Chapter 44 Do you think I'm stupid?
Although Severus was not interested in knowing, Lily found out from Tess that these eight children were not actually Regulus Moonshine's. Three were grandchildren, there was a great niece, two great nephews, and two second cousins. Mrs. Moonshine had predeceased her husband about four years ago, and there was a witch who came a couple times a week to clean and help with laundry.
The children's parents were either studying, working, or victims of He Who Must Not Be Named, and imposed on the Potions Master since his home was large enough to house them, and there were other children already there.
Sometimes adults stayed here for a while too, but no one was currently here, and the elderly mother-in-law had recently been admitted for long-term care at St. Mungo's.
It was enough for Lily to rethink her wish that she had a large family with tons of relatives. That had been one of the qualities she wished for in a husband so she would get an instantly large extended family, sort of like Helen's, but not if they dropped off their children and never came back for them. Well, except for the parents that were dead. That was a different story.
Rather than bogging his mind down with the meaningless details, Severus took more of an analytical view. Although Moonshine was better off than him, as a Potions Master, he was mired down in all these interruptions to his time. There was also the inconvenience of having children running about and making the house a frightful mess. Yes, frightful was the word for it.
He apparently was strapped for finances, if the food served at his table was any indicator. Their first breakfast was porridge with a side of diced potatoes that were soaked in gravy then fried in a skillet till crisp. No tea. No toast. No fruit. Severus did not want dubious porridge or potatoes, and saw that Lily was ready to cry since there was no bacon, sausage, or any greasy fried flesh to savor.
After watching Lily sullenly shovel potatoes into her mouth, Severus decided he should say something, in case lunch was also limited, rather than skipping a second meal. "Attending Hogwarts, I probably forgot to even think about it. Evans was one of the students attacked by a werewolf, she only got wounded, but they're cursed so her desires for food were altered. I'd be happy to go to whatever store's nearby to purchase food, if it's not normally served at your table, sir. Considering I'm living with Evans, it's merely self-preservation to keep her content."
"Sev!"
Moonshine thoughtfully stroked his chin, "I had read about that. Flesh, right? Well, with the young ones, I don't want them getting their fingers any more greasy than they naturally are."
"It's all right," Lily insisted. "Maybe I'll drop the stone I've gained if there's nothing to tempt me, and I'm working, rather than studying. There's certainly enough to keep me busy and my nose out a book."
"That was in the paper. A stone in less than a year?" Tess asked while bringing out another large bowl of porridge.
"My body's still adjusting to my change of eating habits, and at Hogwarts, there's huge platters of everything."
A boy with a mouth full of porridge, asked, "You go to Hogwarts?"
"Yes," was all Lily answered since the Potions Master hissed at the boy.
"I'm trying to think," Moonshine explained. His eyes became unfocused, as he murmured aloud, "Cursed wounds. Yes, something magical would be needed to counter that. Craving flesh. That would need to be suppressed somehow. There's a mixed bag of potions for appetite suppression. One does target sweets. Interesting. Not many survive a werewolf attack without getting bitten."
"It would be of assistance to bitten victims too," Lily commented, warming to the subject. "My roommate was bitten and infected, and she is eating just as much as me."
"I think it's called gorging," Severus mentioned.
"I don't eat that badly."
"There's a shop in town. They got some groceries, and can order anything special," Tess said, replying to the original inquiry.
"We have work to do, Sev."
"I know. I'll nip out before lunch, if you can last that long."
Noticing that Severus ate nothing, Lily challenged, "Can you?"
Knowing that Lily would not want to get into a battle of wills with who could go without food longer, Severus merely lifted a brow at her.
The Potions Master took them to one of the workrooms, and there was a large amount of raw materials that had arrived that needed to be specifically prepared and then jarred for storage. Lily and Severus could do the work, and they got to it once everything was laid out.
Severus gave Lily the choice of which body part she'd prefer to harvest since they needed eyeballs, tongues, livers, and spleens. Severus ended up with digging out livers and spleens before disposing, while Lily scooped them out of the barrel, gouged out the eyes, pried open the rigid jaws and cut out the stiff little tongue.
They had filled a couple separate jars with eyes, tongues, spleens and livers when Lily decided to take a break. The barrel was so big, the level of specimens was still close to the top. They resealed the barrel since Lily preferred to start dicing roots for a while since her fingers were tired of opening little mouths that did not want to open.
When they went into the nearest lavatory to wash, Severus wondered if the black mustache and beard drawn on the mirror was penned by the previous occupant, or if it was a permanent art installation. He was lost in thought about a child's face would have approximately the same spacing as his to line up the drawings to suit any viewer willing to shift their face to the proper position, when Lily blurted out, "Oh darn, the water's not going down."
Severus looked down at the sink, full of soapy water from them both washing up. "Is the drain open?"
"I don't think there was anything there. No lever up here anyways."
Since he hadn't noticed, Severus pulled up his sleeve and put his hand in to feel. There was nothing there, just an opening. "There could be something in the pipe."
"Do they need a plumber?"
"Maybe, if it's bad. Let me take the pipe off."
"But what about the water?"
"I think this floor could use a little water," Severus muttered as he knelt down to get under the sink to access the U-bend.
"Don't you need tools?"
"I do have my wand, Lily."
Water did spill down onto the floor once Severus removed the section. It was packed with gobstones, a couple clothespins, a knut, what could be a small, bald doll's head along with hair and plain old dark slimy gunk. He removed everything from it, and then accio'd everything that had moved past it, into the next section of pipe. That was only more slimy and hairy junk. After he picked out everything of possible dubious value, he banished the water and the debris, and put the pipe back into place.
Turning the faucet on, he was pleased the water drained as quickly as it was pouring in. "I'll give this stuff to them. If I leave it here, it could fall back into the sink."
Lily rolled her eyes. She doubted it would fall in by accident.
Severus began dicing roots with her, but she noticed that it was already midmorning. She had been thinking about steak, nice and rare, since breakfast. Actually, it was rather disgusting since she had spent a couple hours prying out eyeballs and tongues to think of food, but curses were like that.
"Why don't you go to the store, while I keep working on this, Sev? That way we can have lunch at the same time as everyone else."
"With them, or outside?"
"Whatever is fine with me."
"Alright, let me turn in the gobstones and take a quick look at the kitchen. If I'm cooking for you, I guess I should know what they have before I buy anything."
"Cook?" Lily repeated.
"I know you like your meat rare, Lily, but you do want it at least warmed to body temperature?"
"A tad more than that, Sev."
"I also want to see if they have something to keep meat cold. If I can do one trip a day, rather than one before every meal, that would be more efficient."
"All right," Lily replied, still a bit dazed that Severus offered to cook for her. She hoped he knew what he was doing because she didn't want to hurt his feelings if it came out badly.
Tess was in the kitchen, working on something in a large pot when Severus entered. He put the items he was carrying on the counter and said, "I took these out of the pipe of one of the lavatories."
"Oh … yeah, a lot of sinks have that problem."
"Before I went to the store, I wanted to stop here in the kitchen to see if there was somewhere to keep food cold so if I bought more for later, it would keep."
"That sealed cabinet there," Tess said, pointing with a dripping spoon. "It might be full. Take a look."
Severus's eyes narrowed as he stared at some open-eyed animal head, perhaps the goat he saw yesterday, with the neck sitting in congealed goo on a plate in the cooled cabinet. Was this supposed to be funny? He was supposed to open it and scream in surprise? Tess's back was to him as she had already gone back to whatever it was she was cooking. Did people normally have heads around their kitchens? There was never something like this in the Evans' well-lit refrigerator when Mrs. Evans opened it. With their own supply of animals here, unlike Mrs. Evans who got her meats cut and wrapped by the butcher, perhaps this was typical.
He glanced at the cooking area. Like Hogwarts, there was an open fire grate in the kitchen. He learned how to cook a steak on that. Severus did not like the idea of cooking meat in a skillet sizzling in its own fat.
On the way to the store, Severus cut back one side of the path with his wand, and on the way back, trimmed the other side. They did not pass this way on their walk to the caravan last night, but Severus already assumed that everything needed maintenance around here.
He put the bag of food inside the caravan, and took the two steaks and some items for himself to the house, storing the wrapped meat in the cooler.
Lily was still dicing roots and packing yet another jar of them when Severus came in and joined her.
"So what's for lunch?"
"I got you a steak for both lunch and dinner. You like them every meal?"
"If I get bored with them, I'll let you know."
Severus did not doubt that.
"You should have saw me earlier, Sev. I bet I was cutting as fast as you before my hands got tired."
"Did you want to work outside after lunch?"
"How hot is it?"
"Not bad."
"There's so much to do in here."
"I agree."
"Do you think there will be new things added tomorrow?"
"Maybe. I trimmed plants on my way to town and back so that's done."
Lily huffed and kept dicing. She hated this job and she hadn't even done it a whole day.
At least she found out at lunch that Severus could prepare a nice, rare steak. It was a bit on the small side, and the one for dinner was equally small. Lily had been spoiled by the Hogwarts' portions, and her mum always having plenty for when she requested seconds and sometimes thirds.
On the way back to the caravan that evening, Severus did some more trimming and offered, "If you want to take a longer shower, Lily, I can keep filling the tank for you. If you want it warmed a bit, I can do that too."
"Oh Sev, that would be great. After all that gutting and gouging this morning, and working outside for a bit this afternoon, I could use a long shower. Not too hot though."
After a lovely and long shower, Lily waited inside the caravan for Severus to join her after he took care of Phi and washed up himself. It was nice he let her go first because she needed extra time to comb out her hair and she also got comfortable on the bed, waiting for him and listening to the radio.
Tonight, Lily was worn out from a day of working so they only made love till it got completely dark and then she slept straight through till morning. Severus woke Lily after he was already dressed.
Their second or third days were similar to the first, except Severus had fruit for them to snack on during their walk up to the house. On the fourth morning, Lily woke before Severus, even though it was starting to get light out, and spent time staring at him sleep. He still snored and drooled. The new cute thing was his nightshirt had ridden up and the bottom side of one of his bum cheeks was exposed. She fondled his bum, and Severus woke with a start.
"Sorry to wake you, Sev."
"It's all right. Usually Phi doesn't do that."
"You're joking right?"
"Jealous of Miss Phi?"
"She's out there, and I'm in here," Lily murmured and let her hand reach under the front side of his nightshirt.
"I don't think you have to worry about her being jealous of you, Lily. I think she understands. Ravens pair with only one mate."
Lily muttered, "I'm not worried about that silly bird," as she continued stroking Severus.
"Did you want to get on top?"
"Of course, Sev. Roll on your back."
Lily started her day in a better mood so day four of their servitude practically flew by. One more day till they had their first weekend. Friday also went quickly for her since she looked forward to going home.
Regulus Moonshine had some ideas on the flesh-related appetite suppressant. It was an interesting idea. He also noticed a few things were repaired about the place, and found out it was Snape. He was handy at fixing most anything. Besides making a noticeable difference in the yard and the lab prep duties.
He told Snape and Evans he was pleased with their progress before they departed before dinner Friday. They planned to eat at Evans' home that evening. Lily had already confirmed it in her letter to her mother when her owl had visited.
Over dinner, Lily chatted about their whole week and slipped, mentioning the caravan.
"A caravan?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"Yeah, not quite what Tunie and I wanted to go around in because it's a folding one, with nothing above waist level."
"A wizard has a caravan?" Mr. Evans asked.
"The professor's wife was muggleborn and drove and all," Lily explained.
"The two of you are sleeping in a caravan?" Mrs. Evans clarified.
"It's not a nice caravan, mum. There's a little table in the center, with a low sofa on each side that's also a hard bed. Sev's got to cast charms to keep the bugs away because we need to keep the windows open because it's so smelly in there."
Severus only looked at Lily. He did not know why she even brought the caravan up.
"Mmm," Lily's mother said while shaking her head.
"At least any vacation via caravan is off, huh?" Mr. Evans suggested.
"I didn't want to go somewhere by caravan this summer, dad."
"Oh, I did get to the library, Lily. Got a bunch of travel books for you," Mrs. Evans commented. "They're up on your desk."
"How about I look those over, Sev, and then I'll show you the good stuff? That way you can get some of your other homework done."
"That's fine," he replied. Since Lily was so particular, he might as well let her narrow it down to a list of places she'd like to visit. It was better he did not see too many places he'd want to go that Lily did not want to travel to. The past week had been nice with Lily. Sort of like they used to be. Maybe it was him being hopeful that made him see things between them going well. All the sleep he had gotten over the past few nights had put him in an odd mood. Severus could not even explain why he was sleeping at all in that box on wheels that could easily tip over, start rolling, or be easily infiltrated by bugs, animals, or people.
The next morning, Lily already had some possibilities. He was interested in Australia and New Zealand since those were possible places to which he could move. Lily did not find anything in either country worth visiting. Lily did give him a couple words about each place. She liked islands and listed a few - Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, St. Croix, and Bermuda. Severus had not visited a beach before so he wouldn't mind going to one to see it. These were all supposed to be picturesque with palm trees. He said, "If you want to go to an island for the beach, any of these are fine with me."
"What about the other place?"
"What is it?"
"It's new. It opened a few years ago and I saw it on television."
"What is it?" Severus repeated.
"Let me get the book. It's hard to explain what it is."
"Is it named after someone?"
"Yeaaaah," Lily answered in a whine as she ran up the stairs.
He didn't know why she said it that way. If it was a famous muggle, Severus was not likely to recognize his name. He just thought the name of the place sounded like it was named after someone. Sort of pretentious. If he built something for people to come see, he would not name it Severus Snape World. He'd give it something more descriptive to lure visitors.
Studying the list, he suspected that was Lily's favorite was whatever this was. The rest of the list were islands. Either she wanted to go to an island, which he already agreed to, or her inquiry meant he overlooked the preferable choice. She didn't even say where this was … although it was followed by 'world'. Did that make it big like an island, or bigger like Australia?
Lily bounded down the stairs, explaining, "This is better than just a beach, Sev. They have a beach, and there's boats, but there's also things for you to do." That was all Severus needed to believe this was Lily's favorite out of the list.
"All right."
"You didn't look at anything, Sev."
"If this is where you want to go, Lily, I'll go with you."
"But Sev, I don't want you to go only because I want to go."
"Why not?"
"You're not even looking at this."
He looked at the grey-turreted castle with blue round roofing on the cover and asked, "There's a castle at this beach?"
"It's a fake castle, but there's rides and shows. And then the hotel's got a Polynesian theme with its own beach."
"Fine."
"So we just need to pick dates, book a portkey to Florida, and reserve our hotel room."
Severus nodded, "I'll complete my homework in the next couple of weeks."
Lily was happy that things were decided, however Severus did not seem to care where they were going. She had purposely arranged the list with Walt Disney World along with islands which were mostly lying on the beach or learning to surf. The resort had opened in the United States maybe five years ago, and had lots of stuff on television, even over here. It looked really nice and a lot of fun. Once the cost of air fare was not a factor, it was an expensive hotel, but the pictures made it look gorgeous and worth every pound, or was it dollar over there? Anyway, even Tunie had liked the looks of it.
At dinner Sunday, Severus had returned, at her mother's insistence, and Mrs. Evans asked, "Lily mentioned that the two of us, that's my husband and I, could come with you to Florida. How can we do that?"
"Touch the portkey, like us," Severus replied. "If it's our portkey, that we paid for, we can let anyone we want touch it. They mail them to us, so we don't have to go to their office or a gathering point that they choose."
"It's magic," Mr. Evans explained.
"I took mum over to Sev's with magic," Lily reminded him.
"There's a difference between an emergency and abusing it."
"We pay for it whether one or a dozen crowd around it," Severus reiterated. "There's a law in Britain about any wizard creating their own portkey. That's where it crosses over into abuse, when people make their own. I've done some reading on it. A portkey's not hard to create, it just has to be somewhere I know as the destination."
"I know you said something before about a law, but why? When we're going to London to visit Diagon Alley, we're outside apparation range and have to apparate, walk, then floo," Lily complained.
Severus shrugged, "Maybe because the Ministry regulates the floo network, and wants to keep tabs on things? Or just to keep wizards who aren't so self-sufficient jobs moving piles of paper? Or perhaps it's a conspiracy by businesses to bring people into their shops, when all they want to do is be able to use a floo connection."
"That's so stupid."
Severus stopped talking. He wasn't sure if Lily was saying he was stupid, or the Ministry was stupid.
When he returned to Spinner's End, Severus remained agitated and worked on arithmancy and dark arts through the night. Lying in bed, thinking about Lily, would be nonproductive. By morning, he felt great and did not care what Lily thought as he walked to her house so they could return to work.
They already had a routine from the week before that included Severus's daily trip for additional food, grilling a quarter-pound steak for Lily two meals a day, allowing her to take a long shower first while he kept the water in the tank and maintained the temperature for her, and finishing their day with leisurely love making before falling asleep next to each other.
Severus received an owl from his solicitor, in reply to his inquiry regarding Dumbledore's wealth, when Lily's owl showed up for her. He felt really dim. Phoenix tears. Of course, they were worth a lot due to their life-saving properties. Dumbledore had a phoenix and sold the tears. Simply put, he was a lucky bastard to a have a rare familiar. No special skill was needed to collect or sell them. And at this price here, Dumbledore was not distributing them out of the goodness of his heart either. Undoubtedly he had a pointy-hatted crony at St. Mungo's that agreed to pay this with no negotiation. Maybe those were the only people Dumbledore saved, ones in such dire shape they needed phoenix tears, and he'd floo them to St. Mungo's.
Phoenix tears were very difficult to break down. Severus knew that in passing from last year when he was trying to find rare substances that were of enormous benefit. Did Moonshine have books with their intrinsic properties listed?
"Sev?" Lily called, after he started walking.
"What?"
"Wait for me. You didn't even say anything when you left."
"I thought you might have a long letter."
"It's from my mum. You know that. What do you have there?"
"It's … about something I was thinking of. I need to do more research."
"Oooh, can I help?"
Lily knew who had phoenix tears. She might see his new endeavor as a waste of time because the old bastard did sell them to St. Mungo's. "I might use some help, but it's going to turn into an arithmancy project so I don't know if you'd find it enjoyable."
Rolling her eyes, Lily replied, "No I wouldn't, Sev. You said the one thing so far that worked was not so great, maybe you should apply yourself elsewhere, other than arithmancy."
"I am working for a Potions Master," he reminded her.
"As his handyman. We're not brewing anything."
"I don't think his apprentice gets much of a chance at that either, unless they are having soup for dinner."
"It's not Tess's fault," Lily said defensely.
"I didn't mean to imply that it was. Speed does not equate with brilliance. In her case, it's everything else around here that keeps her out of the lab."
"How are you getting so much done? Those kids are all over me at times, unless I shut the lab door and bolt it."
"I don't respond to them. You did."
"I'm polite, Sev."
"That's why you were surrounded by a pack in Spinner's End. Don't trust children just because they are younger than you. If they outnumber you, being bigger is not going to help."
"This is not Spinner's End."
"Without his apprentice's favorable influence, they could be. They don't respect her, but they recognize she will take care of them." The children also had some deficiency which caused them to embrace the apprentice frequently. Guessing it was some odd means of trying to keep them in line, he noticed she touched them back, like patting their heads or shoulders.
"What do you know about children, Sev?" Lily challenged.
"Not much about caring for them, but I do know without discipline, rules, and consequences, they become rotten and useless."
Lily searched her mind for an example to counter Sev's argument, but thought up so many that fit it. Crap. Maybe if she hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor, she'd know of some. If there weren't so many toerag students at Hogwarts, she bet they could be taught a lot more. They had to realize not everyone was like Severus, who was used to being given shelves of books at a young age, once he could read well.
Lily went to a school where things were explained carefully and demonstrated. Her primary school had been very educational. Now students like Severus left her behind because they knew what else to look for. Lily had access to the library, but had different interests than Sev. His main goal was protection and being ready for any scenario that he could think up. Stupid toerags used that to say he was learning Dark Arts. Why did she ever listen to them? She knew Severus better than any of them. Accidentally dropping a tree branch on Petunia was the first sign of a dark wizard? If there had been a tree around when Petunia called Lily a slut, the whole thing would have toppled over on her.
When Lily went quiet, Severus was afraid he had crossed the line. Rules were not a bad thing. Lily probably considered how perfect her children would be, and like her, would immediately know right from wrong because they would spring forth from her all-knowing fountain as wise as her. Once Lily married her ideal wizard and these precious offspring emerged, Lily not let Severus visit her since he did not understand anything about good children. He only knew the worthless refuse that grew up in and around Spinner's End who did not deserve nice toys, hot dinners, and dependable heat during the winter.
Why the hell was he thinking about such crap? He had to think about phoenix tears. If he could get in a little research before he moved around fixing things the poor, misunderstood children broke, Severus could contemplate it during the mindless tedium. What would work better is Mr. Filch's method of fixing things as they broke, rather than letting it get so bad that everything was reduced to rubbish.
When they reached the house, Severus asked Lily, "Were you going to start in the lab this morning, or should the two of us work outside till it gets too hot?"
"Um, the lab. I'm tired of trimming trees."
"Were you coming with me tonight to collect mistletoe?"
"What?"
"When the full moon is at its height, is when it needs to be collected. I cut through the thicker trees to the town last week, and I've seen where it is. I have to get up the tree with a special knife and basket, but I can do it alone."
"Maybe I should come in case you fall."
"All right, did you want to work a full day today and see if we can leave early Friday?"
"Whatever the professor says is fine. There's a lot in the lab."
When they got to the small riot around the dining table for breakfast, Severus eased his way around to where Moonshine was seated, and addressed him, "Professor, tonight with the full moon Evans and I will collect the mistletoe. May we leave two hours early on Friday to even out our time?"
The Potions Master frowned. He did remember that annoying codicil from the Slytherin, however he was getting a lot of work out of these two. "That will be fine."
"Also before I started today, would it be possible for me to make use of your texts, I had an inspiration and wanted to research the basics so I could think over the possible approaches."
"About the hunger suppressant?"
"No, unfortunately not. However, that might also be useful for hags."
"Hags … that's definitely a possibility. Wizards understand their urges, especially with regards to small children. Oh, yes, you know which door? It's a bit of a mess in there because one of the sets of shelves got tipped, maybe you could tidy it up?"
"Of course, sir," he replied, and moved back to where Lily was seated, eating those crispy potatoes.
"Lily, did you want to help sort books in the professor's library? He said a shelf got tipped over and it'll need sorting."
When Lily's lip curled up, he added, "Or the lab. I was only giving the option so you knew there was someplace different we could work this morning."
Sighing, Lily knew it wasn't Sev's fault. It was actually nice of him to share whatever mess was in the library, and spare the callouses that were finally hardening on her fingers from wielding a knife for hours at a time. "I'll come with you. It might be a while before we find whatever book you need if they're all over the place."
Like so much else at the Moonshine house, Lily was expecting something else. For a learned man, a Potions Master who could be researching to improve his field, obviously he did not use the books in here. Even Mrs. Snape respected books better than this man. Actually, her books were always nicely shelved, undoubtedly by Severus, but considering the rest of the house at Spinner's End, Lily knew excellent attention was taken with the books. While grumbling to herself about this mess, Lily thought how unfortunate it was that Severus no longer had those books when they were the only thing cared for in that house, probably better than him. Now, Severus was thinking about selling his house. He said it was because of his mum, but Lily suspected it was money. An apprenticeship like this would be unsuitable for Sev, or her, or even Tess. No one deserved to be treated like the live-in help without wages when they were taken in to learn a craft. This whole apprentice system was antiquated.
"I don't think it was just this set of shelves that were tipped."
"Hm, there's not enough left shelved to discern a system even."
"Do you want to stack them together by subject, then we'll shelve them based on what needs the most room?"
"I suppose that plan's as good as any, Lily."
Lily stopped looking at the book she was holding and glanced at Severus. He was accepting her idea without conditions? Without an improvement to make it more efficient? She had thought things were going well, but his newfound composure was caused by something.
"He has a lot of herbology and gardening books. We might have to subdivide those. I'm going to clear out this corner so we can store all these together while we sort," she explained.
"All right."
"You know if you want me to walk to the store, or cook steaks, or make something for you, Sev, you just have to say something."
"It's all right, Lily. I get in some thinking while I walk, besides trimming more overgrowth and finding mistletoe. Don't you like how I'm preparing the steak, or did you want something else? They have a selection of meats that can be cut to a single serving like that. Maybe chicken?"
"No, it's great, Sev. I only mentioned it because it seems like you are doing extra things for me."
"I don't mind doing things for you."
"I know, but since you made the gesture, I can be thankful and also realize that it's every day, and even though the weather's been great for us working outside, it could rain any day or it could get boring buying two steaks and other things."
"I like looking at the food before I buy it."
"Oh," Lily replied. Now she understood. Sev's disturbed thoughts about food. Lily would not bring back wormy apples or bruised tomatoes. She had eyes too.
She believed Severus was telling the truth that he did not mind going to the store every day. Inspecting the food could make him happy, or at least reassured. So what else could be bothering him? No one was bothering them down at the caravan. Phi was unmolested. Sev watched her shower every evening and she was not knocking over their little shelter by being too aggressive, and Sev seemed to sleep the whole night. Lily was sleeping too, but she woke up frequently. It was too quiet, besides Sev's snoring. Lily did not live on a noisy street, but there was always something in the background. Here, even the crickets got quiet. There went her fanciful ideas about living in the country.
It took them close to two hours to get all the books sorted by category. The only suggestion Severus made was to leave the shelved books where they were, in case they could get an idea where the professor originally shelved that subject. Lily agreed since so few books were shelved, even if she counted the ones that were stacked horizontally on shelves that appeared to have been thrown there haphazardly to get them out of the way to find others.
They started shelving with the narrow shelves near the door with the smallest stacks, after a quick look at what remained on the shelves. A few books on Divination, and the professor's collection of dictionaries for foreign and dead languages got put away first, and then they moved on from there. They had the remaining shelf space discussed when Severus left to procure Lily's steaks. As she resorted the herbology, she was not happy, and redid that section. Lily also had enough time to put the odd items onto the shelves that had empty space. Moonshine had a collection of scales and weights, and Lily started sorting them back into sets. Some were missing weights, but she found a couple under the desk just before Severus returned.
"Hey Sev, I think we're going to need to move the furniture to look under it to see if any of these little weights rolled under."
He kept his sigh to a minimum. Severus was tired of cleaning up this dump. "All right."
They levitated everything, lifted the rugs, and found the majority of missing weights. Severus suggested that some may have been dropped down sinks, commodes, or even thrown out the window into the garden. He accio'd a couple from outside, and one popped out of a deep crack in the floorboards.
Lily personally and silently agreed with the flushed down the toilet guess. These children had no respect for this house, even if they were relatives and long-term guests. At least she didn't have to worry about Petunia raising a little monster. She smirked at the thought that Vernon Jr. would probably wear a pair of rubber gloves to help mommy clean before he wore his first pair of long pants.
"Something funny?" Severus asked, interrupting his comparison between a few sets of weights, trying to guess if they were matched to the correct scale.
"Uh … you might get it. Can you imagine Petunia's children being so untidy?"
"Is that a hypothetical question, or is there already one expected?"
"What?"
"Is Petunia already expecting a baby in the next year?"
"No, it's too soon. Well, maybe not too soon, but they were only married last month, Sev."
Sensing that Lily had slipped back into her youthful and naïve, preconceived notion that unmarried people did not have any chance of becoming parents because they saved themselves for their future spouses, Severus returned to switching the weights between two scales based on the same style of roman numerals. If the future Mr. Lily Evans, Wizard Extraordinaire, was an absolute swine that Severus could not stand, he could always let the truth slip about how diligently Lily waited. Severus may not have to since Lily had trouble suppressing her speech. After all her warnings about not mentioning anything to her parents about the two of them sharing quarters here, she told them about the caravan within two hours of returning home. He saw the looks on their faces. They knew that a table between the beds, which was actually no longer there, would not keep them separate.
He returned to the library while Lily ate lunch to look for information in addition to what he already knew about phoenix tears. These books had very little. Severus may have to wait until he returned to Hogwarts to research in earnest if there were no books that referred to this substance in the Lestrange vault. There may be books at the Lestrange house or houses.
Severus had given them some thought since he found a fascinating Dark Arts book in the vault that there could be more like it in their holdings. Severus did not want to expose himself, but he wanted more books and had been thinking that maybe there was an answer as to why they acted against his father. It was unlikely. He knew from school that the ones that were interested in that sort of thing gathered, whispered, and glared at anyone that ventured close. He had not seen them passing notes that could be intercepted.
It could be that their home was as unkempt as this one. Severus doubted that Moonshine marrying a muggleborn had anything to do with the state of things. It might be funny for him to take the contents of the houses, and then sell them to muggleborns. Were the Lestranges a most noble and ancient house that would writhe in agony at the very thought? Very likely. Yes, a house with lots of bedrooms to encourage them to have large broods of mudbloods running around them.
"I think it's my turn to ask you what's so funny, Sev?"
"Huh?"
"You were standing there with a big smirk of your face."
"Just plotting against my enemies, Lily."
"Sev," she said, rolling her eyes. "You imagine too much. You don't have enemies, now that they're wherever."
"Apparating onto your front porch?"
Lily groaned out, "Toerag."
"Did you ever give him your address?"
"No, but I guess he knows people or paid someone for it. I doubt it was Prof. McGonagall or Hogwarts so I'd guess the Ministry. I did put it on the apparition application."
Lily spent the afternoon thinking about what she'd do to James Potter if he ever showed up at her house again. Magical Law Enforcement sort of made it sound like she was on her own, since she was asked to send an owl if Potter ever did anything. Is that the way the Ministry responded to homes that had Death Eaters knocking down their door? Send an owl? At least Death Eaters might be taken more seriously than James Potter, professional toerag, quidditch player, muggle molester, and overall swell bloke because he knew how to spread around all those galleons.
That night, Lily voiced her idea, once it was dark and she was getting lying against Sev, ready to fall asleep, "Hey Sev, do you think there's some way to get Potter to lose his money?"
From Lily, that was an odd question. Had he been talking to himself or in his sleep? "Well, I think his hesitance to pay up for Lupin proves his wealth is not limitless, or he may have learned to do sums and realizes it's a big number."
"Maybe he just doesn't want others to have money."
"It's Mary MacDonald, not me. It probably gave him stabbing pains in the gut to even offer me a hundred galleons."
"But he must realize that if he gave me money, it could also be your money one day."
"Why would I take your money?" Severus asked.
"I meant if we got married. Unless he thought I'd fribble it all away on brooms, jokes, and fireworks."
We? And married in the same sentence. There was the big 'if', but no comments referring to hell freezing over. Cautious, Severus suggested, "If you bought your own Nimbus, you could take up quidditch, try out, and bump him from that team. I think the Chudley Cannons have consistently finished at the bottom of the league so unless they are cursed with miserable luck, perhaps their players aren't up to the standard of other teams."
"I want to do something meaningful, Sev. Not play quidditch. However, anything to foul up Potter in my spare time would be nice. So start scheming, my Slytherin."
Potter. He was still in Severus's sights, but Dumbledore was preferable. "We should wait till Lupin's thing is settled or not. Provoking Potter when there's a negotiation in progress will not help us."
"Is there a negotiation in progress?"
"There has not been a firm 'no', or a counteroffer through the solicitors. The only communication I know of is Potter showing up at your house."
"And why me?" Lily asked. "Wilkes, Rosier, and you are more likely to want to negotiate. Like Mary said, I'd rather Lupin stay in prison, but she needs to protect her future."
In the dark, it was all right for Severus's eyebrows to shoot up. Did Lily forget that he knew that she wanted money too, and not just for MacDonald, but for herself? Now that she had her money, how conveniently she forgot her original reaction. He'd rather pick on Potter than Lily. "Perhaps Potter knew his charm would not work on any of the three of us. Didn't he mention dinner with you? A couple of drinks, some snogging, and he probably thought you'd sign anything for him."
"Ugh. What a conceited, big-headed … I hope it swells up so much it unbalances his broom, thing to think. He would. Remember how smarmy he was at school? Especially when they made a game of it and ruined all those girls Hogsmeade weekend this past year?"
"Vaguely. I don't think there were any Slytherin girls that admitted they were tricked."
"That's because you are all so suspicious that you wouldn't fall for something like that. That's what makes it sadder. They preyed on students that wanted to trust them."
"Maybe he'll continue doing that. I don't know how attractive a spot as a reserve on a quidditch team is to a witch, but Potter could have a good time parlaying that into some fun." Severus suspected that Potter still fancied Lily, even though Lily had told him multiple times that Potter was just raving. He doubted Lily would go to dinner or anything with Potter now, but if he did ask again, Severus would like to plant the seed of doubt that Potter was ever serious.
"Who would be that gullible? I think Potter would have a better chance at girls with his money. Isn't that why he was so popular at school?"
It was a pleasure to respond, "You are absolutely right, Lily."
"We can still plan. Whether or not Mary gets anything or Lupin's ever free."
"I think research is called for. I have not been keeping up on what Potter's been doing with himself, other than his parents bragging."
"And nothing illegal, Sev."
"I wouldn't involve you in something like that, Lily. Besides, we're better than him and Black. We don't need to stoop to their level." Severus wanted Lily to feel good about revenge. He didn't want to invest a great deal of time into it, to have her back out, or run off to confess what they were doing. If there was a shady bit to the scheme, Lily couldn't know or she'd go telling everyone that would listen.
Albus felt good.
He knew he had done the right thing by assisting with the financial burden of the settlement to get Remus Lupin's appeal considered. As an influential member of the Wizengamot, he sensed that all the victims forgiving Lupin gave him a very good chance of being released.
It was not James Potter that had convinced him, but Severus Snape. It was so simple and clearcut when Severus said as headmaster Albus was responsible for what occurred at the school. Some things were beyond his control, but Albus did admit Remus Lupin to the school knowing he was a werewolf. He arranged for the whomping willow, the Shrieking Shack, Madam Pomfrey escorting him out there and leaving, and thought his plan was all set.
Albus did not count on students discovering the secret, nor on Remus Lupin feeling a stronger loyalty to his friends than to those that could be in danger. He also did not factor in that there could be a student, especially in Gryffindor, that would be so vindictive to use someone he claimed was his friend as a means to kill another student.
Actually, Albus still believed that Sirius Black had somehow tricked the Sorting Hat into placing him in Gryffindor. Once there, he used his charm and maybe a few gifts to poison others so years of brave Gryffindors were turned into self-indulgent bullies. There were still attacks on the female students and the youngest, and it was clear that new methods were needed to deal with that.
Lily was more than ready to go home on Friday. She could see the difference they were making at the Moonshine residence, but it was on unimportant things. There was no potions work going on except for what the Potions Master brewed, and he was filling orders for his customers.
At Saturday's breakfast, there was an owl from Mary and a newspaper for Lily, and then two more owls arrived. One for each of them.
"Wow," Lily said, "maybe our Defense teacher has already been found and we'll know what book we'll need."
"I hope it's not a lot."
"Maybe it'll be someone who wants us to pass our NEWTs, Sev."
"We're better off starting our own Defense study group. Fifth years and up, so we can snag Crouch by mentioning we're helping anyone studying for their OWL too."
"He's in Slytherin."
"It's not only Ravenclaws that achieve OWLs. Besides, he can write his mother and she'd find someone to supply a study guide for the tests. She knows all those Ministry people."
"He'd do that?"
"When reminded. Maybe he's come to his senses and is not going to sit an OWL in every subject."
"How does he make it to all those classes? Some are at the same time."
"Haven't we talked about this before? I don't think he does. Perhaps if he is not able to meet some teachers outside their normal classes, he can attend every other class so he gets to one a week in the elective subjects."
"That's a lot of special arrangements. Why would they do that?"
"His father, Lily."
"Oh, right," she replied with a shake of her head over the blatant favoritism. She looked at her school letter and the pin that dropped out, exclaiming, "I'm Head Girl!"
"Oh, Lily," Mrs. Evans replied, matching her daughter's enthusiasm.
Lily stopped beaming when she looked at Severus. He did not say anything but he was holding up a different pin. His was mostly green. "You're Head Boy?"
Severus's face changed to a look of disbelief, "Unless they've been keeping all the student killings out of the newspaper. I'm not a prefect, and Slughorn would get himself a transfer student from some dodgy school in Tasmania to nominate before me."
"Oh," Lily muttered in defeat. "This is a terrible prank."
"Why can't Severus be Head Boy?" Mrs. Evans asked. "You've said he's really bright."
"It's not that, mum. Prefects become Head Boys and Girls. And Sev's right, they would need to be nominated by their head of house, and his doesn't like him because he doesn't buy him gifts. He's a real … loser, who uses his position to solicit things for his own benefit. He gains nothing with Severus because Severus won't reciprocate with a thank you gift. Sev's got rich classmates in his house that would be better choices for that reason. Not that they are better students."
"You don't think you're Head Girl then?"
"If my letter came at the same time as Sev's, I don't think so. Besides, there's two female prefects in my year who I think get better grades than me. This is so mean. If we didn't know better, I'd have pinned this on my robe and made a fool of myself on the train going back to school."
"You still could get the real letter, dear. How many girls are eligible?"
"Four. There were only three boys because my house's male prefect got sent to prison."
Severus did not feel like pointing out that Lupin had lost the job prior to that. It was one thing to play stupid pranks on him, but the change of Lily's whole demeanor when she realized hers was probably fake too was heart-rending.
Further depression set in when Lily read, and then aloud to him and Mrs. Evans, "Potter's been moved onto the active team. One of the Cannons' chasers has some magical malady that has him steering headfirst into trees when he's flying."
"That's an odd one," Severus commented. "I wonder how much that cost Potter."
"Cost?"
"If you want someone creatively hexed or cursed, there are wizards who do it for a fee, Lily."
"That's illegal and wouldn't they take it off at St. Mungo's?"
Severus sighed. Of course, it was only coincidence that this occurred, and he was being paranoid thinking that Potter was anything but an extremely talented quidditch player who never dreamed of breaking rules or laws.
"Well?"
"What?"
"I asked why can't St. Mungo's sort it, Sev?"
"Because whoever cast it does not want it cured immediately. If everything had an instant cure, there would be no need for beds at the hospital. When a spell like that is devised, the reverse is purposely difficult. First, it would have to be identified as a malignant spell, rather than something else."
"At least he's alive so they can cure it. I suppose that's the lucky part."
"It could be not playing for the Cannons is the lucky part."
Redirected momentarily from phoenix tears and Dumbledore, Severus spent his Saturday in Diagon Alley investigating other things and returned to Lily's home that night, rather than for Sunday dinner when he was expected next.
"Sev, what are you doing here?"
"I got you something."
"What?"
"Well, it's a long explanation, but I remembered when you told me that story when we were younger how muggles think that vampires are repelled by crosses."
"Yeah?"
"I think I found Potter's repellent," he stated as he handed Lily a pin.
"The Wigtown Wanderers? Helen's team?"
"You don't like that team?"
"No … um, if I followed a team, I guess I'd like the Wanderers. I'd never dislike Helen's team."
"You don't think Potter would find that offensive? He plays for the Cannons. Therefore, everyone must become a Chudley Cannons fan immediately."
Lily giggled, "Right. He'd just think I didn't know better. Whenever he and Pettigrew were spouting off about quidditch, anyone who didn't agree was told they didn't know what they were talking about."
"But you will. I got these," Severus handed Lily a copy of The Wonder of the Wigtown Wanderers and Beating the Bludgers - A Study of Defensive Strategies in Quidditch. "Chasers are offense so you become an expert on why defense is the key to winning."
"Study quidditch?" Lily asked, making a face.
"I got tickets too, so it's not all books, Lily. Here's a pair a tickets for any game they have between now and when school starts so we can go to their games, if you want."
"I understand the annoying Potter bit, but do you have something bigger in mind, Sev?"
"Perhaps. It'll take some work on your part, and it would only be effective if Potter stays on the active team for the next few months."
"How bad is it?"
"In what way bad? I thought of a way that you could let Potter know where your true loyalties lie, in case he doesn't come round and see that pin. Oh, could you wear it a lot?"
"I suppose. I mean, if it's in memory of Helen, I definitely will."
"Before I forget, I also got one for MacDonald, but you'll need to send it to her. She'll get the wrong idea if she thinks it's a gift from me."
"Why?"
"She sends your letter to arrive on Saturday. I get mine on Sundays, and it's best I do nothing more than write back infrequently 'I got your letters'."
"All right," Lily replied, taking the second pin. "So what's the plan?"
"There's only a plan if you want to invest the time in it, Lily. I think you will need to be a fan for the entire next year so you don't disappoint anyone."
"What do you mean?"
"I think you should form a fan club at Hogwarts. Write now, and ask Prof. McGonagall to sponsor it. She gets annoyed at Slughorn often enough that if things work out just right, we will be ready to spring our surprise on Potter at the Cannons vs. Wanderers match in early October."
"We're in school then."
"I know. That's why we need someone who can argue why any Wanderers fan in the club should be allowed to go since Slughorn took most of Slytherin to a Wasps game last year. It's a big 'if' because the hardest part is Potter's. We need him still playing on the active team."
"But what about tickets?"
"My research has turned up that Chudley Cannons home matches are poorly attended, even though they are the lowest priced quidditch tickets available to encourage whole families to attend and make a day of it. A block of tickets to that game would be available at a further reduced group rate."
Lily laughed, then said, "I'm sorry. I just can't imagine Potter's pride allowing him to play for such a team."
Smirking, Severus stated, "That's why we're Wigtown Wanderer fans, rather than Chudley Cannons fans."
"So you want me to start a club?" Lily asked with her voice expressing doubt.
"Yes, but it won't be hard. We go to these games, and then you can talk about the games you saw over the summer. You can ask Madam Hooch to talk to the club about quidditch strategy. I'm not sure what team she follows, but I don't think she'll hold your love for the Wanderers against you when you bring Parkin into the conversation. Then this author, Whisp, is a huge follower of the Wanderers. Write him to see if he'll speak to the club. Just wait until you have enough members so we don't embarrass anyone by just you and I showing up.
"Here's the important thing, Lily. Do not let anyone know you are doing this because of Potter."
"No, it's … you know, I should have become a Wanderers fan months ago for Helen. Bugging Potter will just make it nicer. This won't effect his income though, will it?"
"No, but it may motivate him to do something reckless and publicly enough to get tossed off the team, if the Cannons can afford to do that."
"Why not? I mean Potter's not that good."
"No, it's just that they may not have anyone else willing to play chaser for them."
Lily laughed. This could be a lot of fun, and at the same time, cheer her up because since Helen's death, she felt not enough had been done.
Severus returned home to read feeling pleased. He had been mostly truthful with Lily, and this would give her something to motivate her since the summer work was disappointing and the Head Girl joke was so cruel. Lily wasn't used to people being cruel to her, especially anonymously from a distance so she couldn't retaliate.
What he had not mentioned was that the Cannon pitch was modestly sized, since it had not been a winning team in decades. Buying every available ticket for that one game at a group rate would be a pittance for the Lestrange, or Snape, vault. He'd have to have his solicitor write something nice about hearing about the club and Parkin, and include the stack of tickets. Most seats would be empty, but the ones that were filled were likely to hold Wigtown fans. Severus knew that teams and fans really chafed when their seats were filled by hordes of Manchester fans. Their management liked it because they were finally able to sell some tickets. It was an amusing thought to strike Potter through quidditch.
He took a deep breath and wiped the smile from his face. It was unlikely that this plan would even result in anything, other than the nuisance of paying attention to the Wigtown Wanderers.
Lily felt enthusiastic and immediately wrote a letter to Prof. McGonagall about her desire to start a Wigtown Wanderers fan club at Hogwarts, in memory of Helen. She also inquired about the Head Girl position. In case it was a secret for some reason, she simply asked if one had been chosen yet.
They were back at Moonshine's when an owl carrying Prof. McGonagall's reply reached Lily.
"Hey Sev, um, we're Head Boy and Head Girl. I got to write mum. Also, Prof. McGonagall says she'd be pleased to sponsor a Wigtown Wanderers fan club at Hogwarts."
"Does she say why? I mean about us being Head Boy and Head Girl, not quidditch."
"No, she asked if we got our letters … I guess I should reply to her first. You didn't throw away your badge, did you?"
"No, I was trying to figure out if it was cursed."
Lily laughed. Of course, Severus was testing it for ill-omened spells. "Wow … you and me."
"Don't you have something about the fickle finger of fate in Divination?"
Thoughtfully, Lily mentioned, "Maybe Slughorn was sacked. I can't believe he'd let you be Head Boy. Should we send him some sort of joke gift?"
"Let's wait a little bit. Maybe if this quidditch thing moves along, you could write him and other professors a heartfelt letter concerning your tribute to Parkin, and send each of them a Wigtown badge. Slughorn may resent that you send him the same as others, but he won't be able to publicly complain that your heart is in the wrong place."
"Sev, you're devious."
"What? Isn't it Slughorn who's always cramming down our throats that appearances are everything? However, you really loved Parkin as a friend, so you are not being devious."
"Of course I love Helen," Lily responded, feeling an itch behind her eyes that she blinked away. Severus understood that. Anyone who said different was looking for a fight with her, and Mary, and Severus, and maybe Malcolm and Evan too.
Later in the day, Severus told her, "None of the matches interfere with mistletoe, so the professor said it's all right for us to go to any quidditch matches."
"Really?" Lily asked. She hadn't even thought about that.
Severus nodded as he concentrated on extracting marrow, then said, "For the club, we may be able to get some prizes for the members. Like for best banner. We'll want them to display the banners at the Cannon match."
Lily sighed resignedly, "They're team symbol's a bit violent. A cleaver."
"For butchering and preparing food, not attacking other people. You like the job the butcher does on your steaks, don't you?"
"Oh yes, they are very nice ones you buy, Sev."
"The house elves at Hogwarts told me what to look for and how to do that sort of preparation. The pot roast your mother makes takes a long time to cook."
"It's inconvenient, but so good."
Severus smiled at the way Lily said that. He knew Lily loved her mother's roast. That was what he originally had in mind till he found out how it was prepared. He doubted he'd get experienced enough to rival Mrs. Evans. Plain steak was quick, and Lily enjoyed it. At least he thought she did since she kept saying she still wanted it for lunch and dinner every day.
Later in the week, Severus was frowning at a letter from his solicitor. He recommended that if Severus wanted to discreetly take possession of any property, Ministry officials would need to be paid for their sensitivity. In another word, a bribe. With a bribe there was no guarantee that once they received their money that they'd carry through with their part of the bargain or for a reasonable amount of time. Was there some way to dump out the contents of the houses and quickly sell them? Or maybe give some of it away to distract anyone that caught on to his windfall? They'd be tying themselves into knots over why, if Severus was completely irrational. They may eventually come upon the correct answer that Severus was an idiot that did not know what to do with money.
Rather than rushing into anything, Severus needed to become conversant regarding wizarding real estate. Moonshine actually had a book on that, and it was still shelved. Wonders never ceased.
Lily caught him reading it, and asked, "Why are you reading that?"
"I don't know any of this. Even if I rent during my apprenticeship, close by in a magical community, there might be things I'm expected to understand."
"Oh." Hesitantly, Lily broached the subject that had been bothering her, "You know, I'm not sure you'd make a lot from selling your house, Sev. Maybe you shouldn't plan on anything till it's sold."
"I'm not selling it yet."
"I think an indoor lavatory is a necessity."
"All right. I was also thinking electricity. Muggles expect to be able to just stick that thing into the wall."
"It's a plug and it goes into an electrical socket that is wired behind the wall, that all meets up at a sort of control box where the electricity can be turned off for repairs or an emergency, then that hooks up to the utility that delivers it to the house. That's through all those wires on the poles."
Severus looked at Lily. He didn't need to know that, but supposed if he said he was reading a real estate book for extra knowledge that she thought he needed to know how electricity worked, or got into the house or whatever she was babbling about.
When he sold Spinner's End it would be to muggles. His father was fine with the house, but not everyone was Tobias Snape. Their priorities may be different.
At dinner Friday with the Evans, Lily blurted out, "Hey, Prof. McGonagall mentioned that we can do other things as Head Boy and Head Girl for school spirit besides starting that quidditch fan club."
"Like what?" Severus asked, trying to recall any recent attempts by their predecessors.
"I'd like another dance."
"When we talked about the last dance, you recalled that there were ill feelings regarding houses and dating."
"Well, not for Valentine's Day. That's too much pressure."
"Does your school have a holiday pantomime?" Mr. Evans asked.
Severus said, "They used to have every year, but it got out of hand with the Great Hall being set on fire."
"When was that?" Lily asked.
"Years ago, but it was monumentally disastrous with a packed infirmary."
"You don't necessarily need a date for a fancy dress party," Mrs. Evans suggested. "That's also fun for young people to attend with their friends as a group, but single attendees can be encouraged with prizes."
"You and dad go to them sometimes. Don't they have themes?"
"Well Tarts and Vicars is always popular, but not for school-age children."
"Vicars might confuse them," Severus commented. He was not interested in having a dance. Even if Lily said she'd go with him, the last one had been such a disaster. Dressing up also sounded like more trouble than it was worth.
"Halloween," Lily stated. "What day of the week is that?"
Predictably, Mrs. Evans popped up and went into the kitchen to answer Lily's demand. "Monday."
"Maybe we can have it Saturday night before Halloween. If there's no quidditch match that day, that'll give everyone time. I bet with magic, we all can get really creative, and we'll have to have a rule about finite."
"Will you be able to take pictures?"
"I don't know, mum. What do you think, Sev?"
"How much would we have to do?"
"I don't know, but it'll be the staff taking care of most of it, and Hogwarts always does a lot for Halloween so I don't think it'll be a bother. What should I go as? I need to be someone really heroic."
"Boudicca," Severus suggested.
"Who?"
"Celtic warrior queen who led her people against the Romans after they raped her two daughters."
Lily made a face and Severus added, "I thought you said heroic, and besides she was a leader and a warrior with a just cause."
"Why do most of the heroes have to be men? I refuse to be a damsel in distress for you, Sev."
"I hadn't suggested anything of the sort. You can be a man, if you want. There's a potion for that."
"What?"
Severus shrugged, "Conversely, I could be female, but you don't have to decide now. It's only an idea. Since Prof. McGonagall suggested a school spirit whatever, see what she thinks first. There may have been an incident that I hadn't heard of regarding fancy dress parties."
"Well, if we can have one. We need really good costumes, Sev. I want to win a prize."
"All right," he agreed. He'd consider anything where he was not embarrassed a success. Even if there was something about casting finite, someone was going to do it, just because they were told not to. Probably the genius that attended dressed as a Hogwarts student or a quidditch player. Additionally, if there was a dance, once the staff took over the preparations, it could become a huge disappointment when compared to whatever spectacle Lily was imagining.
They were back at Moonshine's when two owls arrived, one for each of them. Mary MacDonald wanted them both to know her fantastic news. The MacDonald solicitor had informed her that her good fortune was due in part to them, along with Wilkes and Rosier, that the settlement from Lupin would go solely to Mary and the Parkin family. The four of them would sign documents absolving Lupin if the other two parties were satisfied.
"What?" Lily asked, looking at Severus who was scowling at his letter.
"I think MacDonald was drinking. Her letter goes on and on …"
"What about?"
"Nothing much," Severus replied. It was about what MacDonald and him could do together. The two of them.
"So this will leave us free to really annoy Potter then?"
"Within reason, right?"
"Right, Sev."
"The quidditch thing … you are doing that for Helen. That's what makes you better."
"We got our first game this afternoon."
"Yes."
"Aren't you excited, Sev?"
"I am if you enjoy it, Lily."
Lily tsk'ed at Severus. That again. She thought about what she definitely knew Severus liked. Well, he'd like seeing Potter go into a monumental fit.
Minerva was pleased. She knew Evans was the absolutely right choice for Head Girl. Mr. Snape may not have many original thoughts of his own, but he would support his friend's plans. So far, Miss Evans had written to petition for the formation of a Wigtown Wanderers fan club, in honor of Helen Parkin, a formal Defense study group for fifth, sixth and seventh years, and now asked about holding a fancy dress party the Saturday before Halloween, open to all students. She outlined her ideas regarding prizes and the fancy dress aspect possibly putting less emphasis on dates, and more on friends.
Her mood darkened when she reached Albus's office and found Albus and Horace having one of their teas. Horace missed their last staff meeting, barely responded to correspondence, but had time to chum up to the headmaster to set things right. The head of Slytherin was a vital position. Those students were most prone to get up to dire things due to lack of supervision, and the rumors regarding He Who Must Not Be Named recruiting from that house in particular needed someone's focus where it should be.
"Minerva, would you care to join us?" Albus asked.
"Yes, I'm happy to see Horace here. I received another letter from Miss Evans, and I think you'll love this idea."
"Me?" Albus asked.
"Oh yes. You excel at this sort of thing, Albus. She asked about a fancy dress party for all the students. Doubtless you can come up with a dazzling array of prizes for Best Dressed, Most Beautiful, Most Original and such. She mentioned that with a fancy dress party that students may not feel pressured to find dates, and could attend with friends, or even on their own if they want to keep their costume idea secret."
Albus already thought about the possibilities, when Horace's question interrupted his thoughts, "Why's Evans bothering us with that nonsense?"
"She's Head Girl, Horace. I asked her to think of some ideas regarding school spirit."
"Head Girl? Where was I?"
"We traditionally discuss the positions at the last staff meeting of the year, Horace, when all the grades are finalized. I believe you had some emergency."
Albus added, "I took care of it, Horace, and counted your votes for your prefects."
"Evans, huh? Is Wilkes Head Boy? He may have completely different ideas about school spirit. You can't just promote your girl, Minerva."
"Pfft, no, Horace, I'm not. I'm sure Miss Evans has discussed her plans with the Head Boy, but I can always write him to confirm he is not deadset against them. So far, Miss Evans only wrote about forming a fan club and a study group, but she's picking up speed."
"A fan club?" Horace laughed. "For what?"
"The Wigtown Wanderers."
"That's a quidditch team," Horace scoffed.
"Indeed," Minerva replied.
"Albus, surely you aren't going to allow something like that," Horace protested. "Armando put a halt to all that with ..."
"I am well aware of Headmaster Dippet's policies regarding the fervor regarding quidditch. At Hogwarts, we limit it to house loyalties, however Miss Evans sentiments regarding her application for this particular fan club with Prof. McGonagall's support are for the right reasons. I am allowing it, and will review any application for a rival professional quidditch team's fan club here at Hogwarts while the Wanderers continue to have one."
"It'll be anarchy in the halls, Albus," Horace predicted.
"I'm sure that if it gets out of hand, Horace, that we'll deal with it," Minerva replied in annoyance. Horace just strolled, and started trying to change things.
"Well, don't come crying to me then. I'll only say I told you so. You weren't here back in the 1920s and early 1930s …"
"Oh, put a sock in it, Horace." Fifty years ago. Besides, Minerva thought, they should be lucky if students today limited themselves to quidditch rivalries, rather than blood status and attacking any female who caught their eye.
Albus used Horace's gasp at Minerva's effrontery to return to the topic that caught his interest, "A fancy dress party? My, it has been a long time since one of those."
"Miss Evans suggested the Saturday before Halloween since the school is already decorated."
"You know, I remember when I dressed as Pan back when I was younger. Elphias was Faunus. What a pair we made."
"So you are in favor of it, Albus?"
"Oh definitely. Even though it excites me to think up what I'll wear, I can't wait to see what the students think up. I'm sure Miss Evans and Mr. Snape will have terrific ensembles, given they undoubtedly have already given it some thought."
Horace shook his head miserably. Snape. Evans kept making a huge mistake associating with that young man. Another 'I told you so' in the making. How unlucky she was to live so close to him that she lacked proper companionship of students her own age. She had such promise when she was younger, and she didn't take all this for granted. That gleam in her eye, and that questing thirst for knowledge. All thrown away. Poetically, he could compare Severus Snape to an anchor, holding Evans back. All he was fit for was cleaning up after his betters. That's why Filch liked him. As if it mattered what a squib thought.
From the outset, Lily was reminded why she was here. There was a Parkin on the team. He was an older man and a beater, but it gave Lily an instant connection to why she liked the Wigtown Wanderers. If Helen were alive, she'd be at the game today. That's how she spent her holidays, watching and cheering for her team.
The announcing at the professional quidditch game was more … professional than it was at Hogwarts. The commentary is what made games between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw interesting to watch. The Wanderers were not a bad team. They didn't do anything against the rules. Lily would never be able to support a team that intentionally cheated.
Severus surprised her with a gift of omnioculars. They told the names of the plays, when she played them back. Lily could learn the finer points of quidditch faster with these, rather than the squiggly diagrams in a book.
When they returned to Moonshine's, Severus suggested Lily take it easy, and review the game, while he went and worked on a greenhouse till it got too dark. She mildly protested that she could help, but frankly, Lily was tired of all this work around here. In any case, Sev was rather good at working alone. He was good at starting and working at something till it was done. Lily sort of admired it, but for herself, it was no fun. Around here, once one thing was finished, there was always something else. If she could finish something and be totally done, that would be different.
When she got home, she talked to her parents, and they had put together a tentative calendar for August, that also included Lily's Wigtown games that she gave the dates to her mum for. They didn't play too much so it was not a problem. Lily could miss one of their games, and thought Sev would understand because he probably got all the tickets because he did not know when they were going to the United States.
Lily's muggle passport came, that was ordered through the Ministry. With magic, she thought she'd have a good picture, rather than this. When she demanded to see Sev's, she laughed. He looked less happy in his picture than she did in hers, which Lily had not thought possible.
However, Lily did have a surprise for Severus. Her dad had gotten a pair of tickets to the Manchester vs. Liverpool game based on her request that he find something in that timeframe between them working and going to Walt Disney World. Her dad had been disappointed that they'd be back in school before Manchester played the Derby Rams, but Lily could not use magic to change football schedules to suit her father.
"Look what I got, Sev," she said waving them excitedly.
He had to wait till the flapping stopped to actually see what Lily had. He said, "Those are football tickets."
"Yeah, to see your team."
"There's two of them."
"Can't I go as your date?"
"Uh, yes, you can."
"You don't sound happy, Sev."
"It's unexpected."
"You are doing so much for me, Sev. You walk to the store every day, get steaks for me, cook them, got me Wigtown tickets, omnioculars, you didn't argue over a fancy dress party … I can go see a football game. Maybe I'll really love it."
"As long as you don't confuse it with quidditch."
"I think I can handle that. And um, I have this calendar for August … see right here is our Manchester game, and all the Wigtown games are on it too, and I think this week is the best week for us to get our portkeys and make our hotel reservation."
"This is not your handwriting."
"Mum's excited about going. And when I talked to Tunie on the phone, she's green with envy."
"You saw the green through the telephone?"
"Absolutely," Lily said.
"You did not pick this destination to annoy Petunia?"
"Oh, like you are worried about her feelings?"
"I am supposed to be nice and civil to Petunia Evans Dursley. Strict orders. If you are hurting her feelings, I may have to reprimand you."
"Stop kidding around. No, I want to go here. Ever since … oh, I think I saw something on telly before I went to Hogwarts when they were still building it. I was so upset it was going to be so far away. It was like they were teasing me by showing it."
Severus was sure he had good memories of their childhood conversations. He did not recall Lily expressing any burning desire to visit the United States, except she wanted to go surfing in California. She had given him a demonstration with a sheet of plywood balanced against a large rock, and showed him some pictures in a magazine. Florida was on the other side of the country, and from what Severus was able to find out on a map, it was a swamp. He did not know much about surfing, but there were no waves in a swamp.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked.
"Nothing."
"When you were young wasn't there anyplace you really wanted to go?"
Severus frowned. Yeah, Hogwarts. Look at how that turned out. He had used his imagination constantly picturing the school and how wonderful it would be when he got there, based on mother's descriptions. He'd learn a lot, be very bright, become a powerful, respected wizard, and have lots of friends.
A workable substitute for unicorn lung!
With the initial success, Joe Rue danced around his lab.
After the second test, Joe ran out into the street and danced with the first person he met.
The third time, just to be sure because this was huge, Joe whooped and laughed till tears leaked from his eyes.