45. Welcoming Old Friends
Evangeline, Severus, and Remus stood by the bar in the Three Broomsticks on Wednesday afternoon waiting to meet Evangeline's wedding guests. Each, for their own different reasons, was rather nervous and lost in their own thoughts.
Evangeline was nervous because she hadn't seen her friends in at least a year. Such a lot had happened to her during that time, much of it, she couldn't, or didn't want to talk about. She wanted them to like Severus, but she wasn't sure that they would. He wasn't a very open sociable person, after all. He didn't tend to make a favorable first impression, usually by choice. She wasn't sure how he'd feel about them either. Tolerance of the shortcomings of others wasn't one of his strong points. The next few hours, scratch that, the next few days could end up being rather tense. Not to mention, that she was a nervous wreck anyway at the moment. Even with the anti-nausea potion, her stomach felt like she'd swallowed live eels, and they were just a bit perturbed about it. Oh, well, it would all work out one way or the other. She'd faced worse.
Severus was nervous because these were Evangeline's friends. She wanted him to like them and vice versa. However, social niceties were not something he was good at. Really, let's be honest, friends were not something he was good at! He hated socializing, especially with large groups of strangers. Most of the people he had been forced into conversing with in his life couldn't hold an intelligent conversation if their lives depended on it. Who knows what these people would turn out to be like? Yes, they were Evangeline's friends so that should count for something. She did tend to have rather good taste in most things. On the other hand, she was marrying him, so how picky could she be about people? Oh, well, after Saturday, Evangeline would be his forever! Maybe then all these extraneous people would go away and leave them alone. He just had to survive until Saturday…night. He smiled grimly. He'd faced worse.
Remus was nervous because he really wanted to make a good impression on Ariantha Collins before Sirius got a shot! Just thinking about her got him excited! She was absolutely gorgeous and talented, this could turn out to be a wonderful weekend after all, instead of the painful ordeal he'd been expecting. If only Ariantha would enjoy his company as much as he anticipated enjoying hers. They could have a great time together. Aw, who was he kidding? Who'd prefer him to "Mr. Charm"? Especially since tomorrow is a full moon. That wasn't enough time to get to know anyone, even if by some miracle she did find him attractive. He needed to get his mind off Evangeline, though, and her friends were as likely to do that as anything. Hopefully they'd provide the distraction he so desperately needed. If not, well, he'd faced worse.
As they were all deep in their musings, the door of the pub opened, and three people walked in. Two women accompanied a man of medium height with brown hair and eyes and a rather forgettable face. One of the women was short and plump with short brown hair and a smiling face; the other was tall, blond, and classically beautiful, wearing a well fitting light wool Muggle-style suit.
Evangeline immediately left the bar and rushed towards them with her arms flung wide. "Margie! Eleanor! It's so good to see you!" The three of them embraced and began to chat excitedly.
Lupin nudged Snape and muttered conspiratorially, "So which one is the wife…the blond or the brunette?"
Snape turned to Lupin with a frown. "I thought your only interest was in the singer, who obviously hasn't arrived yet."
Lupin shrugged and flashed a lop-sided grin. "I'm trying to keep my options open. Let's hope the brunette is the married one."
Snape just rolled his eyes and kept his mouth shut. The next few days were going to crawl by with exquisite slowness, he could tell already. Hopefully he'd made up enough headache reliever.
Evangeline happily drew her friends over to the bar and began her introductions. She indicated that the man and the brunette were Edward and Margie Sharp, and the rather cool blond was Eleanor Hamilton.
Evangeline extended a hand toward Lupin. "This is Professor Remus Lupin, my friend who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, at Hogwarts, and this is Professor Severus Snape, my fiancé." Upon saying this, she moved over to stand next to Snape and smiled at him. He smiled a small rather tight smile back at her and nodded to her friends.
"How do you do? It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." They nodded back at him, clearly sensing that it wasn't going to be handshakes all around.
Lupin, however, moved up to shake hands with everyone, lingering a bit over Eleanor's hand.
Evangeline spoke up, "So where is Ariantha? She said she was coming."
Eleanor smiled knowingly. "Oh, I'm sure she'll be here. You know Ariantha. She always needs to make an entrance. How can she stand out if she shows up at the same time as everyone else? It's going to be hard enough on her not being the star of the show on Saturday. She needs to get her adoration in when she can. She'll be here soon, I'm sure. She's always careful not to make people wait so long that it gets annoying."
Evangeline heard Snape mutter, "How Slytherin of her", under his breath, and she grinned at him.
At that moment, the door to the pub opened again, and Ariantha Collins made her entrance. The singer was tall and gorgeous, with glossy raven hair and dark blue eyes. She moved with a dancer's grace, and she was careful to pause artistically in the doorway until every eye in the place was on her. There was no doubt she knew exactly how to captivate a room, especially one filled with impressionable males.
Her lips curved into a slow smile, which she lavished carefully on every man in the room. Once she was sure of her audience, she moved gracefully across the room and embraced Evangeline. "Evangeline, darling, you look wonderful! It's so good to see you again!"
Evangeline smiled tolerantly. "It's good to see you too, Ariantha. Let me introduce you to my fiancé, Professor Severus Snape."
Snape nodded to her with a watchful expression in his dark eyes. "How do you do, Miss Collins."
She flashed her predatory smile at him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Snape. How ever did you manage to snatch up our Evangeline? We were beginning to think her immune to the charms of mortal men."
Snape looked nonplussed at that, clearly at a loss for an answer.
Evangeline jumped to his rescue. "Now, don't pump Severus for answers, Ariantha. I was the one who snatched him up, after all." She smiled at him, and he smiled a relieved smile back. Oh, yes, headache relievers were going to be in heavy use over the next few days. He made a mental note to make up a fresh batch.
Evangeline directed Ariantha's attention to Lupin. "This is Professor Remus Lupin, Ariantha. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He's a big fan of your music."
With a warm attentive smile, Lupin came forward eagerly and kissed her hand. "How do you do, Miss Collins? It's an honor to meet you."
Delighted with the attention, she sparkled brightly at him. "How sweet! Please, call me, Ariantha."
They all chatted amiably for a few minutes, then began their long trek up to Hogwarts. Rosmerta told them she'd have their luggage sent up right away, with the ever-efficient house elves.
The group straggled out a bit on the walk to the castle. Ariantha kept her arm in that of Remus, but she also seemed determined to ensnare Severus in her web. Any eligible man, even those only temporarily eligible, were fair game to her, so the hunt was on!
The Potions Master was obviously not falling for her lines, but he was trying his very best to be polite. Although it really was a struggle! Evangeline could see him biting his tongue from time to time. She really must remember to commend him for his patience later. Her heart was touched that he was making such an effort to get along with her friends; even though she knew that he'd rather be somewhere…anywhere… else. It was absolute proof of his devotion if he was willing to put himself through such torture for her. Yes, a reward was definitely in order.
Edward and Margie walked along together talking softly to each other with rather intense expressions on their faces; neither of them appeared to be in a very sociable mood at the moment. So that left Eleanor and Evangeline to bring up the rear of the procession.
With a conspiratorial smile, Eleanor linked her arm with her friend and dropped her voice to a whisper, "So tell me, how did you end up with tall, dark, and spooky there? I'd have thought Professor "Dada" was more your style, Evangeline."
Evangeline grinned at her friend's playful tone. "Remus is a very nice guy, Eleanor. I like him a lot, but Severus is the only man for me. I knew it from the first day I met him, although it took awhile for it to sink in, for both of us. Don't be fooled by the cold, reserved exterior he projects. The man hiding underneath is warm, intelligent, and very loving. I can't imagine myself with anyone else."
"Does he know about that trick you can do with the pictures?"
"Sh!" Evangeline glanced in concern at the people walking along ahead of them. "You know Margie and Ariantha don't know about that, and I'd like to keep it that way. Yes, he knows all about it. We've exchanged all the requisite secrets, Eleanor. Severus is a hard man to get to know, but for me, it's been worth the effort."
"He makes you happy then," Eleanor stated with a smile.
"Happier than I ever thought possible."
"Good. I guess I'll let you marry him then."
They exchanged companionable smiles.
Eleanor's face sobered. "It must have been horrible for you to have had him thrown into Azkaban like that. You both seem to have handled it well."
A shiver ran through her like a cloud passing over the sun, as she thought back to the despair she felt during those dark days without him. Evangeline swallowed hard. "It was the worst thing I've ever had to deal with, Eleanor, but it's over now, and we're both looking forward…not back."
Eleanor nodded. "You were always the sensible one, Evangeline. I'm so glad you're happy. I'm really looking forward to your wedding."
Evangeline smiled and squeezed her friend's arm. "So am I, Eleanor. So am I."