A/N: Happy Easter Weekend to everyone! I hope it is restful for you all, and if you have a moment, I hope you get a chance to read and review this story. Thank you so much! Enjoy!
Chapter 35: Before The Snow Flies
Severus Snape descended the staircase to his foyer, in the great hall of his manner house, dressed very dapper in a suit and tie, to find Rocco Pairywhether and his two sons waiting at the door for him to arrive for their outing. The morning was crisp and clear, as Rocco helped Severus into his great coat and handed him his hat and gloves.
"Well, do I look the part, or will I embarrass myself today?" Snape asked once he was fully dressed and a high gloss, black, walking stick was handed to him by the eldest son.
"Every bit the gentleman, sir." Rocco answered and the boys agreed.
"You've been asking this same question every morning since you returned from London and taken up your place as master of the estate. You've done very well so far, sir, you must fine your confidence." Peter Pairywhether added.
"I will, I am sure, in due time." Snape laughed. "But thank you all the same, Mr. Pairywhether, for the vote of confidence."
"You are all goodness and kindness, sir." Peter said with a bow.
"Well at least I look it, and eventually, perhaps, I will feel it too, but for now I believe I am about to make a great fool of myself with my inexperience."
"Certainly not, sir." Rocco laughed as the screams and giggles of a little one were heard coming nearer and nearer until a running, naked, Harry dashed through the foyer, followed by a breathless and very distressed Carmen Pairywhether, and flew into the great hall and disappeared again.
"Master Harry, come back here this instant!" Carmen cried and ran after the fleeing child.
"Why is Harry without any clothing?" Severus asked as Cassandry Pairywhether appeared, in less of a rush and over come with giggles, as she followed behind her sister and the little master.
"So very sorry to disturb you, Professor, but Carmen has decided that it was high time for Master Harry to learn to use the potty." Cassandry answered and tried not to laugh out right, but failed.
"It doesn't seem to be going well. Perhaps I should stay behind today and lend a hand?" Snape asked with a look of concern to the other gentlemen.
"I'm sure he'll tire himself out or Carmen will catch him, and once more he will be dressed and set to his usual daily habits. You need not worry about us. We will be just fine with Master Harry." Cassandry said with a smile and heard her sister call after her for assistance. "Coming Carmen, dear, I'll be right there." She said, bowed to the gentlemen, and left the foyer once more.
"Shall we?" Rocco asked and motioned for to the door. "I'm sure five women should be able to wrangle on naked two year old."
"Yes, let's, before Harry decides to run out the front door. I've seen it happen with the Weasleys." Snape answered and the men were off on their daily tour.
The Harvest season was well underway, in the village of Rosenshire, and for all of the farms connected to the Willow House estate, and as the owner and master of the great estate, it was up to Severus Snape to oversee the season and any preparations or changes that his farmers and tenants wanted to make. Many of his days, since the summer had ended and the Weasleys had departed, were spent in the same way and Severus was becoming a very well known and benevolent master to the people who depended on him.
Now he travelled with the Pairywhether gentlemen to settle a rather heated dispute between two of his tenants. The misunderstanding in question had been going on since Snape had come to reside at Willow House, but it was now coming to a head as the field in question was in need of harvesting and preparation for winter.
Peter Pairywhether pulled the car, that the four gentlemen rode in, to a stop before the Little Stream farm and the men disembarked to be greeted by a gathering of children as they headed into the village for school. Mrs. Cole was next out of the little cottage and finally Mr. Philipe Cole followed.
"So sorry to bother you, Professor, but we've seemed to have reached an impasse." Philipe stated as he came forward, shook Snape's hand and bowed profusely to the gentleman before him.
"I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement, or arrangement," Snape said pleasantly. "Now where is Mr. Woods?" he asked after the second side in the disagreement.
"He's camped out in the middle of the field, the old sod! He's been there for two whole days, none stop, and working on the spot since the spring. He won't let anyone near it." Mrs. Cole stammered. "Completely disrupting our harvest!" She added with a huff.
"Do not fret, Mrs. Cole, we'll solve this problem once and for all and get your farm back on it's rightful schedule." Snape said and followed as the Coles lead the way to the field in question.
A bright white tent could be seen billowing in the morning breeze out in the middle of the golden field of wheat.
"I say, Mr. Woods, might we have a moment of your time, sir?" Snape called out as they approached the tent.
"A moment, an hour, a month, a year, anything for you, Professor Snape, anything at all." Old Mr. Woods said as he sat next to a fire that he tended just beyond the entrance to his tent.
"Could you please explain why you've camped out in the middle of the Cole's wheat field? We'd already negotiated that you had interest in the spot, but you are now disrupting the gentle balance that Mrs. Cole is in desperate need of."
"He's been out here since the spring!" Mrs. Cole cried. "We had to plant our crops around him!"
"And I'm not stopping you from harvesting around me, but this spot is very special. Very special, indeed." Woods said. "All I ask is this little spot." the old man added, "and the Coles and Woods have gotten along for generations in this fashion. No trouble at all, between us, none until you came along!" the old man accused the woman in question.
"You can't just interrupt a farmers field!" Mrs. Cole screeched.
"And you cannot rush discovery!" Mr. Woods countered.
"This is our field!"
"We negotiated the interruption in the spring time, Mrs. Cole. This is part of the deal, and the time frame for Mr. Woods investigation was to be a year long." Rocco Pairywhether stepped in. "He's still within his contract."
"And what have you discovered?" Snape asked as he turned to Mr. Woods.
"Nothing and nonsense, of course!" Mrs. Cole accused. "There is nothing to be found in this field. It has been ploughed, turned and planted every year in the same way, for generations. We would know if there was something in it!"
"I've found the remains of something fantastical, truly remarkable. Come, come I will show you!" Old Mr. Woods stated, ignoring Mrs. Cole, and moved forward to the tent with Snape, while the others moved to follow as well. "No, no one else! Just the Professor!" he stated and flew at the Coles in nearly a panic and stopped them.
Severus nodded his consent to the old man, signalled his people to stop and shot Mrs. Cole a look that stopped her, and her complaints, dead in their tracks.
Once inside the tent Severus was shown to a grid and a patch in the ground, and inside the dig he noticed what was truly spectacular to Mr. Woods.
"You know what this is, don't you, Professor?" Mr. Woods whispered as to not be heard by the people outside of the tent. "I may not have the magic of my father but I know of it and the secrets that must be kept. I need to clear this away before the snow flies or the muggles will be suspicious!"
"Are those dragon eggs?" Snape asked.
"Indeed, very old but some are still warm to the touch and they are still viable. They get warmer every day." Mr. Woods answered.
"And your family, do they know?" Snape asked.
"No, Professor, they think I'm insane but I must be very careful or we could have a situation on our hands. When my sons were born without any signs of magical tendencies, I vowed to keep the secret. They do not know, and only think me an old, foolish, man."
"And I don't know the first thing about Dragon hatching, except that if they become hot enough they are likely to hatch on their own."
"This is why I've been working so slowly. I was curious by the patch of field that never froze last winter and then in the spring, after the first thunder storm of the season, it began to smoke. I've counted six eggs in the months I've been out here but I do not know what else to do and that woman will not let me be. I had to put up the tent to hide them because the eggs are now visible. We must do something soon."
"We must get these out of here, that I know for certain. I will send you help from Willow House and have Dumbledore join us right away. He'll know what to do." Snape said as he stepped back from the site. "There hasn't been a dragon in Great Britain in years, we can't risk them now."
"It is from the forest. That's where the magical creature come from. I used to think all the dragons were gone from these parts, but there are still nests!"
"We will deal with this as quietly as possible. I assure you, you need not worry." Snape said and stepped out of the tent once more. "Carry on, Mr. Woods, just as we had discussed in the spring, and you will have help from Willow House at once. Mr. and Mrs. Cole, this field will be yours once more, but this is a very important discovery and I cannot, in good judgement, force Mr. Woods to stop. He will carry on, just as we agreed, until spring, and then you may have your patch of field back. This discovery is very important but we must not speak of it until it can be authenticated."
"Is it riches?" Mrs. Cole asked excitedly. "If it is, then we should gain some of it as it is in our field!"
"Hush, Miriam, the field belongs to Willow House, we have no claim over it." Philipe finally stepped in and silenced his wife.
"It is not riches but fossils," Snape answered, "and as I am not an expert in this area, we must find someone who is. We will not know, for certain, what we have here until it can be collected, catalogued and studied by professionals. Well done with the discovery, Mr. Woods. Well done indeed. I implore you to leave Mr. Woods to his work and you will see men from Willow House to assist him." Snape explained and stepped away. "Thank you for your understanding and I do believe you will be able to harvest your wheat around Mr. Woods and his work area. Just carry on as you usually would and leave him to work. He's the expert in these things."
"Yes, of course, Professor," Mrs. Cole bowed obediently. "Whatever you wish."
"Good, good, thank you." Snape said and motioned for the Pairywhethers to follow him.
"What was it?" George Pairywhether asked as they walked away,
"Did anyone know that old Mr. Woods was a Squib?" Snape asked as he hurried away.
"No, sir, perhaps Dumbledore does, but we did not." Rocco answered.
"We'll it is good that he is because he'd unearthed a dragon's nest." Snape stated.
"And we thought this was just a farmers quarrel." Peter stated with a shake of his head. "Goodness, this is exciting news!"
"It could be hundreds of years old. Surely it is harmless." George Pairywheather added. "There haven't been dragons in Great Britain in years. They only exist in sanctuaries on the mainland continent - Romania."
"They are warm, they smoked after the first electrical storm in the spring. They have shown all of the signs of coming into their hatching. It is not harmless." Snape stated. "The patch of earth never froze over last winter, and that is what caught Mr. Woods's attention this past spring." he explained.
"Then it is certain, their dormancy is nearly over. We must act quickly or we will have dragons to deal with." Rocco stated.
"We need to return to the house. I need to contact Dumbledore at once." Snape ordered and fell back into the vehicle he'd arrived in. "We cannot have hatching dragons on our estate."