Disclaimer: All belong to J.K. Rowling
Lucius noticed that an uninvited guest was outside his manor. He leaned a bit closer to the window and tried to spot the person. He expected to see some unwanted people, but it was just a young woman in her blue dress. The woman did not try to break in or attempt some foolish spells. She simply stood there, staring to one of the windows. Curiously, he followed her eyes and ended up at the famous couple on the dance floor: Severus Snape and Hermione Granger. He frowned, watching the couple as they continued their beautiful dance. Something told him that he should go out and greeted this young woman.
Cori held a little box closer to her chest while watching him dancing happily with his partner. He never smiled at her like that; a smile that reached his eyes and soften his features. He must love her a lot to show such a side to her. Tears ran down on her cheeks slowly and silently, but she smiled with him anyway. She felt happy for him to, because it was her that he could not find his true happiness. Without her interference, he might have married the woman he loved and they probably had a few children run around house by now. She had ruined everything.
When Lucius stepped out of the front door and headed to the side of his manor, he found the young woman held tightly to a small box. Her eyes never left the little scene in front of her. Severus and Granger now stood a bit closer to window as they talked about something. His best friend looked happy and the man did not seem to hide that fact. Granger was a bit flushing and smiled shyly whenever Severus told her something funny. All together made the young woman who stood there looked like a extra piece of the picture.
"What could I help you with, Miss… ?" Lucius approached the young woman in his formal manner and the way she fixed her hair did not escape his keen eyes. She was a married woman. Mrs. Snape.
Cori took a moment before she shook herself away from her own thought. She turned to left and saw her husband's best friend, Lucius Malfoy. She never had the chance to meet her husband's friends, probably she would never do, but she had heard about Mister Malfoy and his supporting during her husband's trial.
"I'm apology for this," Cori stumbled as she fixed herself more presentable. "I come to deliver a gift. Unfortunately, I forgot the recipe and the letter from the customer, so I could not send this to your house's elf."
Lucius knew she was lying. Everything would deliver by a house elf or owl, not in-person kind of service. It did not mean that this type of services were not presentable, but it only happened in some special works, like Potions where some of the orders need to be handled personally.
"I can accept the gift and release you back to your work," Lucius offered, knowing well the gift was for Severus. What else could have forced his wife to bring it all the way to here if it's not for him?
Cori's eyes flashed sadly and unconsciously held the box tighter, but she gave it to him eventually. "It's for Potions Master Severus Snape," she reminded him.
"And from whom?" he asked.
"The customer wants to be anonymous so I can't share the name," she replied. "Thank you for helping me out, Mister Malfoy."
"I am…"
Lucius did not able to finish his sentence as the young woman disapparated away immediately. He was a bit surprise by her rude action, but then, he turned and looked at the window, he saw Severus looked out and smiled happily at him. The young woman did not want her husband to see her there.
It was until later that night Lucius gave Severus the box. Surprisingly, it was a beautiful crafted quill with black feather. Severus had asked him who sent the box but he shook his head and lied. He knew about the relationship between his best friend and his wife. Severus clearly told him that he hated the woman and wished the marriage law could have gone sooner. There was no love in that relationship or even a small amount of respect. For some unknown reasons, Severus hated the woman to the point that Lucius saw the hatred in his best friend's eyes whenever the man talked about her.
Lucius never understood it and probably never would. However, he knew that the young woman disappeared the same night when a divorce parchment appeared in front of Severus. She signed her part and ended the loveless marriage the moment the law officially ended.
"For a brainless woman, she finally did something right," Severus mocked loathsomely as he sighed his part with her quill.
"I never ask you the reason behind your hatred to the woman, Severus," Lucius suddenly said. "But what happened?"
Severus sneered. His whole face turned dark as he remembered about his ex-wife, a manipulated woman. "She fooled me into marrying her. She thought that she could manipulate me with her charms and fake love. She did not know that I had seen in her mind all of her little plans. Gladly, I gotta see her true self before everything goes her way. She might look like an innocent and naive, but her mind is wrench with evil schemes."
Lucius rose one of his eyebrows to his best friend's comment regarding the problem. He had seen the woman. She was nothing like the woman in Severus's story. Oh! And he did scan her little mind a little bit while talking with her, and well, she was like an open-book. She was just a simple person with a very simple plan, to make her husband happy. Apparently, with all those years living a double life, Severus had mistakenly seen her honest as a manipulated scheme.
With the divorce went through without a problem, Severus happily left Lucius's study and headed to meet with his love. Lucius noted that the man left the quill behind and did not bother to take it with him. He took it up and traced his finger on the quill's body. It was soft and oddly warm as he held it. The woman probably put in some of her own spells to make the quill reacts like that. If his best friend did not want it, he did not mind to use it. After all, he had a soft spot for beautiful crafted quill.
Then, as Lucius put the quill back into its box, he saw a piece of parchment stick out from underneath the felt. He pulled it out and realized it was a small note from the woman to her husband.
"Happy birthday, Severus!
Please let me call you by your first name for the last time. Tonight, you will not see or hear me again. I'm sorry for causing you all the troubles for this past three years. I hope to give this to you before we go to the ball but the invitation does not include me. I know you like your quill comfortable and smooth, so I take extra time in crafting it for you. Please, don't throw it away! If you keep it more than a day, you will know that…"
The rest of the note disappeared as the charm the woman settled in. Something else was there for Severus to see and the man would never know. Lucius put the note back into the box and kept it close to himself. Oddly enough, he found himself linked to a woman he only met once and was an ex-wife to his best friend. But using the quill she put her heart and mind into making, brought him closer to her. Since then, the black quill had became his personal favorite and it never left his side.
Every day, Lucius opened the note to see if the rest of her note would appear but it never would. Severus remarried later that month and by the end of the year, they announced their first baby. Lucius was happy for his best friend and gladly accepted that the man finally found someone he can truly show his true self. About his best friend's ex-wife, she disappeared without a trace. Lucius had tried to locate the woman out of curiosity but found none. It was like there was no one named Cori Olhouser.
Then, one day, Lucius opened the note before he went to bed and stared at the little parchment. The spell finally broke and revealed the rest of the note.
"... I am pregnant with twins."
A hideaway secret… for twenty years...
A/N: I had this idea for a while but could put it into words. This was not a fully version of what I had in mind but this scene burned deep in my brain and I was glad to bring it out. I may wrote another piece from Cori's POV and how she was struggling to live with Snape for three years before signing the divorce paper. However, I can't guarantee that this piece will be out anytime soon as I still have a few unfinished projects lol Hope you enjoy my writing! Thank you! Love!