1. A chaotic day
A little humorous fic set 3 years after 1997, with survived Severus, Minerva, and their old students Harry and Luna. ENJOY :)
Day 1 of the winter holidays
"I TOLD YOU, I AM NOT GOING!" Severus fumed. What harebrained scheme had Minerva came up with now? Spending winter break in London, pretending to be Muggle tourists? "This is an ATTEMPT to get some of the Hogwarts staff to get to KNOW muggle life! And as Headmistress, I INSIST that you go." Minerva snarled, almost as intimidating as Severus, even though she was shorter than him. "Fine." Severus half-whined. He stalked out of the teacher's lounge to pack, where Minerva, that loony Lovegood, and even POTTER were.
A few hours later
Severus hated the stares on the Muggle bus. Minerva, Harry, and even Luna were in full muggle apparel, even normal coats for the biting London winter, but Severus had refused to ditch his cloak. It pooled around his bus seat, and people kept tripping in it. Severus heard mutters of 'goth' and 'hoodlum', which just made Severus clench a fist around his wand, hidden in his cloak. He HATED these narrow-minded muggles.
Severus wasn't one to complain, but out of all places THIS? Minerva was abysmal at picking hotels. Severus was about to allow himself a very dramatic collapse onto the moldy bed in his room, when Minerva's voice called, "Severus? Are you going to starve yourself and miss lunch again?" Ugh. Severus huffed, stalking out of the room, careful not to trap his cloak in the closing door.
Half an hour later and Severus was close to vomiting. The hotel food was garish and greasy, making Severus gag. Potter, Lovegood and Minerva seemed to have no problem with it. He was just going to up and leave when his cloak got trapped under the chair, tripped him, sending Severus spread-eagled on the ground feeling very, very stupid. "Mmh." He huffed when people asked him if he was fine. Tugging his cloak off the chair, Severus stalked away, back to his room.
Severus didn't know what to think about the Tower of London. First off it looked like a bootleg Hogwarts, but Severus liked the intelligent, and sometimes ruthless, ravens. He felt uncomfortable and irked amongst all the tourists, and tried to stay behind Minerva, Potter and Lovegood, like a shadow. Severus watched Lovegood stop and feed the ravens, and a smirk escaped him. Severus used to feed the animals too, as a gangly teen. But he was separated from the group when a sudden throb came from his snake scar. "Mh." Severus hissed, clapping one hand to his neck. But Minerva and the rest of the group were gone. Cursing, he tried to move through the wave of tourists, but unlike the students at Hogwarts, they weren't intimidated by him. Severus could only struggle through the wave.
Ten minutes of almost tripping on his cloak and struggling through people, Severus finally got back to the group. But the winter cold had caused Severus' scar to bleed, and he had to discreetly wipe the blood off on the inside of his cloak. People were starting to stare at him, but Severus just grit his teeth and ignored it. Sometimes he hated being an introvert.
They were finally out of the gloomy and oppressive place, but blood was beginning to seep through Severus' fingers. Discreetly he muttered a Blood-Halt charm to stop it, but it won't last long. Minerva, Lovegood and Potter were chatting animatedly, oblivious to Severus' existence. It was only when he made to speak that they noticed.
"Where- we- going-" his voice had gone hoarse. "Professor are you-" Lovegood made to enquire, but Severus stopped her. Only when Minerva uttered a small gasp that he knew. Blood was trickling down his neck, staining his hands and clothing. "Go back." Severus choked out. People were stopping and whispering, and in an effort to get away, they snuck Severus down an alley.
A quick Blood-Halt spell stopped it. Severus wiped the blood off his clothes with a quick spell, and the group Disapparated, the trip finished for the day.
Well that was a disaster. Severus thought in his bed. Why had Minerva even came up with this scheme? He would rather be brewing potions than visiting some bootleg version of Hogwarts. Deep in thought, Severus fell asleep.
The snake hissed, fangs gleaming. Its maw ripped into Severus' throat, making him shriek. WAKE UP, a voice yelled. He blinked and the dream disappeared, to be replaced by the empty room. People were stirring outside. Had Severus really screamed? Hoping that little scene didn't repeat itself, Severus fell back asleep.
The next day commenced the same, without Severus, though. Minerva had insisted he stay at the hotel, and Severus was glad for it. He didn't like visiting touristy muggle places anyway. Severus HAD an idea on where to go, however...
This is it. His ONE chance to sneak back to Hogwarts. Severus had made his way to the Leaky Cauldron, into Diagon Alley and was about to board the Knight bus, when a hand grabbed his cloak so forcefully Severus almost choked on his own collar. "Not getting away so easily." Minerva hissed. "Oh please, this is just idiotic-" Severus snapped, but Minerva had don a perfect Snape smirk on her face. "Don't you think it's a bit...cowardly?" She had hit a nerve. "...MH!" Was all Severus managed to say, and he proceeded to follow her back to their hotel, mouth twitching with fury.
Severus couldn't sleep. He got up, dressed, snuck out of his room then the hotel. It was a habit of Severus', taking walks when he couldn't sleep. It was how he managed to catch Potter in his harebrained adventures. Severus smirked as he strode down the empty sidewalk, cloak and all, like no one was there. Often Severus passed still-open pubs with muggle hoodlums drinking their livers out. He wrinkled his nose. Alcohol was what caused him to be raised 'rough'. Personally even Severus allowed a nip of Firewhiskey when the dunderheads were finally getting to him. Deep in thought, Severus almost walked into a gang of drunk muggles.
"Uh no thank you, we don't need some goth telling their tale of woe." They said in slurred voices. Severus turned, taking another road that will take him back to the hotel, but the drunks stepped on his cloak, preventing him from leaving without a fight. "What's with the cloak? It's cold out here. Maybe lend it to us?" The drunks slurred. Severus growled. "So sexy." Severus heard a woman's voice mutter. Mortified, Severus turned and ran back, as fast as his heavy cloak would allow. NO WAY was he EVER leaving the hotel at night again. Honestly he thought he was going insane.