Disclaimer: This dramatization is an extension of some of what happens during Harry, Ron, and Hermione's 6th year at Hogwarts. It also covers flashbacks to Snape's first year of teaching. Since J.K. Rowling is yet to publish the 6th book, I'm very vague about what is happening in the wizarding world since only J.K. Rowling can truly write anything about Harry Potter. This is highly likely to disagree with a few facts, but since it's me writing, and not the author, please forgive me any goofs that I might make in relevance to the actual series. Thank you for choosing to read my story.
Gabriella had arrived in Severus' rooms at precisely eight o'clock. Her bag was packed and she was once again wearing her old clothing that she had from before her arrival at Hogwarts. Her hair was tied back in a simple braid and she wore a warm cloak for the cold weather ahead. Her parting with Annabelle had not been an easy one. Gabriella was wary of her after the meeting the previous night and Annabelle, even though she remembered nothing of the exchange, started to act in a rude and sarcastic manner with Gabriella. Needless to say Gabriella spent no time stalling among the Gryffindors.
Severus had greeted her in a regular manner, meaning that he treated her like any other student due to Dumbledore's presence, and allowed her to step inside. She was to use a portkey to get to her Grandmother's house that day. She had used one once before and was not looking forward to doing it again.
Dumbledore greeted her with a warm smile. "Are you sure you want to go? I assure you that you are welcome here." Gabriella smiled but shook her head.
"My grandmother will be expecting me. I really ought to go, I don't know what she'll do if I don't go home." Gabriella looked to Severus questioningly.
"The portkey is over here." He sneered, pointing to an old bottle. He stalked over to it with his bags in hand.
"Professor Dumbledore, would you mind thanking Hagrid for caring for my animals while I'm away. I didn't have time to say goodbye to him." Dumbledore smiled to her in acknowledgment. Gabriella stood next to Severus as they prepared to touch the portkey.
"Take good care of her Severus." Dumbledore stated. Severus replied with a brisk nod. Gabriella had little time to wonder at this exchange before Severus pushed her hand onto the bottle and she felt the strong tug of the portkey on her stomach.
Gabriella and Severus found themselves quite suddenly in the middle of an empty street. Traces of light crept over the neighborhood from the light of the rising sun. It was early morning here. Severus looked about in interest; he had only been in one other muggle neighborhood, and it was not nearly as stereotypical as this one.
Gabriella sighed. "I forgot about the time change factor."
"Which one is your grandmother's house?" Severus asked, his tone more casual since he was away from the school.
"This one over here. I'll try to convince her to let you stay with us." Gabriella pointed to a house with white walls and an old brown roof. The yard had well cared for grass, but little else in the way of life, excluding her grandmother's prize orchids that could be seen through a window.
"I doubt she'll be in a favorable mood considering how early we'll be arriving." Severus sneered.
"That's why I'll use my spare key to enter without waking her up." Gabriella stated pulling a dull key out of her pocket. For a few minutes the only sounds were their footsteps on gravel and then the sound of a key turning in a lock.
The door creaked only slightly when opened. The house itself was spacious, if lacking in comfortable furnishings. Everything was decorated in a meticulous binding to fashion with little mind to the way it would feel when somebody sat in it. The furnishings were not very clean; the maintenance had gone down when Gabriella left.
Severus stared about at the odd house. It was filled with appliances that he did not recognize and had never come across before, and likely never would again.
"My room is this way." Gabriella pointed to a hallway on the side of the kitchen. At the end of the hallway was an old brown door with a faded brass knob. Gabriella led him to this room.
Severus was disgusted when he saw the furnishings. Not with Gabriella; with her grandmother. There was a small fold out cot on one side with thin blankets, a dresser with a missing drawer, and a group of crates that served as a desk and storage units. The closet was bare. Gabriella set her bag inside the closet and took Severus' as well.
"We have a second cot, so you would be able to stay in this room if you would like." Gabriella said, taking him away from his angry appraisal of the room.
"I don't think I'm going to like this woman." He snarled.
Her grandmother was still sleeping when Gabriella left Severus in front of the TV (a fascinating muggle device with a ridiculous concept on magic) while she showered. It was then that Gabriella heard the shriek and the sound of hard metal hitting objects. She darted out of the shower barely covered by her towel to see Severus dodging his grandmother who wielded a large frying pan. He just managed to duck and the swinging blow went instead to a vase that shattered on impact.
"GRANDMA! STOP IT!" Her grandmother stopped in mid-swing and turned a furious glare to her granddaughter.
"WHEN DID YOU GET HOME?" She screeched.
"I got home early this morning. I used my key to get in so I wouldn't wake you."
Her grandmother lowered the frying pan. "I would have heard the taxi."
"We used magic." Gabriella's grandmother rolled her eyes.
"Are you prepared to give that school up yet?" Her grandmother whined. "The house is being neglected."
"No grandma. I like it there, and I'm learning a lot." Her grandmother replaced the pan in the kitchen giving Severus a glare at the same time.
"Who is he? Sitting in front of my TV like he owns the place." Severus gave her a glare to rival her own.
"He is from the school. He came with to make sure that I would be alright and to help with the meals tomorrow." By this time Severus had adjusted his robes after his flight from the frying pan. He resisted the urge to sneer at Gabriella's grandmother. "Is it alright if he stays with us? I'll set up the cot for him and pay for all of his food. He'll help out in preparation for the holiday as well, with no cost to you."
Her grandmother gave him a skeptical stare. "He can stay, but only if he wears something else. His clothes look like some crap from a Halloween costume."
"I'll take him shopping today for clothes." Gabriella supplied her grandmother with the ready excuse.
"Alright." Her grandmother turned her wide back around to get some food out of the refrigerator. "Now go get some clothes on, you look like a hussy right out of a cat house." Gabriella blushed and ran to her room to abandon her towel for clothing. Her grandmother took the opportunity to interrogate the young man standing in her living room.
"So what exactly is your name?" She said while pulling out a bowl filled with low-fat yogurt and some fruit that looked half rotten.
"Severus Snape." He snarled. "And what should I call you?"
"Ms. Phillips will do." she sniffed.
An awkward silence ensued.
"What exactly is your relationship with my granddaughter?" She asked in a terse voice.
"I am courting her." A mug shattered on the floor.
"And just exactly how old are you?"
"I am 21." He sneered.
"Don't you think you're a bit too old for her?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And what exactly do you do at Hogblat, or something like that?"
Gabriella stepped in wearing her thin muggle attire. She had only heard the second question. "The name is Hogwarts. He's the potions professor." Gabriella rung her hair out as best as she could. Both of the room's other occupants froze up.
"He's a teacher?" Her grandmother hissed. Gabriella nodded and hummed a small 'mm-hm' without seeing the reactions of the other two.
"Gabriella, she's knows about are other relationship." Severus murmured.
Gabriella glanced to her grandmother in alarm. Her face had grown red and blotchy in anger.
"I suppose I was right when I called you a hussy earlier." She hissed. "So you sleep with him to do better in school?"
"No, of course not. We keep our love life and my education separate." Gabriella looked towards Severus fondly.
"I should get you out of that school."
"That will not be necessary." Severus spoke up. "If you swear not to inform the school of any of this I will give you two potions; one which will remove any stain from any substance with a single drop, and another that will guarantee perfect health and a long life to any plant that it is given to." Mrs. Phillips' eyes darted about greedily. She thought of her orchids and how many competitions she could win by using the second potion. She also liked the idea of such a clean household.
"I suppose so. When will you give them to me?"
"I will have them for you tomorrow evening." He sneered. His confidence had come back once he knew that he wasn't going to lose Gabriella to this woman.
Gabriella sighed in relief. "We ought to go and get him some clothes now. That way we can clean the house as soon as we get back and spend tomorrow with the cooking." Her grandmother didn't bother to reply. Gabriella grabbed Severus' hand and dragged him to the door.
"That was a close one." She pulled her jacket off of the coat hook and wrapped it tightly about herself.
"Your hair is still wet. You're going to freeze outside what with the snow and all. You'll become ill." He pulled her hair from her jacket and cast a quick drying spell.
"Thanks." Severus pulled his own cloak on. Gabriella dug into her pocket and pulled out a wad of cash that she had been saving from her job before she left for Hogwarts. It totaled to just over $60. "I think this will cover some clothes for you."
"I got some money out of my vault and changed it before I left." He smiled sarcastically. "I like high quality clothing."
Gabriella smiled as she pulled open the door and braced herself against the strong icy blast. "We'll have to walk. There's a mall just around the corner." She managed to say before the trembling in her jaws became too uncontrollable.
Severus looked at her with concern before wrapping his coat about her as well and drawing her close to his side, enclosing them both within the warm fabric. As the tremors from the cold left her, Gabriella snuggled closer, thinking that she was going to have a very happy Christmas.
YAY! Christmas in July-ish. End of June. Whatever, we can enjoy and sympathize with Gabby and Severus as they experience winter. I wonder what snow is like…I only described what 60-degree weather feels like to a Florida native. I can't imagine a real winter….ugh.
Wouldn't it be nice if we were
older
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long
And wouldn't it
be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong
You
know it's gonna make it that much better
When we can say
goodnight and stay together
Wouldn't it be nice if we could
wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having
spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night
through
Happy times together we've been spending
I wish
that every kiss was neverending
Wouldn't it be nice
Maybe
if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby
then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do
We could
be married
And then we'd be happy
Wouldn't it be nice
You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only
makes it worse to live without it
But lets talk about it
Wouldn't
it be nice