The last thing Snape saw was the horrified yet determined gaze of one Erin Coffrey. Without another word, he apparated back to Benson's safehouse. The safehouse less a house than a single room shack. It featured a faucet, kitchenette, and modest other furnishings. The air smelled musty, involuntarily reminding him of Spinner's End. He let out an expression of mild disgust as his boots knocked against some glass vials.
On closer inspection, they were empty potions bottles. He read Pepper-up and Perk n' Alert on a few of them. Albus had been working Benson hard. One witch on constant survelliance couldn't survive much longer and Severus knew he would not allow her to continue in this state.
It seemed Albus was serious when he said 'sabbatical'. Severus was hoping to prove him wrong. He had made the decision to show Coffrey his more "human" side in an effort to appeal to her emotions and turn her as quickly as possible. As soon as they had a positive response from the project, he planned to take her away with him. That would put an end to this Life Debt nonsense. He had enough hanging over his head: Lucius, the Dark Lord, Albus. Having yet another loose end would make his head explode sooner than Longbottom could demolish his classroom.
Benson had hinted that her breaks were far and few in-between. He looked at the clock on the wall. She was due for one soon. Once she arrived, they could discuss what the plan was. He fixed a pot of tea and was sitting in the sole rattan chair, waiting for her arrival. He was not surprised when a crow flew in through the open window and transformed into a woman in mid-flight.
Emelia Benson was a tall woman. She was almost Snape's height, but her overall air of exhaustion gave her a crumpled appearance. Her dirty blond hair, plaited into a long braid, was dotted with twigs and leaves. He vaguely remembered her as a classmate several years below him. A Hufflepuff with a knack for trouble- as far as Hufflepuffs could get into trouble.
"Snape," she said tersely.
"Benson," he replied in kind.
He saw her eyeing the steaming cup on the nightstand, and nodded at her. She took it greedily and drank great gulps, alternating with small gasps as the liquid burned her tongue.
"So how did it go?" she asked after a moment.
"Well," he started. "The more pressing issue is the matter of who will be watching Ms. Coffrey. It won't be you"
"That's charming, Snape," she retorted, "But you know as well as I, there's no one else"
"Ms. Coffrey requested around-the-clock surveillance and protection for the term of her stay, most reasonably I might add"
Emelia took a deep breath to steady herself and looked hard at Snape.
"Fine"
"Idiot. You'll die of a heart attack with your sixth Pepper-Up in your beak"
"There's no one else!" she snapped at him, "And I have ten minutes left so stop winding me up!"
"I'm relieving you. I'll be making arrangements with Ms. Coffrey so that we'll be in constant communication"
He stood up, now standing almost nose-to-nose with her. Her blue eyes shined with a mixture of fury and relief.
"Be sure to let Albus know of the changes," he said in clipped tones. "And get some sleep, Benson"
She harumphed at him, but didn't give further protest before apparating away.
Snape stood up to close the window, and recoiled in disgust. Bird droppings covered the sill in a thick white paste.
"Ugh," he spat and slammed the window shut.
The X-ray went well. The radiologist read her film as clean with no breaks. Jonathan was satisfied with the results and as they drove back to the cottage, Erin broached the subject of becoming "official" with him.
"Let's do it," he said without any hesitation.
"Really?" she asked, surprised.
"It's all about hitting Critical Mass, Erin. Doctors are notorious for dealing in their own little sandboxes, but we can't make real lasting change like that. I'm glad you suggested it actually"
"Right," she murmured, wondering if Snape had somehow gotten to him as well.
"I've got some friends who might be interested in throwing their money at us. We can review their profiles in the house"
She brewed a fresh pot of coffee and cut out two generous slabs of pound cake for them as Jonathan was pulling up names on the laptop.
"Yan is the fellow you used to dorm with?" she asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Mm hmm. He's into accounting for some government associations. Great billiards player"
"I don't see that on his CV" she retorted.
"Sadly, there's no box for that on LinkedIn"
They sat together, thighs touching, as they stared into the small illuminated screen. Jon batted her hand away playfully when she tried to change tabs.
"You'll make it slower!" he complained.
She pinched him sharply in the ribs, then took up a pad and pen to write down some names and numbers. They then began to read up more specifically on what they needed to become a humanitarian group. Time slipped away quickly, when she caught the little numbers at the lower right corner of the screen, she was shocked to find it was well into the afternoon.
"I'm taking a break," she announced, and let herself slide down the couch a bit in a relaxed position.
Jon closed the lid of the laptop, and adopted a similar stance. She heard him sigh.
"Erin, I'm r- so sorry about the other night"
"It's fine," she said, waving it off.
"I was a bit of an arse to you. If I hadn't been, none of this would have happened," he continued. "And I'm relieved you're ok"
She turned to him, and was greeted by a sincerely apologetic face. His strikingly attractive looks were softened by an odd look in his eyes.
"Thanks," she said, her voice sounded faint.
Her movements felt awkward and blocky as she offered to take their plates away. She stood in the kitchen, feeling her heart beat in her ears. It was embarassing how he was making her feel, especially knowing that that was just typical Jon. She cursed her inexperience. To think that just 10 seconds of sustained eye contact would make her weak in the knees. She hoped the flush would go by the time she returned. It had been a long time since anything like this had happened. She felt like she was 12 again.
Tap-Tap
She looked up to see the barn owl, again. She opened the window and the bird hopped in, raising its leg to her. She untied the bit of parchment from it quickly, almost dropping the ring wrapped inside of it. There was no message, it seemed it was just the wrapping paper. Seeing its parcel safely delivered, the owl took flight. She latched the window shut and turned the ring over in her hands. It was a simple object, burnished silver, with the pattern of a repeating Irish knot. Thinking it would be strange to come out of the kitchen with a new piece of jewelry, she pocketed it and returned to the den.
That night, once they had retired to their respective rooms, she took the ring out of her pocket and slipped it on her finger. It was a bit loose at first, and then magically shrank to her size. She saw something change- the patterns of the knot shifted into discrete words.
Thoughts are faster than Sound
She wrinkled her brow. Cryptic. She focused her energy towards the ring, 'hello?' she said in her head. The original phrase now disappeared. She stared at it, expectantly. Again, the marks rearranged themselves so they could be read.
Good Evening, Dr. Coffrey
She was almost delighted with how impressive the technology was. If it hadn't been Snape on the other side, she would have been very happy indeed.
'Can we dispense with the formalities?'
Coffrey it is, then
She bit back a snort.
'So, who is my protection detail?'
I am
She shuddered.
'Will I see you?'
Yes
'When?'
There was no answer. She waited for a few minutes, then was sure that was the end of the conversation for the night.
"Ass," she muttered. He had just hung up on her.
Erin was able to tentatively enjoy the rest of the day as there were no further messages from Snape. She was further distracted by the hurricane of things to do: patients to see, the sudden flurry of spreadsheets and phone calls Jonathan was making, and going over her own papers. Although she had "suggested" their new trajectory, he was the one who had jumped in. She had just finished seeing a man with some jock itch. After writing a prescription for him, she took a quick lunch break. The computer, on as always, showed an alert icon. She absentmindedly twirled the ring around her finger with her thumb as she read through the reviewers comments on the last case report. Some were very critical, as expected. She typed some notes next to the ones she wanted to respond to. Soon enough, half an hour was up and she went outside to wait expectantly for anyone else who might show up.
She surveyed the peaceful landscape. No sounds of motors or people yelling. It was just birds and wind rustling the leaves. She took a seat in the chair on the porch, and took up some papers she was reading through.
"Riveting," came a dry voice.
Erin gave a startled yelp and nearly jumped out of her seat. She whipped her head around, seeing no one, certaintly not Snape.
"Sit," he hissed.
She put her hands on her lap and tried to relax. It proved impossible. Was she hearing the voice in her head? Was he standing right next to her? What she going absolutely crazy?
"I am standing beside you, under a Disillusionment charm. I cannot be seen, but we can be heard"
So not in her head. Not crazy. Yes, standing right next to her.
"Is this how it will be?" she asked, after finding some saliva to dampen her tongue.
"Perhaps"
She felt he must be trying this on for size. She could hardly imagine him being sent to protect anyone with his nasty bedside manner. He'd be more likely to send his wards running away straight into enemy territory.
"How are you?" she asked, trying to create some semblance of a normal conversation.
"Fine"
"Where are you staying?"
"Nearby"
"This is quite the one-sided conversation," she remarked, as she straightened out her reading material with a brisk jerk of her wrist.
"I'm here to watch you, not be a playmate"
She envisioned him sneering as she said this, and couldn't help but chuckle.
He was silent. Erin attempted to ignore the tingling feeling she had of someone close by, and focus on what she had been doing. Her thoughts kept straying to what her invisible companion was currently doing, and this proved impossible to ignore. She put her sheaf of papers down and folded her hands on her lap. She gazed out at the landscape, taking note of their tree, and feeling a bit strange that their resident crow was no longer there. She frowned.
"How long are you going to be there?" she asked softly.
"Until nightfall"
"Hmm," reflected her conflicted feelings on the reply.
"Be assured, I shall allow you your personal space," he said, after a beat of uncomfortable silence.
"That is the least of my worries," she murmured.
Snape snapped to attention as he both heard and saw an automobile heading up the road.
"Do you know who that is?" he asked.
Erin felt the tension in his voice. She got up, squinting into the distance, trying to make out the faces of a woman dragging along a young boy.
"Looks like Mrs. Wallace"
Erin felt something brush past her leg, and instantly recoiled. Unbeknownst to her, Snape had strode forward, quickly surveying the landscape around him. The woman had a sour face on. She was holding onto a boy who was wincing and grimacing in pain, howling as he was being dragged along. She didn't notice the scowling black-clad man, and resolutely soldiered on towards Erin.
Upon closer inspection, Snape was prepared to say she was reassuringly a muggle. He felt a slight twinge of angst-filled nostalgia as he watched her practically rip the boy's arm out of the socket in her attempt to "help" him. He looked up at the trees, then to the sky, to see if anyone would take advantage of the distraction. All clear.
"-Please, just let him sit," he could hear an edge to Erin's voice.
The woman made a great show of her grievances, huffing and puffing as she spun a tale of what brought her here. Snape tried to care less. This wasn't his assignment, she was.
"Ethan's complainin' about being sick all the time! He says his belly hurts but he plays when he's at home!"
"I'm just about to be sick of her," Snape muttered under his breath, unable to help himself.
Erin heard his disgruntled comment, thankful that the great bat was right beside her and not Mrs. Wallace. She would not be able to explain a disembodied sarcastic retort. She pursed her lips in an attempt to not smirk in agreement.
"Mrs. Wallace," said Erin curtly, trying to manage the conversation, "Any vomiting?"
The woman barely got out the word, "No" before Erin tossed in more questions in quick succession, leading to a chain of purely positive or negative answers. He was unable to tell if Mrs. Wallace was put out from being robbed of her chance to shine.
Snape took mental note of the strategy. It would be useful for nitwits spinning sob-stories for him. Sometimes, yelling became tiresome.
"Thank you so much," said Erin warmly, touching Mrs. Wallace's forearm.
Snape grudgingly approved of her change in tactics, very Slytherin.
Erin then approached Ethan, who was slumped in the lawnchair. He looked incredibly unhappy. The agitated flush in his cheeks was gone, leaving behind a slightly pale, drawn face. He eyed Erin suspiciously. Clearly, he did not want to be jostled anymore. She squatted down, meeting his eyes.
"Hey honey," she said softly, "I'm Erin. Mom told me you haven't been feeling well"
She waited for a response.
"Can you tell me what's been going on?" she continued.
"It's ok, you can tell me. I promise you won't get in trouble," she added, seeing him hesitate.
The thought that the boy's worst fear was getting "in trouble" from his incompetent mother made Snape's blood boil.
"Tummy hurts," he said cautiously, "Here," he pointed to his right side.
"Oh no!" Erin gasped. "Did it start hurting there?"
"No... it was here before" He pointed a small finger at his belly button.
"Ok Ethan, let me lay you down on this table. I need to examine your stomach"
Erin picked up the boy, making sure to hold his bottom with one arm, then gently laid him out on the picnic table. Curious, Snape circled the table, craning his neck just slightly so he could see over Erin's shoulder. She took her stethoscope from her neck and listened to the boy's belly. Finding it satisfactory, she began to press on various areas of the stomach. Ethan squirmed and yelped when she came to his side.
Erin straightened and fixed Mrs. Wallace in a stern stare.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I think Ethan has appendicitis. It's very important we get him to a hospital right away"
Snape felt a perverse sense of satisfaction seeing Mrs. Wallace's face drain of color.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Given the story and the exam, I have a very high suspicion that that's the cause. If it isn't, there's no harm done. If it is, and we don't get there soon, this is life-threatening"
Mrs. Wallace nodded mutely.
"One minute please. I'd like to get Dr. Davies"
Erin turned and jogged over to the house. She rapped hard on the door as she entered.
"Jon! Jonathan!"
"What is it?" he asked, looking up from his laptop.
"Wallace's kid. I think he's had appendicitis for the past few days. I'm going to call ahead to the hospital and drive them over"
"You will not!" came a vehement whisper.
Erin started, then jerked her shoulders in such a way they bumped Snape backwards. She could not see the furious scowl on his face at being checked. He made a motion to grab her harshly by the shoulder and wrench her back to him, but resisted, instead glowering underneath the Disillusionment charm.
Jonathan ignored the movements and nodded.
"Call if you have trouble"
"I'll let you know when we're there"
Erin turned sharply, almost knocking Snape off balance again. She swiped the keys from their hook and headed outside.
Taking advantage of their short time alone, Snape grabbed Erin's arm.
"Have your associate do this. I will not be able to assure your safety, nor mine, in that vehicle...or with hundreds of people milling about!" He hissed.
Erin yanked her arm from him. She searched the empty air, frustrated she couldn't properly address him.
"Do your best. I can't have someone else doing all my work for me"
"You are being irrational," he said as loudly as he dared.
"Mr. Snape, sit in the front seat and be quiet," she hissed, opening the door for him.
He was seething, wondering if he should just cast an Imperius as he found himself inside the guts of the wretched muggle contraption called a car.
"Don't put on the seat belt," she said, before slamming the door shut.
She climbed into the driver side, and drove the car over to the Wallaces. She had them seated in back. Mom now gingerly doting over her son. Erin pulled out her phone, calling up the closest hospital, and letting them know she was coming in with a candidate for surgery.
This was becoming a rather hateful ordeal. Snape did not like being in the enclosed space with the limited view. As the engine sputtered to life, he tensed, looking for something to hold onto. The last time he had been in a car was during his childhood. Erin was soon on the road, driving at what felt like a higher than recommended speed.
"Just sit tight. It'll be a little while before we get there," said Erin.
He wasn't sure who she was addressing, him or the two in the back.