Speranza it is. The results of the poll were overwhelming (not to mention
one reader's dog and my cat both liked the name) and I have decided to
rename the baby. If you want, you can refer back to chapter whatever to
see how the naming scene is slightly but insignificantly different.
My apologies to Blaze for changing the name, but I think it was necessary. Perhaps if you knew how it was pronounced (assuming for a moment that you don't) you would like it better: Spay-rahn-sa, with a trilled "r" and emphasis on the second syllable. It really is quite a musical name, and I think the sibilance suits her family background. However, for your sake I will keep Julieta as her middle name.
Thank you poohdog for the suggestion of Dahlia as a middle name. I was actually going to use it until I found out that a white Dahlia looks like a severed poodle tail and that the flower itself was actually "named after botanist A. Dahl, who discovered it." (How unimaginative can you get in naming a flower?) However, I will remember that name and perhaps many moons from now, when the image of a tail-less yappy dog has stopped prancing about in my head, I will use it in a different fanfic.
By the way, thank you all so much for all the positive reviews. Not that a critical one would be rejected or anything, but it's nice to get any sort of feedback whatsoever. I'm sorry that I haven't been very good about responding to my reviewers this past week, but just so you know, if you want a "sneak preview" of the next chapter just write "SP Requested" in your review and I will send you one, provided you include your email address. How's that for incentive to review?
A big juicy thanks to my beta too, because without her I would have taken Celeste's character in a direction that nobody would have liked. I wanted to make her slowly reveal herself to be quite like Severus, but with Liburna's help I realized it would be better to have a contrasting foil. So in this chapter my beta cut out the parts that did damage to Celeste and kept her the likeable little trooper that she is.
Enjoy, my little readers. This chapter is nearly as long as the first four chapters combined. So rejoice!
PS---Just a warning...the chapter runs through, then it runs through again from a different point of view. Just had to make a note of that, even though I didn't want to, because even my beta was confused.
X X X
Reaching the gravel driveway at the bottom of the steps, Severus cast about for a means to get to his manor. Disapparating with so much luggage was difficult at best, nor was it possible to do so with a small child. Eventually he waved his wand arm in the air before him, as a last resort.
A sudden bang sounded, startling Celeste and causing the baby to cry. She gave Severus a quizzical look at the sight of the odd triple-decker bus before them, to which he coolly raised his eyebrows.
"It seems to me to be the only way," he said. He led the way on the bus, paying the driver some silver from his bag. He guided Celeste to the rear, leaving the luggage to the driver to deal with.
Celeste sat beside him, basket in lap. Severus was grateful that she had the crying baby to fuss over, negating the need for conversation to fill the silence. He reflected that she, too, was probably grateful for the same thing. Eventually the lanky bus driver and his grubby-skinned son finished packing the trunks away and the bus began to move. The countryside flashed past, fence posts and the odd sign jumping to avoid the bus, which plowed through the distance separating it from its destination without following any Muggle roads. It did not take more than half and hour to reach the Snape manor.
Celeste glanced out the window at the manor as she lowered her baby into the basket. Severus could see her already stiff form freeze. She sat primly and unmovingly, and eventually Severus was persuaded to look at his manor from the eyes of one who had never seen it before. The sight was not welcoming.
He tapped her elbow, causing her to drag her eyes from the manor. "Shall we be getting off?" he asked.
She nodded dumbly and picked up the basket, following his form down the narrow aisle. He offered his hand as she stepped off the bus but she did not take it.
"Stan, boy, say what I taught you," the bus driver was saying to his son.
The boy tipped his chin up with ridiculous pride and said to Severus and Celeste, "Thank you for bringing your bus'ness to our op'ration. If you ever need your transportational needs fulfilled be sure to call on the Knight Bus!" The boy's father proudly wiped an eye and the two of them with their bus disappeared with a bang. Severus rolled his eyes and began stalking up the steps to the front door.
His mother opened the door almost as soon as he had knocked on it. "Severus," she greeted. Her skin was golden from her visit to the Mediterranean and all in all she looked far better than the last time Severus had seen her. "The Hogwarts house elves delivered your things earlier and your room is ready for you. I have some things from Italia that I want to show you." Her voice was not as muted as it had been in during Severus' last visit, and she allowed herself to smile shyly as she spoke. Moving in the doorway to let Severus pass she caught sight of Celeste and suddenly stopped in midstep. "Severus?" she intoned.
Severus turned to follow his mother's line of vision and found that Celeste had not followed him up the steps but was instead still standing on the driveway, clutching her basket to her. She looked rather like someone who had been deposited in unknown territory by surprise, which Severus reflected wasn't too far off from actual situation.
"Celeste and the baby will be staying with us, Mother. Unless she wishes to leave," he said, taking Celeste's behavior into consideration. "But the baby will remain here either way." He raised his wand and floated Celeste's trunks into the manor and followed them towards the stairs. "How long will it take for the house elves to prepare a room for her?"
"I'll summon one for you," Constanza breathed. She turned and looked once more at Celeste, who was still rooted to her spot below the steps. "Why isn't she coming in?"
Severus merely snorted and continued his ascension of the stairs. He opted to summon an elf himself and gave it instructions to move Celeste's things into the room overlooking the oak grove.
"Bitsy is sorry, sir, but Mistress have moved her things into that room," the old house elf replied.
Severus considered this development. "Move my wife's things into my mother's old room then. You are to treat my wife with the same respect and servitude that you show my mother and myself." Finished, Severus strode down the hallway; he paused at the top of the steps. Below, his mother had coaxed Celeste inside and was talking to her in timid but encouraging tones. Severus raised his voice to be heard. "Mother, I've put Celeste in your old room. She can make use of the nursery. Perhaps you could show her around." He purposely avoided eyed contact with Celeste as he spoke. Feeling that he had done his bit, Severus turned on his heel and made his way to his rooms to unpack his own trunks.
X X X
Aegerus Snape's study had been nearly emptied, along with his rooms, during Severus's previous stay in a purge-like cleansing of the house of the deceased man's personal possessions. Almost everything had been either thrown out, packed away in the attic, or given to distant relatives at the funeral. However, Severus took the small library at the opposite end of the second floor as his study instead. Some rooms in the house were not yet ready to be rehabilitated.
Severus stacked his last book on the shelves as the dinner gong rang. He charmed his empty book trunk to travel to the attic where it would remain for the summer and made his way to the dinner room. He had not seen his wife and mother since that morning, choosing to have lunch and tea by himself as he unpacked. As he walked into the room his mother looked up and smiled uncertainly. Celeste, who had changed robes since her arrival, did not acknowledge Severus's arrival. Severus felt he could care less, and sat down between the two of them at the head of the table.
Dinner arrived and Constanza strove valiantly to break the silence with conversation. She gave up after several failed attempts.
When dinner was finished Severus leaned back in his chair and spoke to Celeste directly. "Do your rooms meet to your satisfaction?" he inquired blandly.
"Yes," Celeste said to the empty patch of table where her plate had been.
"Severus, I think Celeste is accustomed to less... austere surroundings," Constanza interjected in a small voice. Severus saw Celeste look up at him as Constanza said this.
Severus raised an eyebrow. "You may do as you wish with your rooms and decorate them however you like. If there is anything in any of the other rooms, any furniture or objects, that you would like to move into your own room you may do so. The same applies to the rest of the house, however my rooms, the large library, and the laboratory are off limits." Severus rose from the table. "I will take my leave of you both. Good night." Severus walked through the doors of the dining room and made his way to the stairs.
"Wait," Severus heard a voice say. He stopped on the third step and turned around to see that his wife had followed him. She was looking at him calculatingly, the reserve of her manner of a moment ago gone. "I can do as I please with the house?" she said. Severus quirked a brow and nodded.
"I have no personal attachment to cobwebs as a décor statement," he said. "Although you should probably consult my mother about whatever changes you wish to proceed with." He turned to mount the steps but was halted by Celeste once more.
"I'm not finished yet." Celeste paused as if thinking about how to say what was coming next. "What if I want the walls repapered? Will you pay for someone to do that for me?" Celeste was obviously struggling to display the boldness she normally treated her husband with when she was in her own territory, but was finding it difficult, being out of her element in this strange house with two people she did not know well at all.
"Yes," Severus said. "Is that all?"
Celeste thought for a moment. "Yes. If there is anything else I will talk to you about it as it comes up."
Severus nodded and climbed the stairs without repeating his good nights.
X X X
As the bus disappeared with a bang Celeste felt a clammy hand of dread grip her stomach. She regretted acting so rashly now, packing her things and running off on the spur of the moment with a man whom she hardly knew, let alone trusted. While at the time leaving her father and mother had seemed like the best stroke of luck possible, she had forgotten to consider the other side of it. Her husband was a Death Eater; although he had never been convicted, she knew from the mark she had seen. She had also heard stories about his father, and the hushedly-told stories, skeletal with missing elements, of the home life in the Snape manor. How much of Aegerus Snape lived on in his son? Celeste instinctively clutched her baby's basket closer to her.
Severus was talking to a woman—his mother—when she finally dragged her eyes from the morbidly grim façade of the manor. She recognized the small, dark-haired woman from the wedding ceremony eight years before. The woman was staring at Celeste in a worried manner.
With a wave of his wand Severus ushered Celeste's luggage into the black doorway. Celeste felt a panicky feeling surge up as she realized she would soon have to follow her luggage inside. Reluctantly, at the dark- haired woman's beck, she climbed the stone steps with leaden feet and stepped into the grimacing mouth of the doorway.
Shadows gathered menacingly in the high arched ceiling of the entrance hall. The marble floor was cold underfoot and the doors creaked ominously as they shut behind her. Her husband was nowhere in sight, but the dark woman was timidly watching the contents of the basket Celeste was holding from her place by the doors a few feet away. After a moment of what appeared to be an inner battle of sorts, the woman stepped forward and spoke to Celeste.
"I am Severus's mother. I am certain you know who I am, but I don't believe we have ever been properly introduced." Her voice was melodious but subdued and hesitant. Celeste detected an accent of sorts. A story about how Aegerus Snape had brought his bride to England from someplace on the continent floated in her head for a moment.
"You may call me Constanza," the woman continued.
At that instant Severus reappeared. He disappeared just as quickly after having informed Constanza where Celeste was to sleep, and issuing instructions to show her around the house. Underneath her unease Celeste was able to muster a sense of anger at the ease with which he had cast her off, leaving her for his mother to deal with. Constanza's soft voice and a light touch on her elbow urged her towards the stairs in an encouraging manner.
The stairs curved and the hall twisted until they came to the doors of Celeste's room. The oak doors opened into a large, dark room. A heavy four-post bed was centered against one side of the chamber, and rich tapestries in dark colors draped the paneled walls. Three tall, arched windows looked out over the grim ocean horizon, where discontent grey water boiled and crashed against the sharp rocks of the shore.
"This used to be my room," Constanza said quietly in a tone Celeste couldn't quite place. As Celeste moved forward into the room Constanza held back, in the doorway.
Celeste saw that her trunks had been moved into the room and a house elf was lurking in the corner just behind one of them. When he had been spotted he hobbled forward and said, "Master is told Bitsy to follow your orders, Mistress."
Celeste thought a moment, then, feeling the tiring weight in her arms, said, "Bitsy, please locate a cradle, if there is one in this house."
Bitsy didn't reply but instead led Celeste with a wave of his spidery hand toward a door on the left wall, beyond the bed. Through the door was a small room with a cradle up against the window, which was open and allowed the smell of the ocean to leak in. Celeste sighed in relief and, placing the basket on a convenient table, scooped Speranza into her arms and lowered her into the mahogany cradle.
A fluttering of breath next to her shoulder surprised her and she turned to see that Constanza had followed her soundlessly into the nursery. The small woman was seemingly transfixed by the sight of her granddaughter, and edged closer to delicately rest her hands on the rim of the cradle. "Bellisima," she cooed softly. Italian, Celeste thought. Aegerus had brought his bride back from Italy.
"That's what Severus said," Celeste said, not so much to be conversational as to try to draw out some stray fact or detail about anything—her husband, Constanza, anything whatsoever. She felt dangerously naïve about her surroundings.
"Did he, now?" Constanza said. She gently stroked Speranza's tiny head and a sad expression flickered across her face. She stepped back and said, "Perhaps we should unpack your things, Celeste." Constanza pronounced her name as though it had three syllables, an influence of her Italian mother tongue. She said it, "Say-lay-stay," with a stress on the second syllable. It made her reconsider a name that she had never really liked. The way Constanza said it gave the name rhythm.
It took an hour to unpack her things, but by the time they stopped to have lunch Celeste was ready to give up on putting things away, leaving them to find their own niches by themselves over time, so exhausted was she. For lunch they descended a set of stairs in the rear of the house and ate in the kitchen. Celeste was surprised at the lack of formality, but at Constanza's look of insecurity over serving her guest thus, Celeste immediately forced an expression of approval on her face. Constanza seemed to relax somewhat and set about serving a meal that was quite different from anything Celeste had ever eaten before.
Throughout the meal Celeste kept wondering if Severus would join them, but everytime the door opened or closed it was only to allow the passage of one of the two house elves. She wondered if Severus usually ate his meals alone or if he was purposely avoiding her. Constanza seemed to read her thoughts, because she said, "Severus isn't trying to be rude by not joining us. He is busy readying himself for his research. He has only two months before he has to start work again." Her tone was almost apologetic.
"Research?" Celeste asked.
"Yes."
Celeste waited for Constanza to say something about what the research focused on but information was not forthcoming. She did not press the matter.
In the silence that ensued Celeste examined her company's small, dark face. Celeste could see that much of Constanza's face had been repeated in Severus's, although her features were far more delicate and more harmoniously combined. She wondered how much of Constanza and Severus's faces would appear in Speranza's.
Her musings were eventually interrupted, though. "Come now," Constanza said after finishing her coffee. "Let's finish setting your room in order."
They did not work long, however. Constanza soon noticed that Celeste was slowing down and suggested that she take a nap before supper. Celeste agreed, and was soon left alone in room with the instructions to summon a house elf should she need anything. As soon as the doors closed behind the slight woman Celeste let out a long sigh and dropped onto the edge of her bed. With her eyes closed, she weighed out her situation.
In one stroke she had solved the problem her father posed, both to herself and her daughter, by pushing him out of the picture completely; the same went for her mother. She had also managed to protect her daughter from the prospect of an arranged marriage—at least for the time being. While Severus had seemed vehemently angered at having his daughter betrothed, she couldn't yet be entirely certain whether that was because he had been offended at being excluded from the plans or at the choice of groom, or if he had been genuinely opposed to an arranged marriage for his daughter. She prayed it was the latter, however unlikely it seemed.
However, in one stroke too she had created several new problems. While she was out from underneath her father's thumb, she was now in the power of a man she did not yet know how to predict, interpret, or, more importantly should the need arise, placate. His mother's timid nature was not a good sign as it indicated a life of meekness meant to avoid the sting of the back of a man's hand. In the past, whenever her husband had visited her on their anniversaries, she had always put on a bold and somewhat disrespectful air for his benefit. She was not afraid of him when she was in her own court and she wanted him aware of it. She wanted him to know that she would not allow herself to be manipulated and used by him the way some pureblood husbands did to their wives. However, now the situation was much different and she had to think how best to avoid crossing her husband, if not for her own sake then for Speranza's.
X X X
Changed and feeling somewhat fresher, Celeste made her way to the dining room from whence the dinner gong was ringing. She made a few false moves, poking her head into several double doors, before finding the right pair. In one room she saw an odd, discolored rectangle of wallpaper over which her eyes lingered before the gong rang again and she shut the doors, ready to test the next set.
When she found the right room she sat across from her mother-in-law and bowed her head demurely over her place set, copying a pose she had seen Constanza make earlier at lunch. It did not take long for Severus to appear, and Celeste noticed that he seemed slightly hesitant about taking the seat at the head of table. She reminded herself that his father had not been dead for very long; he probably was not yet accustomed to being the head of the household. His demonstration of weakness was strangely reassuring.
Dinner progressed quietly and grimly. Constanza made several attempts to start conversation, revealing to Celeste that she put some degree of submissiveness on the shelf when around her son. Perhaps she did not have to worry about Severus after all? However, she felt bad at not responding to Constanza's attempt to lighten the mood.
Dinner finally ended and Celeste had the distinct impression that her husband had not looked at her once since he had entered the room, which was peculiar; but he surprised her when he suddenly leaned back in his highbacked chair and spoke directly to her.
"Do your rooms meet to your satisfaction?"
Thrown off by his question she gave a false answer, "Yes." She knew she couldn't be honest and say that she found them depressingly dark and grim.
"Severus, I think Celeste is accustomed to less... austere surroundings," Constanza interjected in a small voice. Celeste glanced up in surprise at her mother-in-law.
"You may do as you wish with your rooms and decorate them however you like," her husband continued. "If there is anything in any of the other rooms, any furniture or objects, that you would like to move into your own room you may do so. The same applies to the rest of the house, however my rooms, the large library, and the laboratory are off limits." Severus rose from the table. "I will take my leave of you both. Good night." Severus walked through the doors of the dining room. Emboldened by his comparatively generous offer, Celeste rose from the table herself and followed him out of the room, leaving behind a surprised Constanza.
"Wait," she called. Severus stopped on the third step and turned around to look at her. "I can do as I please with the house?" she asked. Severus quirked a brow and nodded.
"I have no personal attachment to cobwebs as a décor statement," he said. "Although you should probably consult my mother about whatever changes you wish to proceed with." He turned to mount the steps but Celeste stopped him once more.
"I'm not finished yet." Celeste paused to gauge her husband's response to the forwardness of that statement. He face remained neutral, so she continued, "What if I want the walls repapered? Will you pay for someone to do that for me?" Celeste tried to inject some sauciness into her tone for good measure, as it seemed that her husband did not expect her to act like his mother after all. She felt she may as well continue her old tactic of forced boldness.
"Yes," Severus said. "Is that all?"
Celeste thought for a moment. "Yes. If there is anything else I will talk to you about it as it comes up." Severus turned and mounted the stairs without bothering to repeat his good nights. Celeste did not mind though, and when Constanza crept down the hallway a few minutes later she climbed the stairs with her.
"Severus never liked this house," Constanza finally said when they reached the top step. Celeste wondered if Constanza had heard part of the conversation she had had with Severus. It appeared she had when she said, "I never have either. It will be...nice, to make some changes."
They reached Celeste's door and they bade each other good night. Celeste did not close her door right away, instead watching Constanza's small form glide down the hallway like a ghost in the dark until it disappeared behind a door at the end of the hallway.
X X X
So...I hope you all remember what Aconite is (it's mentioned in the first book.)
As for the names...well, one of my other reviewers impressed me with her personal research to find their meanings, but I will give them out for free now:
Severus: you should all know this one (shame on you if you don't): latin for "severe"
Albus: latin for "white"
Dumbledore: Old English (I think) for "bumblebee"
Celeste: same root as the word celestial, meaning "heavenly". I named her thus because of her blue eyes.
Julieta: Doesn't mean anything in particular. I decided to hang onto it as her middle name because one of my readers insisted that she liked it.
Speranza: Italian version of Hope.
Constanza: Means "constancy". I think she represents something unchanging to Severus, someone who will always be there for him, whether he wants to get mushy thinking about it or not.
Aegerus: Okay, I basically tore apart my latin dictionary trying to find something sinister sounding, not-too-obvious, and with a really good meaning. It came down to about six finalists, including the Latin words for poison, evil, bastard, among others. I chose a word I thought sounded intimidating without being too posed, and changed it around to make a name. Then, I forgot the meaning. But I think it meant sickness, or something diseased and perverted. Which makes sense twofold: he dies of a long-term illness, and he is also a sort of rotting ulcer in Severus's life when he is still alive.
Nostrum: Thought it sounded cool. It harkened back to Nostradamus, that dude who predicted the end of the world. He was some sort of alchemist/seer from the middleages.
Imperarus: comes from the Latin verb for "to command". I thought it was a good name for a control freak. You now know that Imperio, the unforgivable mentioned in book four, means "I command".
Healer Feller: "I do not like thee Doctor Fell, the reason why I cannot tell, but this I know and know full well, I do not like thee Doctor Fell." Just a little piece of my childhood for you.
Landon: Good old boring name.
Weir: From that creepy poem by Poe.
And now...my personal favorite...
Fiscus: Literally, "moneybag".
Remember, "SP Requested"!!
My apologies to Blaze for changing the name, but I think it was necessary. Perhaps if you knew how it was pronounced (assuming for a moment that you don't) you would like it better: Spay-rahn-sa, with a trilled "r" and emphasis on the second syllable. It really is quite a musical name, and I think the sibilance suits her family background. However, for your sake I will keep Julieta as her middle name.
Thank you poohdog for the suggestion of Dahlia as a middle name. I was actually going to use it until I found out that a white Dahlia looks like a severed poodle tail and that the flower itself was actually "named after botanist A. Dahl, who discovered it." (How unimaginative can you get in naming a flower?) However, I will remember that name and perhaps many moons from now, when the image of a tail-less yappy dog has stopped prancing about in my head, I will use it in a different fanfic.
By the way, thank you all so much for all the positive reviews. Not that a critical one would be rejected or anything, but it's nice to get any sort of feedback whatsoever. I'm sorry that I haven't been very good about responding to my reviewers this past week, but just so you know, if you want a "sneak preview" of the next chapter just write "SP Requested" in your review and I will send you one, provided you include your email address. How's that for incentive to review?
A big juicy thanks to my beta too, because without her I would have taken Celeste's character in a direction that nobody would have liked. I wanted to make her slowly reveal herself to be quite like Severus, but with Liburna's help I realized it would be better to have a contrasting foil. So in this chapter my beta cut out the parts that did damage to Celeste and kept her the likeable little trooper that she is.
Enjoy, my little readers. This chapter is nearly as long as the first four chapters combined. So rejoice!
PS---Just a warning...the chapter runs through, then it runs through again from a different point of view. Just had to make a note of that, even though I didn't want to, because even my beta was confused.
X X X
Reaching the gravel driveway at the bottom of the steps, Severus cast about for a means to get to his manor. Disapparating with so much luggage was difficult at best, nor was it possible to do so with a small child. Eventually he waved his wand arm in the air before him, as a last resort.
A sudden bang sounded, startling Celeste and causing the baby to cry. She gave Severus a quizzical look at the sight of the odd triple-decker bus before them, to which he coolly raised his eyebrows.
"It seems to me to be the only way," he said. He led the way on the bus, paying the driver some silver from his bag. He guided Celeste to the rear, leaving the luggage to the driver to deal with.
Celeste sat beside him, basket in lap. Severus was grateful that she had the crying baby to fuss over, negating the need for conversation to fill the silence. He reflected that she, too, was probably grateful for the same thing. Eventually the lanky bus driver and his grubby-skinned son finished packing the trunks away and the bus began to move. The countryside flashed past, fence posts and the odd sign jumping to avoid the bus, which plowed through the distance separating it from its destination without following any Muggle roads. It did not take more than half and hour to reach the Snape manor.
Celeste glanced out the window at the manor as she lowered her baby into the basket. Severus could see her already stiff form freeze. She sat primly and unmovingly, and eventually Severus was persuaded to look at his manor from the eyes of one who had never seen it before. The sight was not welcoming.
He tapped her elbow, causing her to drag her eyes from the manor. "Shall we be getting off?" he asked.
She nodded dumbly and picked up the basket, following his form down the narrow aisle. He offered his hand as she stepped off the bus but she did not take it.
"Stan, boy, say what I taught you," the bus driver was saying to his son.
The boy tipped his chin up with ridiculous pride and said to Severus and Celeste, "Thank you for bringing your bus'ness to our op'ration. If you ever need your transportational needs fulfilled be sure to call on the Knight Bus!" The boy's father proudly wiped an eye and the two of them with their bus disappeared with a bang. Severus rolled his eyes and began stalking up the steps to the front door.
His mother opened the door almost as soon as he had knocked on it. "Severus," she greeted. Her skin was golden from her visit to the Mediterranean and all in all she looked far better than the last time Severus had seen her. "The Hogwarts house elves delivered your things earlier and your room is ready for you. I have some things from Italia that I want to show you." Her voice was not as muted as it had been in during Severus' last visit, and she allowed herself to smile shyly as she spoke. Moving in the doorway to let Severus pass she caught sight of Celeste and suddenly stopped in midstep. "Severus?" she intoned.
Severus turned to follow his mother's line of vision and found that Celeste had not followed him up the steps but was instead still standing on the driveway, clutching her basket to her. She looked rather like someone who had been deposited in unknown territory by surprise, which Severus reflected wasn't too far off from actual situation.
"Celeste and the baby will be staying with us, Mother. Unless she wishes to leave," he said, taking Celeste's behavior into consideration. "But the baby will remain here either way." He raised his wand and floated Celeste's trunks into the manor and followed them towards the stairs. "How long will it take for the house elves to prepare a room for her?"
"I'll summon one for you," Constanza breathed. She turned and looked once more at Celeste, who was still rooted to her spot below the steps. "Why isn't she coming in?"
Severus merely snorted and continued his ascension of the stairs. He opted to summon an elf himself and gave it instructions to move Celeste's things into the room overlooking the oak grove.
"Bitsy is sorry, sir, but Mistress have moved her things into that room," the old house elf replied.
Severus considered this development. "Move my wife's things into my mother's old room then. You are to treat my wife with the same respect and servitude that you show my mother and myself." Finished, Severus strode down the hallway; he paused at the top of the steps. Below, his mother had coaxed Celeste inside and was talking to her in timid but encouraging tones. Severus raised his voice to be heard. "Mother, I've put Celeste in your old room. She can make use of the nursery. Perhaps you could show her around." He purposely avoided eyed contact with Celeste as he spoke. Feeling that he had done his bit, Severus turned on his heel and made his way to his rooms to unpack his own trunks.
X X X
Aegerus Snape's study had been nearly emptied, along with his rooms, during Severus's previous stay in a purge-like cleansing of the house of the deceased man's personal possessions. Almost everything had been either thrown out, packed away in the attic, or given to distant relatives at the funeral. However, Severus took the small library at the opposite end of the second floor as his study instead. Some rooms in the house were not yet ready to be rehabilitated.
Severus stacked his last book on the shelves as the dinner gong rang. He charmed his empty book trunk to travel to the attic where it would remain for the summer and made his way to the dinner room. He had not seen his wife and mother since that morning, choosing to have lunch and tea by himself as he unpacked. As he walked into the room his mother looked up and smiled uncertainly. Celeste, who had changed robes since her arrival, did not acknowledge Severus's arrival. Severus felt he could care less, and sat down between the two of them at the head of the table.
Dinner arrived and Constanza strove valiantly to break the silence with conversation. She gave up after several failed attempts.
When dinner was finished Severus leaned back in his chair and spoke to Celeste directly. "Do your rooms meet to your satisfaction?" he inquired blandly.
"Yes," Celeste said to the empty patch of table where her plate had been.
"Severus, I think Celeste is accustomed to less... austere surroundings," Constanza interjected in a small voice. Severus saw Celeste look up at him as Constanza said this.
Severus raised an eyebrow. "You may do as you wish with your rooms and decorate them however you like. If there is anything in any of the other rooms, any furniture or objects, that you would like to move into your own room you may do so. The same applies to the rest of the house, however my rooms, the large library, and the laboratory are off limits." Severus rose from the table. "I will take my leave of you both. Good night." Severus walked through the doors of the dining room and made his way to the stairs.
"Wait," Severus heard a voice say. He stopped on the third step and turned around to see that his wife had followed him. She was looking at him calculatingly, the reserve of her manner of a moment ago gone. "I can do as I please with the house?" she said. Severus quirked a brow and nodded.
"I have no personal attachment to cobwebs as a décor statement," he said. "Although you should probably consult my mother about whatever changes you wish to proceed with." He turned to mount the steps but was halted by Celeste once more.
"I'm not finished yet." Celeste paused as if thinking about how to say what was coming next. "What if I want the walls repapered? Will you pay for someone to do that for me?" Celeste was obviously struggling to display the boldness she normally treated her husband with when she was in her own territory, but was finding it difficult, being out of her element in this strange house with two people she did not know well at all.
"Yes," Severus said. "Is that all?"
Celeste thought for a moment. "Yes. If there is anything else I will talk to you about it as it comes up."
Severus nodded and climbed the stairs without repeating his good nights.
X X X
As the bus disappeared with a bang Celeste felt a clammy hand of dread grip her stomach. She regretted acting so rashly now, packing her things and running off on the spur of the moment with a man whom she hardly knew, let alone trusted. While at the time leaving her father and mother had seemed like the best stroke of luck possible, she had forgotten to consider the other side of it. Her husband was a Death Eater; although he had never been convicted, she knew from the mark she had seen. She had also heard stories about his father, and the hushedly-told stories, skeletal with missing elements, of the home life in the Snape manor. How much of Aegerus Snape lived on in his son? Celeste instinctively clutched her baby's basket closer to her.
Severus was talking to a woman—his mother—when she finally dragged her eyes from the morbidly grim façade of the manor. She recognized the small, dark-haired woman from the wedding ceremony eight years before. The woman was staring at Celeste in a worried manner.
With a wave of his wand Severus ushered Celeste's luggage into the black doorway. Celeste felt a panicky feeling surge up as she realized she would soon have to follow her luggage inside. Reluctantly, at the dark- haired woman's beck, she climbed the stone steps with leaden feet and stepped into the grimacing mouth of the doorway.
Shadows gathered menacingly in the high arched ceiling of the entrance hall. The marble floor was cold underfoot and the doors creaked ominously as they shut behind her. Her husband was nowhere in sight, but the dark woman was timidly watching the contents of the basket Celeste was holding from her place by the doors a few feet away. After a moment of what appeared to be an inner battle of sorts, the woman stepped forward and spoke to Celeste.
"I am Severus's mother. I am certain you know who I am, but I don't believe we have ever been properly introduced." Her voice was melodious but subdued and hesitant. Celeste detected an accent of sorts. A story about how Aegerus Snape had brought his bride to England from someplace on the continent floated in her head for a moment.
"You may call me Constanza," the woman continued.
At that instant Severus reappeared. He disappeared just as quickly after having informed Constanza where Celeste was to sleep, and issuing instructions to show her around the house. Underneath her unease Celeste was able to muster a sense of anger at the ease with which he had cast her off, leaving her for his mother to deal with. Constanza's soft voice and a light touch on her elbow urged her towards the stairs in an encouraging manner.
The stairs curved and the hall twisted until they came to the doors of Celeste's room. The oak doors opened into a large, dark room. A heavy four-post bed was centered against one side of the chamber, and rich tapestries in dark colors draped the paneled walls. Three tall, arched windows looked out over the grim ocean horizon, where discontent grey water boiled and crashed against the sharp rocks of the shore.
"This used to be my room," Constanza said quietly in a tone Celeste couldn't quite place. As Celeste moved forward into the room Constanza held back, in the doorway.
Celeste saw that her trunks had been moved into the room and a house elf was lurking in the corner just behind one of them. When he had been spotted he hobbled forward and said, "Master is told Bitsy to follow your orders, Mistress."
Celeste thought a moment, then, feeling the tiring weight in her arms, said, "Bitsy, please locate a cradle, if there is one in this house."
Bitsy didn't reply but instead led Celeste with a wave of his spidery hand toward a door on the left wall, beyond the bed. Through the door was a small room with a cradle up against the window, which was open and allowed the smell of the ocean to leak in. Celeste sighed in relief and, placing the basket on a convenient table, scooped Speranza into her arms and lowered her into the mahogany cradle.
A fluttering of breath next to her shoulder surprised her and she turned to see that Constanza had followed her soundlessly into the nursery. The small woman was seemingly transfixed by the sight of her granddaughter, and edged closer to delicately rest her hands on the rim of the cradle. "Bellisima," she cooed softly. Italian, Celeste thought. Aegerus had brought his bride back from Italy.
"That's what Severus said," Celeste said, not so much to be conversational as to try to draw out some stray fact or detail about anything—her husband, Constanza, anything whatsoever. She felt dangerously naïve about her surroundings.
"Did he, now?" Constanza said. She gently stroked Speranza's tiny head and a sad expression flickered across her face. She stepped back and said, "Perhaps we should unpack your things, Celeste." Constanza pronounced her name as though it had three syllables, an influence of her Italian mother tongue. She said it, "Say-lay-stay," with a stress on the second syllable. It made her reconsider a name that she had never really liked. The way Constanza said it gave the name rhythm.
It took an hour to unpack her things, but by the time they stopped to have lunch Celeste was ready to give up on putting things away, leaving them to find their own niches by themselves over time, so exhausted was she. For lunch they descended a set of stairs in the rear of the house and ate in the kitchen. Celeste was surprised at the lack of formality, but at Constanza's look of insecurity over serving her guest thus, Celeste immediately forced an expression of approval on her face. Constanza seemed to relax somewhat and set about serving a meal that was quite different from anything Celeste had ever eaten before.
Throughout the meal Celeste kept wondering if Severus would join them, but everytime the door opened or closed it was only to allow the passage of one of the two house elves. She wondered if Severus usually ate his meals alone or if he was purposely avoiding her. Constanza seemed to read her thoughts, because she said, "Severus isn't trying to be rude by not joining us. He is busy readying himself for his research. He has only two months before he has to start work again." Her tone was almost apologetic.
"Research?" Celeste asked.
"Yes."
Celeste waited for Constanza to say something about what the research focused on but information was not forthcoming. She did not press the matter.
In the silence that ensued Celeste examined her company's small, dark face. Celeste could see that much of Constanza's face had been repeated in Severus's, although her features were far more delicate and more harmoniously combined. She wondered how much of Constanza and Severus's faces would appear in Speranza's.
Her musings were eventually interrupted, though. "Come now," Constanza said after finishing her coffee. "Let's finish setting your room in order."
They did not work long, however. Constanza soon noticed that Celeste was slowing down and suggested that she take a nap before supper. Celeste agreed, and was soon left alone in room with the instructions to summon a house elf should she need anything. As soon as the doors closed behind the slight woman Celeste let out a long sigh and dropped onto the edge of her bed. With her eyes closed, she weighed out her situation.
In one stroke she had solved the problem her father posed, both to herself and her daughter, by pushing him out of the picture completely; the same went for her mother. She had also managed to protect her daughter from the prospect of an arranged marriage—at least for the time being. While Severus had seemed vehemently angered at having his daughter betrothed, she couldn't yet be entirely certain whether that was because he had been offended at being excluded from the plans or at the choice of groom, or if he had been genuinely opposed to an arranged marriage for his daughter. She prayed it was the latter, however unlikely it seemed.
However, in one stroke too she had created several new problems. While she was out from underneath her father's thumb, she was now in the power of a man she did not yet know how to predict, interpret, or, more importantly should the need arise, placate. His mother's timid nature was not a good sign as it indicated a life of meekness meant to avoid the sting of the back of a man's hand. In the past, whenever her husband had visited her on their anniversaries, she had always put on a bold and somewhat disrespectful air for his benefit. She was not afraid of him when she was in her own court and she wanted him aware of it. She wanted him to know that she would not allow herself to be manipulated and used by him the way some pureblood husbands did to their wives. However, now the situation was much different and she had to think how best to avoid crossing her husband, if not for her own sake then for Speranza's.
X X X
Changed and feeling somewhat fresher, Celeste made her way to the dining room from whence the dinner gong was ringing. She made a few false moves, poking her head into several double doors, before finding the right pair. In one room she saw an odd, discolored rectangle of wallpaper over which her eyes lingered before the gong rang again and she shut the doors, ready to test the next set.
When she found the right room she sat across from her mother-in-law and bowed her head demurely over her place set, copying a pose she had seen Constanza make earlier at lunch. It did not take long for Severus to appear, and Celeste noticed that he seemed slightly hesitant about taking the seat at the head of table. She reminded herself that his father had not been dead for very long; he probably was not yet accustomed to being the head of the household. His demonstration of weakness was strangely reassuring.
Dinner progressed quietly and grimly. Constanza made several attempts to start conversation, revealing to Celeste that she put some degree of submissiveness on the shelf when around her son. Perhaps she did not have to worry about Severus after all? However, she felt bad at not responding to Constanza's attempt to lighten the mood.
Dinner finally ended and Celeste had the distinct impression that her husband had not looked at her once since he had entered the room, which was peculiar; but he surprised her when he suddenly leaned back in his highbacked chair and spoke directly to her.
"Do your rooms meet to your satisfaction?"
Thrown off by his question she gave a false answer, "Yes." She knew she couldn't be honest and say that she found them depressingly dark and grim.
"Severus, I think Celeste is accustomed to less... austere surroundings," Constanza interjected in a small voice. Celeste glanced up in surprise at her mother-in-law.
"You may do as you wish with your rooms and decorate them however you like," her husband continued. "If there is anything in any of the other rooms, any furniture or objects, that you would like to move into your own room you may do so. The same applies to the rest of the house, however my rooms, the large library, and the laboratory are off limits." Severus rose from the table. "I will take my leave of you both. Good night." Severus walked through the doors of the dining room. Emboldened by his comparatively generous offer, Celeste rose from the table herself and followed him out of the room, leaving behind a surprised Constanza.
"Wait," she called. Severus stopped on the third step and turned around to look at her. "I can do as I please with the house?" she asked. Severus quirked a brow and nodded.
"I have no personal attachment to cobwebs as a décor statement," he said. "Although you should probably consult my mother about whatever changes you wish to proceed with." He turned to mount the steps but Celeste stopped him once more.
"I'm not finished yet." Celeste paused to gauge her husband's response to the forwardness of that statement. He face remained neutral, so she continued, "What if I want the walls repapered? Will you pay for someone to do that for me?" Celeste tried to inject some sauciness into her tone for good measure, as it seemed that her husband did not expect her to act like his mother after all. She felt she may as well continue her old tactic of forced boldness.
"Yes," Severus said. "Is that all?"
Celeste thought for a moment. "Yes. If there is anything else I will talk to you about it as it comes up." Severus turned and mounted the stairs without bothering to repeat his good nights. Celeste did not mind though, and when Constanza crept down the hallway a few minutes later she climbed the stairs with her.
"Severus never liked this house," Constanza finally said when they reached the top step. Celeste wondered if Constanza had heard part of the conversation she had had with Severus. It appeared she had when she said, "I never have either. It will be...nice, to make some changes."
They reached Celeste's door and they bade each other good night. Celeste did not close her door right away, instead watching Constanza's small form glide down the hallway like a ghost in the dark until it disappeared behind a door at the end of the hallway.
X X X
So...I hope you all remember what Aconite is (it's mentioned in the first book.)
As for the names...well, one of my other reviewers impressed me with her personal research to find their meanings, but I will give them out for free now:
Severus: you should all know this one (shame on you if you don't): latin for "severe"
Albus: latin for "white"
Dumbledore: Old English (I think) for "bumblebee"
Celeste: same root as the word celestial, meaning "heavenly". I named her thus because of her blue eyes.
Julieta: Doesn't mean anything in particular. I decided to hang onto it as her middle name because one of my readers insisted that she liked it.
Speranza: Italian version of Hope.
Constanza: Means "constancy". I think she represents something unchanging to Severus, someone who will always be there for him, whether he wants to get mushy thinking about it or not.
Aegerus: Okay, I basically tore apart my latin dictionary trying to find something sinister sounding, not-too-obvious, and with a really good meaning. It came down to about six finalists, including the Latin words for poison, evil, bastard, among others. I chose a word I thought sounded intimidating without being too posed, and changed it around to make a name. Then, I forgot the meaning. But I think it meant sickness, or something diseased and perverted. Which makes sense twofold: he dies of a long-term illness, and he is also a sort of rotting ulcer in Severus's life when he is still alive.
Nostrum: Thought it sounded cool. It harkened back to Nostradamus, that dude who predicted the end of the world. He was some sort of alchemist/seer from the middleages.
Imperarus: comes from the Latin verb for "to command". I thought it was a good name for a control freak. You now know that Imperio, the unforgivable mentioned in book four, means "I command".
Healer Feller: "I do not like thee Doctor Fell, the reason why I cannot tell, but this I know and know full well, I do not like thee Doctor Fell." Just a little piece of my childhood for you.
Landon: Good old boring name.
Weir: From that creepy poem by Poe.
And now...my personal favorite...
Fiscus: Literally, "moneybag".
Remember, "SP Requested"!!