A/N The world and the characters you recognise belong to JKR; I am merely extrapolating. AU to the max. Beta'd by the fab Feral Pirate. Review please
Then in early December he found himself in the city of Glastonbury. The people were friendly. The scenery was nice and the pull of the ancient magic had drawn him here. For what purpose he did not, as yet, know, but he would soon find out.
He found the city was full of Muggles who wanted to be witches and wizards. The shops were full of Muggle potions and crystals and magic wands that would never produce a spell. He saw a sign in the window of a souvenir shop that proclaimed a job opening for a shop assistant.
He went inside to inquire, and came almost face to face with a former student. He had taught her several years ago. In fact, she had been a fourth year student when he came to Hogwarts as a teacher. Nimuë something, she was a good student, very good at potion, a Gryffindor unfortunately, but still good at her classes, and not a troublemaker. She hadn't noticed him yet, she was speaking to an older woman.
"Yes, Mrs. Granger, I will send her the ingredients, come back again. Tell her to call me."
She looked up at the scruffy man in the shop and did a double take. Then she gasped. "Blessed be. Blessed be. Hello, Professor."
"I do not want to obliviate your memory, young woman. I must ask you not to tell anyone you have seen me."
"Professor, you have been gone half a year. Come in, come in, back here I was just about to close for lunch. Would you like tea? You've forgotten my name, haven't you? It is Nimuë Hawke. I promise not to turn you in. I'll make an Oath if you wish it." She hurried to put the closed sign on the door.
Snape looked at his former student and thought he saw tears in her eyes. He looked around her office before setting his bag down. He saw the door they had come through and two more doors. One was open and led into a kitchen. The other was closed. He assumed it led to a storeroom. He replied to her query about tea. "Yes, Miss Hawke, tea would be most welcome. Are you part of this nonsense that seems to be flourishing in Glastonbury?" He sat down at the small table in the office.
"It isn't nonsense, Professor. It is an effort on the part of some to return a sense of well being back to the Muggle world. Most of the items for sale in town have cheering charms on them. The potions are harmless but the containers have been charmed. This is the way the new Ministry has been trying to set things back on an even keel. Kingsley Shacklebolt is now the Minister. Were you aware of that?"
"But out in the open? Shacklebolt is the best person for the job; he actually has no political aspirations. What has happened to the wizarding community? When I left there was much to do. I could not stay. I was free from the shadow existence I had lived for so long. I had to go away."
"Everyone searched for you for months. As one of those who had arrived for the final battle, I tried to make myself useful as best I could. Professor McGonagall asked me to go with Potter, Granger, and Weasley to retrieve your body. But there was no body to be found. There was a lot of blood but after many hours most of that 'blood' had not congealed. I had a hunch that you had created a blood-like potion to fool everyone. You left an empty vial of restorative in your haste to be gone. And I found empty vials of antivenin, Felix Felicis and blood replenishing potion together in a side corridor. I felt sure you were alive. Kingsley Shacklebolt suspects it; the Potter boy hopes you are. Hermione Granger still cries for you and the Weasleys would love to hear from you."
"You aren't going to turn me in for some reward, are you? That is why you offered me tea. Or are you simply deranged?" He raised an eyebrow as he asked.
"No. I would never do that." She took a steadying breath and continued," I plan on offering you the position in the shop, the tea I promised you and a nice long chat. Feed you dinner. And give you a place to bathe and sleep, if you want it. "
"Going to sell the story to the Prophet? Or that rag The Quibbler? Send an owl to the Ministry? Dine out on the tale with your friends after I leave?" He was teasing her.
"No. I simply want to offer another magical soul the comfort of my home and a nice warm dinner. And find out what you have been doing. I admit to being horribly curious. On my honour as a Gryffindor, I swear I will not betray your secrets. Besides, it is almost Christmas."
"Very well, since you have allayed most of my trepidations, yes, Miss Hawke, I will be happy to have tea with you."
She went through the door to the kitchen beyond and put the tea things on a tray which she brought back into the office. She had added scones and jam as well as small sandwiches. She poured him a cup and he found it was his favourite blend. The scones were blackcurrant, also a favourite of his.
He set the cup down and asked. "Are you trying to keep me here for a reason?" This time he wasn't teasing.
"No, Professor. I just wanted to tell you why some of us have taken on this project. Poppy Pomfrey made suggestions to the Ministry in conjunction with the Healers at St. Mungo's. The Muggle world had suffered as badly as ours but they didn't know why, and would continue to suffer if something wasn't done. The Ministry put together a committee of Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey and Hermione Granger to see what would be the most effective way to correct the problem. Hermione and Poppy came up with the idea of the cheering charms and it has been working for a few months now. I do want to offer you the position in the shop so you can see for yourself what this 'nonsense' really is."
"You are serious, Miss Hawke, about the place to sleep and bathe? It isn't a joke?"
"No, Professor. I am serious. My house has a very small flat at the other end of the garden. It is yours if you want it, even if you do not take the position. I have missed conversing with my own kind." She put the tea things back on the tray and carried it into the kitchen. She beckoned him into the room. She gestured to a door into the garden. "Go down to the end of the garden. The flat is open now, there's a bedroom with a bathroom and a fireplace but you will have to take your meals with me though."
Severus picked up his backpack and walked down to the flat. He walked in and looked around. It was tiny but scrupulously clean and comfortable. He put the backpack down in the bedroom and took out his shaving gear. He took a shower and washed his hair before shaving and changing into clean clothes. He found his way out of the garden and continued to look around the town. He felt power here. He visited the sites touted by the brochures, Chalice Well and the Tor. Atop the Tor he looked down and saw the labyrinthine path that so many believers had trodden over the years. He saw where the path had been altered at some point; the magic was still strong in this place. He arrived back at the house just after Nimuë had closed the shop.
When he walked back to the house she handed him a glass of elf-made wine, his favourite. He noticed the salad she had set on the table was also his favourite. She had created salmon with a lemony butter sauce and mixed veg. They talked for awhile.
"I made careful study of your habits, likes and dislikes, as a fifth year on a dare. You were fascinating to me but I had to get on with other things, such as my classes. Why did you disappear?"
"Because my job was done, I had watched over the Potter boy until he had accomplished his destiny. I had no family, no one to care if I lived or died. I wanted to find a life of my own. To start again, Nimuë"
"But that isn't true, Severus. Those kids did care, DO care. I had a hard time with Hermione. She felt guilty that she hadn't brought your body back to the school. 'I said a prayer over him. I did.' She told me as she cried and she still cries. Harry Potter has agonised over your disappearance for all this time, even the Weasley boy said he had forgotten you also and felt guilty."
"Why are you telling me this? Is it a sales pitch for me to go back to being the nothing I was before? Why should I care if those three or the whole school mourns me?" He was getting exasperated.
"No, I seriously want you to help me with this endeavour. Call it fate or what you will but you were brought here for a reason; brought to me for a reason. The truth please, Severus."
He looked at her with a wry expression and then he shrugged and grinned at her.
"I just took a sabbatical, an extended sabbatical. I had never before had a life of my own. I wanted to find out who I was now that I was no longer Riddle's henchman, Dumbledore's spy, or guardian and/or terror of Harry Potter. I wanted to learn to be me. I wanted to find out where I belong."
"That is your third glass of wine, Severus. Sit down and eat your salad. I'll have dinner out momentarily."
"Why are you taking me in like this? Do you always pick up strange men? Is it some bizarre fetish or plot to seduce unwary male travellers?" He was back to teasing her.
"No, sorry, I have been keeping watch for you. A travelling healer who makes potions for a living isn't too hard to track around Southern England. I think you were doing exactly what we are doing here in Glastonbury, helping to heal the Muggle world. Have you figured out who you are yet? What you want to do?"
"I want the things I should have wanted twenty years ago, happiness, and a productive life, maybe even someone who cares for me. Peace, mostly, and refuge from eccentric females, possibly." He laughed as she shot him a look.
"Severus, it's hard to find everything together. You may have to settle for just part of it..."
She brought out the salmon and all conversation ceased while they ate. He complimented her cooking and ate everything on his plate.
After they had finished dinner she turned music on. She had all her favourite songs recorded on her laptop, mostly Muggle songs.
She turned the volume very low and invited him to sit in the living room.
She handed him a glass of mead and took one herself.
"Now it is your turn to ask me anything. I know you are suspicious."
"Who dared you to catalogue my likes and dislike all those years ago? And why ever did you do it?"He laughed as he asked.
"Bill and Charlie Weasley were convinced I had a crush on you. They tormented me day and night."
"Very interesting, it would be the Weasleys. There are always Weasleys making life difficult." He paused to take a sip of mead before continuing. "Why have you landed in the New Age mystic centre? You obviously know Miss Granger, Poppy Pomfrey, Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick very well, have they planted you here to capture me?" He teased.
"No. I volunteered for this post. I thought it would make me feel less guilty for not arriving in time to save my cousin and it gave me a chance to study the Muggle world close up and personal."
"Why was I so fascinating to you? Couldn't you find a more palatable specimen? Or do you envision yourself seducing your old Potions teacher? "
She had told him to ask whatever he wanted but now she was uneasy. He had hit on the one thing she didn't want to tell him.
"Because I liked puzzles… because you were in so much pain… because mysteries intrigue me." She hoped she wasn't blushing.
"Not nearly good enough, but I will let that go. What do you want from me?"
"Friendship, companionship, exchange of ideas, contact with another person who moves between Muggledom and our world, a helping hand in the shop." Her words said.
"Fair enough. I'll stay and make my own evaluation of what you are doing. I need to rest somewhere. I have been trying to set things right in my travels. I am not sure how much good I did but at least I tried."
"Yes, Severus, I would like your company. You have no idea how you have helped. You are becoming a legend in the Muggle world like you have become in our world. The reports of the mystery healer had the wizarding world searching everywhere."
"Nimuë, I would like to stay for a few days." He thought for a moment and then asked, "Why ever did your parents name you Nimuë?"
"My Mother had a thing about the Merlin stories. She always told me that I'd be some wizard's downfall too, someday. Make yourself at home. I keep strange hours sometimes. Oh, and I sing, rather a lot sometimes, my spells and Muggle songs too. The small garden outside I tried to make into a traditional herb garden but herbology wasn't my best subject. If you stay long enough for winter to be over and you can get it growing I would appreciate it. Go on to bed. I will clean up in here. I am glad you are here."
She finished with the dishes and brought her laptop and another glass of mead up to her bedroom. She bathed and put on her nightgown and the matching robe. She worked on the laptop for a while. She left music playing on the laptop, her favourites from the English ballads.
Nimuë was too excited to sleep so she went out to the garden. She bent to pick rosemary because the smell calmed her. She walked around in the garden and danced in the moonlight. The night wasn't cold.
A sardonic voice said quietly, "You shouldn't be out walking in your nightgown. Someone might get ideas."
She looked around to see that Severus was leaning against the wall of the flat. He stared hard at her barely concealed body in the silk gown.
"Go to bed Nimuë, I am still a man, not a corpse. Better yet, I'llgo to bed." He disappeared into the flat.
She smiled at his retreating form. Rubbing the rosemary between her fingers, she sat on the bench in the middle of the garden. She began to sing softly. The old Welsh tune. "All through the night" but the words were not the traditional lullaby. Only she knew that she sang the words from her heart.
"Sleep my love and peace attend thee
All through the night.
From all pain I will defend thee,
All through the night.
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
All our world in slumber sleeping
I my loving vigil keeping
All through the night."