Chapter 36: Her First

                                    

                                          
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the people or places that belong to the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as they belong to J.K. Rowling. The OCs (Katherine, Septimus, Serenity, Helena, Christoph, Elisa, Henry, Nick and any name you don't recognize and isn't from the HP universe) are entirely my own.
                          
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Although their spring came in like a lamb, the summer months had decided to come in like a lion. There were several times in just a few short weeks that Severus and Katherine found themselves casting protective charms over the gardens, as ominous skies threatened the world around them. Green tinted rolling clouds tainted the heavens nearly every other day; opening up to release their small roundish masses of ice.
                          
Just a week earlier, Severus had endured his first tornado. In all the things he had seen in his life, nothing had prepared him for this force of nature. The sound it emitted reminded him of the freight train that would often rumble past the houses near Spinner's End. After strengthening the wards on the house, the family had hunkered down in the cellar until the storm had passed.
                          
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Long before the sun barely broke the horizon, Severus woke with a start and bolted upright in the bed. A loud clash of thunder had brought him forth from his slumber, and he could already hear rain begin to fall heavily outside. The bedroom was illuminated seconds later by another flash of lightning; blinding him for a moment as he began counting.
                          
'One...'
                          
'Two...'
                          
'Three...'
                          
'Four...'
                          
'Five...'
                          
'Six...'
                          
Another thunderous rumble shook the room, letting Severus realize that the incoming storm was just a little over a mile away. The house was so dark that he could hardly make out Katherine's slumbering form next to him in the bed, but a groan for the opposite side reassured him that she was there.
                          
"Seriously?" Katherine grumbled, as she shifted beneath the sheets. "Sev? You awake?"
                          
"Unfortunately."
                          
"What time is it?"
                          
Silently, Severus reached out and snatched his wand from the bedside table. With a quick flick of his wrist, the time was now hovering before him.
                          
"A quarter after five."
                          
"Urgh," she growled, as she angrily tossed back the covers and wandlessly lit the small lamp on her side of the bed. "Can't we go just one day without these blasted storms?"
                          
"The wizard on the wireless said we have a chance of severe storms for the next five day," Severus yawned, as he ran his hands over his face.
                          
"Well, at least Serenity is still sleeping," Katherine sighed, as she slid into her slippers and summoned her robe into her waiting hand. "I guess we will not be working in the gardens today either."
                          
"Apparently not," Severus said, as he summoned his own robe to him.
                          
"So what is the plan for the day?" Katherine asked, as she slid from the bed and moved to stand in front of Severus.
                          
"I suppose I will work on the Wolfsbane research today, since we finished up brewing yesterday," he replied, as he slid on his own slippers. Another flash of blinding light illuminated the room, followed almost immediately by a loud crack of thunder.
                          
"Well, I'm sure Serenity's awake now," Katherine sighed, as she moved to kiss Severus good morning. But it was short-lived, as a soft knock sounded on their bedroom door. "Yes?" The door opened a crack; not even barely big enough to allow the thinnest of bodies through.