Chapter 21 – in which there is shopping
Snape slept restlessly that night. He had liked the feeling of doing something spontaneously, from when he apologised to her. And the way she had smiled . . . surely that meant . . .?
But still he could not tell her. Maybe later.
The next day, he woke up with a start. One more day . . . and he still needed to buy some blasted dress robes. He owled Draco.
"Draco,
What robes would be appropriate to your wedding tomorrow?
Severus Snape"
After writing this brief missive, he made himself some coffee. The reply arrived quickly, at the same time as the Daily Prophet.
"Severus!
It's nice to see that you are putting some thought into what the bridesmaid would appreciate, but I can't really help. Just wondering – are you planning to vary from the usual black? (Not that black isn't good, of course . . .)
Draco Malfoy"
'Well,' he thought grumpily, 'That was helpful.'
Instead of conjuring robes, he now had to go to Madam Malkin's and buy some. What fun. He pulled on a dressing gown, and whiled away the time until the Breakfast Hall opened – he always rose early – by marking a few essays. He was glad to see that his . . . preoccupation with Hermione hadn't affected his marking skills. He was so absorbed with criticising an essay that he forgot about breakfast. By the time that he had showered and dressed, the Hall was empty, and he skipped breakfast and went straight to Diagon Alley.
He knew that Hermione would be there, and found that he was taking detours around Gloria's Gowns on the offchance of seeing her. Eventually he found he couldn't put off buying robes any longer, and so he strode into Madam Malkin's. The daughter of Mrs Malkin, who was now in early retirement due to stress incurred by rowdy pupils, rushed up. He was the first customer of the day, which suited him.
"Oh, Mr . . .?"
"Snape"
"Snape? Well, Mr Snape, what can I do for you?"
"I'd like dress robes."
She raised her eyebrows.
"What's the occasion?"
"A wedding. I have been press-ganged into the post of Best Man."
Why was he indulging in conversation? No matter . . .
"Oh," she chuckled. "I'm sure that it can't be that bad. What colour do you prefer?"
"Madam, here you are the expert. What colour do you believe would suit?"
She blushed. Blushed! Had he made her blush, he wondered? What was this? He was supposed to make people cringe in fear, not be charmed! But there was, after all, more than one way to earn respect. Perhaps it was better to be feared than hated, but surely it was also better to charm into submission than to terrorise into such?
"Mr Snape, black looks good on you, certainly," she smiled, "but should we try a range of other colours?"
"That would be acceptable"
Eventually, and perhaps predictably, a black set of robes was decided on, though it had burgundy trim, cuffs, and burgundy silk lining.
"Thankyou," said Snape, and he left the shop with his new robes in a bag, which did, he noted while trying them on, billow pleasantly.
He continued down the alley, stopping at a café for some breakfast. As he was eating his sandwich and reading the Prophet, which he had brought with him, he thought that he saw a flash of thick brown hair, and Ginny's flaming red head as they walked down the road. He stood and craned his neck, but just couldn't see them. He sat down again. Why had he even stood in the first place? He finished his food, and walked down to the Apparition point, where he returned to school.
He spent the rest of the day marking essays and researching more potions, whilst thinking of Hermione the whole time. Annoyingly.
Okay, this is waaay too short. But don't worry. An update is coming withing the next few days. And it shall, I promise, be longer. Thanks for reviews, they make me smile! --HINT-- . Love you all.