Chapter Fifty-seven

Jenae had been quite busy these few months. It was actually a good thing that Caoimhe had amnesia, in her opinion. She wasn't her usual sassy, bad-tempered, haughty girl. At times she was, but lately she had been quiet. Polite.

She dreaded the day that Caoimhe would have her memory back, because when she did, the polite girl that Jenae had currently been looking after would be gone, and in would come the previous disrespectful girl that she was not looking forward to.

"Aunt?" Caoimhe called, walking into the kitchen where Jenae was having a cup of tea. "Aunt, I'm going to wash my hair. Is that OK?"

"Of course it is," Jenae replied, setting her cup down. "Company should be over soon, Caoimhe. Remember what we went over, all right?"

Caoimhe nodded importantly. "Of course, Aunt. I'll be a good girl. Do you want me to wear the dress that's on my bed?" Jenae nodded. "OK. When will he be over?"

"Soon, so be quick."

Caoimhe nodded again, rushing up the stairs.

Jenae was startled out of her thoughts when she heard an impatient knock. Could it be him? It was too early for her brother to arrive yet, so who was it?

"Coming," she called as the person knocked again. Opening the door, she found that it was her stepbrother, Dennis Haggorty.

"Dennis," Jenae said, sounding surprised. "My, you're early! Come in, come in." she opened the door wider, letting Dennis into the house.

"I have no time for this," Dennis said impatiently. "I had no desire then or now to see that girl."

"That girl is your daughter," Jenae snapped. "One who's suffering from amnesia, for heavens sake! Can't you take a bit of your time to at least get to know her?"

"I haven't then, Jenae. Why would I now?" Dennis asked coldly. "That girl is a brat, and as far as I'm concerned, is no child of mine. It was a mistake to get involved with that woman. I've told you that thousands of times before."

Jenae sighed, looking exhausted. "Your daughter has changed, ever since what happened. I concur, Dennis, that she used to be a … brat. But because of her accident, she's so much more politer."

"That may be true," responded Dennis, "but what about when that child gets her memory back? It's back to being the brat that she used to be."

"She wouldn't have been a brat if you had taken custody of her," Jenae argued, glaring at her stepbrother. "Leaving her with her mother. You must've been out of your mind! It's all Topaz Aureus's fault of how your daughter turned out. Why not fix that mistake by caring after her now?"

"Because I vowed that I'd never get involved with that girl or her mother. She was a mistake, Jenae, can't you understand that? I was so foolish back then, but I've matured."

"Obviously not," Jenae said. "After all, one who has matured would've done the mature thing and fix the problem instead of avoiding it."

"Aunt?" Caoimhe stood at the top of the stairs, her hair wet and in her pyjamas. "What—"

She paused, looking at the man at the bottom of the stairs, her face paling. "What—what is he doing here, Aunt? I'm not ready yet! You didn't say he'd be arriving this early!"

"I was surprised myself," Jenae admitted, nudging Dennis in the ribs, hissing, "Say something!"

Dennis, however, made no attempt to reply. Instead, he gave his head a curt nod, barely acknowledging his daughter.

Caoimhe looked at Jenae oddly. "Is he really my Father, Aunt?" she tilted her head to the side. "Does he have a problem? Oh—" Her hand flew to her mouth. "Did he—did he lose his voice?"

"No," Jenae replied gently. "He's just … speechless! He hasn't seen you in such a long time. I think the last time he saw you was when you were five?"

Dennis glared at Jenae. "It was only one time that I broke my vow. Once, and I have never repeated that mistake."

Caoimhe cautiously walked down the stairs, but swayed near the end.

"Caoimhe? Are you OK?" Jenae asked, stepping forward.

Caoimhe forced a smile on her face, ignoring the image that had just came into her mind. "Fine, Aunt."

She continued down the stairs, almost studying her father. She circled around him, surveying him closely. "Do you wear your glasses all the time?" she finally asked, stopping in front of Dennis.

"O—occasionally," Dennis replied, looking uncomfortable. "Why?"

Caoimhe shrugged. "Just asking. Why—is there a problem with me asking something?"

Both hands flew to her mouth. She couldn't believe how she had just talked, especially to her Father! Somebody she had just met! Why was she being so rude?

"I'm so sorry," Caoimhe managed out after removing her hands from her mouth. "That wasn't me. I'm sorry."

"I should be going," Dennis said abruptly. He turned to Jenae and gave her a cold look, then turned to Caoimhe and gave her another brief nod. "Good-bye."

Jenae looked at Dennis helplessly as he turned around and left. Caoimhe stood in the same spot as before, her expression blank. All Jenae had wanted to do was reunite father and daughter, and obviously, that was harder than she thought it would be.

-

"What are you doing?"

Harry's voice startled Severus. Severus looked up from the parchment he was writing on. The room in which he was in was two down from Harry's, and Severus had often come into this room to think, or work. At this point, he was doing something a bit more important.

"Writing," Severus answered, setting his quill down on top of the parchment and looking at the boy in the doorway. "What's wrong? I thought you'd be doing something with Jacobs."

Harry shrugged, seating himself on one of the other chairs in the room. "He's out again. I thought we could do something."

Severus sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I have something I need to take care of right now. Why not … read?"

"Read?"

"Yes, read. Something—anything. Go to the library if you like."

Harry reluctantly said OK. He stood up from the chair, slowly making his way out of the room and down the corridor. Maybe, instead of reading, he'd take a walk outside. Nathaniel was out with Amaryllis, Alexander was shopping with his Mum, and Severus was writing. It seemed like walking was the only interesting option that Harry had.

He opened the door, the sunlight temporarily blinding him. Once he blinked several times, finally getting used to the blazing sunlight, he stepped off the threshold. It was a quiet day out, with seldom people walking by.

As he sauntered along the side of the road, he made up his mind to go back to Maythers Park. It was a nice place to just think, and there was really nothing else for him to do.

-

Harry, as soon as he walked in the front door and started to go up the staircase after his walk, was met by a furious Severus. And at first, he didn't know what he did to make Severus so angry. All he did was go out for a walk.

"Where were you?" Severus demanded from behind Harry. Harry, his back turned to the older man, froze on a step. Slowly—guiltily, though he didn't know why he had a guilty feeling—he turned around.

"I took a—a walk," Harry said, swallowing. "I didn't want to read."

"You could have told me you were going out by yourself to take a walk," Severus said angrily. "Imagine coming out of my study to find you gone!"

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, taking a step back. He didn't like to see Severus so angry. "I forgot. I didn't mean to make you mad."

Severus just sighed, his features relenting. "Just go to your room."

Happy to do as he was told, Harry quickly made his way up the rest of the stairs, until he was at the very top. He really didn't mean to make the Potions Master so angry.

When Harry went into his room, he fell on his bed, closing his eyes in relief. At first, Harry thought that Severus was going to strike him. But no matter how angry Severus got, he'd never hit Harry … would he? No, Harry thought firmly. No, he wouldn't.

Harry tensed as he heard footsteps get nearer to his room, even if it was just Severus.

"I'm sorry," Harry immediately apologized once Severus entered the room. "I forgot to tell you that I was going out by myself. I didn't mean to make you angry. I'm sorry."

Severus walked over to Harry swiftly, standing in front of the younger boy, who sat up.

"You should be sorry." Then he sighed. "Merlin, I'm still getting used to this …"

"Used to what?" Harry asked, feeling slightly surprised that Severus was talking to him in such a … calm voice. He expected there to be yelling.

"This," Severus said. "Having to worry about you, and …"

Harry bit his lip, looking down at his hands, since he couldn't look into Severus's onyx eyes. "I'm sorry that I'm a burden. I don't mean to be, honestly."

"It's not that you're a burden," started Severus. "I'm still getting used to looking after you, and worrying about you. Before I had you to look after, it was always just me."

Harry slowly looked up to meet Severus's gaze, but didn't say anything.

Severus continued. "I apologize for speaking so harshly, though I think that I was slightly in order."

"You were," Harry replied truthfully. "'N' I'm sorry. Next time I swear I'll tell you where I'm going." Harry leaned forward abruptly, latching his arms around Severus's waist in a hug, which caught the Potions Master off guard.

"I really should have a camera for this," Nathaniel's voice said from behind the two. "It'd be a really good picture to put on a Christmas card or something. 'May you and your loved ones have a Happy Christmas' or something like that. Shame that I don't have one, really."

Harry pulled away looking embarrassed. He muttered a barely audible "Sorry", and looked away. He could feel his face burning.

"You apologize too much," Severus commented to Harry.

"Sor—" Harry stopped himself from saying 'sorry' by biting his lip. Then, he turned to look up at Nathaniel, who was looking at the two in front of him in sheer amusement.

"So, what are you doing here? I thought you were out with Amaryllis."

"Oh, I am," Nathaniel replied brightly. "I'm just here to tell you that I'm going to have lunch with her, so I won't be back anytime soon."

"OK," Harry said slowly. "Don't you need money?"

"Amaryllis's paying. I have no money, anyway—you know that!"

Harry laughed. "All right. Just be thankful that you have a girlfriend that's willing to pay for you."

Nathaniel frowned, then nodded. "Oh, I see. But it's not my fault that I haven't got any money."

Harry shooed Nathaniel out with his hand, then looked back up at Severus with a bright smile.

"Do you still want to do something?" The Potions Professor asked Harry. "Or did your walk tire you out?"

Harry looked at Severus curiously, albeit cautiously. "What did you have in mind, exactly?"

-

"I should've known," Harry said with a laugh. He stood in the middle of a Potions lab in the Snape manor. "You want to make a Potion with me?"

"If you're up to it," Severus said. "Or you could always find something else to do. Nobody's forcing you to make a potion."

"No," Harry said quickly. "I want to. What potion do you want to make? You can pick, since I don't know that many."

"Well, since I imagine that lunch should be ready shortly, what about a Shrinking Potion?"

"OK," Harry agreed. "What do we need?"

"Caterpillar, Daisy roots, Leech juice, Rat spleen and Shrivelfig," Severus replied. "They're in the next room. I'll set up here, would you fetch the ingredients?"

Harry nodded, walking out of the open door into another room that was next to the Potions lab. Every inch of the room was filled with ingredients and Potion vials; some of the vials were even filled with colored liquid.

Harry grabbed the necessary ingredients, then headed back into the lab just as Severus said, "Don't close the door, either. Leave it open."

Too late. Harry had already pushed the door closed. It shut with a small, dull thud.

Severus swung around, his eyes wide. "Did you not just hear me tell you to not shut the door? Or were you suddenly incapable of hearing?"

"Sorry," Harry said, though he was a little confused. Why didn't they just open the door up again? "I shut it before you said that. Why can't you just open the door back up?"

Wordlessly, Severus swiftly walked over to the door and tugged on the handle. It stayed shut.

"I never shut this particular door. It always gets stuck, and you can never open it."

Harry frowned, trying to open the door for himself. Severus was right, it was stuck.

"Oh no!" Harry exclaimed suddenly. "I forgot to get the vials to put the Potion in!"

Severus scowled. "We have more pressing matters to deal with, Harry. We're locked in a room, for instance?"

"Isn't there someway you can get us out of here using magic?"

"I could apparate us out," Severus mused. Then, eyeing Harry's expression, he clarified. "It's teleportation. A witch or wizard can disappear from one location and reappear in another. Then again, I did put anti-apparation wards on the house, so that's not an option."

Harry's eyes widened. "What?"

"I didn't want anybody apparating into my manor whenever they wanted without my knowledge. I like my privacy."

"What if it was urgent?" Harry asked. "Then nobody could apparate into the manor to tell you."

"Let's just think of a way to get out of this room, shall we?"

Harry paused, thinking. If the door was stuck, how would they be able to open it?

"You could knock it down," Harry suggested, shrugging since it was the only thought that came to mind.

Severus frowned. "I am not knocking down a door. There must be another way to open this thing."

So far, nothing was coming to neither Severus nor Harry's mind. Harry, thinking of the way Severus used to pace to think of an idea, clasped his hands behind his back and started walking back and forth, hoping for an idea to strike.

Finally, after a minutes pacing, Harry froze. "Your wand! You can use your wand to blow up the door or something."

Severus irritably—possibly because he hadn't thought of the idea first?—pulled his wand out of his robes, pointed it at the door and muttered, "Bombarda."

Harry held his hands up to his face and turned away as the door blasted open.

"Master Snape and young master Potter-Snape?" Morwen had appeared beside Harry. The house-elf cast a quick glance at the pile of broken pieces of wood, then continued on. "I is telling you lunch is ready and set on the dining table."

Severus nodded at the house-elf, who quickly disappeared.

"Oh well," Harry said, staring at what used to be the door. "You can always get a new one. One that doesn't get stuck when you close it. Or, you could leave it like that …"

Severus just looked at Harry expressionlessly. "Come along, the Potion will have to be put on hold. We should go upstairs for lunch."

Harry followed Severus out the door, stepping over the mound of wood on the way past.

-

Right after they had finished their lunch, Severus had excused himself to go up to his study, leaving Harry to sit alone and bored. So, thinking that Severus wouldn't mind if he followed, did just that.

Harry made his way up the stairs, then past the first two rooms to get to the study. Harry walked into the dark room, frowning as he noticed that barely any light was on in the room.

"How can you write in the dark?" Harry inquired. Severus looked up abruptly, setting his quill beside the parchment.

"You can turn on the light if you wish."

Harry looked at the wall for the light switch. Once he found it, he flicked it on.

"What are you doing?"

Severus shuffled a few papers before he looked back up at Harry.

"Grading a few papers," he replied naturally. "Do you need something?"

Harry shook his head. "Nope."

Severus continued to stare at Harry, as if waiting for the boy to do or say something. Harry stared back at Severus, but when neither spoke, Harry found it only appropriate to leave.

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Severus, who quickly went back to his writing, before he left the room and slowly made his way down the hall, into his own room.

Harry had to wonder what his guardian was up to. After their conversation in Severus's study, Harry had a feeling that Severus was up to something, because it really didn't seem like he was grading papers. Harry just needed to find out what.

-