The Half Blood Princess
Chapter 1: Severus Snape Makes A Friend
(A/N: I forget how this story started, but it will probably be one of my best. I am posting it now alongside "The Marauders' Last Prank" because this one is very difficult to write, so updates will be infrequent. Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, or music mentioned in this work, except Nicole Evans (No relation to Lily…that we know of!) Other exceptions will be mentioned as relevant.)
Nicole Evans, our main character (in fact, our only character) for now, was hopelessly lost in the twisting maze of streets. She knew she was somewhere between the underground station – though she was damned if she could remember its name – and her potential employer's office. She hoped she would not be late for her job interview, for she really needed this job. Her landlord was getting a little impatient with her inability to pay the rent. The other reason she hoped she would find her way soon was that the neighbourhood did not seem very friendly. She turned down a street called Spinner's End, hoping it would lead her to a recogniseable landmark, or a friendly person who would give her directions.
The latter seemed most likely, since she suddenly heard the cheerful sound of someone whistling. She followed the sound and turned another corner. In a rather weedy yard a man was kneeling on the ground, snipping leaves off a rather odd-looking plant. When he finished the opening bars of the Broadway tune he was whistling he launched into the song, obviously thinking that he was alone.
I closed my eyes, drew back the curtain,
To see for certain
What I thought I knew.
Far, far away,
Someone was weeping,
But the world was sleeping
Any dream will do.
Now, the fact that a perfect stranger, who has not even met one's eyes yet, has agreeable taste in music is hardly a basis for trust. Yet Miss Evans thought that she might as well ask him for directions. But first she was going to sing the other part of the song with him, especially since he had a rather nice baritone voice.
I wore my coat,
("I wore my coat" sang Nicole)
With golden lining,
("Aaah" she sang a bit louder)
Bright colours shining,
("Aah")
Wonderful and new.
And in the East
("And in the East")
The dawn was breaking,
("Aaah")
And the world was waking
("Aah")
Any dream will do.
She had joined in the last line, for she was used to the choir arrangement. The man, though, had thought that he was just imagining the accompaniment until that moment. Only then did he realize that he was not alone. He sprang to his feet and rounded on Miss Evans. This is what he saw:
Leaning against the fencepost was a young woman. She had red, wavy hair that fell nearly to he knees, and large, blue eyes. She was wearing tight jeans and a ribbed shirt that hugged her contours, showing them off a bit, but not in a vulgar way. She was about average height for a woman, around 5'5", and lightly built. She had a few light freckles and a slightly turned up nose. A pretty enough sight, but there was also something very alert and interesting about her. Her eyes fixed the man with a frankly curious gaze.
She saw a man with jaw-length black hair, pale skin, hard angular features, a thin-lipped wide mouth, and a beaky nose. He was wearing a simple black shirt that he wore like a tunic, belted in at the waist with a green and silver belt. He was wearing loose green pants that were gathered, and tucked into almost-knee-high boots. He also had on a black jacket that looked like it was made of leather. He stood up abruptly and she saw that he was quite tall.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" He asked quietly, but in a slightly harsh tone.
"I'm Miss Nicole Evans. I seem to have missed my way. Can you direct me to Elder Street?"
The man frowned. No, he scowled. "Elder Street is about two and a half miles northwest of here."
Nicole's face took on a closed look. Her cheerful attitude wavered for a few moments. "Oh. So there's no way I could get there before 2:00." She said in a small voice, almost to herself.
"No. Especially as it is now a quarter after two." The man informed her, a trifle smugly. Miss Evans looked up sharply from a rather engrossed study of her shoes. Her eyes flashed angrily.
"There's no need to be so pleased about it. I've only missed the best career opportunity of my life, and the chance to get a job that would let me pay my rent so I'm not out on the streets!" She spat. The man looked taken aback. For a moment or two he just stared very hard at the young woman in front of him. Than he took a deep breath and said in a carefully civil voice:
"Having reminded me what a prat I am, what were you planning on doing next?"
"I was going to ask you to recommend me a respectable restaurant so I could eat lunch, and then I was going to ask for directions to the nearest underground station. But now I am going to find my own way because I no longer consider you to be trust-worthy."
The man was forced to smile to himself at her spirit. She was in no position to be choosy about whom she asked for directions, but she was not going to let him know that she knew it. He felt a grudging admiration for her. An idea came to mind, and he seriously considered it. Why not? She would never have heard of him, and it might be rather nice to try and make a good impression on someone for once. He sketched a quick mental outline of what he was going to say, and than said as gently as he could:
"Since my garden has yielded some rather nice herbs, I have a large pot of soup boiling on the fire. Allow me to redeem myself in your eyes by offering you dinner and an escort to the underground. This in not the nicest neighbourhood."
Nicole did not answer immediately. She rather liked the look of this man, and he sounded like he was really trying to sound polite, but was just out of practice. She had met someone once who had been a bit like this, and it had turned out that he was nice under all the hurt. On the other hand, he had been rather nasty at first, and it was just plain stupid to go into a strange man's house and have dinner with him. She decided to be honest with him, at least to a point.
"Well, I rather think you're not as nasty as you seem, but I have no reason to think that, so I'm not really sure I should…"
"Very sensible." The man said with a touch of sarcasm. "I can hardly claim to be harmless; I am one of the most potentially dangerous people you are ever likely to meet."
"Huh!" Retorted Miss Evans, "If you really were dangerous you wouldn't say so. Bragging only proves that you want me to believe it, so you can intimidate me later."
The man stared at her for a couple of seconds. Then he laughed. "Oh, if only my students could hear you say that. But that is rubbish. What if I am so dangerous that I don't give a damn whether or not you know it?"
"And what if you are not?"
"Are you going to stay and find out?" This was a good-natured challenge, but Nicole decided to accept it. She really thought he was just joking about how dangerous he was.
"Very well, I shall. But I should like to know the identity of my host."
"Professor Severus Snape."
"Professor is it? What do you teach?"
"Er….Chemistry. Well, I suppose I might get another post, but I doubt it. Enough about that. What about you? What do you do?" Snape was a bit flustered by the question about what he taught, and he unthinkingly offered Nicole his arm. She took it so naturally that he hardly noticed that he was escorting a woman into his house.
"I'm a graduate of Oxford; BSc, Master's Degree in Music, and PhD. in Biochemistry. I considered a career as a singer, but decided that work in a lab would pay better. That's a serious consideration for me, because I'm an orphan, so I have to support myself. Or I could always find a nice, filthy rich man and marry him, but I would prefer a fascinating, handsome bloke with a fantastic sense of humour, because I've an unofficial Master's in pranking and practical joking. Anything else you'd care to know?"
"Good heavens, no. You've already given me at least two good reasons to dislike you. If you want dinner we had better stick to exceedingly trivial topics."
"But Professor, what have I said to offend you?"
"Call me Severus. I hate being reminded of my job. To begin with, you're an orphan, and my least favorite student is an orphan. Secondly, you're a prankster, and I have not yet gotten over two young devils incarnate who graduated a year ago."
"Oh. I see. Er, well, what do you want to talk about, then?"
"Tell me about the job you missed."
"Oh it was wonderful. It was research lab, and they wanted a biochemist. The qualifications exactly suited me, so I spruced myself up as best I could and attempted to find the lab for the interview. After sending in my resume, of course."
Snape glanced sharply at her as he stirred the pot on the fire. If what she was wearing now was her idea of spruced up, she either had extremely low standards - which her educated speech patterns contradicted - or she was pitifully poor. He served them both in the living room as he did not want to imagine what this muggle would think of the boomslang skin he was in the long and tedious process of pickling in the kitchen. For a short while there was very little conversation while they both ate. Only when they were done and Snape had cleared did Nicole venture a timid question.
"Er, I know this sounds frightfully impertinent, since we hardly know each other, but I was wondering if you knew of any jobs being offered in the biochem field."
Snape twitched slightly. Of course he didn't, and what's more he didn't care. This was what came of lying about one's profession. Well, the truth, disappointing as it was, would have to do.
"I'm afraid not. I don't follow that sort of thing much, as I have two good occupations, which pay quite well. If I hear of anything I will inform you."
"Oh, you needn't bother. I doubt we'll ever see each other again. I think I can get just enough credit to move to where I can get a job."
At that moment, Snape's second crazy idea flashed across his brain. He almost froze from shock. It was ridiculous. It would never work. He was already risking too much by having her here at all.
But it could work. The imp in his mind said. She's intelligent, and you could tell her just enough to explain everything. You could really use someone to do all the fiddly little things that are such a nuisance when you're alone and in a hurry.
But what about Wormtail? Snape's logical fallacies argued. He would torment her to death, even if he didn't get the wrong idea and kill her for being a muggle.
You don't know she's a muggle. She's an orphan, remember. She could be a witch, why not? Every so often someone gets missed when they send out the letters to the eleven-year-olds...
Snape's musing was cut short by the arrival of Wormtail. Miss Evans rose gracefully and politely to her feet. He on the other hand just stopped dead and stared at her.
"Miss Evans, may I present Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail." Snape said quickly. "Wormtail, may I present Miss Nicole Evans, who so very kindly agreed to stay for dinner."
"I am very pleased to make your aquaintance, Mr. Pettigrew." Nicole said with frank pleasure as she held out her hand. Snape wanted to close his eyes and just wait for the explosion, but he forced himself to watch and be ready to stop Wormtail from doing something really nasty…But what was Wormtail doing? He was shaking Nicole's hand and saying:
"Please, call me Peter. I hope you're not about to leave, Miss; it would be a treat to get to know one of Snape's nicer friends."
"Why thank you, Peter. If I'm to call you Peter, you must call me Nicki. I'm afraid I'm hardly one of Mr. – Severus's friends. We only just met."
"But you must be a friend if you call him Severus. Sit down, sit down. I'll just put away the shopping, and then I shall be at your service." The last was directed more at Snape than at Nicki. (Since she hates 'Nicole', I shall cease to refer to her as that from now on.)
"Is there anything I can do to help?" The young lady in question asked.
"No, no, not all." Pettigrew said.
"I would like to speak to you, Miss Evans." Snape said abruptly, making a snap decision, which he was sure he would regret, but it was already a bit late.
"You must also call me Nicki." She said as she sat down opposite her host.
"Very well, Nicki, I had an idea. I could hire you. I need someone who can handle fiddly details that Wormtail can't. Your knowledge of biology and chemistry would be a great advantage, perhaps too great an advantage. I don't need someone of your caliber, but if you don't mind being bored, you could earn enough to tide you over. The job would only be a month and a half, since I have to leave during the last week of August. What say?"
"Oh, sir! Why, that would be amazing. I am, as you have no doubt surmised, desperate, and you are an absolute angel not to take advantage of it."
"What do you think I'm doing? " Snape could not help snorting in derision. "I am no angel, as you will soon know. I will pay you by week, so you can leave whenever you can't stand another day of me."
Nicki suddenly looked sharply at him.
"I don't think you do really need me. I think you want to help me. If you needed me you would ensure that I could not just leave."
"You are correct in a general sense, but the fact is I could use you, and I'm in no need of a sharp deal. I need your service, and you need a salary. This could be a mutually advantageous situation."
"It could. Very well, I accept."
"Fine. I'll tell Wormtail, and hope he doesn't die of shock. Hey, Wormtail!"
"I don't think he likes that nickname, you know." Nicki said softly.
"Of course he doesn't. It reminds him of some people whom he wants to forget."
"So don't call him that."
"Why not?" Snape asked the question seriously enough, but Nicki thought he was joking, so she just grinned at him.
"Silly me, I thought you actually disliked him and called him that to torment him. I think I could come to like your sense of humour."
Snape was dumbfounded. She thought – genuinely believed, what's more, that he was a basically nice person who was merely a little warped. Just then Peter came in, which saved him from having to respond to her.
"Yes, Snape?"
"Er, I just wanted to tell you that I've hired Miss Evans here to be my assistant."
There, it was out. Once more, Snape waited for the explosion which never came. Wormtail looked utterly stunned for a few seconds, and then he grinned.
"Congats. That has got to be the best, most brilliant, not to mention smoothest move of your life. Welcome to Spinner's End, Nicki."
Just then there was a knock on the door. Both men jumped. Then a voice was heard.
"Severus? It's just me, Remus Lupin. Could I come in?"
Snape shot Pettigrew a look which caused him to go scurrying out of the room. Then he leaned forward and whispered to Nicki:
"What appalling luck! Peter and Remus can't stand each other. Don't mention Peter's here, will you?"
Nicki nodded, and Snape answered the door.
"Why Remus, what a pleasant surprise. This seems to be my day for guests. Allow me to present Miss Evans."
Now, Remus was quite surprised that Severus Snape would be entertaining a woman, and the last name was the last straw.
"What the hell…? Evans…?" He spluttered. Nicki frowned slightly.
"Yes, that is my last name. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Are you any relation to Lily and Petunia Evans?" Remus asked bluntly. Snape gasped. Of course! That's why the name had seemed familiar. And it was doubly queer that she should have red hair…
"I have no idea whether or not I am related to those people, since I am an orphan. I also don't see why it matters so much." Nicki said stiffly.
"It does not matter!" Snapped Snape. "It is pure coincidence that she has the same last name as the young lady who I had a crush on, and who married my hated enemy and rival, and who is d –"Severus cut himself off abruptly. Remus looked as if he had been slapped. There was an awkward silence, then Snape pulled himself together.
"Remus, that was spiteful, and unnecessary. I apologise."
"Forget it, Severus, I know the past still haunts you."
"Thanks." It was said stiffly, but it was said. "Now, what can I do for you?"
"I ran into some problems last full moon, and I broke the bottle containing the summer's supply of wolfsbane potion. Could I trouble you to brew some more sometime over the next three weeks? Why, Severus, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing. Certainly I can do that."
"May I help?" Nicki asked eagerly, hoping to begin her new job as soon as possible.
"I don't know. Perhaps."
"It's very complicated potion, Miss. Severus is very talented, which is why I have to ask him to do it."
"Potion? Why do you call it that? I've never heard that used as a chemistry term."
"Chemistry term? What are you talking about?"
"Miss Evans is – "
"Nicki, please."
"Sorry. Nicki is a graduate of Oxford. Masters in music, PhD. in Biochemistry." Snape prayed that Remus would take the hint. For once he wished it were James or Sirius, they were bright enough to get it. Unfortunately Remus wasn't.
"Fascinating. So why did you go to study at a muggle university? Wasn't the wizarding…?"
"Shut up Remus, for God's sake, Shut up!!!" Severus cut in, but it was too late. Nicki had already smelled a rat. She stared very hard at Lupin for a couple of seconds.
"Either you are mad, or you" transferring her gaze to Snape, "are hiding something from me. What's all this about muggles and wizards and potions?"