A Looping of the Scales ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 13 ~ Snape’s Day Out

Snape left Bartleby’s office, the solicitor telling him he’d send an owl after he negotiated the contract with Lucius’ counsel.

”It makes no sense to draw up a contract that will just be challenged and sent back, Mr. Snape. It’s a ploy many in our profession use to earn more Galleons as well as look like their working hard for their clients. A contract can fly back and forth fifteen times before it is deemed suitable for both parties. It is time consuming as well as a less than stellar practice. I will simply contact Lord Malfoy and ask to be put in contact with his representatives.”

Snape nodded as he rose.

”Thank you, Mr. Bartleby,” he said, then slowly extended his hand.

Bartleby looked bemused, then rose, reached over the desk and shook his hand firmly.

“You know, Mr. Snape, I’ve represented you for years, more years than your age now, and not once in all that time have you shaken my hand,” he said to the wizard. “You have quite the opportunity before you—another chance at life. I don’t think you made much contact with people last time. I hope you don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Snape withdrew his hand and looked at Bartleby soberly, and the solicitor colored slightly.

”I’m sorry to seem to talk down to you, Mr. Snape, but it is difficult not to offer advice to someone so young who has so much potential. Your story is known throughout the wizarding world, and you lived a very dangerous, difficult and apparently lonely life. You were the epitome of the “Dark Hero. I’m just trying to say, it doesn’t have to be so dark this time around.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bartleby,” Snape replied, turned and walked to the door. He opened it, looked back at the wizard, nodded slightly and added, “Good day to you, sir.”

Bartleby smiled broadly at him.

”And to you, sir,” he replied, watching as the young man exited his office.

”Good day to you? My, another first,” Bartleby said as he sat back down at his desk. He picked up the notes he had jotted down during his consultation with Snape.

”I have a feeling there are good things in that wizard’s future,” he mused.

“Good things indeed.”

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Snape thought about the solicitor’s words as he walked down Diagon Alley. James Bartleby was the first person he’d met that he felt comfortable with. Everyone else seemed to be—well—he couldn’t explain it, but it was as if everyone in the world had an advantage over him, and the feeling made him surly and bad-tempered. Bartleby, however, made him feel as if he had the whole world spread out before him. When he spoke, he spoke of the future, not the past. And that was precisely what Snape had needed to hear. Positive possibilities.

Bartleby made him see that it was him who had the best advantage. He was no longer targeted by the Marauders, and as far as he knew, had no real enemies. Maybe he had a burgeoning one in Ron, but he was just one Gryffindor. One was nothing compared to four. It was clear that his life took a turn for the worse the first time around, and he didn’t do all he could have done for himself because of it. Snape had a strong desire to be successful, and believed he could improve the field of Potions and become a master of worth, not some bitter teacher stuck in a dungeon teaching dunderheads. He would have never chosen that path for himself, and he certainly didn’t intend to do it this time. Maybe he was such a bastard of a professor because he was stuck where he didn’t want to be. It was a possibility.

Well, this time, it would be different. Very different.

Snape stopped in front of the second-hand robes shop, frowning slightly. That was where every robe he ever owned came from. It was time for a change. New robes were just the beginning. He continued walking until he arrived at Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions shop, and entered.

Madam Malkin had retired, and her daughter now ran the shop. She was known as Madam Deets, because she was married, but she left the sign the same. Madam Malkin’s name was practically synonymous with quality robes. She looked up and saw a young wizard enter, looking about the shop.

A stout woman with blonde-hair, blue eyes and a ready smile, she walked from behind the counter.

”May I help you, young man?” she asked him.

”Yes, I need robes,” Snape told her as he continued looking about.

”School robes?” Madam Deets inquired politely.

Snape thought about it.

”No, not school robes. Nice robes, but not too nice. Something I can wear everyday and not attract too much attention.”

”Ah, casual robes. Right this way,” the witch said with a smile, leading Snape to a part of the shop that had very nice black robes. Snape eyed them. He remembered the robes he wore when the accident occurred had a lot of buttons. It was very different from what other people seemed to wear.

”Do you have robes with buttons?” he asked her.

”All our robes have buttons or fasteners,” Madam Deets replied.

”I mean a lot of buttons,” Snape explained.

”Oh,” Madam Deets said. “Well, yes we do, but they are a bit pricey for a young man.”

”I want to see them.”

Madam Deets led Snape over to the more expensive robes. He felt the fabric with his fingertips, and twisted and turned them on the racks. One had serpents embroidered in the fabric, but they could only be seen when the light hit them just right. But, all of them had SO many buttons, it would take a lot of time to put them on, and take them off.

“The buttons—how long does it take someone to put these on?” Snape asked Madam Deets, who laughed. She had a tinkling laugh, and it was very pleasant. Snape didn’t feel at all put out by it. He normally hated being laughed at.

“Oh, there’s a little spell charmed into these robes. You can fasten and unfasten them instantly just by saying the charm. And, it will only work for the owner of the robes, otherwise pranksters would be disrobing you at every turn,” she said, smiling at him.

Snape could imagine the heyday the Marauders would have had if he owned robes that could be instantly removed. He scowled a little.

”It’s an easy charm,” Madam Deets said quickly, thinking her potential customer didn’t like the idea because he was scowling.

”All right,” he said, leafing through the robes again. After ten minutes, he had picked four sets of very nice, heavily buttoned robes, including the one with the embroidered serpents.

“They’re going to have to be fitted, Mr.—“

”Snape. Mr. Snape,” Snape said. “Fitted?”

”Oh yes. Robes of this quality are always fitted,” Madam Deets said.

Snape hesitated. All he had on under his robes was a pair of worn underwear. He had never worn anything else because he couldn’t afford many clothes.

”Um, do you sell trousers here?” he asked the witch, who colored brightly.

Luckily she did, and shirts, underwear and socks. Snape was completely outfitted and felt rather giddy as he left the shop dressed in one of his new robes, his other items miniaturized and in his pocket. All of Madam Malkin’s robes were self-ironing and self-repairing, so he felt he made a good investment. He wore a shirt and trousers underneath and had even purchased a belt with a Slytherin buckle.

”You’re going to need shoes,” Madam Deets told him, eyeing his trainers. They’d been given to him by Poppy. His boots had been damaged in the explosion and the pair in his wardrobe were slightly too wide for his feet. They slipped when he walked.

So, next he went to Shropman’s Shoe Shop and bought two pairs of shining black leather boots. He didn’t buy any trainers. All his life, he’d worn run-over trainers. No more. Besides, boots were more protective than shoes when working with potions that could burn the skin if dropped and splashed. Boots were standard Potions master garb.

He told the shopkeeper to throw his trainers away and left the store wearing his boots, cutting a rather nice figure as he walked down Diagon Alley. He caught sight of himself in several windows, slowing as he looked at his hair.

He never did much with it before. He hadn’t cared about his appearance much to begin with. He was poor so it didn’t matter how his hair looked when he was wearing hand-me-downs and run over trainers. He cared even less when Lily stopped being his friend. But, things were different now.

He continued walking, looking for a barbershop or hair salon where he could get his hair cut. He looked up and saw a sign that read, “Love Bites Beauty Shop.”

But there were pictures in the windows of both witches and wizards with their hair cut and styled. He didn’t want his hair styled, but he did want it cut and maybe washed with something so it wouldn’t look so stringy and lank. He tried to peer in the windows but they were heavily tinted. So he took the plunge and went in.

The shop seemed to be empty. There were several chairs by the window, a table with a stack of beauty magazines on it, a few shelves of hair and beauty products, and several cushioned, swivel chairs in front of a long mirror. Hair styling equipment rested on a shelf that ran the length of the mirror.

”Hello?” he called.

”Hello,” an effeminate voice suddenly said right next to him. Snape jumped as he spun to see a chubby wizard with blue eyes, long lashes and spiky brown smiling at him.

”Where did you come from?” Snape asked, his heart pounding.

”I was here all the time,” Adam Sweetmeats, the store proprietor said, his eyes sweeping over the young man from head to toe and back again, finally resting on his hair. “You walked right by me.”

There was something about the wizard’s smile and mannerisms that made Snape feel uncomfortable. He hadn’t seen anyone and he was looking. Suddenly, he was aware of someone else and turned to see a tall, unsmiling blond man standing next to him.

”That’s Victor,” Adam said by way of introduction. “And I’m Adam. Adam Sweetmeats. I own the shop.”

Snape moved a bit so he wasn’t between the two—er—men.

”I need a haircut,” he said uncertainly.

”You need more than that, my dear, believe me. Your hair is horrid,” Adam responded. “I can’t let you leave with it looking that way, cut or not. You need it washed and conditioned, immediately. Then, I’ll cut it for you.”

Snape stared at the wizard. He was nearly as pale as Snape was, and definitely batting for the other team. But, he’d heard gay men were very good at things cosmetic. He didn’t feel any way about their sexual orientation as long as they didn’t approach him. He didn’t bend that way.

“All right,” he said.

”Right this way,” Adam said, walking over to the chairs before the mirror.

Snape followed him, Victor’s eyes on him steadily.

”Just sit down, right here,” Adam said, patting the seat of the chair.

Snape was just about to sit down when he noticed with horror that Adam had no reflection. He jumped away from the chair, whipped out his wand and pointed it at the startled shopkeeper.

”Solar—“

That was as far as he made it. Victor was on him, clutching his wrist and his throat painfully, nearly crushing his windpipe. The vampire’s eyes were red and his eyeteeth fully elongated as he snarled at his captive.

“Easy Victor. Don’t hurt him,” Adam said softly. Victor’s eyes shifted toward Adam, then he relaxed a bit, still holding Snape but not as tightly. The young wizard tugged at Victor’s wrist to try and get him to release his throat, but his grip was like iron.

“You’re—you’re vampires,” he rasped, his eyes wet.

”Yes we are, darling. Vampires. Not roaches to be exterminated on sight,” Adam purred. “I’ve had this shop for several years. We don’t hunt humans. You are perfectly safe.”

Snape didn’t feel perfectly safe with Victor still holding and growling at him, although his teeth were retracted.

”If you had cast that Solaris spell, nothing would have happened to me, but dear Victor would have been turned to ash. So, you can understand his—demeanor. He’s a Sentient. He can’t survive that spell. As a Queen, I can. Now, are you going to be a good boy if Victor releases you?”

Snape nodded and the vampire let him go, but hovered menacingly. Snape rubbed his throat.

”I’d better go,” he said, starting to back away.

Victor was instantly behind him, blocking the way.

”No, you’d better not,” Adam said with a toothy smile.

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An hour later, Snape left the Love Bites shop with his hair neatly cut and shining. He had purchased shampoo and conditioner that Adam said would keep his hair from becoming lank. It smelled like sandalwood, but it wasn’t a bad scent. He wouldn’t be able to use it when brewing, because his sense of smell would be compromised, but he could use it other times.

As he walked, Snape couldn’t help but notice a few passing witches giving him a second glance. These weren’t young witches either. This was something new. Apparently nice clothes and a haircut made all the difference. People were so shallow.

He’d definitely use that to his advantage in the future.

Now he was heading to Flourish and Blotts bookstore. He needed to purchase updated books to study for his NEWTS. As he walked, he passed the Quality Quidditch Supply shop.

He backed up, looking at a broom in the window. It was beautifully streamlined, with stirrups and a gleaming oak handle. Snape had never seen a broom like it. Back when he went to Hogwarts, the brooms were nothing like this. Nothing.

The sign above it read: Firebolt. The Fastest Broom in Existence.

Snape’s black eyes glittered as he looked at the broom. He’d never owned a broom before. He could barely afford books and clothes, and given the choice, he purchased books, books of all types from everyplace he could. It was his one indulgence.

Now, he was going to indulge himself with something different.

He purchased the Firebolt and paid a little extra to have it customized. It now had a gleaming black handle and an airbrushed silver serpent with green eyes ready to strike encircling it. It was the nicest broom he’d ever seen.

And it was his. All his.

Severus Snape was burning through his savings, but he had the carefree nature of a child in a candy shop as he made his purchases. The older Snape would never have been so frivolous. As an adult, Snape never wore anything other than briefs under his robes, even when he could afford it. This Snape had purchased clothing and boxers rather than briefs. He liked the way they looked, like shorts. If he had been wearing those down by the lake when James Potter exposed him, it would have been all right. Well, less embarrassing. He didn’t purchase any casual clothing such as t-shirts or jeans. He wanted to look—well—imposing. Adult. Different from everyone else at the school. He was different, after all.

Snape now carried a little black bag with him because his pockets were getting too crowded by his purchases. He entered the book shop next, an honest to goodness smile on his pale face.

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A/N: lol. I had to do something about Snape’s hair. So of course, I had Adam and Victor show up, although Adam isn’t his usual Snape-loving self. That’s because Snape’s little more than a boy. I thought this was the perfect way to begin to show the initial changes in Snape now that he has a second chance at life. But, we couldn’t lose all those buttons on his robes now, could we? Lolol. Thanks so much for reading.