They Didn't Know We Were Seeds
With Christmas holidays just over a month away, Severus and Sage received near-identical letters from Boyd one Thursday morning. Opening them, they find it full of information on his wedding. Things they need to know now and to prepare for the wedding day. Sage leans over the Slytherin table and points at a line toward the bottom. "So, our Hogsmeade weekend is spent."
"Oh?" Severus mutters, skimming through his letter until he finds mention of something weekend or Hogsmeade related. Shortly, he finds a paragraph worth reading in-full. It says:
…Violet has visited Gladrags Wizardwear and given them patterns of the style of dress-robes she wants to be made for you two to wear at the wedding. Fabric samples as well. All you two need to do is head in and let them take your measurements and so they can make the robes for you. (Severus, in your envelope I have included a picture of the robe and a sample of the main fabric. Do make sure the seamstresses of Gladrags follow the directions to a T. They have a passion for adding "quirk" to an outfit and Violet will wring my neck if you show up at the wedding in anything even an iota different than what she planned. I'd give this task to Sage as my usher, but I fear out of two teenage boys you're the more intimidating – Do not tell him I wrote you that).
Mildly, Severus looks up from his letter. He hands it over to Sage, amused.
The boy, curious, takes it and reads it. He snorts. "I don't care," he says. "If he wants you to be the one to make sure they follow directions, you can do it."
Severus frowns. "You just want them to fuss at you and let me be the bad guy."
"Exactly," replies Sage with an unrepentant smirk. Abruptly, his brother lifted his gaze to something behind Severus. "Hello, Clara," he says.
Barely stopping himself from jumping out of his seat, Severus twists his body around to see the seventh-year staring at them with a piece of parchment clutched in her hand. "Hi?" he greets.
She blushes. "I'm sorry to do this, but… May I come with to be fitted for our outfits for the wedding? Violet suggested I go with you two because she's afraid Gladrags's will try and add a 'twist' to my gown."
"Sure," Sage agreed for them. Flashing Severus an impish look, he remarks, "Severus can be the bad guy for the all of us."
He does his best not to wince. Even if his brother means "bad guy" in a playful manner, Severus can't say he cares to be called such after years of being viewed as one.
Clara looks unconvinced. "Is it truly alright, Severus?"
"Yes." Severus nods, offering a small, reassuring smile.
She finally relaxes. "I'll meet you two here Saturday morning," Clara tells them.
-o-O-o-
They quickly find out Gladrags's is short-staffed when they walk in late Saturday morning. The two seamstresses on duty apologize profusely and quickly get to work by taking all of their measurements. Then, after offering two chairs to them, they tell Severus, Sage, and Clara to pick amongst them who shall get outfitted first. Clara insists it be one of them and Severus suggests Sage go so he can monitor and ensure things are made according to the pattern Boyd supplied them with.
With that settled, Sage steps up to have his dress-robe made by the two seamstresses as Clara and Severus take a seat a yard or so away from them. They are quiet for a time, Severus watching like a hawk as the seamstresses speed through making Sage a dress-robe. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Clara cross and uncross her legs. Finally, she locks her ankles together and puts her hands in the middle of her lap.
"Do you remember the first Slugclub party well?"
Severus can't stop his face from burning with embarrassment. "Unfortunately," he mutters.
He can just barely see her duck her head to hide a smile. "You were a sweet drunk."
"Sure," he snorts.
"You were," Clara asserts. Then, after a moment of what he can only call hesitation, she says, "You insisted – quite strongly at that – I give Benjy a try. We've had several friendly conversations since the party and… He's asked me out on a date. But I fear it getting back to my father if we go out together here in Hogsmeade."
Severus drums his fingers across his thigh in a thoughtful pattern. "I may have an idea," he tells her. "Unfortunately, the ones who may be able to help with this plan are not exactly on good terms with me at the moment." He thinks unhappily of Sirius, and, by extension, the rest of the Marauders. Since the Defense class where his fear of werewolves was revealed, Remus has found ways to avoid so much as being within three feet of him, let alone speaking to Severus. As for Sirius, he eyes him suspiciously and is terse when they speak to one another.
He knows the Gryffindor is afraid he's seen Remus on the full moon. Which, yes, he has. But not in this lifetime. He also has no plans to out the boy. Severus isn't afraid of Remus, after all. Just his werewolf. And all other witch and wizards' werewolves by extension. Because he's unsure of if he's seen Remus or if this is just a fear stemming from something else, Sirius doesn't know what to say. Do. Severus is beginning to think he's just going to have to start the conversation for them.
Sirius is afraid to broach the topic and, admittedly, that's probably his fault. Severus does get tetchy when certain subjects come up. Lily has told him in the past he shouldn't be so irritable when they hit a no-go zone with him, since it's not like the boys know it's a sensitive issue with him. Up until now, he's not agreed. After all, if he's not annoyed or angry, how are they ever going to know it's a topic he doesn't like?
Severus should have listened when Lily suggested he instead blatantly change the subject.
Clara makes a noise of disappointment. "I'm sorry to hear that. Are these ones you're having issues with those Gryffindor friends of yours? I've noticed you've spent quite a bit more time with Sage and those two younger years this past month."
"It's Sirius," answers Severus after a moment. What does he have to lose? Clara's going to be disgraced and disowned in another year or two. She'll make for a perfect test subject. "Lily and I are… Fine."
She nods. "Why are things poorly between you two?"
"Did Professor Prince have you face off against boggarts in Defense class as well?" he asks.
"Yes," she answers, a bit puzzled.
He hums. "It was after that lesson. One of the shapes the boggart took when I faced off against it was a werewolf. I think perhaps he may fear I was bitten or scratched by one," Severus fibs.
Clara turns her head and raises an eyebrow. "I assume that is not the case?"
"Quite," Severus agrees. Considering what to say next, what lies to go with, he finally settles on, "I read a book once. I was very small then and it had several graphic pictures of werewolves." He kicks his feet a little, trying to look a bit ashamed, maybe shy, as he mumbles, "And the rest was history."
She frowns. "Why don't you just tell him?"
He looks at her. "What if he doesn't believe me? Being afraid because of a book is a pretty silly reason."
"No, it's not," Clara assures. "I've been afraid of heights since I saw Adam fall out of a tree he was climbing when I was a little girl." She hides a bashful smile behind her hand. "It's why I barely scraped by flying class my first year with a poor."
Severus grimaces. "I hope your fear has lessened since then?"
"As long as it's someone else steering it, I can fly on a broom," Clara explains.
He nods. "You really think he'll believe me?" he asks.
"Most definitely," Clara insists.
Pleased that his lie worked on the young woman (who Severus suspects to be far more clever than Sirius given her time in Slytherin) he smiles. "I'll try and find him later this weekend to talk about it. After, I'll see if he can't help you with that date Fenwick wants to go on with you."
She lights up. "Thank you, Severus."
He waves it off. "It's no trouble," he says. "You helped me quite a bit just now."
His robe finished (and matching the pattern to a T), Sage steps away from the seamstresses and spins around for them. "What do you think?" the boy asks.
"It's very dashing," Clara assures. She looks at Severus out of the corner of her eyes. "I'm sure you'll be just as handsome in it."
Severus scoffs. "I highly doubt it."
-o-O-o-
Monday afternoon comes around quickly. Spotting Sirius on his own outside the charms classroom, Severus seizes on the chance. Speeding over to the Gryffindor he greets, "Hello."
Sirius steps back. "'Lo," he says back.
Not interested in beating around the bush any longer, he tells the boy, "I do know you've been avoiding me lately."
"No, I haven't," Sirius denies.
Severus rolls his eyes. "Sirius."
He sighs loudly. "Fine."
"Why? You've been off since the Defense class with the boggart."
The boy shifts uneasily. "It's not you."
"Was it the werewolf? I haven't been attacked by one or anything."
Sirius eyes him warily. "Really. Your fear of one was very accurate."
Severus frowns. "There was this book I read when I was small. The pictures were very detailed and precise." He feigns embarrassment and turns his gaze to a suit of arms off to the side. "I read it and have been rather – stupidly – afraid since."
"Didn't you grow up Muggle?" Sirius asks.
His gaze snaps back. Crossing his arms in annoyance at what Severus can only guess is doubt in Sirius's tone, he says, "So? Mother was still a witch. She did bring some magical things with her to the Muggle world."
"A book on werewolves?"
He scowls. "Forget it." He begins to stalk away, half-hoping Sirius will come after him, and half-dreading he won't.
Thankfully, he does. "Wait!" he calls.
After a moment, Severus does. He turns and looks at his friend. "Yes?"
"I'm sorry," he replies, looking very much like a dog who knows it's done wrong. "I've just never been terrified of something I read about in a book of all things."
Severus rolls his eyes. "Just because you haven't doesn't mean everyone else is the same."
"I know that, okay? Merlin!" Sirius grumbles.
He lets a moment of silence stretch on between them. "Are we fine now?" he finally asks.
"Yes," Sirius agrees. "I should have just asked in the first place instead of getting all… Y'know," he says, making a strange, indecipherable motion with his hands. But even so, Severus understands what he means.
Severus hums his agreement. Finally, he asks, "This probably is a poor time to bring it up, but do you think you can help a Slytherin mate of mine?"
Sirius takes an uneasy step back. "It's not Scabior, is it?"
"No," he replies, huffing out an annoyed breath. Why is it everyone else seems to think he's a lost cause? "It's Clara."
The boy relaxes instantly. "Parkinson, right? What does she need?"
"There's this Gryffindor…"
How did you like this chapter? Any particular thoughts on Clara or Sirius? Pretty soon here we'll have a wedding!
Also: Shout out to reviewer RoseLilian for letting me know about the (quite major) errors in the last chapter! I appreciate that. All I have to say on it is there are hazards to doing final edits in Doc Manager (and you'd think I'd know better than to use it for that 49 chapters in…). I'm not sure if I've said this before, but, guys, if you see some mistakes, big, small, in between let me know. I won't get upset, I'll thank you!
Thank you so much for reading :)