Chapter 15. Disaster at the Science Fair.
Severus knocked on the door and Dudley opened it.
"Good afternoon Mr. Snape." the boy said.
Snape noticed that the boy had lost some weight since he had last seen him, almost two months ago.
"Good afternoon, Dudley, Can you tell your mother that I'm here?"
"Right away." the boy said somewhat reluctantly.
Petunia came in from the kitchen and offered him a seat.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"No thanks, I'm fine."
"Thanks for coming in on a daily day, but I just didn't know what else to do. I've asked them what happened, grounded them for a week, told them there would be no TV until they told me the whole story, but it's no use. It's like crashing into a wall of silence. I still wouldn't have bothered you if I didn't think there had been magic involved."
"What kind of magic?"
"Apparently at the spring science fair one of the experiments blew up. One of those baking soda and vinegar volcanoes. Funny thing is, they had already set it off, and nothing else was supposed to happen, but when another two kids argued with Harry the liquid seemed to boil, splashing one of them who got dyed green, and now there's no way to fade it out."
Without getting up from the armchair Snape raised his voice slightly. "Dudley, Harry, get over here right now."
They both approached, knowing it was useless to pretend they hadn't heard him.
"You have exactly three minutes to tell me your side of the story."
"Mr. Snape, we didn't do anything." said Dudley.
"You should know by now that it's useless to try to lie to me or hide things from me. Your turn, Harry."
"Adrien and Peter said we were cheating with our fountain experiment. I tried to explain to them how it works, but they wouldn't listen and pushed me away taking advantage of the fact that Dudley had gone to the toilet. That's when Shirley's volcano started foaming like crazy."
"And your partner ended up dyed green."
"Well... yes."
"But there's something else." Snape said looking at Dudley.
"I saw from the door what had happened, and I had already warned them to leave Harry alone, but they wouldn't listen to me, so I waited for them on the way to the toilet."
"You hit them?"
"I pushed Peter against a locker and held him down, but I didn't hit him."
"You say you had warned them not to bother Harry?"
Dudley looked at the floor and muttered something, grumpily.
"Speak louder."
"If I can't hit Harry, the others can't either."
Petunia closed her eyes and sighed, exasperated.
"Petunia. May I make a suggestion?"
"Go ahead, I could use some ideas on what to do with them."
"You said you've grounded them for a week. I propose to reduce the punishment to three days." he looked at Dudley. "You must not start fights. Implying that you will defend yourself if necessary does not seem wrong to me, but you should resort to force only if it is essential. It seems right to me that you protected your cousin, you are punished not for your intent, but for your methods."
"What if one of them hits me first?"
"Then make sure you take away the urge to repeat it, but don't injure someone permanently."
Then Snape looked at Harry. "You should have warned Mr. Figgs or sent a letter with the owl as soon as you realized you'd used accidental magic. These incidents need to be dealt with as soon as possible. You are not punished for doing magic, but for hiding it."
"Yes, Mr. Snape." they both muttered.
"I agree. Go up to your rooms." said Petunia.
"Just a moment." said Snape. "What happened to the science fair?"
"We won. There were other experiments that were okay, but they gave us the prize because they said that with ours the other kids had understood how it works." explained Harry smiling.
"And how did you get the other kids to understand it?"
"It was Dudley's idea." said Harry enthusiastically, and looked at his cousin encouraging him to tell.
"Harry's explanation was very complicated, so I asked him to explain it to me so I could explain it to others. We worked on the posters and I did the test with Dad and Aunt Marge, because I figured if they understood it anyone could."
Petunia cleared her throat to disguise a laugh.
"Congratulations." said Snape. "Maybe this calls for a celebration." he said towards Petunia.
"You're only grounded for three days, on Saturday we can go to the movies." she said.
"Will there be popcorn?" Dudley asked.
"Okay, but you'll share them." his mother said.
The children went upstairs and Petunia looked at Snape.
"Can you do that thing that keeps them from hearing us?" she said holding back laughter.
Snape waved his wand and nodded his head.
Petunia burst out laughing. "So if Vernon and Marge can understand it anyone can."
Snape maintained his composure, but seemed to smirk slightly as he said. "I see no flaw in this reasoning."
"And the other boy, who was green with envy in a figurative sense, is now green for real."
"We'll have to fix that. Do you know where he lives?"
"Yes, we've been sending out a circular to parents about activities next vacation. He lives a few blocks from here."
"I'll discreetly go over and remove the spell so that by tomorrow morning he'll be normal...or at least the same as before."
Petunia finally stopped laughing. "Yes, you do that, because his mother is capable of tear the skin right off him with all that rubbing." She got up to get a paper and pen to jot down the address.
"From what I see, Dudley and Harry are getting along better, is Dudley still visiting his father?"
"Yes, last weekend social services allowed him to stay at Vernon's unsupervised, although Poppy talked to Dudley afterwards and told me what happened. Vernon's sister was there, and she started badmouthing us, until Dudley told her not to badmouth her family, and finally Vernon told her to shut up, that he wouldn't risk not being able to see the child because of her."
"That woman doesn't seem very nice."
"On her previous visit to Vernon's she telephoned, and had the nerve to say she was coming to see Dudley without my inviting her, and to give her the address, because apparently Vernon couldn't give it to her."
"The spell I put on him works well." said Snape with a sarcastic grin.
"She started saying that she had a right to see her nephew and make sure he was alright, to check how I was treating him. I replied that this house is as much Harry's as it is mine and that neither she nor her dreadful dog are welcome here. She started shouting and swearing at me, and then the phone made a strange sound, the call was cut off, and neither Vernon nor she has called back since."
"I wouldn't put it past magical protection to intervene. If you notice anything odd about the phone it will have to be investigated, because sometimes magic and Muggle technology interact in unforeseen ways."
"So. You don't know what consequences that protection might have on the house?"
"The ancient magic that Professor Dumbledore invoked is so effective because it is unpredictable. If an enemy knows what protections are over a house, they can counter them, there is always a counterspell for every spell, but this magic is not based on a specific spell, but on Lily's desire for protecting Harry and her sacrifice."
"You think it's protecting me too?"
"You told me she wanted to help you when you spoke at your parents' funeral, do you remember her exact words?"
"She promised me she would protect me." Petunia tried to remember. "I believe she said she would use all her resources and all her magic to do so."
"I believe that promise still stands, protecting you, and Dudley as well. Maybe not as strongly as Harry, but you are of her blood, and that would include you. I must look into this matter further, because if so, then it would be possible for the defenses to last not until Harry's coming of age, which in the magical world is 17, but until the day Dudley turns 18. I'll talk to Professor Dumbledore and we'll make inquiries."
"All right, you can come whenever you like." replied Petunia. Then she looked at Snape thoughtfully. "I'd like to ask you something."
Snape nodded,
"I went out for drinks with coworkers the other day and met a friend of one of the teachers at school. I'm going out to dinner with him, and I don't know if we'll get anywhere, but I was wondering what would happen if I started a relationship with someone."
"You mean the Harry situation."
"That's right."
"Harry knows he doesn't have to prove he's a wizard in front of Muggles. Later on, when he goes to Hogwarts there wouldn't be a problem either, because he'll be boarding for the whole term and during the vacations children are forbidden to do magic until they come of age. If it comes to anything else it would be best for him to live here at least until Harry comes of age."
Petunia's eyes widened in surprise. "It's going to be a long time before I even consider anything that serious with anyone. I met Vernon when I was very young, we were married within a short time and I don't intend to repeat that mistake."
"Then I don't think there's any problem."
Petunia smiled, relieved. "And you don't have someone special?"
Snape looked at her impassively. "I live in a scholl, so I don't have much occasion to meet women my age. Plus I don't turn out to be very attractive either."
"Come on, now you're not so bad. Although maybe I shouldn't have an opinion, after all, I married Vernon. In my defense I'll say that when he was younger he wasn't that fat."
Snape unbuttoned the cuff of his left sleeve.
"Look at this." he said to Petunia.
"It's a really hideous tattoo, but I've seen worse."
That piqued Snape's curiosity. "Where?"
"I had a rebellious phase when I finished secondary school. You and Lily were still in school. I dated a guy with a motorcycle who took me to several heavy metal concerts. You should have seen the looks of his friends."
"I can't imagine you dressed for the occasion."
"You won't get a chance to see me, I burned all the photos. I only have my souvenir tattoo left." she stated.
"And where is that tattoo?"
"In a place that is not usually visible. I won't tell you any more. Vernon hated it, because it reminded him that he wasn't my first boyfriend. Since I've been divorced I've grown more fond of it."
"The thing is, mine is no ordinary tattoo. It's the mark of the dark wizard who murdered Lily and her husband." Petunia looked at him in horror. "When I was still at school his followers contacted me. They told me that I deserved something more, and that he could give it to me. They were of the opinion that wizards were superior to Muggles, and should stop living in hiding to run the country, but first they had to control the Muggle-born, like Lily, who would object. He convinced me that his intention was to incorporate the Muggle-born into our traditions and way of life, though in reality he wanted to enslave or imprison them, murdering those who opposed him."
Snape covered the dark mark again as he continued.
"That wizard told me that my father treated my mother and me badly because he was afraid and envious of our magic. He told me that he did not care that my origin was not pure, but that he valued talent above all else, and that he would give me the power and recognition I deserved. He told me that my enemies would never abuse me again. Of course he was lying, but by the time I knew it was too late. Through the mark he could locate me anywhere in the world. There was no escape, and I continued to cooperate, trying to survive while looking for a way out."
"So you asked Professor Dumbledore for help?"
"Only when some information I gave to the Dark Lord caused the Potters to be singled out as victims did I go to Dumbledore. However he couldn't stop him from killing them either. There is a possibility that this wizard will return, or that his followers will somehow try to carry out his plans, and in that case I would again be in the middle of a war. If I had a family, a wife and perhaps children, either side could use them to control me... or even to punish me. I couldn't risk it. If something like this were to happen, you and the children would have to behave as if I were just another neighbor, with hardly any relationship with you."
"You said you're worried about what members of the two sides might do?"
"Fighting a dark wizard doesn't imply that everyone who does so is a good person. Some are ruthless, and think the ends justify the means. They believe that someone like me, who associated with that wizard doesn't deserve forgiveness no matter what he does."
"Perhaps you will find a way to get rid of him and his followers forever."
"In that case any sensible witch would run off in the opposite direction if she saw that mark. And I'm not interested in the kind of witch who wouldn't."
"That's a pity. I know a couple of girls from my biker days who wouldn't mind a tattoo, ugly as it is. Besides I'm sure Nancy would love your sense of humor."
"What sense of humor?" he said raising an eyebrow.
"That's the one." she said smiling.
"I don't think a relationship with a muggle would have a future, but if I'm ever free and I'm really desperate I'll keep it in mind."
"That's the spirit. Always so optimistic."
Snape stood up.
"I've got to get going. I still have essays of my dunderhead students to correct. Perhaps I should study Dudley's method, and see if the more intelligent ones are able to explain the subject to others not so bright, who can in turn explain it to the others."
"Good luck." said Petunia by way of farewell.
"Good luck to you too with your date, and with those two."