[ Anything that's not blatant is
a riddle ]
Please read and review if you can!
Author's penname: Elixa Amethyst
Voices of the Past Part II
Written March 2002 onwards, pre Order of the Phoenix.
All characters and things you recognise, are © JKRowling, no infringement
intended.
All references to
"mediwizard" mean healer.
Read Part I at ALIGN="center">---------------
Chapter Four
Little Flumen
"And this is home." I emerged from the fireplace into what appeared to be a living room, or Severus's interpretation of one. I stood up properly and looked around myself at the room.
"Home, it's going to take a while to get used to that word coming from you." I said, taking in the room. Severus moved away, heading up some steps. I realised soon afterwards that the house was an old windmill, converted into a house. I looked up, seeing how high the rooms were. It seemed a complete contrast to what Snape had at Hogwarts. There was sunlight coming in from windows!
"Are you coming?" Came a voice. I snapped back, realising Severus had left the room and followed him up the steps, which revealed that he'd walked into a kitchen.
"Not what I expected… but amazing all the same." I told him, still looking round myself.
"You wait until you see the village, then you'll wonder." Something told me that I he wasn't lying in the slight smile that appeared on his face.
"Welcome home Elixa. You've been a long time coming, shame your mother couldn't be with you too."
I spent the morning looking round the house. Quite a few of the rooms were just full of books on shelves. Some of the titles I recognised, Snape often mentioning them in his lessons, others were obviously in different languages. I wasn't much of a multi-linguist myself, and I wondered if Severus was. The rooms were set on a spiral, I suspected it was a very complicated piece of magic that had created the effect. The room just below the top was a fully equipped potion lab, where Severus seemed to be in the middle of some research. At the top of the windmill was where Severus obviously came to think and consult the stars. Sunlight came in from all angles, creating a warm atmosphere that I would expect to be stuffy, but wasn't. As my family had lived amongst a Muggle community, there had been little space for any magical alterations to the house. I heard voices coming from lower down in the house and walked quietly down to see if I recognised the voices.
"Good to see you again Severus. Got someone staying with you?" The voice was male and cheery. I couldn't hear Severus's reply as he answered in his normal soft tones which kept any class listening. I wondered if I should go down.
"Your niece? Oh we wondered, read about her in the Prophet. You must introduce her to Susan, she's been so bored without anyone to talk to all year." I put my head to one side as I listened.
"How is Susan, any signs at all?" Snape asked.
"Very little. We try to look positive about her progress, what there is, but having a squib in the family is difficult with two grown up wizards for brothers. She's been determined to get into Hogwarts whatever it takes. Poor girl."
"I'll mention it to Elixa. I wonder where she is now anyway…" I walked down the remaining flight of stairs.
"Here I am." I announced. Severus looked up from creating two cups of coffee and created three seeing me.
"Timothy, this is Elixa. Elixa this is Timothy North, my- our neighbour." Severus corrected himself. I gave a smile.
"Hello Mr North." I said, shaking his hand, performing the routine I'd been used to with meeting ministry wizards at home.
"Elixa, call me Timothy." I gave a polite smile back.
"We were just saying you should get on with Susan, Timothy's daughter. She's about your age I think." Severus said, placing a cup of coffee before his neighbour and then drawing out a chair beside him for me. I sat down, transformed the coffee into tea and listened.
"Susan's not at Hogwarts, she's not really magical." I gave a slightly sorry look.
"Must be tough."
"It is. She's determined to get in to Hogwarts. She's the youngest person in the village, all the rest of us are old folk like me and Severus."
"You speak for yourself there I'm afraid Timothy." Severus said before drinking some coffee. Timothy reminded me very much of Professor Lupin, his robes were worn, and he had tufts of grey hair either side of a bald head.
"No doubt you'll see her this afternoon around the village." Timothy continued. I saw Severus give a slightly evil smile and wondered what I was in for.
After lunch Severus and I set out to the village shop. It was my first glimpse of Little Flumen. Several people stopped us on our way to talk to Severus, and to be introduced to me. We didn't meet Susan, but Severus said that was only to expected, the North family ate later than we had generally. The shop was on the main street of the village, beside a post office and a small inn. The whole atmosphere reminded me of a slightly quieter Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. The inn was called the Wizard's Arms and the sign swung gently in the wind, the painting worn by time. Inside the shop I realised that it was bewitched so that there was more room inside.
"Ahh Professor!" The African accent came from the counter, where I saw an African witch dressed in red and yellow robes, a huge smile on her face.
"Tituba." Severus greeted in his normal soft voice.
"There's been talk of your return since Hogwarts term ended Sir, and Mr North and I were just saying how you could be bringing a young witch with you." The witch was looking straight at me. Between her hands materialised two large brown paper bags full of groceries.
"I made sure there was enough for two just in case." She smiled, pushing the bags towards us.
"Thank you Tituba." We left the shop without another word, each of us carrying a bag.
"Do I get the feeling she doesn't know I'm related to you?" I asked.
"Tituba is winding you up. She's the village gossip. Nothing gets past her. Don't talk to her unless necessary." For the first time since arriving, I sensed hostility. I didn't expect Severus to be entirely at ease in such a community, in fact I'd have expected him to be very much more solitary. I looked from Severus to the road ahead and caught sight of a girl in Muggle clothes, her long blonde hair obscuring her face, and her hands were to her face beneath her hair.
"Susan." Severus informed me. I watched as two eyes emerged from beneath the mass of golden hair.
"Good afternoon Professor." A voice spoke from beneath it too; meaning there must be a mouth under there too.
"Susan, what have you done?" Severus asked. There was a pause, and then the hands revealed the face.
"I was trying to create a potion to cure boils to prove I was getting better…" Susan's face was covered in boils. I saw her hands were too.
"I would cure them for you now, but I think you'll learn a better lesson if you help create the potion yourself. I'm sure Elixa will show you." Susan looked at me gratefully.
"Would you?" She asked. She had a kind of pathetic sounding voice.
"Of course. Did you put the porcupine quills in before taking it off the fire?" I asked. Susan nodded, I smiled kindly and she followed.
"Come on lets get you sorted out." I said.
