Chapter 2 : The Snacks Are Free

Mary Potter sat at the very opposite of Severus Snape in awkward silence. As silent as a moving military plane could be.

Of course, he had made a cutting remark about the infamous Chosen-One bringing trouble to his life again despite not being her teacher anymore. She'd ignored it, sat silently, and it's been this way since.

After the battle of Hogwarts, the short-lived Headmaster had been admitted to St Mungo's, somehow survived the loss of blood and the bite's venom. He hadn't come back to the school afterwards and transferred his title to now Headmistress McGonagall once he had been cleared in court. That was where she'd seen him last; she had given a full testimony in his favour.

The previously Potion Professor had spoken to no one as far as Mary was aware, and she hadn't sought him out either. She had no clue where he'd been and what he had been up to.

Truth be told, Mary felt ashamed and guilty for leaving him for dead, didn't check his pulse or his breathing, before running to the pensive. At the time, she believed him to be a traitor. Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and she did need glasses.

Now that she looked at him, he actually appeared younger than she remembered he did in the last year he had taught her. It was her sixth year, and the year it had been planned for him to kill Dumbledore. Despite his war injury, Mary reckoned that being freed from his duties as spy allowed him a healthier life, both physically and psychologically. The 'dungeon bat' still had his black hair framing his pale face. She wondered if he used a glamour spell to hide his scar; his neck looked too smooth. Or maybe he healed better than she had expected.

The silence was stretching. At least three hours must have passed and that seat on the wall was getting uncomfortable. If it could even be called a seat.

Finally, Mary broke the silence. "Why are you here?"

Snape didn't react at all. He obviously couldn't hear her through the noise of the engine. She felt her question was stupid anyway and was glad she was given a chance to pretend she hadn't asked. She fidgeted with her hands for a few minutes.

It didn't take long before the Chosen-One changed her mind again, and decided being stupid was better than being awkward and bored. She tentatively got up, made sure she was able to stand with the moving plane, and walked to his side. He was also wearing muggle clothes: black shirt, black necktie and black trousers.

He noticed her and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm glad your eyebrow can still work, sir. Would have been a shame if the venom had impacted your signature move's specific muscles, wouldn't it?" She half yelled over the machine's loud hum. rolled his eyes but didn't answer. "Why are you here?"

He opened his mouth to answer, and then a wave of guilt pulsed painfully through her skull, starting a headache, as his voice wasn't exactly strong enough to carry over the noise. Right, she had noticed how rough her ex-Professor had sounded earlier… Almost like he was lowly growling.

She looked down at her feet, the 'silence' twice as awkward now. She debated going back to her previous spot or not.

When the plane started to go down, Mary was lying on a mattress she had transfigured from a pillow she had brought in her trunk. She hurriedly turned it back and shoved it in her trunk, which she reduced in size to fit in her pocket. She had lost track of time, sleeping on and off, her headache still throbbing. She was sure Snape had sat straight the whole time, staring at the wall in front of him.

When the ramp started to go down, they were both standing in front of it, but a few meters apart, ready to disembark.

They were rushed to a car and brought to the white house. Mary had seen it often in pictures and despite her status as the Chosen One and the hero of the Second British Wizarding War, the Girl-Who-Lived had never dreamed of setting foot in it.

Inside the car, Mary was startled when Snape talked. He instructed her to omit anything magical in her explanation to the muggle President. That intrigued her, she thought they'd have known. Ultimately, she reckoned that muggles sometimes feared the word 'magic' alone, including those who were already aware of its existence. Uncle Vernon was the prime example of this.

They were introduced to two men. One of them was Doctor Teddy Oglethorpe, he was at the head of some sort of astronomy organisation within NASA that struggled to be recognized. He was black and looked a little older than Snape, with a short haircut, and he was wearing a professional suit. The second one was much older, General Themes, he worked for the pentagon and Mary thought he must be in an important role, considering all those decorations on his uniform.

"Teddy?" Mary asked, curious.

"Yes we call him Teddy, because he is no Teddy bear." Themes replied with a soft smile. Mary thought that was a bit contradictory but didn't comment on it.

"I am Professor Severus Snape." came the small voice of Snape next to her.

General Themes raised both eyebrows. "Like the Roman Emperor? An odd name nowadays, but it doesn't surprise me. The British Empire is quite old fashioned."

Mary thought his comment was not necessary and expected Snape to push back, but he simply stared. Perhaps his injury was still straining, and it made him chose silence more often. She wished he'd made that choice years prior. Or the git was comfortable being an arse with people he knew only.

But the most likely explanation, he was able to behave around other adults and could read a room. Now that Mary thought about it, she had never seen him outside of being a teacher, surrounded by teenagers all day long. And admittedly, it was a rather small community.

They followed the two men down a corridor as Themes told them about the oval office being much smaller than the photographs would have you believe. They sat on cushioned benches in the corridor. After a few minutes silence had settled, the reality of what was going on was dawning on Mary. She had almost forgotten with the shock of seeing Snape after so many years. She hadn't seen him since she had learned the truth about his innocence, as well as his love for her mother. She had decided that pretending she didn't know was for the best.

But now that the current situation was weighing on her shoulders, her stomach churned. The numbness had started to fade during the trip, and it was now fully wearing off. She started shaking.

Suddenly she turned to Snape and whispered in haste. "Are we really about to tell the President of the United States that humankind and all species on earth are going to be extinct in about six months?"

Snape leaned in to reply. "Forgotten your own discovery not twenty-four hours after making it, Potter? Left your brain across the pond, haven't you?"

Instead of answering, she pointed to his right with a shaky hand. His gaze followed it and stopped on the rubbish bin. Without a moment hesitation he picked it up and handed it to her so she could empty her stomach, her head pounding.

There was more waiting. An hour later they saw the President, a blond woman with glasses, rushed by while talking in hushed tones with men surrounding her. All four of the guests stood up to talk to her but she walked past so quickly none of them were able to put a word before the men slammed the door to the oval office behind them.

Teddy turned to Themes. "She was briefed about the reason of our visit, right?"

"Of course." Themes replied shortly. Teddy looked sceptical.

They sat back and waited...

Mary only noticed that Themes stood up when he came back with bags of muggle munchies. Teddy handed him a twenty dollars note and Themes had unfortunately no change, but he accepted the transaction as is.

Having been sick earlier, being tired of the flight and her lingering headache, Mary stared at the snacks like a starved child, cursing internally the Ministry of Magic for forgetting to give her American muggle currency.

Snape did have some, apparently. He bought a few bags and dropped one on Mary's lap.

"I- er… Than-"

"Don't mention it." he cut her off.

They ate, the ruffles of the bags the only noise in the silence. Mary silently resented Snape for his gesture, she didn't need to owe him money. He didn't need to care for her anymore. She had survived the war and he wasn't a teacher.

Through her tiredness and her headache, the rest of the day was like a long and tedious blur. She remembered vaguely that at some point people were singing 'Happy Birthday' through the door in the oval office. Finally, to Teddy's astonishment, Themes left. Something about a meeting in Japan.

About twenty minutes after his departure, Mary talked to Teddy.

"I have a Godson whose name is also Teddy." She said with a soft smile.

Teddy looked up and smiled back. "It's a good choice. How old is he?"

They discussed Teddy Lupin for the next half hour, during which she was careful to avoid mentioning the Wizarding war, his father's lycanthropy, or anything related to magic, really. She also avoided the subject of his parents' death. It was still painful for her, and she didn't want to lie about the way they died. It would have been a disrespect to their memories. She had almost forgotten Snape's presence next to her. Then silence fell again…

They waited long enough that Mary got hungry again and Snape had fallen asleep. She left her chair to get something to eat. Themes mustn't have gone too far to find the sweets and crisps. Mary was expecting to find a vending machine, but instead found a small kitchen. The snacks were in the cabinets and the fridge. Upon hearing from an employee sitting nearby that they're free to take, she marched back to the waiting area, affronted.

Snape woke up abruptly when Mary loudly blurted out that they had been scammed.

"The snacks are free!" She shook the bags noisily in front of him and Teddy. "He took the money, but they were free!"

Snape had just enough time to understand what she was saying and snarl (at being woken up or ripped off, she wasn't sure) when the door to the oval office opened. A young man stood in the door frame, looking smug.

"Look guys, I'm sorry but it's just insane busy today. We'll arrange hotels for you, we'll meet you tomorrow, promise." He as good as shooed them out. Teddy sighed in frustration, and if Snape could cast the Killing Curse nonverbally and without a wand, Mary suspected she'd have found out then.

In the hotel room, Mary sat down on the bed and watched TV. The news channel talked about some kind of scandal going on in American politics that probably explained why they couldn't meet the President today. Regardless, Mary reckoned that it was less urgent matter than the world ending. The numbness was back, but she still was startled when the phone on the bedside table rang.

"Hello?" Mary said as she picked it up.

"Mary!" she heard Hermione's relief through the phone. "We've been so worried about you. You were gone before we even knew you were leaving! What's going on? Where are you? Are you alright?"

As annoying as Hermione's questioning habits were, Mary was glad to hear it.

"Yes, I'm alright, don't worry. I can't say much for now. Are Ginny and Ron alright?" she asked back.

"Yes, they are. Ginny wants to talk to you, but Ron is sleeping. It's two in the morning here. He had a hard day at work, you know how it is, being an Auror and all…"

"Great, pass me Ginny." Then Mary remembered the last time she talked to the Weasley family on a phone. "She knows not to yell in it, right?"

Hermione giggled, and shortly after the tired voice of Ginny came on the phone.

"Hi, Mary. I'm a bit disappointed you won't make an exception and tell me what this is all about, but I understand." Ginny said quickly.

"I'm glad you understand… I miss you." Mary said. "I can't wait to be done with this and be home."

"Who went with you? We saw that professor Sinistra stayed here because of her pregnancy, and the other teachers didn't leave the country either."

There was silence before Mary replied. It felt like her lungs couldn't empty the air she had inhaled.

"It's Snape." She finally said.

She heard a gasp and shuffling.

"What! Mary… Why? He isn't a teacher anymore, is he?" Ginny staggered, then she heard her tell Hermione She went with Snape! away from the phone.

"I don't know either. I tried asking on the way here, but I couldn't hear his answer over the plane's engine, it seems his injury affected his voice. Hah, can you believe we came here with muggle means? It took forever and it was awkward."

"Awkward you say?" Ginny said, Mary could picture her half-grinning through her tone.

"Anyway, how did you contact me?" Mary asked, suddenly wondering how they reached her.

"The ministry gave us your hotel's phone number." Ginny replied, now serious. "I know it might not be the right moment, but I think we need to talk about mum."

Mary tensed immediately and gulped.

"What about her? You already know my stance." Mary said. "I'll talk to her again when she stops bringing it up."

"I know but… You love her so much, and she loves you too. It breaks me to see you avoid each other like that over that one thing, and it makes it really complicated for me when it comes to gatherings like Christmas. Please, just talk to her." Ginny said pleadingly.

"I don't know… I think I may be ready to talk to her in… How about seven months from now?" Mary replied, emotionally drained.

"Seven months?! That's oddly specific!"