Chapter 10

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Lily smiled as she read the letter that she had received with the morning post. She tossed the bedraggled owl that had delivered the missive a bit of dry toast and it gave a muffled hoot of thanks. Meanwhile, she took a triumphant sip of pumpkin juice. Severus, who had gotten up to pour another cup of coffee, leaned over her shoulder to read her letter with a detached curiosity and grimaced.

"Why on earth," he asked, pausing to take a sip of his coffee, "Would you want to work at the Hog's Head?"

Lily laughed, already digging though the side table drawers for a scrap of parchment and a quill with which to write her reply, "Well, why wouldn't I?" she quipped, "It's really quite perfect," she said.

Severus sneered, "What? A perfect place to get food poisoning?"

Lily's smile was sweet, though her reply was tart, "A perfect place to get paid, actually. Aberforth is wants to beat whatever Rosmerta offers by half. Thinks a pretty barmaid would be good for business and he's quite willing to pay."

Severus squirmed a bit, uncomfortable with this sudden feeling of protectiveness, "Do you really want to get mixed up with that sort, Lily?"

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes, "I'm touched by your concern, Severus," she mumbled, a quill now perched between her teeth as she continued her search for parchment. Finding it, she laid both on the tabletop before replying more clearly, "It's perfect because it's so dodgy. You get the sort in there that you don't get in the Three Broomsticks- plus you get fewer of them. You can eavesdrop without too much trouble. It's a good place to keep abreast of things that are in the works."

Severus sighed. He couldn't deny that Lily had probably found the best place to work that she could.

Lily left the rest of her breakfast untouched as she finished penning her response to Aberforth. She then slipped on her trainers for a quick run up to the Owlery to send her reply.

Severus sunk into the depths of his armchair and sighed. For a man who had, for many years, quite enjoyed his solitude, he had to admit that he found Lily's company rather pleasant. He realized that it was only a matter of time until she would move out now. Although he had always known that she would leave before the students descended, he had quite hoped that she would stay on as long as possible- perhaps through August.

He would quite miss the little ways that her presence had impinged upon his life once she was gone; she tried to upset things as little as possible, but, then, there were things that she couldn't help. For instance, a scent, unmistakably her's, had slowly but surely worked its' way into his towels. He smiled…she smelled like apple blossoms.

Her more endearing eccentricities had slowly become expected. Most days, she sang in the shower; usually Muggle jazz. He didn't think that she would ever admit it, but her voice was beautiful.

Then there were the ways that she improved his life as well. On nice days, as many as there were in Scotland, they would take walks around the lake, simply chatting. They were both of a similar intellectual bent and relished the opportunity to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

Or the simple things that they would do together...they would sometimes just take a walk into the village to browse the shops and have a drink. Almost like…

But the idea didn't bear thinking. The mere thought was bizarre. Incestuous, even.

It was then that Lily returned, cheerily informing him that she was going to take a shower. He was about to reply just as he caught a hint of her scent meandering behind her.

Apple blossoms.

Never had Severus Snape thought that he would be stopped for words by a simple scent. He heard the streams of water hiss forth from the shower head and the opening bars of an Ella Fitzgerald song swell above the droning sound of water on stone.

Severus put aside his coffee, now cold, and walked to the liquor cabinet, grabbing a bottle of scotch with more force than was strictly necessary. Fuck waiting for noon, Severus Snape needed a drink.