Birthday Party
Hogwarts – Potion Tutoring Class Room – January 09th 1995 (Monday Late Afternoon)
"You don't think this … is a bit much? Don't you fear that he'll hate it?" Piotr asked, his hand pointing at the paper streamers hanging around everywhere and the poster spelling 'Happy Birthday Severus' on the wall. At least the poster was green with silvery letters on it and looked quite nice, nice at least for normal people, something no one would think about Professor Snape.
"I hope he will," Pansy Parkinson sniggered, blowing another multicolored streamer over the lamp in the middle of the room. "It is his birthday but that's no reason we all can't have a bit of fun … on his expense."
Piotr sighed. Thanks Merlin he knew the fastest escape route from the room should Professor Snape explode. Two weeks ago he had reminded Draco of the incoming birthday of their potions' Professor and Draco's godfather.
"Despite his appearance he'll only get 35 but perhaps we could celebrate a bit with him. Nothing spectacular, he'll be in bad mood anyway with Dumbledore and the others congratulating him."
Certainly he hadn't expected THIS to happen. Draco was sitting on a table at the edge near a three-floor birthday cake with exactly 45 candles – green wax with silvery wick – on it, another small joke on Snape's expense. Draco was grinning like a Cheshire cat and Piotr expected many other bad jokes incoming.
"He's coming," Neville floundered as he entered the room out of breath. Piotr had sent him to fetch Snape under a pretext, assuming that Snape would never assume Neville to be part of a birthday party to his honor. Sure their 'relation' had improved since Neville had not only been part of Piotr's tutoring class but also taken hours in meditation, helping him to better hold his nerves around the snarky Professor. But nevertheless the Gryffindor tried to stay away from him as good as possible. And not with the wildest amount of fantasy someone would call them friends.
A last look around – all seemed to be ready: drinks, nibbles, cake, presents, guests …
With a kind of 'whoosh' Snape strode into the room in his typical manner, his robes fluttering behind him, a smirk on his lips. Three steps into the room he realized something amiss and instantly turned around only to star into the sweet grin of Hannah in front of the closed door.
"Hello Severus, we're so happy you arrived just in time." Draco's voice was sugary sweet, the tune causing toothache to every listener. Snape turned towards him, glaring his best death glare. Everybody else would have fainted instantly but Draco was too well used to this look.
Someone linked arms with Snape and as he tried to free himself with a start he stared into the grey eyes of Professor Aurora Sinistra, one of the few colleagues who had always shown friendliness to him and the only one he at least tried to be polite with. He stopped his liberation attempt, sighed very deeply and a bit conquered and showed a not very convincing smile.
"Happy birthday, Severus," Aurora smiled at him. "We thought about singing you a little birthday song but some of us" she shortly stared accusingly in Piotr's direction "thought this to be a bit going overboard."
"I would really have liked to," Draco added, ignoring Snape's growl, "perhaps we could later …"
"We could not," Snape declared his growl deepening as his answer only caused Draco to giggle a bit too feminine.
Seeing no way to leave this with his reputation intact Snape obviously decided to make the best out of the situation and – while not really smiling – at least stopped to growl. Hannah, Pansy and – to his surprise – Hermione started to distribute mugs with hot chocolate. Before Snape had a chance to object he saw the small smile on Piotr's face and smelled the 'enhancement' in his chocolate – a healthy draught of Firewhiskey.
Draco raised his mug in mock salute: "To the honor of Professor Snape, Hogwarts' best Potions Professor. May he stay healthy as he deserves and someday reach an age appropriate to his appearance?"
.
Piotr watched with the rest of the guests – mostly Slytherins with Neville, Hannah, Hermione and him the sole exemptions – as Snape unwrapped his presents. Mostly there were the typical books and small tools, a leather-bound notebook from Hermione and a golden pocket watch from Draco – assuming from the look more worth than the annual fee of a Hogwarts' Professor.
He smelled her before he saw her, the typical odor of the hair lotion she used since three months – Hermione. Trying to ignore her he stared at Professor Sinistra. He liked the Astronomy Professor and her subject. With his keen eyes, patience and good memory he had no problems with Astronomy and while he never would be really brilliant he always reached a steady 'E' in the tests. Piotr even thought about taking NEWT level Astronomy later. He wouldn't need it for his profession; it would only be 'for fun'. Not that many other students would see the fun in an additional NEWT class – apart from Hermione, Padma and a few other Ravenclaws. With the rest of the guests he laughed heartily as Snape unwrapped Aurora's gift – a riding crop. Hopefully it was only meant for disciplining the most terrible students but with Professor Sinistra you never knew.
Piotr knew the expression on Hermione's face without looking her way. There would be hurt, confusion, a bit of anger, pleading. He couldn't stand it, not now. Forcing the pictures of her sitting with Ron at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall back in his mind he struggled to ignore her. Since their 'breakup' her relationship to Ron had been improving and while he pitied his friend Viktor a bit, he hoped for Hermione that she wouldn't miss this chance to get happy with her Weasley crush. After some minutes of silence and more than one attempt on Hermione's part to say something she decided to leave and went back at Hannah's side while Piotr went to Snape and offered his present.
"Trouble in paradise," Snape asked surprisingly quiet and gently? He concentrated on his gift as Piotr only shrugged, apparently unwilling to answer the noisy question.
With disbelieving wide eyes Snape stared at the bottle. "Hair shampoo," he frowned under the laughter of the Slytherins.
"Yes," Piotr smiled in his face. "I promise it is nothing from the Weasley twins. I crafted it on my own to help you with your …" He pointed at Snape's black hair that always looked a bit slimy.
Snape narrowed his eyes and stayed silent long enough to unnerve Piotr a bit before he lost his bad mood again: "And that is thought to reassure me, me knowing about your abilities or lack thereof?" Piotr sniffed but didn't answer. "And I hoped for some Unicorn blood or other ingredients, with your good standing and all."
So he had heard about that too.
.
Some hours ago …
"Explain."
Sitting at the Hufflepuff table across him with Padma at her side, Hannah stared at Piotr. He hadn't to be a braniac to know what she was asking about.
"You remember," he started to explain in a low voice, "how I spent some time in the Forbidden Forest last winter?"
Padma paled a bit while Hannah simply nodded. Yes she remembered, especially the fury of Hermione as she heard about those 'visits'.
"I became … acquaintance of the Centaur Firenze back then. More than once we had spoken about Unicorns and that I hoped to see them sometime, that I feared them to be antagonized about my wand – it is built around a unicorn hair, you know. Anyhow this year he had a very special birthday present for me, a visit to a family of Unicorns. I was only allowed to look at them, no touching, no going near the foals – they have two by the way. But it was … I think you know."
"Divine?"
"Yes," Piotr sighed, "divine."
.
Piotr shot him some angry looks but relaxed after a while and even smiled again. "It is your birthday. You're allowed to be a prat today, irrespective what you're saying."
Snape smirked: "I'm allowed to be a prat every day." He shortly let his eyes wander towards Hermione and opened his mouth but was cut short by Piotr.
"No, you may say anything aside from THAT word. THAT word is only acceptable on your 40th birthday."
Snape harrumphed: "40th, it is a bit until then." Apparently calculating that Piotr wouldn't normally be around at Hogwarts in six years he added: "So I'll have to make sure that you repeat some classes to have you still around."
Piotr smiled thinly: "This or make sure that I get a professional position at Hogwarts after my graduation."
Snape laughed unhappily: "You expect Dumbledore to offer you something like that?"
Thinking about the mutual rejection Dumbledore and he shared, Piotr shook his head: "Only should he find some position disgusting enough."
.
Some hours had passed and the mood had become more quiet and relaxed. Pansy had ordered a few Slytherins to fetch the piano and was now listening to Neville's play with dreamy eyes and under the death glare of Hannah. Snape was sitting in a corner with Professor Sinistra and it was a sure bet that he would get a special gift later.
"This was nice," Draco admitted as he slumped into a chair next to Piotr. Hermione had left half an hour ago and since then Piotr had been in a brooding mood, he now only left to nod weakly. "I'm not sure about my godfather really appreciating your present," he laughed mockingly.
Piotr simply shrugged. "We'll have to wait and see. The effect should be obvious."
"I can't really imagine Severus without slimy hair," Draco mused. "It somehow … belonged to him. And next year we'll give him something for his teeth," he added with a wicked smile. The crooked and darkened teeth of Snape had been the target of more than one hideous joke in the past.
They sat in silence for a while, listening to Neville's music and watching their Professors flirting as Draco broke the calm with a much more earnest tune of his voice. "You should be careful around him in the future."
Surprised by the change of voice and subject Piotr followed Draco's stare to a corner where a few Slytherins were drinking their Butterbeer, the center being Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott. While Blaise seemed to be relaxed and happy, Theodore's expression changed to a hateful one every time his eyes went to Piotr and Draco.
"Nott? What's about him," Piotr asked. "I don't think I have spoken more than a handful sentences to him since I entered Hogwarts."
"It is about his father," Draco explained only increasing Piotr's confusion.
"His father? I don't know him, I'm quite sure."
"But he knows you," Draco took a sip from his Butterbeer and played with his tumbler for some moments before he continued. "He … he had been at the Quidditch Championship."
"Oh," Piotr gaped, slowly understanding. So Nott sr. had been one of the Death Eaters playing with that Muggle family, certainly one of those he'd hurt. With Lucius Malfoy being one of them, that left …
"He had been away for some weeks. Nott saw him again only now on Christmas. Nott sr. had been quite furious about someone breaking his jaw and is only now fully healed again and able to speak difficult spells." He locked eyes with Piotr and continued with absolutely no humor in his eyes: "Be careful."