Oh, look! Another chapter! Here, everyone, enjoy. Chef's compliments.

Disclaimer: The idea belongs to lily-fox on dA. The characters belong, for the most part, to JK Rowling, may she ever live in glory for her work of literary giantism. Evelynn is a joint creation of lily-fox and myself. This, fortunately or unfortunately, is mine.

The Road Less Traveled

Chapter One

Severus was enormously gratified to see his shop still standing and even mostly presentable, given Draco's track record of all the times he had sent an owl with a note beginning in the words "There was a bit of an accident..." Fresh from Hogwarts graduation, Draco showed minute traces of competence, perhaps even promise, but if he refused to stop ogling every visually appealing male that walked by the shop-especially while a delicate potion was in the cauldron-all the promise and competence in the world would mean nothing to either of them. The stress would kill them both, by way of murder-suicide.

"Good morning," he called into the shop as he walked in, finding the door unlocked.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Snape! I thought I'd come in early and get a head start on re-labeling these bottles. The ink is so faded, you can barely tell what they are!"

Severus hung up his cloak and raised a skeptical eyebrow at the disembodied voice. "Miss Weasley, I do not pay unsolicited overtime."

"Oh, no, I'm not looking for overtime, I just thought-" She sighed deeply and stepped out of the back room, red hair tied back into a girlish ponytail and a bottle of Welsh Green dragon's blood in one hand. "I needed to get out of the house. I hope that's okay."

"As long as you aren't asking me to pay you to get away from your mother, I have no complaints," Severus said, rolling up his sleeves and unhooking an apron from a hook just inside the back room door. "Now then, what god-awful mess has my apprentice left for me today?"

"A sleeping potion turned into a pretty even paint job by way of explosion? Draco attempted to clean some of it up, but the cauldron he was using was totally wrecked and I'll have to pull everything off the shelves to wipe them down, and Merlin that boy can't mop a floor to save his-"

"Miss Weasley."

The redhead smiled and returned to the shelf on the other side of the room, muttering "accio quill" under her breath. "How's Evelynn this morning?"

"Nearly convinced that if she keeps poking her pancakes, they're going to turn into a Scottish pancake troll and devour her on the spot."

Ginny laughed. "You're terrible."

"You're expendable," he reminded her.

"You're hopeless, especially with Draco to worry about."

"Touche."

"How's Lily?"

"Good. She's bringing Evelynn by for lunch."

Ginny grinned. "Oh, really? You know, if you and Lily wanted to go just the two of you, I'd be more than happy to watch Evelynn for you."

Severus smiled at her enthusiasm for the idea. "I'll talk to Lily about it when she gets here. In the mean time, I want you out by the register when we open. This can be drawn out a few days."

"Sure." Ginny considered a blue-ish bottle, trying to discern what the label said. "Apparently, Draco's mother is taking him to the Acropolis."

"Oh, to have money to go flitting around the globe at the drop of a hat."

"Stupid Malfoys," she muttered, finishing the new label with an annoyed flourish. "One day, I'm going to publish a book. And when I do, I'm taking every cent I make and moving as far away from England as I can possibly find myself. Maybe Bulgaria. They have a good Quidditch team, at least."

"Ah, you and your Quidditch fanaticism. Aren't they the team with that Seeker, Viktor Whoever?"

"Krum," Ginny supplied helpfully. "And yes, they were at least. He won't be playing for the rest of the season, he injured his arm during practice a few weeks ago. Pretty badly, too."

"Pity," Severus said without much feeling. He'd never much cared for the game-he understood it, and he'd even watch it with Lily on occasion, but it harbored too many associations with certain schoolboy rivalries that he preferred remain in the past. "Miss Weasley, the register, if you please. We open in ten minutes."

"Right, sure." Ginny stuck the new label over the old one and replaced it on the shelf, grabbing her apron on her way out of the back room.

-x-x-x-

"Good evening, Mr. Snape," Ginny called behind him as he made his way out of the shop. "See you tomorrow."

"Good evening, Miss Weasley," he replied, adjusting the collar of his coat over the back of his neck. "Tell your father I said hello."

"I'll be sure to," she said, locking the register and sliding the bag of currency into the expanded pocket of her robe. "Give Lily and Evelynn my best."

Severus smiled. "Absolutely."

Ginny watched him leave before grabbing her bag off the hook in the back room and surveying the semi-ordered scene that had been in chaos that morning. She still had to wipe down the shelves, and there was one spot back behind the table that she couldn't quite reach with the mop, but for the most part, Draco's catastrophic potions failure had been wiped from the room with only minor scorch marks to prove it had been at all. "I didn't do too bad," she muttered to herself, only a tad bit smug.

To Gringotts, and then Mungo's to check on Fred, and then... Eugh. I hope Mum didn't invite anyone over for dinner tonight. I just want to hole up in my room with my summer homework and a plate of pie. Polite conversation, too stressful. She locked the door behind her and walked down the street at a brisk pace. Knockturn Alley was only a few steps in the other direction, and the more distance she put between herself and the potential for violence after dark, the better.

She aimlessly hummed a tune she'd heard on the radio at home that morning as she walked, passing the wand shop with a cheery wave to Ollivander through his window as he locked up and slowing a little to stare longingly at a lovely pale blue silk robe in the tailor's window. Even if Mum did invite company, I'm just going to ignore them, she decided. Social graces be damned, I'm seventeen already, I can do what I like. Ginny passed the small alley between the bookstore and the pet shop, glancing in out of habit. She used to meet her boyfriend there during the summers, when she was feeling angry and rebellious of both her mother's overbearing standards and her brother's suffocating protective streaks. Being the only girl had definite disadvantages.

The distinctive pop of apparition met her ears as she passed by the alley. Curious, she slowed to a stop and backed up a few steps, wondering who had apparated into an empty alley at this time of night. Something she'd expect in Knockturn Alley, but certainly not this far into Diagon Alley. "Hello," she called hesitantly when no one moved in the alley for a minute.

A weak groan staggered drunkenly to her ears, sounding vaguely like the word help but she couldn't be entirely sure. "Are... Are you alright," she called uncertainly, looking up and down the street for potential back-up before taking a step into the alley.

"Help," the voice muttered again, sounding groggy and attempting urgency. "Help, please..."

She knelt next to the shape on the ground slowly, one hand stretching out to carefully roll the mass of bloody clothing and what could be actual human over to a more visible position. "Um, sir?"

"You... You have to help... He's..."

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