Jewel Of The Nile

Chapter Sixty

"So," Gabrielle said, and Draco looked up to regard her warily over the top of his cocoa mug.

"What?" he said, suspicious. "What is it now? You're plotting again; I can tell."

She blinked at him. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Draco said. "And don't pull that innocent act with me; I haven't seen that look on your face since the night you suggested sneaking into Malfoy Manor to play Neighborhood Watch." He ran his tongue sardonically around his teeth. "And, Gabrielle? The fluffy-kitten schtick works a little better on people who haven't played Yahtzee with you yet. Just for future reference."

"Well, aren't we touchy tonight." Unrepentant, Gabrielle selected a biscuit from the tin between them and bit daintily into it. "All I wanted to know," she said, licking jam from her thumb, "is where you're going, once you get off the train tomorrow."

Draco studied the inside of his mug for a moment before answering.

"St. Mungo's," he said finally. "My mother has another two months to go in detox; she can't leave yet, not even for Christmas, but she can have visitors. The mediwizard in charge of her case sent Dumbledore an owl just this week, saying I could come. And I haven't seen her since July."

"Ah," Gabrielle said, her blue eyes taking on a sharper focus over her biscuit. "And after that?"

Draco shrugged. "Not sure," he said. "Thought I'd change some Galleons to pounds at Gringotts, do some sight-seeing in Muggle London. Rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron for a couple of weeks."

Gabrielle shook her head.

"I have a better idea," she said. "Papa is meeting me at the station. Why not let him take you to see your mother, then come along home with us?"

Draco shook his head, frowning. "That's really nice of you," he said. "But I don't ..."

"Oh, come on." Gabrielle tilted her head persuasively to one side. "Fleur's doing a shoot for a magazine cover in Venice, so she won't be there at all," she said. "A day or two, if she's lucky. At the very most. And Papa's probably been adding to his Must-Read Holiday List since August. If you aren't there to entertain me, I might well die of boredom before next term even starts."

He ought to refuse, Draco knew. Problem was, he didn't really want to.

"I don't want to impose," he said cautiously. Gabrielle laughed.

"Impose? Are you joking?" She tossed her head. "You'd be doing Papa a favour; I drive him insane during school breaks. And the house-elves will be ecstatic; no-one in my family ever eats enough to please them." At his dubious look, she threw up her hands. "Look," she said. "I'll Floo him tonight, just to make sure. When he says it's all right, will you come?"

Draco hesitated just one more second - long enough to read the banked concern in her round blue eyes, and to hypothesize, albeit briefly, about the probable condition of the Leaky Cauldron's private rooms.

"Uuuuurrrrrggghh."

"Yeah," he said at length, and - out of long habit - broke the last biscuit in half so they could split it. "Yeah, I'll come."

**

"Penny for them," Hermione said sleepily, and turned over in bed. Bill, who had been staring at the ceiling, jerked guiltily, then grinned at her.

"Nothing big," he said. "Just wondering if your dad owns a handgun, that's all. I'm a little nervous."

"They're going to love you. Trust me."

He shifted to his side, so that their eyes met. "Do I get to meet your grandmother, too? The one who started the whole Jade Priestess thing?"

"Her too," Hermione promised. "And why are you so nervous, anyway? You break curses for a living; my parents aren't really that scary by comparison."

One bare shoulder lifted in a shrug. "I just want to make a good impression, that's all."

"Yeah?" Hermione's hand captured his hand under the comforter, guided it south. "Well, you can worry about that all morning tomorrow, if you must. In the meantime …”

Against his will, he smiled. “In the meantime … what?”

She grinned back at him. “Why don't you take a stab at impressing this?"

"That, at least," Bill said fervently, "I think I can do."

The Cairo moon smiled in through the window. From her basket in the corner, Cleo purred in her sleep.

The Jade Priestess stayed in the sock drawer where she belonged, and didn't so much as blink.

**

In his dungeon retreat, Severus Snape brewed himself a cup of hibiscus tea from his carefully-hoarded stash, and settled down with the latest issue of Ars Alchemica.

**

And Sybil Trelawney, gritting her teeth against the winter air, tucked her hands more deeply into her jacket pockets and checked the house number again, to make sure she’d gotten it right.

As if she could have forgotten.

Same little house. Same narrow Belfast streets, made temporarily picturesque by a blanket of fresh snow.

The lights were on. They were home … if they were still there at all.

She should have called first. She hadn’t had the guts.

You’re a coward if you don’t, she chided herself. What’s the worst that can happen?

Don’t answer that question – don’t.

Weak with trepidation, she crossed the street and rang the bell.

A moment’s pause. A shuffle of movement, from behind the little house’s brightly-lit living-room windows. A figure at the door, stooped and lined and greying but – amazingly – still the same, still familiar enough to bring a lump to Sybil’s throat.

“Who is it?” the woman asked. Her voice was half-fearful, half-curious. “Who’s there?”

Sybil closed her eyes, and felt her lips tremble.

“It’s me, Mum,” she said. “Just me.”

A gasp. “Sybil?”

Caution was replaced by a disbelieving kind of joy. Her mother crossed herself, took a step forward. “Sybil?”

Sybil nodded. “Yeah,” she said, and felt happiness boiling up inside of her, fierce and sudden and as bright as a possibility. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Smiling, she stepped forward into the light.

**

FINIS

**

Author’s Note:

Thanks to all of you who have stayed with me through the second installment of this little travelogue! Stay tuned for the third and final book in the series, Last Tango in Paris … coming to you soon from Witchfics.

A thousand thanks to all who have offered feedback and encouragement, and particularly to the Femmes and the Homme, who have redefined for me the parameters of virtual reality. Thanks for being my sounding board and my community.