The Golden Circle

Disclaimer: Except for OCs, the characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns.

It was with some trepidation that Lucius Malfoy watched his wife disappear down l'avenue des Beaux-Arts in Monte Carlo with Katherine Snape. "This is going to be an expensive day, my friend," he said.

"Let them have their fun, Lucius. Soon enough Katherine will be someplace safe..."

"Don't tell me. You're taking her to your favorite 'undisclosed location.'"

"Exactly. Soon Katherine will have to stay in one place, and even though it's a paradise, she will get tired of it."

Lucius looked down the row of shops. "Well, if we're to properly prepare for Christmas, perhaps we had best start?"

They looked in the windows of several shops, and stopped at one that appeared to passers-by to be filled with advertisements for a resort. The resort looked interesting, yet it had clearly been in business a generation or two earlier. The bathing costumes covered more than some Muggle street wear of the current fashion, and the posters were crumbling around the edges. Severus, however, saw something that caught his eye. "Let's go in," he said.

He stopped in front of a table of jeweled keys. A quiet witch stopped at the table and watched as he looked at one in particular. "Many wizards choose them for their beauty," she said. He nodded a bit abruptly, and she started again. "Some wizards choose them for the symbolism."

Lucius stood at the display case and looked at a magnificent key that was heavily jeweled and enameled. Its bow looked like a rose window from a cathedral. "I believe I'll have that one."

The witch didn't miss a beat in turning from a potential customer to a probable one. "Very well, sir. Shall I have it boxed for you?"

"Yes, I believe so... or rather," he continued as something else caught his eye. "I'll look at these first." He stopped at a display of Fabergé eggs. One in particular seemed to amuse him.

"Very well sir," said the sales clerk. She returned to Severus and noted that he was still looking at one of the keys. "Are you looking for a gift for someone in particular?"

"My wife."

"Some wizards choose them for their charm." She opened the back of the display case and tapped the key with her wand. A swirl of magic became visible.

"I believe I'd like a closer look at that," Severus said.

Katherine looked at herself in a mirror. "I've never worried much about this before."

"You'll say that a lot as a mother, about a variety of subjects."

"Who knew they made black lace maternity bras?"

Narcissa laughed. "For the right money you can get one in leopard print, too." She fished around with the hangers in her hand to show Katherine.

Katherine shook her head. "I don't believe that's necessary." She went behind the curtain and changed back into her own clothes. "Of course, I've only rarely found these necessary to begin with." She held up the ones she had decided to purchase and looked at them ruefully.

They paid for their purchases, Narcissa having selected one or two items for herself, and walked to the next shop. Narcissa patted the other witch's arm. "I never expected to see Severus so happy," she said.

"I never expected to be so happy, myself," Katherine answered. "It's like a fairytale dream come true."

Narcissa stopped walking. "You really love him, don't you?" she asked a little sternly.

Katherine saw the look in her eye. "Am I supposed to prove something now?"

"No..." Narcissa shook her head. "Not exactly, but if anyone were to hurt him, some other people and I would be extremely upset. He's not had the most fortunate of lives."

Katherine looked at her feet and then at the other witch. "There's not much I can offer you by way of reassurance. I've had some colossally bad romances in my life, myself. With Severus, though, it's all been so very easy, even when we've had spats. I can't imagine..." She shook her head and laughed at herself for tearing up. "These damn pregnancy hormones," she whispered as she wiped an eye. Then she cleared her throat and continued. "I don't even remember what my life was like before I knew him, I just know that if he ever leaves me or is taken from me, I'll simply die."

Narcissa smiled kindly and with a little embarrassment over having induced such an emotional display. "I just wanted to make sure," she said. She turned to a storefront a little way down. "This lovely boutique usually has some adorable frocks for expectant mothers."

"I hope we have time for some Christmas shopping, too. We've already been to three shops for maternity clothes, and I need to find something for Severus."

"No worries. You need to be properly outfitted, and we Malfoys always say that if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing to excess."

The Star Flower was moored in a little cove along the coastline between France and Italy. In past times, this spot was used by pirates and smugglers. Once a small army had landed here to ambush its enemy. Now it was just a scenic picnic area by day. On this star-filled night, it served the purposes of a wizard who wanted to remain unseen.

"I don't understand why you need to be so secretive, Severus," said Lucius Malfoy. I'm sure we could sail you right into your destination."

"Maybe I don't want anyone to know my destination," was the reply. He put the square of wool that was his carpet onto the deck and tapped it.

Lucius put his hand over his heart. "I'm insulted!"

"Lucius, I love you like a brother, but I'm not going to risk my wife's safety over the chance that someone will see your boat or overhear an innocent conversation."

"Your wife is quite able with a wand."

"She's also distracted lately and not feeling her best. Speaking of which, there's even more to worry about." He slapped the other wizard's shoulder. "Perhaps we're getting off here because Katherine can't stand the motion of the boat." Severus watched as his wife came up to the deck, looking gray but happy. After she and Narcissa exchanged hugs and air kisses, he helped her onto the carpet and wrapped an extra robe around her.

His host nodded. "I don't understand it, myself. I've never seen a witch so seasick, and no one has ever been sick on my yacht, before."

Narcissa smiled and spoke to Katherine. "It's been long enough that it will probably fade in a few more weeks."

Katherine nodded hopefully.

Lucius looked confused. "I've never heard of anyone's seasickness fading, my pet."

Narcissa lovingly cuffed the back of his head. "Lucius, pay attention. She's not seasick."

He looked at his wife. "That's what I don't understand. What has happened to her? Did you do something, Snape. Did she get bad fish in Venice?"

Katherine snorted at that. "As if anyone would let me eat..."

Severus settled himself on the carpet behind his wife. "All set?" he said quietly. She nodded, and with a low command the carpet lifted in the air. He leaned down to shake hands with first his hostess and then his host. After that, the carpet continued its ascent.

They barely heard Narcissa say, "Really, Lucius, is it so long you don't remember? Maybe we should remind ourselves."

Severus chuckled and pulled his wife close. "Are you warm enough?"

Katherine chuckled back. "At least." She unfastened the second robe and stretched a little. "It feels good to have the wind in my face and hair. By the way," she said as she turned her head and shoulders to face him, "do you know how to get there?"

He feigned a look of insult. "Why, madam, do I detect disbelief in my navigational abilities?" He was going to continue, but they heard a popping noise behind them.

They both looked around and saw bright red fireworks in the sky. Among the roman candles there were letters. Katherine spelled them out. "C, O, N, another C...no...it's G, R, another R or maybe A? T, U, L, oh, I guess it's A, T, I, O, N, is that an S?"

Severus laughed out loud. "Lucius must have finally figured it out."

Within an hour they reached Corsica, and moments after that they were standing on the portico of their villa. Josephine promised a good meal and soft sheets. Bonaparte quietly told his master of the arrangements they had made for the Christmas Holiday. Soft breezes blew over Katherine and she suddenly felt relaxed and comfortable.

Severus sent her upstairs to shower and relax. When she came out, he had a quick meal laid out for her, on a table next to the bed, which was turned down invitingly. He kissed her nose and slipped into the shower, himself. Katherine just meant to sit on the edge of the bed and wait for him, but when he came back, she was sound asleep and snoring slightly. He smiled and kissed her nose again as he pulled the sheet over her.

"Really, Severus, I don't think you should be quite so absorbed by her. You will set up unrealistic expectations for the future," Lucius Malfoy whispered behind the cover of his menu.

He was watching as Severus advised his wife on the foods to best avoid from the dining room of the hotel. Katherine overheard Lucius and looked at her husband to see how he would respond. Lucius's own wife also heard and suddenly became quite interested in this conversation.

Severus smirked. "So you're saying that I shouldn't...just for example, mind you...run through the halls of St. Mungos demanding that every Healer come to the side of my wife, when she's experiencing false labor?"

"You promised you would forget that," Lucius mumbled.

"I assure you, I haven't," said Narcissa sweetly. "You kept swooping me off to the hospital every time I burped, which was all too often in the last weeks," she added in an undertone to Katherine, who was learning to nod and ignore maternity stories.

"Speaking of Draco, how is my former student these days?"

Lucius smiled indulgently. "He was happy enough to open our gifts and sit at our dinner table, but then he was happy enough to return to the Greengrass home for the rest of the holidays. If we didn't have the Star Flower, we would be lonely empty-nesters."

Severus snorted. "He was happy enough to get away from his fawning parents, you mean."

"Just wait your turn," was the grumpy response. "You'll spend all your life spoiling that child. Then it will grow up and leave you, and you'll wonder why you were so attentive.

Severus smiled at his wife as she fingered the jeweled key hanging just where her new cleavage started. "I assure you, Lucius, we are as attentive as the situation warrants, no more, no less."

Narcissa caught a glimpse of Katherine's idle action and said, "That's a lovely pendant! See what Lucius gave me for Christmas!" She showed that she was wearing a similar necklace, but where the bow of Katherine's was jeweled around the perimeter of the flower pattern, Narcissa's was entirely jeweled and enameled.

"That's gorgeous," agreed Katherine.

"That's just the start of it," was the reply. "When I opened my gifts, there was a Fabergé egg with a dragon clasp. When you pat the back of the dragon, the egg opens to a satin lining and this necklace."

Suddenly Severus must have drunk his wine incorrectly, because he started sputtering and coughing. During his fit, Katherine couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard something very much like "excessive."

He recovered surprisingly quickly and murmured to his wife, "I think you'll want to forgo the clams. There have been warnings in this area."

She quickly put up her hand. "I'm passing on all seafood for a while."

"Oh, I forgot." Josephine had known a preparation technique for preparing foods so they would be safe for Katherine to eat. Unfortunately, no food is immune from overindulgence, and Katherine had spent a bitter morning suffering the wages of her overeating. Her eyes narrowed as she realized her husband was having fun at her expense.

"Attentive, my..."

"So Katherine," asked Narcissa. "Was there a special box or anything with your key?"

"Nothing so grand as a Faberge egg, of course," she answered. "Just an ordinary Tiffany's box," she said with a twinkle in her eye. She wasn't yet wealthy or jaded enough to think anything regarding Tiffany's ordinary.

"That was it?"

"Well, it came with a series of protective charms that the sales clerk put on it. The pendant surrounds me...us...with special protection." Her hand went, almost unconsciously, over her tummy as she spoke.

Lucius looked at Severus, who he knew had put additional charms on the necklace when they were on the yacht. He wondered why those charms weren't mentioned. Severus caught his eye and just barely nodded in the direction of the waiter, who was paying altogether too much attention to the conversation. Lucius understood the point, then, and made a show out of straightening his silverware.

"Perhaps we should go ahead and order, and let this good lad get along with his employment."

That was the Snape's cue to restart a discussion concerning a certain cheese sauce and whether it would be heated to a temperature that would eliminate risk from a specific pathogen. Lucius placed his and Narcissa's order while the deliberations were ongoing and finally suggested, "Really, Katherine, why not have a different sauce?"

"Are you questioning my ability to take care of my wife?" Severus asked.

"No, I just thought it might have less trouble..."

"So now we're trouble-makers?"

"Forget I asked."

Katherine suddenly ordered the vinaigrette sauce, and the waiter escaped with his life. The bass player of the same music group that had played the night of the Snape's wedding arrived at Severus's elbow. He smiled and whispered effusively as Severus whispered back.

Narcissa returned to the question of Christmas presents. "Did you see that Lucius is wearing the ring I got him?"

"It's quite striking," said Katherine, her eyes drawn to the jewel-studded circle of platinum around his finger.

"I still don't understand why you would pay so much for shirt studs. The onyx was quite impressive and looks quite good with his attire, but a charm to have them gather themselves up seems a bit ridiculous."

"I believe my wife was thinking of my feet," said Severus. He reached for his wife's hand and squeezed it.

"She said that as she purchased them, but really Severus, I don't get the connection."

Katherine met her husband's eyes. They smiled a private smile as they recalled the practical demonstration of those self-gathering studs several days before. Katherine's eyes twinkled with a promise to test them again that very night.

"Ah," said Severus, "I believe that's our song." The bass player had signaled to their table as the keyboardist started "Stairway to the Stars." The Snapes stood and went to the dance floor, where they stayed for most of the evening, to the band's delight. They celebrated with the other guests of the hotel until the New Year was counted down. Afterwards, the Malfoys and Snapes separated with a promise to have dinner together again soon.

A/N: Thank you to Trickie Woo for beta reading!