Better Than This
by EbonyQuill
Disclaimer: .. Don't own it.
Author's Note: This chapter isn't the best.. and it's kind of short. Er I love you all for trying to give me your emails through reviewing but apparently.. it doesn't work. Aw. So probably try emailing (heartalison at gmail dot com) me? Thanks to Dracaelum, Mark Darcy (I'm afraid I do look through and try to fix my own mistakes, but I'm more or less blind.), Susan (By the way, right now, Anise Sinistra doesn't know about the whole death eater thing 'cause she's sort of ignorant at the moment. Good background for future drama.), bri007, and elvencherry07.
Previously
Anise Sinistra!
THIS IS THE MILLIONTH LETTER I - SLASH - MOTHER HAS SENT YOU! YOU HAD BETTER ANSWER THIS ONE OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN, PULL OFF THOSE RIDICULOUS GLASSES OF YOUR NOSE AND STICK THEM UP YOUR.. You get the idea.
JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE AN IDIOT I WILL STATE AGAIN WHAT I HAVE BEEN STATING IN MY LAST MILLION LETTERS! DAVIS TOLD AUNT MOREGA THAT YOU WERE INVOLVED WITH A .. MAN! IMPOSSIBLE, I KNOW! BUT THE WAY YOU ARE IGNORING ME CAUSES ME TO COME UP WITH CONCLUSIONS THAT HAVE TO BE IMPOSSIBLE.
ARE YOU OR AREN'T YOU?
Yours truly,
Lux Sinistra
Anise felt like dying. But she was very flattered that her sister had felt the need to use all capital letters.
"Stupid. Could've just sent me a howler."
Rubbing his temples Severus Snape's eyes followed the auburn-haired, star-gazing Anise Sinistra as she marched to his side. He attempted to roll his eyes at her obvious, but failing attempt to be invisible to their colleagues. Everyone knew that they despised each other and that neither of them would take an extra step in order to talk to the other. He shifted his eyes towards the House-elf who was cleaning up the couches in the Teacher's Lounge. When he sensed Sinistra's presence at his side, he said snidely without making eye contact,
"Really Sinistra - do you actually enjoy being an insufferable, childish, idiotic baffoon in front of me and the rest of the staff?"
Anise put a hand over her collarbone and replied sarcastically, "Of course - I strive to it every day."
Severus made a 'tutting' sound and twirled his spoon in his tea. Anise started to bite her nail but stopped immediately.
"Glitch." Severus looked at her with clear confusion. Anise gave a sheepish smile and a little laugh,
"Well - here's the thing. My family knows that I'm going to the wedding with someone. Er - you."
"So?" He took sniffed his tea and pushed it away. He folded his long, slender fingers and set them in his lap.
She bit her lip, "They're very nosy."
"And?"
"They'll want to know everything," Sinistra replied in a way that resembled a long sigh.
"Oh," Severus started to wonder how many one-word answers he could give her while still coming off as annoyingly intelligent.
"And I mean everything. How we 'met'," she made a quotational reference with both hands," and all that sappy crap."
Snape was dangerously close to gagging, then answered her sarcastically. "Goodie."
Anise stomped her foot. "Snape! You're provoking me, I know you are!"
"To do what? Hit me with a telescope? I am afraid," he replied rolling his dark brown eyes.
She let out a low growl.
"So then - how did we meet?" Severus asked resting his head nonchalantly on his propped up arm.
Taking a turn to roll her eyes she replied, "Hogwarts, of course. Don't be daft."
"And I'm sure it was love at first sight," Snape menaced. Anise gave a short, sarcastic laugh.
Leaving Severus with a short, spite-filled "Goodbye," she made her way to the Great Hall. It was Saturday and there weren't many students milling around since it was only a few minutes after breakfast would have ordinarily started. She felt sick when she saw the owls enter the Great Hall. As expected a few letters plopped in front of her as the snowy owl delivering her mail stole a piece of toast from her plate and flew away to the Owlery.
Skimming the pieces of parchment, she read the letter from the combination of her mother and sister in her head. " Blah blah - we want to meet him, blah blah, is he handsome? Mental scoff. Have you had.. oh my god."
Anise mentally gagged in her head. Someone actually implying that she had had romantic rendevous with Severus was ten times worse than facing Sybill Trewlaney after finishing your tea and having tea leaves scattered at the bottom of your cup. She put her head in her hands. She couldn't do this. She wouldn't do this. All this effort just to show off in front of an old boyfriend?
"But Anise - it's become so much more than that now that bloody Lux and Mum know." She rubbed her temples and clutched onto a some of her hair. She started twirling it which was a horrible school girl habit of hers. As a stray auburn hair fell out and landed by her plate she made a sound of disgust. She picked it up and looked at it sadly.
"Caused by stress no doubt."
"Morning Anise," Professor Flitwick greeted as he took the seat to her left. Anise smiled at her gentle, kind colleague despite her own disturbed ramblings. She had taken a liking to him ever since she attended Hogwarts in the early seventies.
"Morning Profess - I mean Filius," she was never good at the trasition from the teacher - student relationship to the colleague relationship.
"Now - is it just me or were you conversing with Severus without arguing?" He asked, obviously about to burst with delight.
She gave him a small smile with flustered eyes, "You obviously didn't catch the dialogue?"
"Afraid not, Professor Trewlaney got a hold of my tea cup. Apparently I was supposed to die last Thursday - pity. I was really hoping to have a pleasant breakfast when both of you attended," Filius joked. She mumbled something incoherently that was distantly resembling the words "Er - sorry," but he couldn't make them out.
In a louder voice she excused herself to her office to correct some papers. Through the fifteenth or sixteenth paper (she had lost count) describing the similarities between the major constellations. Getting bored with herself, Sinistra started to balance her teacher's edition of the Astronomy book on her head. She pushed her thin-wired glasses back in front of her eyes and stood up slowly. She walked to and from the bookshelf and grinned to herself.
"Didn't drop it. Maybe we're not as clumsy as we thought Professor." She took the heavy book off her head and looked to the doorway, "And no unwanted interruptions! Finally - Merlin has granted me a good day."
In celebration of her better-than-usual morning (Anise had even almost forgotten about her rift with Severus this morning) she started reading her favorite book for the fifteenth time. Twirling some hair she sighed happily at the calmness of her life.
Close to noon, she headed off to Hogsmeade in her best cloak. She would be one of the teachers escorting the students there. It was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year and she couldn't have been in a better mood. In a carriage she struck up a conversation with a seventh-year student who shared the same views on her about how corrupted the Ministry was becoming.
Entering the Madam Puddifoot's, she took a seat at the table farthest away from the students. She knew how popular this café was for quick snogs - she had to know considering she presided over the number one midnight rendevous place. She never had used the place for such reasons, but she had the displeasing deed of breaking up some students who were getting a bit "too friendly."
Shaking those disturbing thoughts from her mind she ordered a lemon-flavored tea. Besides some third year girls looking over at her and giggling, nothing else happened to rise her suspicions.
"The calm before the storm?" she asked herself quietly after finishing her beverage. Yawning she stood up and walked towards the dress robes store in hopes of finding a sash for her green dress robes she broke last Christmas. Upon entering she was greeted by a much older woman with the same ginger hair with shrieks.
Slowly opening her mouth Anise said, "Afternoon Mum."
Maude Sinistra grabbed her daughter by the wrist and led her outside, then in an urgent hushed voice, "You have a lot of explaining to do. I really do hope you haven't had eaten yet because I'm treating you to lunch. A very long lunch."
"Oh - sounds great and not life-threatening at all," Anise replied sarcastically, "I am not a child you know. I don't have to tell you everything."
"Stop being cheeky Anise, it's not attractive," the senior Sinistra said annoyed. "Who is he?"
They were approaching a Chinese restaraunt a few stretches of land away from the main street of Hogsmeade. It was quaint with red and gold decor. Anise felt like annoying her mother even more, "The dragon?" she pointed at the dragon head at the top of the restaraunt, "He's a symbolic animal in China that reflects -."
Maude cut her off mid-phrase with an exasperated sigh, "Honestly Anise! Don't give me that rubbish."
Anise mumbled incoherently making faces behind her mother's back.
"Rubbish? What rubbish? I'll have you know you are insulting the Chinese population which happens to make up one-third of the world." She fell silent at her mother's grim, warning look. "Er - I'm shutting up."
"Who is he?" her mother asked in an almost scandalized tone, turning her daughter so that they were facing each other. "The man you've been seeing?"
Anise gave a dry laugh. "The one you and Lux think I've made up?"
"No - the one you obviously haven't made up," Maude replied in a strict tone.
"You care because.. ?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You happen to be my daughter," the purple-clad witch answered, checking her withering appearance in a mirror and then wincing.
Rolling her eyes, Anise replied, "The spinster?"
"The one standing in front of me, are you daft?" Maude accused, her face reddening at the lack of cooperation from her daughter. A small Asian-looking woman seated them at the table closest to the register and asked them with a surprising British-sounding accent,
"Would you like to see the menus?"
"No thank you," the quickly aging woman ordered for the both of them and stared strangely at her daughter as Anise attempted to change the order, failing because her mother, though old, was quick with her tongue. Turning to her middle child Maude reignited her accusations once more,
"Who is he?"
Anise let out a huff. "No one of your concern."
"Oh my god - it's a woman! You are a lesbian!" Maude imposed, putting a hand over her collarbone in false realization.
"Ha. Ha. I am not a lesbian, thank you. I do feel a slight attraction to Celestina Warbeck when she croons that one song about the cauldrons and star-crossed lovers," replied Anise as she took out her chopsticks and started banging them softly on the table.
Annoyance obvious in her voice, her mother stated with a glare, "Stop that."
"Stop what?" Anise asked innocently, increasing the volume of her childish drumming. Maude gritted her teeth,
"That incessant drumming, you imbecile."
"Gosh Mum, that's the new Hallmark card for Mother's Day," the Astronomy educator said, sarcasm overpowering her tone.
Maude flashed a grim smile, "That's funny. Too bad rich men only like attractive women."
Anise's mouth dropped open at the indignance. "Not true!"
"That girl Davis is marrying? She's not a genius, you know," Maude broke apart an egg roll quite violently and then proceeded to light a cigarette, "You could have married him, to think, I would have been related to such a handsome, successful -."
"That's quite enough, Mother," Anise forced out through clenched teeth. The more elegant, poised of the two took a long drag from her cigarette as Anise faked a cough and then glared at the hand in which her mother held it.
"You shouldn't smoke those."
Maude looked at her with an upturned nose, "You've provoked me. So.. who is he?"
"No one," Anise muttered letting out a petty huff.
Her mother raised a wobbly, slender finger and pointed it at her accusingly, "You better give me some details before I call for reinforcements."
"My love life is a battlefield now?" Anise stated incredulously, "Don't waste your ink on contacting Lux. Nothing will break me."
"Why are you so difficult?" Maude asked, infuriated, a deep maroon color appearing on her bony cheeks.
Her daughter smiled sweetly. "I get it from you, Mum."
Maude made a sound resembling a growl - a very proper, lady-like growl. "That's brill Annie, just brill."
"You're proud, I can tell," the younger, less annoyed of the duo replied, taking a sip from her water.
"Stop getting off the subject. What's his name?"
Anise made an invisible zipper on her lips, locked it, and threw away the key. Maude gritted her tobacco-stained teeth even more,
"I don't have time for childish games. I am your mother. I was in labor with you for twenty-two hours. At the least I deserve a name!"
"You were in labor for twenty-two hours with Rini, I only took barely forty-five minutes," Anise said cooly.
Maude raised both eyebrows and tartly replied, "Oh. I still deserve a name, though."
"Martin," Anise stated without hesitation, taking the mutilated egg roll from her mother's plate and popped some of it in her mouth.
The woman's fading ginger hair fell in front of her face, "Really?"
Anise let out a short, "No."
Maude Sinistra made an 'err' sound in frustration. "I should disown you."
"Yes, I believe you should." Anise thanked the woman that delivered their food. She took a dumpling and purposely took long, loud bites out of it.
"I would do it if your father wasn't so attached to the fact that he's still using you for bragging. 'Oh - my daughter is a Professor at Hogwarts. Very prestige you know,' it sickens me," said Maude, a look of disgust rising on her face, "don't do that. Honestly Anise - don't you have any manners?"
Anise shook her head and heard the cute bell jingle in front. She looked at who entered and almost fell out of her chair. She pretended not to notice who it was, but her mother had already spotted the mentioned person and noticed the reaction her daughter had made.
"Pretend I'm not here. Please pretend I'm not here. Just move along and eat your bloody Chinese food. Who knew Snape liked Chinese?"
Author's Note: Sort of short with lots of dialogue 'cause I loved the Maude character, I think she brings out the best in her daughter. I would've updated sooner but I spent the weekend in a nice hotel, bored out of my teenage mind. This chapter wasn't beta-ed because of email display difficulties. My fault or fault - it's all good.