Monday Morning: Jail.
"What time is it?" Snape asked irritably. He and Ella were sitting back to back on the iron cots in their cells, waiting. They had a court date just after lunch and their solicitor was due at eleven to meet with them.
"Have you gone blind? Look for yourself!" Ella snapped.
"You're facing the clock, Ella. For the love of Avalon, would it kill you to tell me the time?" Snape shot back.
Ella sighed. She hated it when Severus was right. "It's half past nine," she said.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"No I'm not."
"Pardon?"
"I'm not welcome, my question wasn't in any case."
"Severus, I was just being polite."
"And dishonest."
"A white lie at best and certainly an unintended one," Ella said not troubling to hide the exasperation in her voice. She regretted it immediately as she felt Severus' back shaking. Shocked, she turned to face him.
"Severus, what's the m-?"
He was laughing, shaking with silent giggles. The last time Severus had laughed she'd been laughing hard, herself. This was her first good look at Severus while he was laughing and it was... strange to say the least, almost creepy. That, and she was offended.
"Not funny." she said shortly.
"I suppose not," Severus said trying to swallow a grin, "It must be the stress and the bad food."
"And the company?" Ella asked sharply.
There was a pause. "No." Severus said firmly, "Although, I'll admit being confined in this small space is beginning to wear on my nerves."
"I agree," Ella said dully, "Still, it's better than that closet at the Dursleys."
"Pardon?"
"The closet at the Dursleys, the one under the stairs. This is better."
"I suppose," Snape said slowly, clearly confused, "But I don't understand what that has to do with anything. What was the big deal about that blasted cupboard anyway?"
Ella looked at Snape with surprise, "You don't know?"
"Obviously not," Snape said, trying to control his impatience.
"They, the Dursleys, locked Harry in that closet until he was eleven and he got the Hogwarts letter," Ella said with disgust, "I can't believe you didn't know."
Snape's eyebrows rose at the news, but he did not respond for a moment.
"Is THAT why you wanted me to see it?" he finally asked.
"Yes. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very bad idea."
"What is it about Potter and giant messes?" Snape wondered aloud, after a pause.
Ella turned on him, "You aren't seriously blaming Harry for this, are you? Merlin's Beard, Severus, does your bitterness blind you to everything?"
Snape scowled darkly at this comment and opened his mouth. He shut it again very firmly and walked a couple of paces back and forth.
Ella wasn't finished, however, "Severus, does your hatred of James really go that far? That you would blame Harry even for this..."
"I don't BLAME him, Ella," Snape said, exasperated, "I was merely noting that Harry seems to attract more than his fair share of misfortune. Surely, you don't disagree with that?"
"Well, no," Ella said, confused.
"And as for my hatred of James... and Sirius and Lupin and Pettigrew you left them out... well, I suppose it's my own business isn't it?"
"I suppose," Ella said, not sounding at all convinced. "It just seems to me that if you see someone poisoning themselves you ought to try and make them stop."
"Poisoning?"
"Yes. Your bitterness is killing you... or at least killing your chances to be happy with your life."
"I see," Snape said dryly. "But did it ever occur to you that I am not ingesting poison but a vaccine?"
Ella scowled at him.
"Perhaps I'm keeping more pain and disappointment at bay. Bitterness is an effective shield, you should try it."
"No thank you," Ella said softly. She knew he was wrong but couldn't think of a response.
In any case, they were soon presented with something that completely distracted them from the conversation.
There was a small bit of commotion as two police officers began to lead more prisoners into the building. Ella turned her back on the scene muttering, "Company. Oh joy." But Snape's face was staring fixedly at the door and his hand shot though the bars to grip Ella's arm.
"Ow! Severus, what the-" Ella trailed off as she looked at Snape's face. She then pulled his hand from her arm and turned slowly around to see what he was staring at.
The officers were pulling a rather contentious Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger over to some chairs. Ella's mouth dropped open and she passed a hand over her eyes. When she looked again they were still there and they were both looking over at the cells and grinning.
