Wonderful chapter 3

Happy Once

The morning that Eileen spent helping out at The Serpent's Tongue went quicker than she expected. It went even faster than Joe had ever remembered a morning passing in a long while. The hung over patrons seemed to revive sooner than he'd ever remembered. By eleven there seemed to be a different air in the pub. The normal gloom was somehow brightened. Joe noticed that, but not the song Ele had been humming as she wiped off tables, or polished and stacked glasses. Neither had he seen her waving a stick like object at the broken glasses and muttering, "Repairio." She wanted to scold her son for dropping them, as she knew he had, if not the reason why. "If you can hear me my little man," she whispered. To say his name would have broken the spell of the invisibility potion. "Find a quiet place to stay hid."

'Stay hid,' Severus thought. Hiding wasn't on his mind. 'I'm hungry.' His mother could not however read his mind. He would have to wait. When Ele was no longer behind the bar, the little boy decided to take the matter into his own hands, literally. Above where he had been sitting, hiding, the smell of peanuts had been wafting down all morning. 'I know they're up there.' An invisible hand reached up, he could just reach the edge of the bar. The boy managed to grab a handful out of the bowl. Those first ones tasted spectacular. By the fifth handful, he had quite a pile of shells sitting next to him. That was when Joe came back to get something. Severus sat very still. He hoped he had not been spotted.

Joe looked down at the floor and muttered, "Could have sworn she swept back here?" He looked at the bowl then to the floor and shook his head in a slight confusion. He grabbed the broom and swept up the shells. When Joe was going to the dustbin to throw out the shells, Sev reached up to nab more peanuts. This time however, the entire bowl fell to the ground. Cascades of shells hitting the floor echoed across the pub.

'Severus,' Eileen thought angrily. 'At least I know where you are.'

Shortly after the sound of falling peanuts, there was the sound of crunching peanuts. 'Severus.' Ele wondered if the boy could hear her silent reprimands. The crunching continued, the boy couldn't help but step on them as he tried to find a new hiding place. Joe, just returned from the back room had wondered, 'What is that noise?' He looked down the back bar, but only saw his dog, who had gone back to sleeping with the dumped over peanuts surrounding him. "There's something wired going on here," He pondered. He shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to pick up the scattered peanuts. All but the crushed ones went back in the wooden bowl. At first Joe thought he better dump them out; then he figured no one would notice the difference, so he plunked them back on the bar. While he was tossing out the crunched peanuts, a tiny invisible hand was trying to get at the rest once again. This time, there was a second where Joe turned and could have sworn he saw the bowl move on its own. "Definitely something weird." A glass was grabbed and a small amount of stout was draught. The pub owner slugged it down. With a shake of his head, he declared, "That's better. " Forgetting what he thought he just saw, the pub's owner went over to where his newest employee was cleaning. She was cleaning places that hadn't been cleaned in years. "Hey, there. Uh, Mrs. Snape." He had forgotten her first name. "I think I'd better settle up with you."

Ele looked up slightly confused. "Settle up?"

"You've worked for four hours," Joe pointed out. "I pay up after every shift."

"Are you telling me, I'm done?" Eileen looked disappointed. She thought she had done a good job. Yet Joe was telling her she was done.

Joe was perceptive, for a Muggle, and guessed what the woman might be thinking. "You do want to go home for lunch, right? I close up until four. Well actually we're technically closed up now, but I send everyone home at noon." Joe did tend to ramble. The pub owner reached into his pocket to take out a wad of cash. Eileen couldn't hide her disappointment that he only pealed off a few bills.

"I'm feeling generous today. I paid you for a couple of extra hours."

Ele looked at the Muggle money in her hand; three five pound notes. She had worked four hours and only had fifteen pounds to show for it. 'It's better than nothing,' she convinced herself.

"You'll make more tonight," Joe informed. "At night you'll make tips."

Had she heard right? He was asking her to come back and work that night. She smiled. Joe winced. 'I hope you get tips.'

"I guess it's time to go," Eileen said this extra loud so that her invisible son would hear. She didn't move until she felt something brush up against her leg.

"Right, I'll be back at, four." At the door she held it long enough for the invisible boy to go outside before her. "Go over to the ally," She whispered, as she walked quickly, as if she didn't want to be seen. Upon reaching the ally, finding it empty, she finally said out loud, "Severus." As soon as his name had been uttered, Sev reappeared. Ele was smiling at him. "You did well today. You could have done better but . . ." She didn't finish the lecture. He had done well. Ele held out her hand. "Come on." Sev took his mother's hand. She began walking fast. He almost couldn't keep up with her. He knew they were not heading back toward Spinner's End. The further away they got, the more curious he got.

"Where are we going Mum?"

"You'll see." She was using her 'happy' voice tone. Severus knew it had to be something good. He was right. "You remember this place?"

"Oh yes, Mum." Sev's face showed the joy that any kid's would while standing in front of an ice cream shop. "We haven't been here in a long time."

Without further words Ele pulled her son along with her inside. When they sat in a booth she said, "I know it's not a proper lunch, but we're going to celebrate."

"Celebrate?"

"Mummy's got a job."

That really didn't mean much to Severus, but if it meant he was going to get ice cream, that was something to celebrate.

The waitress came over with two glasses of water and silverware. The pale woman and her pale son took her, for a moment, aback. "Can I get you something?"

Ele ignored the odd look they were getting, and ordered, "Two hot fudge sundaes."

The girl went off to get the treat, thinking, 'Anything you say, Morticia.' Her mind was even easier to penetrate than Joe's had been, but the little boy didn't understand the comment of this Muggle. A few minutes later the confections were in front of them. Eileen wasn't sure which she enjoyed more, the taste of the treat, or watching her son enjoying his.

"Slow down Sev, you're going to choke."

In all innocence the boy asked, "Don't you have a potion for that?" He didn't mean to sound smarmy; it just seemed to be his natural tone. Severus thought his Mum had a potion for everything.

"Just slow down."

Halfway through hers, Eileen began to stir the ice cream rather than eat it. She was thinking of what she should buy before they stopped off at home. What did they need the most? She was also thinking of what was she going to do with Sev when she went back to The Serpent's Tongue. 'Maybe Tobias will watch him? Fat chance. If he's even home.' Then the worrying thought of what Toby would think of her having a job, and where it was, entered her mind. Maybe it would be best if Toby didn't know. She was taken out of her musing by the waitress bringing over the check.

"That'll be a pound."

Ele handed the waitress the fiver, and the girl went for change. When she came back it was with a one-pound and two fifty pence coins. Ele inquired, "Could I get two crowns for one of these?" She held out the fifty pence coin. The waitress seemed disappointed. It became obvious that she was only going to get twenty-five pence for a tip. She still did as asked. When Ele gave her one of the crowns on her return, the waitress took it begrudgingly. 'Way to break the bank, Morticia.'

There was an awkward moment as the odd woman and her child walked away. Severus, wanting to make sure the nice lady who had waited on them understood, told her, "My Mum's name isn't Morticia."