Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I know how to berry sotter.
Chapter 15: Social Gathering
It was dark. Tonks kept her eyes shut in an attempt to block out reality. She was not ready to come to terms with the fact that she had messed up her last chance to escape, that her own clumsiness would lose her her life. She just wanted to pretend that she had made it, that she had passed out at the gates of Hogwarts, that she was now in the infirmary. Unfortunately, there was a little part in the back of her mind that nagged her to wake up and smell the fire-whiskey (or perhaps drink a whole bottle of it), that told her she needed to prepare herself for her unpleasant, but inevitable fate.
Footsteps sounded and Tonks did her best to appear unconscious. She sensed that someone was standing right in front of her, who though, she was not sure. Either they were sure she was sound asleep or they did not care. Or perhaps she wasn't as good at acting as she thought, and they knew she was awake. Tonks was not sure which, but she concluded that, at this point, it did not matter much.
"Enervate," said the voice of the person in front of her. So, I am a good actress, thought Tonks with glee before opening her eyes. She opened her eyes to be met with a regrettably, not-so-unpleasant face. In spite of this fact, Tonks made a face.
"Now that is a horrible way to wake up in the morning. Severus, dear, no offense, but no one wants to wake up with the first thing they see is your excuse for a face," said Tonks, although she was really thinking that it wasn't so bad waking up to that sexy visage.
"Nymphadora, it is wonderful to see that you are already back to you juvenile, flippant remarks. I was afraid that your fall had caused permanent damage, but I see that I failed to realize that nothing could penetrate your thick skull. It is nice to know that my work load is lessened."
"Yes, that is all well and good, but really, your remarks are just as flippant and juvenile as mine. The fact of the matter is that I don't really give a damn whether I am being juvenile or not. Really, trying to be mature all the time takes the fun out of life. I am sure that your beloved Voldemort would be much more good-humored and likable if he took a day off to have some fun, you know, do silly stuff, enjoy a Quidditch game, maybe even going frolicking through a field of wild flowers…"
Tonks was cut off by a derisive snort from Snape. Apparently he found no enlightenment from her suggestion. She supposed that is was useless to try to convince Snape that it would be a good idea to take Voldemort out for a drink to try to loosen him up a bit. Actually, Snape needed that kind of action himself. Tonks would bet that Snape had never had a real day of fun in his life. She decide then and there, that if she ever got out of this mess and ended up time-traveling back a few years, she would take Snape out for a drink, whether he agreed or not.
"Now, Nymphadora, this is going to be painful enough, I advise you to not make it worse for yourself."
"What is this?"
"I am to…escort you to a… social gathering," said Snape, seeming that he did not quite know the right words to say.
"A social gathering? I am assuming that this isn't going to be a Tupperware party or a wild jamboree?"
"This is a celebration, put on by the Dark Lord."
"Ah, so I assume that I will be entertaining."
"What?"
"Well, if I am invited, since I believe I am not part of the guest lists of the high society of Death Eaters, I assume that I am the entertainment. What will be torture device of choice?"
"Nothing that you would find reassuring."
Tonks thought a moment. "I hope it is not Aunt Bellatrix singing. She sounds like a shrieking banshee crossed with a sick cow when she tries. Whoa—"
Snape looked at her curiously and Tonks stared back. She was shocked; she was sure that she saw Snape almost crack a smile that was not out of malice. "What?" he said rudely.
"Nothing, nothing," said Tonks, doing her best to conceal a grin.
"Now, you, I must say, need to bathe. The stench in here is horrible."
"You're one to be talking…" retorted Tonks, but Snape just ignored her.
"This…social gathering…is to be quite formal. You are to appear in your true form and must wear…this," said Snape pushing something frilly at her, as if it would scald his skin if he held it too long.
Tonks wrinkled her nose. She was not fond of formal events, especially ones that were full of evil, conniving Death Eaters. She also wondered how she was to go about this bathing business, seeing that Snape was bound to remember last time. Tonks was about to ask when she felt her chair levitate off the floor.
She turned her head to see that Snape had is wand out and was levitating her towards the bathroom. He then levitated her too high, knocking her head against the ceiling before setting her directly into the filthy bathtub.
"What are you—" started Tonks, but she was cut off by a flood of freezing cold water spilling over her head and down her body. Shivering, she glared at Snape, who seemed oblivious to the fact. Next came the soap, which spilled down her face. She managed to close her eyes quickly enough, but her mouth wasn't so lucky. Tonks sputtered at the bitter, bubbly taste. She had never known that Snape was so cruel.
"You know, it would be slightly more polite if you made the water at least luke-warm," spat Tonks.
"And this situation would be slightly more pleasant if I didn't have to put up with your incessant chatter."
"You know you like my company, Sevie."
"I rather spend time with the Giant Squid."
"So it's true! Don't worry you can tell me; I'm not prejudiced against inter-species relationships, although I can't guarantee that it won't slip out at this…social gathering."
"Silencio!" shouted Snape, clearly fed-up with her bantering. "I always thought that you been seen than heard."
Tonks wanted to roar with laughter. To her that was only an inch away from admitting that he was attracted to her. Wait…
Tonks froze and made a face. She didn't want Snape to be attracted to her. That was a repulsive concept to begin with. Why would she want him to admit it?
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A/N: I apologize for the long wait. I have many excuses though. Thank you to everyone for reading with an extra special thank you to everyone for reviewing. I hope the next chapter will not take as long. Also, I hesitate to take this turn in my story, as "social gatherings" are so common that they have become cliches. I would like to know what everyone thinks before I write the next chapter.
---Perplexity
PS:
xtotallyatpeacex: No, I do not write incest. I shudder I still don't know what will happen next in my story. I have many ideas, though.
WAYAMY27NARF: Thank you, I am glad to preasent a different prespective.
Apothecaria: That's a lot of reviews in a row. I thank you for noticing that Voldemort is human. As for my mistaken spellings, I apologize. Many times, I guessspellings, meaningto look them up later, but then forgeting. I alsosometimes make up pronunciations that don't even make sense and then spell words according to my made-up pronounciations.
