((This chapter was written entirely by Lindsay. Enjoy.))
Severus slipped quietly into the store, applauding himself on his stealth.
...Apparently not stealthy enough, he groaned inwardly, as a vivacious, French-accented and inherently irritating blonde approached him. She was in her mid thirties, with the beginnings of crow's feet and laugh lines to edge her light skin, but she still had the high, laughing tone of a girl less than half her age.
Severus sighed. "Hello, Cassandra." He had made purchases from this store, true enough, but he had set foot in the shop once, only once. Even still, it seemed that the woman - whose purpose in the business was vague, for Severus doubted she had been employed strictly to annoy customers - had somehow caught wind of his family fortune and was determined to get her manicured hands into it, one way or another.
"Ah, Master Snape," she greeted warmly, and Severus scowled at her use of his title... It just did not sound right. "You are here for ze new robes, no?"
He blinked. "What? No, I have no idea what you're talking about." He hadn't ordered anything new...
"But you must! New robes to impress ze lady I saw you with outzide of ze window, only a moment ago."
Severus gave a barely perceptible eyeroll. "No. She is a friend of mine, only that. I'm actually here to-"
"Ah! So still a seengle man, eh?" Cassandra giggled.
Dear God, woman, just stop talking! He was already getting a headache. Oh, well, desperate times...
He reached out, resting a hand on her shoulder, which effectively silenced the woman. She stared at him, her mouth slightly open, as she had frozen mid-sentence.
"No, Cassandra," He repeated softly. "I am here to ask you about anything you may have seen or heard recently that struck you as odd."
"I 'ave seen nothing-" She began to protest, but Severus shook his head. Wrong answer.
"Surely, someone as observant as you, mademoiselle..." He purred. That voice could have melted chocolate at twenty paces, and he knew it. The woman softened visibly, her stubborn look replaced by a slight smile.
"Well, per'aps..." She gave in. "I 'ave sold many robes recently, all of ze same material..."
"Which would be...?" He pressed.
She reached behind the counter, and Severus observed her exaggerated movements with utmost boredom. That was certainly not his purpose here.
"Zis." She held out a length of the cloth, and Severus ran his sensitive fingertips over it. They tingled...
"Protective cloth?" He asked.
She nodded, pleased. "Durable az armour, but az light az ze feather, no?"
"Yes, indeed..." He murmured, musing, and backed away.
"Leaving so soon, Professuer?" She seemed nonplused.
"Yes, Cassandra, thank you. You've been most helpful."
"And, once again, you 'ave not." She grumbled irritably, tugging her robes back into their proper fit.
The Potions Master stepped with no small amount of trepidation into Zonko's Joke Shop. He had seen havoc wreaked in more than one class by products from this very store. He had confiscated countless items and even been the unamused victim of a select few. Thus it was with roused suspicions that he entered the lion's den, as it were.
He approached the counter, recognizing the clerk as one of his former students. Damn. Fortunately, the young man was a Hufflepuff, so it would require only a small amount of finesse.
The youth did not look up from his comic book, and Severus sneered. "Mr. Anderson."
The clerk leaped out of his chair, his freckled face white as he blinked rapidly, not quite believing that his old Potions professor was standing before him.
"S-sir?" He stammered.
Severus sneered, gesturing around. "I see you've come far since your school days."
The boy would have known that smooth, sarcastic voice anywhere... Of course, it was one he had hoped to never hear again after leaving school. "Yes, sir."
"Tell me, Anderson," Severus continued. "Have you heard any rumours from Hogwarts, recently?"
"No, sir."
Severus leaned over the counter, still as tall as the stocky youth, and let his jet black eyes bore into his victim. "Do not lie to me, Anderson." He hissed. "You know better."
The youth swallowed. "There were some Slytherins in here the other day, sir."
"Which day?"
"Thursday, sir."
"And?" Severus growled.
"They kept talking about 'in three weeks.' That's all I know." He added quickly.
Severus raised a brow, straightening. "Very good, Anderson." He said, and swept out of the shop.
Severus pushed open the door to the Hog's Head cautiously, looking around. He had his suspicions about the place, which had a reputation for harboring dark characters... But his own history here... His stomach plummeted as he remembered that this was the place, and not Hogwarts, where he had come to Dumbledore, begging for forgiveness, for redemption...
I cannot dwell on that now. He told himself, and forced the all-too-vivid memory to the back of his mind.
He took a seat at the furthest end of the bar, which was more or less deserted, and held up one finger, placing a Galleon on the scarred wood. A mug of some murky substance that the Master had absolutely no intention of drinking was placed before him, but before the bartender could return to wiping glasses with a grimy rag, Severus beckoned him forward. He slipped another Galleon out of his coin purse and toyed with it absently; his long fingers balancing the golden disk, swallowing it out of sight within his palm, then opening it to reveal its flash. When the 'tender's attention was fully his, Severus spoke.
"Have you heard any news about business up at the castle?" He asked in a low voice.
"May'ap." The man replied with a vague shrug. Severus nodded and set the Galleon down, withdrawing another.
"Such as?"
"I hear tell there's summat new in the forest... Lots of animals coming down from in there, and folks hear yellin', not human, like, late at night when they're tryin' to sleep."
Severus nodded. "Anything else?"
"Not as I know."
The Master handed over the Galleon and left the pub with all due haste. Tendrils of memory were creeping too readily back into his mind.