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Solicit

England, Spinner's End near Baslow in Derbyshire

December 23rd, 1814

My butler stood framed in the doorway of my laboratory and calmly announced a visitor. I frowned; no one knew I was in residence; my quick visit to Spinner's End was simply an errand before the celebrations of tomorrow: Christmas Eve.

"Thank you, Austen. I'll receive in my study." I left my concoction under stasis and stepped into the light-filled room that housed my massive desk and a paltry number of my books.

"Severus." I stiffened as a soft voice I hadn't heard in years filled my sanctuary.

My dark eyes met brilliant green. "Lady Potter," I said flatly. "What a surprise."

She tried to smile, smoothing manicured hands over an opulently embroidered dress. "Is it? I've missed you, Severus." She tried to smile again but her discomfort was palatable.

"What is it, Lady Potter? What have you come for?" I stood behind the escritoire, shamelessly reduced to using furniture as a buffer.

She fidgeted, glancing at the chairs I had not invited her to sit in. "Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

She leaned forward slightly and I realized that the bust of her gown was startlingly low. She made a move to come around the desk but my forbidding look stopped her. Whatever courage she had gathered around herself to come here was fading rapidly.

"Sit down, Lady Potter." I sat in my desk chair. "I'll only repeat myself once: Why are you here?"

She couldn't meet my eyes and I took a moment to study her. Her face was tired and there were dark circles under her eyes. She seemed to have aged ten years since I had last seen her. She bit her lip and I saw a flash of the girl I had known: Lily.

I relented and summoned a tea tray with a sigh and flick of my wand. "Lady Potter?" I murmured, passing her a teacup.

"I've… I've come to ask you… for a favor." She began haltingly. I waited. "James has… made a few unsound investments and…" She took a long sip of tea.

"You want money." My voice was bitterly cold.

She shivered slightly. She set the cup down and touched the edge of her bodice. "I have come prepared to bargain."

I was up from the desk like a shot, staring out of the windows over the snow-covered gardens I hoped to bring my new wife home to in less than a month. "Does Lord Potter know you are here?" I braced myself again the window frame.

I heard her shuddering breath behind me. "Yes." Her voice was small.

I felt physically sick.

"Lily," I whispered. "Don't do this."

"Please," I heard her rise from the chair. "You wanted me once."

A thick, choking sound left my lips and I realized it was supposed to be laughter. "Lady Potter, go home. Tell your husband to stop gambling; do whatever you must, but do not ever trespass in my home again. Please show yourself out."

Oh, I have an axe to grind with James Potter.

I am shamelessly using Chatsworth House (the home Pemberley from Pride and Prejudice is thought to be modeled after and the estate used in the 2005 film adaption) as a model for Spinner's End.

Edited for grammar, capitalization & spelling on March 18th, 2013 [courtesy of renaid, who loves commas. Or as she would say (because she's saying it right now), she loves the proper use of commas].

Edited for spelling on March 19th, 2013 [via worrywart, sorry it took so long. Thank you!]

Edited for formatting and author's notes March 3rd, 2015.