Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, and ideas, (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings. Desiree Snape and Eleanora Snape are mine.
Chapter 5: Of black coffee and talking teakettles.
"Pawn to g4. How's Nora doing?" Desiree asked Severus as they finished a chess game in his rooms.
He stared at the board and sighed, knowing that once again Desiree had made a bad move. "Nora is fine. Minerva is looking after her and she seems to be making friends. I don't like the fact that one of them is Potter, but there's little I can do about that. Bishop to g3, check."
"I know I should be talking to Minerva myself. I'm still not quite sure how to do this parent thing. And I'm sorry I dragged you into the middle of it, but with the will I had little choice. King to f1," she commented.
"If you want to be closer to her, I would suggest that you arrange something on the weekends, or that you chaperone trips to Hogsmeade. Knight to d2, knight takes rook, check," he advised her.
"I might try that. I'm sorry that I'm so bad a chess. You should play against someone with more skill. King to g1," she mentioned.
He raised his eyebrow. "Whom would you suggest? Knight to f3, check."
"Does Minerva play chess? I'm sure she'd be a better opponent then me. King to h1," she suggested.
"Minerva plays chess with the Headmaster. I would rather not stir up anymore trouble than I usually manage to. Rook to c2, checkmate!" he told her. She noticed that he seemed almost agitated at her suggestion.
Desiree sat back in her chair. "Well, I'm through with this game. If you want to play again, it'll have to be with someone else. When I play chess, I play a game. Severus, when you play chess, you go to war."
He chuckled. "Chess requires determination to win and aggression not to loose. It is also a game of strategy, as you know. The moves you make have consequences and chess teaches you to acknowledge that actions have reactions."
She laughed as the game put itself away. "Yes, Professor Snape. I already knew all of that, but thank you. I still say that you owe it to yourself to play against an opponent with real skill."
"And you still think that I ought to ask Minerva? You do not just ask someone to play chess with you," he relayed.
She raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"It just isn't done. There must be something more if it is not a usual routine. A discussion or a meal should be involved," he tried to explain.
She rolled her eyes. "You just made that up because you're afraid she'll say no. I think you like her a little."
He scoffed. "Where did you get such a ridiculous notion?"
"You were joking with her about the pie incident the other day during the staff meeting. Also, whenever she's around, you watch her," Desiree pointed out with a wry grin.
"That proves nothing. She is merely my colleague and the pie incident was a unique situation," he stated rationally.
His cousin would not let him off of the hook. "Admit it, you like her," she goaded.
"I do not!"
"You do too!"
"I do not!"
"You do too!"
"I do not, and I will not engage in arguing like a child any longer!" he remarked.
"Well then stop acting like one and ask her to play chess with you!" she instructed.
He opened his door. "I'm going for a walk, not to ask anyone to play chess with me, just a walk!"
She threw her head back and laughed heartily. "I'll just grade a few potions essays while you're gone."
Minerva stood over Albus' desk as he read over recent paperwork from the Ministry of Magic. He looked over the tops of his half-moon spectacles to meet her eyes. "I am sorry Minerva, but I do not have the time to play chess with you this evening. As you can see, I am inundated with paperwork. Why don't you play chess with Severus? He would probably be more of a challenge for you than I would be," Albus suggested.
She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Albus, you can't be serious. Severus would not want to play chess with me."
"You never know until you ask, my dear," he told her, not looking up from his paperwork.
She huffed. "Fine, I am going for a walk," she remarked as she left his office.
Severus rounded a corner, not expecting to find anyone. He plowed directly into the one person he was attempting to avoid that evening. "I'm sorry, Minerva. I was just taking an evening stroll and I did not see you," he stated.
"That's alright. I did not see you either. Albus was busy with paperwork to play chess this evening, therefore I decided to take a walk as well. I suppose it would not hurt of we walked together," she suggested.
He nodded and they conversed as they walked through the corridors. "How is Desiree getting along?" Minerva inquired.
"Aside from the fact that she has become Lupin's friend, everything is fine. She is an incredibly poor chess player though," he admitted. "She was heckling me about finding a better opponent."
Minerva laughed. "Dare I ask whom she suggested?"
He looked at his shoes for a moment, deciding how to answer her. He finally decided to err on the side of humor. "She actually suggested that I ask you to play chess, as if you'd accept," he stated with a wry smile.
"You might find this funny, but Albus thought I should ask you to play chess with me," she relayed.
Severus laughed at the irony of the situation, and then laughed harder when he noticed Minerva's surprised expression at the fact that he was laughing. "It is terribly ironic that you and I happen to run into each other after such conversations. I don't even feel like chess at the moment."
Laughing as she considered the situation, she turned to him. "If you would rather not play chess, how about a spot of tea? I just received a new recipe for some sort of herbal orange tea and I wouldn't mind if you would care to try it as well."
He raised an eyebrow. "Desiree is grading the Potions essays at the moment. I think I will leave her alone a bit longer, since I would rather not try to decipher sloppy first-year penmanship at the moment."
She dealt him a half-smile. "Was that a yes?"
"I suppose I will join you," he replied.
They strolled to her rooms and talked as they waited for the water in the teapot to boil. "Why do you have a muggle tea kettle?" he inquired.
"I think tea tastes better when made by hand," she responded.
"I quite agree," he added. He glanced over his shoulder and spotted a stack of essays that she was planning on grading. "How is Nora doing in your class?"
"She is excellent at Transfiguration. I would even venture to say that she may match Miss Granger in that area. Nora has superb talent. I only hope she can focus it. She may even become an animagus some day. And she has managed to keep herself out of trouble lately," Minerva relayed.
Severus was about to comment when he heard a peculiar meowing sound. Minerva stood and took the teakettle off of the stove. She poured the steaming water into the lovely midnight-blue teapot with the tea-leaf straining device and set the teapot on the table. When she glanced over at Severus, she noticed a smirk.
He chuckled. "Your teakettle meows. I have never heard a teakettle do that before."
"I had this specially made a few years ago," she stated.
"My teakettle hisses at me whenever I use it, but that is because it was dropped the last time I had anyone visit me. Now that I think of it, it might have been Desiree who dropped it," he told her with a wry smile.
She laughed before pouring them each a cup of tea. They added sugar respectively and sat back to enjoy the steaming drink. "This is nice and soothing, what do you think?" she asked him.
"This is excellent tea. I understand now why you prefer to do this the muggle way," he responded.
They sat in companionable silence as they finished their tea. Severus set his cup in her sink and walked back toward her. "Thank you for the tea. I should let you return to your essays while I see how Desiree has been surviving mine."
Minerva nodded and smiled. "You are welcome. Have a good evening, Severus."
"Goodnight Minerva," he stated as he left. She watched him go and looked in the direction he went in for a few minutes. That went better than I had expected it to. I think something has begun to change, she reasoned.
When he returned, he found Desiree asleep on his couch with an essay in her right hand and a marking pen in her right. He cleared his throat loudly and she sat up, yawning. "How did your chess game go?" she inquired wryly.
"I didn't play chess, cousin. You ought to get yourself to bed and I'll finish the rest of these essays on my own," he instructed.
She stood and set the essay on top of one of the two piles on the coffee table. She pointed to the first pile and told him, "This is the finished pile." Then she pointed to the significantly smaller pile. "This is what you have left."
He was impressed at how many she had been able to grade and took a seat on the couch, picking up where she had left off. She turned to him before leaving and gave him a hug. He sat stiffly, still unaccustomed to being around someone with such an affectionate nature. "Goodnight Severus."
"Goodnight Desiree," he added as she strolled through the door. He wanted to continue worrying about her, but decided continue marking essays instead.
A few days later, Desiree was helping Remus set up materials for his classes. She ran her fingers through her hair and paced with frustration. He raised an eyebrow as she walked the length of the room. "Is some thing bothering you?"
"Doesn't anyone have any coffee in this part of the world? I need coffee, good old black coffee!" she exclaimed.
Remus could not help laughing. "You know you could just conjure a cup."
She shook her head. "But it doesn't taste right. I need to find some place that sells coffee. I'm never going to see Maxwell House coffee again," she moaned.
He cleared his throat. "Actually I have some of that. I keep a coffeepot and a can of Maxwell House coffee and it is used when my aunt visits. She takes great pleasure in lecturing me about my life and how I need to change various things. The coffee serves two purposes: it keeps me away while she is there and it annoys her that I don't have a teapot ready for her because she can't stand coffee."
She chuckled and glanced at her watch. "That's hilarious. Now, we have time, so if you don't mind, would you please make a pot?" Then she paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, here I go again, inviting myself to coffee that you didn't offer."
"The fact that I mentioned it sounded like an offer. I shall make you a pot, if you would finish sorting today's materials," he offered. She nodded and fifteen minutes later she held in her hands a steaming cup of black coffee.
"Are you certain that you want it black?" he inquired.
She nodded adamantly. "I like the taste of the coffee itself."
Looking over at his cup, she noticed that it was a light-brown colour and figured that he had added cream and sugar to his. As he drank his coffee in silence, he did not notice where she stood. She startled him unintentionally when he set his cup down and found her standing directly in front of him. "Was there something else?"
"No. I owe you a thank you. I really appreciate the coffee. Thanks Remus," she said with a small smile.
He watched her for a moment. Her shoulder-length black hair was pulled up into a French roll and her almond-brown eyes held a rare excitement. I don't think I have met anyone like her in a very long time. She is young, and yet so wise at the same time that it's almost disconcerting. And then she is playful. No one else in this entire castle, with the exceptions of possibly Madame Hooch and Albus Dumbledore, has any real sense of humor.
He stopped his contemplation, realizing that she had said something. "You are most welcome."
She was still standing only centimeters away from him. Noticing his sandy-blonde hair and pencil-mustache, she studied him. Then she noticed the old scars on his face, as well as a few new scratches. Reaching out to touch his face, she looked at him with compassion.
"Oh, how did you get these? It looks like you've been moonlighting as a gardener and you fell into a rose bush," she exclaimed as she took her wand and healed a few of them. Suddenly she gasped and stepped back. "I'm sorry; there I go being impulsive again."
He took a step toward her and gently took her hand. Then he kissed it and smiled in amusement as she blushed. "I do not think that such concern is impulsive at all. Thank you for worrying. I think you are very sweet, and I like having you here to help me."
She found herself quite close to him again, but they instantly drew apart when the students were heard at the door. They resumed their usual roles and the day's lesson commenced. When Nora's class finished their lessons, Desiree watched as she placed her notes in her bag. I haven't been enough of a mom to her lately, she thought regretfully.
Nora looked up when Desiree approached her. "Hi mom."
"Hi Nora. I just wanted to know how your day was going," Desiree mentioned.
"Mom, I need to go to my next class. The day is fine and I like my classes. Your class is fun, but my favorite is Transfiguration," Nora paused and glanced toward the door. "I really need to go, bye mom!" she remarked as she dashed out of the room.
Desiree sighed heavily and did not hear Remus step next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she rapidly turned her head in the direction of him. Then she dealt him a half-smile. "I'm not so great at the mom thing, unfortunately. She deserves so much better."
A tear ran down her cheek and he reached over to brush it off. Then he drew her into a warm hug. "What matters is that you are trying, and I suspect she knows that."
She buried her face in his robes for a minute, and then drew back. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed the smirk on her face. "Why do your robes smell like cinnamon sticks?"
He chuckled. "The ones I am wearing today were stored with my Christmas decorations and some of those have cinnamon sticks."
She shook her head and giggled. "I'm so glad I'm working with you," she paused and glanced at her watch. "I should be going. I have essays to grade and-"
He kissed her on the cheek and stopped her in mid-sentence. "Take care of yourself and have a good afternoon," he conveyed as they stepped away.
"Thank you, Remus, I will," she said as she left the room, smiling brightly.
Her smile was still radiating when Severus knocked on her door before dinner. She answered the door and he raised an eyebrow as he scrutinized her. "Just what are you grinning at?"
"Oh, nothing. My day just went well. I have your essays and…" she trailed off, realizing that he was there to escort her to dinner. "I almost forgot. You're here about dinner. Just give me a moment." Soon they headed to the Great Hall and joined the rest of the staff.
That evening as the students walked off to their respective houses, the Fat Lady of the painting guarding the Gryffindor Common Room was missing. Upon finding her, the school received the terrifying news that Sirius Black was in the school. A lockdown was initiated and more dementors arrived.
For the next few days everyone seemed to be on edge. Nora could feel the dementors everywhere. She tried to escape by heading to the Common Room, but she nearly ran into one of them. She made her way to the courtyard and curled up on the low stone fence, fingering the moss. Breathing a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax. Then she felt someone else near her. She jumped when a hand rested on her shoulder.
"I didn't mean to startle you. Are you alright? I saw you dash out of the hall and decided to follow you," Harry admitted.
She smiled politely at his concern. "Yes, I'm fine. The problem is these dementors. They're everywhere and I can't stand it!"
His eyes opened wide. "You can see them?"
She shook her head quickly. "No. I can sense them. Have you ever had a sense of impending doom?"
He nodded. "I've experienced that more often than I'd have liked to."
"That's what they feel like to me, a moving feeling of impending doom and a dark, coldness. I came out here to get my thoughts in order," she explained.
"Do you mind if I join you?" he inquired.
She smiled. "Go right ahead."
(my thanks to Leta McGotor, Quill of Minerva, and Morgana-Alex for reviewing :D)
