring. They passed the library floor, and Narcissa kept pace with Stella easily as they wound up various staircases. Narcissa guessed immediately where they were headed and she shook her head; she should have anticipated a visit to the Astronomy Tower

[prof_stargazer]

Stella laughed at Narcissa's remembrances of the Astronomy Tower- it was much the same for most former students of their ages

[regal_narcissa]

That was why she was here; to better understand lycanthropy. Narcissa appreciated the directness of Stella's answer. It made her realize that she didn't have more than a basic understanding of the affliction. Draco would be affected, but how? There was still a question what effects he would experience. She felt she needed to know; to lend her support to her son

[prof_stargazer]

Stella frowned a bit as Narcissa spoke- gambling issues? Womanizing tendencies? If these were the sorts of things Narcissa Malfoy had to deal with in her marriage, then Stella thought she had a much bigger problem than simply marrying a man who happened to be a werewolf

[regal_narcissa]

Narcissa gave the younger woman a puzzled look, and then some small understanding passed over her face, "Oh Stella! You misunderstand! I heard lessons from my mother for years, to prepare me for my arranged marriage. But when the time came, I did marry for love. And you jest if you think I am the docile one in our relationship. My husband and I am perfectly suited to each other, as seems clear with you and your husband

[prof_stargazer]

Stella blushed and ducked her head when she realized her mistake, murmuring a quiet "Forgive me" at Narcissa's words. Thankfully, Narcissa didn't seem to want to dwell on that, and Stella quickly refocused on her next questions.

"Remus once explained it like this: the closer the Full moon is, the more the 'wolf' asserts itself," Stella began, glad to be back on a familiar topic.

"Caleb is generally moodier in the days around the Full- usually the worst is the two or three days beforehand, though it's a fairly steady progression from the New moon to the Full." It certainly came in handy that Stella was an astronomer- it only took her a moment to figure out the status of the moon on any given day.

"However, the moods vary. Some days he's terse and short with me, and then 10 minutes later he'll be sweet and romantic. Obviously, Draco's moods won't be so pronounced, but it would be best to tread lightly around him near the Full moon." After all, angering a werewolf- or even a partial werewolf- near the Full moon was certainly not

[regal_narcissa]

Narcissa listened carefully to Stella's explaination and made a mental list of possible things that could occur: moodiness and irritability. Her mind went back to the silver; that was surely the mark of the wolf to be sensitive to that. Perhaps her worry about it was too hasty. Draco was not bitten, exactly. He would not change, but be mildly (hopefully) affected; this did not mean he would actually become a werewolf. A question came to her mind, and she addressed it to Stella

[prof_stargazer]

Stella was rather astounded that Narcissa didn't know about the Wolfsbane potion. Thinking about it, however, she figured that she was only aware of it because of her friendship with Remus, and didn't judge Mrs. Malfoy too harshly for her lack of knowledge.

"Yes, Caleb takes the Wolfsbane potion during the week leading up to the Full," Stella explained. "It's an insanely difficult potion- from what I have heard, Severus is one of the few people who has mastered its brewing." Not that she would have expected anything less from the potions master, of course!

"Basically, without the potion, the Full causes the person to change completely- body and mind. With the potion, their bodies still change, but they still have control over their minds." It seemed to be the easiest explanation after all- Stella knew it was not nearly that simple, but it would do for now.

"I've spent the last few Full moons at home with Caleb. It was definitely a scary experience at first, but each month gets a little easier."