Chapter 98
Harry had reacted quite indifferent about the news of Lestrange death. It didn't matter to him. He still had to digest Sirius' death. Fortunately Ginny had not been upset that their date had been cancelled. However, the little redhead didn't give up so easily.
Right after breakfast, she had corned him on the stairs to the dungeons.
"Harry, what do you think about tonight?" Then almost apologetic she added. "I know it's just 2 days, but I thought that you could use some distraction"
She nervously bit her lip, waiting for him to answer.
"Mmmmm, dunno. Yeah, why not"
The idea of a little bit of alone time, even if it was forbidden, with his pretty girlfriend might be just what he needed.
Between school and the ever present threat of Voldemort, not to mention the hawk eyes of Ron, it was hart to maintain a relationship.
Ginny smiled broadly and gave Harry a quick peck on the cheek before she hurried off to class and Harry walked down to the dungeons.
Ron, Kelsey and Kayla had already escorted Hermione down to the dungeons. The Gryffindor prefect was still on cloud nine every time she could catch a glimpse of the gloomy potion master, so her friends had taken it upon themselves to spare her from too much embarrassment.
Harry caught up with them in front of the class room door and they entered.
Not only Hermione seemed to be slightly distracted, but Malfoy also wasn't his usual spiteful self.
"What's wrong with him?" Kelsey whispered into Harry's ear, while they waited for Snape to arrive.
"I have no idea. Maybe he's still mourning his father, the nasty bastard" the black-haired boy said with as much venom in his voice he could muster. Anybody who could even be loosely linked to the deatheaters and Voldemort caused his blood to boil again.
They had dared to abduct his mother, endangered her and his unborn sibling and then this had caused Sirius accusation because he had freed society from some of the scum and drove him into suicide.
Trying hard not to dwell on his newly enflamed rage, he diverted his attention to Snape who had just entered the class room.
"Today's assignment is the Armouring Fluid" Snape said when he arrived at his desk with a final swish of his robes.
He narrowed his eyes and looked down his prominent nose, letting his gaze rest shortly on everybody but Hermione.
"This potion protects the drinker from spells and curses for a certain amount of time. If brewed correctly, it also repels blades and other physical threats. However it is a very complicated concoction and it requires one hundred percent concentration"
With a menacing look at Neville, he added "Every student concentrates on his own cauldron. If I catch any one of you helping one of your class mates – " this time his eyes rested only for a nanosecond on Hermione "- it will be detention until the end of term"
Hermione looked up at her teacher with pure adoration and the dreamiest eyes you could imagine.
Harry however watched the spectacle that was about to unfold with mixed emotions. Part of him wanted to laugh until he collapsed but the other felt nothing but pity for his friend and also for Ron, who looked like he'd just been stabbed, when Hermione blew Snape a kiss.
A death glare of the potion master silenced efficiently every student who had no death wish.
At this moment Snape looked as if he was about to cast an Unforgivable on everybody who dared to do as much as sneeze.
"Miss Granger I'd say you concentrate on your project and keep your unwanted declarations of what ever it is you wish to express with this silly little gesture, to yourself" Snape said with as much venom as he could muster.
Even a few of the Slytherins winced at the way Snape had spoken and it was crystal clear that the potions master wouldn't tolerate any foolishness today. Not that he ever did.
Hermione had her potion finished up to the finale stage, where 10 minutes of simmering was required.
During that time, she labelled the vial she wanted to use with the name of the potion, her name and a few hearts and kisses for good measure.
Ron however directed his anger and frustration on the scarab beetles he had to crush.
Picturing Snape, Malfoy and Dursley in his mortar in turns, he turned the beetle into the finest powder you can imagine
Snape knew that he had to escape from the classroom as soon as the class was dismissed, otherwise Miss Granger would try to corner him.
Last time he had forgotten that the love potion was still active; she had hopped on his lap after class and had kissed him soundly before he could react.
He would have to wait for the mandrakes to mature; that combined with other ingredients that had protection on cancelling properties, should have at least a little effect on the intensity of her affection.
At the end of class, when Hermione brought her vial up to his desk and he took it from her hands, their fingers touched for a brief moment.
The reaction was almost comical. Both Snape and Hermione groaned; the prefect in excitement and the potion master in annoyance.
This time Harry had a hard time to stifle his laughter and was relieved when Snape bellowed "Class dismissed"
Severus fled the room instantly, leaving a disappointed and sniffling Hermione behind.
Detention this evening should be the perfect time to give that boy an idea of what is expected of him if he wants to continue his education in this institution.
He banged his fist on the table in his private study with such force that the ink pot jumped off the table and shattered into tiny little pieces, leaving a nasty pool of black ink on the stone floor.
With a quick "Reparo" and "Scourgify" he cleaned up the mess just in time when he heard a knock on the door.
This insolent little twit couldn't even leave him alone for ten minutes. All the time she was on his back, asking questions or pestering him with her childish advances.
His anger and annoyance clearly visible on his face, he yanked the door open.
"Miss Granger, I insist that you stop-"
"She's left Severus."
"Lily" he said curtly and stepped away from the door to let the witch inside. "What can I do for you?"
The witch sat down in a chair in front of the desk and looked at him expectantly.
"Severus, after what has happened lately it's even more important that we finish the research on the Sicarius spell. Voldemort has lost some of his most valuable followers and I doubt that he'll wait much longer to strike"
Severus nodded thoughtfully after he had settled down in a chair opposite of Lily.
"To the best of my belief I have to go to London. I'm sure that the British Wizarding Library is in possession of the missing material that is important to finish the final steps."
Severus eyebrows arched all the way into his hair and he shook his head in disbelief.
"You must have lost your mind. After all what happened you're planning a trip to London – ALONE?"
"I wasn't planning on going alone. Kimberly would be glad to accompany me"
"This will not suffice. The two of you won't be able to defend yourselves properly. We're talking about deatheaters here. I can't understand how Potter is allowing that." Snape said sternly.
"James doesn't know about it yet. I wanted to make sure that I have everything planned out before I inform him"
"Aren't there any aurors that could accompany you?"
"Unfortunately the latest events will not allow any of them to leave their current positions" Lily replied sadly.
Severus groaned loudly and ran his hands through his hair.
"Well I insist that you have proper protection" Severus said firmly and pushed some stray hair out of his face.
"What do you suggest Severus?"
"I will inform the headmistress about the situation and request a day off for tomorrow. I'm most definitely not going to let you wander around in London on your own"
"Oh Severus, that's a wonderful idea. I'm so grateful that you're going to waste your precious time on us"
She kissed him on the cheek and rushed out of the room.
He was a bit surprised about what just had happened. Normally he wasn't the type of person who would have volunteered for a mission like that. Escorting two witches in London… Muggle London to boot… wasn't his favourite way to spend his leisure time.
However the opportunity of visiting the best library in Great Britain was one he wasn't inclined to miss.
It would be a nice and quiet day off and he wanted to thoroughly enjoy it.
In the dungeons hallway, Lily met Kimberly who had been waiting anxiously for her to return.
"What did he say?"
"He's delighted"
Kimberly and Lily high-fived each other and both had to stifle a giggle when Lily recalled the whole conversation with the potion master.
"Well if he's thinking that I'm just going to London because of the library than he's on the wrong track" Lily laughed heartily when they reached the entrance hall, arms linked.
"Mission: Severus will start tomorrow afternoon"
Harry was glad that he had opted for muggle attire for his secret rendezvous with Ginny.
Grateful for the new clothes, his parents had gotten him for Christmas, he had admired his new appearance in the mirror before he had trooped up to the Astronomy Tower.
The beige jeans and the dark blue sweater, which fit perfectly for a change, accentuated his developing muscles and all that troubled him was his ever messy hair that had withstand every charm, spell and brush so far.
While he was waiting for Ginny, he turned the purple envelope in his hands again and again.
A moonlight picnic on the Astronomy tower…
It was a really sweet idea and it fit Ginny's hang for romance so perfectly. A little wave of guilt washed over him.
He might as well could have done something romantic for her, but he didn't really know how and since their return to school so much had happened that romance had totally been forced out of his mind.
He started pacing around, getting more nervous with every minute. What when she had forgotten about it or when one of the teacher or even worse Filch had intercepted her.
Just then the door opened a little and a little shadow pushed through the gap.
Harry rushed over to where Ginny was standing now and gasped.
She also was dressed in muggle clothes, khaki pants that ended in the middle of her white claves and a white shirt with spaghetti straps with a black sweater nonchalantly hanging over her shoulders.
He wondered why she wasn't freezing, so he enveloped her in a warm and tight embrace.
"You look great" he whispered when Ginny nuzzled at his neck.
Just then Dobby appeared with a plop right behind them.
The two students spun around and Dobby bowed deeply.
"Harry Potter, sir, Dobby is so happy to serve you"
The black-haired boy smiled at him and the house-elf snapped his fingers.
Instantly a little table with two chairs and a white table cloth appeared and Dobby added fruits, cheese, a basket of rolls, a little cheese cake along with some pumpkin juice and some hot chocolate with another snap.
"Harry Potter please not stay too long, Mr Filch and the ghastly cat is snooping around. I is making you undetectable but that is not keeping Mrs Norris off for long" the house-elf said mournfully and his big ears were drooping.
"It's ok Dobby, thank you" Ginny said and took Harry's hand. Just when they stepped next to the table, they recognized that the cold air of the March evening had warmed up noticeably.
Another bit of house-elf magic, he knew and they sat down.
With another bow, Dobby vanished into thin air and the two students looked awkwardly at each other.
"Are you hungry?" Harry asked meekly and Ginny nodded.
They indulged in all the wonderful food the house-elves had provided and after they were finished, Harry transfigured the table into a beach chair.
Finally all the study time with Hermione was good for something, he thought when Ginny huddled against him and put her head on his chest.
They didn't do anything more but looking at the stars, perfectly comfortable in each others arms, kissing and dreaming how it could be when Harry would just be Harry and not the person everybody expected to be the saviour of the wizarding world and Voldemort's target number one.
They were about to drift of to sleep when another plop startled them.
"Harry Potter, you must leave quickly. Now!"
Harry and Ginny jumped out of the beach chair, which disappeared instantly, and were pushed to the secret trap door in the astronomy storage room.
Just when Harry climbed through the opening, he heard the cat sniffing on the door, Filch's heavy footsteps close behind.
When the trap door closed, he heaved a sigh and hurried to get down.
For the second time in a week he cursed himself for not being able to find the Marauders Map. It seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Carefully they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. Perseus thankfully never asked too many questions and just winked knowingly at them when they crept through the portrait hole.
The common room was full of students and nobody paid any attention when they crossed the room, ready to go to bed.
Ron however was not oblivious to the fact that his sister had just entered with his best friend and he also hadn't missed that Ginny looked pretty dishevelled.
Instantly he was off his chair by the fireplace and grabbed Harry and Ginny and dragged him up the spiral staircase into the dorm room.
"If you two just did what I think you've been doing then god have mercy on your souls. Ginny you should be ashamed of yourself"
His face was clouded by anger and his hands were shaking.
Before Ron could continue, Harry had clasped his hand over his mouth and hissed "Listen Ron, I'm getting tired of you playing mother hen over Ginny.
I'm not going to rape her, nor am I doing anything that she doesn't want. We spent the past two hours on the Astronomy tower, having a picnic and looking at the stars.
If you don't believe us that's fine. We both look a bit dishevelled because we had to run from Filch and escape through the same trap door as after the ritual. Now would you please let it be…we're all tired and want to sleep"
With that he took his hand from Ron's mouth and turned to Ginny.
"Good night Ginny" he whispered and kissed her quickly before she rushed out of the room.
Kelsey passed her on the steps and knew exactly what happened.
More than grateful that Kayla had no boyfriend yet, he entered the dormitory, ready to jump to the rescue to whoever was worse off.
To his mild surprise, Harry had already drawn the curtains around his four-poster and Ron was sitting on his bed still raging with fury.
As answer to Kelsey's quizzical look, Ron snapped "Wait until Kayla's dating, then we'll see how you're taking it" and buried his head in his pillow
Draco was rubbing his hurting head. Detention with Snape was never enjoyable; normally it contained scrubbing bedpans or disembowelling slimy creatures, but this time had been different.
He'd been right on time, prepared for sticking his hands in nasty entrails, but Snape ordered him to sit on a table where a scroll of parchment and a quill was already lying there.
Draco had been very puzzled. His head of house had never because made him do lines.
Then Snape placed a pot on the table filled with red liquid. At first he had assumed it was blood but the fluid was behaving different. Blood didn't bubble.
The potion master then placed his wand on the quill and muttered "Conscientia".
The quill glowed golden for a moment and then looked like before.
"You will use this quill and the special ink for writing as I tell you.
Draco had looked at him curiously but before he could even wonder where this was leading to, Snape had snapped "What are you waiting for?"
He had picked up the quill, dipped it in the ink pot and waited for further instructions.
"Write down. I am not my father"
Draco had quirked an eyebrow but scribbled down as requested. After the first two words his head started to feel like the beginning of a cold. A slight pressure had started building up behind his eyes and he shook his head to clear it.
"Then write I can make my own decisions"
Draco had dipped the quill in the pot once more and written the second sentence when the odd feeling increased and stinging added to it.
"And last you write I have to think before I act"
Then he had felt the stinging more with every letter he wrote; as if someone stung needles into his brain.
He had looked back at Snape when the last sentence was finished and waited for further instructions.
With an evil smirk on his face the potion master then had told him to repeat this three sentences until he told him to stop.
With a deep sigh he had started again.
I am not my father
I can make my own decisions
I have to think before I act
The pain had increased with every letter and soon he could barely see the parchment through the tears in his eyes.
Every word was clearly imprinted in his mind as if he was writing the lines there and not on the parchment.
After an hour his hands had been shaking so badly that he couldn't keep a straight line any longer. The letters had tumbled over the parchment like drunkards and his brain felt like it had swollen up twice its regular size.
After one and a half hours he couldn't force himself to write another letter.
Snape had recognized it and bent down to look in his eyes.
"I think that made an impression, don't you think so. You may stop"
Draco had dropped the quill like it had burned him and looked at his head of house through teary eyes.
"Professor? What was that?"
"Although it is none of your business what I consider a suitable punishment for you, I think it's useful for you to know. That was a conscience quill. It imprints the message that you're writing deep inside your mind and prompts your conscience to process it. The sentences you've just written are now a part of you and no matter what you do from now on will be affected by your new moral standards. It's like you have the values tattooed in your mind now"
Draco had nodded thoughtfully. "Does it have to hurt so much?"
"It's a punishment after all and you're one of those people who learn the hard way and that one is usually very painful. It depends on how much you fight against the new values. As harder you fight as more painful it is."
With that Snape had grabbed quill, parchment and ink pot and put it on his desk
"You're dismissed"
Now even after an hour, Draco was still dealing with a full fletched headache and he wondered why it had been so hard for him to accept the new ideas. They were not so difficult after all.
Wishing he would have asked Snape for an anti-pain potion, he settled down his bed and tried to sleep.
Lily and Kim met Snape in front of the gates the next morning.
Minerva had given all of them the day off to continue on the research. They apparated to Diagon Alley to change some galleons into pounds before they took the underground to the British Library.
The way you accessed the wizarding part of the library was similar to the way you reached Avalon.
To get inside you had to have magical abilities and to know that it was there.
When they reached the large old stone building, the concentrated hard and closed their eyes for a moment. When they opened them again, the large sign over the door said British Wizarding Library.
They followed Severus inside and Kimberly gasped. She had never seen anything like this before. Endless bookshelves covered the walls from top to bottom, antique tomes next to brightly colored books and spine next to spine. It had to be millions and millions of books.
The young witch let her hands run along the soft leather of a book on a shelf next to her while Severus talked to librarian.
Just a few moments later they parted and every one headed in a different direction; Lily checked the charms section, Kim looked through the part that covered Runes and Severus went to the DADA section.
They had left very early in the morning so they could spend as much time in the library as possible.
After 4 hours of reading and reading and reading, Kimberly decided that it was time for something to eat. Their early and quick breakfast in the Hogwarts kitchens had long worn off and her stomach was growling.
No matter how hard she had tried, nothing in the Runes section seemed to deal with the Sicarius spell.
"Hey Lily, could you find anything?" she whispered when she joined her friend at the little black reading table.
"There's one book I want to find. It's mentioned in here. " Lily pointed at a book with a bright red leather cover. "It's supposed to be an older version, but it is most likely in the archives"
"Do you think they will look it up for you?" Kim asked sceptically and lowered her voice even more. "It seems to me that librarians have lessons in unfriendliness and snappishness when they get trained for the job. The old spinster on the desk looks like Pince's twin sister"
Lily stifled a giggle and Kim continued. "Do you think we could grab something to eat, I'm starving"
Lily tilted her head slightly and pursed her lips. "Yeah I think a break could work for all of us. I've seen that they have a little cafeteria on the top level, so let's go and find Sev"
The auburn-haired witch charmed her notes and the books she'd been reading to be untouchable and unreadable so that nobody could mess with them while they were gone and they headed to the area furthest down the large reading hall where the DADA section was.
"Hey Severus, would you care for a break? We could have lunch and discuss what we have discovered so far"
Snape glanced up from the large tome he had on the desk in front of him and sighed "Yes I could use some energy. This is harder then I thought"
He prepared his material in the same way and just a moment later they were inside of the elevator that worked with magic.
The cafeteria on the top floor was very nice. It had large windows all around and provided a wonderful view of the city.
They settled on a table in the corner and Severus casted a silencing charm on the area around them.
After they had placed their order, Lily told them about the book she was trying to find.
"It's a very old edition, 15th century; as far as I read, they left certain things out when they edited it, but why I have no idea."
"Well, it is crucial that we find the missing parts of the book which means that we somehow have to get into those archives" Kimberly stated and sipped on her lemonade.
"Too bad that the librarian isn't a bit more approachable; I would have sent Sev to flirt with her, that would surely have gotten us to the book"
Snape snorted in disgust while Lily and Kimberly broke out in genuine laughter.
"Have you found out anything new?" Lily asked Severus after the last hiccup had subsided.
"Yes in the last book there was mentioned that there are very strict rules about who can cast the spell"
"What rules?" Kim asked surprised. "Isn't it available for everyone?"
"As far as I understand it, there has to be a connection between the ones who cast the spell and the one who's going to receive it"
"Very strange" Kim stated.
"Well there's only one way to find out more about it; we need that book" Severus said matter-of-factly.
Just then the waitress brought their food and they ate in silence, thinking about how they could distract the librarian.
When they were finished, they went back down to the main floor and stood behind a shelf close to the desk.
"Too bad that there's no alarm we could set off" Lily murmured while they watched the librarian cataloguing newly arrived literature.
"I have an idea" Severus whispered and beckoned the witches to come closer.
"What's the name of the book?"
"Charms Of Old – The Druids Hidden Knowledge"
"Well, you two are going to engage the librarian in a conversation and keep her occupied for at least 20 minutes"
"How do you think we're supposed to do that?" Kim snapped, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Be creative" Snape snapped back, glaring back at her.
"Oh my… that would have been the perfect job for Sirius. That old bookworm would have been like clay in his fingers"
The mentioning of her old love brought tears into Kimberly's eyes but she quickly blinked them away. Now was not the time to mourn.
Lily grabbed her arm and dragged her to the desk.
"Ma'am, we're in need of your assistance" she said sweetly and the librarian turned towards her with an annoyed look in her eyes.
"How can I help you" she growled, placing both of her hands on the dark oak desk.
"We're looking for a book about –" Frantically searching for a reason, Lily turned to her friend
"Oven cleaning" Kimberly offered with a helpless look on her face.
"Yes oven cleaning, that is it. We've already looked in the housekeeping section but there are no new releases since the last time we've been here"
The librarian glared at the two witches with utter disgust. "Well when you can't find anything there, than there isn't any more"
When the old witch was about to turn around again, Lily saw Severus sneaking through the door that obviously led to the archives.
Knowing that he'd be discovered if she didn't do anything she grabbed the librarian's sleeve and held her back.
"Do you know if there's anything in the charms section?"
"NO, all the works in the charms section are for research and teaching. Now would you excuse me"
This time, Kimberly held her back.
"And in the potions section? Maybe they have some new discoveries there? I'm sure I've heard one of my colleagues talking about it" the blond witch called out trying to bite back the desperate sound in her voice.
"When he knows so much about it, why you don't ask him?" the librarian snapped and tried to yank her arm out of Kim's grip.
We would but he's currently breaking into your archives, Lily thought now, trying to stifle hysterical giggles.
"I thought you're the pro around here" Kim argued back, silently hoping that Severus would hurry.
The librarian took a deep breath and the two witches saw that it wouldn't take long for her to explode.
"I am sorry to cause you so much inconvenience", Lily then purred and tried to change the tactic. "but it this is our last chance. We are watching my aunt's house while she's on vacation, but we had a terrible accident and her oven is now a right mess. She's coming home tonight and we just HAVE to fix it"
Now Kimberly was about to have a breakdown, she had no idea how long she could take that nonsense. Her stomach was already aching from suppressed laughter.
"Well, my dear, I'm sorry but I can't help you. Maybe you should by her a new one then" she suggested.
Just when Lily was about to bother the old witch some more, Kim nudged her and cast a quick side glance towards a dark shadow in the corner.
"Thank you so much for your help" Lily said quickly and walked over to Severus.
"What the hell took you so long? I thought she would hex us to oblivion any minute now" Kimberly hissed.
Snape didn't think that her comment was worth a reply and followed Lily to the place she had used before.
The next 30 minutes, they searched through the book for any mentioning of the Sicarius spell until Lily finally found something.
"Well, this is odd. Read that" she called and pushed the book over to Kimberly and Severus.
The two of the past joined by love
The four of the Tower linked by blood to them
The one of light linked to evil by mind
will circle the devil
"There's something missing. Someone has ripped off the last bit of the instructions. At least I think it's an instruction" Kimberly wondered.
"It sounds totally out of context period. It sounds more like a riddle than an instruction" Snape growled.
"Well, I'm not good with riddles" Lily admitted and read the old text once more
"Me neither, but isn't it kind of strange that we need to solve a riddle to destroy a Riddle?" Kimberly stated.
They worked on the riddle for another hour and then admitted that they couldn't get any further at the moment.
Severus ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Nothing ever was easy when it had to do with the Dark Lord.
"Maybe we should return to Hogwarts and show it to Dumbledore."
"What…now?" Kim and Lily gasped in unison.
"Of course now. We have nothing to do here anymore" Snape stated the obvious.
"I don't know about you, but I want to use the chance while I'm here and do something useful with my day off"
Snape closed his eyes in despair. He knew that no matter what these two witches had in mind, it wouldn't be good.
They copied the page with the riddle and Lily put it in her bag; then they exited the library quickly before the librarian recognized the book on the desk.
Outside, Lily led them to the underground once more. She hadn't told them where they were going, and Severus was quite surprised when she stopped next to a big advertisement.
She tapped the bricks in a similar way to the entrance to Diagon Alley and a small doorway opened.
He spun around, trying of see if any of the countless muggles that crowded the area had recognized anything, but strangely nobody seemed to see anything.
He and Kim followed Lily through the archway that led into a large foyer.
The room was a catastrophe in red. Overstuffed plush chairs, old lamps with fancy lampshades, carpet and photographs covered all shades of red imaginable.
Severus pinched his eyes together at the overload of color and thought 'That's it, I went straight to hell'
He knew it was too late to run when a tall, but quite chubby man in clothes from the rococo period walked towards them. The breeches as well as the waistcoat and coat were too tight and the buttons almost popped from the fabric. Just as well as the interior, the man's clothes were red, except of the white ruffled shirt.
"Bonjour, je suis Maurice. 'ow may I be of service?"
Severus was shocked to the core. Maurice? Where had he heard that name before? He couldn't exactly remember but he knew it couldn't be good.
"Bonjour Monsieur Maurice." Lily greeted the old wizard and kissed him on both cheeks.
The man's wig slit slightly into his eyes when he bowed in front of the two witches.
"May I introduce you to my friends, Kimberly Wells and Severus Snape, both instructors at Hogwarts"
Severus and Kim nodded curtly.
"My dears, this is Monsieur Maurice, master coiffeur"
Then it hit him and he remembered where he had heard the name before.
Draco…
Oh no… now he knew he truly was in hell.
"Well then let's get it on Sev, what do you think?" Lily all but giggled and shoved him through the doorway into another room.
Several other witches and wizards were busy with customers in the main room of the salon, which fortunately was held in green.
Probably to soothe the shock they have gotten in the foyerSeverus thought.
He stubbornly stayed at the entrance and didn't move any further.
"Severus, what's the matter?" Kimberly asked with mock innocence and the potion master shot her a menacing glare.
"I trust that I'm not in need of any modifications of my attire" he said coolly and put on his best nasty-professor-persona.
"You most definitely are in need of just that. I'm planning on taking both of you to a trip to Harrods and they won't let you in looking like that.
"Then I don't think that we should go" he retorted evenly and still wouldn't move.
"I am going Severus, trust me, with or without you"
The look in Lily's eyes spoke volumes. He had seen it more than one time and knew that she wouldn't give in and adding her hormonal state at the time, would make it even worse.
Though it wasn't his nature to give in, he thought that the drama would end faster if he just obliged.
"Ok, but no fancy styles, just a little off on the ends and that's IT" he spat and let a young witch guide him to an empty chair.
Kim and Lily had settled down in chairs close by, sipping tea and pretending to read magazines.
The young witch washed and conditioned his hair and he had to admit that it was relaxing.
When Maurice took over, he narrowed his eyes to small slits and growled.
"No fancy crap and only one inch off or you'll be missing vital parts of your anatomy, Monsieur"
"Oh what a pity… a perm would do vonders and some 'ighlights, no?"
One look in Snape's angry face stopped him from uttering any more possible improvements and he went to work.
Just half an hour later, Severus opened his eyes again and …
"Very nice, indeed" he managed to say when he looked in the mirror more closely.
His hair wasn't greasy anymore and was pulled back and fastened in the nape of his neck, only leaving a few shorter strands out to soften the strict look.
Some one had been busy with his face and he had no idea how he did but sallow had been replaced by a slight tan that gave him an almost pirate like look.
"Very nice… " Maurice gasped with indignation. "Monsieur, that is mon master piece"
Then the chubby man waved a young wizard with pink hair over and the way the young fool walked reminded him very strongly of Birdie-Malfoy.
"Antoine, work your magic on these clothes, will you" Maurice purred and was rewarded with a sweet, cheeky wink from the pink-head.
The death glare that had worked for Maurice however didn't work for this guy. He just smiled at the potion master and pushed his pink sunglasses down his nose.
"Don't try anything – "
Severus didn't get any further. All he saw then was a whirling of colors around him while he spun around his axis like a spinning top.
The young wizard could be thankful that his customer was too dizzy for the first few moments to react; otherwise most certainly he would be withering on the floor now.
Severus' mood was lethal at the moment to say the least.
Payback is hell, he thought when he saw the puffy eyes and red face of Lily and Kim, most likely from laughing their guts out on his expenses.
However, he couldn't deny that the new outfit wasn't that bad. A dark grey suit, businesslike but not strict, was combined with black leather shoes, a black satin shirt and a dark green tie.
When Maurice handed him sunglasses, Lily gasped. He looked definitely like a younger version of Lagerfeld.
Kim just shook her head in astonishment. She had never thought that Snape could look so…cool.
Severus curtly thanked the two wizards for their efforts, yet making sure not to show how pleased he was. For a day in the city it would be ok but he'd make sure that nobody at Hogwarts would see him like this and most certainly not the Gryffindor know-it-all.
Lily and Kim had transfigured their casual clothes in elegant dresses, to make sure the guards at Harrods had nothing to complain.
They stepped out of the hidden entrance, took the underground to Knightsbridge and made their way towards the doors of Harrods.
Severus shot the guards a scornful glance when they passed them and headed for the food hall on the ground floor for an early tea time.