A/N: Welcome! This story is set in the universe of my story "The Serpents' Kiss" and references it a great deal but should be entertaining to read alone as well without being too confusing. Enjoy!
MIXED MEMORIES
"What… is this?" Severus did not trust the envelope his wife was gleefully waving in front of his face one little bit. Especially given that it smelled like a woman's perfume.
"Helena brought it by just a moment ago," Dinah's smile was one of the kneazel that swallowed the snidget as she referred to their owl. "It's from your little admirer."
"My what?" He might have snapped a bit at the end of that question. But this beating around the bush was bothering him.
"Look at the return address." His wife placed the envelope on their kitchen table since he didn't seem keen on taking it himself.
With utmost apprehension, he glanced down at the writing on the envelope. His name and address were written in the center in large, oval handwriting which slanted forward a bit. The I's were dotted with small circles. Thank God he had none of those letters in his own name. The return address on the above left stated ten name of the sender: Stacy Nurim.
"This is-" he shot his head up, but Dinah had disappeared. Probably off snickering somewhere at his misfortune.
Severus heaved a sigh and sat down at the table, trying to decide if he was quite ready to open this thing. His relationship with Miss Nurim, if one could call it that, had been awkward to say the least. It had been years since he'd retired from Hogwarts as a teacher prior to this year. But then Headmistress Sprout had contacted him and his wife and asked if they would be willing to teach and chaperone the select number of Hogwarts students who would be traveling to Durmstrang for the Triwizard Tournament.
Durmstrang was situated near the town of Hammerfest in the northernmost reaches of Norway. The chilly weather there had seemed an appropriate backdrop to a school that had boasted of many Dark Wizards, including the notorious, though now redeemed, Gellert Grindelwald. Perhaps that redemption should have hinted at Severus that the environment at Durmstrang would turn out surprisingly warm despite the subarctic climate.
But Stacy had been a little… too warm.
Severus Snape was now a sixty year old man. Hardly the age where adolescent witches should be swooning over him. In fact, he had never had a student swoon over him, at least that he'd been aware of. So how was he to have known that Miss Nurim kept moving around so awkwardly during Potions class because she had been trying to touch his hand.
And Dinah, his wife of twenty years, had noticed before he did. Well, nearly everyone, including his son and niece, had noticed before he did.
Speaking of his son, the boy was just now passing by the kitchen. Severus lifted his head from the envelope and his thoughts for a moment to watch Tom. He thought of saying something, but the scowl on the boy's face made him think better of it. An idealist like his mother, Thomas Edward Snape had decided to go to Muggle University to become a psychologist of all things. Unfortunately, he'd recently been either wait-listed or rejected from some of his top school choices and was consequently in what seemed like a permanently sour mood. Dinah and Adara often said Tom got his 'prickliness' from Severus, whatever that meant.
Tom marched up to his bedroom, probably to sulk more, and Severus turned back to the letter, though his thoughts remained on his son. The Wizarding world needed psychologists, there was no doubt. And he was proud of Thomas, and knew he would get into one of those ridiculous schools eventually. But words did little to help during a prickly mood.
Tom had been quite prickly at Durmstrang as well. He had put his name into the Goblet of Fire, assuming he wouldn't get chosen, and had been rather taken aback when he was. But when his girlfriend Adara had been taken in the first challenge Tom had stepped up, and won first place. From then on, he took on his role as Hogwarts Champion happily, and ended up coming in second overall. Quite impressive, considering that in challenge number two he had had his foot nearly eaten off by a Yeti. Dinah and Adara had had a bit of a spat over who would take care of Tom during his recovery, but they worked it out, realizing that they both had important places in Tom's life, but that roles changed a bit over time. Just as they were meant to.
Thomas was certainly going to marry Adara, the question was only a matter of when. Both Severus and Dinah hoped they would both wait until they were a bit older, but they supported the relationship wholeheartedly. Their elder child, May Eileen Snape, had only just become engaged to her boyfriend of four years, Seth Templeton, and they were pleased at that union as well. But things would be a bit unusual with Tom and Dara, considering the latter was the daughter of one Sirius Black.
There was a time when the idea of marriage to a Black would have disgusted Severus, but that was long before he had had his children. Now the Snape and Black children were the best of friends, having grown up together. He even called them his nieces and nephews, though of course there was no blood relation, save anything distant from the Prince family… he didn't dare look up the family tree, purebloods were so inbred as it was. But his mother had put a stop to that when she married his father. And then he had married his Muggle-born Dinah in a much more pleasant union, so he had no real worries about getting grandchildren with extra limbs or anything of the sort.
Back to Stacy. He should really stop stalling and open this envelope. He had told the girl that her skills in Potions were enough to warrant a letter of recommendation from him, but he really hoped she didn't think that letters with circles over the I's smelling of perfume were appropriate for such professional requests.
Well, so much for that, he thought as he opened the envelope to see that she apparently did think so. The content of the letter was professional enough, however. More so than her behavior had been at Durmstrang.
First, Dinah had managed to convince him that a student had a crush on him, which was awkward enough. Then the girl actually danced with him both in practice sessions for the Yule Ball and at the Ball itself, no thanks to his meddling wife. Dinah apparently found the whole thing quite amusing, and encouraged the girl entirely too much. He admitted it was flattering to have a student admire him in such a way, but… well, when she had gifted him and his wife a holiday present of Amortentia enough had been enough.
Merlin, that bottle of Amortentia… He had scolded Stacy about it, of course, but not until after the sweet-smelling potion had sent both him and Dinah and Tom and Adara into mad fits of passion with each other, thankfully not in the same room.
That had been some good sex…
Severus shifted in his seat and tried to re-focus on the letter instead of on wondering where Dinah had gone off to. It seemed Stacy was planning to apply for a number of jobs in which she would be qualified, including one as a Potions Research Assistant at his daughter's place of work, the Magical Research Institute of Greater London or MRIGL. The last thing he needed was May teasing him about this too. But it was a good job, so he would write the letter.
Folding the letter up, Severus considered once again his past year of teaching again. His and Dinah's retirement from Hogwarts had only been semi-permanent, to spend some years working on their books, hers on Muggle Studies and his on Potions. Those endeavors had been successful and now there were conferences to attend and research papers to write… but perhaps… one of these days it would be time to return to Hogwarts.
His first stint as Headmaster, during the Second Wizarding War, had left a bad taste in his mouth, but now that he was older he thought perhaps he would one day be ready to try again. And he could think of no better Muggle Studies professor than his wife. Her replacements were fine, but none could quite reach her level.
Yes. One day, it would be time to go back to Hogwarts. But not just yet.
First he had to craft a letter of recommendation for his little admirer. And then he was going to hunt down some Amortentia and take it to his wife.
Hopefully they could get their pouty son out of the house long enough to relive one of the great memories of his recent year teaching Hogwarts students at Durmstrang.