CHAPTER 2

Beth sat up in the tangled covers of the hotel bed. She had arrived late the previous evening, exhausted from emotional drama and jetlag. Her mother parents had not wanted her to leave, but she needed to get away and start fresh. She realized that at Thirty-four if she didn't do something now, she likely never would. So, after the end of a very long term relationship that she thought would end in marriage but only ended in heartache, she decided to leave the country. Drastic? Yes, but she had always loved England. She had studied Medieval Literature, and she loved English history. England, a new beginning. Maybe she would finally write that book she had always wanted to write, and what a perfect title. Certainly, it was a place for new beginnings.

Of course, her main reason for moving had been the house she had inherited from her Great Aunt Helen. She had never met the woman, but she had written her as a child, when she discovered that she had a long lost great-aunt living in England. She had written her up until last year, when the elderly woman had died. She had received many packages and letters from her throughout the years. She was the recipient of many cards with cute kittens, sweaters with cute kittens on them, and various other hand knitted items covered in cat hair. Great aunt Helen was evidently was evidently a cat lover. Beth had nothing against cats, except they tended to yack hairballs on her favorite cloths. Interestingly enough, never on any of the sweaters that Aunt Helen sent, which she never wore. Aside from the occasional hairball, cats were ok; maybe she would get a cat?

Beth yawned scrunching her pert little nose and opening her mouth in a most unladylike manner. Well, there was no one around to see her mussed hair and sleepy eyes. The man who had inhabited her bed and encroached on her personal space for the last five years was gone in a puff of smoke. Or rather, cheap perfume. That's how she discovered the affair -the cloying smell of her perfume on his clothes. Matt was a bad liar. When she confronted him, he has begged her to forgive him.

"How long has this been going on," she had asked

His eyes had grown large and he grabbed the back of his neck with his large meaty hand. It was a nervous gesture. "Just the once." His eyes shifted left then right. He couldn't meet her gaze.

"Well, a month or so . . . we've been meeting, but I was going to end it tonight. I just couldn't because she was so upset… her mother is sick." He rambled.

"It's over. I'm leaving," she has said quietly, firmly.

They had argued for days, and he had tried to drag her in to any number of discussions about "stuff". What about the car, what about the house, what about the things." He was trying to hold her to him with this stuff.

"Enjoy it, it's all yours." She let him go. It hurt, but she knew if she stayed he would do it again.

She looked in the mirror across from the bed at her round face, little chin, snubbed nose, freckles, and she wondered how he had ever been attracted to her. She had been thin once, but she was a true southern girl. She loved to cook as much as she loved to eat. She was curved. Some men like that. Her waist nipped in and her hips flared out. She always felt awkward next to thin, elegant women. She was tanned and freckled with long, curly hair. Plain, brown, no matter what anyone said she felt plain. She was always referred to a cute, cute, never beautiful, not blond, and not fair.

"Stop it," she admonished herself. Rehashing it wasn't going to solve anything. She was moving forward, and god bless Aunt Helen. There had been legal difficulties. The proprietor of the will had had some trouble locating her, but in the end the notification had come at the perfect time. She was leaving the ugliness behind and starting fresh. She knew the house was in poor shape, and she hired a contractor with some of the money Aunt Helen had left her. There was still enough left to see her through for a while. She also taught online English classes through several online Universities. It didn't pay much, but she hoped she would find something more permanent here. Though, she wasn't sure how she, and American, was going to get a job teaching Medieval Literature in England. Something would turn up.

Well, the contractor said that he would meet her at the house today at one o'clock. It was already ten thirty, and she needed to shower and eat something. She quickly got up and walked into the bathroom and enjoyed a nice hot shower. She hoped the house didn't have plumbing problems. She could handle a lot, but a nice hot shower just helped you get through the day.

Beth got out of the tub and ran her fingers over the mirror, clearing the condensation that had gathered there. This was how you saw yourself; you wiped away the mist that clouded your vision. You washed the negativity off of you and you stepped into the world naked and new. She cleared the rest of the mirror off with a towel and decided to try and like what she saw.

"Maybe if I find one thing each day to like; Ok. I like my lips; they aren't large but they are full and nice. Rosy. I like my lips." She exhaled.

She dried her hair, fingering the wavy curls. She never wore much makeup but she put a little shimmery gold shadow on her eyelids, a little lip liner, and she put a light wine colored gloss on her lips. She didn't realize it but she was quite a lovely woman, natural.

She slipped on a peach summer dress. She had always favored dresses and skirts. Her friends had always teased her because of her old-fashioned style, but she liked feeling feminine. Her dresses were reminiscent of a fifty's style dress that nipped in at the waist and flared out ending at her knees or shapely calves. She grabbed a white cardigan and slipped on a pair of brown sandals on her feet. She slung her purse over her shoulder and slipped her room key in it. She walked out into the English sunshine hoping that this was the start of a perfect new day.

Severus jumped when the fire in the fireplace flashed green. The handi wizard stepped out with a flourish and a large grin, handed him the requisition and asked him if he were Mr. Severus Snape. Were these the repairs he requested?

He nodded, and his raven hair brushed against his shoulders falling across his angular face. The young wizard, Fred, a most unfortunate name, asked him to step out of the study while he got to work. He refinished the floors and shelves with a series of complicated charms. He replaced the books on the shelves, installed the new curtains, pulled the furniture out of a brown box he had carried with him and enlarged the pieces. He spent several minutes arranging the couch, leather arm chair and small richly carved dark table. Severus had really liked the table. It was a heavy mahogany piece, perfect to rest his book on or a glass of firewhisky.

Fred went to work efficiently repairing and replacing, and Severus watched, amazed, at the transformation wrought on his shabby little house. It looked more like a home than it had in a very long time. It just smelled nicer. The walls were refreshed in a subdued cream color, the cobwebs cleared. He had tried to maintain things as best as he could, but he admitted that he wasn't quite as attentive as he should have been. Fred reduced his old furniture and asked if he wanted them stored or disposed.

"Please dispose of them," Severus nodded. They were of no use to him and carried little sentimental value.

Fred finished by adding decorative accents in the entry way, "a bonus," Fred assured him. Severus rolled his eyes as Fred turned his back.

"Bonus," he thought. "With the amount of money I've spent on this little business, there should be quite a few bonus items. Maybe a free romp on that little twit of a sales associate," he mused. He shook his head; no, he wouldn't waste his money on such a vapid creature. At least the witches he had once visited, when he was a younger man and couldn't control his carnal appetites, were honest about the wares they were selling.

Fred repaired the stairs, which now no longer creaked; he refinished the floors upstairs, replaced the mattress, and set up the armoire Severus had purchased to house his immaculate, if monochromatic, wardrobe. It would be nice to have a place to hang his robes rather than keep them folded in his old chest of drawers. Fred refinished the heavy dark furniture in the bedroom as well and fitted the bed with the new linens and comforter, an understated embroidered piece in emerald and black -ever the faithful Slytherine. After refreshing the walls, Fred headed down to the kitchen, where he replaced the tile. With a flourish of his wand, he updated the cooling spell on Severus's refrigerated cupboard. "Another bonus," Fred winked.

Severus snorted at Fred's irrepressible good humor.

And in a rather perfunctory manner, Fred asked him to sign a statement verifying that all of the appropriate tasks had been completed to his satisfaction. Fred gave him the 30 year warranty on the various spells so that he could file the paperwork in case there were any issues.

Severus thanked him curtly, and Fred was on his way. It was only one o'clock.