Well, I was bored and decided to update again. Responses to reviewers so far:
Hulahula: I'm glad that you told me your opinion about how Severus seems a bit OOC, but I hope Chapter 3 cleared that up for you! By the way, thanks for the reassurance about the length of the chapters, I hope you keep reading!
Kidarock: Thanks for the advice followed up by positive reinforcement, it made me feel really good that I did that, not to mention I think that it really made me feel like I accomplished something. I felt I could do a lot better than I did in chapter one after I realized how much fun it is to add detail, I think I'll redo chapter one…
MorotheWolfGod: I LOVE YOUR NAME! Moro from Princess Mononoke is one of my favourite characters of all time! (That's where you got your name, right?) I'm glad to hear that you like my story, and I hope that you, along with hulahula and kidarock, keep reading.
Disclaimer: I in no way claim that I own anything to do with Harry Potter, which falls under the jurisdiction of J.K. Rowling. Don't get me wrong, Harry Potter is the shiz, but I don't want to mess with the mighty J.K. and her lawyers. Not to mention Scholastic and other publishers… I'm sure that they wouldn't mind allowing me to keep the plot, though. Perhaps I'll- STOP! Okay, sorry for rambling. In essence, I don't own Harry Potter; I just use the characters and settings for my own stories.
Severus and Rolanda soared high above the clouds before landing in front of Flourish and Blotts for Griffith's book signing. "That was amazing! How can you bear to land?" Damn, again with the congeniality. Severus didn't mind being nice to certain people in private, but he had a reputation to maintain!
"It's rather addictive, isn't it?" Rolanda replied as Gawain jumped onto her shoulder in his smaller form. She then intertwined her arm with Severus', and they strolled into the bookstore together.
Griffith was Levitating a stack of books onto a table near the back of the store, and didn't notice Rolanda walk up to him until Gawain jumped onto his shoulder. Severus at first hung back until the siblings finished greeting each other, and then went to congratulate Griffith.
"Severus! It's been years! How have you been, old boy?" Griffith asked warmly. "What have you been up to?"
Severus' face threatened to soften into a happier expression, but he tried to keep it under control with worse results than he would have liked. "Not a whole lot," Severus paused. "And yourself?"
"Studying creatures in the field, preserving wildlife, and now writing books!" Griffith laughed, "That sounds so conceited of me, and I hear that you have some attributes that would allow you to have a big head as well!"
Rolanda laughed, and said "Severus is a better artist than what I thought when I last spoke with you, he drew a portrait for me and it turned out beautifully." Severus could barely contain his urge to smile, so settled for a smirk instead.
"I was working with a wonderful muse at the time," he muttered. I'm in public for goodness sakes! Stop this foolishness at once, you dog! Rolanda let out a girlish giggle and put her arm around Griffith.
"Isn't he such a charmer?" She asked her brother.
Griffith leaned in close to Severus with an infuriated glare on his face. "Don't you dare touch my sister!" He growled before smiling and laughing.
"You needed help setting up, Grif?"
"Actually, you missed most of it, Featherdust."
"Very funny, remind me to laugh the next time you try to crack a joke."
"D'you want to stick around for the book signing, Severus?"
"What about me, don't you care about your own sister anymore?" Rolanda pouted.
"I don't need to ask you, you'd be here whether you liked it or not."
"Is that so? Well, we'll see about that, then!" Rolanda grabbed Severus' hand and marched out of the bookstore without a second glance.
Griffith soon followed and said "Ro, I didn't mean it, please stay!"
"Griffith, do you really think I would abandon you when you needed me? I was going to come right back in after I had a word with Severus."
Griffith's eyebrows furrowed as he looked from Severus to Rolanda, then said "Of course; I knew you would stay." He smiled apologetically and ducked back into Flourish and Blotts.
"Do you want to go back to the castle?" Rolanda finally addressed Severus after a few moments of awkward silence.
"Would you mind if I stayed?" Severus asked. He should have declined, no matter how much he loved being around Rolanda- wait, did he just say love?
"Of course not," Rolanda wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "It would mean the world to me- er, Griffith… and I if you stayed." She released him from her hug and went back inside. Severus muttered a spell and a small roll of parchment and a quill shot out of his wand. He then wrote a quick note to the headmaster saying that he wouldn't be back for a bit, and sorry for the inconvenience.
Severus walked back inside to inform the Hooch siblings that he'll need a few moments to get an owl, but Rolanda offered that he ask Gawain to do it. "He doesn't mind at all, Severus! He's twice as fast as any barn owl!"
"Thank you very much." Severus said after holding his arm out for the gryphon to climb on. After a few minutes outside, he came back into the bookstore once he sent Gawain back to Hogwarts. He then sat next to Rolanda off to the side of the table, and opened Griffith's first book.
To Rolanda and Mom: you were the support I needed when I was down and I'll never forget that. I love you so much.
There's that word again. Love: one of the mysteries of the universe. Perhaps if this Amiable Potion wore out, he would think about love. Until then, it was too risky to even consider the option lest he act out his feelings. For the rest of the evening, he thought about his Potions classes, with occasional moments which he swore he would never think again for fear of someone finding out. It doesn't matter how talented an Occlumens you are, there's always a chance that someone could break through your defenses. I've really got to be more careful with this Amiable Potion, the woma-
"Severus, have you ever met my sister?" Rolanda inquired, breaking into his meditation.
"No, I haven't," he said while standing to shake the hand of, well, "Severus Snape, and you are…?"
"Xiomara Pomfrey, I've heard a lot about you from Rolanda." Xiomara smiled at the gaunt face of Severus Snape.
"You have?" Severus was rather surprised at this fact, and didn't do very well at hiding it.
"Oh, yes; Rolanda writes home about everyone and everything at Hogwarts; it makes me feel like I've been teaching flying for all these years instead of my sister." She smiled and shook her tawny hair out of her eyes, which were exactly the same color as Rolanda and Griffith's. "Perhaps you could come over to our house during the summer and meet the rest of the family? I'm sure they'll love you."
Severus averted his eyes and fought back another wave of emotion before answering. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I must decline."
"Well, the offer's always open if you want to reconsider."
"Thank you very much."
"'Mara, did anyone else come?" Rolanda asked. Xiomara shook her head.
"It's really late for anyone else to be out, and Stewart stayed home to tend the baby."
"That man is too good to you." Griffith interjected. "I don't think I know any other man who would cancel all of his plans so his wife could go out. What about you, Severus?"
"I would do the same as Stewart." Damned potion. Xiomara and Rolanda both sighed.
"That's so sweet! Griffith, why can't you be sweeter, like Severus?" Xiomara hugged her brother as she said this.
"You just had to make me look bad, didn't you?" Griffith laughed. Severus' mouth twitched. Why bother with trying to be negative around these people? Every time he tried, he just ended up messing up. A clock chimed, and Severus checked the time.
"It's 11:00," he stated.
"Oh, my! I didn't realize how late it was! Griffith, I really must be going." Rolanda said as she turned to each sibling and gave them a hug.
"Until next time, Fledgling" Griffith said as he returned his hug. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Griffith, you cad!" Xiomara scolded as she gave her sister another hug. "Severus, I really hope that you reconsider, everyone would love you!" She said before diving at him for a bear hug, which Griffith joined as well.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I wasn't suggesting anything."
"Right. I'll bet that…"
Severus didn't hear any more of the conversation, seeing as he and Rolanda had exited Flourish and Blotts to wait for Gawain's return. "It was nice to meet your family, they're nice people."
"Thanks, you have no idea." Rolanda shivered, despite her traveling cloak. Severus ran his hands quickly up and down her arms to generate friction. "I think Gawain decided to wait for us at Hogwarts, perhaps we should Floo."
"That sounds good to me," Severus said. Once back at the castle, Severus escorted Rolanda to her rooms, and then complied when she offered him some tea.
"Gawain, how did you get in here? Did I leave a window open?" Rolanda checked all of the windows, but all were closed. "That's strange, I wonder…" Severus lifted a small piece of parchment from the hearth.
"Let your gryphon in, wouldn't stop yowling. Argus. That solves that mystery."
"About that tea, do you like raspberry or peppermint?"
"Which one did we have earlier?" Severus sat down in the same chair as he did last time.
"Peppermint it is, then." Rolanda smiled. Thanks again for putting up with my brother; I know he can be a real pain at times."
"He's quite a character," Severus said, but quickly followed up with "but in a good way."
"Right, I could tell you were getting tired of him almost five minutes in!"
"No, I had something on my mind." Severus could almost see Rolanda's curiosity prick up as she sat down across from him. "Don't worry about it."
"That's pretty hard to do; you've got me hooked now."
Severus smiled again, but soon frowned as his mind returned to the subject which had bothered him so much.
"Never mind; I don't want you to think about it any more tonight." Rolanda smiled gently at the Potions Master. "More tea?"
"Yes please; you never really answered my question, you know." Severus thought that since Rolanda was relaxed from the tea, she might be more willing to answer.
"Which one? I answered about how I got Gawain, and I told you why my bed is in the main room, what else was there?" Rolanda knew where this was going, and she still wasn't sure if she wanted to answer.
Severus realized that Rolanda knew what he was trying to do, so he dropped the subject. "I suppose you did answer all of my questions, then."
Rolanda smiled in appreciation, but then yawned and stretched. "I really should be getting to bed, goodnight Severus."
Severus got up and cleaned his cup with a tap of his wand. "Thank you for the tea and the delightful company." With that said, he swept out of the room without another word.
After clearing the dishes off of the table, she got a quill and a piece of parchment out.
Xiomara,
I don't know what has happened to Severus Snape these past few days, but I like it. I've known all along that he was a good man, but he had been so closed up until now! Before you go into "This was a suppressed schoolgirl crush, you should have dealt with it then instead of waiting until now!", let me remind you that you married your schoolgirl crush! My feelings for Severus are completely platonic, and even if I did care for him beyond friendship, my emotions would not be returned. The man is so obsessed with his Potions he wouldn't notice anyone unless they came up and flashed him! If only he could see how wonderful he is, maybe he'll smile more often.
I don't know whether or not I want to tell him about The Accident yet, I have barely been able to speak about it with anyone outside of the family, what do you think? It's been such a long time that I've felt like I could open up the way I do around Severus, and I have to admit the thought scares me. But at the same time, there's part of me that says "It's time to let go", and I know that it's right. What would you say if I started dating again?" I'm not talking about Severus in particular; it's just an idle question. Never mind, I know what you would say. "Take Severus out somewhere, he's such a good man." "I know you have feelings for him, stop trying to hide it!" Well, like I said, it was just a standalone question. Don't read anything in to it, I just want to know your answer.
Say hi to Stewart and the children for me,
Rolanda
Rolanda reread the letter, sealed it, and decided to wait until morning to send it. She then took a shower and finally went to bed.
Well? How do you like it? That - :3 is my cool, cool emoticon. It's awesome, and I don't care what your opinion is. Except for what you think about the story. That, I definitely care about.