"A gillywater and a scotch?" Rosmerta asked, seeing her former professor walking up to the counter. Her long time lover had just taken a seat at a table.
McGonagall smiled. "Happy Christmas."
"Same to you." Rosmerta picked up her own drink, a mixture she'd thrown together to make it green for festivity. If she had to work, she intended to make it as pleasant as possible.
"Drinking on the job?" McGonagall asked. Despite being almost forty years old, Rosmerta suddenly felt a fear that she was about to receive four detentions from McGonagall.
"I work every holiday, so I make my own rules." Rosmerta gestured to the almost empty tavern. "Who's watching?"
"Fair enough," McGonagall laughed. "And yes, our usual order."
Rosmerta poured their drinks, beginning to feel the effects of her own. "You two have nothing better to do tonight?" Rosmerta asked.
"This is all I could ask for. I saw my brother, nieces, and nephews yesterday. Today we are spending a quiet day together. That's so rare these days."
"You two have been coming here a long time," she said, handing McGonagall the glasses. "You're still together."
McGonagall took them. "Somehow we are. Thank you, dear."
Business was slow. It always was on the holidays. It should have made her sad to work the holidays, but she rather enjoyed it. She'd seen her parents and siblings the evening before. She had no husband, no children. Her few patrons that also had nowhere to be gave her a sense of purpose. The old wizard at the end of the bar had lost his whole family in the first war, but he was still as happy a man as he could be. He told her stories of other countries he'd visited, he came from a wealthy pureblood family. He'd told her that her presence gave him something to smile about on the holidays. He was beginning to lose his memory, but she knew her chatting with him through these evenings brought him joy. Her sister had always looked down on her, said she'd wasted her Hogwarts education, but Rosmerta didn't think she had. Even if she had, she was happy enough.
Her eyes drifted to the couple at the corner table. They always sat across from each other, so professional, Rosmerta mused. Two wrapped boxes were on the table. She watched as McGonagall handed Snape a box, encouraging him to open it. He did and pulled out a pocket watch. Rosmerta couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw Snape open it and smile- something she didn't think he'd ever seen her do. It was a small smile, a little off putting, but nice to see. Snape kissed McGonagall's forehead, resting his head against hers for a moment.
Next, Snape pushed a much smaller box towards McGonagall. She unwrapped and opened it, immediately bringing her hand to her mouth. Rosmerta saw her pull what appeared to be a ring out of the box and slip it on her finger. McGonagall stood up, sat down beside him and hugged him.
Wanting to know if it was an engagement ring, Rosmerta left her post and approached the table. Snape looked annoyed. "Is that what I think it is?'
McGonagall laughed. "It's not an engagement ring, Rosmerta." She held it up. "But beautiful."
Rosmerta took that as an invitation to take a closer look. McGonagall held up her hand and Rosmerta saw it was a silver band with two small gemstones. One was red and one was green. It wouldn't be until the couple had left for the evening that Rosmerta would realize it was their two house colors. "I have a necklace that matches that Severus bought me years ago."
So, the nasty man was a good gift giver. "Filius insisted," he added almost defensively.
"You two never tied the knot huh? You could make that an engagement ring," Rosmerta chided.
As obvious as she had made it that she was kidding, the two looked uncomfortable. "Just a joke, you two. Beautiful choice, Severus." McGonagall looked incredibly happy and Rosmerta left the two alone to finish their drinks.
A few hours later, as Rosmerta was closing up, she gathered her things and went out the back door. Around the corner, seated on a bench were McGonagall and Snape. Rosmerta stopped, as not to disturb them by walking by. She couldn't help but lean against the wall of the inn and listen. Rosmerta could only see their backs as they were facing away from her, but she could hear them in the silence of the street. It was almost two in the morning, and everyone was asleep after their Christmas dinners.
"It's nice out here," McGonagall mused, clapping him on the shoulder. "But, we should head back."
"Yes," he replied.
McGonagall chuckled. "Imagine Rosmerta thinking you'd bought me an engagement ring. At our age- at my age." Snape didn't say anything. "You alright, Severus?" Her voice was etched with concern.
"Yes," he said quietly. "You could have had that."
"What?"
"A marriage."
"You know very well that I once had the opportunity, and I passed it up. It was never in the cards for me." She gestured to the castle in the distance. "This is where I belonged." Rosmerta's interest peaked at McGonagall's past. Had she been engaged?
"You said it yourself when this…arrangement began…we aren't here to have a happy ending," Snape said darkly.
"No," she said. "But, I would have had nothing if it wasn't for this."
"You could have had a regular life. A home out of the castle. You have never been too old to meet someone more suited for you. Not when I met you and not now."
McGonagall shook her head. "I didn't want to go through with this and you were right under my nose. What do you think I would have done if I hadn't met you? Pick up men at Hogsmeade while chaperoning field trips?"
"You could have. You could have had a happy ending. Not picking me up off the floor every other week. Not hiding, not worrying. I've taken everything from you, Min."
"What has gotten into you?" McGonagall asked, cutting him off. Rosmerta had never heard Snape so vulnerable. He sounded about to cry.
"The ring," he said sharply. Rosmerta couldn't see his face, but she could hear a mix of anger and sadness. "It could never have been an engagement ring. I can't afford to be…married. It would get us killed. Albus took any thing of the sort away."
"I'm seventy years old, Severus," she said, becoming agitated as well, matching his energy. "What suddenly makes you think I wanted to be married? I chose to come to Hogwarts. I chose to teach. I chose to sequester myself here. Sure, I could have had the occasional lover if I'd wanted. But, I haven't wanted that life in a very long time. I was alone until I met you. I was fine with being alone. But, you brought something in my life I never thought I would have."
"You don't think," his voice cracked as he spoke. "You don't…would you have ever wanted to?"
"Wanted to?"
"Marry me," he said in a weak voice. Silence fell over them. Rosmerta could feel the tension, and she felt guilty for starting a fight between them without knowing it. "It's an absurd question, Min. Just…let's go home." Snape stood, but McGonagall grabbed his hand and stood as well, facing him. Rosmerta pushed herself further into the small alley to hide herself, now able to see their faces.
"Yes," she said. "I would have, Severus. It was never in the cards, so the option never crossed my mind. Because, you're right. There is no option. But, I would have rather liked it." Tears were streaming down her eyes. She wiped them away. "Now you've made me feel foolish, talking in hypotheticals that will never happen. I'm too old for this sort of thing."
"I'm sorry…"
"I'm not mad at you," she insisted, pressing her gloved hand on his chest. McGonagall leaned her head on his chest. "I'm not mad." She pulled back from him, Snape's hand around her back. "It's just…this is not worth upsetting ourselves over."
He grasped her hand. "I…I would have liked it too. In a different time."
"But," McGonagall interrupted. "I don't think we would have come together in a different set of circumstances. Would you have ever looked at an old woman? You're young; you deserve to be young. Everything has been taken from you…by both of your masters…You'd have someone young and beautiful."
Snape put a finger under her chin. "You know very well I wouldn't last with a woman like that. Whom would I fight over Quidditch with?"
McGonagall laughed, tears coming down her cheeks still. "You were the only person to come along that matched me."
"I'm scared," Snape said quietly.
"Me too."
They embraced, and Rosmerta could feel tears coming down her face. She felt guilty watching such a tender moment, but they were such a mystery. For an evening, she had a glimpse into a relationship she'd been trying to understand for over a decade.
After a moment, Snape spoke. "It ends with me dying, Min."
"What?"
"That's how our story will end."
"Quiet, Severus."
"Don't fight me, Min."
"I've always feared…"
"Promise me something?"
"Yes?"
"The ring…" Snape took her glove off, revealing the ring and running his index finger over it. "If it could have been an engagement ring…it would have been."
McGonagall smiled. "I will." She put her glove back on. "It's late. Let's go home." Without another word, the pair began their walk back to the castle and Rosmerta followed suit, returning home after a long evening. After the war, when McGonagall and one of her new staff members would come for a drink, Rosmerta would muse that this was the last time she saw the couple together.