Chapter four: About A Cunning Plan
Snape sat in his chair and drank his whiskey. He had a terrible headache, and the time he had spent with his new nephew Justin didn't make it any better. It had been a long day. He had no idea that changing a toddler's diaper would be such an extraordinary fatiguing task; especially since Justin didn't seem to be able to lie still for longer than, say, three seconds. Snape had seriously considered using the petrificus-spell, when Justin suddenly had decided to keep quiet. Snape didn't know why, but it could have something to do with the look on his face at that particular moment; the look that would cause even an attacking tiger to reconsider his plans and lie still too. After Snape finally had changed the diaper, Justin had got hold of Snapes wand, and before Snape really understood what was happening, Justin had started a little fire on the mantelpiece. Ernestine had been right; Justin was quite a little wizard already. Apparently, aiming was not his forte yet.
Snape sighed, and took another sip of his whiskey. He looked at the corner of the room, where Justin was fast asleep. Getting him to sleep hadn't been easy too; Justin claimed to have a whole ritual of songs and storytelling before he could go to sleep, so Snape had had no other option that to sing songs, and tell stories; activities that weren't easy to do through gritted teeth. Unfortunately the stories that Snape chose to tell, proved to be far too scary for Justin, so when the boy had crawled under the blankets after a story about vampires and refused to come back again, Snape had got the idea to read from a Potion book. Within two minutes, Justin was sleeping like a sweet little angel.
Snape felt like he'd never deserved a glass of whiskey more than now. He deserved it because the boy finally slept- and because this day a plan had come up to him. It was probably the best plan he'd had in several years, and he owed it to the non-existing mother instinct of his beloved cousin Ernestine.
The plan had hit him at the department store; it had struck him like the lightning he had wished for Ernestine. While he was standing there, holding diapers and cookies, with all those women practically crawling over him, he saw it. He saw that he could make use of Justin. He could use the little child as bait, and catch every woman that happened to be in their presence. Justin seemed to work like some kind of aphrodisiac, and who was he, not to give those poor women what they obviously needed: the tender affection of a loving and caring single parent?
Of course he would have to prepare things well. To begin with, he would have to take Justin to a place where women were present. And it had to be a Muggle woman, obviously, for any magical woman would immediately recognise him as the Potions Teacher of Hogwarts. The biggest problem would be how he could get rid of the little boy after he'd found a woman. He certainly wouldn't want him in the way at the moment that serious business began.
Another minor problem was, that he couldn't take the woman to Hogwarts; for she just wouldn't be able to see it. He had to find another place, perhaps a hotel, or at her place. Only where would he leave Justin?
The night passed and Justin slept, unaware of the plans that his uncle was making. When daylight broke, Snapes plan was ready. It was good, and he was very satisfied.
