Tea and Werewolves
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 ( Read more... )
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 ( Read more... )
Stella was tempted to ask after Draco's condition, but figured that Narcissa would bring it up when she was ready. Instead, Stella just smiled and nodded, replying with a soft "Of course" to Narcissa's thanks.
She did smile, though, when Narcissa asked to see her favorite place in the school.
"We'll actually be heading up there now," Stella said, leading Narcissa up the wide staircase. "It's very close to my quarters, actually."
It took several minutes for the two women to make their way up the many flights of stairs that led up to Stella's rooms at the top of the castle. Though she could have easily made the journey in her sleep, Stella slowed down a bit so that Mrs. Malfoy could take her time in looking at all the paintings and tapestries that adorned the corridors of the school. More than one resident of a painting recognized the blonde witch, greeting her as they passed.
Finally, though, they reached Stella's small corner of the school- the corridor that held her classroom, office, living quarters, and most importantly, the stairs up to the Astronomy Tower.
"Up here," Stella smiled again, nodding up the stairs. When they reached the top of the tower she grinned happily.
"This is my favorite place in the castle," she explained, gesturing around them. "Although, it's a bit more impressive when the stars are out. However, it's still a lovely place to come and think, even during the day." More than once, Stella had escaped up to her tower, sometimes finding Remus up here, as he liked the solitude it provided as much as Stella did.
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The view was spectacular as always. It was possible to see every part of the grounds from the windows that lined the rooms. Narcissa looked at the surrounding landscape, and then turned to Stella, and smirked slightly, "In my day, this was not the place to come for solitude. It was the much coveted place for....private meetings and other such intimacies."
She had only been here a few times, and always with Lucius during her last year at school. She stood, remembering some excursion here with Lucius.
"Stella, congratulations on your wedding. I wanted to be sure to convey my pleasure at your union. Is it...was it...was it a hard decision to make? To marry a person so different then yourself? Please, if I am being too forward, inform me at once. It really is none of my business."
She watched the younger woman's face carefully, trying to gauge her reaction to Narcissa's question; it was better to set the tone of the conversation from the beginning. Narcissa needed serious answers from this young lady, and wasn't sure there was any way she could use proper decorum to achieve the answers she needed.
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"Yes, Professor Vega was rather lax about allowing students up here." Stella laughed. "And, it seems, that even with my stricter rules, I still catch three or four couples a year in 'private meetings'."
At Narcissa's question, Stella had to think for a moment, studying the blonde woman curiously. Yes, Caleb was quite a bit different than herself, but probably not in the way that Narcissa was thinking.
"It wasn't a hard decision at all," she finally replied, shaking her head a bit. "But why don't we head to my sitting room and we can discuss this a bit more comfortably." As lovely as her tower was, it was ill-suited for long discussions.
After they were seated in the front room of Stella's quarters, Stella turned back to Narcissa and spoke again.
"As I said, the decision to marry Caleb was not difficult for me at all- I love him more than I ever imagined it was possible to love someone," she admitted, smiling and glancing down at the rings on her left hand. "And, most days, he is not all that 'different'- actually, the strangest thing for me was getting used to all the things he didn't use magic for- he was raised in a mainly Muggle home, though his mother was a witch," Stella explained. "But no, it was not difficult. That's not to say that Caleb's lycanthropy has not affected our relationship- it has, but not in any way that we haven't been able to deal with."
That seemed a good a way as any to begin this discussion. Stella was a teacher by nature as well as by profession, and any questions she could answer to help Narcissa better understand lycanthropy would be welcomed.
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Narcissa nodded, "Marrying anyone can be an adjustment. I have heard it said, just the way men and women think so differently can cause some tension."
She sat quietly, contemplating her next words, "All men have their own idiosyncrasies that we must learn and understand. Those are words from my mother. She was very clear about a wife's duty to her husband."
Narcissa lifted her chin slightly and smirked, "Relatives, gambling issues, womanizing tendencies, and other inappropriate interests are to be accepted from your husband regardless of your own feelings; be the docile wife, and strive to understand his needs and support him to the best of your ability."
Narcissa looked at Stella, "How quickly her words come back to me. To think, most young women would shy away from such men for a marriage partner. It was not so long ago, that the marriage was more of contract between the families; the participants had little choice."
She flashed a small real smile, "That wasn't me, of course. As I know it was not you."
She felt the need to come to the point, and made the decision to begin her questioning. Narcissa wanted something to toy with in her hand, but instead folding her hands serenely in her lap, "I know that you have seen the paper. It is true. Draco was attacked. I thought, perhaps, you could lend me advice."
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"I'm not sure I agree entirely with that idea," she replied politely. "Docility has its place, of course, but Caleb and I are of a mind that marriage is an equal partnership." It was all she would say on the matter for now- after all, Narcissa was here to discuss werewolves, not marriage issues, no matter how tightly the two were twined in Stella's mind.
"But yes, I did read about Draco. Severus has assured me he will recover?" This was sort of a half-question- Stella had no reason to doubt Severus's word, but it was polite to let a mother at least nod on the well-being of her own child.
"What I understand from Severus is that Draco is not a full werewolf- he will not change, of course, and his symptoms will be less than what Caleb goes through every month," she explained, a hint of her professor-voice coming through. "But other than that, there are many things that he might experience at different levels. The obvious are things like a sensitivity to aconite and silver-" Though 'sensitivity' is putting it mildly Stella thought to herself.
"Actually, after I first met Caleb, I had to go through and pack away all of my silver jewelry. As a matter of fact, I should have probably looked into donating it towards the gala at the auction-" she thought out loud, wondering at why she hadn't had that idea before!
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She paused, feeling tongue tied, "Any couple has things to overcome that bring them together in a partnership. It sounds as if yours is the lycanthropy."
She knew hers had been the Death Eaters. It had been the center of his world, and thus a huge part of hers. But that was not for Stella Moore to know.
"Aconite and silver."
Narcissa repeated Stella's words and nodded at her, "That makes much sense. But without actually becoming an animal, his symptoms will coordinate with the phases of the moon or just when it is full?"
Narcissa thought about the silver she used for the tea service. She should arrange to use a China set instead, and then she started a mental list of the other silver they tended to use on a daily basis. Her jewelry was not a problem; she was much more fond of gold.
Narcissa had a look of concentration on her face, "What else can I expect? Moodiness? An affinity for meat? Additional hair?"
She was extremely embarrassed. It all sounded like such a stereotype. She wondered if perhaps she should get some books on the subject instead of making herself look stupid with this woman. She did not enjoy being so ignorant.
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"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 a good idea.
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"How do they keep from attacking you during their change? I mean, there is a potion they receive at the time of their change? How does that keep their wits about them, so that.. so that..they..you won't become a victim to your own husband?"
She knew that Severus did some work with potions; she thought the Weasley girl also did some research on this matter. She would ask Ginney Weasley about it next time they met; Narcissa was curious. Were they trying to cure or reverse the effects of the werewolf bite? Was that the purpose of the clinic? Or was it more to treat and ease the suffering of those who changed? Narcissa was not sure.
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"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."
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