Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. The author does not claim or imply the rights to any item related nor belonging to the Harry Potter universe.

Chapter II

Salazar

It was complete and utter chaos.  Students were running everywhere.  The only adult supervision seemed to be Hagrid who was too busy sniffling a good bye to Potter, Weasley, and Granger, to take notice of what was going on around him.  Snape had sworn not to get involved.  He was just going to get on the train in some empty compartment and ride it down to London where he would promptly board another to take him close enough to Apparate to the Malfoy's.  But this was too much for him to bear.

A group of Slytherin girls were busy harassing some Ravenclaw first year whose trunk had burst open and had decided to deal with the situation by crying loudly.  There was a commotion by one car as students came stumbling out with their robes pulled over their noses: a stink bomb, no doubt.  The sight of an identical pair of red heads fleeing the scene only seemed to confirm it.  Hissing and the sound of a fight occurring between two cats that had escaped their crates came from where the luggage was being loaded and then he caught a glimpse of two heads disappear behind the corner of a car: one male one female.

Out of frustration, Snape balled his fists.  He had promised himself that he was not going to play the professor.  School was out and he had had quite enough for one year.  However, he couldn't just ignore it.  It wasn't in his nature to allow his surroundings to get this out of hand.  Jamming his hand into a pocket of the simple summer robes he wore, he pulled out his wand, held it up in the air, and mumbled a spell that caused an explosion like fireworks rocket out of the tip and boom over the heads of the students.

Everyone stopped and soon all eyes were fixed on their Potions professor.

"All of you—get on the train now!"  His voice rang out almost as loudly as the explosion he had created from his wand.

There were some looks of surprise, others of loathing, and some of hurt as the students filed onto the cars.

"Ah, Professor Snape, I didn't know you were…" Hagrid said, clunking across the platform.

"Just one moment," Snape interrupted, and he jumped off the platform and over a car coupling.

Around the side of the car, he spotted the couple he had seen disappear earlier. They were Hufflepuff seventh years and neither the boy nor the girl seemed to have heard what had just occurred on the other side of the train.

"Mister Stapleton and Miss Ryan.  Will you please get on the train." That was an order, not a question and at the sound of Snape's voice, the two immediately unlocked their faces and dropped their hands.

"Oh, p-p-Professor, I didn't…" the boy stuttered, his ears turning bright red.

"Now," Snape commanded and before they could move, he had snatched both of them by the collar of their robes and was dragging them back to the platform.  He released the girl shortly, letting her scuttle under the coupling and dash up the stairs to the nearest car but he held firmly onto the boy.  It was rather surprising exactly how strong Snape's skinny little arms were for he was able to nearly throw the large Hufflepuff over the car coupling.

The boy made a move for the car that his girlfriend had boarded, but Snape stopped him. "Oh, no you don't. Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Stapleton, I do know what two hormone driven teenagers like yourselves are capable of doing on a long train ride, and I will not have you two sitting together."  With that, he helped the boy up the stairs of a different car.

By now, a painful pressure had built up behind Severus' right eye.  He wondered if he had remembered to bring any headache powder. Considering that he was going to be riding for about eight hours on a train packed full with students, he thought he would have remembered.  But then again, he had been planning on finding an empty compartment where he could sit and read uninterrupted.  He lightly cussed himself out.  After twelve years of teaching he thought he would have remembered something so simple as headache powder.

"Severus?" All the students were now on the train and Hagrid had walked over. "Did Dumbledore send you over here?"

"No," Severus put his wand back into his robes, "I'm riding down to London on business." That was what this dinner tonight with Lucius was for: business.

"So you're riding with the students?"

Snape swore that he caught a snickering grin under Hagrid's bushy dark beard. "I'm not left with much choice, am I?"

"No." Hagrid was laughing.

Before Severus' headache got any worse, he decided to climb aboard the train and find some empty compartment for himself. Why did everyone—even other professors—find mirth in his misery with the ongoing battle he had with the students?  All he wanted was order. Was that too much to ask for? He had quickly learned in his first year of teaching—his first class—that without order, nothing got done.  He spotted the Weasley twins in one compartment that he passed by.  It had been in fact a Weasley that had taught him that.  His first class to teach had been Slytherin and Gryffindor first years, which included the infamous Charlie Weasley.  He wanted to shudder at the memory, for he also remembered his second class: that one had contained Bill Weasley.  It would be four more years before all of the Weasleys had passed through the Halls of Hogwarts.

As he passed by one compartment, he caught a glimpse of the Hufflepuff Stapleton's head, and he appeared to be busy with Miss Ryan once again.  They were like magnets!  Angrily, he rapped on the door, giving them a warning before opening it.  He did not want the embarrassment that he had had to deal with once before when breaking up two smitten students. They were staring at him in disbelief when he entered.

"Look, Professor," the boy said firmly. "We've graduated; we're of age wizards now."

The boy's attitude was annoying.  Snape had taught him for seven years and now that he had graduated, he felt that he could be as rude as he pleased. "Then I don't suppose you wouldn't mind if I sat in the same compartment with two 'of age wizards.'" Something inside him smiled maliciously as he sat down on the bench opposite them and proceeded to pull out a book.

The two Hufflepuffs looked at Snape then slyly at each other and started to playfully kiss.

"Though you may both have graduated," Snape informed while still staring at the pages of his book—they were both trying his patience, "I will inform you that you are still under the responsibility of the school until you get off this train in London.  In that case, you are still subject to following school rules, and obscene behavior such as you two have been displaying, is not permitted."

"Obscene behavior?" the girl choked.

"Showing affection for one another is not obscene," Stapleton argued defiantly.

"No, it's not," Snape agreed.  "But showing it to the extent you two are, is.  Imagine me as Miss Ryan's father, Mr. Stapleton, then make your judgment as to what is appropriate and what is not."

They no doubt really hated him now. But what were two more people in the world who hated Severus Snape going to mean?

Then, much to Snape's agitation, the boy decided to get smart, "What are you going to do? Give us detention? We've graduated."

"No," Snape replied as coolly as he could.  "As you have made it clear that you have graduated and are of age, and as I have pointed out, the minute you step off this train, you will no longer be my student.  Then, Mr. Stapleton, you will be an 'of age wizard' who has very unwisely decided to get on my bad side."

That shut him up.  He didn't feel afraid of saying it because he knew the boy enough to know he wouldn't take the argument any further.

*

Two very flustered Hufflepuffs got off the train mumbling something about "sexual frustration" shortly before Snape slipped his book in his robes and strode out.  Disembarking the train was somewhat more a civil ordeal as the students' parents awaited them on the platform. Still, he wanted to get away and started to head for other parts of the station.

"Professor!" He hadn't moved quickly enough.  He turned around with dread, but was relieved to find that it was a member of the railroad personnel that was flagging him down and not a parent.  "We have a problem, professor."  The man in the conductor's uniform had run up to him.  "Several students seem to have been hexed, sir.  We need your help to fix them."

Severus sighed through his nose and followed the conductor over to one of the cars.  Inside on the floor, sat three students clearly hit with more than a few hexes.  It took him a moment to recognize them to be Malfoy, Crabb, and Goyle.  He had no question as to who was to blame for this. Great, he thought.  I'm going over to the Malfoy's tonight and their son is going to have to have some lengthy de-hexing done to him.  Thank you ever so much, Potter and Weasley. He withdrew his wand and started to mend the damage, hoping he could get the boys looking passable by the time Lucius, Narcissa, or the Crabbs or Goyles came aboard looking for their children.

"Oh, my poor boy!" Too late.  A husky, dark haired-witch leaned over his shoulder.

An even larger man grumped, "Dammit, Gregory.  How did you let someone do this to you?"

Mrs. Goyle was covering her mouth with her hand while her husband merely stood back and scowled, hands on hips.

"Here," Mr. Goyle said at last. "I'll take care of Gregory, you can work on fixing Draco and Vincent."

Severus was able to undo many of the jinxes to the point that the boys looked relatively like themselves before he decided to scoot off.  He had had quite enough for the day and was eager to get some time to his thoughts before he had to face his cousin and the Malfoys. 

Part of him wanted to see Salazar again, yet another part of him feared it.  The truth was, he was very afraid.  The one thing that scared him more than anything else, the one thing that was most painful, was the past.  With the return of Salazar, having dinner over at the Malfoys and the prospect of having to return to Voldemort's fold, it was the past returning.

For the past thirteen years he had been fighting his memories.  There wasn't a night that went by that he didn't take some dreamless sleep potion, scared of what he might see if he didn't.  Now all that he had worked so hard to try and forget, all the regrets that he had, were trampling down the road, beating a path straight to his door.

He walked through the crowds as if in a daydream, watching witches and wizards pass by, all blissfully going about their business.

Voldemort was back and he was one of the few who knew.  How much longer would the wizarding world keep up this charade, this denial?  Soon everything would be back as they once were thirteen years ago: obituaries taking up pages in the Daily Prophet: doubting and suspecting your own neighbor: young wizard volunteering to join the ranks of aurors only to have their lives cut short.  Now the only question remained was what part would Severus Snape play this time?  If Voldemort knew he had been a traitor, a spy, he would most likely not live long enough to find out.  He became aware of his own heart beating as he stepped through the crowd up to the ticket window.

"Sir?"

He was suddenly aware that he was being spoken to.

"Are you all right sir?"

Severus blinked and stared at the man behind the ticket window. "Uh, yea…when's the next train to Wales?"

The man behind the ticket counter looked to be in his early twenties.  He wouldn't have been very old when Voldemort was last in power, but he looked old enough to have remembered it, especially if a family member had been killed, and there were few wizarding families that had not been affected in some degree. "There's one that leaves in an hour for Cardiff and there's still some seats. Will that do for you, sir?"

Severus nodded and pulled out a small leather change purse.

"Seven sickles."

Severus counted out the sickles and got his ticket.  Platform 2 ½.  Stepping away from the window, he began to make his way toward the proper platform.  He had an hour to kill, and he could go for something to eat at the Leaky Cauldron but that would require him to step out amongst the muggles: something that he avoided at all costs.  Instead, he opted to just buy something from a vendor and find a quiet bench to sit on and continue reading.  He was about to head over to a witch selling some warm crumpets when a shrill whinny echoed in the station.  Being led down a ramp off a nearby car, were two Magus Mares, which looked like horses in every respect except in the eyes.  They were far more intelligent than muggle horses and would look you straight in the eye.  As a child, Severus and his cousin had owned some and ridden with nearby children that they attended Hogwarts with, and he still admired the creatures so he turned to watch as a sleek black was pitching and bucking on the platform.  But then he spotted something far more interesting.

A wizard had stopped and was arguing with the man leading the horse.  He was tall and thin with long black hair and a high-bridged nose: a very Snape nose.  His robes had a definite Russian flare to them, complete with sash. All of these things made him stand out in a crowd, yet it was only one item that had caused Severus to take notice.  In his right hand, he was gripping a long, twisted piece of wood that ended with carved talons gripping a stone that glowed blue.  There was only one wizard known to currently carry a mage's staff: Salazar Snape. He was too busy at the moment streaming out a tirade to the railroad worker holding the horse to take notice of Severus, but Severus needed that time for there was something very odd: his cousin didn't look as if he had aged a day since he had seen him last. 

Sadly, Snape was reminded of a potion, one that he had concocted.  Evidently it still had effect.

Salazar had wrenched the lead-rope from the railroad employee and was leading the mare himself when he spotted Severus.  His eyes brightened and his scowl turned up into a smile.

"Severus!" he screamed loud enough for half the station to hear. "My God, Sev. You look positively horrible."

Severus cringed and looked around as people stared at him.  Perhaps, though, they were only staring the Magus Mare that was nervously snorting and striking its shod feet on the brick floor.

"Wow, it's been ten years, hasn't it?" Salazar continued stopping just in front of Severus.  "Good to see you too," he said after a bit.

"Oh, sorry…yes, it's good to see you, LeSal."  Severus had let his mind wander again as he stared at the young features that seemed to show nineteen or twenty on a thirty-six year-old man.  This was his fault, a potion gone awry—yet another item to put down on his little black list of regrets that were again going to stare him in the face.

"You've got to help me," he said at once.  "These dunderheads working here just don't know the first thing about Magus Mares.  They were supposed to move them over to a train headed for Cardiff, but haven't yet.  There's one leaving in an hour. Could you help me move them? I have one more."

Severus unexpectedly had the lead-rope shoved into his hands and found himself holding the black mare while LeSal hurried back the car and proceeded to grab the halter of a second mare.  While he waited, the mare he was holding stepped forward and put its head up against his arm then began rubbing its face, using Severus as some sort of scratching post.  Immediately, he pushed the animal away, yet something inside of him, a little boy whom he hadn't spoken to in years, made him want to take his arm and rub the mare on the forehead.  But he knew the dirt that was ground into the hair of horses and he did not want to get his arm filthy and smelling like a horse and he most definitely was not going to listen to the second urge that made him want to snatch the mare's mane in his hand and swing himself up onto its back.

What the hell was wrong with him? Letting his mind wander and entertaining boyhood fancies by getting sentimental about some smelly beast?  He better had watch it or he'd soon crack. Then again, Magus Mares weren't smelly.  They smelled like a horse, and he was rather fond of the dust and leather and sweat smell that permeated their coats… Again he shook these thoughts from his mind.  He held the animal at arm's length and waited for his cousin to return.

"Now will you look at this one…whoa!"

Severus peered around the mare he was holding to see LeSal struggling to keep a very sporty looking mare under control.  It had a coat that gleamed like gold.

"This is Shaharazad," LeSal explained.

"Why don't we get them to the train?" Severus was becoming worried that the animals might kick someone, or worse, considering these were Magus Mares.  He ended up having to take the initiative, as LeSal seemed perfectly fine to stand there and talk mares.

"I went all the way to northern Iran for her," he babbled on. "You wouldn't believe how intense that card game was.  Wizards over there just aren't like they are here.  Never go to Iran."

I don't plan on it, Snape thought.  No one in their right mind just ups and goes to Iran.

"And that one, the one you've got, that's Alexandra.  I got her smuggled in from a breeder in Chechnya only a year ago.  It's a pity you never came and visited me at Durmstrang.  I think you would have liked it."

Severus was avoiding this accusation.  He had been avoiding his cousin for the past ten years and it wasn't by the fault of LeSal either.  As he glanced sideways at LeSal's young face it felt like a knife were stabbing him inside.  That was what he had been avoiding: that and the mage's staff.

Regrets.

Absent mindedly, he patted the mare that he had been leading on the neck as it was taken away and led onto a boxcar. He looked up at a sign overhead: Platform 2 ½.

"So how were planning on getting to the Malfoy's?" LeSal asked. "I'm taking this train up to Wales where I can Apparate with the mares.  Would you mind coming along? It'd be easier if you'd take charge of one of them when we Disapparate." 

Severus only nodded.

"Good." LeSal knew this was the most of a response he was going to get.  "Now let's go get your ticket."

Ticket.  Yes, he already had one of those, didn't he? He dug into his pocket and pulled out the ticket.  LeSal leaned over. "Oh, no. I'm riding first class. We'll get that changed," and he snatched Severus' ticket.

First class? LeSal was a teacher, and an unemployed one at that.  Where did he get the money to ride first class and ship two Magus Mares all the way from Russia? His questions were soon answered.

"I'd like to exchange this ticket and get a first class seat to Cardiff." He leaned on the ticket window and cast a sly smile to Severus.

"That'll be seven more sickles, sir," the ticket master informed.

"I'll have it charged," LeSal replied.

"To what account?"

"The Malfoy family. And it's for Salazar Snape."

This was very uncomfortable.  Severus pulled on his cousin's robes. "I'd rather not…"

"Oh, don't worry." He waved a hand nonchalantly. "Lucius won't mind. I'm giving him Alexandra and he said that I'm free to charge my travel expenses to his family account.  You've been invited to dinner tonight, so he won't think anything of it—besides, he rolling in money, it's not like he can't afford it." He swiped the first class ticket and handed it to Severus who took it reluctantly, as if it were dirty. LeSal stood back and took a good look at him. "You haven't said much. But then again, you were never one to talk much.  How about we board the dinner car and I'll have some drinks ordered: loosen up your mouth a bit."

This was going to be a long evening.

A/N: Not much really happened here. As I said, I'm letting Severus handle this.  I was hoping to have the dinner at the Malfoys in this chapter, but my muses whispered what was going on inside Sev's head and I found it interesting enough to write down.  I'm also getting a better view of LeSal as in "The Staff of Orkney" Harry only sees the face he puts on for his students throughout most of the story. And yes, I have started the second part to "Staff" but it'll be a while.  I've got a Civil War reenactment this weekend then next week it's back to school. L