They had been flying for several hours and the clouds had thinned some but it was still freezing. Freddie was trying her best not to complain, but her fingers felt frozen to her broomstick. Ziggy was hunkered close against her body and she'd fastened her cloak around him, keeping him warm with her body heat. Snape flew steadily on, seemingly unaffected by the cold. Meanwhile Freddie had ice forming on her hair and eyelashes and was drifting a few feet behind him.
Eventually he looked back at her over his shoulder, then slowed down until he was beside her once again.
"You got quiet," he said and she had to take off the earmuffs she'd put on so she could hear him better. "Are you okay?"
"F-f-fine," she said through chattering teeth.
"You do not sound fine," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.
"C-cold," she explained. "I think my f-fingers are freezing to my broom."
"Hang on," he said, pulling out his wand. He drifted closer to her until he could tap her broomstick with his wand. The wood grew warm immediately and her fingers started to thaw. She felt Ziggy squirm under her cloak and he peeked his head out for a moment before ducking back in.
"Thank you," she said gratefully. "That's better. Kind of. I should have worn gloves."
"Why didn't you?"
"I wasn't thinking. The only gloves I have are the dragonhide ones in my Potions kit and those aren't good for gripping a broomstick."
"You keep your dragonhide gloves in your Potions kit?" he asked with a smirk. "They are for Herbology."
"I know that, but sometimes you and I deal with herbs that are caustic – shut up," she said because it looked like he was laughing at her. "I'd rather have them and not need them than to need them and not have them."
"I understand," he said, but he was still smiling.
"Whose brilliant idea was it to fly in this weather? We're going to freeze to death up here."
"It will be warmer the farther south we go," he assured her.
"And just how far south are we going exactly?" she asked. They'd been flying south all morning, only changing direction long enough to skirt around Muggle cities. "Africa?"
"We could not fly to Africa in less than two days," he said. "No, the Potions Championship will take place in southern France this year."
"France? Really?" she asked curiously.
"Yes. Why, what's wrong?"
"No, nothing. I've just never been. Have you?"
"A few times," he said nonchalantly. "A long time ago."
"When you were a kid?"
"No," he scoffed. "We did not take trips when I was a child."
"Oh," she said quietly. She knew his childhood had been unpleasant, but he so rarely talked about it that it was easy for her to forget. His father had been abusive and, based on the neighborhood of Spinner's End, they had been very poor.
"It was during the war," he said loudly, interrupting her thoughts. This surprised her, since he talked about his service for the Dark Lord about as much as he talked about his childhood. She supposed he'd rather talk about his time as a Death Eater than his childhood.
"What did you do in France?" she asked.
He looked over at her and his expression sent a shiver through her that had nothing to do with the cold. It was dark.
"Do you really want to talk about that right now?" he asked her.
"N-no," she said, shaking her head. "I guess not."
"Good. If you can stay on your broomstick for another hour without freezing and falling off, we can stop for lunch somewhere."
"I would never fall off," she said, affronted.
"Good. Put your earmuffs back on and I'll race you," he said, flying ahead of her. She quickly pushed her earmuffs over her ears and put on a burst of speed. When he saw she was giving chase he took off, pushing his broomstick to its top speed.
She'd hoped the race would take her mind off how cold she was and for a while it did. It was fun chasing Snape through the sky. Every time she managed to get ahead of him she started laughing so much it was hard to maintain her speed. She heard him laughing too as he zoomed around her in vertical circles before darting ahead again.
That's some fancy flying, she thought to herself. I wonder if he played Quidditch?
She wanted to ask him but he was too far ahead of her again and if he was in her mind he didn't make his presence known.
Several times she thought about taking the record player out and mounting it to her broomstick the way Daniel used to, but it wasn't a maneuver she thought she could do in midair. Not when she was half-frozen. But chasing after Snape was bringing up a lot of memories of Daniel and she tried to focus on the good feelings, not the sadness that the memories brought up when she remembered that she would probably never see him again.
Eventually Freddie was too cold to focus on the race. When Snape noticed she wasn't chasing him anymore he slowed down. When he stopped a short while later Freddie didn't notice at first. She had to stop and circle back, having a bit of trouble maneuvering now that the Warming Charm was starting to wear off her broom handle.
"We need to apply Disillusionment Charms so we can land for lunch in the Muggle town beneath us," he said. Freddie looked down and could see the tops of buildings ahead of them. They were in the clouds now so no one could see them if they happened to look up.
"That's going to be really cold," she said with a grimace. The thought of the trickling cold feeling of a Disillusionment Charm was almost enough for her to want to skip lunch and keep flying. Almost.
"It will only be cold for a few minutes," he assured her. "Just until we land. We can hide our brooms in that bag of yours then go have lunch in a nice, warm restaurant. That sounds good, doesn't it?"
"Heavenly," she groaned. She pried her fingers from her broom and flexed them before getting out her wand. She braced herself then tapped herself on the head with her wand, applying the charm. She gasped loudly as what felt like ice trickled down her back. Her broom vanished beneath her and she found herself floating among the clouds, invisible. It was a weird feeling and she looked over to tell Snape this, but he had vanished too.
"Let's go lower," said his disembodied voice. "When we're closer we'll be able to find a safe place to land with no Muggles around."
"Okay," she agreed and started to drift down through the clouds. She kept both hands on her broomstick, though she couldn't see her hands or her broomstick. She could feel Ziggy against her but she couldn't see him either. "This is really weird!"
"I know," he said and she could hear the amusement in his voice. "I have done this before and honestly you never really get used to it."
Freddie flew lower and lower until she could have jumped off on the roof of a building if she wanted. She had no idea where Snape was, if he was close to her or not, until he spoke.
"Over there," he said from just a few feet away. "There's an alley we can land in."
"You know if you're pointing somewhere I can't see you, right?" she said. "I can't even see what direction you're looking."
An image swam in her mind of an alley with a large metal dumpster full of trash bags. He was putting the location in her mind for her to see. She looked around and spotted it.
"Got it," she said, heading in that direction.
Freddie landed behind the dumpster but didn't dismount immediately.
"Severus?" she asked uncertainly.
He didn't answer right away and Freddie felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Something hot touched the back of her neck and she yelped.
"Shh," Snape chuckled as the hot feeling trickled down her back and she slowly became visible. "You don't want to attract Muggle attention."
"I hate you. You did that on purpose," she said, putting a hand to her chest. Her heart was beating wildly and she hated that he'd been able to scare her.
"Did what?" he asked in a would-be-innocent voice. Freddie glared at him as he became visible.
"You scared me on purpose. I said your name to see where you were and you didn't answer."
"I didn't hear you."
"Didn't hear me," she grumbled, getting off her broom. Ziggy jumped down and Freddie opened her bag to put the broomstick in, handle-first. He held his broom out to her but she didn't immediately take it.
"I thought you wanted to eat and get warm?" he asked lightly. She snatched the broomstick from him, scowling, and shoved it into her bag.
"Let's go," she said, stalking away from him towards the street.
She slowed down as she found herself on the unfamiliar streets of a strange city. Her experience with Muggle towns was very limited. It was noisy and smelly and there were big metal cars everywhere. Snape grabbed the back of her sweater and yanked her back as a car barreled past, honking loudly, inches from where she'd just been standing.
"Stick to the sidewalks," he hissed quietly, but there was no one close enough to hear anyway. "I forgot you're a pureblood. You don't have much experience with Muggles, do you?"
"You forgot I was pureblood?" she asked, shocked. She'd spent so much of her life around people who were obsessed with blood status, from her family to her housemates, it seemed impossible that he could forget. "I wish I could."
"That sort of thing doesn't matter to me," he said dismissively. "Look – if you have to cross a street, use a crosswalk." He pointed to a weird metal post with little pictures of men on it. One of them was lit up. "When it's green you can cross safely."
"Wow," she said, watching as the light changed and a Muggle couple crossed the street, coming towards them.
"Let's go this way," Snape said quickly, taking her arm and leading her down the sidewalk. "I don't have time to give you a crash course in Muggle navigation, not in the middle of a city."
Freddie didn't complain, she was too pleased to have his arm linked with hers as they walked down the chilly sidewalk. No one knew them here, there was no reason to hide their relationship. Even Snape didn't seem as stiff as usual.
She was wide-eyed as he led her through the city, thinking how much bigger this place was than the little Muggle village near Spinner's End where she had shopped. And so much different than Diagon Alley. An enormous car with a box on wheels behind it came roaring down the street and Freddie stopped to stare.
"Look at that. It's like a little train or something," she said. "I've never seen a car like that. How many wheels do you think is on that thing?"
"18, usually," he said, sounding amused. "And it's a truck. Not a car or a train."
"Wow!"
"You have said the word 'wow' 8 times in the last ten minutes," he said, and kissed her cheek. "Your enthusiasm is cute."
"Well at least I'm cute," she said, smiling as her face grew warm. He had just kissed her. In public. Admittedly there weren't that many people out in the cold, but the ones that were out didn't pay them any mind. People sometimes stared at Ziggy who was trotting along behind them faithfully, but no one gave them a second look. It was like they were a totally normal couple and Freddie found that she liked the feeling. A lot.
"There's a cafe up ahead," Snape said, interrupting her thoughts. "We can eat there."
"Sounds good," she agreed.
When they reached the cafe he held the door open for her and Freddie stepped into the warmth gratefully. She felt her skin start to thaw as she looked around. It was a small building with a small eating area – a dozen tables and a couple of booths against one wall. She thought it didn't look so different from Madam Puddifoots in Hogsmeade – a frilly pink tea shop frequented by couples that she had only been in once, on a dare from Daniel – only the Muggle cafe was less frilly.
There were a few Muggles dining at various tables, including one family with a small child. No one looked up when they entered but the child immediately spotted Ziggy and gasped happily. The child tugged on her mother's sleeve and Freddie noticed Snape's hand dart into his pocket where his wand was. A second later the child's eyes had glazed over. The mother looked around, then looked back to her food when it seemed she didn't see anything unusual.
"What did-?" Freddie began, but Snape put a hand on her arm.
"Let's sit over here," he said, guiding her to a booth in the corner near a foggy window. He sat on one side, with his back to the wall so he could see the entrance, and she sat across from him.
"A charm," he explained in a low voice before she could ask. "That will make them not notice him, even if they're looking directly at him. I doubt they allow animals inside."
"Good thinking," she said with a nod. Ziggy crawled under the booth and sat down by Freddie's feet. A blonde-haired waitress walked over to them carrying menus. She couldn't have been much older than Freddie and she looked bored, popping a piece of chewing gum as she approached their table.
"Hi there, my name's Melissa and I'll be your server today," she said like she was reading from a cue card. "Can I get you started with something to drink?"
"Tea please," Snape said and Freddie nodded.
"I'll have the same," she said.
As the waitress ambled away Freddie opened the menu and looked over her options. At least Muggle food wasn't all that different from what she was used to. She quickly decided on a turkey sandwich with a bowl of potato soup, figuring that would warm her up and fill her up at the same time. There were numbers beside the items on the menu with the little symbol she'd come to know meant Muggle money. She looked across the table at Snape who was still browsing the menu.
"I don't have any Muggle money," she whispered to him. He glanced up at her, looking amused again.
"I do," he said.
"You do?"
"Yes. I prepared for this," he said. "Don't worry about it. Get whatever you want."
The waitress returned with two cups of hot tea for them. She set them down then pulled out a little notepad and pen.
"Ready to order?" she asked, and popped her gum again. Freddie didn't miss the look of irritation that briefly flashed across Snape's features. She was curious, but didn't ask and he didn't say anything.
"I'll have a turkey sandwich," she told the waitress before the silence stretched on too long. "And a bowl of potato soup, please."
"Alright," Melissa said, scribbling down the order in her notepad. She popped her gum again and looked up. "And for you sir?"
"A burger and crisps," he said, his voice tight, and Freddie thought she knew what was wrong with him. She waited until the waitress had written his order down and headed for the kitchen before she looked at Snape, smiling faintly.
"The gum?" she guessed.
"It drives me mad," he said with an annoyed glance in the direction of the waitress.
"Why?" she asked, trying hard not to laugh at him.
"For one thing it is rude. And loud. And it makes me think of students, sticking gum to their undersides of their desks. It's disgusting," he sneered. "If we were in my classroom I would send that gum flying out of her mouth."
"I've seen that before," Freddie chuckled. "Your students learn quick not to chew gum in your class."
"Idiots," he muttered, picking up his cup of tea.
"I'm glad we're not in your classroom right now," she said and then reflected on that a moment. "I think that's the first time in my life I've said that. But, this is fun."
"Hmm," he said, noncommittal, and took a sip from the cup. He made a strained face and Freddie could tell he was trying not to spit out the tea. He swallowed heavily and sighed, putting the cup down and pushing it away. Curious, Freddie took a sip from her cup. It was weak tea but it was hot and felt good to her.
"It's not that bad," she said with a shrug before taking another sip.
"Your words are hurting me," he said with a grimace and she laughed at him.
"You're cute sometimes," she said to him. He rolled his eyes at her comment but she swore she saw him smile.
When the waitress brought their food Freddie immediately started on her soup. It warmed her even better than the tea did. She devoured her food quickly and was finished before Snape was even halfway done with his burger.
"I hope you eat with more decorum than that at the contestant's dinner," he said before taking another bite of his burger.
"I can have table manners when I want to," she said, scraping her spoon along the sides of her bowl to get the last remnants of soup. "You've seen that."
He chewed and swallowed before answering.
"Not nearly often enough," he said, but with a smile to let her know he was teasing.
While Snape finished eating, Freddie slid to the end of her seat closest to the foggy window. She used her hand to wipe a hole in the window big enough so she could look out. She was marveling at the Muggle world, at the buildings and cars and traffic lights. She got excited when another big truck went by and looked to Snape.
"They carry people, right? Like trains?" she asked. "How many people fit in that big truck?"
Snape glanced around the cafe but no one was sitting near enough to hear them.
"Usually only a driver and sometimes a passenger. It's how they move goods from one place to another," he explained.
"Like what?" she asked curiously.
"Like food and clothes. Items found in stores. And sometimes animals, too," he explained patiently. "Although those trucks look a little different."
"There are different kinds?"
"Yes. If you see a tube-shaped one it is carrying fuel for gas stations. Where they fill up their cars, to make them run."
"How do they work?" she asked, her nose pressed to the glass.
"Winifred, I'm trying to eat. I can't explain the concept of a car engine to you right now."
"Sorry," she said. She knew his patience was wearing thin so she didn't ask any more questions. She continued to look out the window, but she let her mind wander. Keeping her Occlumency in place she allowed herself to fantasize about living somewhere like this with Snape. In a Muggle city where no one knew them, where no one knew they were a teacher and student. Or that he had been a Death Eater and her a pureblood with Death Eater parents in Azkaban. They seemed so happy and carefree, these Muggles, and she imagined that they could be the same, though she knew it was impossible.
When Snape finished eating he cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned away from the window, letting her fantasy slip away as she did.
"We need to keep moving," he said to her.
"Just when I was feeling warm again," she sighed.
"You will survive," he assured her. "Wait here while I pay."
Snape got up and Freddie turned in her seat so she could watch him. He went up to the counter where there was a cash register and the gum-chewing waitress appeared to check him out. She couldn't see Snape's face from where she sat but she could imagine his look of displeasure as the girl popped her gum again, inches from his face. He handed her a few bills of Muggle money and turned around. As he walked towards the door the waitress began to cough, choking on her gum. Snape motioned for Freddie and she hurried after him, looking over at the girl as she coughed and her gum flew out of her mouth and sailed across the counter.
"Was that you?" Freddie asked the moment they were outside and the door had shut behind them. She couldn't believe he would hex the waitress.
"I am not a good man," he said, taking her arm again as they started back down the street in the direction they'd come from.
"But...she was a Muggle," she said in a low voice. "What if you get in trouble?"
"It would be worth it," he said. "But it is unlikely."
Freddie bit her lip but didn't say anything. She had never seen him do anything like that before, despite all his insisting that he was not a good person. She was a pureblood, raised with pureblood values, and although her views on racial superiority had changed recently she had always thought Muggles were harmless. They were happy humans with interesting inventions but no defenses against magic. And here she was on the arm of a man who had just hexed a Muggle for fun.
"Not for fun," he insisted aloud, though he didn't sound so sure. He'd been listening to her thoughts, of course, and Freddie frowned. "She wasn't harmed. Now maybe she will think twice about popping her gum in peoples faces."
Freddie sighed softly, her breath forming a small cloud in the cold air in front of her face. She didn't say anything but she was trying to reason that it wasn't so bad. She wasn't hurt, after all, and the gum popping had been annoying. Was it really so different than laughing at Ziggy for biting Brian in Madam Rosmerta's? There are worse things in the world, she reasoned. It's not like he killed her or even seriously injured her.
"Have you ever killed a Muggle?" she asked before thinking that maybe she didn't want to know the answer.
"No," he said immediately, but she wasn't so sure.
"Would you lie to me?" she asked.
"Not about that," he said and she was pretty sure she believed him. They were silent for a minute as they passed by a mother and child on the sidewalk. Freddie glanced over her shoulder to watch them after they'd passed.
"Have you ever killed anyone?" she asked quietly, once the Muggles were far enough away. Snape slowed his pace but didn't stop walking. She felt him start to pull away from her, but then he didn't.
"That is a complicated question with a complicated answer," he said slowly. "And I do not want to get into it right now."
"Okay," Freddie said quietly, but it bothered her just a little that his immediate answer wasn't 'no'. She knew he had been a Death Eater and that he had done bad things, but she also knew there was more to it than that. She berated herself for even asking the question when she hadn't been prepared for his answer.
Neither of them spoke again until they were back in the alley, hiding behind the dumpster where they'd first touched down. She was about to get out their broomsticks when he grabbed her and pulled her to him. Her heart was pounding as she looked up at him. His expression was serious, his eyes dark and they bored into hers.
"I have never killed anyone in anger or 'for fun'," he said quietly and she could hear the strain in his voice. "I may have been...indirectly responsible for the death of others." He swallowed before continuing. "That is a risk you always take when you brew poisons, you should know that. You cannot control who uses what you brew. There is always a risk." She nodded in understanding and he continued. "I made some very poor decisions when I young, when I was your age actually. And...I did what I had to do after that, to try and get myself out of it. I did what I had to do to survive during a time you cannot imagine, where people were dying in droves, Muggles and wizards alike. A dark time. I did what I had to do to survive. I will tell you all about it someday, perhaps, but this is neither the time nor the place."
"I understand," she said, her voice coming out in a whisper. She believed him and she was somewhat comforted by his words. He was the man she had always known, the man she loved.
"I do not want you to worry about it," he murmured and then he kissed her, pushing her back into the fence that surrounded part of the alley. Thoughts of Death Eaters and the Dark Lord melted away as he kissed her with a fierce passion. She whimpered, her fingers curled in the front of his shirt as a fire rose inside of her. She didn't care who he had been or what he had done, she knew who he was now. Now he was a good man who loved her – even if he couldn't say it – loved her in a way he could make her feel throughout her body.
Other thoughts crept in now, thoughts of him fucking her in the alley behind a dumpster. She didn't care where they were, she wanted it. Wanted him.
When he pulled away his expression was soft again, his eyes warm and brown. She whimpered in disappointment and he chuckled softly before pressing a light kiss to her lips, pulling away when she tried to deepen in.
"I do not want you to worry," he repeated, stroking her face gently with one finger. "Concentrate on your Potions Championship."
"Okay," she said in a slightly dazed voice. She felt light-headed when he stepped away from her and she stumbled back into the fence. He chuckled quietly again.
"I should not have done that," he said, but she quickly shook her head.
"You needed to. I mean, I needed..." She shook her head as if to clear it and tried again. "It helped. Thank you."
"You are welcome," he said and looked at his watch. "We should probably go. Are you okay to fly?"
"I'm fine," she assured him as she got their brooms from her purse. "My head is clearing."
He was smirking when he took his broomstick from her and she thought he looked a little smug. Pleased with himself that his kiss had affected her so. She mounted her broomstick and had to coax Ziggy back onto it. He seemed reluctant to go back up into the cold but he climbed on anyway.
"Disillusionment Charm," Snape reminded her as she was about to take off. She felt her face flush as she quickly drew her wand.
"I didn't forget," she said before tapping herself on the head.
"Of course not."
When they were both invisible Freddie kicked off from the ground gently. She was rising slowly into the air when she felt herself hit something.
"Dammit," she heard Snape mutter, his voice coming from below her. When he spoke again he was back near her level. "You bumped into me and knocked me off course."
"Sorry!" she said and he shushed her.
"You can't speak so loudly this close to town," he hissed. "Muggles will think they've gone mad or that they've encountered a ghost if they hear you."
"Sorry," she said again, much quieter. "I didn't mean to hit you, I can't see you."
"I know," he assured her. "Let's get above the cloud so we can remove the charms. Then I can quiz you on the flashcards while we fly."
"Great," she said sarcastically, but she knew it was a good idea. She had less than two days to study. She heard his disembodied laugh as they rose through the air, into the clouds.