Piano lessons for Severus Snape

She immediately filled up the entire schoolyard with her aura: Lady Estella Snape-Bracknell, Severus Snape's mother. The Potions master struck terror into the hearts of every student at Hogwarts, but the aura his mother exuded was, if anything, even more terrifying.

Although approaching 80, she still looked dashing. Her cool, greyish blue eyes looked proudly and a little contemptuously into the world, her slender body not making any unnecessary movements. She had gathered up her luxurious, silver grey hair high on her head, a black velvet snake threaded through it, writhing its way up. The eyes were glittering rubies.

Her black dress was reminiscent of her son's black robes, but was, if one looked closely, woven into a cobweb pattern, black on black. Only at her neck the cobwebs became translucent, turned up like a lace collar.

She never once bothered to look at the house elf that was accompanying her, only pointed her elegant ebony cane at a bag. At once, the elf bowed meekly and carried the bag after her.

Professor Dumbledore walked towards her.

'Estella, how lovely to see you again…' he said in a kind manner.

'Where's Severus?' she asked curtly. 'He knew when I would arrive.'

'He's still teaching, my dear. He'll be with you shortly.'

'I'm surprised, Albus: we arranged to meet at noon, therefore lessons must be over.'

Dumbledore inclined his head. 'I'll have him called, he's very dutiful, Estella.'

A little later Severus Snape entered the schoolyard. As usual, he did not show any emotions, calmly walked towards his mother and lightly brushed his lips against her hand.

'Mother…' was all that he said.

'You look tired, Severus', Lady Estella commented. She quickly touched his face. 'You always look so pale…' For a moment it seemed her face lost its severity. Snape was impassive, did not react at all to her touch, but did not shy away from it either.

'It's been a busy term', was his reply.

'Are we going in, or what?' his mother asked and looked around her disapprovingly, at the students who were thronging around them, staring at the Potions Master and his impressive mother. Among them were Ron, Hermione and Harry.

'Blimey, no wonder he's so frustrated' Ron mumbled. 'Imagine having that for a mother…'

'All the same, she's beautiful', Hermione whispered. 'And look at the fabric of her dress, something like that costs a fortune.'

'If the Snapes aren't short of anything, it's money', Harry said. 'Not that Snape has any use for it. I've never even seen him in new robes.'

'What's that?' Lady Snape said in passing by and she pointed at Ron, without looking at him. 'The red hair reminds me of that ridiculous politician in parliament, the man who thinks Muggles are equal to pure-blood wizards.'

'How very astute, Mother', Snape remarked. 'Indeed, it's Weasley's son.' He cast Ron a withering glance and led his mother inside, as a prince would do with the Queen Mother.

'Cor, what a shrew', Ron said after they had passed. 'She reminds me of that dragon in the tournament, Harry, the one you slaughtered.'

Snape received his mother in a separate room, where they had tea. The house elf had to remain in the corridor. With an elegant gesture she made the teapot hover and pour two cups of tea. She was one of the few witches who could perform magic without a wand. Severus' magical talent obviously came from her side of the family.

'I'm not here out of politeness', she quickly said. 'I came to tell you that I've had that dreadful house of yours spruced up, before you go there in summer.'

Severus froze.

'What do you mean by "spruced up", Mother? I sincerely hope my belongings haven't been rearranged. I hate it when people touch my belongings.'

'It's bad enough you're living in a dump, because you're too miserly to afford something better, but at least I want your visitors to know you're well-connected.'

'I never get visitors, Mother.'

'Yes, you've just brought up the second thing I want to talk to you about…' Lady Snape began, and she put down her cup. 'You're 45 already, my boy…'

'46, Mother.'

'Well, there you have it, even older than I thought. And you're still single.'

Severus sprang up now, like he was stung by a wasp, but he composed himself and sat down again.

'Really, Mother, do we have to keep talking about this whenever we see each other? I've told you so many times: I'm perfectly happy on my own, I don't feel like marrying.'

'But, people are beginning to think…'

'Oh, that's what it's about, isn't it, what people think', Severus said and he was not able to suppress a vicious undertone.

'Anyway…', interrupted Lady Snape in a shrill voice. 'I've spruced up your house and there's a surprise in store for you, there.'

Severus did not pay her cryptic message a lot of attention, but got up and stood in front of the window, sulking.

Quietly, his mother came up and stood behind him, stroking his greasy hair.

'Darling boy, please. Don't be so stubborn all the time. I want what's best for you. It hurts me to see you so lonely. You're neglecting yourself too much…'

'I'm doing what I've been taught', Snape said bitterly.

She withdrew her hand, hurt. 'I know we were never good parents, Severus. But you're behaving like a small child that doesn't want to get on in life.'

Snape thought back to the lesson he had once wanted to teach Harry Potter: 'You and Sirius are two of a kind, forever complaining about how unfair life is. Life is unfair, Potter!'

His face, suffused with pain, once again became inscrutable.

'You're right, Mother', he said listlessly. And they said their goodbyes.

The final term was over and, reluctantly, Snape put his key in the lock of his rather austere terraced house in town. He entered with some suspicion and stared disapprovingly at the mint green painted hallway.

'I hate mint green', he mumbled. In vain, he looked for the rusty nail that had always served as a coat rack, only to discover a brand new wooden hallstand in the corner of the hallway.

'I hope she hasn't paid for this with my money', he thought aloud.

To his relieve, not a lot had changed in the living room. The dirty white walls were a pristine white again, the bookcases dusted, so, once more, one could see they were made of red wood and not grey with dust. He missed his old piano stool, the one he never knew of where it came from and which he always used as a side table, whenever he was reading in his chair. Suddenly, he saw the stool: in the bay window, near a … piano.

'I'll be damned…' He strode towards it and regarded the shining monstrosity with distaste. Throwing away money on a frivolity such as that. He had never shown any interest in music, except for the strict toccata by Bach on the church organ. He could not think of a reason why his mother should come up with something like this! It was most annoying.

Irritated, he read the note on the piano: 'The real surprise will turn up at Monday, at half past nine. Mother.'

Snape looked at his clock. It was twenty-five past nine and it was Monday. Resigned, he walked into the kitchen. He was surprised about the transformation that had taken place there; he no longer recognised his own kitchen. The kitchen cabinets, which had never been cleaned and on which the handles hung loose, were replaced by new ones and on the kitchen work top was a fruit bowl, filled with all kinds of fruit. And yet again a note from his mother: 'And vary your diet, Severus, your skin will benefit from it.'

Angrily, he put back the note. Just at that moment, the doorbell rang. He looked at the clock. That would be the surprise. He opened the door and saw a young woman. She had long, black hair and wore a purple velvet dress. Under her arm she carried sheet music.

'Hello, I'm Barbera Decrescendo and I'm here for the piano lesson', she said, in a beautiful, low alto voice. Severus completely forgot to shake her hand, which she withdrew again.

'But… I didn't know… Well, come in', concluded Severus. It was all so surrealistic, one more oddity would not make the slightest bit of difference.

The woman walked in front of him through the hallway and he noticed her shapely bottom. His eyes were fixed on these lovely curves, which stood out pertly against the thin velvet fabric.

'Ah, there it is', she said enthusiastically, when she caught sight of the piano. 'May I?'

'Be my guest, miss Decrescendo', Severus said.

'Oh please, call me Barbera. I may call you Severus, I hope?'

He nodded and saw her settle her beautifully shaped behind on his old piano stool, on which he had always put his whiskey glass, so rings appeared on the leather.

First, she played a tune to try out the resistance of the keys and then she burst out in a mazurka by Chopin. Her body moved lithely and full of emotion with the music. At the high tones, which were quite fierce, her small, firm bosom bobbed up and down slightly and her bronzed legs passionately searched for the pedals.

'And?' she asked, when she had finished, her face flushed from the exertion and panting slightly.

'Delightful', Severus said and he noticed too late that his gaze remained unashamedly on her body.

She smiled shyly and said: 'Why don't you give it a try… I'll help you.'

Suddenly, again Snape realised it was all about a piano lesson and he made a gesture.

'Sorry, but I… my mother has arranged this and I… I'm not at all musical.'

'But you're a very good singer, Severus. I've heard you sing at a ceremony at Hogwarts, once. You've got a beautiful bass voice.'

'At Hogwarts?' Severus said, perplexed. I've never seen you there, Miss… Barbera.'

'No, I was there with relatives. I was in the row behind you. It was then I heard that you have a particularly fine voice. So…' She tapped the stool with the palm of her hand to persuade him to sit on it. With a sigh, he did as she asked and sat at the piano.

'Look…' she said and pointed at the central C. 'This C keeps reappearing on the piano, but either higher or lower. Just strike them all and you'll get an idea what's it like.'

With an awkward, cramped hand he sought out all the C's.

She took his arm after he had finished.

'See, you're still a bit cramped', she said. 'Well, you should use as few muscles as possible.' She stood behind him and massaged the muscles of his neck.

'Do you feel how tense you are, Severus? We have to get rid of that.'

Timidly, he withdrew from her hands.

'Excuse me… I…'

'I hope you don't mind me touching you?' she asked, startled. 'It happens to be part of my profession.'

'Yes, I know. It isn't you who's to blame. It's me. I don't care about music. Well, maybe a bit of Bach.'

'Bach… Yes, of course, you're a real Bach person', she now said, as if everything about Severus became clear to her all of a sudden. 'If I may ask, why do think that composer's so special?'

'I don't really know…' Severus began. 'It's like I understand the entire universe when I listen to his toccata. But it isn't just the mathematical precision that appeals to me, at the same time it's full of… emotion, too…' he concluded and suddenly he noticed how close they sat together, on that old, decrepit stool. He got up and walked to the drinks cabinet.

'Something to drink?' he asked. 'And tell me: which relative was it, you came to Hogwarts for?'

'Harry Potter, of course', she said. 'Hasn't your mother told you?'

He froze. 'Potter?' he repeated through clenched teeth and he did not look at her, so she would not see his anger. How could his mother do this to him, saddling him with a relative of that diabolical pain in the backside. How humiliating this all was. Just as he was beginning to like Barbera… Now this.

Controlled, he turned around, his face once again composed and handed her a glass.

'Ah. Potter', he said coolly.

It was only now he noticed her green eyes. He could have known, Potter also had green eyes… Lily had green eyes… His own eyes got moist when he thought of Lily. He knew she would never come back, but for a moment he saw her shadow again in the eyes of this enchantingly beautiful, young woman. But the thought of a bloodline with James Potter thoroughly spoiled that. If he imagined his piano teacher with small glasses, he could almost see Harry. Disgusting. He had to end it. No further piano lessons for him.

'Of course, Harry's only my half-brother', she continued. 'It really surprises me your mother has never said anything about it. Lily had a short-lived affair with one of Lucius' older brothers. A genuine Malfoy, who abandoned her when it emerged she was pregnant. Malfoy's family arranged that the baby, me, was raised by a foster family, far away from Malfoy, to avoid gossip.

'That scoundrel!', Severus blurted out and he was surprised by his emotional outburst. 'So… your father was a Malfoy and not James Potter?' he asked explicitly.

'Yes, that scoundrel was my father, not James', she repeated, laughing. 'I get the impression you're relieved about that?'

'Yes… no… I mean… I don't care for Potter very much. That's why', he concluded. 'But you are the spitting image of his… Oh, well, it doesn't matter anymore.

He sat down on the stool again and softly struck a C. He kept staring vacantly at the keyboard as if it had the solution for all his suppressed emotions and he seemed to be entirely unaware of Barbera.

'Would you like me to come again next week?' she asked.

'Yes, please', he answered as if he woke up from a deep sleep, and looked at her.

'See, your arm is not so tense anymore', she said and she lifted his hand off the keyboard. Unintentionally, his finger touched her lap for a moment when he withdrew his arm.

'It'll probably take me forever, before I learn how to play Bach', he said dejectedly. 'I have no experience whatsoever.'

'I think it'll turn out better than that', concluded Barbera. 'Sometimes things move surprisingly quickly.'