Chapter Three
A few minutes later, the two stepped out of Flourish and Blotts, Alzan having actually bought the book, much to Severus's disgust. She was paging through it, as they walked to the apothecary.
"Mmm…that looks painful…" She shoved the book into his face.
"Yes, it does…" Severus pushed the book away.
"Looks like it would be fun to try though."
Severus sighed, "Put it back in the bag."
"Sure…" She stuck it into his bag, without him noticing purposely, and followed him into the shop, "It smells funny in here." She whispered.
He sighed, "That's because it's the apothecary."
"What do we need from here?"
"Everything." He sighed, and began filling bags and things with items for her mini-potions classes.
"Oh…" She followed him around, figuring he knew more about it then she ever would, "Where do we go after this?" She spied a jar of frog eyes, "Cool!"
"Don't touch." He slapped her hand away, "Next we go to get a cauldron, because I neglected from bringing mine."
"Oh." She nodded, and picked up a pickled toad, "Gross…"
"Stop touching things…" He snapped.
She sighed, and continued to follow him around the store, until they got to counter, and then she slid a ways away from him, to read some of the magazine titles, like "Potions Digest" and "Weekly Toads Eye" (which was another potions magazine).
"Professor Snape…that…thing you ordered on your last visit. It came in last week." Severus was speaking with the clerk.
"You kept it on ice, didn't you?"
"Yes, it's back in the freezer right now."
"Alzan, stay here. Don't touch anything." He whispered, as he passed, and followed the clerk to the back.
She watched him, and then shrugged, turning back to the magazines.
"Would you like to use it right away?" The clerk was asking Severus, "We always have a cauldron going for emergencies."
"Yes…" Severus nodded, "I might as well."
"Well, gather whatever else you might need…I'll go make sure there's everything in order in the cauldron room."
Severus appeared, and noted Alzan sitting on the floor, reading Potions Weekly. A small smiled tweaked at his lips, and he went to gather the rest of his ingredients for the quick potion. A dragon's liver, snidget feather, a few dozen herbs, and fungi of the sort, along with one perfect serpent fang.
The clerk held the door open for him, and pulled it shut behind him, "I'll watch your charge for you."
"Thank you ever so kindly." Severus nodded.
The clerk leaned on the counter. He was young, probably only about eighteen, or nineteen, golden brown hair, sea green eyes. His voice was soft when he spoke, "What are you reading?"
"Potions Weekly."
"Are you into potions."
"I don't know." She stood up, placing the magazine on the counter, "What about you?"
"I'm okay at potions…I never really enjoyed it though." He smiled.
"Then how did you end up working here?"
"I liked working with the ingredients…I never really cared for what they made though."
She nodded, "I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing…I'm just following Papa Severus around all day."
"He's your father?"
She laughed, "No…it's bad muggle talk."
"Oh." He nodded, and then held out his hand, "I should have done this before. My name is Tom."
She smiled, "I'm Alzan."
"How do you know…Papa Severus back there?" He asked.
"He's my new chemistry teacher at Lauder."
"Your muggle?" He asked.
"No…" She shook her head, "I'm witch. My parents decided that they didn't want me to learn magic…more so my father actually. My mother died a few years back."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"No, it's okay…really." She shook her head, "Anyway, the Professor told me that he'd teach me magic, if I wanted to…So, here I am."
Tom nodded, "Well, then I'm assuming that this is all yours?" He motioned to the bags of various ingredients on the counter.
"Yea…why don't you ring it all up…put his on it too." She nodded back at Severus.
Tom nodded, and began ringing up the items, "Five galleons, three sickles, and knut."
She reached into her pocket, and withdrew the coins, counting them out, and poured them into his hand, "So…do you know what exactly he's doing back there?"
"No…but I think it's fairly important…he had to ship one of the ingredients from Paris."
"Probably some kind of-" She stopped herself, as Severus stepped outside, looking particularly pleased with him self, a vile in hand, with a pink liquid in it.
"Are you done?" Alzan asked.
"Yes, quite, my impatient one…where is everything?" He looked at the cleared counter.
"She paid for it Sir. Along with the things you used for your potion." He nodded at the vile.
"Ah…well…that will be all then, Tom. See you in a few weeks." Severus nodded.
Tom nodded at him, and then spied the Potions Weekly that Alzan had been reading, "Alzan! You forgot your magazine."
"I'll be right back, Sevvie." Alzan left him at the door. Severus sighed.
"I'll be across the street." He rolled his eyes, and let the door close.
"Thanks." Alzan took the magazine.
"Look…if you come back with him later, or something, would you like to go to Florean's?"
"What's Florean's?" Alzan asked.
"The ice cream parlor…it's down the street a little ways…" He nodded.
"Oh! I'd like that. I'll ask him about it the next time I know he's coming down." She nodded.
"Okay." Tom nodded.
"I gotta go…other wise he's going to get kind of antsy." Tom smiled, and watched her leave.
Outside, Alzan quickly walked across the street, where Severus was looking at cauldrons.
"That took you long enough…" He lifted her hand by the wrist, to look at the magazine in her hand, "Why did you buy that bit of trash?"
"I thought it looked interesting…" She told him, "So…what exactly are we looking for?"
"A brass cauldron…or pewter. Whatever you will. It doesn't really matter."
"How about solid gold?" She picked up the cauldron, surprised at it's near weightlessness.
"No…their bottoms are to thin."
"Oh my lord! Your worried about thin cauldron bottoms."
"Have you ever had a potion blow up in your face, Alzan?" He turned to her, "Of course…you will probably never be able to MAKE a potion that would do that…but still…"
Alzan shrugged, "Well…Anyway…why don't we just take this one-" she picked up a nice looking copper one, and handed it to him, "And lets be going?"
"What's your hurry?"
"It's almost lunch time…and I forgot to mention it to anyone buy Gita we were going to be gone…so naturally the whole school is going to know."
Severus sighed, "Yes, well…go inside and pay for it…I'll wait here." He watched her walk inside, and turned suddenly when he felt a hot breath on the back of his neck.
"Picking them kind of young, aren't you Severus?" Lucius Malfoy asked, tilting his head to the side.
"No…she's picking them kind of old, actually. I haven't touched her."
"Pity…" Lucius shook his head, taking her in, as she flirted with the young man at the counter inside, "I would launched…"
"Back off, Malfoy." Severus spoke curtly, "What do you want?"
"Ah…well…I was just going to ask you…where are you working now? I heard you got kicked out of Hogwarts."
"I did not get kicked out of Hogwarts. I chose to leave."
"Oh, I'm sure you did… Rumor has it, that your…teaching muggles at Lauder."
Severus sucked in a breath, "What do you really want Lucius?"
"Oh…so cruel, Severus…" Lucius sighed, breathing in his aura, "You really need to calm yourself."
"Don't you have a wife or something you can be hanging on?" Severus pushed him away.
"Oh, Severus…" Lucius laughed sarcastically, "Your so…so-"
"Sev…" Alzan pushed the door to the shop open. "Are you ready…to…go?" She asked, looking at the two men, "I'm not going to ask what he's doing." She smiled at him, and took her bags from him.
"Don't mind Mr. Malfoy…" Severus was looking straight at him as he spoke, "I think he's been hit a few to many times with curses…that's what happens when you work for the wrong people."
"You should talk, Severus." Lucius came back at him, "You worked for us once yourself…"
"Go away, Malfoy…Alzan and I have to be getting back to Lauder." He took her by the wrist and began leading her away.
"Who is that?" Alzan tugged her arm free when they were well out of sight.
"Lucius Malfoy. You'd do well not to deal with him."
"He was kind of cute."
"He's married, with a son."
"Oh…How old is his son?"
Severus sighed, "I thought you had made a date with Tom."
"How did you know?"
Severus turned to her, and didn't answer the question, "Do you have a place to put all that?"
"There's a class room in the basement I could put it…" Alzan nodded, as they walked back into the Leaky Caldron.
"Oy! Severus! Would you like a spot of anything?" Tom, the barkeep, yelled.
"Not this time." He called back, "Maybe later on."
"You know…for someone who messed up as badly as you did, people sure do seem to like you."
Severus sighed, "What do you know?"
"I know that you messed up really bad in the war…" Alzan nodded, "Everyone does."
"It wasn't my fault." Severus sounded out every single letter of every word.
"I'm not saying that it was Professor…" Alzan shrugged, "Just that…why are people so…warm to you? Maybe it's just me…but I would expect them to…shun you."
"Because they either don't know, or they don't care that I did it. They know it wasn't my fault."
"I'm not sure about that…"
A few minutes later, the two stepped out of Flourish and Blotts, Alzan having actually bought the book, much to Severus's disgust. She was paging through it, as they walked to the apothecary.
"Mmm…that looks painful…" She shoved the book into his face.
"Yes, it does…" Severus pushed the book away.
"Looks like it would be fun to try though."
Severus sighed, "Put it back in the bag."
"Sure…" She stuck it into his bag, without him noticing purposely, and followed him into the shop, "It smells funny in here." She whispered.
He sighed, "That's because it's the apothecary."
"What do we need from here?"
"Everything." He sighed, and began filling bags and things with items for her mini-potions classes.
"Oh…" She followed him around, figuring he knew more about it then she ever would, "Where do we go after this?" She spied a jar of frog eyes, "Cool!"
"Don't touch." He slapped her hand away, "Next we go to get a cauldron, because I neglected from bringing mine."
"Oh." She nodded, and picked up a pickled toad, "Gross…"
"Stop touching things…" He snapped.
She sighed, and continued to follow him around the store, until they got to counter, and then she slid a ways away from him, to read some of the magazine titles, like "Potions Digest" and "Weekly Toads Eye" (which was another potions magazine).
"Professor Snape…that…thing you ordered on your last visit. It came in last week." Severus was speaking with the clerk.
"You kept it on ice, didn't you?"
"Yes, it's back in the freezer right now."
"Alzan, stay here. Don't touch anything." He whispered, as he passed, and followed the clerk to the back.
She watched him, and then shrugged, turning back to the magazines.
"Would you like to use it right away?" The clerk was asking Severus, "We always have a cauldron going for emergencies."
"Yes…" Severus nodded, "I might as well."
"Well, gather whatever else you might need…I'll go make sure there's everything in order in the cauldron room."
Severus appeared, and noted Alzan sitting on the floor, reading Potions Weekly. A small smiled tweaked at his lips, and he went to gather the rest of his ingredients for the quick potion. A dragon's liver, snidget feather, a few dozen herbs, and fungi of the sort, along with one perfect serpent fang.
The clerk held the door open for him, and pulled it shut behind him, "I'll watch your charge for you."
"Thank you ever so kindly." Severus nodded.
The clerk leaned on the counter. He was young, probably only about eighteen, or nineteen, golden brown hair, sea green eyes. His voice was soft when he spoke, "What are you reading?"
"Potions Weekly."
"Are you into potions."
"I don't know." She stood up, placing the magazine on the counter, "What about you?"
"I'm okay at potions…I never really enjoyed it though." He smiled.
"Then how did you end up working here?"
"I liked working with the ingredients…I never really cared for what they made though."
She nodded, "I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing…I'm just following Papa Severus around all day."
"He's your father?"
She laughed, "No…it's bad muggle talk."
"Oh." He nodded, and then held out his hand, "I should have done this before. My name is Tom."
She smiled, "I'm Alzan."
"How do you know…Papa Severus back there?" He asked.
"He's my new chemistry teacher at Lauder."
"Your muggle?" He asked.
"No…" She shook her head, "I'm witch. My parents decided that they didn't want me to learn magic…more so my father actually. My mother died a few years back."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"No, it's okay…really." She shook her head, "Anyway, the Professor told me that he'd teach me magic, if I wanted to…So, here I am."
Tom nodded, "Well, then I'm assuming that this is all yours?" He motioned to the bags of various ingredients on the counter.
"Yea…why don't you ring it all up…put his on it too." She nodded back at Severus.
Tom nodded, and began ringing up the items, "Five galleons, three sickles, and knut."
She reached into her pocket, and withdrew the coins, counting them out, and poured them into his hand, "So…do you know what exactly he's doing back there?"
"No…but I think it's fairly important…he had to ship one of the ingredients from Paris."
"Probably some kind of-" She stopped herself, as Severus stepped outside, looking particularly pleased with him self, a vile in hand, with a pink liquid in it.
"Are you done?" Alzan asked.
"Yes, quite, my impatient one…where is everything?" He looked at the cleared counter.
"She paid for it Sir. Along with the things you used for your potion." He nodded at the vile.
"Ah…well…that will be all then, Tom. See you in a few weeks." Severus nodded.
Tom nodded at him, and then spied the Potions Weekly that Alzan had been reading, "Alzan! You forgot your magazine."
"I'll be right back, Sevvie." Alzan left him at the door. Severus sighed.
"I'll be across the street." He rolled his eyes, and let the door close.
"Thanks." Alzan took the magazine.
"Look…if you come back with him later, or something, would you like to go to Florean's?"
"What's Florean's?" Alzan asked.
"The ice cream parlor…it's down the street a little ways…" He nodded.
"Oh! I'd like that. I'll ask him about it the next time I know he's coming down." She nodded.
"Okay." Tom nodded.
"I gotta go…other wise he's going to get kind of antsy." Tom smiled, and watched her leave.
Outside, Alzan quickly walked across the street, where Severus was looking at cauldrons.
"That took you long enough…" He lifted her hand by the wrist, to look at the magazine in her hand, "Why did you buy that bit of trash?"
"I thought it looked interesting…" She told him, "So…what exactly are we looking for?"
"A brass cauldron…or pewter. Whatever you will. It doesn't really matter."
"How about solid gold?" She picked up the cauldron, surprised at it's near weightlessness.
"No…their bottoms are to thin."
"Oh my lord! Your worried about thin cauldron bottoms."
"Have you ever had a potion blow up in your face, Alzan?" He turned to her, "Of course…you will probably never be able to MAKE a potion that would do that…but still…"
Alzan shrugged, "Well…Anyway…why don't we just take this one-" she picked up a nice looking copper one, and handed it to him, "And lets be going?"
"What's your hurry?"
"It's almost lunch time…and I forgot to mention it to anyone buy Gita we were going to be gone…so naturally the whole school is going to know."
Severus sighed, "Yes, well…go inside and pay for it…I'll wait here." He watched her walk inside, and turned suddenly when he felt a hot breath on the back of his neck.
"Picking them kind of young, aren't you Severus?" Lucius Malfoy asked, tilting his head to the side.
"No…she's picking them kind of old, actually. I haven't touched her."
"Pity…" Lucius shook his head, taking her in, as she flirted with the young man at the counter inside, "I would launched…"
"Back off, Malfoy." Severus spoke curtly, "What do you want?"
"Ah…well…I was just going to ask you…where are you working now? I heard you got kicked out of Hogwarts."
"I did not get kicked out of Hogwarts. I chose to leave."
"Oh, I'm sure you did… Rumor has it, that your…teaching muggles at Lauder."
Severus sucked in a breath, "What do you really want Lucius?"
"Oh…so cruel, Severus…" Lucius sighed, breathing in his aura, "You really need to calm yourself."
"Don't you have a wife or something you can be hanging on?" Severus pushed him away.
"Oh, Severus…" Lucius laughed sarcastically, "Your so…so-"
"Sev…" Alzan pushed the door to the shop open. "Are you ready…to…go?" She asked, looking at the two men, "I'm not going to ask what he's doing." She smiled at him, and took her bags from him.
"Don't mind Mr. Malfoy…" Severus was looking straight at him as he spoke, "I think he's been hit a few to many times with curses…that's what happens when you work for the wrong people."
"You should talk, Severus." Lucius came back at him, "You worked for us once yourself…"
"Go away, Malfoy…Alzan and I have to be getting back to Lauder." He took her by the wrist and began leading her away.
"Who is that?" Alzan tugged her arm free when they were well out of sight.
"Lucius Malfoy. You'd do well not to deal with him."
"He was kind of cute."
"He's married, with a son."
"Oh…How old is his son?"
Severus sighed, "I thought you had made a date with Tom."
"How did you know?"
Severus turned to her, and didn't answer the question, "Do you have a place to put all that?"
"There's a class room in the basement I could put it…" Alzan nodded, as they walked back into the Leaky Caldron.
"Oy! Severus! Would you like a spot of anything?" Tom, the barkeep, yelled.
"Not this time." He called back, "Maybe later on."
"You know…for someone who messed up as badly as you did, people sure do seem to like you."
Severus sighed, "What do you know?"
"I know that you messed up really bad in the war…" Alzan nodded, "Everyone does."
"It wasn't my fault." Severus sounded out every single letter of every word.
"I'm not saying that it was Professor…" Alzan shrugged, "Just that…why are people so…warm to you? Maybe it's just me…but I would expect them to…shun you."
"Because they either don't know, or they don't care that I did it. They know it wasn't my fault."
"I'm not sure about that…"