Unbidden Memories
by lalaluu
Author Note: Standard Disclaimer Applies. Please note that I have now read through Book 6. Obviously, this story is completely AU, but I hope you're enjoying it anyway. Thanks to all who reviewed. If you'd like a response, please sign-in before reviewing. Thanks to my beta, cecelle.
Chapter 27
The Re'em Ranch
"Buckle up."
Severus wished, not for the first time, that Apparition to their destination were possible; however, Re'em herds were protected nearly as well as Hogwarts. Apparition was not possible within a large radius of the Abernathys' house. He sighed as he pulled the seatbelt across his chest. As the buckle clicked, he remembered why he wasn't looking forward to this. He'd almost rather be subjected to the Cruciatus curse. It didn't help that the last time he'd been in an automobile, Lupin had been driving. The mild-mannered man had been practically run over by the traffic on the M-60.
As they exited the airport, Severus could tell that the Albuquerque interstate would prove just as formidable. Emmaline seemed to be up to the task, however, weaving in and out of traffic. They finally made it out of town, heading south towards the border. They were both able to relax, and he ventured to ask, "That was your office?"
She laughed. 'Yes. Not much, I know, but I don't need anything fancy."
Severus smirked. "Of course not." After a pause, he asked curiously, "What exactly are all the cupboards for?" The office walls were covered with cabinets, drawers, and cubby holes, the center of the room taken up by two desks.
"Oh, they hold a lot of 'failed' experiments. Just in case we decide they or the parts can be useful. You never know what the client may find useful or have a need for."
"I really expected something more modern and less…"
"Military cast-off?" She smirked, "It used to belong to a Muggle defense contractor. So when my boss bought it, we only needed to add charms and wards." After a comfortable silence, she admitted, "I've gotten familiar with your life, and now you'll be able to learn about mine here in the States."
"Yes. I am looking forward to it, too," he admitted.
She smiled at him, then turned her attention back to the road. Severus kept his attention on her, however. He couldn't help but note how small her hands looked on the steering wheel, how soft and moist her lips were, how much he'd love to get his hands within the warmth of her coat and around her waist, how long her legs… He blinked. Damn. Shouldn't let my imagination run away… He grimaced.
Somehow she noticed and put her hand on his arm. "I know. It's a rough road. We still have three hours to go."
Great. Three hours to go. It wouldn't be so bad if I could keep my mind off her. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Why don't we stop for a bit? I could use something to drink."
At the gas station, he got out to walk around a bit, glad for the cold. The wind bit at his face, whipping his hair around and freezing his ears as well.
Back in the car, he asked her to turn down the heat. As if that was really his problem. He was smitten…and desperate. He'd admit that. Months of memories had left him a sentimental, horny mess. Ugh. And he had yet to consult Albus to make sure his memories were still wrapped up tightly. As if it mattered now. He suspected that the spell was still in place, since he hadn't had any troublesome memories pop up to interfere with his life; however, the emotions he experienced around his captivating former lover were unimpeded and often painful since he did not feel he could act upon them. That was another problem unto itself. If Emmaline wouldn't stop pushing him away… He had to find out why she was reluctant. Was there someone else in her life already? The amused way Andrew acted when Severus would pull her chair out for her at meals or offer his arm to her on walks around the lake made him think that wasn't the case. However, one never did know…
He stole a glance at her. She was paying attention to the road; he hated to interrupt her, but he couldn't be left alone with his thoughts. They'd be stopping every five minutes at that rate.
"Tell me about Kenneth." He was genuinely curious. They worked together and appeared to be close. He had seemed concerned about Andrew's happiness, too. A small – very small – part of him feared that perhaps they were not just coworkers.
"Let's see… We've been partners for a little over ten years. I'm more of the 'up front' person – figuring out what our clients need, getting materials together, talking to our technical assembly team – whereas Kenneth is the 'follow-up' person. He gets out in the field with the product, walks the client through its use, and works out the kinks."
Severus shook his head. "I still can't believe that such an operation exists."
She laughed. "And I can't believe you're a professor."
He raised an eyebrow defiantly. "You can't picture me teaching?"
Frowning, she amended, "No, you've always been knowledgeable. I just can't picture you being an effective teacher."
"I've taught at Hogwarts for nearly eighteen years…"
"I'm sure they've been happy to have you, but I find it hard to imagine you answering students' questions patiently."
"I manage."
"Severus," she laughed, "both Andrew and Draco have filled me in on your teaching style." She shook her head. "You really should only be teaching advanced classes."
"Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury," he gritted, a bit hurt at her light-hearted treatment of the subject.
"With your experience," she shook her head as if it was a great shame, "you shouldn't have to teach first and second-years."
He smirked, feeling appeased. "I completely agree. However, it is good experience for them. They shouldn't be babied all the time. Real life isn't as forgiving."
"That's very true," she somberly agreed.
He chanced a glance at her, noticing her sad expression. He suddenly realized that he knew so little about her life after she left him. His thoughts turned to Andrew – the son she had raised. The boy had captured his interest right away; he had been keen to follow Andrew's career beyond Hogwarts even before he figured out that he and Emmaline were related. What was it about Andrew that he admired? The way he had handled the Laxo Excrucio potion spoke volumes. Andrew's concern was not for personal glory - Severus doubted he had even thought of it - but for the well-being of his fellow wizard. That streak of humanitarianism came straight from his mother. However, she was much more direct in her speaking than Andrew. The teenage boy reminded him a lot of Albus Dumbledore. The old man was infuriating at times, because one never knew what he was really thinking. Andrew possessed a certain restraint that belied his thought process. One minute you were certain that the sanguine young man was on your side, the next he was assuredly and convincingly presenting a different point of view which he had been harboring the whole time. Severus shook his head slightly. It certainly was amusing to watch the young man in action. His eyes clouded over at the thought of such talent and enthusiasm going to waste in an organization such as the Dark Lord's. He wished that he could share his experiences with both Andrew and Draco, so that they could make their own choices based on truth – however relative. It was not, however, a role that he could bring himself to fulfill. He may have been Draco's godfather, but the boy's father was insisting on the initiation. As for Andrew…he was nothing to Andrew. It was Emmaline's call.
He looked morosely out the passenger window at the desert. The wan mid-day sun's feeble light barely illuminated the desert pavement. Severus had been lost in his thoughts for most of the journey, but was jolted out of them when they reached a bumpy dirt road. He clutched the seat, his jaw clenched, as he vibrated along with the vehicle down the empty road. They finally pulled up in front of a farmhouse with a large wrap-around porch. The front door was flung open, and a woman with dark chestnut hair, streaked with gray, ambled over to them, wiping her hands on the apron tied about her waist. "You're here!" she exclaimed as Emmaline jumped down from the jeep. "Give me a hug!" she demanded, flinging her arms wide. Emmaline chuckled and gave the older woman a huge bear hug.
Severus emerged from the other side of the car, noting that he could have mistaken this woman for Molly Weasley, had it not been for the hair color and harsh southern accent.
"Goodness, child! You've gotten so thin!"
Emmaline laughed. "Annie, you're too kind!"
"Y'all come right on in where it's warm, why don't ya? I'm settin' about cookin' supper. I'll have to get Joe to show you 'round the place while I finish up."
"How've you been, Annie?"
"Oh, up and down," she answered, ushering them inside. "Coffee?"
Emmaline shook her head. "Neither of us are coffee drinkers, Annie. Hot tea would be nice, though."
Annie paused as if seeing the pale, black-haired man for the first time. "O'course, you Englishmen all take your tea hot, don't cha?"
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, inclining his head.
Annie set about putting the kettle on, and shortly, the kitchen door opened to admit a grey-haired, short, and slightly stooped man.
"Joe…" Emmaline greeted him warmly.
"Well, well, well…there you are, girly," he smiled, accepting a firm hug. "This 'ere must be one of them Order members you've got with you," he said, pronouncing Order with a short "a" sound as in "harder."
"Yes," Emmaline drew Severus to her side. "This is Severus Snape. He's a professor at Hogwarts."
"Oh! Hogwarts, eh? Heard good things about that school…didn't we, Annie?" Joe looked over at his wife who was setting two mugs on the table.
"Yes, yes! And Andrew's going there now, isn't he? I swear we knew that boy would go far…didn't we, Joe?"
"That's right."
"I'm just making 'em some tea before you show them 'round the place. Sit a spell, an' I'll get you a cup of coffee."
They all sat at the kitchen table, Joe making appreciative noises upon being able to get off his feet.
"Tell me, Joe," Emmaline began, setting down her cup of tea, "how is the Re'em raising business, really? Kenneth and I have heard things…but, you know what they say, best to get it from the horse's mouth."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…well, I'll tell you. It's not going so well. Drought's been bad this year. We ain't got any rain in…well, I'd say nine months or about."
"Is that usual for this part of the world?" inquired Severus.
"Well, in '92, we had a hell of a dry summer. But," he sighed and blew his nose with a handkerchief pulled from one of his pockets, "we got rain that winter. We went six months without a drop and then made it up with three inches in one day. That was in January. We ain't had rain since March and it's almos' March again!"
"How about your well?" Emmaline quietly asked.
Annie, who had been quiet throughout her husband's rant, shook her head. "It's about gone dry. The engineers that's been out to the house to look at it say the next groundwater's down about three hundred more feet. They could dig the one we got down farther, but it wouldn't do no good. We don't have the power to get the water up from that deep."
"What method do you use now?" Severus asked, his curiousity piqued by the foreign problem.
"Windmill," said Joe. "Down near the south border of our property."
"Could you add another windmill?"
The elderly couple looked at each other. Joe shook his head. "Just not feasible right now, I'm afraid."
Emmaline nodded slowly, understanding that it was more an issue of money than ability.
"Why don't you show these young'uns the place while I finish up in here," Annie nudged her husband. Joe stood, somewhat reluctantly, and motioned them outside.
Severus stood thoughtfully assessing the barn in which he was standing. It reeked, it was filthy, and it had seen better days fifty years ago. He allowed Joe's voice to drift past him; too much time spent listening to that man's speech was not good for his headache. Emmaline, however, seemed to be genuinely concerned over the old man's difficulty with his business. If he had been the one asking relevant questions and exclaiming consolingly when appropriate, he would, of course, be trying to ingratiate himself to the owner of the Re'em herd. Severus was pretty sure that she, however, was genuinely sincere – at least for the most part.
"This 'ere's the birthin' pen. We only keep 'em in here when they cain't stand innymore."
"How many births are you averaging per year?"
"Three or four… They don't all survive the droughts, though."
Emmaline nodded solemnly. "Everything needs water to survive."
"Yep." Joe shook his head sadly. "Seems like all us ranchers – magic and Muggle alike – been having a hard time lately. Well…the past five years or so…been pretty bad."
"C'mon, Joe. Let's hop in the jeep and go take a look at the herd."
The old man's face lit up. "Sounds good, but we'll need a silencin' spell on the thing to keep from spookin' 'em."
"I don't think that will be a problem," Severus said boredly. He saw nothing pretty about this arid, desolate land. He'd take the neat, green fields of England or the rugged, evergreen slopes of Scotland any day.
They crested the top of a small butte after zigzagging their way up. Severus thought it was worse than taking a Portkey. At least magic was able to defy gravity and G-forces.
"Thar it is," Joe whispered, still afraid of disturbing the herd accidentally.
Severus peeked out of the window to observe a small herd of large beasts. They almost blended into the landscape; he could see why it was advantageous for the magical community to raise the creatures out here. Their dark golden coats were perfect camouflage in this geological setting. The herd appeared to be settling in for the night, gathered around a withered, stunted tree.
Emmaline sighed, and Severus turned his attention to her. "It's so peaceful," she murmured. Severus agreed, but still wished he wasn't in the back of a Muggle contraption in the cold and in the middle of nowhere. If he had his druthers, he'd be back at Hogwarts, feet propped up in front of the fire with a good book and perhaps a small snifter of brandy.
"It's getting late," Severus noted as the sun slipped low enough to barely be seen over the horizon. "Perhaps we should head back."
Emmaline nodded, and they bumped back down the faint trail.
Supper that night was subdued. The adults mainly talked about Andrew with occasional questions about Emmaline's business cropping up.
"Emmaline told me," Severus spoke into a lengthening silence, glancing once at the honey-haired vixen, "you've been friends with her family for quite some time."
"Tha's right," Joe nodded, stirring gravy into his second helping of mashed potatoes. "Knew 'er since before we came out here."
"Joe worked for one of our suppliers back in the early days of my job."
"She was jus' learnin' the ropes, so to speak…caught on real quick," he winked.
"Brought Andrew 'round a lot, too," remarked Annie. "I think she wanted to get him out of the city for a bit." The two women smiled at each other over the hearty feast laid out on the table.
"That's true," Emmaline replied, wiping her mouth with the corner of her napkin. "I grew up in the country and used to ramble around – looking for trouble, my mother always said." Pain flashed across her face before she continued, "Joe and Annie ran a farm for their employer – out in the backwoods of the Carolinas – and it supplied a whole lot of people with magical animals."
"Course, we had some non-magical animals, too. People seemed to think opossum teeth were a good aphrodisiac – didn't matter how many times you'd tell 'em even the Muggles didn't think they had any use." Polite laughter followed his joke. "But," he sighed dramatically, "we still made money off of it, and that's what counted, I guess." Joe shrugged, conveying that it wasn't exactly his priority.
Emmaline helped Annie clean up, and Joe made his excuses to turn in for the night. "Sorry not to be a better host, but I gotta get up with the sun…and go to bed with it, too." He winked at Severus and disappeared down a narrow hall towards the northern end of the house.
