Chapter 18: Steamy Contemplation
{A/N: Here's Another Update...}
My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
The Bathroom, The Sinclair Residence, Unknown World...
Steam filled the bathroom as Severus Snape stood beneath the heated water flowing rapidly from the silver shower head letting it beat against his aching body as he showered. The house had been quite silent with the absence of Hermione and the children and it seemed as good a time as any to attempt to quell his less than savory need for the beautiful young woman who believed without a shadow of a doubt that he had been her husband. Her enchanting amber eyes had been the first thing he found himself thinking about as the water continued to beat down on him. The warm sensation against his slick flesh mirroring his mind's recollection of her touch as he tried his best to quell his arousal.
"Thinking about someone special?" asked a voice startling him from the onset as he nearly slipped as he attempted to cover himself in the wake of the intrusion.
The obsidian eyes of the former Potions Professor widened as he took notice of a familiar woman with hair like the mane of a lion. Her keen dark eyes seemed aglow with smug satisfaction and she strutted about in some variation of an animal print dress with rings of gold on her fingers and ears. Her lips had been as red as rubies and she seemed amused by his apparent modest reaction to her presence.
"Not you again." he muttered in annoyance.
The enchantress smiled pleased that he had recalled their last encounter quite easily despite her watching from afar for much of their game.
"Is that an albino python between your legs or are you just happy to see me?" she asked with a flicker of heat behind her dark eyes as she looked him over.
Snape rolled his eyes still trying to cover himself from her view as the water continued to beat down on him from the shower.
"Is there some reason why you are bothering me?" he growled not at all hiding his annoyance at having been intruded upon while showering.
"No." replied The Enchantress in a casual manner. "Just wanted to see how you were adjusting."
Snape narrowed his dark gaze upon the magically inclined woman wanting nothing more than to hex her to oblivion had he the use of his own magical abilities.
"Adjusting?" hissed Snape in annoyance. "You've taken me from my world and dropped me into the life of some poor sod...who happens to be dying by the way...and in a marriage with my former student no less...and I am sure you had something to do with my cock not responding when it came to the bartender but when it comes to the silly girl that dominated my classes with her insufferable personality it seems to have a mind of it's own."
"Believe it or not, your being attracted to your wife is a natural occurrence Severus Snape." replied the enchantress in a bored tone as she blew on her nails as if they were in need of drying. "And as for the bartender...well I'm sure she found someone who could follow through with meeting her needs."
Snape narrowed his gaze at the enchantress.
"You still haven't told me why you've brought me here." he said getting back to his initial concerns. "And what happened to this Sidney bloke who's life you've swapped for mine?"
"Why do you care?" she asked as if his question had no relevance to her.
"I care because he had a wife and children...a family that actually give a damn wither he lives or dies and he's been recently diagnosed with a brain tumor." hissed Snape once more showing his annoyance.
"I'll tell you what...if you wish to know what happened to Mr. Sinclair all you have to do is put those deductive skills of yours to work...Mr. Spy and you will learn all that you need to in order to understand the world around you." The enchantress advice.
"So it's back to the game." said Snape understanding her reluctance to provide valid answers to his questions.
"This time...there will be no outside interference." warned the enchantress. "And no do-overs...this life is temporary after all."
"Don't I know it." remarked Snape knowing full well she had been referring to the fact that the man who's life he had stolen being afflicted via a brain tumor. "I suppose that's the only good thing about this whole absurd mess."
The Enchantress smirked.
"Let's see if you still feel that way when the game comes to an end." she said before disappearing as quickly as she had arrived.
Snape had been quite annoyed to find that the water had gotten cold in the wake of his discussion with the strange enchantress. Turning his attention back to his shower despite the cold temperature, he couldn't help, but wonder more about the missing bloke Sidney Sinclair.
He had a seemingly full life, with a wife that loved him and four children...parents that actually wanted the best for him and siblings adopted or other wise that cared for him deeply and yet...he seemed to be a vastly private man capable of wearing masks around those he spent his entire life ensuring where safe and happy.
Snape supposed he could relate in some ways to the apparently quite solitary man despite his having many that cared for him in his presence. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for the poor man to find out about the brain tumor that would eventually be his undoing and there was no doubt in his mind that Sidney had been of the mind to keep his secret all the way to the grave.
The former Potions Professor sighed as his mind went back to Hermione. Her constant fears and apparently well founded concern had been alarming if he were to be honest. It was as if she had known that Sidney was capable of doing something that perhaps his family life couldn't anchor him from.
The Enchantress had invited him to use his deductive reasoning to address what might have happened to the real Sidney Sinclair and it seemed that he had been on a rather dark trail of facts. The only way to validate his information would be to do a bit of research and find out all he could of this man. He had plenty of time and more than a few resources available given that Hermione and the children were out for the day.
It wouldn't be easy, but he could piece together the identity of the bloke who's life he had been given and possibly find some angle that would answer at least give him an idea as to why the enchantress had chosen this man's life as a window of opportunity to possibly instruct him in some manner.
Snape finished up in the shower not wishing to linger in the cold any longer and set to work obtaining as much information about Sidney Sinclair as he could without bringing unwanted attention to himself. He figured the sooner he participated in the strange woman's little game the sooner she'd let him return to life as he knew it.
