9. Shopping in Diagon Alley
When Severus woke up in the morning and saw his wife's serene and peaceful face his feelings and love for her were almost overwhelming him. Nothing else mattered more. He still couldn't believe how it was possible that somebody like her was laying in his arms breathing softly against his neck, the fingers of one hand woven into his hair. The emotions in him were almost more than he could bear. His life was finally going in the right direction, and not too far into the future they would have a little girl.
He suddenly felt Bobbie stir in his arms. When he kissed her on the forehead she smiled at him and then stretched.
"Good morning, my Love," he greeted her.
She scooted up a little so she could kiss him. "Good morning my wonderful husband."
They enjoyed kissing and caressing each other for a while before Severus went down to her belly, like he did almost every morning since he knew that they would have a baby and this time he said, "Good morning little girl." And kissed the part of her belly where he knew their child would be growing.
He then went back up to Bobbies face and kissed her and said, "I am going to make coffee. I think we should have breakfast in Diagon Alley in that new little Cafe they opened since the war. Minerva said it was excellent. This way we can buy groceries and I can get some necessary potion ingredients and a new book that came out on defence."
"We should get that book in the bookstore where I got those potion books for your birthday," Bobbie said with a chuckle. "Would be interesting to see what the store owner has to say when he sees you, now that you are a war hero."
"Don't say that. I don't feel like one," he said.
"In this regard you and Harry are very similar, you know that? He also doesn't feel like a hero and he just wants to be left alone, just like you do," she told him.
"Good for Potter. I like that boy more and more," he quipped.
Severus and Bobbie finally got up, took their showers and got dressed. They each had a cup of coffee and then Apparated to Diagon Alley.
They ate breakfast in the little Cafe Severus had been talking about, which incidentally turned out to be called 'The Little Cafe', and both of them agreed that Minerva had spoken the truth about it being an excellent place.
The next stop on the way would be the bookstore. They walked inside together but split up afterwards. Bobbie watched Severus walk up to the counter ringing the small bell that was sitting on the top.
The owner of the store came out of the back room and when he saw Severus he stopped for a second before he walked up to him. "Professor Snape, it is an honour seeing you in my store again. I have read all about how you helped defeating 'You-Know-Who'. What can I do for you? If you are here for the two books you ordered I am very sorry. I ended up selling them to somebody else because I... well, you know... I didn't know if you would ever pick them up." He fidgeted and finally said with a sheepish look on his face, "If I would have known I would have kept them for you."
Severus said, "Don't worry about it. My wife already bought them for me."
"Congratulations! I read in the newspaper that you have gotten married. I hope to meet her some day," the owner said.
In this moment Bobbie came around a bookshelf and sauntered up to the counter. When she was close enough Severus laid his arm around her waist and said with a smile, "There she is." And then Severus said to Bobbie, "Did you find anything interesting?"
The poor man's eyes went wide when he recognized Bobbie and remembered the derogatory things he had said about Severus when she was here. His face turned beet red and his mouth opened and closed a few times like he was going to say something but couldn't find the right words.
Severus finally put him out of his misery and said, "I would like to get the newest volume about Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"Right away, Professor!" The man disappeared in the back room and came back with a box full of books. "They just came in last night. I haven't even had time to put them on the shelf."
Severus said, "I will take two copies, if it is okay."
"Certainly, certainly... Let me wrap them up for you." The embarrassed man noisily rummaged around under the counter for wrapping paper.
"I would appreciate if you would send one of them to Mr Potter in the Ministry." Severus opened one of the books and scribbled a quick note on the inside of the cover;
Mr Potter,
Congratulation on being accepted into the Auror programme. We can all sleep better knowing we have some capable people on our side.
Severus Snape
He then gave the book back to the owner to have him send it to Harry. Bobbie smiled at him and squeezed his hand only for a moment. She knew Severus wasn't the type who liked to show a lot of affection outside his private life and she respected that. She knew he probably only had put his arm around her waist to make the store owner uncomfortable.
They finally paid for the two books and went off to the apothecary. Just as they walked up to the door, it opened and Neville Longbottom exited. He looked at the two of them and said, "Professor and Dr Snape, how do you do? Congratulations on your marriage."
"Thank you very much Mr Longbottom. I think congratulations are in order on your part also. How is the Auror programme working out for you?" Severus asked.
"It is working out quite well. It can be a little tough once in a while but nothing we can't handle," Neville answered with confidence.
"I am happy to hear that. By the way, I wanted to let you know that I appreciate your help in making sure Voldemort's pet snake met an early demise. I dare say you have learned about my unfortunate encounter with the aforementioned serpent? If it wouldn't be for the quick thinking of my wife, Hogwarts would have to do forever without her most hated teacher." Severus smirked.
Neville snorted, "Well, lucky for the students they won't have to find out." Then he said, "I better go. Stores close early on Saturday and I still have to stop by the book store before they do. The new defence book came in and I'm going to get one for Harry, Ron and me."
Severus said, "I am glad you mentioned that. Don't get one for Mr Potter. I already sent him a copy to the Ministry. You have a good day."
"You too Professor." Then he inclined his head to Bobbie and said, "Ma'am."
Severus held the door of the apothecary open for Bobbie and said, "If anybody would have told me that Neville Longbottom would grow into a confident and able young man a year ago, I would have never believed it."
"I liked the boy right away," Bobbie stated.
"You didn't know him as the cauldron melting imbecile he used to be. There had never been a dull moment when he was brewing a potion. If it wouldn't have been for Miss Granger helping him who knows what kind of mayhem he would have caused," he said.
"I have heard from Albus that his parents had been Aurors. He must have inherited it from somebody. Not everybody is good in everything they do," Bobbie said.
Severus looked at her with a bout of recognition and said as much to himself as to her, "His parents are in St Mango's. Bellatrix Lestrange drove them insane with the Cruciatus Curse."
The next thing she knew was Severus storming into a section of the apothecary containing the exotic herbs. His eyes flew over the shelves but apparently he didn't find what he was looking for. He turned and went to the counter and started talking to the clerk who shook his head and then pulled a catalog out from under the counter. After looking through it the clerk scribbled something on a piece of parchment and then Severus fished a list out of his pocket and gave it to the clerk before coming back to her.
"You looked like you had a brainstorm when we just talked about Neville's parents," Bobbie said.
"I guess you could call it that. For years I have thought about the Cruciatus induced insanity and have thought about some things that may work to reverse at least some of it. I never had the time to really do anything about it. Voldemort also would have had my hide if I would have come up with something that would help his enemies."
When nobody was looking she stroked his cheek and whispered with love in her voice, "My brilliant husband."
Severus looked around and decided in that moment that he didn't care what people thought. After all, he was free to do anything he wanted. He smiled at Bobbie and then took her hand and first kissed it and then he walked out of the store with her, never letting go of her hand.
Outside he said, "I want people to know that you are mine."
She smiled at him and then stopped. "Didn't you forget your potion ingredients?"
"No, they will deliver them to Hogwarts once they have everything on the list."
They walked to the Leaky Cauldron where they took their outer robes off, which they had worn over Muggle clothing and made their way to Muggle London to buy the groceries there and then they went home.
888
Monday morning and the hustle and bustle of Hogwarts came all too soon. Severus checked his timetable and noticed he had a free period from 11 o'clock through lunch. He went to see the Headmistress. "Minerva I would like to use my free period to go to the Ministry and have the cottage registered for magical occupants, if that would be okay with you."
"Of course Severus! By the way, while you are there swing by Kingsley's office about that potion you are working on to cure Lycanthropy. He told me to have you come by."
"I will do that, thanks!" Severus said with a nod.
"Oh, before I forget... One of your Slytherin students has decided to leave Hogwarts and go to Durmstrang instead," Minerva mentioned.
"Let me guess, it is Mr Rosier in fifth grade," he said.
"Yes, you are correct. His mother owled me saying that his father said he doesn't want his son being taught by a traitor. I'm sorry Severus!"
"We are talking about a father who is in Azkaban." Severus shook his head. "I have a feeling that this boy is going to be trouble. He called me a traitor to my face. The rest of the Slytherins were already working on putting him in line. Unfortunately now that he is leaving he may never have a chance in life."
"We can't save everybody Severus, especially children who don't want to be helped," Minerva answered.
Severus and Minerva walked together to the Great Hall for breakfast. He then had two successful classes in which the Slytherin and Gryffindor students were more and more interacting. Then at 11 o'clock he Flooed to the Ministry and first signed in for a meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt before he went to Arthur Weasley's office.
When he knocked on the door he heard Arthur Weasley's voice saying, "Come in!"
When Severus entered and Arthur saw him he got up and smiled and extended his hand in greeting. "Severus, it's great to see you. I hear you had the same problem I had, with a large snake nibbling on the neck and such..." he winked.
Severus snorted. "I guess you could say that..."
"Well that miserable thing won't bite anybody anymore thanks to the Longbottom boy. What can I help you with?" Arthur asked.
"I would like to have my wife's cottage registered for magical occupants, since I will stay there quite frequently."
"Ah, of course! Congratulations on your marriage by the way...," Arthur said and pulled out a piece of parchment for Severus to fill out. "Looks like married life is treating you well. I am happy for you."
"Thank you Arthur! I also would like to apologize about George...," Severus started before Arthur interrupted him.
"I don't want to hear it, Severus!" Arthur held up his hand. "Harry and also Molly already told me. You had the best of intentions and unfortunately accidents happen."
Severus looked at Arthur for a little while like he was going to disagree but eventually sat down at the visitors table and filled out the application. A few times, while he was doing so, he noticed Interdepartmental Memos flying into the room. One of them was for Severus and Arthur gave it to him. It read that Kingsley was ready to see him as soon as he was done registering the cottage.
When Severus was done filling out the parchment he said his goodbyes to Arthur and made his way to the Ministers office.
He found the door open and Kingsley waved him inside. "Severus, great to see you again. What does Minerva tell me there, you may found something against Lycanthropy?"
"Yes, but I can't be sure unless I can test it on somebody. Minerva thought I should talk to you and see if there would be a way," Severus answered.
"Well, I had some time thinking about it since Minerva contacted me and I have come up with two options," Kingsley said. "You know that they registered all the werewolves during the time Voldemort basically ran the Ministry." Kingsley picked up a stack of papers which had been laying on one corner of his desk and showed them to Severus. "These are the registrations. We have found a few people with Lycanthropy who feel they have nothing to lose and would be happy to go through a test in exchange for pecuniary assistance until they can get back on their feet.
"Another possibility would be to use prisoners in Azkaban. There are some of Voldemort's followers with the disease. At least this way those murderers would do some good for the world."
Severus thought about it and said, "I am leaning more toward the lot in Azkaban. Just in case the potion doesn't work or has some serious side effects, I don't want to have an innocent person affected by it. If it works on the prisoners we can still do a few long-term tests on those other people later, where they have to keep a log about their health for... let's say a year."
"Fair enough!" Kingsley said. "You let me know how we can best do this. Minerva said the potion has to be administered as soon as it is brewed?"
"Yes, which makes it a little difficult. I will brew a very small test batch just to find out how long the brewing takes. I will contact you after that. We need to find someone who is willing to drink it and not clamp up. Those prisoners may refuse."
"No Severus, I have a better idea. Poppy can get a potion down somebody's throat even when they are unconscious. Why don't we just use the Full Body-Bind Curse and then cram it down their throats when they can't move."
Severus chuckled. "Thinking like a true Auror, Kingsley. I am glad I wasn't on your wrong side."
The two men had a good laugh about that and shortly afterwards Severus took his leave.
888
That evening Severus went to his lab right after dinner and started brewing the potion that he hoped would cure Lycanthropy. He went to the shelf where he had all of his cauldrons and picked the smallest cauldron he had that was made of silver. Silver was poisonous to werewolves and could kill them or even burn them if they simply touched it. Brewing the potion in a silver cauldron would only leach some small amounts of Silver into the potion. It would be just enough to affect the wolf in the person but not enough to cause harm.
He spent the first hour preparing the ingredients by slicing, crushing and dicing. He then lit a fire and hung the cauldron over it and poured in a cup of Aloe Vera juice and heat it up. He then added the first two ingredients and let them steep for one hour. The soothing qualities of the Aloe would relieve some of the harshness of the silver. When the last grain of sand dropped in his hourglass he added the next ingredient and stirred 33 times counter clockwise.
It was painstaking and meticulous work adding each ingredient at just the right time and the right heat of the cauldron. When he was done it was 11:30 at night and the potion had turned into a viscous dark blue mass. Just before administering it he would have to add a tablespoon of distilled water to a tablespoon of potion and mix it. He didn't do it now because there was nobody here to take it and the mixing with the water would take only a few seconds. At least now he knew the whole brewing process would take him 4 1/2 hours. He wrote it onto a piece of parchment and planned to owl it to Kingsley the next morning.
Severus vanished the test potion and started cleaning up his work place when he noticed Bobbie sitting on a stool in the far corner wearing her bathrobe. "How long have you been sitting there? I didn't hear you come in."
She walked up to Severus and said quietly, "I was as quiet as I could be. I didn't want to disturb you. I love seeing you work, with that concentrated look on your face." She stroked his cheek and went on her tiptoes and kissed him. Then she pulled his head down to her and said against his lips, "I also have been thinking about what we wanted to try on that workbench."
"Merlin, you can get a man from being tired and ready to fall dead asleep to a fool with a raging sexual yearning in just a split second," he said his breath going ragged. He pushed the rising evidence of his desire against her stomach. She moaned and loosened the belt on her bathrobe. When it fell open he saw that she was nude underneath.
He groaned and picked her up and sat her on the workbench. He opened his trousers and they fell to the floor. His boxers followed. His hand went to her mound and he stroked her with his thumb. She moaned and threw her head back in ecstasy. Just looking at her like that made him crazed with desire. He guided himself inside her and started with long deliberate strokes. He pleasured her with everything he had.
"Oh Baby...," she moaned. Her eyes closed she enjoyed every move he made until her insides turned into a quivering mess. Severus answered her climax with his own. They clung to each other for a long time until he felt her skin getting cold. They finally broke apart and he wrapped her into her bathrobe and they walked to their bedroom. Bobbie went to bed right away and after Severus had taken a shower he joined her and pulled her close before falling asleep.
