The Liber Severi
Liber I - Severus Snape's True Love
Copyright (c) 2001 by Cassandra Houston
Illustrations by Gabriel (http://www.angelfire.com/art/angelgabriel/)
Author's Notes:
Most of the characters within belong to JK Rowling. Amethyst Rayne Black Snape, Lapis Meaker and some others belong to me, Cassandra Houston. I will not accept money for this book, nor any others made with the wonderful characters JK Rowling has created. I am only putting on paper my interpretation and theory of what the Rowling characters may have been like before the Harry Potter series and what they may be like after. I am not trying to insult or steal from Rowling. I am only having fun here.
If you like what you read (and I certainly hope you do), please feel free to forward a copy of this ebook along to friends, family and anyone else who may enjoy its contents.
I must take the time here to thank Gabriel. Gabriel! You are a saint and I am forever in your debt!
I now give you Severus Snape's True Love, the first in the Liber Severi series.
Cassandra Houston
Chapter Five: The Professors Snape
The students arriving two weeks later were captivated at the Welcoming Feast by the beautiful new teacher at the Staff table. Small and thin with violet blue eyes and a bun that covered the entire top of her head; she was obviously the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. The students were equally fascinated that Professor Snape not only did not glare daggers at this new teacher, but was also sitting talking animatedly with her. Many noticed that he seemed healthier somehow. Not so pale. He was even seen to smile.
After the Sorting and before the Feast, Dumbledore made a few announcements, ending his usual speech with what everyone above First Year wanted to know; who the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher was.
"As you know, we will be welcoming a new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Please join me in welcoming to our school, Professor Snape."
The silence was deafening. The First Years all clapped, but no one else did. Jaws dropped all around the Great Hall. Dumbledore went on.
"Professor Amethyst Snape."
A murmuring broke out in the Great Hall. At the Gryffindor table, Colin and Dennis Creevy, now in their fourth and seventh years at Hogwarts stared. Colin leaned forward and tapped Ginny Weasley on the arm. "Snape has a sister?"
Ginny gaped at him. "Don't be such an idiot!" She snapped. "Of course he doesn't!" she stared up at the staff table and breathed. "He's gotten married! Look at her hand. Look at his hand. See the rings?" Ginny had been taken by Ron and told in confidence about the wedding. Although she was dying to tell, she did not.
Dennis Creevy fell off the bench in astonishment. He wasn't the only one picking himself off the floor. It didn't take many people long to realise that Amethyst Snape was not Severus Snapes sister. The shock rocked the Great Hall. No one seemed to know what to do, or say. Dumbledore clapped his hands together and said, finally.
"Well, then. On with the Feast."
Whispers followed Amethyst Snape from the moment she left her Dungeon office/home until she got to her classroom.
"Look at her!"
"Can you believe anyone would marry Snape?"
"Could something be wrong with her?"
"Is she mad?"
"Maybe he bewitched her?"
She smiled to herself as she opened the door to her classroom. The silence was deafening. If she were blind, she would believe the room empty. She put her briefcase on the floor and turned to face her first class. The class stared back at her, as if she were some weird insect or other.
She cleared her throat. "Well. I don't need to introduce myself, I see." She said, addressing the class. She took the roll call, then retrieving her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook from her briefcase and opened it. Then she snapped it shut.
"All right." She said, coldly. She walked to the front of her desk and hopped on it. "What say we just clear the air and have a nice 'Getting to know me' session?" She said.
The class as a whole blushed. Amethyst went on, glaring. "I would dare say that you all have about a million questions." She clapped her hands. "On with them, then. The faster I can get them out of the way the faster I can start doing my job."
She crossed her legs and waited. Again silence settled. A freckled hand rose.
"Miss. Weasley, isn't it?"
The flaming redhead blushed. "Yes, Professor." She searched the room for encouragement. "Well, Professor. I. Well. That is to say." She floundered.
Amethyst raised her eyebrows at Ginny Weasley. "You would be wondering something along the lines of the whispers that have followed me from my chambers to this classroom?"
Again the class blushed as a whole.
Professor A. Snape looked very stern. Almost as stern as her husband. "We shall suffice it to say that there is someone for everyone. Professor Severus Snape and I are, shall we say, birds of a feather. As you will soon find out." She gave a cold smile to her class, pulled her book from behind her back and began her lesson.
Lying beside her husband that night, after making love, Amethyst and Severus compared notes on their first day of school.
"You wouldn't believe the looks I got today." Amethyst said into Severus' chest, smiling.
Severus chuckled. "Well, I am not the favourite teacher around here, you know." He stroked her long hair; now free of the bun and pins she was required to wear while teaching. "No one here has ever known a happy Snape. And I am willing to bet they have never seen the likes of you before."
Amethyst grinned. "You have always been so reserved and aloof to people, Severus. I would dare say I was the only one you really talked to while we went to this school."
"You were." Severus said, simply. "Malfoy and the rest never knew me. They knew who I wanted them to know." He shifted and wrapped his arms around his wife. "You are the only one to know me. The only one I ever let in."
The students became used to having not one, but two Professor Snape's. Those above the First Year took a bit more time getting used to a slightly less hostile Severus Snape. The "old" Snape was not gone completely, however. Draco Malfoy, who was left behind to repeat his seventh and final year at Hogwarts along with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, found this out during the second week of the term, when his shock at the marriage of his head of house wore off some.
The Slytherins reacted with group shock at the news that the head of their house had suddenly gotten married. Draco, as usual, sent off an owl to his father at the earliest opportunity. He had apparently received an answer and approached Snape during the weekly meeting of Slytherins a month after term began.
"Is there any further business?" Snape asked. He was sitting in his usual spot by the fire, surrounded by Slytherins.
Draco raised his hand and Snape nodded to him to go ahead. "Professor Snape." Draco drawled. "I got an owl from my father after dinner this evening."
Snape frowned. "I am glad to see your father is still speaking to you, Malfoy, but why should any of us care?"
Draco grinned. "He was writing me about your new wife." He said.
"Oh, really?" Snape said, mildly, eyes narrowing.
"Yes, Professor." Draco said. "He says he remembers her, from my description of her. He told me that her surname is Black. As in Sirius Blacks younger sister."
A murmur rippled through the room. Severus' eyes narrowed even more. "Lucius Malfoy and I were in the same year, as you know Draco." He said, lowering his voice only slightly. "Of course he would remember my wife from our time together in school." He leaned forward, staring straight at Draco Malfoy, "So?"
"So," said Draco, sounding a little less confident. "My father says Amethyst Black was," he paused here, almost uncertain if he wanted to continue. "That she was a Gryffindor, Professor."
Another murmurs, louder this time. Severus didn't even flinch. "And?" he said, softer still, the hint of a threat lingering.
"Gryffindors are scum, sir." Draco stammered.
Severus Snape stood and walked over to Draco. "Is that what you think, Malfoy?" he hissed.
Draco dared a sullen look at his head of house. "Yes, sir. That's what we all think." He said, although only a few murmurs greeted this announcement.
"Is that so?" Severus hissed again. "So you are suggesting, perhaps, that because I am married to a woman who was a Gryffindor, that I am lowering myself to the level of scum?" he asked slowly, taking in everyone in the room and returning his gaze to Draco.
Draco opened his mouth. Then closed it.
Severus leaned in so close to Draco Malfoy they were almost nose-to-nose. "You are treading on very thin ice with me, Malfoy." He said, very calmly. "You, who panted after Hermione Granger, a Mudblood, for seven years, have the nerve to accuse me of marrying a Gryffindor and so someone beneath me." He backed up a bit. "Now, Malfoy, tell me more about my wife?"
"Father didn't tell me more," Draco admitted grudgingly.
Severus straightened up. He was at least a head taller than Draco. He turned his back to Draco and returned to his chair by the fire. He sat down and raised his hand. From the shadows came Amethyst Snape. She took Severus' hand and stood beside him. Without looking at his wife, Severus said, "The members of my house seem to have some questions about you."
Amethyst looked around the room. The Slytherins noticed she did not smile. She did not grin. She looked regal and terrible as she looked over them. "What do the Slytherins want to know about me?" she asked, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "And why do they think it is any of their concern?"
Vincent Crabbe stepped forward, grinning stupidly. "Were you really a Gryffindor? Are you really Sirius Blacks sister?"
Amethyst examined Crabbe closely. "Very good. Why ever did they keep you back?" she replied, sugary sweet and sarcastic.
Draco Malfoy recovered himself. He walked forward, shoving Crabbe backward. "Slytherins and Gryffindors don't get along." He announced. "Everyone knows that."
A slight murmur from the Slytherin House.
Amethyst let go her husbands' hand and walked towards Draco. She reached him, put her hand under his chin and ran a finger along his neck. "You tried to get one Hermione Granger under your spell, did you not, Mister Malfoy?" She said, not lowering her voice. "Perhaps you are jealous because Professor Snape was able to accomplish what you were never man enough to and got his Gryffindor. But, oh, what different Gryffindors are myself and Hermione Granger." And she backed smoothly away, to the howls of Slytherin laughter. Even Severus was grinning. Draco however turned several shades darker in his anger.
As the laughter died away, Amethyst stopped in the middle of the crowd of Slytherins. "I will tell you a bit about my family, which is, apparently all important to you." She glared at Draco and spoke in a loud voice so no one would miss a word. "Unlike Hermione Granger, my brother and I are Pure Blood. As far back as you can go. Our parents were students at this school. Our father was in Gryffindor House. In his day, he was captain of the Quidditch team and a Prefect. Our mother was also a Prefect. Her house however was not Gryffindor. Her house was Slytherin!" and she raised her head in pride. The Slytherins in the room gasped. "My mother died when my brother and I were very young. My father, for whatever reason he had, tried to instill qualities in us that would assure our placement not only in Hogwarts, but in Gryffindor House. The Sorting Hat took its time with me, and I was placed in Gryffindor. I, to this day, believe the Sorting Hat made a mistake. Like my father, I fell in love with a Slytherin. And I married a Slytherin. And, believe me, my Gryffindor brother was none too pleased with that."
Amethyst walked again in front of Draco Malfoy. "You tell your father that at least Severus Snape went for a proper Gryffindor. Who was at least half-Slytherin." She looked him up and down. "And Pure Blood." She added. She then turned, walked back to the chair where Severus was seated. The faced the Slytherins again and asked, "If there is nothing more you wish to know about me," she broke off. Several silence filled minutes later, she bend and kissed her husband passionately for the whole house to see and faded into the darkness again.
Yet another murmur filled the room. Draco Malfoy was standing just as Amethyst Snape had left him, but he was flushed with anger. Severus stood. "Is that all?' He asked the room. When no one answered, he turned and left the room by the door.
Sirius opened his eyes when he heard the knock. Probably Harry again, he thought. He didn't want to talk to anyone, not even his godson. He knew he was being stubborn. He really didn't need Harry to tell him that. Again.
The knock came again and he groaned and pulled himself up out of his bed. His flat was a mess. He hadn't really cleaned up in a while. He kicked a path to the door and opened it.
He didn't recognize the man standing before him at first. Then it hit him. "Bill Weasley?" he said.
"All right, Sirius?" Bill said, smiling. The men shook hands and Bill walked in. "Well, looks like you could use a house elf, mate?" he commented, looking at the mess.
"They won't take on this challenge." Sirius chuckled. He was suddenly hit with a suspicion. "Who sent you, Bill?" He asked, sighing. "No offence, but I haven't seen you in years and here you are on my doorstep."
"I was triple teamed, mate." He said, laughing. "Between Mum and Ginny and Hermione I was going to come over here and either talk to you or kill you." He pulled out his wand. "Don't worry, Sirius, we'll talk first." He waved his wand and the place started straightening itself out. He walked into the kitchen and cleaned the table with a wave of his wand, opened the large bag he'd brought with him and pulled out two bottles. "Come on and sit down." He said.
Sirius didn't move until a broom swept him out of the way. He walked into the kitchen and stood over Bill. "I really don't want to talk about it, Bill."
Bill poked Sirius in the ribs with his wand and forced him to sit. "If I go back there in under two hours, they'll do unspeakable things to me." He said, soberly. "They are on a mission, Sirius. I am here to talk to you and you will talk to me, because I am not going to face their wrath."
Sirius pouted and drained the bottle he was holding. "Get on with it then."
"Well, then," Bill said, cheerfully, drinking from his own bottle, as Sirius fished into the bag for another. "The women in my family were quite taken by the story that Hermione brought back from your little visit with Remus. They said it was the most horribly romantic story any of them had ever heard, whatever in the bloody hell that is supposed to mean." He took another drink and both men lifted their legs as a mop went to work underneath the table. "They have been saying they had no idea Severus Snape could be so romantic. Can you believe?"
"I have to admit, Sirius." Bill continued. "I can't picture your sister with Severus Snape. Then again, I can't picture Severus Snape with anyone." And he shrugged. "I understand where you're coming from. If Ginny were to take up with that Malfoy kid, I think I'd want to kill him." And here he paused, thinking. "But I would never dream of pulling the stunt you did trying to keep them apart." He said, carefully. "You must have been pretty desperate."
Sirius tossed his now empty bottle across the room; the broom and dustpan quickly swept it up and put it in the waste bin. "I was desperate, Bill." He said, reaching for another bottle. "At the time Voldemort and his Death Eaters were everywhere, it seemed." Bill flinched. "And I just knew Severus was a Death Eater, or would become one." He took another swig. "I was scared to death for my sister, Bill. You remember what it was like. What they did to people. I had nightmares about the Dark Mark appearing over our house." He stopped, shaking.
"In Azkaban, I had plenty of time to think things through. But I couldn't undo anything. And I wound up so caught up in keeping Harry safe and I still didn't trust Snape and his own anger had grown so much since I'd been arrested. By then I really didn't dare tell him the truth. He would have cursed me out of existence." He rambled, but Bill just sat and drank silently, letting him get it out.
"My sister has as much pride as I do and is at least as stubborn." He said, bitterly. "And her temper! She makes me look like I'm in a coma." Bill laughed out loud at this, spraying beer all over the tabletop. A dishrag zoomed over the table and off again.
Sirius heaved a deep sigh, "To tell you the truth, mate." He admitted. "I have had time to think about all that's happened. My sister is -" and here he drained the last of the beer he had and went through two more before he could continue. "Amethyst is in love with Severus Snape. She's gone off and married him and there's not a damn bloody fucking thing I can do about it." He went through another beer. "And I'm not saying that because I'm half-sloshed."
Bill laughed again. "So what are you planning on doing now?" he asked.
Sirius looked at Bill thinking hard. "Well, I suppose I could always send you to talk to my sister, you did such a great job with me." He said, grinning.
"You aren't half-sloshed, you're completely arseholed!" Bill exclaimed, laughing.
Sirius laughed with him. He glanced into the bag Bill had brought. He now noticed it was magically refilling itself. He shook his head and stood. "I'll be right back." And he turned and walked a bit unsteadily out of his kitchen.
Bill took the bag and stood himself. He moved into the sparkling living room. The cleaning supplies had all returned themselves to their places. He sat on the sofa putting the magical bag of booze on the coffee table and reached for another, as Sirius returned, looking awed.
"This place wasn't this clean when I moved into it." he said. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"I'm the oldest of seven children, remember? Bill laughed. "I always hated cleaning and Mum always made me help her. I developed that particular spell by the time I was ten. It might have been overkill for this dinky place, though." He smiled. He handed Sirius another beer. "Have another." He said. "Now you can celebrate your coming to terms."
They drank together.
Liber I - Severus Snape's True Love
Copyright (c) 2001 by Cassandra Houston
Illustrations by Gabriel (http://www.angelfire.com/art/angelgabriel/)
Author's Notes:
Most of the characters within belong to JK Rowling. Amethyst Rayne Black Snape, Lapis Meaker and some others belong to me, Cassandra Houston. I will not accept money for this book, nor any others made with the wonderful characters JK Rowling has created. I am only putting on paper my interpretation and theory of what the Rowling characters may have been like before the Harry Potter series and what they may be like after. I am not trying to insult or steal from Rowling. I am only having fun here.
If you like what you read (and I certainly hope you do), please feel free to forward a copy of this ebook along to friends, family and anyone else who may enjoy its contents.
I must take the time here to thank Gabriel. Gabriel! You are a saint and I am forever in your debt!
I now give you Severus Snape's True Love, the first in the Liber Severi series.
Cassandra Houston
Chapter Five: The Professors Snape
The students arriving two weeks later were captivated at the Welcoming Feast by the beautiful new teacher at the Staff table. Small and thin with violet blue eyes and a bun that covered the entire top of her head; she was obviously the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. The students were equally fascinated that Professor Snape not only did not glare daggers at this new teacher, but was also sitting talking animatedly with her. Many noticed that he seemed healthier somehow. Not so pale. He was even seen to smile.
After the Sorting and before the Feast, Dumbledore made a few announcements, ending his usual speech with what everyone above First Year wanted to know; who the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher was.
"As you know, we will be welcoming a new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Please join me in welcoming to our school, Professor Snape."
The silence was deafening. The First Years all clapped, but no one else did. Jaws dropped all around the Great Hall. Dumbledore went on.
"Professor Amethyst Snape."
A murmuring broke out in the Great Hall. At the Gryffindor table, Colin and Dennis Creevy, now in their fourth and seventh years at Hogwarts stared. Colin leaned forward and tapped Ginny Weasley on the arm. "Snape has a sister?"
Ginny gaped at him. "Don't be such an idiot!" She snapped. "Of course he doesn't!" she stared up at the staff table and breathed. "He's gotten married! Look at her hand. Look at his hand. See the rings?" Ginny had been taken by Ron and told in confidence about the wedding. Although she was dying to tell, she did not.
Dennis Creevy fell off the bench in astonishment. He wasn't the only one picking himself off the floor. It didn't take many people long to realise that Amethyst Snape was not Severus Snapes sister. The shock rocked the Great Hall. No one seemed to know what to do, or say. Dumbledore clapped his hands together and said, finally.
"Well, then. On with the Feast."
Whispers followed Amethyst Snape from the moment she left her Dungeon office/home until she got to her classroom.
"Look at her!"
"Can you believe anyone would marry Snape?"
"Could something be wrong with her?"
"Is she mad?"
"Maybe he bewitched her?"
She smiled to herself as she opened the door to her classroom. The silence was deafening. If she were blind, she would believe the room empty. She put her briefcase on the floor and turned to face her first class. The class stared back at her, as if she were some weird insect or other.
She cleared her throat. "Well. I don't need to introduce myself, I see." She said, addressing the class. She took the roll call, then retrieving her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook from her briefcase and opened it. Then she snapped it shut.
"All right." She said, coldly. She walked to the front of her desk and hopped on it. "What say we just clear the air and have a nice 'Getting to know me' session?" She said.
The class as a whole blushed. Amethyst went on, glaring. "I would dare say that you all have about a million questions." She clapped her hands. "On with them, then. The faster I can get them out of the way the faster I can start doing my job."
She crossed her legs and waited. Again silence settled. A freckled hand rose.
"Miss. Weasley, isn't it?"
The flaming redhead blushed. "Yes, Professor." She searched the room for encouragement. "Well, Professor. I. Well. That is to say." She floundered.
Amethyst raised her eyebrows at Ginny Weasley. "You would be wondering something along the lines of the whispers that have followed me from my chambers to this classroom?"
Again the class blushed as a whole.
Professor A. Snape looked very stern. Almost as stern as her husband. "We shall suffice it to say that there is someone for everyone. Professor Severus Snape and I are, shall we say, birds of a feather. As you will soon find out." She gave a cold smile to her class, pulled her book from behind her back and began her lesson.
Lying beside her husband that night, after making love, Amethyst and Severus compared notes on their first day of school.
"You wouldn't believe the looks I got today." Amethyst said into Severus' chest, smiling.
Severus chuckled. "Well, I am not the favourite teacher around here, you know." He stroked her long hair; now free of the bun and pins she was required to wear while teaching. "No one here has ever known a happy Snape. And I am willing to bet they have never seen the likes of you before."
Amethyst grinned. "You have always been so reserved and aloof to people, Severus. I would dare say I was the only one you really talked to while we went to this school."
"You were." Severus said, simply. "Malfoy and the rest never knew me. They knew who I wanted them to know." He shifted and wrapped his arms around his wife. "You are the only one to know me. The only one I ever let in."
The students became used to having not one, but two Professor Snape's. Those above the First Year took a bit more time getting used to a slightly less hostile Severus Snape. The "old" Snape was not gone completely, however. Draco Malfoy, who was left behind to repeat his seventh and final year at Hogwarts along with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, found this out during the second week of the term, when his shock at the marriage of his head of house wore off some.
The Slytherins reacted with group shock at the news that the head of their house had suddenly gotten married. Draco, as usual, sent off an owl to his father at the earliest opportunity. He had apparently received an answer and approached Snape during the weekly meeting of Slytherins a month after term began.
"Is there any further business?" Snape asked. He was sitting in his usual spot by the fire, surrounded by Slytherins.
Draco raised his hand and Snape nodded to him to go ahead. "Professor Snape." Draco drawled. "I got an owl from my father after dinner this evening."
Snape frowned. "I am glad to see your father is still speaking to you, Malfoy, but why should any of us care?"
Draco grinned. "He was writing me about your new wife." He said.
"Oh, really?" Snape said, mildly, eyes narrowing.
"Yes, Professor." Draco said. "He says he remembers her, from my description of her. He told me that her surname is Black. As in Sirius Blacks younger sister."
A murmur rippled through the room. Severus' eyes narrowed even more. "Lucius Malfoy and I were in the same year, as you know Draco." He said, lowering his voice only slightly. "Of course he would remember my wife from our time together in school." He leaned forward, staring straight at Draco Malfoy, "So?"
"So," said Draco, sounding a little less confident. "My father says Amethyst Black was," he paused here, almost uncertain if he wanted to continue. "That she was a Gryffindor, Professor."
Another murmurs, louder this time. Severus didn't even flinch. "And?" he said, softer still, the hint of a threat lingering.
"Gryffindors are scum, sir." Draco stammered.
Severus Snape stood and walked over to Draco. "Is that what you think, Malfoy?" he hissed.
Draco dared a sullen look at his head of house. "Yes, sir. That's what we all think." He said, although only a few murmurs greeted this announcement.
"Is that so?" Severus hissed again. "So you are suggesting, perhaps, that because I am married to a woman who was a Gryffindor, that I am lowering myself to the level of scum?" he asked slowly, taking in everyone in the room and returning his gaze to Draco.
Draco opened his mouth. Then closed it.
Severus leaned in so close to Draco Malfoy they were almost nose-to-nose. "You are treading on very thin ice with me, Malfoy." He said, very calmly. "You, who panted after Hermione Granger, a Mudblood, for seven years, have the nerve to accuse me of marrying a Gryffindor and so someone beneath me." He backed up a bit. "Now, Malfoy, tell me more about my wife?"
"Father didn't tell me more," Draco admitted grudgingly.
Severus straightened up. He was at least a head taller than Draco. He turned his back to Draco and returned to his chair by the fire. He sat down and raised his hand. From the shadows came Amethyst Snape. She took Severus' hand and stood beside him. Without looking at his wife, Severus said, "The members of my house seem to have some questions about you."
Amethyst looked around the room. The Slytherins noticed she did not smile. She did not grin. She looked regal and terrible as she looked over them. "What do the Slytherins want to know about me?" she asked, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "And why do they think it is any of their concern?"
Vincent Crabbe stepped forward, grinning stupidly. "Were you really a Gryffindor? Are you really Sirius Blacks sister?"
Amethyst examined Crabbe closely. "Very good. Why ever did they keep you back?" she replied, sugary sweet and sarcastic.
Draco Malfoy recovered himself. He walked forward, shoving Crabbe backward. "Slytherins and Gryffindors don't get along." He announced. "Everyone knows that."
A slight murmur from the Slytherin House.
Amethyst let go her husbands' hand and walked towards Draco. She reached him, put her hand under his chin and ran a finger along his neck. "You tried to get one Hermione Granger under your spell, did you not, Mister Malfoy?" She said, not lowering her voice. "Perhaps you are jealous because Professor Snape was able to accomplish what you were never man enough to and got his Gryffindor. But, oh, what different Gryffindors are myself and Hermione Granger." And she backed smoothly away, to the howls of Slytherin laughter. Even Severus was grinning. Draco however turned several shades darker in his anger.
As the laughter died away, Amethyst stopped in the middle of the crowd of Slytherins. "I will tell you a bit about my family, which is, apparently all important to you." She glared at Draco and spoke in a loud voice so no one would miss a word. "Unlike Hermione Granger, my brother and I are Pure Blood. As far back as you can go. Our parents were students at this school. Our father was in Gryffindor House. In his day, he was captain of the Quidditch team and a Prefect. Our mother was also a Prefect. Her house however was not Gryffindor. Her house was Slytherin!" and she raised her head in pride. The Slytherins in the room gasped. "My mother died when my brother and I were very young. My father, for whatever reason he had, tried to instill qualities in us that would assure our placement not only in Hogwarts, but in Gryffindor House. The Sorting Hat took its time with me, and I was placed in Gryffindor. I, to this day, believe the Sorting Hat made a mistake. Like my father, I fell in love with a Slytherin. And I married a Slytherin. And, believe me, my Gryffindor brother was none too pleased with that."
Amethyst walked again in front of Draco Malfoy. "You tell your father that at least Severus Snape went for a proper Gryffindor. Who was at least half-Slytherin." She looked him up and down. "And Pure Blood." She added. She then turned, walked back to the chair where Severus was seated. The faced the Slytherins again and asked, "If there is nothing more you wish to know about me," she broke off. Several silence filled minutes later, she bend and kissed her husband passionately for the whole house to see and faded into the darkness again.
Yet another murmur filled the room. Draco Malfoy was standing just as Amethyst Snape had left him, but he was flushed with anger. Severus stood. "Is that all?' He asked the room. When no one answered, he turned and left the room by the door.
Sirius opened his eyes when he heard the knock. Probably Harry again, he thought. He didn't want to talk to anyone, not even his godson. He knew he was being stubborn. He really didn't need Harry to tell him that. Again.
The knock came again and he groaned and pulled himself up out of his bed. His flat was a mess. He hadn't really cleaned up in a while. He kicked a path to the door and opened it.
He didn't recognize the man standing before him at first. Then it hit him. "Bill Weasley?" he said.
"All right, Sirius?" Bill said, smiling. The men shook hands and Bill walked in. "Well, looks like you could use a house elf, mate?" he commented, looking at the mess.
"They won't take on this challenge." Sirius chuckled. He was suddenly hit with a suspicion. "Who sent you, Bill?" He asked, sighing. "No offence, but I haven't seen you in years and here you are on my doorstep."
"I was triple teamed, mate." He said, laughing. "Between Mum and Ginny and Hermione I was going to come over here and either talk to you or kill you." He pulled out his wand. "Don't worry, Sirius, we'll talk first." He waved his wand and the place started straightening itself out. He walked into the kitchen and cleaned the table with a wave of his wand, opened the large bag he'd brought with him and pulled out two bottles. "Come on and sit down." He said.
Sirius didn't move until a broom swept him out of the way. He walked into the kitchen and stood over Bill. "I really don't want to talk about it, Bill."
Bill poked Sirius in the ribs with his wand and forced him to sit. "If I go back there in under two hours, they'll do unspeakable things to me." He said, soberly. "They are on a mission, Sirius. I am here to talk to you and you will talk to me, because I am not going to face their wrath."
Sirius pouted and drained the bottle he was holding. "Get on with it then."
"Well, then," Bill said, cheerfully, drinking from his own bottle, as Sirius fished into the bag for another. "The women in my family were quite taken by the story that Hermione brought back from your little visit with Remus. They said it was the most horribly romantic story any of them had ever heard, whatever in the bloody hell that is supposed to mean." He took another drink and both men lifted their legs as a mop went to work underneath the table. "They have been saying they had no idea Severus Snape could be so romantic. Can you believe?"
"I have to admit, Sirius." Bill continued. "I can't picture your sister with Severus Snape. Then again, I can't picture Severus Snape with anyone." And he shrugged. "I understand where you're coming from. If Ginny were to take up with that Malfoy kid, I think I'd want to kill him." And here he paused, thinking. "But I would never dream of pulling the stunt you did trying to keep them apart." He said, carefully. "You must have been pretty desperate."
Sirius tossed his now empty bottle across the room; the broom and dustpan quickly swept it up and put it in the waste bin. "I was desperate, Bill." He said, reaching for another bottle. "At the time Voldemort and his Death Eaters were everywhere, it seemed." Bill flinched. "And I just knew Severus was a Death Eater, or would become one." He took another swig. "I was scared to death for my sister, Bill. You remember what it was like. What they did to people. I had nightmares about the Dark Mark appearing over our house." He stopped, shaking.
"In Azkaban, I had plenty of time to think things through. But I couldn't undo anything. And I wound up so caught up in keeping Harry safe and I still didn't trust Snape and his own anger had grown so much since I'd been arrested. By then I really didn't dare tell him the truth. He would have cursed me out of existence." He rambled, but Bill just sat and drank silently, letting him get it out.
"My sister has as much pride as I do and is at least as stubborn." He said, bitterly. "And her temper! She makes me look like I'm in a coma." Bill laughed out loud at this, spraying beer all over the tabletop. A dishrag zoomed over the table and off again.
Sirius heaved a deep sigh, "To tell you the truth, mate." He admitted. "I have had time to think about all that's happened. My sister is -" and here he drained the last of the beer he had and went through two more before he could continue. "Amethyst is in love with Severus Snape. She's gone off and married him and there's not a damn bloody fucking thing I can do about it." He went through another beer. "And I'm not saying that because I'm half-sloshed."
Bill laughed again. "So what are you planning on doing now?" he asked.
Sirius looked at Bill thinking hard. "Well, I suppose I could always send you to talk to my sister, you did such a great job with me." He said, grinning.
"You aren't half-sloshed, you're completely arseholed!" Bill exclaimed, laughing.
Sirius laughed with him. He glanced into the bag Bill had brought. He now noticed it was magically refilling itself. He shook his head and stood. "I'll be right back." And he turned and walked a bit unsteadily out of his kitchen.
Bill took the bag and stood himself. He moved into the sparkling living room. The cleaning supplies had all returned themselves to their places. He sat on the sofa putting the magical bag of booze on the coffee table and reached for another, as Sirius returned, looking awed.
"This place wasn't this clean when I moved into it." he said. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"I'm the oldest of seven children, remember? Bill laughed. "I always hated cleaning and Mum always made me help her. I developed that particular spell by the time I was ten. It might have been overkill for this dinky place, though." He smiled. He handed Sirius another beer. "Have another." He said. "Now you can celebrate your coming to terms."
They drank together.