Severus didn't want to talk to Vernon, not for a long time. But he'd already promised Petunia to help with the children for the rest of the summer. So, pettily, he set a ward to alert him as soon as the man passed the stop sign at the end of Privet Drive. Only then did Severus apparate to the neighborhood and walk to the Dursley residence. And then he left promptly in the afternoon when the ward activated again for Vernon's return trip.
It only took two days for Petunia to cotton on to his eerily precise new schedule, despite his perfectly legitimate excuse of increasing administrative work as the school term approached, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Besides pester him. And Vernon, by the sounds of it. He was too offended to give in first, even when she tried guilt-tripping him that the strife between the two men was "not helping with postpartum mood swings, you know." It might have been more effective if he hadn't seen in her eyes she'd used the exact same argument against Vernon and failed to sway him into apologizing either. Harry and Dudley hadn't reacted to the tension, which was the only really important consideration in Severus' opinion. Neither Severus nor Vernon was so foolish or callous to use the boys' good will against the other man.
And so the remainder of the summer of 1985 passed. It was with mixed feelings that Severus returned to Hogwarts. For the first time in his career, he was actually looking forward to the return of the school year for its own sake, neither dreading the stress and frustrations of classes and Head of House duties nor seeing Hogwarts only as an escape from Spinner's End. On the other hand, he discovered uncomfortably that for the first time, his job was an escape from the lingering drama at Privet Drive.
He hated that feeling and resolved to fix it as soon as possible. Which probably would have been easier to accomplish in person and shortly after the start of the disagreement rather than after a month of grudge-holding. In some ways, he really hadn't learned his lesson from when he was a teenager having shouting matches with Lily.
There was nothing to do about it until after the Welcoming Feast, when he could sit down and write in the Protean journal. The students would be arriving any minute. He donned his professorial robes and stalked up to the Great Hall. He had barely made it into his customary chair when the new Defense Professor sat down next to him. Professor Anastasia Porskoff, sister of the famous Russian quidditch player. They had been introduced briefly two weeks ago at the summer staff meeting. Severus hadn't taken much notice of her at the time, seeing as everyone knew she would only be here for a year, even if no one acknowledged the curse out loud.
It was rather harder to ignore her this evening, however. She wasnotwearing academic robes but rather vivid red velvet dress robes with matching lipstick, garnet necklace and earrings, and painted nails. Her dark hair was pinned up in an elegant twist. She was wearing perfume. She had angled herself towards him in her chair and delicately rested her chin on her palm. She was smiling prettily. When she spoke, there was a purr to her throaty Russian accent. "Delighted to see you again, Severus. I cheer when Minerva told me sit here. It will be wonderful to being sharing meals with colleague my own age. I feared when I take job would only work with grandmothers and grandfathers."
Severus stared for a moment before muttering, "Pleasure."
"I read your recent article about modification to Pompion Potion for creating disguise. Most fascinating! I not brew commonly myself but have professional interest, as potion can criminal disguise, no? You show me sometime?"
"Perhaps," he agreed bemusedly. "It was a student's recipe..."
"Fantastic, to cherish such creativity! Speaks well of you, Severus. Yes, I shall get to know you better."
Severus wasn't an idiot. It was extremely clear that she was flirting and entirely possible she had even dressed up like this forhim.Fortunately, he was excused from deciding how he felt about that and thinking up a reply by the arrival of the upper year students. He watched the Slytherin table, mentally ticking off all the names and satisfied to see no one was missing. He nodded a greeting to Quentin Diablo, relieved the young wizard had indeed returned for his sixth year. Quentin managed to nod back, even though he appeared just as socially isolated as ever when he took his seat at the bench at the very end of the table to stare squarely into his plate. Work in progress. Severus met Gwenog's eyes and offered an approving half-smile; she had handily won the Head Girl badge this year. So fixated was he on the Slytherin table, he was almost taken by surprise when Chiara bounced up to the staff table, plonked a gaudily wrapped present in front of his plate, waved cheerfully, and skipped back to the Hufflepuff table. He hastily pocketed the package. Hopefully not too many students were paying attention.
Professor Porskoff chuckled delightedly.
Argus shuffled past the table to set up the stool and Sorting Hat. Porskoff leaned in towards Severus to ask what on earth the moldering old thing was for, and Severus found himself summarizing the entire founding of the school in her follow up questions.
At last, the doors opened and Minerva led in the new gaggle of first years. A hush fell across the hall, and the Hat began to sing -
Welcome to Hogwarts, take your seat!
Under this hat our minds will meet:
One of four houses will we choose,
A fit for flaws or for virtues.
In Gryffindor dwell brave and bold,
Courage and valor, hearts of gold;
Don't let the lion's claw turn brash or cold.
For Ravenclaw, wisdom's the end,
Learning and wit all would defend.
But harken: eagle eye on earth, or you'll lack for friends.
In Hufflepuff, loyalty burns bright.
Hard work, patience, and tolerance delight.
But once betrayed, beware the bitter badger's bite.
In Slytherin, the ambitious rise,
Cunning and resourceful, eyes on the prize.
Solitude and arrogance the serpent's demise.
Yet don't be scared to don this hat.
You'll see for yourself when we chat:
There is no one habitat,
No one value, no one sin.
No matter where you're sorted in,
You'll find friends and family, and foes within.
Take your House and share its wins:
Your Hogwarts journey here begins.
Severus wrinkled his nose at the Hat's song. Warning the students about the downsides of each House, not just the famous virtues, was not the strategy he would have chosen. He wasn't sure how helpful the information would be to nervous eleven-year-olds. He wondered if the song was directed more towards the older students, a way to alert them the Sorting would be a bit different this year. He was of course not a thousand-year-old telepathic hat; perhaps it did know what it was about after its year sitting on the Heads heads.
He was quite pleased by the end of the Sorting to see Gryffindor would have the smallest class this year, followed by Slytherin, then Ravenclaw, with Hufflepuff in the lead with nine students. He had guessed five of his six Slytherins correctly, and the last was a muggleborn he would be sure to keep a close eye on. Meanwhile, the two children of Death Eaters went to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. There were no Sacred Twenty-Eight heirs to worry about this year. He toasted himself and the Hat for a job well done.
Or at least a job well-started. The muggleborn, Jaclynn Adams, had been the first Slytherin Sorted and made the mistake of sitting next to Quentin. He must have said something to scare her off, as she had yet to pick up her fork and instead anxiously watched the upperclassmen. He sighed. It would be a problem for tomorrow, and for Gwenog.
"Professor Snape, tell me, does Headmaster Dumbledore always say such nonsense at feasts?" Porskoff once again engaged him.
Author's note: I live! Sorry for the delay. Work and other obligations have a way of interfering with hobby writing. Also, for any readers who may be interested in my other reasons for slacking off on this story, I've got another humorous Snape-centric fic going on, the first chapter of which has been published. It won't be a super long one so hopefully won't be a distraction from this one for more than another couple months. Thank you to the faithful readers and reviewers! I'll try to update faster next time.