Chapter Twenty-Seven

Severus and Jennifer Present

'Twas the night before Hogsmeade, and all through the castle not a creature was stirring… Jennifer, however, was drumming her fingers on the blanket again, glancing at the clock. She got up and went over to Severus' sitting room, not bothering to put a robe over her shift as she strolled in, sitting down in a chair beside where Severus was sitting with his feet comfortably resting on an ottoman, reading a novel.

"Not working tonight?" Jennifer asked thoughtfully.

"Just trying to relax a bit before I try," Severus said, not looking up. "Visiting that vile mansion always takes a lot out of me."

"You just don't get along with Sirius. Why don't you like him, anyhow?" Jennifer asked, curling her feet up and pulling a pillow out from behind herself.

"Oh, the fact that he once nearly got me killed may have something to do with it," Severus said, turning the page.

"Then how come he seems to treat you worse than you do him?" Jennifer asked.

"Perhaps because I nearly got him killed twice," Severus admitted.

"Oh," Jennifer said, turning over a cup, watching it fill with tea. "Alicia is very talented though, isn't she? She's so in tune with her art. Or perhaps she's just lonely. I wish she were here too."

"Jennifer, could you please refrain from using that word so often? I rather don't care for it," Severus sighed. Jennifer frowned.

"Which word?"

"The w-i-s-h word. It's not something to be spoken lightly," Severus said.

"Why, what's wrong with it?"

"Perhaps because it only seems to work when you don't want it to, and never when you do. Except for once," Severus mused. "But in any case, it is the most unreliable form of magic out there next to Divination… not that it hasn't had its moments as well," he admitted acidly. "Why are you awake, anyhow? Do you need me to play for you?"

"No, that is... not right now," Jennifer said. "I was more wondering when you were going to turn in."

"Presently, I am going to finish this chapter first and then get a few work related things out of the way so I don't have to think about them tomorrow while we're in town," Severus said.

"And then you'll wait until I've fallen asleep and then you'll crash on the couch like you have for the last two weeks. Professor, two days ago you got completely caught up on student papers, and I know for a fact you've already turned in your test copies and nearly all of your paperwork that wasn't due till just before we leave for the holidays next week. Are we married or aren't we?" she asked, trying unsuccessfully to get him to look her in the eye. "Or is this some great charade and all of this is just as phony as my other life?" She leaned so far over to get his attention that he finally didn't dare look at anywhere else but in the eye.

"Is that what you believe?" he asked evenly.

"What I believe is that you've been intentionally avoiding me at night despite going completely out of your way to make sure I'm close at hand during the day," Jennifer said. "I know you love me. So what's holding you back?"

"Well for one thing," Severus he said, resigning himself to inevitable. "You still call me Professor."

"Oh," Jennifer said, blinking a bit. "Well, that's easy enough to fix… Severus," she added quietly. Severus smiled thinly and shook his head at her.

"You say my name but you're thinking Mycroft while you're saying it, aren't you?" he asked. Jennifer looked uncomfortable. "It was Mycroft you fell in love with, Jennifer. Everything you know of me has been briefly summed up to you in a period of two weeks."

"So what you're saying is that because I fell in love with you under a different name and a diluted job title that my love means nothing?" Jennifer said. Severus put a quick hand on her shoulder to keep her from getting up.

"That you would once again fall in love with this old fool in any guise is nothing short of a miracle as far as I'm concerned," he said gently, gazing at her angry face. "You remind me so much of how you were when we first met. Oh, it took you a while before you would give your trust to someone, but once you did, it was absolute. And if there's one thing that disarms a man who trusts no one, it's a woman that trusts him absolutely. You did it to me again, you know. That naïve streak of yours attacked full force and I found myself defenseless again. But I have no intention of betraying that trust no matter how hard you try to make me."

Jennifer grinned wickedly and was suddenly in his arms again, kissing him with intense passion before lifting slowly away, reading his expression intently. Smiling triumphantly, she got up and walked back into the bedroom, shutting the door. Severus stared at it for a long while, not wanting to move.

"God, if this is hell, let me plead for mercy now," Severus murmured before reluctantly retiring to the couch.

It had just begun to snow that morning. The rosy cheeks of students passed in groups as Severus and Jennifer walked through the streets of Hogsmeade, and Jennifer couldn't help but be wrapped up in the excitement as children packed into the candy shop, joke shop and sports shop.

"I hope we're not going through that to get Alex's new broom," Jennifer chuckled. "She'll hear about it by the end of the day if we do."

"No, I think we'd be better off hitting the Quidditch Shoppe in Diagon Alley for that," Severus murmured back. "And, also we have our annual trip to Myrkinbrek."

"Another wizard town?"

"Goblin, actually. Of course, we didn't go last year, there was a boycott… yes well that…"

"Will take a lot of explaining, I know," Jennifer chuckled. "Oh, Severus, you know I could ask you questions from morning to night and do nothing else, and I don't think I'll ever be able to catch up completely."

"Yes," Severus said expressionlessly. Jennifer suddenly regretted saying anything at all. "Come, let's go see Rosmerta. I have a feeling that you will like the Three Broomsticks."

As Jennifer stepped in to the pub, she was suddenly reminded of the Kingler's Café, for although much more crowded it felt just as warm and friendly, and there was a general feeling that everyone knew everyone else at least better than strangers passing on the street. A cheerful fire made it feel warm and cozy, and as they came in, nearly everyone looked up to smile at them.

"Jennifer!" Rosmerta dropped her tray on the table of a couple of wizard gentlemen and hurried over to give her a hug. "How are you? I heard you were back at Hogwarts again! What's it like working with old Witolf?"

"Fine, he's brilliant, actually," Jennifer said with a smile, instantly liking the woman. She looked and reminded her of Sally, although there was something in her eyes that hinted that she was much older.

"I just have to treat you to something. Sitting at the professor's table?"

"Perhaps something a bit quieter? Preferably a small table?" Severus suggested.

"Don't want to share her, is that it?" Rosmerta teased him good-naturedly. "Come on back," she said, leading them to a table on the bottom floor of a two-level seating area next to a frosty window. "Black Anise Wine, Severus? And what about you, Jennifer? How about a nice hot butterbeer?"

"Can I have coffee?" Jennifer asked hopefully.

"I as well," Severus agreed, nodding to Jennifer.

"Well, it's a bit unusual but I think I can manage it," Rosmerta winked. "Jennifer! You were able to get Severus to change his order! That's absolutely astounding!" she said in a voice that really did sound amazed before she chuckled and went back to find her tray.

"I hope the coffee here is as good as the atmosphere, I'll be crushed if it turned out like Mark's," Jennifer grinned. "Is there any shop here we have to hit today, or are we just browsing?"

"I would rather get Honeydukes over with, although that's normally your department. How I detest going in that crowd."

"Then I can do it, just make me a list," Jennifer offered. "Perhaps I could take Alex with me, I'm sure she knows the shop."

"Better than she knows her last Defense assignment," Severus said dryly, getting out a piece of paper.

"Here you are," Rosmerta said coming up beside them with a full tray, dropping off both the coffees and a service tray. "I put them in self-filling cups, so you two just relax, and let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you," Jennifer said gratefully, exchanging another smile with the busy woman before she bustled off to the next table. "She's good. This place is packed and yet she and those other two girls are completely in control. I don't think I could do it."

"I don't think Rosmerta could teach a classroom either, although one could learn quite a lot from her if they cared to ask," Severus said.

"I'd imagine so," Jennifer agreed, sipping the coffee.

"So? Does it pass the test?" Severus asked casually, still working on the list.

"Well, it's not as good as mine, but close," Jennifer grinned. "Where do you suppose Alexandria is, anyhow?"

"Sports shop the last I checked," Severus said, sliding the list over.

"You know, you never did explain to me why all the children start with A's," she pried again, glancing at the list.

"You change subjects faster than a Snitch changes direction. Now I'm beginning to see where Alexandria gets that from."

"Are you going to answer or not? And how am I going to learn anything if you keep putting off my questions? It's not like we're in any rush now," Jennifer coaxed.

"It's hardly worth all of the fuss you're causing. It was decided at the same time we decided to have four children that two names would reference my family and two yours. You wanted the first girl to be named after my sister, Anna, but when I wouldn't let you pick Anastasia because of someone in my mother's family line, you instead picked Alexandria. Aurelius was named Aurelius because you had a war with your father on whether or not to call him Andrew, after someone on your side of the family, and when he refused to give in, you named him from my side, keeping the A and the middle name Craw to spite him. Then Andrew was named so because we didn't name Aurelius Andrew, and Alicia was named after your mother, whose name was Alice."

"Oh, come now, Severus, you can't possibly be telling me the whole thing was a coincidence," Jennifer protested.

"On a conscious level it was," Severus said with a nod. "Although looking back I wonder now if it wasn't symbolic of the change that occurred when we were married. You were the last of several prestigious lines, not the least of which being Craw, which despite its reputation I learned to respect through you and your father. And although it was my name we kept, I had plenty of reason to distance myself from what my family had been reduced to. So, we made a few changes to the Snape family crest, throwing out the ones we didn't agree with and adding in the family ideals from your line we agreed with. My uncle was positively livid when he saw it," Severus added, smirking with obvious satisfaction. "But anyhow, I often thought that it rather symbolized that new beginning for the family, as it were, not forgetting, of course, what got us here in the first place."

"I think that is splendid," Jennifer said enthusiastically. "So all of our children were planned?"

"Except for Corey, of course, yes," Severus nodded. "With spring and summer birthdays in four consecutive years, although in retrospect I probably should have insisted they were spaced out a little more, even if it did mean not seeing them in school together."

"Why? I mean they're so obviously close, I'm sure their age difference is part of it."

Severus looked down at his coffee for a moment, twisting the cup in his hand to get it to refill, his eyes distant as they gazed into the dark liquid.

"When you were carrying Alicia, there was an attempt made on your life using a cursed item meant to poison only those of your bloodline. It nearly killed you both... that night, and on the night Alicia was born. Your strength was not as it should have been."

"It was at a party of some sort," Jennifer said with certainty. "We had been dancing, and you were the one who had handed me the cup." Severus looked up with surprise.

"How did you know that? I wasn't looking at you, how did you know that?"

"One the dreams I had, the one I told you where I was poisoned? That's what happened, only in the dream it was Mycroft, really," Jennifer admitted. "Now I understand what Aurelius meant."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in the dream I was looking at my body almost as if I was planning to leave it," Jennifer whispered. "And then Aurelius told me not to worry, that I was only nearly dead and that I wasn't the only one. And then I woke up."

"You must have been closer to death in that moment than even I was lead to believe," Severus murmured, becoming pale. "Aurelius, why Aurelius? There has got to be an explanation. Were you thinking of him when the spell was cast?"

"I have no idea," Jennifer said softly.

"No, no of course you don't. I apologize," Severus said. "It was more of a rhetorical question really. But perhaps we have sat here long enough. Ready to brave the crowd?" He asked, glancing at his watch.

"I'm game if you are," Jennifer said with a faint smile, Severus leaving a few coins on the table as they got up, heading out into the blustery snow.

Alex, as it happened, was right across the street in the joke shop, and although she had already made her trip to the candy shop she was quite eager to take Jennifer back through, showing her every single shelf and talking so fast that even Jennifer could barely keep up, especially in the already loud and busy area.

"Only one case of chocolate frogs? Is he mad?" Alex said, staring at the list. "Don't you want any this year too? You usually go through them as fast as we do."

"I do?" Jennifer said.

"Yes, you've been collecting them since before we were even born," Alex said matter-of-factly. "Ever since the first year they put you on a card, Father too. In fact, you have the full set."

"A full set of original Hogwarts frog cards?" Stewart Gaffney looked up with immediate interest. "Gad, those are nearly worth a goblin's vault these days! Ever thinking of selling them?"

"Of course she wouldn't! It'd be almost like selling a photo album in this family. Get another case, Mum, really. Father won't say anything to you about it," Alex coaxed. "And you might want to pick up another bag or two of those licorice cauldrons. Father's crazy about them, and I was thinking of getting him something else this year."

"Really?" Jennifer said, glancing over the licorice drops. Deciding to trust her daughter's judgment, she loaded up her basket, buying a few individual chocolate frogs as well, keeping them in a separate bag when the clerk minimized their order for them and headed out again. "Hm, where do you suppose your father went?"

"Dragonwing Deli most likely," Alex grinned.

"A Deli? Here?" Jennifer said with surprise.

"Sure, Mum. It's one of your most favorite places to eat in Hogsmeade," Alex said, leading the way.

"Really?" Jennifer said, and then smiled to herself at the irony of that.

Severus had somehow managed to secure a table just inside the door, away from the lines up front and the stuffy potbelly stove in the far corner of the room. It paid to be an unpopular professor at times, he mused, nodding to Alex and Jennifer when they came in.

"Staying or going?" Severus asked his daughter casually.

"Going," Alex said. "I'm meeting Mandria and Rose at the Brooms, then we were thinking about going to search for Toby's again. Nobody's been able to find the shop for months now! I hope it's not gone for good."

"Fine. Just stay close, and don't go anywhere alone, there still may be danger around," Severus warned in a low voice.

"What about the Grove?" Alex asked. "There's no place safer, is there?"

"Fine, but not alone," Severus said fixedly. "Don't forget what happened to Rose two years ago."

"As if any of this family would give me diamonds," Alex snorted.

"Yes, as responsible as you are, it'd take you all of ten minutes to misplace them," Severus said sternly.

"Do you suppose then I'd misplace a familiar if I had one too?" Alex asked. Severus frowned at her and thumbed her to the door, and reluctantly she took a few steps, pausing again. "By the way, just in case you hadn't noticed, the sport's shop just got in a whole new line of Thunderbolt X's…"

"Goodbye, Alexandria," Severus said in a tired voice. Jennifer chuckled softly as the girl finally left.

"She certainly has a lot of spirit, doesn't she?" Jennifer said.

"Yes, I wonder who she gets that from," Severus said, gazing at Jennifer who blushed slightly. "Not to mention that hair."

"Does she have a boyfriend yet?" Jennifer asked, fiddling with her bag. Severus stared at her completely aghast. "Goodness, I was only asking."

"Yes and until you asked just now, that particular concern had not occurred to me to start worrying about yet," Severus scowled. Jennifer laughed at that. "And if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep not worrying about it for as long as possible." He looked up as one of the waiters came by with a tray, grinning at them as he dropped it off.

"Hey, you ordered ahead!" Jennifer scolded him.

"Well, I was here first," Severus reminded her.

"Only because you didn't tell me where you were going to be. Of course, Alex knew, but I don't see a tray for her here, so you must have known she wasn't going to stay." Jennifer challenged him.

"Oh, come now, how many students do you know would choose to stay with their faculty parents on a school outing?" Severus said slyly.

"Good point," Jennifer agreed with a grin, taking a bite of her sandwich before pulling out the box she had been searching for, glancing at it curiously.

"Oh, no, please don't tell me Alex hasn't gotten you back on those again," Severus said, looking disapprovingly at the chocolate frog box. "Wait… don't…" before he could stop her, Jennifer had the box open and the frog leapt out, landing directly in Severus' tea, making him leap back as the liquid sprayed out and all over him and the tray. Jennifer tried to apologize, but every time she tried she broke into a giggle and finally gave up altogether. "Lovely. Chocolate flavored licorice tea," Severus said dourly, glaring icily at several students watching with grins as he brushed himself off with a handkerchief. As they hurriedly turned back around, Severus gazed at Jennifer, who was still sitting with her mouth covered trying very hard to regain her composure.

"How I hate those things," Severus said grumpily, deciding to take his aggravation out on the frog itself, which had been reduced to chocolate sludge in his cup.

"I am sorry, but I was curious. She said something about a card, and that there's some of us," Jennifer explained, turning the card over to look at it, but it was no one that she knew.

"There won't be any of me in there, although I don't doubt that there is one of you," Severus said, trying to salvage his sandwich.

"Why wouldn't there be?" Jennifer asked curiously.

"My work is hardly notable enough," Severus said with a shrug.

"For some reason I find that quite hard to believe," Jennifer said.

"I am someone who has always preferred to work on the back line," Severus admitted. "Besides, keeping you out of trouble has always been a full time job in itself. You, however, have been a headline thief since the year you came to Hogwarts. Care to see one of your cards?" he said, reaching into his cloak pocket.

"What? I thought you just said you hated those things," Jennifer challenged him.

"I keep it for merely sentimental reasons," Severus said defensively, glancing at it before handing it to her. "A first edition Jennifer Craw card. In fact, it's the only Jennifer Craw card. All of the others have the name Snape attached," Severus smirked.

"'Jennifer Corsiva Craw: Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.' I was the Defense teacher?" Jennifer asked, but Severus motioned for her to continue.

"'Currently entering her second year at Hogwarts, Jennifer Craw has already earned a claim to fame last year leading a herd of Unicorns'…" She paused then, feeling a strange shiver through her as she read it… "'to a victory against the Azkaban Dementor Revolt.' How could I have done this?"

"You did," Severus said quietly, "I was there, even though you didn't realize it at the time."

"I don't look all that different," Jennifer said, gazing at it troubled. "And yet…" she found she couldn't continue, not really wanting to look back at Severus. When she did, however, he had had his hands folded across his face. "Here, thank you for letting me see it," she said softly, causing him to look up at last and retrieve it. "All the sudden I'm not all that hungry."

"Perhaps we both could use a bit of air," Severus said at last, getting up. "Come, let's take a walk and finish our browsing."

The snow had stopped, but the air had turned bitterly cold so Jennifer spent little time hopping into the next shop. Even with Severus' imposing presence cutting a path through the students, it was difficult to do any serious shopping, but right now, Jennifer was merely looking for a distraction. It also didn't help that Severus was viewing the entire shop with complete and open disdain. The colorfully dressed man behind the counter seemed to be eyeing Severus with the same wariness while Jennifer looked curiously through the trinkets in the divination shop. Students, however, seemed to be spending quite thriftily on small trinkets promising love, luck, money, and better magic prowess, although Jennifer wasn't sure how many were actually taking any of them seriously.

"I would like to make a prediction," someone said behind Severus. He looked behind himself to see Harry Potter standing there. "I predict that this store probably isn't going to be making much money off of you."

"How astute, I believe I could have made the same prediction," Severus said dryly, stepping over to him while still keeping a casual eye on Jennifer. "Well?" Harry sighed softly, glancing around the shop as well.

"There has been no change in any funds coming out of any Malfoy companies, investments or personal funds in well over a year, Severus," Harry said in a low voice.

"Impossible. It must be there somewhere." Severus murmured.

"I know, it doesn't make sense," Harry said with a sigh. "But it's not there. We even uncovered a few subsidiaries we didn't even know he had thanks to some inside information, but there's no sign that any of them could possibly have paid out as much as what Ghent was getting, let alone whatever Baylor must have been getting on top of it."

"Are you sure your informant has told you everything?" Severus said bluntly.

"If you're asking me if I trust him, I think you know the answer to that already," Harry said. "Which is why I let Audi talk to him. He may have gotten past me, but not her."

"She doesn't always tell the truth either, you know."

"No, but she wouldn't lie about this, would she?" Harry said, glancing at where Jennifer was near the crystal necklaces. "Personally, I wish we could get Vallid to talk to Baylor, but his counselor's got that tied down, and since Vallid was using judge powers at the beginning of the case, she can't push the issue without a scandal."

"Malfoy is behind this, Harry. I know it with every fiber of my being," Severus said. "However indirectly."

"I know," Harry said grimly. "But short of a full confession…"

"Damn him," Severus snarled. "So many times we passed up killing him when he deserved it and more. Perhaps Thomas had the right of it, after all. By allowing him to manipulate the law and our lives, we are fools deserving to be tortured."

"It's not foolish following one's conscience and doing what's right, Severus."

"Tell that to Jennifer," Severus said bitterly.

"She would agree with me. And so would the part that she lost," Harry said firmly.

"In that case, I'm not so sure that I would agree with her," Severus said, walking away to see what had captured her attention. Harry watched them silently for a moment, lost in thought before stepping outside where Ron was standing with his hands in his pockets, shivering in the cold.

"Well, that went rather well," Harry said solemnly.

"Did you tell him about your dead end with finding the wand man?" Ron asked in a low voice.

"No," Harry said somberly. "Let's not ruin his faith in me all at once."

"Who knows, maybe you'll suddenly discover a previously overlooked witness that was afraid to come to the surface before now and will open you Aurors up to the obvious suspect," Ron said encouragingly.

"Let's face it Ron," Harry sighed, slipping down a side street to escape the crowds. "This case hinges on only one solution. Only Jennifer and the person who did it were there when it happened. This isn't a case of clues or hidden motives, it never has been. It's a matter only of pointing a finger, and Jennifer has got to be the one to do it."