The Next Day
Severus decided that since classes didn't start until the following day, it would be a good idea to get reacquainted with Adrienne. It didn't take him much thinking to figure out that she would be getting settled in her classroom. As he made his way to her class, he felt his heart flutter; he felt as if he were the student on his first day of school. As much as he tried to remain cold and detached, Adrienne could penetrate through that wall in a heartbeat. When he arrived at her classroom, he started to knock, but stopped himself and slipped quietly in in order to surprise her; Adrienne always loved surprises.
He was greeted with the roar of some kind of music coming from a box surrounded by an iridescent bubble. Adrienne was nonchalantly dancing around and singing along while hanging posters up on the walls, completely oblivious to his existence.
"I gave you all a boy could give. Take my tears and that's not even…Woah….tainted love….oh whoa oh….tainted love…," Adrienne sang along, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Severus smirked and cleared his throat, causing her to spin around in an attitude that almost looked like fear. "I thought you might want some help setting up your room, although it looks like you're having fun by yourself."
Adrienne laughed a breathless giggle. "Please, do. I didn't even notice you come in!" She walked over to the bubble and reached inside to turn a knob on the box, which caused the music to soften. "Soft Cell," she said, as if that explained everything.
"Soft what?," Severus said, looking at the box curiously.
"Soft Cell. I was in the mood for some music and I found my cd. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them…they were big when we were still-" She cut herself noticing the blank look on Severus' face. "That's right…I've crossed the great Wizarding divide," she laughed. "CD is an abbreviation for compact disc. Bands record their music onto them and you play them on cd players, which run on electricity. Since the magic here usually messes up electronics, I figured out a spell to protect them. I can't live with out the darn things anymore!" Severus gave her a Look. "I'm a pathetic mud blood, I know." She grinned.
Severus shook his head. Only she would get some sick pleasure out of calling herself the most despicable of insults in wizardom. "Don't call yourself that," he chided.
Adrienne laughed. "You haven't changed a bit," she said. "Anyway, are you going to help me or not?"
"Certainly, although I don't understand why you're hanging ridiculous things on the walls," he said. Adrienne rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, what can I do? I'm not well accquainted with Muggle artifacts."
"You know, Muggles only refer to artifacts as really old stuff, like, old caveman pottery?," she giggled. "Anyway, here," she said, pulling a box to him. "If you could, set these up on that shelf," she instructed, pointing at a bookshelf.
Severus opened the box and pulled out a contraption that looked like a small book. "What the devil…?" he muttered.
"What?" Adrienne looked up from the box with posters in it. "Oh, that. Those are dvd's. CD's with movies on them. Really handy. I think there are some Muggle novels in there, as well. Make sure you keep the dvds together and the books together, would ya?"
Snape nodded and carried the box over to the shelf. As he began arranging them, he tried to think up a topic of conversation. Luckily, Adrienne took that duty herself.
"So, what have you been doing since graduation?," she asked. "I think Dumbledore pretty much covered my bases, but I want to know what's been going on with my friends. Anything juicy?" She grinned mischievously and waggled her eyebrows most comically, a la Groucho Marx.
He couldn't help but let a muffled sounding chuckle go. "Well, I studied potions abroad in China," he began.
"I'm not surprised. You were always better than anyone else at potions," she interrupted. "But, sorry, go on."
"Well, there's not much more to tell. I, um…well, how do I put this delicately? Fell into a bad group? But I saw the error of my ways and have been here at Hogwarts ever since," he said briefly. His eyes had not left the books he had been stacking. He simply didn't have the heart to tell her that he had followed the man responsible for the death of two of her closest friends.
Adrienne, with unusual perception, saw right through him, however. "I don't blame you for James and Lily, Severus. No one does," she said quietly.
"Perhaps you don't," he thought.
"I mean, I don't know much because I was so involved in the Muggle world, but I would think how can you tell what's good and evil in a vacuum? One goes with the most persuasive speaker. Look at the Nazis," she said and shrugged. "Would anyone have thought him evil if he hadn't been destructive?," she said, staring him down until he looked into her eyes. Once he met her eyes briefly, she shrugged and hung up a poster from ABT's Swan Lake production the first year Tula danced with them.
As she continued digging through boxes and putting things up, Severus watched her out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but feel the corners of his mouth tug with the tiniest smile, or the biggest smile, in his case. "How did you learn so much?," he asked, part in jest and part in awe.
She smiled warmly at him. "About what? That you were a Death Eater or about things in general?"
"Both."
"Well, for one, I'm freaking brilliant," she started with a laugh, "and for another, you act as if because you never kept in touch no one else did."
"What do you mean?," he inquired.
"Sirius kept in touch for while and I asked about people from time to time," she responded. "The last time I asked about you, he told me that you had fallen to the dark." She paused for a moment and looked to the ground almost helplessly. "He was the one who sent me the owl about James and Lily, as well," she continued quietly. "I guess it really tore him up, too, because pretty soon after that, he quit writing."
"That's because he-" Severus stopped himself quickly. As much as he hated Sirius Black, he didn't want to be the one to tell Adrienne that her beloved Sirius was a murderer. He could envision the look in her eyes; seeing that much hurt and disappointment there would kill him directly. "Yes. He was very upset, so I hear."
She stood there for a moment in sad contemplation. Severus moved towards her slightly, his hand raising the tiniest bit in anticipation to lay a comforting hand on her sloping shoulder, but before he could move more than a step, she shook her head in a determined manner and went back to her work. She wasn't going to allow herself any self-pity. Her tears wouldn't and couldn't bring James and Lily back.
Severus decided that since classes didn't start until the following day, it would be a good idea to get reacquainted with Adrienne. It didn't take him much thinking to figure out that she would be getting settled in her classroom. As he made his way to her class, he felt his heart flutter; he felt as if he were the student on his first day of school. As much as he tried to remain cold and detached, Adrienne could penetrate through that wall in a heartbeat. When he arrived at her classroom, he started to knock, but stopped himself and slipped quietly in in order to surprise her; Adrienne always loved surprises.
He was greeted with the roar of some kind of music coming from a box surrounded by an iridescent bubble. Adrienne was nonchalantly dancing around and singing along while hanging posters up on the walls, completely oblivious to his existence.
"I gave you all a boy could give. Take my tears and that's not even…Woah….tainted love….oh whoa oh….tainted love…," Adrienne sang along, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Severus smirked and cleared his throat, causing her to spin around in an attitude that almost looked like fear. "I thought you might want some help setting up your room, although it looks like you're having fun by yourself."
Adrienne laughed a breathless giggle. "Please, do. I didn't even notice you come in!" She walked over to the bubble and reached inside to turn a knob on the box, which caused the music to soften. "Soft Cell," she said, as if that explained everything.
"Soft what?," Severus said, looking at the box curiously.
"Soft Cell. I was in the mood for some music and I found my cd. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them…they were big when we were still-" She cut herself noticing the blank look on Severus' face. "That's right…I've crossed the great Wizarding divide," she laughed. "CD is an abbreviation for compact disc. Bands record their music onto them and you play them on cd players, which run on electricity. Since the magic here usually messes up electronics, I figured out a spell to protect them. I can't live with out the darn things anymore!" Severus gave her a Look. "I'm a pathetic mud blood, I know." She grinned.
Severus shook his head. Only she would get some sick pleasure out of calling herself the most despicable of insults in wizardom. "Don't call yourself that," he chided.
Adrienne laughed. "You haven't changed a bit," she said. "Anyway, are you going to help me or not?"
"Certainly, although I don't understand why you're hanging ridiculous things on the walls," he said. Adrienne rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, what can I do? I'm not well accquainted with Muggle artifacts."
"You know, Muggles only refer to artifacts as really old stuff, like, old caveman pottery?," she giggled. "Anyway, here," she said, pulling a box to him. "If you could, set these up on that shelf," she instructed, pointing at a bookshelf.
Severus opened the box and pulled out a contraption that looked like a small book. "What the devil…?" he muttered.
"What?" Adrienne looked up from the box with posters in it. "Oh, that. Those are dvd's. CD's with movies on them. Really handy. I think there are some Muggle novels in there, as well. Make sure you keep the dvds together and the books together, would ya?"
Snape nodded and carried the box over to the shelf. As he began arranging them, he tried to think up a topic of conversation. Luckily, Adrienne took that duty herself.
"So, what have you been doing since graduation?," she asked. "I think Dumbledore pretty much covered my bases, but I want to know what's been going on with my friends. Anything juicy?" She grinned mischievously and waggled her eyebrows most comically, a la Groucho Marx.
He couldn't help but let a muffled sounding chuckle go. "Well, I studied potions abroad in China," he began.
"I'm not surprised. You were always better than anyone else at potions," she interrupted. "But, sorry, go on."
"Well, there's not much more to tell. I, um…well, how do I put this delicately? Fell into a bad group? But I saw the error of my ways and have been here at Hogwarts ever since," he said briefly. His eyes had not left the books he had been stacking. He simply didn't have the heart to tell her that he had followed the man responsible for the death of two of her closest friends.
Adrienne, with unusual perception, saw right through him, however. "I don't blame you for James and Lily, Severus. No one does," she said quietly.
"Perhaps you don't," he thought.
"I mean, I don't know much because I was so involved in the Muggle world, but I would think how can you tell what's good and evil in a vacuum? One goes with the most persuasive speaker. Look at the Nazis," she said and shrugged. "Would anyone have thought him evil if he hadn't been destructive?," she said, staring him down until he looked into her eyes. Once he met her eyes briefly, she shrugged and hung up a poster from ABT's Swan Lake production the first year Tula danced with them.
As she continued digging through boxes and putting things up, Severus watched her out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but feel the corners of his mouth tug with the tiniest smile, or the biggest smile, in his case. "How did you learn so much?," he asked, part in jest and part in awe.
She smiled warmly at him. "About what? That you were a Death Eater or about things in general?"
"Both."
"Well, for one, I'm freaking brilliant," she started with a laugh, "and for another, you act as if because you never kept in touch no one else did."
"What do you mean?," he inquired.
"Sirius kept in touch for while and I asked about people from time to time," she responded. "The last time I asked about you, he told me that you had fallen to the dark." She paused for a moment and looked to the ground almost helplessly. "He was the one who sent me the owl about James and Lily, as well," she continued quietly. "I guess it really tore him up, too, because pretty soon after that, he quit writing."
"That's because he-" Severus stopped himself quickly. As much as he hated Sirius Black, he didn't want to be the one to tell Adrienne that her beloved Sirius was a murderer. He could envision the look in her eyes; seeing that much hurt and disappointment there would kill him directly. "Yes. He was very upset, so I hear."
She stood there for a moment in sad contemplation. Severus moved towards her slightly, his hand raising the tiniest bit in anticipation to lay a comforting hand on her sloping shoulder, but before he could move more than a step, she shook her head in a determined manner and went back to her work. She wasn't going to allow herself any self-pity. Her tears wouldn't and couldn't bring James and Lily back.