Better Than This
by ebonyquill
Disclaimer: (desperate sigh) You know.
Author's Note: Life got in the way, aw, what a nasty little bugger. I hope I still have, like, two readers. Haha.Everyone is so consistent with their reviews. That makes me happy. Mark Darcy (You're like my grammar fairy, I love it. : And I have heard of Cary Grant, do not fret! . . . I just haven't seen his movies, gah.), bri007, elvencherry07, Joelpup62 (In the Unknowable Room LJ group, they asked what our most memorable review was. . and I immediately thought about your 'you can come over to my house and use my computer' comment.. it made me laugh. :) CitizenofLilliput, sphinx12, and TheOnyxEyedLady.
Previously
Anise sighed heavily and lingered in the doorway of her room. Andrew, the annoying, stupid boyfriend of her younger sister or Severus, the pleasant enough, intelligent colleague of hers. And tomorrow was Davis' wedding. Immediately, Anise started thinking up warplans in which she could possible kill five birds with one stone. Unfortunately for her, she was always a passive person.
Instead she went into the bathroom and took a long, steamed shower for twenty five minutes like a coward, postponing the 'war'. She sighed heavily as she dried off her hair and picked up a stick of mascara that she was going to apply to her left, then right eye. She paused, the mascara inches from her eye. She groaned softly. "Well Anise, it's time to apply the war paint."
"You remind me of a duck."
Anise stared at Severus dully. "Excuse me?"
"You quack too much, you walk funny, and you can't fly, you can only float for about five seconds before crying that you don't want to be on the stupid Muggle ferris wheel," Severus replied in a matter-of-factly tone, glancing at her from behind his issue of the Daily Prophet.
Anise laughed nervously. Andrew had been staring down Severus' paper all morning, "So your way to a woman's heart is to insult her?"
"Indeed," Severus drawled.
"Isn't it flowers and chocolate?" Andrew asked and when Lux smiled triumphantly, he started grinning smugly.
Severus rolled his eyes and only Rini, who had a sideview of him, could see it, causing her to laugh loudly. "Flowers mean I'm sorry and chocolate means I love you, but it's horribly tacky, isn't it?"
"I know that," the other man said rudely.
Anise paused her spoon of cereal midway in the air. Andrew had given Lux a lot of flowers. After Rini had finished laughing, she too, realized what that meant. Anise quickly glanced at her sister's face which was permanently attached to Andrew's face as they started their early snog. "Gross - get a room, ew."
"At least we have our clothes on," Lux snapped.
This comment made Snape's face become a deep, sickly red. "I just ate, thanks."
"I think I'll stop eating. Maybe develop an eating disorder for a week just because of that comment," Rini said, dropping her bagel instantly and looking at it as if it carried some contagious disease.
Anise had kept quiet, she was quite skeptical at the time. She would take a sideglance towards Andrew's direction who in turn, was not looking at her. Anise strictly made sure that Severus did not start any verbal attacks on him as long as she was around. To everyone's advantage, neither Sinistra parent thought anything of the little rift that had developed between Severus and Andrew in the few short hours they had known each other.
Lux threw a steely glaze towards her sister before returning to her utterly revolting snogfest with Andrew.
"Wow . . . some things are worse than death," Rini's husband whispered into his tea cup and when he caught Anise's eye, gave her a hearty, pitying sort of smile. He had never been one to crack jokes, but he always did have perfect timing.
Anise cracked a broken grin right back at him and continued to try and ease the situation, "Lux, would you stop bruising Andrew's lips to eat some breakfast? Merlin. . " Then again, Anise was never good at easing situations.
Lux parted her lips and narrowed her eyes. In a shrill tone, she replied, "Fine then!" And with this, the youngest of the Sinistra sisters marched upstairs with Andrew following her hungrily.
"Rini, have we ever been religious?" Anise turned to her sister.
The elder of the two paused. "We went to a wedding in one of those chapels once. Does that count?"
"I really hope it does," Anise dropped everything, bowed her head, and folded her hands, "Dear God, if you have any compassion, please smite my younger sister the best way you can. Let my mother, Maude Sinistra, catch them in an unholy act. Men. I mean, Amen."
"That was beautiful, Anise," Severus commented, rolling his eyes.
No longer than a few seconds later did everyone hear a loud cry from the creature that was Maude Sinistra. Rini exaggerated her wince for dramatic effect. "And right about now, Lux is wishing she was never born."
"Anyone else feel like this is getting to be an old joke in this household?" Severus asked, starting to stand up.
Rini laughed. "I've been saying that since I was in Hogwarts. Oh dear, we should hurry Anise, we're getting our hair and nails done in two hours. I'm so excited!"
Professor Sinistra unenthusiastically twirled a finger, letting out a weak, "Woo."
"Oh come on then, it won't be that bad," Rini encouraged, affectionately poking her younger sister's forearm.
"I beg to differ," Severus said, "What's the point of it all anyway? Your nails will chip and your hair will probably get some wedding cake icing in it, knowing your luck, Anise."
". . . Severus darling, have you been a drag queen in a past life?" Anise asked skeptically with one fine eyebrow raised.
"One can only hope not," he replied, starting up the stairs. Maude had stopped shouting and the house was still again.
---
"I don't like Andrew," Rini said angrily.
Anise looked up from her fashion magazine, "You've said that."
"Well - I can't emphasize it much more, can I?" Rini looked down at the girl who was doing her pedicure, "Oh, that is a pretty shade of pearl water pink! Thank you so much for recommending it!" And in an instant, Rini went back to whining about Andrew, "He's so . . so . . so dirty-looking! And he has no sense of commitment or integrity, either!"
Anise hummed in agreeance as her sister ranted on and on.
"Severus."
"What?" Anise looked up. She had lost track of what her sister was saying.
Rini tilted her head slightly to the right. "I thought that would get your attention. ."
Anise turned back to her magazine and laughed. "What makes you say that?"
"I really, really, really enjoy Severus' company."
"And your point is. .?" Anise asked impatiently.
Rini sighed. "Well I just wish that this wedding was farther away so I could get to know him better. He's such a nice bloke. - Don't give me that look. - He really is. It's such a pity that he enters and then leaves our lives as fast as lightning."
"Don't be selfish, Rini," Anise taunted sarcastically.
Rini breathed heavily. "Really. You think I'm the one being selfish? Look who's talking."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Rini," Anise said, emphasizing her displeasure in this particular subject.
"Someone's going down the Nile," the older of the two said in a matter-of-factly way as the younger girl pouted in her seat.
---
"It's too curly."
"Rini, it's fine. It looks brilliant," Anise reassured.
"I told her I wanted loose curls like yours!" Rini distressed, holding strands of her hair in her hand with an upset look on her face.
"It's perfect, don't worry, you have no one to impress. You don't need to steal any more hearts, love," Rini's husband embraced her from behind and planted a kiss on her exposed neck.
Anise smiled happily as she applied on her lipstick. They were such an adorable couple and it helped that Rini's husband had immaculate good timing because Rini smiled instantly and everything was well.
"Anise - you got something in the post!" Lux shouted from the other room. In a quick moment, chaos ensued. An owl flew into the bathroom and started hooting and flying around uncontrollably. Feathers flew and tempers flared as Anise took the letter from the owl's leg. Once Rini chased the bird out of the bathroom, Anise went into her room to fetch her shoes. After finding them, she opened the letter.
Anise,
One of the students who came back from holiday early told me the strangest story. You were dress shopping with some questionable company, so to speak? Severus Snape? As in the Severus Snape that you've hated ever since you've started teaching at the school. I knew it wasn't true.. but I can't help but wonder. How are your holidays going, anyway? I can't wait to see you back at Hogwarts!
Minerva
"Shit."
"Is a naughty word," Severus entered the room a mess. His collar was half-bent, the hem of his dress robes were fraying, and his hair seemed messier and lumpier at the back than at the front.
Anise looked at him, "What happened to you?"
"You always get the crazy owls. I wonder why," Severus rolled his eyes, "They seem to be attracted to stupidity."
"Ha. Ha. Very funny," Anise rolled her eyes as well.
"What is shit, by the way?" Severus asked. The curse word seemed so foreign to his tongue. He barely used them around anyone else, just silently to himself when something went wrong. A lot of things have gone wrong for Severus Snape.
"Word has gotten to Hogwarts," Anise said sickly.
Severus looked as if the Knight Bus had hit him. ". . excuse me?"
"The student we saw in Madam Malkin's. He's spread rumors. It's spread so far that even Minerva knows!" Anise cried in distress.
"Deny it," Severus said without missing a beat.
"What?" Anise looked at him strangely.
Severus started playing with his pockets. "A trick I learned from my mother. ."
Anise tried her hardest not to chuckle. "Cute. I'll just scribble something down like, 'we weren't there together, we just saw each other,' yeah?"
"Oh, we're playing that card, are we? Very well, then," Severus said, trying to fix his hair.
"I wasn't aware that life was a game of poker?" Anise replied, raising an eyebrow. She went to Severus' side, taking a comb out of her dresser and starting to smoothen out Severus' hair.
"What are you doing?" he asked, alarmed.
Anise laughed. "Making sure you don't look like an animal."
Anise was so dangerously close to Severus that the Potions professor could feel her soft breath on the back of his neck. Anise smoothened the rest of his hair with her long fingers as Severus tried to think of something else.
"Done," Anise said quietly as that one syllable word transformed into a breath of air on Severus' neck, causing the hairs on the nape of his neck to rise. "You look quite pretty," she joked.
"I try, I really do," Severus said, quickly getting out of Anise's grasp. "I have to finish. I'll meet you downstairs."
"Yeah," Anise replied, "I'll see you there. Downstairs, I mean." And with that, Anise left the room to write down a reply to her dear friend, the McGonagall.
Minerva,
It's funny you should mention that because I did see Severus there. We exchanged a few harsh words, but I managed to leave the scene unscatched. Strange how children exaggerate everything, isn't it? My holidays have been absolutely blissful and I truly hope yours are going the same way! Have a wonderful holiday, well, what's left of it!
- Anise
"Sounds good," Anise told herself aloud, as she sent it off with her mother's owl who was being quite difficult with her.
"What?" Andrew shot her a steely gaze. "Being Mrs. Death Eater?"
"That was uncalled for," Anise said just as cooly.
"I know that he's on that side," he spat.
"Oh," Anise said cruely, "Been socializing with him during the Death Eater meetings, have you Andrew?"
Andrew made a rude gesture with his hands. "I would never join that scum."
"So you and Severus have something in common?"
They both glared daggers at each other. The problem with this, is that no one can win a fight with broken knives. Anise gripped the edges of her chair angrily, fearing for Andrew's safety if he angered her.
"You are so naive."
Anise's eyes widened. "Excuse me? I'm naive? At least I'm not daft like you!" It was a horrible comeback, but Anise didn't want to waste her breath. She had too many things to worry about today. She stood up and started to step outside into the snow, waiting for her grown pumpkin, mutated mice, and Prince Charming.
Anise got into the carriage and sat back as Severus took the seat across from her. "You clean up quite nicely, Snape."
"Likewise, Sinistra," Severus complimented without looking at her. "Is it a garden wedding?"
"Don't be daft. It's winter," Anise snapped opening her small purse to take out her compact.
Severus rose an eyebrow. "What's the matter?"
"I don't feel well. I hate weddings," Anise said, powdering her nose.
"So you're going to be pissy on your own wedding day, considering you find a man who can stand you?" Severus meant to say in a joking matter.
"Excuse me?" Anise asked angrily. "Are you saying I'm going to be a spinster my whole life? That I'm incapable of finding a suitable husband? That I'm not good enough?"
"You know I didn't mean it like that," Severus tried to recover from his fallout, debating with himself whether he should put an encouraging hand on Anise's arm like those muggles in those stupid romantic movies did.
"Well then, what the bloody hell did you intend to say, Severus?" Anise demanded in her most icy tone.
"Anise. . . really, what is the matter with you?" Severus asked slowly, "One moment, you can laugh anything off. The next, you blow your bloody head off over the stupidest things! You're like a bloody time bomb and I'm always the one on the bad timing because coincidentally I'm always around you! You seem to go out of your way to make my life more complicated then it already is!"
"Oh really? And how would your life be so complicated? The students hate you? You've known that for. . hm, forever. Your mother was an international pop singer? Poor little rich boy. You're not married? That's not too hard, just ask the next lady that walks by! So tell me, Severus Snape, why is your life so complicated, as you claim," Anise snapped. Her patience was growing short and her conscience becoming weary.
Severus opened his mouth for a long five seconds, before closing it, and looking away, "Never mind. You're right. You're always right," he spat spitefully. He rested his arm on the edge of the carriage and looked outside. Snow was falling right outside his window.
Anise felt very confused and awful after this point. She had never meant to be that cruel to him. She was just a bit annoyed by the way he had been acting towards Andrew and the way Andrew had been acting towards him. She tore off a piece of a pumpkin pastry she had kept tucked away in her coat and popped into her mouth, chewing on it quietly. She looked out the opposite window and found that snow was falling on her side as well. At least they still had something in common. . .
OOMPH. The carriage had stopped, but Anise, who had found her center of peace at one point during the carriage ride, had not been forewarned. The inertia of the stop had surprise Anise that somehow she had fallen to the opposite side of the carriage and then to the floor of the carriage. She was rubbing her shoulder with a seemingly permanent scowl on her face.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked, finally talking to her, forgetting their previous fight. He helped her off of the carriage floor, putting a hand under her underarm and pulling her up.
Anise coughed. "Fine - the bloody pumpkin pastry just lodged itself into my throat."
The man driving the carriage had the nerve to chuckle and Anise stared cooly in his direction. Severus rose an eyebrow, "You won't have fun if you can't laugh at yourself, Sinistra."
Anise immediately relaxed her face muscles and lightened her eyes. She cautiously laughed before brushing her dress off. Severus smiled at this and got off the carriage, outstreching his arm in Anise's direction.
"Shall we?" he asked in a very well-mannered fashion.
Anise looked at the hand skeptically for a moment, before grinning. "We shall."
Other people had started arriving to Davis' wedding and the streets were filled with fancy old-fashioned rides. Most people looked a bit dizzy from Apparating, while others were swearing, trying to brush off Floo Powder from their expensive clothes. Anise looked around as Severus led them to the entrance. She immediately spotted her older sister who was chatting happily with the guests. Rini was always a good people person. Anise waved to her, who waved enthusiastically back when she finally noticed them.
"Anise - you look beautiful!" Maureen Thomas beamed. Maureen was an old friend of Rini's and she had always been kind to Anise.
Professor Sinistra smiled, "Thank you, you look quite gorgeous, as well."
"You're only saying that," Maureen scolded, then laughed, "But as long as you're telling me. . I do look quite lovely today," she pleasantly looked to Anise's right. "Hello - I don't believe we've met. Maureen Thomas."
"Pleasure. Severus Snape," he replied as he bowed and briefly brushed his lips on Maureen's hand, causing her to giggle.
When Severus laughed charmingly as well, Anise tried her best to smile to keep up with the jesting. Her smallest smile twitched and she looked at her sister who was staring at her very strangely. When both sisters met eyes, Anise looked away, forcing on her best toothy smile. Rini was not stupid. She had seen it. She had noticed. That look, the same look she had given that awful Kacee Morteno when she started flirting with her boyfriend. . who had become her husband.
Trying to blow the whole thing over, Anise said cheerfully, "So, where are the bride and groom? If I'm out here any longer, my nose will turn an unflattering shade of blue."
Author's Note: If you didn't notice. . I forgot Rini's husband's first name. Oops. So sorry. . I hope some of you are still interested. Let's just say. . 'high school, loss of family, blah, the end.' Have a nice day.
Teaser Notes
- The wedding!
- More Andrew/Severus drama.
- The wedding reception! (Part one of two parts, maybe, unless I can cram it all into one part.)
