Summer's end

Opening quote

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.
Gail Godwin

And so the summer continued, occasionally sunny and mostly overcast and rainy, just the usual in Forks, Washington, US of A. The unusual inhabitants weren't overly bothered by the weather. What they did, and that they did most of it together, counted for far more than the odd cloud. For now, the clouds in the sky were the only ones they saw, and that happy state of things would remain for a few months longer. The figurative clouds on the horizon not even Alice Cullen could detect yet…

Billy and Nora were setting their table for ten. They'd talked it over with Irene and decided it was time Severus' circle of acquaintances was extended a bit before the schoolyear began in earnest. They'd invited the Swan family to eat with them and then go down to the beach so all the children could run and play without disturbing any neighbors. Not that that happened often on the res. Most families had kids and they tended to spend any sunny days outside in groups of varying sizes. Afternoons were never quiet on the reservation.

Charlie, Renee and Bella arrived at 12:30 on the dot, puncutal as usual. Charlie always made sure of that. He was a conscientious police officer and he was in line for a promotion soon. He always insisted on getting to an appointment in time, to Bella and Renee's annoyance who were more the get-there-in-good-time types especially where private dates were concerned.

Bella ran to the shed immediately, calling for Jacob and Dale. She loved playing with the boys, in spite of the age difference. Jacob was only younger by a year which didn't really matter, considering he was already taller than Bella. Dale however was only 6, but running on his older brother's heel had made him far more mature than his age. He loved Bella and adored her like an older sister he didn't have. They had their spats on occasion and one or the other would be excluded, but this never lasted long. If it threatened their group dynamics in any serious manner, Beth would run interference. With her, age just didn't seem to matter. If Beth put her foot down, that was that. She might have been four years old, but if she wanted them to get along, she might have been four hundred just as well. This particular afternoon was one they'd looked forward to for a while. They hadn't seen each other since that camping trip. Bella's father had been strangely unwilling to go on his usual weekend fishing trips with Billy lately and July had dragged on and on, it had appeared to the children.

In the meantime, the adults were getting acquainted. Irene introduced her grandson to Charlie and Renee and Severus greeted them politely. He doubted that he'd make friends in one of these "matchmaker" situations his family set him up with. He didn't make friends easily, and while he felt respect for Charlie Swan, his wife put him on edge for some reason. He was tense all through lunch. The Blacks served dessert outside, strawberry cake, decorated with those sweet forest berries you found in the small clearings around the res, and icecream which he declined. Renee, Nora and Charlie cleared the table, delegating duties to the children as well. Severus sat on the porch with Irene and Billy, Beth on his lap for reasons of her own he didn't even attempt to figure out. Her head on his shoulder, her fingers twirling a strand of his hair she was silent and he felt her relax, as if he made her feel particularly secure. Yet another undercurrent he chose not to pursue. He knew these tiny things would niggle the back of his mind but for now he could ignore them.

Renee blindly carried dishes and glasses from the table to the counter where Charlie washed while Nora dried and put everything away. In that order they made short work of the messy table. As soon as Renee could safely do so, she excused herself and walked out the back door. She sat on the porch steps and tried to breathe, heart beating to her throat. What was it about this.. what was his name again.. Severus Snape? She'd only met him today but he behaved strangely and smelled weird and she couldn't put her finger on the smell. Wet dog? Did he or Irene have a dog? She shook her head at herself and went back inside before Charlie came looking for her.

On the beach, they sat around the fireplace the campers had built weeks ago and everyone else had continued to use since. Of course the children were off to their own games without delay. Renee was on the verge of telling Bella to be careful, then decided not to. It would only embarrass her and make her more self-conscious. She was accident-prone enough already. As the afternoon turned into a cool evening, the men lit a fire which Renee watched with fascination. The dried salt made the flames burn blue and she noticed Severus watching with the same awed look. "Must be the salt," he finally said, making Irene and the Blacks chuckle. "I keep forgetting that you didn't grow up here, Sev" Billy noted. "Except for your atrocious accent you fit right in here. Even the hair could pass. Just your complexion is a tad off. But then we're not in California, so even that is negligible. Just that accent of yours, and we'll work on that." Severus gave him a haughty look. "Accent? You mean YOUR accent, Billy, don't you? We have no accent in England. It's where the language originates, after all! You have accents and you can't even spell English properly, for heaven's sake. Fall? It's autumn! And lorry. And K-E-R-B, not C-U-R-B!" Before the discussion went offbase, Irene intervened. "I think that American English has developed differently, quite simply put, Severus. It's like a seed from the original tree that's grown and flourished in a different climate and just as the first tree has a right to exist and prosper, so does its offspring. And look at the diversity of poetry and prose both have given us…" The ensuing literary discussion lasted long past dusk and was conducted in a friendly fashion due to Irene mainly who used her years of teaching experience to keep them all in line. Before they collected the kids, they agreed to get together again and bring a favorite book each, to share and discuss as they'd all enjoyed the topic. Severus considered bringing on of Lockhart's books and turned the subsequent laugh into a choked cough. They brought out a side of him he hadn't known he'd enjoy so much, he thought to himself. Humor. So far he'd been only too comfortable with sarcasm, but good old fun had left him cold. Now it warmed him inside out and he smiled. Maybe there were things he could un-learn as time went by. Maybe.

In that vein, August passed and as September began, Severus started spending his days travelling to Forks High in Irene's small car. Of course, he'd considered simply apparating, but he knew that at least in La Push, people tended to be altogether too observant for their own – and his- good. So he drove, using the time to think and mentally prepare for his classes. He'd resolved to remember to give his students homework not defined in parchment rolls or punish them by sending them to the Forbidden Forest. He really needed to be careful to remain undistracted.

Irene took sick very suddenly and as she needed someone to stay with her, Severus missed the first two days of school. By then Nora had come up with a plan that left him free to work and left someone by Irene's side all the time. She'd contracted bronchitis and the doctor was concerned about pneumonia which would have serious consequences at her age. Severus gave Nora a special potion she had to give Irene that complemented the antibiotics the doctor had prescribed. He hoped that she'd be on her feet again soon.

Severus entered the chemistry classroom early to prepare some experiments he wanted to surprise his new students with, to keep them interested in the subject. He was wearing sharply creased grey pants and his favorite dark green shirt with a white lab coat. He'd also tied his longer than usual hair in a neat pony tail collected at the nape of his neck. In the last weeks of the summer, he'd helped Billy and others of the tribe erect a barn and his skin had picked up a bit of a tan. He had thought he'd probably just burn red, peel and return to his usual white teint. But he'd actually tanned. And had no sunburn either. The latter was probably due to Irene's insistence on strong sunguard though. His musings were interrupted by the first students silently filing into the room. As they sat, way in the back, they started talking again. He gave them a look, raised an eyebrow and motioned them to the front. With exasperated sighs they moved their bags to the front and resumed chatting while more teens arrived and got seated. 19 altogether, he noted and consulted his list. Hmmm… Three more were missing. Precisely with the ding of the bell, the door opened and said missing students walked in. Unhurried, they sat down and gave him their undivided attention. They could have been relations of his if their teint was any indication. Also, it occurred to Severus that they had moved with a grace unusual for their age group. As if in response to his thoughts, one of the boys smiled. Severus immediately closed his mind, tuned to such responses from times he'd rather forget. The boy looked annoyed but then smoothed his features as if nothing had happened. Severus kept an eye on him and the other two while he went through the roll call to acquaint himself with names and faces. Cullen, he'd have to remember that. It made sense suddenly as he recalled what Irene had told him about their family. He wondered if they knew who he was. It put him in a good mood and that's how his chemistry class started. To his surprise he enjoyed this non-magical equivalent of Potions far more than he'd anticipated and due to that, so did his students. That was a first at Forks High…

"Severus!" Alicia called, just as he was about to leave the building. He should have cleared the chem lab tomorrow after all, he thought with a sigh. He'd looked forward to spending a quiet evening with Irene, then prepare the pop quiz for tomorrow and get an early night for once. Instead he faced a meeting with the principal. The thought crossed his mind that he spent more times at the principal's office now than he had as a student, and he chuckled as he turned to speak to Alicia. She tentatively returned his involuntary smile. "Severus, I hate bugging you about this but you HAVE TO host a parent teacher evening so they can get to know you a little. You can do it at the diner, they're used to letting our teachers have their separate room for the odd evening. It should be enough if you call them 2 or 3 days ahead and make reservations." He nodded in acquiescence and wished her a nice evening. When he turned to leave, he sorely missed his robes. Flouncing out of the school would have just felt so much better right now. Once more he couldn't help the tiny chuckle escaping him.

As the evening of the parent teacher meet came around, he checked off his mental list. Invitations sent. RSVPs received. Almost all the parents were coming. The diner had agreed to serve refreshments. Alicia would be there to kick the meeting off. Then he sighed. No such meetings at Hogwarts. This felt like an invasion of his privacy. He drove to the diner and sat by himself in the still empty room. He ordered lemonade and tried to prepare for possible questions. Dumbledore's CV was foolproof. And yet. He'd have to try to remember the right version, at least under the intense scrutiny of parents conceivably out to find fault with their children's teacher. The next person to enter the room was Alicia. They greeted each other and made smalltalk until the parents began arriving and subsequently split up to talk to them separately until the meeting started.

At 8 p.m. Alicia introduced Severus officially and gave the parents a basic rundown of his CV, then she graciously bowed out and left. He asked the parents to introduce themselves and tell him which child of theirs he was teaching. About halfway through Webers, Newtons and Carmichaels, he suddenly realised which name he would hear next. And the pale beautiful lady seated almost directly across from him proved him right. "Esmé Cullen, and my niece and nephews are in your class, Mr. Snape. They seem to really appreciate your hands-on approach to chemistry. And so do I. Heaven knows teens' attention spans are about as long as a toddler's and yet you manage to capture theirs." As soon as she had finished speaking, the whole room applauded and Severus found himself at a loss. So he thanked everyone and asked for quiet for the rest of the introductions that he patiently listened to.

It took until 10:20 p.m. for everyone's curiousity about his origins, teaching experience and accent to subside and another 10 minutes until the parents had all paid up and left. Severus sighed in relief and left the diner too. He walked out the door and breathed deeply. Finally, fresh air. Finally, alone again. he thought – just as he realised he wasn't alone. Not quite. "Miz Cullen," he said in surprise. "Is there anything you still need tonight?" As soon as the words had left his lips, he wished he could take them back. They sounded off base, even to him, and he felt his face flushing. Esmé Cullen laughed, the sound light and airy, perfectly suited to the calm September evening. "I just wanted to thank you again, Mr. Snape," she said, overlooking any Freudian lapse he had made. "I do however have one question for you. My nephew mentioned something that caught my interest. He said you read him like an open book and I wondered what else you.. shall we say… read in him?!" Her look had evolved from friendly and open to that of a sharp-eyed eagle honing in on its prey. Severus first thought was that at that moment he had no wish to meet her in a dark alley. He collected himself and looked straight at her when he said, "I know what you are. You and your family. As I have a vested interest in all of you keeping my secret as well, you need not be concerned about my awareness. Does that answer your question to your satisfaction?" Once again, her look changed and she nodded. Now she was just another parent again. But he couldn't forget that dark streak, that face of a predator she had shown him the length of a glimpse into her soul. It didn't dismay him, he knew. It spoke to the panther's core instead. Weren't they supposed to be enemies of sorts? Wasn't he supposed to be disgusted? His mind was in turmoil as he said goodnight and drove home.