Chapter two: About Making A Grocery List
Snape sank down onto his bed, looking equally shocked at the boy as the boy looked at him. He searched his mind to think of a sensible thing to do, but the truth was, he couldn't think of any situation remotely like this one.
Reluctantly he walked over to the child. "All right, just be quiet now. Don't cry, it's all right," he said, as he patted the little boy on the back. That didn't help much; Justin started to cry even louder, and it took some time before Snape, who had tried to sound as friendly as he could, realized that he had forgotten to adapt the expression of his face.
"All right," he grumbled. "What do children want? Cookies, Ernestine said. Let's see…" He wove his wand and a plate with cookies appeared on the little table before the hearth. At once, Justin stopped crying, stood up and walked unsteadily on his little legs over to the plate. Snape sank onto the bed again and sighed. Silence at last. He watched the child as it was eating. The cookies were vanishing in an enormous fast tempo. After he'd finished the last cookie, Justin turned round and looked at Severus. "Milk?" he asked.
"Dear Uncle Severus, Could I Have Some Milk Please?" Severus muttered with a frown. Then he looked around. He was not the milky-type of person.
"Milk?" Justin repeated.
"Yes yes, will you just be patient? I'll see what I can do for you." Snape was scanning the shelves as he said this. "I'm sure it must be somewhere… ah, there it is." He took a bottle of unicorn milk and opened it. "Now don't spoil it, this is an extremely valuable ingredient and…"
Justin had already taken the bottle and was emptying it with large, thirsty gulps.
"Right, there goes my unicorn milk. Thanks ever so much, I'll have to charge that with your beloved mother Ernestine," Snape said.
"Mummy?" Justin said now.
"She's not here right now, I wish she was," Snape said with another sigh. "Oh no, please don't start crying all over again," he added hastily when he saw the child's expression. "She'll be back soon, really."
Unless she was involved in a terrible accident right now. For all he knew, she could be struck by lightning at this very moment. Part of him wished it to be true.
Justin kept sobbing a bit as Snape paced up and down the room. "Right, what shall I do now? I need some… children's things, I suppose. I'll just have to ask somebody."
He walked over to Justin and picked him up. "Come with me, I'll take you to a nice lady," he said, and this time managed to force a smile. Then he carried him all the way to McGonagall's office.
When they entered, Justin cried out: "A cat, a cat, look!"
"Minerva, will you transform; I need your help right now," Snape said impatiently to the cat.
With a whooshing sound, the cat turned into the stern woman that was McGonagall.
"Well, what do we have here?" Minerva said, but before she could say anything else, Snape had boldly handed Justin over to McGonagall's.
"This is Justin," he said. "It seems I have to take care of him for the week, but I'm rather… unprepared, I'm afraid. Please tell me what I should do." Snape twitched his fingers; clearly asking for help was not his favourite occupation.
Minerva looked at Justin with an awkward smile. Justin gave her a broad smile, and cried out: "Cat, cat, you was cat!"
"Severus, may I ask… is this child perhaps… yours?" McGonagall asked as she lifted an eyebrow and smiled slightly.
Snape gave her a look that made her smile vanish instantly. "So it's not yours," she concluded. "But why are you asking me for help about a child? Not just because I'm a woman, I hope?" McGonagall asked with a weary expression, "For then you've chosen the wrong woman; I know nothing about little children. But I suggest they need diapers." She held Justin at arm's length, as if to decide what side should be up and what side down.
"Well, where can I come by those?" Snape asked impatiently, "Diagon Alley certainly doesn't supply for them."
"My guessing is that you'll need to visit a Muggle store."
Snape looked perplexed at Minerva. "No, not a Muggle store, please. I've been there before, there are nosy people staring at you, and asking questions that are none of their business."
"You mean questions like: 'Can I help you, sir'?" Minerva asked. "They're probably just trying to be friendly, Severus. I'm surprise your thunderous looks didn't scare them off."
Snape sighed. "Well, I guess I have no other choice. Blasted Ernestine with her ideas. What else will I need besides diapers?"
"Hmm, let's see… toys I suppose, and little children's food. Cookies and milk, that sort of things."
Snape had taken a quill, and was writing as Minerva tried to think of more things that he would need. "All right, I'll be off then," he said. "Could you please take care of the kid while I'm away?"
Minerva looked terrified. "No no, definitely not. I have other plans, like um… I need to…" She quickly handed Justin over to Snape.
"I can't possibly take him with me!" Snape cried out.
"Of course you can," Minerva said reassuringly. "He looks cute, I bet he won't be of any trouble at all."
Snape grumbled as he lifted Justin up and carried him out of Minerva's office. "Dada," Justin said to McGonagall.
"Yes, I bet you'd like to have that job too, don't you?" Snape said distractedly.
***
To be continued…
