Severus Snape scowled and pushed his fried tomato around on his plate. Sheesh. He's in a foul mood this morning. Stifling a yawn, Alex took her own seat at the table. An impromptu wake had been held after McGonagall's funeral. The American witch smiled to herself, remembering some of the stories Minerva's friends had told. They'd stayed until late at night, reminiscing. Neither Snape nor Hagrid had been present. Hagrid probably went on a bender down in Hogsmeade. Alex glanced down the table. Sure enough, Hagrid was absent. She finished her fried eggs and toast and approached Severus. "Um, would you watch my first class for half an hour or so, Professor ?"
He peered up at her suspiciously. "Why ?"
"I need to visit Hagrid. It's a mission of mercy," she added with a grin.
Severus made a minute gesture with his wand. "Draco, come over here for a moment, would you ?" he said without raising his voice. The blond prefect rose from his seat at the Slytherin House table and joined them at the front of the room, his attitude respectful. "Keep an eye on Miss Rose's first-years for her," Snape instructed. "Whose class will you be missing ? Flitwick's ? Very well, I'll write you an excuse." He conjured parchment and a quill and scribbled a note for the teenager. Alex handed over her lesson plans with some trepidation. Draco took them and hurried off to the dungeon.
"Wow. Do you think that's safe ?" she asked when he'd left. Those poor first-years. Heh. Like Professor Snape wouldn't scare the shit out of them.
"Draco can be trusted with the responsibility," Severus informed her. "He wouldn't have been made a prefect if it weren't so. Dumbledore doesn't play favorites." He smiled sardonically, then pushed back his chair. "Let's go. I want to see what effect your experiment will have on Hagrid."
"It's not an experiment," Alex said defensively as they left the hall. "It's a standard hangover remedy."
"Mm-hm. A standard remedy that would probably kill the average person."
"On any given night, Hagrid drinks enough to kill the average person." Alex knocked on the door to Hagrid's cabin. After a long minute, he opened the door, wincing at the bright morning light that flooded in. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked as though he hadn't slept since getting word of McGonagall's death. Alex wrinkled her nose involuntarily. Alcohol reeked from his very pores. "Morning, Hagrid," she said cheerfully. The big man seemed taken aback to see them, but gestured for them both to come in.
"What brings yeh here, Alex, Professor Snape ?" he asked diffidently, pouring tea for the three of them.
"I thought you might have had a rough night," she replied. "You're not looking too good, Hagrid." She noticed Severus peering around the cabin with interest, his sharp eyes taking in Hagrid's assortment of pets, his oversized chair, the massive bed with its crazy-quilt coverlet. He's taught at Hogwarts for over a decade and he's never been inside Hagrid's home, she realized. Sheesh. To say the guy's a loner is the understatement of the century.
"I'm all righ'," Hagrid said gruffly. "Yeh didn' need ter bring Professor Snape down here ter check up on me. I can teach me classes."
"We know you can," Alex placated him. "We just want to give you a potion to make you feel better. I know how much you miss Minerva. We all do," she added. "Watch it, that one bites," she warned Snape, who was inspecting Snookums' cage. He hastily withdrew his finger from between the bars. "Has Fang ever bitten you ?" she asked Hagrid.
He blinked at the abrupt change of subject. "Fang ? Nah, he's gentle as a lamb." He pondered for a moment. "Well, he may have nipped me a time er two when he was a pup. Jes' youthful high spirits, yeh know," he elaborated with an anxious glance toward Snape.
"Perfect," said Alex. "Don't worry, I just need a pinch of the hair of a dog that bit you," she explained, approaching Hagrid's pet mastiff, who sat up eagerly and slobbered on her. "Yes, he's such a good doggy," she enthused, petting him vigorously and harvesting a more than ample supply of loose hair.
Snape rolled his eyes as she extricated herself with some difficulty from Fang's exuberant show of affection. "Hair of the dog ? You're joking. That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard."
Alex shrugged. "Some of the most inspired magic is based on absurdity," she remarked with a grin, depositing a few of Fang's hairs into the potion bottle and shaking it. "Okay, Hagrid, bottoms up."
The two mages watched as Hagrid tipped back the bottle and gulped the contents. He wiped his lips on his sleeve and smiled tentatively. "It don' taste half bad, anyway," he commented. Then his eyes widened. He shuddered, his huge body trembling all over. Severus stepped in front of Alex protectively, but Hagrid had already straightened up, cold sober and looking bright-eyed and refreshed. "Now tha' was a kick in th' teeth," he breathed. His bearded face broke into a wide grin.
"Good," said Alex briskly. "Here's two more doses, but don't you go thinking that it's all right for you to go on a binge, understand ? I won't brew any more for you. Professor McGonagall wouldn't approve," she added as she placed the bottles on the table.
"No, she wouldn'," Hagrid agreed soberly. His eyes grew misty. "They broke th' mold when they made Minerva McGonagall," he said. "There'll never be another one like 'er." He took out his massive handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. "Well, gotta class ter teach," he said self-consciously. "Thanks, Alex, an' you too, Professor Snape." He grabbed Snape's hand and shook it enthusiastically. Alex stifled a giggle as she watched them. Severus looked decidedly uncomfortable.
-----
Back in the classroom, the first-years were working diligently under the watchful eye of Draco Malfoy. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Alex said.
"You're very welcome, Miss Rose," he replied politely.
That's right, you're the perfect little gentleman, Alex thought sarcastically as he turned to leave. That's for Snape's benefit. If he wasn't here-
"Just a moment, Draco," Snape said, interrupting her thoughts. "Does your mother still have that obnoxious little lap dog ?"
"Yes sir," the prefect replied with a slight frown of confusion.
"We'll be needing, oh, a dozen or so of its hairs," Snape explained. "Miss Rose has come up with a potion that I think your father would be very interested in trying himself."
"I'll owl father to send the ingredient right away, sir," Draco said.
"See that you do."
Alex waited until Draco had left the laboratory, then turned on Snape. "I need to speak to you about our stock of rat spleens, Professor," she said. "Right away." She brushed past him into the storage closet. "What the hell was that about ?" she demanded once they were in the relative privacy of the little store room. "You realize that Draco's going to run off to tell daddy dear that I'm going to be brewing potions for him," she went on furiously. "Damn, Severus, what were you thinking ? And what possible need would Lucius Malfoy have for a hangover cure, even if I wanted to make him one ? Which I definitely don't," she added.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "Are you finished ?" Alex nodded sullenly. "You can't rebuff Malfoy's offer," he lectured her. "Thanks to your little experiment with Hagrid, I've thought of something that will keep you in Lucius' good graces. Don't worry," he added, "there's nothing involved that would cause you to suffer any pangs of conscience."
"I doubt that. But just for grins and giggles, why don't you tell me about it ?" she frowned up at him, annoyed with his manipulations.
"You have a class to teach," he pointed out pompously. "I'll explain everything over dinner."
Her eyes widened at his audacity. "There's no way I'm going to-" She realized she was arguing with empty air. The potions master's footsteps sounded hollowly on the flagstones as he left the laboratory. Argh. He's impossible ! There's no way I'm going to go out to dinner with him, Alex told herself as she wrote the homework assignment on the blackboard. She realized that her heart was racing and admitted defeat. All right, I'll go out with him. But I will not brew any potions for Lucius Malfoy.