Chapter Fourteen

"What is that odour?"

"Probably your robes; haven't you been brewing all afternoon?"

"We are very close to town."

"Six miles out. Not too close; not too far."

"It is very large."

"It's average."

Severus eyed the country estate house that Regulus had dragged him to wearily, knowing well enough that he could not afford his half of the cost of such a residence. He glared slightly at the man next to him, who was staring at the house with an oblivious, satisfied expression, for he was certain that Regulus also knew there was no way he could afford it. Even if he could, he would not be willing to part with the funds.

"We should look elsewhere. This property isn't appropriate for our needs."

"You haven't even been inside yet." Regulus glanced at him, becoming impatient at his reluctance.

"I don't need to. This perspective is all I need to know this is above and beyond our needs; and in order to maintain such a home we would be required to obtain a further house elf."

"That's all arranged."

"What do you mean 'all arranged?' Severus looked at him, sharply, "We do not need another house elf."

"Come inside and take a look; you'll be impressed, I guarantee it." He made his way towards the house.

"I did not say that I am not impressed," Severus muttered, as he reluctantly followed, "I only said we do not need it."

"I didn't want us to live too far out from the Foundation; and the other options were too close to the towns. Wasn't it you who suggested we need somewhere secluded? We do not want our location discovered..." He let the remainder of his statement stand, both aware of whom they did not want to be discovered by.

"I doubt the attacker will be too impressed with the new lodgings," Severus remarked, as they stepped into the hallway and he caught sight of the high quality decor within it, "In fact, I believe they will be quite put out that their actions led to you finding such a fine place to relocate."

"Not my problem," Regulus muttered, almost defiantly, before his eyes brightened and he waved an arm, "So, what do you think?"

"Regulus," Severus sighed, shaking his head, "I have told you. This is not the place."

"Five bedrooms –"

"What do we need five bedrooms for? Visitors?"

"Bedroom each; bedroom for the house elves; office space and, yes, a room for guests."

"We have no guests. We never have guests. That is also something I would rather not change."

Regulus scoffed and rolled his eyes, taking him by the arm and leading him through a large doorway, "You can quit with the act. I saw how much you were enjoy the company of others at the party a few weeks ago."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about." Regulus looked at him, fully, a gleam in his eye; "Or should I say whom?"

Severus felt a treacherous heat begin to creep up his neck and looked away, almost scowling, "Do not start with your prattling."

Regulus chuckled, looking irritatingly delighted at his discomfort, "You two have been spending a lot of time together recently."

"And how would you know of that?" Severus looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "As far as I remember you have been peculiarly absent the past couple of weeks."

"I have my ways. People talk. It's not like you to take an interest in female company after all," Regulus was speaking with a grin than appeared to widen with each word.

"Or perhaps it is simply the case that some of us are entirely capable of controlling those urges, Regulus, foreign as the concept may seem to yourself. And it is not like you, to take the idle gossip of your employees at face value." Severus glared at him, attempting to disguise his growing discomfort at the fact that people had noticed, and were gossiping about, his behaviour towards Lily; "They are obviously just bored and have nothing better to do; in which case projects must be slow. The perfect excuse for some layoffs, I think."

Regulus laughed and shook his head; "Yeah, fantastic idea, Sev. Let's fire the employees for daring to speak about the private life of the great Severus Snape."

"Enough, Regulus," Severus snapped, "This is not something I wish to discuss."

"Oh come on!" Regulus was still laughing, infuriatingly, "What's with all this coyness? You were not so reserved when you and Dana Wishbone were involved."

Severus almost groaned at the mention, "Please, do not speak to me of that woman."

Regulus was no longer laughing soundly, but his body continued to tremor with amusement as he led him through from dining room into the kitchen; "Basement," he stated, as he indicated towards a door in the corner of the room, "I assume that is where you will do all your brewing –"

"As I have already said," Severus ground out, becoming more and more impatient with each of Regulus' words, "I do not wish to purchase this house. We should leave –"

"No, you haven't seen the best part yet."

"What 'best part'? Tell me now."

"I'll show it to you," Regulus said, making his way out yet another door, this time leading into what appeared to be a ballroom.

Severus almost blanched at the sight, eyeing the dance floor with disdain, "Really, Regulus? This," he gave a sweeping motion with his arm across the room, "This is all necessary, is it?"

"There is library space through that door; I'm sure you don't object to that. And we could hold some of the Foundation galas here."

"Never." Severus quickly put such a horrifying idea to rest; "Our location is to remain unidentified; we cannot have hundreds of people frolicking in our garden." Or our home; the thought almost made him cringe.

"There is a bedroom down that corridor," Regulus stated, as they stepped back into the hallway, "Most suitable for Ayra and Kreacher. And there's the parlour through there." He indicated the further door, however turned at the staircase and the two began to make their way up to the second story.

"Ayra?" Severus repeated, though he knew well enough who this 'Ayra' was going to be, before Regulus went on to confirm;

"The new house elf."

"We do not need a new house elf! Do you not consult my opinion on anything, Regulus?"

"It depends."

"On what, exactly?"

"On how difficult I expect you to be."

"Ah. Very amusing, Regulus."

"This is my room," Regulus announced, throwing open the door to the first, large room on the right. Severus peered in with disinterest, before glancing back at him;

"Do not get too attached."

"It's too late."

"What do you mean 'it's too late'?"

"I've already purchased it."

Severus looked at him sharply.

"Now, before you saying anything," Regulus said, nervously, lifting up two hands in front of him, making calming gestures which only served to infuriate him further, "I know it's a bit above our price range –"

"A bit – Regulus, are you insane?" Severus snapped, "What would ever give you the idea that I could possibly afford to purchase this house; half of this house; even a quarter of this house! This is ridic – cancel the transaction immediately!"

"All the paperwork is through." Regulus pulled out a collection of rolled up parchments, presumably the deeds to the land and property, holding them out to him. Severus snatched them from his hands but didn't bother to look at them, keeping angry, truly angry, eyes on the man across from him.

"Unless you plan on offering me a very significant pay rise for my work at the Foundation – not unwelcome or unwarranted, I may add – there is no way we can afford this house. The settlement for Grecian's hasn't even come through yet."

"I know. When it does you can just give me your half."

"My half?" Severus cocked an eyebrow at him, stepping back, "Are you trying to tell me that this property is of the same value as our last?"

"No. But I sold Black Manor last week, remember? And I have used the money to purchase this. And also to obtain those potions materials you were so adamant you needed for the Foundation, as well as to deal with some other demands that department heads have been making."

"I thought you planned to give part of that money to your cousins?"

"Cissy and Andie both refused the money; so I created trusts in Draco and Dora's names. The interest rates were high enough that an equal percentage was not necessary; they've improved a lot since Malachi's was created."

Severus didn't respond, only continued eyeing the corridors of, apparently, his new home.

"I also arranged for some of the money to go to my brother –"

Severus glanced at him quickly, at the guilty tone by which his friend spoke.

"I thought I ought to tell you. In case your new –" his eyes twinkled again "- friend happens to mention it."

"I could not care less what you do with your money, Regulus," Severus assured him, in a slightly less harsher tone than before, "So long as I do not have to deal with that imbecile, you may have as much contact with him as you please. It is of no concern to me."

Regulus smirked, "You don't have to worry about that. I just didn't think it was fair to not give him something."

"Life is not fair, Regulus. It is time you accepted that."

XXX

"Why he would think I would appreciate such a thing is beyond me."

Lily struggled to hold back a smile as Severus continued to rant to her over Regulus Black's gall to purchase a house without consulting him, and found herself attacking the steak on her plate with her knife with more force than necessary in an attempt to distract herself.

"You are aware that the cow is already dead, I presume?"

Lily, having been successfully holding in her amusement at his outraged comments for the past fifteen minutes, found that the laughter she had been fighting could no longer be denied and dissolved into a fit of silent giggles which appeared to startle him; for her amused reaction far outweighed the humour of the comment he had made.

"Perhaps you have had enough wine," Severus said, as he eyed the glass in front of her, her only glass and from which she had only had a couple of sips since it had arrived.

"I'm sorry, Severus," she apologised, as she drew in a breath and tried to control the bubbles of laughter, "It's been a long day, that's all," she offered, as means of explanation.

"As if I have not noticed your amusement at my current situation. You do not know how infuriating Regulus Black can be."

"I have a fair idea; I do live with his brother."

Severus tilted his head, appearing to think on that for a moment before he gave a nod, as if agreeing to something; "Something tells me that you have drawn the short straw; Regulus, at least, has common sense and humility in his favour."

Lily glanced down at his comment, not entirely comfortable by the direction of conversation.

The silence dragged on, becoming more and more uncomfortable, before Severus finally spoke;

"I apologise. My comment was inappropriate."

Lily shrugged, keeping her eyes downcast, before she lifted her cutlery to her food again. The food at the Bistro Severus had recommended was outstanding; she had never experienced such a delightful meal and, since then, the two had made it almost a custom to meet there for dinner after work before heading home. That custom was, apparently, of particular interest to some of their work colleagues, a fact which she had discovered when some of the people on the project had begun commenting and questioning her about her acquaintance with him.

"What do you intend to do over the weekend?" Severus appeared to be struggling for a topic of conversation, following his blunder, so she smiled in an attempt to calm him.

"I am taking Harry to St Mungos."

"Are his injuries still troubling him?" Severus frowned, "It has been some weeks –"

"No, it's not his injuries," Lily interrupted him, pushing away the uneasiness she felt at the reminder of what had happened; "I'm taking him to see his father. It will be his first visit."

Severus regarded her for a moment, curiously, before he glanced down at his own meal, making a move to continue with it. He spoke without looking up; "I hope it goes well."

"Thank you."

She had hoped she would be able to speak with him about it; with someone who wasn't directly involved with the situation. But, from his tense demeanour, she guessed that the last thing he could possibly want to speak about with her was James Potter. Her husband. It wasn't something they had discussed; it hadn't been brought up by either of them since their re-acquaintance and anytime the conversation had seemed to go in that direction one of them had always been quick to nip the topic in the bud.

Apparently, any conversation about James Potter was off limits. And she supposed she preferred it that way. After all, what's to say a conversation about Harry visiting him wouldn't lead on to a conversation about her visits; about her marriage; about her decision to marry him. Though he had never voiced it, she was quite certain that Severus had been adamantly against it. Perhaps even still was.

"What about you? Do you have any plans?"

"Moving into my new home, apparently."

"I'm sure the place is lovely, Severus."

"Lovely. Yes. That is not the point. One would expect a lovely home when looking to buy in Newton's Burrow."

"Newton's Burrow?" she looked at him, sharply, "That's where it is? That's a really nice place, Severus. Beautiful scenery."

"Yes, I am aware."

"Complaining about getting a house in Newton," she said, as she rolled her eyes, "I think you ought to swallow your pride and consider the benefits. There are hardly any muggles out there; wizards either, now that I think about it. You would be able to practice magic quite freely."

"Pride has nothing to do with it. And the house is under protective shields; we do not intend to reveal our location due to current circumstances."

"Still no progress with the investigation?"

He only shook his head with a look of irritation at the fact. His eyes caught something to her left and she glanced over; Healer Hopkins was regarding them with interest from the table where he sat, alone, and had quickly smothered a grin he had been giving Severus when she turned. She offered him a polite smile and a nod, which he returned, before turning his attention back to his meal.

When she turned back, Severus' cheeks were slightly pinker than they had been before; "Apparently you are quite the recluse around here."

"And where would you get that idea?" he replied, with complete composure, "Have you and I not spent an acceptable amount of time together to dismiss such a thought?"

"Apparently it is the amount of time spent together that has garnered our colleagues' interest; do you often avoid company?"

"I enjoy my time alone, that is all," Severus stated, "There are some people's company I enjoy. I used to dine with Healer Hopkins in the evening on occasion. Or Regulus Black, of course."

Lily glanced quickly over at the Department Head, who continued to sit alone; "Perhaps you would like to invite him to join us?"

When she looked back, Severus was regarding her carefully for a moment. She raised an eyebrow, which seemed to jolt him from his stare, and he leaned slightly to the side, speaking more loudly; "Eugene."

The older man glanced at them quickly.

"Would you like to join us?"

Healer Hopkins looked surprised for a moment; then, with an amused glace at each of them, leaned back and shook his head; "No thank you, Severus. I am quite alright where I am." He ended with a grin, before he turned his attention back to his own meal.

Severus' blush had increased slightly as he turned his attention back to her; "If the interest bothers you, Mrs Potter, there is no reason for these meals to continue."

"Mrs Potter?" she repeated, with a raised eyebrow, "Really, Professor? Are we back to that? We are hardly strangers to unwelcome interest with regards to our relationship. Besides, it is you that people are interested in, not me. I dare say our colleagues would have reacted the same way, no matter who you were sitting here with."

Severus glanced at her, "Actually, you have become quite the talk of the faculty recently. What with all your 'superior' knowledge of the project."

Lily blushed, then gave him a sheepish grin, "Obviously I have had some help with that."

"Take the credit that it offered to you, Lily. A good reference from Healer Heart will be incredibly beneficial; her name carries a good deal of weight in your profession. Of course, you would do well to make a good impression on Eugene; Healer Hopkins, that is. He has many connections that would also benefit you."

"I've settled in quite well," she shrugged, for she thought that she got along just fine with the two people he had mentioned.

"Yes, I cannot disagree with that."

She smiled, reaching for her glass of wine. However, as she did so she noticed Severus shift uncomfortably, as he glanced out the corner of his eye. She followed his look, noticing another person regarding them with interest and rolled her eyes.

"You know, you are very well liked around here."

"Am I indeed?"

"Yes. Respected; admired. Not surprising, really –"

"Is there something you want, Lily?"

She rolled her eyes; "I only meant to say that you don't have to shy away from people."

"I am not 'shying away', Lily. I have many friends here."

Lily was surprised at the statement and frowned; "Then, why are people so surprised by us?"

Severus glanced at her, poker-faced, before offering a shrug; "I only stated that I have friends. I did not mean to imply I had any deep knowledge of the workings of their minds."

She got the distinct impression that he was starting to withdraw from her, as he became more tense and focused his full attention on the meal before him, and decided to drop the subject. Instead, she mused on the peculiar questioning and interest of their colleagues. She noticed, once again, Severus' attention being caught by the man behind her and he glanced at her briefly, before looking back down at his meal.

Deciding to lighten the mood, she turned her attention to something else; "Well, in that case you must be looking forward to the Yuletide Gala?"

He raised his eyes to her once again, his lip twitching slightly, the expression on his face making her chuckle.

XXX

"I'm not a charity case. I don't need your money."

Regulus regarded his brother with barely concealed disdain.

"I couldn't care less about your circumstances," Regulus parted his clasped hands, raising his eyebrows; "I was only giving you what you were due when the settlement on Black Manor came in. You are a Black, aren't you?"

"I don't need my little brother gloating and holding all his accomplishments over my head. Keep your damn money."

"It was Uncle Cygnus' money –"

"What about Andie? Or Narcissa Malfoy. You still keep in contact with her, I'm guessing?"

"It's none of your business who I'm in contact with, Sirius."

His brother's presence, alone, was enough to be an annoyance, never mind the self-righteous tone he often adopted around him.

"Though for the sake of argument and if it gets you out of my office any sooner, I'll let you know that their shares have been put into trusts for their kids, respectively."

Regulus gave a little scoff, when he added; "What a shame that in your case the money will probably be wasted on firewhisky and Quidditch matches."

"Like you know anything about me, Regulus," Sirius seethed, "And it's not like your son is lapping it up in a life of luxury due to your success, is it?"

"What would you know about my son?" Regulus snapped.

"Only that, once again, you opt to take the easy way out rather than manning up and doing what's right –"

"You walked out the door, what, ten years ago? Like you know anything about me."

"I don't need to know you. I read all about you in the Prophet. And I'm in contact with Andie, you probably forget."

"I don't forget. I'm just not interested. Now, if you don't mind, it's late and I have work to finish up. Not that you'd know anything about that."

"Just take the damn money back."

"If you had half a brain you'd think to put the money in a trust for your Godson. James Potter Jr."

"Harry doesn't need your money either. I can take care of him just fine."

"Actually, I imagine it's the wages of his mother that are currently sustaining him and let's not forget where those come from."

"Could you be any more arrogant?"

Regulus scoffed; "Look who's talking."

Sirius went off on a rant that he barely listened to.

Something about him always doing what his parents wanted. Always doing what was expected of him rather than what he believed in or what he wanted to do.

He felt himself grow hot with irritation, unwillingly noting that most of that were actually true.

He had always been too concerned with the opinion of others – even now, he struggled with it – and much too concerned with doing what was expected. Allowing the world to tell him who he was supposed to be and forgetting who he actually was.

And wasn't that why he'd given Sirius the money in the first place – knowing that it would likely just lead to this - because it would have been frowned upon by people - by Andromeda, more specifically – if he hadn't?

"Get out, Sirius," Regulus finally snapped, when Sirius' ranted seemed nowhere near ending, and his patience was long since gone; "I have work to do. If you don't want the money, that's fine with me; my secretary will deal with it."

"Your secretary?" Sirius scoffed, looking around the room with an appraising eye; "You certainly have done well for yourself, haven't you?"

His brother's tone lacked any admiration, instead dripping with disdain.

"Well, I was a Slytherin. Cunning, ambitious, etcetera."

"Among other things."

"If you don't get out I'm going to call security."

"Keep your knickers on, Regulus, I'm leaving."

With that Sirius stormed over to the door, flinging it open so that it smashed into the bookcase dramatically – garnering the attention of everyone in the hallway on the other side of the door – before he strode out, leaving the door open behind him as he did so.

The Greeter, Elena Fitzherbert, hurried over to the door; "Is everything okay, Mr Black?"

"Oh, everything is just fine, Elena, if we ignore the goon," he forced a smile he was sure was not at all convincing; "Please, see to it that I am not disturbed for the rest of the evening."

"It is almost nine thirty, Sir."

"Won't be long, Sweetheart."

She smiled and nodded, before pulling the door closed, leaving him to his thoughts.

Regulus hated seeing his brother.

Of being reminded of how things were when they were young – or, more specifically, of how he was when he was young - of how he had been caught up in his parents politics and how his older brother had run away and left him to deal with the aftermath of their grief.

A face appeared in the fire.

"Mr Black?"

Regulus glanced at the fire, seeing Elena's face in it, and frowned.

"I thought I asked not to be disturbed?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry. But Professor Snape wished to remind you that you are to collect a young Malachi tonight?"

Malachi. Of course.

He almost groaned, glancing at his timepiece to confirm that, yes, it was nine thirty and he was supposed to have collected his son over an hour ago.

He thanked and dismissed her, before standing and beginning to gather his things.

Sometimes Regulus wondered what kind of joke the fates were playing on him by giving him a son.

What did he know about being a father?

His own was hardly a shining example, nor had his uncle been, so how on earth was he supposed to know what to do.

Sometimes Regulus felt as if he, himself, were the child.

He would do things – unbelievably stupid things – like when he dropped a bottle of milk in his little boy's face when he was a baby, and Malachi would look at him with a smile and give him a hug, as if he were saying 'it's okay dad. I don't care that you're an idiot'.

His own father – Orion Black – had been successful also. He had had money, connections, respect, admiration.

And Orion Black had been a terrible father.

Regulus had been the perfect son.

And Regulus' own son was the perfect son.

And here he was. Successful, respected and admired.

And a terrible father just like his own before him.