"What say you, Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and half-breed?"
Severus, now in his true form, sat bound in a chair before the High King and his court. Jareth and Sarah wasted no time spiriting him to the High King's castle. Most of the Underground nobility was present along with the Minister of Magic and a few other high-ranking Witches and Wizards. Jareth's parents stood off to the side, looks of disappointment upon their faces. Jareth and Sarah stood separate from the crowd, as they were pressing charges against Severus.
"I admit to nothing, Your Majesty," Snape said without any emotion in his voice.
"I have evidence," said the Minister of Magic, a middle-aged blonde man whose name neither Sarah nor Jareth could remember. Stepping forward with a stone hewn bowl, he presented it to the High King. While Severus was waiting trial, they went to speak with him, sure that such acts of magic were not condoned in Wizarding society. They were right and, with Sarah's permission, the Minister extracted a few memories from her and brought them with him in a Pensieve.
Upon seeing the memories, the Minister forwent Wizarding charges in favor of Fae ones. After all, Severus Snape transgressed against members of their royalty.
Luckily, the memories were easily viewed in the Underground, and the High King and his court were shocked at what they saw. Afterwards, they adjoined to the King's private chambers to confer and come up with a verdict.
Sarah, having said everything and more to Severus once he woke, stood silently with Jareth's arm around her supportively.
"Don't worry, Love, they'll be just and fair."
After a few minutes, they returned. "Taking everything into consideration, and after seeing such... sickening evidence, the court of the High King and the King himself, have decided to strip you of all magic for 100 years, and banish you to the Wisconsin place of the Aboveground."
The crowd gasped at such a harsh verdict. The court rarely banished anybody, and it was near unheard of to do so to a denizen of the Wizarding World. Severus was hauled off to meet his fate.
Sarah sagged in relief as soon as the antechamber door shut behind him.
"Good riddance!" she spat.
Jareth was relieved as well, even though he didn't show it quite as obviously as Sarah did. He did heave a soft sigh and felt his shoulders creep down from around his ears; he had been very tense. Smirking, he figured he could easily talk his wife into giving him a massage later, preferably nude.
They fell into the flow of the crowd as it dispersed. "I suppose it's back to business as usual?" He tucked Sarah's hand into the crook of his arm and lead her towards the front of the crowd.
"Yes, I suppose," she said distractedly as a gust of wind knocked her hat off and whipped her burgundy skirts about her ankles.
Jareth caught it and plopped it atop her pinned curls. "You know, I have a very important meeting tomorrow."
"And what's that?" Sarah asked as she straightened her dress and took his arm again.
"I'm interviewing for an assistant. Someone to allow me more freedom."
Sarah wasn't expecting this. She thought for sure things would go back to the way they were: with him working and her learning until she could work beside him. "Really?" She smiled at him and it reached all the way to her eyes, which sparkled happily.
He grinned back. "You know, I think we can make some serious headway with your music project." In between hauling Severus here, requesting an audience, and waiting (as one does with the High King), Jareth had ample time to relay his discovery when working with the wards. "I think we could use this as a starting point in integrating the two magics."
"This is going to change things. It could ultimately benefit both worlds." She wriggled her arm free and turned to face him. "I want to help. I can lend a unique perspective." When he didn't resist, she continued. "Besides, I'm not going to let some male Fae take all the glory."
"Behind every man, be it wizard, Fae, or Above, there is a wonderful woman lending her—"
She cut him off with a smack to his shoulder. "Leading the way," Sarah corrected. "Behind every woman…"
He laughed. Taking her hand in this time, they started off again.
"Jareth? Do you think anybody will try to Borrow me again?" Sarah asked quietly, almost afraid that asking such a question out loud would make it come true.
"I doubt it. Not for a long, long time." They came to a line of both Wizards and Fae crossing into the apparition point to head off to their final destinations. Jareth leaned around the large man in front of them and frowned, assessing the situation. The queue was quite long, but it was moving quickly. He turned back to Sarah, holding her hands in his, playing with her fingers. "Besides, who says you won't get bored of me?"
"Bored," she scoffed. "Never!" She shook her head. "I'll never tire of you."
He arched an eyebrow. "You say that now..."
Breaking his hold on her, Sarah reached up and pulled his head down until their faces were inches apart. Fire danced in her eyes. "And I'll keep saying it, forever." She kissed him.
Coming to the front of the line, they stepped past the anti-apparition barrier. "Home," she said, smiling up at him.
"Home," he agreed.
Three months later
Severus Snape, Former Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry really hated Wisconsin. It was, in his opinion, dull and there was too much livestock meandering around for his taste. But at least he had a job. He was now Severus Snape, Drink Master, or, bartender at the local tavern. The Mooing Cow was the only place dank enough that he didn't rouse any suspicion. Stripped of his magic, he couldn't cast any glamor to ward off curious glances from women and men; even though he couldn't do anything magically, Muggles still sensed something different about him, something off.
The magical world was nothing if not efficient. After learning his fate, the powers that be quickly set him up with a small apartment and six months' worth of living expenses. He was expected to get a job and contribute to Muggle society. After getting rejected from all the local schools, he tried bartending, and found that mixing drinks wasn't so far off from mixing potions.
But now, he was stuck bartending at some ditzy blonde's wedding. Turning away from the father of the bride to fill his order, he sneered. There was nothing worse than this: Muggle music was abhorrent and too loud, and the tuxedo he had to rent was itchy. He sighed, noticing he was running low on gin.
A small voice in his head, the voice of reason, piped up: 'If you didn't let bitterness and jealousy get the better of you, you wouldn't be in this mess.' He sighed again as he mixed the drink, mentally agreeing with himself. "You'd think I'd know better by now," he murmured to no one in particular.
Turning back with the man's drink, a Seabreeze, he screwed his face into a smile. "Sir, your drink." The man stuffed a balled-up dollar into his seriously lacking tip jar and tottered off. He'd likely be back in about twenty minutes.
Wiping down the bar, Severus didn't notice a young woman approach until she coughed to get his attention. Head whipping up, black eyes met warm brown ones which widened in surprise. "Professor?" She breathed.
Eyes widening slightly in alarm at being recognized, he gazed upon the pretty face before him, trying to place her. "Granger." It wasn't posed as a question but as a statement, as he matched up his memories of a bushy haired insufferable know it all, with the young woman in front of him.
She had aged and matured; hair taming into hazelnut colored coils that cascaded down her back, faced slimmed from the loss of baby fat, the only roundness left were her coral colored lips that she was currently nibbling on nervously. Soft feminine curves were hugged by a lavender gown.
Glancing down at her hands, which were resting upon the counter, Severus noted that her ring finger was bare. Inwardly, he smirked. This could prove interesting.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters- they are the property of their respective owners.
Betaed by AnonyMissJ. I wouldn't be able to do this without you. Really! I owe you a bushel of vegan cookies! Go read her stuff- it's awesome!
AN: Well, that's it. I learned a lot in writing this. There's parts of it I really like, and others that could be improved, but I think that's the way it goes with most things. I know I probably didn't get any of the characters spot on, but they're my vision of what they should be. And I know Jareth is a dork (in all my stories). Probably because I've seen too many David Bowie interviews where he interviews as a big dork. Truly- go look them up. He tells extremely poor (but endearing) jokes, and has an infectious laugh.