Asking Favors
Summer holidays, he mused to himself, were something to be savored and cherished. As he raised the measuring glass to his eye, however, he heard a slight clearing of throat behind him in the doorway.
"Yes, Hooch; what is it?"
Undeterred by his sarcastic manner, he was always annoyed when interrupted in the middle of potions making, she stepped into the room. She steeled herself, hoping he wasn't working on a particularly nasty potion which he could throw in her direction.
"I have a favor to ask, Severus."
He poured the contents of the cup into a simmering cauldron. She watched as he stirred the liquid, checking the time, and finally looked at her.
"What is it, Hooch?" he repeated warily.
"My family is coming from out of town, Severus. I would like to know whether or not you'd bring them here to Hogwarts."
"They are your family, Hooch. What possible reason could you have for me to look after your relatives?"
"Look Severus, I only wanted to ask you now, nicely, without questions, before the Headmaster stepped in."
His eyes narrowed.
"For goodness sake, you bat!" she said, exasperated, "Their relatives of my sister's. I hardly know them better than you do now."
He studied her.
"Very well, but as you are asking now, I will require some payment in return."
"What do you want?" she asked, hesitantly.
"Nothing too terrible," he said casually, "Merely access to the latest potions developments at Rubens Winikus and the Ministry; the non-public developments."
"I'll write to Derry and Pollux this afternoon," she replied instantly, then schooled her features, "Thank you Severus. They will arrive in one week at the harbor in Stanraer."
He bowed to her, looking pointedly at the door. Just as she turned to go, he stopped her.
"How 'out of town' are these relatives, Hooch, if they must come by boat?"
As she left the room, she said, "They're from out of country, Severus."
A.N.:
Stanraer is an actual city on the southern coast of Scotland, across from Belfast Ireland.