Chapter 31: Girl Talk
"Hello Narcissa," Rita Skeeter said when the elf showed her into the parlor. "It was so kind of you to invite me to tea."
"Well, Lucius and Draco are away on business at the moment, and I thought it would be a good time to enjoy a bit of 'girl talk'. Please have a seat. I'm eager to hear how your latest book is coming along."
"I'm having so much fun with it," Rita said, settling into one of the ornate chairs as an elf brought a tray with tea and cakes. "Snape's story is fascinating." She paused while the elf poured the tea and served each of them.
"I know everyone is expecting me to drag his reputation through the mud – that's what I usually do, after all – but I'm going to surprise them this time. I won't gloss over his flaws, and Merlin knows he had more than his share of them, but I'm going to play up his remorse and his courage, and how he tried so hard to make up for his sins."
"Everyone will think that's out of character for you," Narcissa observed. "I'm sure they'll be expecting a hatchet job."
"Of course they will, but almost everyone has disparaged Snape so thoroughly over the years," Rita said, "and where's the challenge in trying to top that? That's old news, everyone knows it, and there's not much left to say about it. No, I'm going to startle everyone by presenting him as a hero. Or as close to a hero as I can, realistically. I think I'm going to call it 'Severus Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?' And do you know what the best part is?"
"What?" Narcissa asked, leaning forward eagerly.
Rita gave her a conspiratorial look. "It will give me new opportunities to make Albus Dumbledore and his Chosen One look bad."
"Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so glad to hear it," Narcissa said. "Those two get much more credit than they deserve. And poor Severus had such a tragic life."
Rita smiled. "I know. It's going to make a wonderful story. It's sure to be a best-seller."
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"You're sure you're okay now?" Kat asked as he and Severus left the infirmary. "It looks like Arusha did a pretty good job of fixing you up."
Severus snorted and said nothing. What she'd done was threaten to turn him into a pink Pigmy Puff unless he stayed in bed and rested, and he'd actually obeyed her because he knew she would do it – she was worse than Pomfrey. The rest had done him a world of good, of course, but he'd never admit it.
"And I'm sorry about those two boys," Kat added. "I thought I got rid of them."
"It's not your fault," Severus told him. "They're an insufferable nuisance. They always turn up where they shouldn't be." The only time that he'd ever been truly happy to see them – overwhelmingly happy, in fact – was when he'd been dying in the shack. They'd done nothing to help him then, of course, but at least they'd been there so he could give Potter the information that the boy had to have. It had seemed miraculous at the time.
Which reminded him of the vial of memories that Potter had returned to him. He'd kept it, of course, but he wasn't sure he was happy to have it.
He and Kat continued down the hall and passed one of the former Slytherins, Mick Bletchley. Mick didn't make eye-contact, but Severus felt something appear in his pocket. He'd look at it later, when he was alone. Right now he needed to get ready to leave.
It didn't take long for him to pack the few things that he'd brought with him and then he went to the kitchen where the elves happily supplied him with a box of desserts for Fawkes. He couldn't imagine why he kept indulging that silly bird, but for some unknown reason watching Fawkes gobble up treats made him feel sort of … happy. It was ridiculous.
He found Armstrong waiting in the Dining Hall. "Some of the Ghoul Busters are going to stay and continue patrolling the area until they're sure there are no more Dementors around," he reported. "And in a way, that hurricane did us a favor; the muggles were too busy coping with it to notice that there was anything going on out here. The last time they spotted the light from some spells a group of muggle scientists came out to investigate, and we had to convince them that there'd been a massive occurrence of foxfire."
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"Did you know Lily Evans?" Rita asked.
"No, I didn't. I graduated a few years after Lucius, but several years before Severus. Lucius had asked me to keep an eye on young Severus – he recognized the boy's potential – but I can't say I ever really noticed the Evans girl."
Rita sighed. "That's too bad," she said. "I'd love to get some dirt on her. Do you know if there were any other girls in Snape's life? Or women?"
"Well, Priscilla Nott once told me that Severus had a fling with a Hufflepuff girl that he was tutoring. Priscilla didn't mention her name, but that would have been after the Evans girl dumped him. I suppose he'd got over Evans until he found out she was in danger." Narcissa frowned and added, "She wasn't worthy of him, you know."
"That only makes the story better," Rita said, writing down some notes. "But what about later, when Snape was with the Death Eaters?"
"Oh yes, I saw him with a number of fairly attractive women over the years. He was a capable young wizard with the potential to rise in the Dark Lord's ranks, and even though he wasn't very handsome or rich, many women are attracted to men who are on their way up. And of course Severus could be quite charming when he wanted to be." Narcissa thought for a moment. "I don't know whether he really cared for any of them, or whether he was just using them for political alliances, or to deflect suspicion or whatever."
Rita's pen hovered over the paper. "You wouldn't care to name names, would you?"
Narcissa shook her head. "No, the way things turned out, no one wants it brought out that they were involved with Death Eaters, so it's best left unsaid."
"That's unfortunate," Rita said, pouting a bit. "Let me know if you change your mind. I suppose it might seem more romantic if Evans were the only one, but that's just too implausible. None of my readers would believe it. I'll just have to hint that there were others and let everyone wonder about them."
"You certainly are an expert at dropping hints and asking leading questions," Narcissa said, quickly adding, "and I mean that as a compliment."
"Yes, that's the best part of writing," Rita said. "I pride myself on getting the facts straight, of course, but then I always go a bit further and add a bit of speculation to get people thinking. My readers love it.
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Severus and Kat stood on the deck waiting for the captain to start the engines. Everyone had assembled by the dock to watch their departure. The elves, being the shortest, stood at the front, proudly wearing their lovely school tea-towels. Mr Cohen, Vic Armstrong and Angie were in the center behind them, along with Ms Applewood, Ms Larose, and the rest of the staff. The students stood wherever they could find a spot. Darkness and Mysteria, who were off to one side, held up Alvin and Fingerella so they could see over the crowd. Larose smiled and waved, and Severus felt his pulse increase. "She must have some Veela blood," he said to Kat, but Kat was too busy waving back to her to hear him.
Severus looked around for Arusha and Doc, but they'd already left to start rebuilding the boat works. Then spotted his Slytherins and wondered what Mick had given him. He'd take a look at it after they were under way. He gave the four of them a barely perceptible nod. Their eyes sparkled and they had difficulty hiding their grins.
"Thank you for everything you've done," Mr Cohen called. "Please come back and join us for Thanksgiving dinner!"
"And Christmas, too, and whenever you want! You're always welcome here!" Armstrong shouted.
Angie waved and so did many of the students, and Fawkes, who was perched on a railing, raised his wings in reply. That inspired several turkey vultures who were sitting in a hurricane-wrecked tree to whistle and flap. Cheeky buzzards! the phoenix thought. He wanted to turn around and flip his tail at them, but he couldn't do something like that in front of the fledglings.
Finally the magic engines hummed to life and Kat and Severus cast off. The boat pulled away from the dock and headed out into the channel. Then the captain sounded the horn twice and the boat vanished.
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"Ironically, you might actually be in agreement with Harry Potter this time," Narcissa said. "I'm sure you know how he proclaimed Severus a hero in front of everyone when he faced you-know-who for the last time, and he's been repeating that story to everyone who'll listen, including The Daily Prophet. He even lobbied for Severus to be awarded the Order of Merlin, and I've heard that he had a portrait painted for Hogwarts, too."
"That's true," Rita agreed, "but I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm investigating everything that Potter has said, and everything that he neglected to mention, too. In fact, I'm planning to interview him and his little friends soon." She smiled knowingly. "I'm sure it will prove to be very interesting."