We talked about my past for what seemed like a long time. Sometimes we laughed. Mostly we didn't. Rein was very interested in what happened at Hogwarts, and I found myself telling her things that I hadn't even told Ron or Hermione. Like how I really felt about being a Parselmouth.
"I hate it really. I always get funny looks from people whenever I use it. They think I'm evil."
"Really?" Rein asked, "I think it's cool that you can speak Parseltongue."
"You do?"
"Yup. Do you think you could teach me?"
"I don't know. I guess I could try. What's in it for me?" I asked mischievously.
"I dunno… what do you want?"
"Potions tutoring."
"Okay. So…. When do we start?"
I looked up at the sky. The sun was about to set. Has it really been that long?
"How about after dinner?" Rein finally suggested.
"Okay. Sounds good."
Just then, Nana appeared. "Dinner will be served in fifteen minutes. Master Snape wishes you both to attend," She said bowing.
"Alright. We'll be there," Rein said. Nana disappeared with a faint pop.
"Want to watch the sun set?" she asked quietly. I didn't respond; I just wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She rested her head on my chest, and for a moment I couldn't help but think that all was right with the world.
We went in for dinner to find a very… strange Professor Snape. He was humming happily to himself, and there wasn't nary a Potions utensil in sight.
"So," I said, sitting down after pulling out Rein's chair, "What's got you in such a good mood?"
Snape stopped humming at gave me the same look Fred Weasley had given me after the Yule ball when I'd asked where he and Angelina had gone off to. I gawked at him, forgetting my manners, as the implications of that look settled in. I also realized the he was wearing navy robes, instead of the black ones from earlier.
"You mean…?"
Snape nodded, smiled, and went back to humming.
"Oh! Daddy! Ick!" Rein said, her face contorting between horror and disgust, "That's just gross!"
He laughed. "Your brother does it. Why should I let you teenagers have all the fun?"
Rein stared at him horrified. "I don't want to know when Dorian does it! Or when anyone else does it either! It's not my business, and I don't want to know!"
"You want to be left ignorant then, is that it?"
"Yes! I don't want to know that you and mom… that you… you know!" she finished in exasperation. This would be funny, I thought, if it weren't so weird.
Just then, Mina walked in and gracefully took her seat next to Professor Snape. "So," she said, unfolding her napkin and placing it gently in her lap, "did you two have fun in the gardens?"
After the initial conversation regarding Snape ("Please Harry, if you're going to date my daughter, you might as well call me Severus.") and Mina's sex life, the rest of dinner was rather dull. We'd eaten in a comfortable sort of silence, punctuated every now and then by a question or the faint pop of a house elf. It wasn't until we were halfway through desert that I remembered I was supposed to check up on Kreacher's progress at Grimmauld Place.
"Sir?" I inquired politely, swallowing a bit of chocolate pie.
"Yes." Snape replied, glancing away from his plate in time to miss the spoon in Mina's hand, therefore ending up with a cheek full of chocolate mousse and whipped topping.
"I was wondering if it would be possible for me to go to Sirius'."
"It depends on when you were planning on going," he answered as Mina wiped his desert off his face.
"Sometime later this week. You missed a spot," I said, indicating the same spot on my own cheek, "There."
Mina licked her napkin and dabbed at Snape's face. "I suppose you could go tomorrow. I have some errands to run, and the women wish to go shopping," he replied, completely unfazed.
"Thanks. I need to go to Gringotts as well, if that's alright?"
"Of course. Go there first, and then meet us at Twillfit and Tatting's after you've checked on the house," he replied, "You could use a new set of robes."
"Severus!" Mina admonished.
"Well he could." Mina glared at him. "What?"
"Thank you, sir," I said turning to Mina, "No really, I do need new robes. The ones I've got are far too short."
Mina inclined her head in agreement, but shot a dirty look at Snape all the same.
"I'm going to bed," Rein stated as she moved around the table to kiss both her parents, "Night."
"Goodnight, Rein."
"Night."
It was shortly after Rein left that I turned in as well. I ducked into my room, grabbed my pajamas, and headed to the bathroom. I had just placed my hand on the door when it opened and Rein stepped out, dressed in a pair of blue satin pants and a white cotton shirt.
"Oh! Harry, hi," she said, pushing her hair back from her face, "I didn't see you there."
"Sorry. Are you finished? If not I can wait."
"Oh, no, I'm done."
"Well…" I said, indicating the bathroom.
"Oh!" She moved to the side to let me pass. "Sorry."
"It's alright."
"Well, goodnight."
"Night."
I stood in the hallway and watched her disappear into a room down the adjacent hall. She really is something.