"Concentrate." Severus reminds Lorna as he flips through the pages of his notes resting upon his knee as the toddler banishes her training wand as if it were a sword, swinging sloppily through the air and jabbing at random objects as if she were sparring with them. "I have witnessed you use that training wand as if it were real, simply because you were concentrating and meant it. Now, hold it correctly- no, correctly, Lorna. As I have shown you. Now, say the words as you flick your wrist."
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Lorna shouts at the peacock feather on the floor before her.
The feather trembles a moment, whether by her will or a draft, then stills entirely. Lorna quickly becomes frustrated, throws the practice wand to the ground, and slams her arms down against her sides in defeat just as the feather erupts in a ball of flame. Severus produces his own wand and extinguishes the fire without uttering a word.
"You are a witch, that much is certain." Severus chuckles as Lorna narrows her eyes at him in such a way that reminds him so much of Sirius Black- or worse, of Bellatrix Lestrange, that a shiver runs down his spine. "You need to master the movements. You are still young; you have seven years before you can obtain a true wand. Seven years to practice before you are off to Hogwarts, where you will no doubt be the top of our class due to practicing now."
Lorna stalks towards him, her face still so full of anger that for a moment he contemplates what he will do if she narrows her signature flames towards him. Lorna reaches her hands up for him to hoist her onto his lap. Severus obliges, pushing his papers out of the way so that they are at least spared by her messy hands. The apothecary had been deserted since Rita Skeeter's article, something that ordinarily would have eaten at him, if not for his new friend Mentem Defensor, a breakthrough new potion invented by one Gaultier Bardot; a French potions master who had immigrated shortly after the second wizarding war in an effort to ease the suffering of many of the men and women still effected by The Dark Lord's rein.
Severus had met Mister Bardot while leaving the Ministry of Magic several weeks earlier during his visit to the Ministry of Magic's Regulation of Potions and Magical Herbs department to register his own creation for a testing period. As he slammed the office door behind him, Severus could not help but overhear a man discussing a groundbreaking potion with a research assistant.
"I have done extensive research with young witches and wizards suffering from what Muggles call 'Battle Fatigue' after the events of the war." The man says enthusiastically as he waves a ledger through the air. Severus stops a moment and listens, intrigued by what the stranger with a thick French accent was explaining. "One woman, you will find her on page thirty-seven of my portfolio, suffered such intense Agoraphobia- which is what Muggle practitioners refer to when an individual is unable to withstand large crowds, or in this unfortunate soul's situation, leave the home entirely; this poor woman had not left her home in over twenty years. Her husband and two sons were both killed by Death Eaters during You-Know-Who's first emergence, and she had locked herself inside; only allowing her daughter to come in once a month. You see, her quality of life had diminished so much so that she had been contemplating taking her own life for several years. I heard word of her condition while traveling the countryside in search of anyone who would be willing to participate in a trial, her daughter practically begged me to assist the family in healing her. This woman, in a matter of weeks, was not only able to leave her home, but go on an all-day shopping trip in London with her daughter and grandchildren. Something that would never have been possible for her before!"
"How does this potion differ from a simple Calming Drought?" Severus asks, fully invested in the conversation he had not been invited in to. The man whips his head around, a broad smile etched upon his face.
"You see, Calming Droughts often render the drinker completely useless, as I am sure you well know. If taken or brewed incorrectly, can leave its drinker in a worse state than they were in beforehand. It cannot be taken long term, does not ease the anxious tendencies whatsoever, and was created back when man still believed the woman to be fickle, glass figurines prone to hysterics and weeping. It was not meant to soothe women; no, it was meant to quiet them and force them to bed for extended periods of time so that man can be, well, you know what creatures we can become." The man removes a glass vial with a shimmering yellow substance from the pocket of his traveling cloak and passes it to Severus to examine. "With this potion, I have seen both men and women completely restored. I have seen even the most terror-ridden individuals smile and laugh, I have seen children face their greatest fears with ease, I have witnessed true miracles. And isn't that what magic is all about?"
"What are the active ingredients?" Severus inquires as he carefully examines the vial in his hand. Intrigued would be an understatement.
"Withania Somnifera, also known as ashwagandha. It is a common shrub which grows in India, Africa, and parts of the Middle East. It has been used for centuries by wizards and Muggles alike to treat a variety of ailments. Then of course we have the motherwort, hops, lavender, crocodile heart, and a pinch of Kanna."
"Seems rather complex, perhaps a bit extravagant." Severus admits as he raises his brow at the man before him.
"No more complex than anything you have brewed in the past, Professor Snape." The odd little French man smiles up at him as Severus furrows his brow at him. The man extends his hand, offering a handshake. Severus offers his own in return. "Gaultier Bardot. I know of you, Mister Snape, though I have never had the pleasure. Lucky day for me, I would say."
"Walk with me, if you will, Mister Bardot." Severus demands as he turns on his heel with a wave of black cloak and hair. Behind him, Mister Bardot's heel clicks on the stone floor as he follows Severus down the corridor. "I would like to discuss the possibility of studying your potion, if you will allow it."
"I am not in the habit of sharing my research. I would be happy to allow you to partake in the trial, but I must insist on keeping my potion to myself, at least until it is patented by the Ministry. I am sure you understand, Professor Snape."
"I am not a professor." Severus sneers down at the man. "Besides, I am not interested in stealing your life's work."
"I am glad to hear that, sir. Still, I would prefer to keep this to myself for the time being." Mister Bardot smiles up at Severus as an innocent child would. "What is it that you are working on?" He gestures to the files tucked beneath Severus' arm.
"A creation of my own." Severus passes the files to the man, not caring if he steals his work or not, so long as it brings relief to someone.
"Ah. Quite interesting indeed." Mister Bardot leans back against the cold corridor wall as he thumbs through page after page of Severus' notes. "And have you found that this works as intended?"
"I have had but one test subject. They found immediate relief and little side effects. Although, it was not a full-term pregnancy."
"I see, spontaneous abortion. Poor thing." Mister Bardot tsks and shakes his head before continuing down the page. "A pity, really. Women have been suffering since the dawn of time, and man has not once thought to ease their suffering through magical means. There have been attempts, naturally, yet nothing that offers true relief. Even Muggles are more advanced than us in that regard. I see no indication that the ingredients listed would harm a full term, healthy foetus. Perhaps you have cracked the code for humanity, Prof- Mister Snape."
"The subject in question reported immediate relief that lasted upwards of six hours. Only a thimble full of potion was administered; it is my belief that with the proper dosage administered and adequate timing, may provide relief for the entirety of the labour process, without rendering the drinker completely bedridden."
"I quite agree. I am interested in seeing this potion of yours unfold." Mister Bardot closes the file and passes it back to Severus, the smile on his face never faltering "I have a proposition for you, Mister Snape." Severus raises a brow at the small man and gestures with his hand for him to continue as the two make their way down the corridor and out into the morning sunlight. "Allow me to assist you in spreading word of your potion, and I will show you how to brew this." Mister Bardot removes the vial of potion from his coat pocket once more and wafts it through the air.
And so, the friendship began. Each week Gaultier Bardot sent an owl with several new names added to the ever-growing list of women who had used his potion, all of which reporting with a detailed list of their findings. The side-effects, thus far, had been nearly non-existent. All of which reported an intense pressure and tightening feeling of the womb, though none experienced any form of pain, only a tolerable discomfort. Some reported feelings of nausea, vomiting, and extreme fatigue, which Severus, Gaultier, and a midwife by the name of Mary DeBois the latter had brought into the mix as an experience professional, all agreed was likely a resulting side-effect of the labouring process itself and not the potion.
The potion in question, which is still unnamed despite Gaultier's advances and suggestions, had come into fruition shortly following Draco's request for a fertility potion, which Severus begrudgingly provided, still believing the decision for someone with Missus Malfoy's unfortunate condition to be both idiotic and selfish. Draco had recalled to him, in great detail, the physical pain his wife endured each time she suffered a pregnancy loss, which called Severus to recall the howls of terror he heard from Narcissa Malfoy the night Draco had been born, the moans of agony from his own wife the days leading up to their daughter's birth, and his very mother writhing and panting the night she had taken the very potion Danu had nearly taken when confronted with the news of her own pregnancy.
If she had taken that potion….
No, he could not, would not, imagine or remember life before Lorna, life without her.
The process of creating this potion had been grueling and extensive. Though, looking back on it now, had not been nearly as difficult as he had imagined it at the time. He had no true way of knowing whether or not the potion would work, he had simply relied on his knowledge of herbs and a vain hope that it would work. So, when Draco came to collect the fertility potion one month later and relay the news of yet another loss for him and his spouse, Severus slipped a vial of the newly finished, silvery potion into his open hand and instructed him on its use.
Two months later, Draco informed him that the potion had worked as intended.
Severus has been consuming and recording in detail the effects of Mentem Defensor for nearly six weeks. It was not, as Gaultier had informed him numerous times, meant to be taken long term. It was only meant to be consumed daily for up to ten weeks, or until symptoms subsided. The feeling, however, that the potion left him with was something altogether foreign. He no longer woke with nightmares, did not worry endlessly as he lay in bed unable to sleep, he felt light, empty almost. His temper was not nearly as short, rage did not flame within him over trivial things as it always seemed too prior. When he came home from work and tripped over a pair of shoes, he did not curse and imagine them bursting into a ball of flame which consumed the entire home until it was nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash and debris. Looking at Potter's face in his home no longer made him clench his teeth, and when Rose called to berate him and accuse him of keeping Danu locked in the house and preventing her from speaking to her daughter, Severus could take a deep breath and explain to her that Danu was too unwell to come to the phone, instead of cursing her to Hell as he once would have. Even walking into his home three nights prior and hearing Phineas Nigellus Black compare his daughter to Sirius Black had little to no effect on him. He found himself smiling often, even going as far as actually laughing aloud when he found something to be funny and not just staring stone faced at the culprit until they became frightened or uncomfortable and left. Hell, even the unflattering and grossly inaccurate article announcing Rita Skeeter's upcoming "biography" on him had not phased him one bit.
The only negative aspect he had found of the potion, which he had conveniently left out of his correspondence to Gaultier, but enclosed in his own notes, was the near constant sexual urge. He felt as though he was once again a prepubescent child. Danu, being indisposed as of late, was not an option of release. So, without fail, Severus found himself locked in the bathroom fondling himself every morning before the rest of the house woke, and every night after the house was once again silent. If he were not taking this potion, he would certainly find himself remorseful of his indulgences.
He had tried, unsuccessfully, to convince Danu to take the potion. The only reason he had stopped to speak to Gaultier in the first place was because he had become so desperate for something to ease her suffering that he himself had been experimenting with no success. This potion could help her, could make her whole again. He had debated morning after morning simply slipping it into her coffee, but found she had not been touching it as he went to the attic and found no less than seven still full mugs on the table next to the chair, she was now living in.
Lorna had long since noticed the difference in her mother, had commented on it more than once. She had tried rather desperately to catch her mother's attention in the first weeks, and Danu would smile weakly, even ruffle her hair at times, but did not make an effort to play with, or make their daughter smile and laugh as she once would have. She now spent all her days in the apothecary with Severus, running through the shelves of potions and practicing her wand movements behind the counter with him. Each evening was spent cooking dinner together, helping her spell simple words, listening to her sound out words he had written down for her on a slip of parchment, and flying together in the meadows behind the cottage. Their life is simple, comfortable, yet Danu's silhouette from the attic window felt like a ton of bricks on each of their hearts.
Lorna would hold her small hand up in a wave each time they flew past the attic window and slowed down long enough to catch sight of Danu smiling weakly back at them. She would sigh, drop her hand, and instruct him to go faster.
—
"Don't let me fall, Daddy." Lorna whimpers as she trembles slightly on the Clean Sweep where she sits alone hovering a waist height in the garden.
"You will do fine, relax." Severus holds the broom steady as it shakes with Lorna.
"Please don't let me fall, Daddy." Lorna repeats, her bottom lip quivers slightly.
"Look at me." Severus places his forefinger beneath Lorna's chin and forces her to look into his eyes. "I will never allow anything to harm you. You are brave, this was your idea, you will do fine."
"You let go on the bicycle and I fell off!" Severus chuckles slightly at the memory of him attempting to get Lorna to peddle the bike on her own, when she slammed into the back of the sofa and refused to go near the thing again. It remains abandoned in the garden next to the greenhouse.
"You are quite confident on your training broom. This will be exactly like riding it, just keep it steady. You can do this." Severus reminds her and kisses the top of her head once more.
"It goes higher!"
"You are not frightened of anything; you are very brave. I will be right here, nothing will happen. I will not allow you to fall, I promise."
"Oh…Okay." Lorna stammers and takes a deep breath.
Slowly, while maintaining constant eye contact with Lorna, Severus releases his hold on the broom. It wobbles aggressively for a moment, but with Severus' guidance and praise, Lorna quickly regains control and hovers slightly higher. Severus jogs to keep up with her as she maneuvers her way around the small obstacle course Potter and Weasley had set up for her and Lupin to use.
"I did it! I did it Daddy!" Lorna shouts as she rushes towards him and slings herself into his waiting arms after her final lap around the obstacle course. "Can Mummy see me? Did she see me fly?" Lorna glances up at the attic window, desperately hoping that her mother witnessed her first true flight.
"I am sure that she did." Severus lies, unable to break the news to their daughter that her mother likely had not seen her from the view from the attic window.
—
Standing at the kitchen counter chopping potatoes for dinner, Severus listens as Lorna hums softly to herself behind him while coloring pictures at the kitchen island.
"Don't need no broom, I'm flying free. I think now it's plain to see..." Lorna sings to herself as Severus turns his head to catch sight of her bobbing her head along with the words she sings.
"Since when do you listen to Celestina Warbeck?" Severus chuckles.
"Nan and me listen to her while she cooks. Nan really likes her singing."
"Do you like music, Lorna?"
"Yeah. I only listen to music with Nan though. Mummy used to listen to music, but not the same kind as Nan. Mummy likes Muggle music like Harry and 'Mione."
"Wait here."
Severus strides to the living room where an old vinyl record player sat proudly in the corner of the room. All the months he had lived here, he had never heard the thing play. He was not even certain it actually worked anymore. Below the record player, in a closed leather briefcase, are several vinyl albums which Severus recognizes instantly as ones he and Lily had listened to together in her bedroom a lifetime ago. The Animals, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Kinks, The Beatles. Plus, several he had not heard of before such as Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Airplane, and Blue Oyster Cult. Others he had listened to but had not been at the top of Lily's list, like Janis Joplin, The Doors, and Def Leppard. He selects The Animals on Tour, a personal favorite of his, and drops the needle down into the first groove.
Music fills the small room instantly, and Severus goes back to preparing dinner with the sounds of Boom Boom dancing through the air. He taps his foot on the tile floor, the knife on the wooden cutting board keeping time with the beat of the music. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches as Lorna bobs her head in time and drums her fingers on the counter. Once the third song, Mess Around came on, Lorna had abandoned her coloring and was dancing wildly, curls a tangled mess and sticking to her face with sweat. By the time the eighth song on the album, I Ain't Got You begins, dinner is in the oven, his sleeves are rolled up just below his elbow, and he and Lorna were holding hands in the kitchen as she jumps and dances around, occasionally stopping long enough for him to twirl her by her finger. Her smile, the barking laughter, her complete happiness, it is all contagious.
"MUMMY!" Lorna screeches as Severus spins her around once more. "Come dance with us!"
Severus stops and glances up at her at the bottom of the steps, a broad smile frozen on her face. It felt strange, but so right. Danu takes a timid step toward them and reaches for Severus' outstretched hand. Her small, cold hand in his feels like home. She allows him to pull her body close to his as Lorna jumps and dances around their feet. They dance close together, slower than intended, to the final song on the album, F-E-E-L. For the first time in weeks, they felt as though they were a family again.
After dinner, Severus bathes a now exhausted Lorna and reads her only two chapters of Stuart Little before she drifts off to sleep. Severus kisses her forehead, smooths her hair from her face, and tucks her in snuggly before leaving the door slightly ajar so that the hall light can cast a sliver of glow across her bed. The cat rushes between his feet and lies down against her back in the small bed. He smirks at it, knowing that the cat is there to offer its protection and comfort to her throughout the night.
Down the hall in he and Danu's bedroom, he finds her curled up in the center of the bed on her side tracing the seam of a patch sewn into the quilt on the bed. Severus slowly slips into the bed behind her, and to his surprise, she allows him to pull her tight to his chest. She uncurls herself, pressing every inch of the back of her body to him.
"Do you recall our first Christmas together at Hogwarts, the year you asked me to dance with you?" Severus whispers against the top of her head. She nods slowly. "It is one of my favorite memories with you."
"Mine too." She says weakly as she turns to face him and presses her head against the center of his chest.
"Moments like these, I almost wish Tobias were still alive so that I could rub everything that he said I would never have in his face." Severus admits, unsure where that long buried thought had sprung from unexpectedly.
"I'm glad he isn't." Danu admits with a yawn. "I'd never want him around Lorna."
"I would never let him near her. I only wish to gloat. My mother, however, I wish desperately that she could see Lorna. She had her faults, but she would never harm her."
"I wish she could too."
"I would still like another, you know." The idea of having another child with his wife, a sibling for his daughter, had not left his mind in months. He imagined it at times, wondering if they would be as headstrong and determined as Lorna, or quieter and more reserved like he and Danu each were.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?" Severus asks, his brow raised as he raises himself up on his elbow and glances down at Danu curled against his chest. She shifts slightly as he moves, her face hidden in his armpit and covered with her loose hair.
"Maybe one day, but not now."
"I agree, not now. Perhaps one day." Severus sighs and lowers himself back down on the pillow. He runs his fingers through her hair, and she sighs against his chest. "Lorna flew by herself today. You missed it. You have missed a lot lately. I missed a lot. I do not wish for you to hold the same guilt and remorse as I. I have been taking the potion I mentioned to you on your birthday. I find it to be quite helpful. I am begging you, Danu. Please, please just try it. If not for me, if not for yourself, then for Lorna. She notices the difference in you, she misses you. Please."
"Okay." Danu sighs once more and nuzzles her face deeper into his chest.
"So, you will try it?"
"Yeah. I'll try it."
"Thank you, darling." Severus whispers and wraps his arms around her. "What will make you happy? What can I do for you? Would you like for me to put in a word for you at Saint Mungo's? I promised you, once upon a time, that I would. I will do that if it will make you happy. I can handle the greenhouse, Lorna, and the apothecary. My only wish is that you are happy and well cared for."
"No. I don't want that anymore."
"Then what do you want?"
"For you to make me forget everything."
"I cannot do that, my love."
—
Severus serves Danu a mug of steaming coffee the way she had previously liked it in the early days of their marriage in hopes of lifting her spirits, as well as a vial of Mentem Defensor. She turns the vial around in her hands and glances up at him with dead, lifeless eyes.
"You told me last night that you would try it." Severus reminds her, and she nods. He watches carefully as she uncorks the vial, drains the contents, and passes the empty vial back to him before chasing it with a sip of coffee. "It may take a few days to feel the full effects, but I assure you, you will begin feeling much better in a matter of hours. There are no side effects that I have encountered, though that does not mean that they do not exist. If you begin feeling anything that is wrong, tell me immediately so that I may help you."
She nods once more, and Severus leaves her there in the attic looking out of the window. Downstairs, he hears Lorna laughing and talking outside. He pokes his head out of the door to find Potter, the former Miss Granger, and Longbottom standing in the garden. They do not notice him as he watches Lorna take Potter by the hand and lead him to the opposite end of the garden where the young Lupin and Potter are waiting, leaving Granger and Longbottom standing in the drive.
"How can we be certain that he didn't slip her a love potion, or put her under an Imperious Curse?" Longbottom inquires as he wrings his hands. "Maybe he slipped her something or made her make some sort of vow, and now she can't leave?"
"Or maybe," Severus begins with a chuckle as he exits the kitchen door and closes it softly behind him, "She simply wishes to be with him."
Longbottom pales and practicality runs from his spot in the drive and over to where Potter and Lorna are standing in the far garden.
"Not funny." Granger states blandly as she narrows her eyes at him. Severus raises his in response and holds up his hands in a mock gesture of forgiveness. "He's terrified of you." Granger stomps away as Potter untangles himself from Lorna and the two boys and makes his way over to where Severus still stands by the kitchen door.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Severus asks as Potter nears.
"Neville was visiting and mentioned wanting to trade some plants with Danu. I honestly thought you would be at the shop today and we could break her out of her mood."
"I close the shop on Monday's. She is upstairs, her usual spot." Severus opens the door and gestures for Potter to follow him into the kitchen. "I have convinced her to take a potion to calm her nerves. She should start feeling better in a matter of hours, though it could take days for us to see the true scope of relief."
"Why didn't you give her something before now?"
"I offered, she refused. Despite what you think of me, Potter, I draw the line at secretly dosing my wife against her will. Although I have had to do it in the past under quite different circumstances for her own safety, I will not do it again."
"You could have done something. She's like a ghost."
"I know my wife well, Potter. It would have been disastrous had I forced anything upon her."
"I'm going to talk to her. See if I can get her to come out."
"Good luck." Severus says as Potter turns and makes his way towards the stairs leading to the attic. "Potter. I have never hated you; you know. I simply could not bear to see your mothers' eyes etched upon your father arrogant face each and every day." He is not sure what caused him to admit this; Mentem Defensor felt it the correct thing to say at the time.
Severus does not wait for a response from Potter, he simply turns and puts the kettle on for tea. After a moment, he hears Potter's feet continue up the narrow wooden stairs.
Thirty minutes later, Severus sips his tea while leaning against the kitchen counter and watches as Potter leads a smiling Danu out of the door and into the greenhouse.
An hour later, Severus becomes inquisitive and quietly enters the greenhouse. Potter, with a sleeping child on his lap, and Granger are sitting on a work bench watching Lorna and Lupin dig in a mound of dirt as if they were dogs. Fitting, for the latter. Lorna throws her head back, cackles loudly, and continues whatever search she was currently on. Severus watches on as Potter flinches slightly as Lorna throws her head back and cackles. He saw it too, then. That brief, subtle flash of Bellatrix seeping through the mask of Sirius.
Behind them, Danu stands with Longbottom before a long row of work benches and laughs. A genuine, true laugh. His usual self would have been full of envy and jealousy at another man making his wife laugh, but all he can think of in this moment is how much he missed the sound of it. In this moment, he is thankful for Longbottom. Yes, truly thankful for drawing that sweet, beautiful sound from her when it had been so long. Part of him wonders what the boy had said to cause the laughter, the rest of him does not care.
"Granger." Severus announces his presence, startling the girl sitting before him slightly. Longbottom and Danu had not yet noticed him.
"Severus." Granger retorts as he stares down his nose at her and smirks.
"Would you care to join my wife in London three weekends from now?"
"If she would like for me to."
"Then it is settled. Ask a few Weasley women as well, her mother will be joining you all there. Everything will be paid for, of course. I am only asking you to provide companionship."
—
After two weeks, Danu is nearly back to her old self. Not the version of her he had left her as with his abandonment so many years ago, but the her he knew from the early days of their marriage. She danced, laughed, tickled Lorna, made her flower crowns in the garden while they held private "girls only" tea parties of which he was not invited. They baked together, sang together, and on more than one occasion Severus had come home to find them each in their underclothes barreling towards the small creek with a swimming hole down the hill from their cottage.
Severus had stopped taking the Mentem Defensor cold turkey a week and a half prior and had never been so miserable in his entire life. His body itches, his brain is fogged, his hands shake, he sweats near constantly, and he finds himself snapping at everyone and everything around him. When he tripped over Lorna's sandals coming down the stairs that morning, he threw them out of the kitchen door with every ounce of power he had within him. He scoffed at Danu when she offered him dinner, when she attempted to rub his back in bed, and worse, each time she tried to kiss him. His head pounded with such force every evening that he actually cried out in frustration on more than one occasion, causing Danu to jerk in her sleep next to him. He cursed Gaultier each morning when his hands shook so badly, he could not even button his own shirt. He knew, of course, that the potion was not intended to be used as long as he had used it. He just needed someone to blame for the pain coursing through his body. Finally relenting, Severus writes to Gaultier regarding his current symptoms. His shaking hand causes his cursive to be even tighter than usual, bordering unintelligible. To his relief, Gaultier writes back promptly telling him of a counter-potion to ease most of his suffering. Telling him that many people became addicted to the feeling the potion left them with and found it rather hard to stop taking it when they should, which resulted in him creating the counter-potion to aid in the inevitable withdrawals from not weaning oneself from the potion in a timely manner.
With shaking hands, Severus brews the unnamed counter-potion as carefully as he is able and gulps it greedily and collapses down onto the counter with his cheek resting against the cool glass. The shakiness and itching leave him immediately, the headache still lingers, and no drought has touched it. He did not suffer near as badly as this when he gave up smoking. Once he returns home, he finds Lorna asleep on a blanket in the sun wearing nothing but a pair of sopping wet underwear, Danu sitting next to her wearing only a brassier and panties as she twists the water from her hair.
"Would you put some clothes on?" Severus snaps at her just as she smiles up at him. "Or at the very least a swimsuit? I hardly find it appropriate to be gallivanting throughout the countryside in nothing but your knickers with the number of individuals who just drop in without so much as an owl!"
"What are we even arguing about?" Danu asks, her sweet voice calming him, only slightly.
"You. Your current exhibitionism, and the fact that you allow our daughter to partake in it!"
"I would hardly call this exhibitionism." She gestures down at herself. "Besides, I don't own a swimsuit and I have never heard you complain about seeing my body before."
"Then purchase a swimsuit, we have got the means." Severus sneers down at her as he slams the kitchen door behind him and drags his hand down his face. The telephone rings and Severus stalks towards it, ripping the receiver from the wall and cursing himself for ever having the blasted thing installed. "What?" He demands with a sneer at whomever is on the other side.
"Sandy calling from Caridge's, confirming the Prince Alexander suite for this coming Sunday night through Tuesday morning under the name Snape."
"Yes." Severus states plainly, waiting for the woman to just tell him what she wants from him so that he can hang up already.
"We will see you on Sunday, Mister Snape."
Severus hangs up the phone without another word and stalks from the wall where the telephone is hung just as Danu enters through the kitchen door.
"Did I hear the phone ringing?"
"You are going to London on Thursday, and I do not want to hear a word against it."
"Why are we going to London?"
"We are not going to London. You are going to London. You have stalled long enough so I took matters into my own hands."
"Stalled what?" Danu asks, one red brow raised in question. Severus scoffs and sneers down at her.
"The wedding that you insisted take place in January and have not lifted a finger to prepare for, and now have less than six months to plan! These reservations are nonrefundable might I add!" Severus points to the telephone behind him with one slightly shaking hand.
"You didn't say a word to me about any reservations. And I'm not stalling."
"You certainly are not preparing! I have already spoken to Granger and your mother, and they are meeting you in London on Thursday afternoon and you are to stay until Tuesday morning. If you do not wish for this wedding to take place, then tell me now."
"I— I do want to, it's just..."
"Today, please!"
"I don't want to spend all of this time and money and you change your mind."
"How many bloody times must I tell you that this is what I want?" Severus slams his hands down on the counter and glares up at her. "What must I do to get it through your thick head that I am not going anywhere?"
"Sorry." Danu mutters as she pulls a thin cotton dress thrown haphazardly over the edge of the sofa over her head and down her body. Her wet brassier darkening the cotton instantaneously.
"You are to stay in a hostel on Oxford Street with private rooms Thursday through Sunday nights, and then I have booked a suite at Caridge's Sunday and Monday nights."
"We can't afford that."
"We can and it is already paid for, as I have said. So go, enjoy yourself, and plan the damned wedding already."