Disclaimer: Not my characters, they of course belong to the talented JK Rowling. I am ignoring the last two books and just assume Voldemort was defeated by Harry, order and Co with Severus living to tell the tale. Cheers.
Severus Snape's Sea Change
Climbing down the buses stairs Severus pushed open its wide doors and was immediately assaulted by a warm salty breeze. Stepping on to the path his trunks magically appeared in front of a welcome to town sign. Lower Slaughter, the picturesque small beach town was to be his home or rather prison for the next five years.
After Potter and the Order won the War against Voldemort, Severus was ordered to criminal court to be held accountable for his misguided youth spent as a Death Eater. Taking into account his works for the Order as a spy, efforts in the Final Battle plus Dumbledore's character reference and he was given two options. The first involved 20 years spent in prison and resolving all rights to his families name and property and an additional hefty fine or he could retrain and devote 10 years of service to a small wizarding village that desperately needed a town a Doctor. Neither option was appealing to an already irritated Severus who felt he had already made amends for his foolish mistakes. He could handle prison but the loss of identity was not something he wished to contemplate. While he had no affection or regard for his awful parents he did not want to further let down his grandmother.
Potions had never been a passion just something he innately excelled at, and the thought of studying and qualifying as a diagnostic Doctor sounded like a great challenge. Working out terms with the court he reduced the sentence to half and enrolled in University taking on extra courses, finishing his degree early and interning at some of the best hospitals across England. He excelled at the course work but was noted to have limited bedside manner. Returning to the Court after receiving his qualifications he was assigned to work his debt at Lower Slaughter. Of course they must have delighted in picking a secluded sunny coastal town just perfect for his fair complexion.
Severus squinted against the blaring sunlight just behind the towns sign was a view of the harbour and to some he supposed it was quite breathtaking. All he saw however was an abundance of sand, rocky narrow roads and lush greenery that was sure to spark hay fever in some of his patients. Heading down the path he surmised that the small bundle of cottages and shops was the centre of town. He was to stay in a two bedroom house that featured a surgery downstairs so it should be easy to find.
Passing a number of cottages he spied villagers going about there days, most greeting him with a bright smile and a cheery morning. He downright ignored most but occasionally nodded. He was slightly embarrassed to admit but all the hills were rather taxing, luckily he could lighten his luggage with a single charm and his bag were trailing in the air behind him. Best to work on his activity levels to improve his cardiovascular fitness he decided he would start every morning with a brisk walk around the village. He was nearing his 50th birthday after all.
Stopping at the base of yet another hill to catch his breath, a young man walked up to him and introduced himself as Ned the local member of Law Enforcement for the village. 'You must be the new Doc, the whole town is bit excited no more journeying to the next town for a simple check up. My my you might find yourself rather busy' Chattering away about how peaceful the village was and luckily wedged in between two dangerous cliffs meaning most muggles stayed away. Severus offered no encouragement and sensing his reticence to chat Ned tapered off, however kindly offered to show him to the surgery. Issuing a curt thank you, they travelled a touch further before taking a left, right than left again to stand in front of the surgery. It featured a simple sign with the medical symbol and appeared to be otherwise a plain cottage.
A cat mewled at the front door as if asking to be let in. Severus had no familiar and liked it that way, he did have an owl for correspondence but it was strictly that, no affection between them. He knew the owl would find him by the afternoon and no doubt Dumbledore would have sent some godawful cheerful letter about his current situation. He had great respect for the man but his never-ending cheerfulness did grate on his nerves. Ned excused himself but did mention where to find the main pub, local supermarket and his own office.
Brandishing his wand and Severus opened the door and perused his new lodgings. The surgery itself was just a typical doctors rooms, with a waiting area and a treatment room. Heading upstairs to his new quarters he was less impressed, there were slopping roofs that made him feel cramped, barely any shelves for his myriad of books and a small kitchen. One thing he took pleasure in life was cooking so if it became a bother he could always change the setup so it was more suitable. From a window he peered out to the lane way and spied more villagers trudging up and down the hills, some with picnic baskets or trailing some strange boat contraption. It was a Sunday so most people were taking advantage of the nice day before the start of the work week.
Severus half shut most of the blinds and got to the serious work of unpacking, setting up new security wards before tackling the surgeries files. He was only halfway through but had already missed lunch so set out down the street for an early dinner. Finding a cafe he ordered a sandwich and coffee, finding the server rather nosey. Offering little in reply he cooly nodded after she correctly guessed he was the new towns Doctor. He surmised it was a quiet village and his arrival was big news. The rest of the day passed quickly and he was exhausted at the end of the day, he hadn't performed so many unpacking and tidying charms in years. A red wine and good book helped him unwind as he mentally prepared for his upcoming first day, perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as he feared.
All his fears were confirmed as soon as he opened the doors to the waiting room, morons trickled in all morning. Mostly witches and wizards with the no ailments simply attending to gawk and meet the new resident Doctor. He did meet some villagers with complex medical problems that he started new files on as the old ones were hopelessly out of date. By lunchtime he had had enough and curtly voiced that unless it was an actual medical issue they were presenting with to please leave. This cleared a portion of the waiting room. He treated one infected wound that the local apothecary ointment hadn't helped and diagnosed a case of wiggly wonky worms in a mans ear. He had a feeling it was going to be a long five years.
A/N: This is a bit of a fish out of water tale where Severus will come to maybe enjoy a different pace of life and fall in love with a certain young witch who will be coming to the next chapter. Please leave a review if you like and check out my other Snape-centric stories. If you have any ideas of wizard diseases or illness or want to invent some good names again leave a review :)