Mind Games of Water

By: Lynn Metallium

Disclaimer: I am but a poor little American girl and I do not own Harry Potter and co., that privilege goes to the wonderful J.K. Rowling, (my hero! XD) so please don't sue me and all that stuff because I would be sad and cry and you wouldn't get any money because I had to use it all for college XD

Authors Notes: At the end, they contain spoilers so if you're a looser and haven't read the 6th book by now, don't read them.

Chapter 5

The bleak building in front of them seemed anything but promising and for a fleeting moment Severus had to fight back the smug grin laced with an "I told you so" look on his face. Obviously the boy now had his doubts as well for their less than eloquent guide.

They had allowed the man to lead them across the town, twice finding themselves ducking and hiding at Tale's nervous hiss. From darkened alley ways they had watched men in dark crimson uniforms glide by them, not even looking in their direction. The potions master could only assume these uniformed men were something similar to the Aurors, law enforcement figures of some kind at least and were perhaps something they did not need to make an encounter with so soon in this new environment.

Now that they were approaching the shabby looking building, Snape's mind was quickly coming to the conclusion that they would have been better off on their own that with this bumbling fool

"Where are you taking us Tale?" The brunette finally spoke up as the little man gave another persistent tug on his hand towards the run down building in front of them.

"I's get you cards-"He insisted as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world for the two men following him to grasp. "Get's green card here-"

"Yes yes you insolent creature, you's get us cards!" Severus could feel the beginning of a migraine settling in, throbbing unhappily behind his eyelids as he mimicked the other man with a great deal of venom. "What pray tell you, are the use of such items in this place?"

When Tale turned his milky white eyes up to stare at him, Severus couldn't help but feel the need to step away out of his line of sight. It wasn't just this man, it was all the people here. The way they moved along the streets and stared at the new comers with dead blank eyes that made shivers run up his spine.

"Come-"Was all he uttered, turning his back on the pair and continued towards the building at a slow uneven gait.

Harry tilted his head up to stare at his professor with a helpless look of confusion, as if looking for some sort of answers or confirmation from the other man. Snape gritted his teeth and looked away from the questioning green eyes. He had nothing to say to the younger boy and it clearly frustrated him.

Snape was a man who liked unchanged environment. He liked being able to do the same things every day in the same order. Awaken and shower, followed by breakfast and classes, in which it was required that at least one child was traumatized enough to piss his or her own pants or something similarly horrifying. Then there was lunch with more classes and dinner, followed by a round of marking papers with a glass of scotch before perhaps a vigorous romp around the castle in search of curfew breakers and then to bed. Too many deviations from the normal pattern made Severus a grouchy man indeed. It was one of the few things he had control over in his life and he valued it above all else. Being here was much more than a little deviation, it was blundering through the woods like a village idiot. Not only were they not in Kansas, they weren't even on the same continent. Now what Toto?

Pursing his lips, the older man set off in long strides after their so called guide not bothering to look to see if the Potter boy would follow or not. It would suit him just fine if the earth opened up and swallowed him whole instead, but of course, that would never happen.

Tale stood near the end of a growing line, shifting from one foot to the other as they approached, watching them with his empty white eyes.

"What is this?" Snape gestured towards the line with a flip of his hand. Tale looked at him as if he was the stupidest creature on the planet.

"We wait-"He replied, mimicking Snape with a gesture of his arm at the line. "We all wait-"

No words passed between them for the next few hours as they stood in the long line weaving its way from the open door of the building. The hot afternoon sun glared down upon them and Snape was forced to loosen several buttons of his robes. Stubbornly he refused to remove them like Potter had some time earlier, instead he suffered in silence, the sweat trickling down his back uncomfortably. His legs were cramping and his mouth parched yet he did nothing. Potter was lying on the ground at his feet in the dirt looking rather exhausted. Tale also sat in the dirt, muttering to himself and drawing symbols into the dirt before scratching through them only to draw them again. He was utterly loony, Snape thought as he shifted uncomfortably.

They were close to the shade of the door now but the line had come to a standstill and inside, loud voices could be heard, a woman crying and several men yelling back at her. She stumbled through the door several minutes later, a mousy looking girl with a handkerchief tied over her hair and a dress that looked like it was dry rotting off her starved body.

"You can't do this! My husband can't work! Please! "There were tears streaming down her eyes and snot bubbling from her nose She didn't even reach up to rub it away, letting it run down her lips and into her mouth as she howled towards the building.

Snape's face twisted into an uncomfortable look. How often had he seen a look like that on his victims before? The children sobbing and crying for their mothers and mothers crying for their children and their husbands, the voices never stopped haunting him. Uncomfortable, his eyes slid past the woman, trying not to see her.

"Leave now, there is nothing we can help you with here," A slim man dressed in the crimson uniform Snape had seen earlier stood in the doorway.

"You have to give me a working license! We have to feed our children! The Emperor wouldn't want us to starve!"

"The Emperor has no time for sniveling women. You are not fit for a man's working license! You've wasted our time coming here! You've made others wait in line so you can whine at our feet! Women cannot work on a red card! What makes you think you are better than all the other women in this city that we would give you a card? If your man is injured and unable to work then you know where to take your complaints, you know where to obtain a yellow card woman!"

The woman fell to her knees and howled louder as the people in the line around Snape shifted uncomfortably, looking away from the woman. The man in the doorway pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose in a frustrated motion before gesturing behind him. Two larger muscled men came out to pick the howling woman up, who started to claw and bite at the two as they hauled her away. A shiver ran up Snape's spine despite how hot it was outside. Even in daylight the nightmares chased him.

"What was that all about?" Harry's voice broke through his stressful thoughts of the past. Tale seemed to be the only person who hadn't been at least slightly upset over the display in front of them. In fact he was still sitting in the dirt drawing little symbols in the dirt in the same slow motion as before, whispering softly to himself. "Tale?.."

"An item of amusement is she-"He mumbled under his breath before looking up at Harry with a blank expression, although his speech was clearer than when he had met them. "She's lives in her house. She's a taken care of the wee ones, buying's the breads and soups, cleanings the house and weedings the gardens. Men's work is no place for a pair of Breasties!" He hissed between his teeth and after a moment Snape realized the old man was laughing.

"You mean women can't work here?" Harry looked a bit shocked. "But last night we saw a woman-"

"Didn't say Breasties couldn't work, I's say men's work is no place for thems! Breastie's do easy works if they's work at all. Gotta gets a yellow cards, Breasties do. Says they can do Breasties work. Mindings a store, making clothies, cookings for the town, cleanings a goldie man's homes, or sellings her Breasties. That is all theys can do outside the housie."

"They're called women…" The brunette couldn't help but look a bit disgusted at the man's casual reference to women. He also thanked Merlin that Hermione wasn't here. She would have certainly had more than a few choice words to tell Tale about his speech about "Breasties".

By now they had entered the building, which was even warmer inside than out, to approach the rotting piece of wood cheaply used as a table. Seated behind it was a rather large pig looking man with beady eyes. Around him were two slim barely dressed boys with large fans in their hands. Tale scuffled past them to be first to reach the man.

"Karufus! My old friend!" Tale seemed utterly delighted to see the block of lard sitting there with sweat rolling off his large balding head.

"Tale! You crazy old coot! You're still alive? I thought I sentenced your arms to be cut off last month!" The fat man's eyes narrowed and for a moment Snape thought the man was being serious until he broke off into a barking laugh like a walrus. He pounded his fat meaty hand on the table so hard that Snape swore he heard the wood crack. When the two finally calmed down and wiped the tears from their face, Karufus leaned across the desk with an intense look on his face.

"I know you need something Tale, what is it?"

"What makes you's think I's be needing somethings?" Tale giggled nervously as he wrung his hands together under the other man's stare.

"Well why else would you be in here with these two strangers you stupid old monk?" Karufus sneered, wiping his fat hand across his perspiring face before glaring over his shoulder at the two fair skinned boys. "Goddamn you pussies! Fan faster! It's hotter than the far side of Hades in here!"

Tale chuckled again as the two boys straightened, a frightened look in their eyes as they rushed to obey the walrus man.

"You's be right though-"Tale leaned across the table, his eyes darting about the room for a moment as he lowered his voice. "They be's needing green cards, red cards and blue cards-"

"Good Ysaelin above-"The man hissed, glaring at Tale. "That's not so easy you know!"

"I's know-" He smirked and reached into his tattered cloak to pull out a small purse. "I pay's you half now and they-" Tale jerked his thumb in Snape's direction. "pay you the other halves when they get's monies from jobs."

"You better sweat on that old man, or I really will take your arms off," Karufus growled. "I've got a line of men out there waiting for jobs, they come every day and I tell them every day, I aint got nothing for the likes of them. If they fuck up, it'll be my neck, so you better be sure!"

"I's sure…" Tale nodded meekly, his hands clinging together. "They be goodies, no cause you's any trouble Karufus!"

"Alright…fine-" Karufus relented with a shake of his head, gesturing the two forward with his sweating hand. Harry bounded forward like an over eager puppy, while Snape followed a bit more cautiously, hanging back behind the brunette and the old man, yet Karufus' eyes met his first as he pulled out several pieces of parchment and a quill. "What's your name stranger?"

"Severus Snape-"

"How many years are ye? 54?...59?" The fat man cut him of almost before he finished.

"I beg your pardon?" Snape snapped, feeling rather insulted, did he really look so old? Sure he had noticed a few streaks of gray this morning but damn!

"Where the hell did you pick these guys up Tale…? Sounds like an in-breed rich pouf if I ever met one! Well man? How many years do you have?"

"42…" Snape grounded out, holding back a hateful glare as Potter shot him a surprised look. Snape glowered back at him, he was not that old damn it!

"Any special job talents?" Karufus paused in his scribbling to stare at him once again.

"I am a Potions Master-" Snape stiffened as the man stared at him as if he had just told him that he liked to dance the cha-cha in bright pink lace panties.

"Can you clarify what that is exactly?" Karufus raised his eyebrow at the dark haired man in front of him. Crazy sounding old man…where did Tale say he found these no goods again? Shaking his head the fat man waited for an answer that he could properly deal with.

"I…" Snape meanwhile was groping for words. Something that wouldn't get him killed and somehow he didn't think his little speech of 'putting a stopper in death' would prevent him from loosing a limb. "I make medicine. Remedies of a kind-"

"Now there's something I can understand old man! Why didn't you just say so in the first place! That's a position I can give you without feeling guilty of taking it away from anyone else. Hardly ever get anyone with skills for medicine making. No one here since Garth was eaten by that Hydra…Damn shame…he was a good boy. Solves a lot of our problems though, the shop's still standing though, been empty for years. You and the boy can live up top.

Wade Martin is your man there. He's the overseer of all the businesses in that district. That means he's your boss old man, you got that? You do what he says. You run your shop like he says. No bullshit, Wade don't give second chances. Like me he don't like his neck on the line, so he aint gonna play any games, got that?"

"Crystal-" Snape sneered. Just what he needed, as if Voldie and Dumbledore wasn't bad enough now he could have another overbearing employer breathing down his neck and telling him how to run his life. His life was ever so peachy.

"Now what about you young man, what's your name, how many years, and what specialties do you got?"

"I'm Harry Potter-" The green-eyed boy paused, staring at the man. Much to his surprise the man didn't even bat an eyelash. There was no, "Oh Merlin Harry fucking Potter!" Or "Oooooh can I have your autograph Harry?" Not even a "Can I have your babies Harry please!" He felt kind of gypped of the whole situation.

"Well…the good news is you know your name kid, unfortunately you're worthless after that! Hurry it up! I don't got all day here!"

"Uh…right-" Harry rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm 17 and uh…." What did he specialize with? He didn't really have a job, he was a student…

"Don't you have any talents boy?"

"I can make a really nice chocolate cake-"Harry gave him a silly grin that only made Karufus frown in an angry sort of way.

"What are ya? A damn woman!"

Harry blushed furiously as Tale let out a loud cackling laugh. He really didn't have any talents at all, he couldn't do anything besides cook and clean, Karufus was right. Of course…he could do magic too, but something told him that wasn't really something he should tell this man. Everyone here seemed to be just normal muggles and Harry didn't want to say something wrong and give himself and Snape away if they all were just normal people.

"He will assist me in the shop…I will need help, after all, I am sure there are many people in need of medicines in this town-" Snape stepped in smoothly as Karufus' eyes started to bulge in anger. The man deflated slightly at Snapes words before nodded sourly.

"Seems fair enough…Maybe he'll even keep house for you and take care of the wee ones-" Karufus sneered slightly and Harry felt rather miffed. One Snape was enough! He didn't need both of these men ganging up on him like this! Crossing his arms across his chest, he tried not to look like he was sulking but he knew he looked pouty anyway.

"Well then, I'll file the right paperwork and when you get the other half of the money, come and see me got it?" Karufus didn't wait for an answer as he picked up several colored cards and shoved them at Snape. "Now get out of my sight, you've annoyed me enough for one day! Guard! Send in the next man!"

Tale chuckled once again and grasped Harry by his sleeve, tugging him back out the door and into the sunlight as Snape followed at a slower pace, trying to study the cards in his hand as he walked without falling on his unattractive face. The old man continued to chuckle all the way down the dirt road much to the dark haired wizard's annoyance.

"Is that continuous giggling absolutely necessary?" Snape finally snapped. Tale turned his milky white eyes on him and bared his broken rotting teeth in what Snaped figured to be a grin.

"Harry Potter's is a Breastie he is!" And with that the old man started howling with laughter so hard he fell into the dust and rolled about clutching his side. Snape felt the corners of his mouth twitch as he tried not to smirk.

"Yes…That he his-"His dark eyes fell on the boy who was staring at the laughing fool with furious green eyes, his hands clenched into fists. His eyes turned accusingly to Snape. Clenching his teeth he let out a slow angry breath. Severus Snape really needed a good swift kick in the arse…


Authors Notes: Not six months XD Just keep telling yourself that at least it didn't take me six months to put out a new chapter!

To tell you the truth, this chapter was half written when summer started and then I started working and I was tired all the time and only writing a few sentences here and there and re-writing everything because I really hated it. Then the 6th book came out and I went into a horrible slump… ;.;….Not because Dumbly died mind you, but because now everyone was badmouthing my favorite character! Snape is awesome and I don't care what anyone says, maybe J.K. Rowling will prove me wrong and Snape really will be evil, but I really just think he was doing what he had to do…

But anyway, in regards to the 6th book, there will be no changes with this fic. I will continue as if the book does not exist. Dumbledore will continue to be alive and this will continue to be a Snarry and Snape will continue to be my main man!

Much love!

Lynn