Disclaimer: Not mine, I just enjoy playing with them!
A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, y'all have no idea how happy that made me! The first chapter alone, in 24 hours, has gotten 18 reviews, that's a bunch for a not-so-great writer like me! So thank you, thank you, thank you, and warm chocolate chip cookies with milk, or hot cocoa for lactose-intolerant peoples!
Take Time to Smell the Roses
Chapter Two
"Severus Augustus Snape!" rang a loud voice throughout the large summer house settled in the hills near a beautiful blue lake.
"Can't I ever have a moment's peace? If it's not whiny brats, it's family." Severus Augustus Snape muttered this aloud to himself from where he was seated on a plush chair situated on the screen porch connected to his bedroom. It was almost time for the sun to set, and he was currently revising lesson plans, wanting to make sure that he didn't miss a chance to torture- uh, educate, his students. For one of very few times in his life, Severus Snape looked relaxed. From his loosed black slacks to his white linen shirt that was unbuttoned at the top, his slouched posture showed comfort and serenity. At least until…
"Severus! Where the bloody hell are you!" came the piercingly loud voice once more.
"On my screened porch Father, where else do I usually do work?" Severus used a mind connection charm since he did not like to raise his voice.
"We need to talk!" A tall sturdy man came into the room, a black, silver-tipped cane proceeding him. Aristagoras Snape screamed power, wealth, and elegance, even with a slight limp and greying head of hair.
"Yes Father, what is it?" Severus replied taking off his silver rimmed reading glasses and setting them down on the table.
"Your older brother, Cyrus, has decided to convert to Buddhism, and has become a monk in China!" He all but screamed this as he took a seat opposite his younger son. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "You now have to get married and produce an heir so our family name will stay alive, that's what it means!"
"Why don't you just marry another woman Father and produce an heir that way."
"You know very well that I contracted AIDS from one of the whores in London some time ago and I don't plan on spreading it around. I have my reputation to uphold, and can't have anyone find out about that."
"I have no choice, do I?" Snape asked resignedly, remembering something he had heard told to his brother many times.
"No, and you must do it by the end of July. Our family had a spell cast on all Snape's that the oldest male child must marry and produce an heir. You will be turning thirty-five on August 6, and you need to be married by then, in accordance with the spell, and by the time you are forty-five, you need to have a male heir. If not, you'll die an extremely painful death. One bone every month will be broken until you have none left to break, and it is not repairable my magic. Eventually you will also die." Aristagoras grimaced at the thought.
"Fine, since it seems I have no choice. How do you propose I go about getting a wife? It's already the second of July, and not many women nowadays are into shotgun weddings, may I remind you Father."
"Ah wonderful, I knew you'd agree-" Aristagoras started.
"As if I had a choice?" Severus interrupted, a hint of bitterness tingeing the words.
"No. But anticipating your agreement, I filled out an application for a match-making personal ad service and checked off the 'marriage' box. So tomorrow at 3: 00 in the evening I believe, you need to apparate to this address for your first appointment," he handed Severus a piece of paper. "Be sure to look nice and bring the family rings!"
"What for Father?" Snape sneered, really just wanting to get back to his work in peace.
"So that if whoever the woman is picks you, then you two can go find a Reverend to marry you two. After all, no time like the present. And she'll be looking for marriage too, so why wait. Just be sure to bring her to the annual summer ball, it is at Lucius' manor this year I believe."
"Yes Father, now would you be so kind as to leave? I do have work to finish," he put his glasses back on and returned to revising the lesson plans without a further glance at his father.
Aristagoras complied and left the room quickly, Severus assumed, heading back to one of his mansions. Even though he had gotten his father to leave under the pretence that he wanted to work, in all actuality he wanted to do nothing of the sort. Marriage: that was something he had never considered happening to him. His older brother Cyrus was the one who would inherit all, or at least, most of the money and property. He was also the one who was supposed to find a wife and produce a son.
'But once again, life deals me a bad hand,' he thought taking a sip of the peppermint tea, sweetened with honey, that he conjured up. He had planned out his life; finish schooling, and go teach. Both those came true, with a twist. He had also been driven by grief and disappointment to become a death-eater. Now however, that was one less concern of his, thanks to Potter, Granger, and Weasley's defeating him. All three had received medals and Order of Merlin's, first class for their deed.
Marriage. That would be a whole new ball-game for him. Aristagoras had brought along a copy of the application that he filled out, and Severus had to admit that his father knew him well. Everything his father had answered was more or less what he himself would have put.
"Now I can only hope that agency pairs me with a respectable woman. If I have to do this, I at least want to be able to debate issues intelligently with her," he laughed lightly to himself, and contented in his thoughts, left his lesson plans alone to watch the sun set.
* * * * *
The next morning Severus woke up early to watch the sun rise. Actually, he hadn't really slept, instead spending the night cleaning the family rings, apparating to the entrance of Hogwarts and going in to refurbish his rooms, and thinking about the impending marriage to whoever, assuming of course he was chosen that day by one of the women. There would be around twenty men he remember reading, and they had scheduled appointments with five different women.
'Not bloody likely though,' he thought to himself. 'There are greater men than me for her to pick from. I'm tall, dark, rich, and intelligent, yet not handsome, which is what many women today go for, although worse come to worse, I could always just pay someone to marry me and produce an heir and give her a couple million galleons at our divorce.'
Even as he said that though, he knew it wouldn't happen. A marriage between a witch and a wizard, whether performed by a muggle or a magical priest, was binding. Divorce was something akin to Swedish carrot and mocha flavoured muffins; it was highly un-heard of. That's why the divorce rate is more-or-less non-existent. Severus knew that whoever he would marry, he would stay married to her. He knew he didn't have much of a choice in the whole matter either. With the curse on his family, he had to find someone, and as they say, beggars can't be choosers. Love had nothing to do with upper-class marriages. Money, power, family ancestry, those were what mattered to the wizarding elite.
Severus knew love existed, he had seen it. His own parents were one of few betrothed couples (when betrothals were legal) that had grown to love each other. However when it came to him, he didn't imagine himself to be someone very easy to love. He had no friends, at least not in the true sense of someone you can talk to and trust. He had his family, with their cold relationship, and his colleagues at Hogwarts who while they were nice, were not the type to invite him over for tea in the evenings. He was a loner, and he was content in knowing that he would spend the rest of his life like that.
He began going over the revisions he had made to his room that night. He magically added a few more windows, thinking a woman would like that sort of thing. He changed his bed from a twin size to a queen, and changed the sheets from black to a green, blue, and black plaid. He had magically transfigured some old socks into blue blinds that went over the windows. He left the kitchen alone for the time being except to cast an anti-dust charm. In his living room he transfigured a stone into a navy blue couch, and changed the colour of his two black arm chairs into a blue and white plaid, and he also changed their shape so that were larger and more comfortable reclining chairs. He also added a blue, white, and black braided rug that covered a lot of the floor in the room. In front of the couch and chairs he sat a coffee table. He hoped it would all be fine; otherwise, she could always change it.
'At any rate, I hope she can tolerate children, after-all, we'll be living at the school,' he thought with a slight smile on his face as he went inside to make breakfast, shower, find something presentable to wear, and prepare to go to the match-making agency. It promised to be a long day.
A/N: Okay, that's it for this chapter. I decided it would be interesting to do a chapter from dear old Sevvie's point of view, so here it is! Thanks for all the name suggestions, they're a big help. Now, I have another request: I need four women's names, and you can give them descriptions, personalities, etc. Just leave them in a review or e-mail me them with "applicants" as the subject. Thanks so much everyone, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was fun being able to think from a Severus point of view. I tried to keep him in character, but who knows how well I managed. Review, flame, criticize, whatever! Next chapter up in a week or two maybe? No promises. :-)