A Date for Snape

***
Chapter 2
Who are you?
***

She choked on her wine and he did nothing to aid her. It took a few moments, but she finally got a hold of herself. Rather than look frightened or ready to bolt, she got a hold of herself and looked him straight in the eye.

“What gave it away?”

“Your laugh. I recognize it.” He peered closely. “It is an excellent glamour, but I will not tolerate being made a fool of.”

“It is not a glamour, Severus.”

“Time -turner?” Oh gods, if it was Know it all Granger...

“No. Sorry Severus. Nothing that elaborate.” Abi looked at the angry man across from her... no... angry WIZARD... she had lived in the Muggle World too long, but not that long to forget this particular wizard. “Your first year teaching Potions, I was a 7th year Ravenclaw. Euphemy Abigail Bloodstone. I did relatively well in potions and in charms. Tarkin was my married name - I married a muggle, we are happily divorced and I have not seen him in 5 years.” She cut off the question before he had time to ask it. “Last I heard, he was on his second or third wife since me.”

“A... womanizer.” Snape refilled her glass.

“Well, he couldn’t help it.” Abi stated wistfully in her glass. “He was drop-dead gorgeous and very... talented... in the sack. Unfortunately, he had no business head and I realized almost to late that I would never get where I wanted with him and all his girlfriends hanging around my neck like an albatross!”

“Are you where you wanted?”

“Yes.” She had a lovely smile that lit her face. “Yes I am.”

It was quiet for several moments while they contemplated the wine in their glasses and the information that had been passed.

“I did a double take when I saw your profile on the internet.” she said quietly. “I had given up on dating, filled my life with my work. Only recently, have I begun to even be interested in having friends again.”

“Really? And you decided to replace your drop-dead gorgeous womanizing husband with an ugly prat not likely to run around on you?”

Her smile was slight. “No! You honestly think you are ugly? Granted, you spend much time over the steam of your caldrons and that beak of yours is over-powering, but-” and she drained her glass again, reaching for the bottle, “-even younger, on that first day, you had a power the minute you walked into that classroom. All of my friends swooned. There is just something about you.” She chuckled low. “I think you have put something in this wine to make me talk. As I recall, you hated chattering, dunderheaded students.”

“I hate many things.” Severus picked up the wine bottle and moved it away from her. “I hate loathsome chatter, annoying giggling and especially, dunderheaded students. I also think you have had much too much wine, much too fast, on an empty stomach.” He motioned the waiter to the table. “We would like the rack of lamb with braised vegetables.” Once the waiter had left, he turned his attention back to the former student sitting across from him. “Please tell me you are not a vegetarian.”

“I am not a vegetarian.”

Snape looked at the not-so-serious young woman across from him. “Madam, if you are being flip...”

Abi picked up her water glass and looked over the tops of her eyewear. “Please, I’m not being flip. If I am to call you Severus, you may call me Abi.”

Severus acknowledged the waiter with a curt nod and proceeded to cut the crusty loaf of bread he left. “Your name is Abigail; I shall call you Abigail.” He placed the slice on his plate and pushed the bread dish towards her. “Abi, indeed!” he muttered. “Sounds like a church.”

They munched in relative peace for a few moments, the silence, deafening. Abi realized that while she had not been the social butterfly for many years, the man across from her was not likely to make the first move.

“Uhm... I was quite shocked when you agreed to meet me tonight of all nights...”

“It is Saturday; a day I understand that is well suited for such goings on.” Snape did not look up from his bread, buttering it thickly, those... fingers holding on to the knife almost in a predatory grip.

“I mean... it is the fourteenth.”

The knife stopped.

Severus looked up. “Abigail, if you have any illusions that I have brought flowers or heart shaped chocolates, I do not cater to that sort of nonsense and you should know that.”

The knife resumed it’s buttering.

“Well, excuse me for living, but the graveyard was full!”

The knife stopped.

“Excuse you for what?”

“Look, I’m not going to tell you I am wearing pink panties just for the occasion, nor ask for flowers or chocolate.” Abi propped both elbows on the table and cupped her chin on the back of intertwined fingers. “Flowers make me sneeze and chocolate makes my face breakout.” Her eyes glittered with malevolence. “I know you are the most anti-social prat in the universe and it surprised me that you chose today of all days to have a date.” She sat up and proceeded to pick up her bread. “The only reason why I don’t get up and leave now is because it has been many a long year since someone else paid for my dinner and I’m not about to let some self-centered, anti-social, egomaniac run me off!”

It was now Severus’ turn to lay down his knife and stare at his former student. “Then why did you even contact me?” He sat back and the conversation stilled as the waiter served the salad. Several grated cheeses and ground pepperings later, the server left and Snape caught her in his gaze again.

“Why did you contact me?”

“Because, I happen to adore dark, brooding, gothic men!” she retorted, munching on lettice. “I wanted to see if you had softened any.”

“Ah.” His fork methodically tossed the dressing among the green leaves. “Disappointed?”

“No. Absolutely not!” She stabbed her fork into the salad. “So,” she stuck the fork into her mouth, her teeth scrapping against the metal tines, “tell me about your last date.”

“My... last... date...”

“Yes, yes!” Abi waved her fork. “Tell me about it.”

“I will not! It is personal...” The sounds of metal spokes could be heard scrapping the bottom of the dishes.

She snickered. “Turned you down, did she?”

Severus had attacked his salad in earnest. “I do not see why my social life should interest you.”

“Just trying to make conversation.” Abi continued to push her tomatoes around her plate. “My last date was three years ago. Complete disaster. Jackass took me to a cheap restaurant, went to the video store and then proceeded to try to feel me up all night. I decided at that point that men were all dorks, jerks, flakes, and bastards!”

“Hmm.” Severus’ was spearing the last of the salad. “Then, why did you contact me if I am a member of the Dork, Jerk, Flakes, and Bastard Club?”

Abi had finished her salad and was moving the plate to the side, where a waiter hovered to take it. “Oh, you were never a member of the Dork, Jerk, or Flake end. Only the Bastard Club.”

Severus’ face hurt. He never worked so hard to contain a smile his entire life. He too, moved his plate to the side, where it was retrieved. “I have students that would disagree.”

The soup was served.

Abi looked down into the creamy liquid. “What. No caviar? No raw oysters?”

“I do not believe this is the season for them.” Severus drew his spoon through the large bowl and was mildly annoyed by her modest slurping.

“What?” She jerked him from his musings.

“What?” he snapped.

Abi set her spoon into the almost emptied bowl. “You are staring at me like I grew a second head!” she whispered.

“You are slurping.”

Her brows drew together, causing a double - lined furrow. “Well you sir, are glaring.” She looked around. “People will think I said something rude to you, the way you are looking.”

Severus’ quietly finished his soup, without slurping, while continuing to take in her quirky mannerisms.

The way she held her spoon.

The way her mouth fit around her spoon.

Damn, he should have just said to hell with it and taken her spoon to dinner, for all the satisfaction he was probably going to get out of this... evening. Still, she hadn’t done anything totally stupid yet.

Except arrive late.

And giggle.

And drink too fast.

The soup was removed and dinner was served. Between the cutting of the lamb, (dry) and the divvying up of the vegetables (over cooked) the two fell into a rather standard chat about the meaning of life. Apparently in the Social Skills 101 class that Severus had bypassed his first year at University, this was, he gathered, standard procedure for dating.

Her: It has been frightfully cold and snowy these past weeks.

Him: It is February in London. What do you expect?

Her: So, do you have any hobbies?

Him: Terrifying Neville Longbottom

Her: So, do you like to dance?

Him: ***evil nasty glare***

Abi was delighted to discover a similar taste in music.

Classical. Acid Rock. What a combination! She thought she detected a ghost of a smile when she mentioned she had worn out three recordings of Deep Purple’s Machine Head.

They had a captivating discussion on politics.

Her: So, how fares the Magical Community, now that Voldemort is defeated?

Him: We still have an idiot for a Minister of Magic and the Boy Who Lives To Simply Annoy Me In My Old Dotage is now also The Boy Who Saved Our Scrawny Necks. There is no living with him.

Her: Cornelius Fudge is still Minister of Magic? I thought he was voted out after...

Him: Arthur Weasley is now Minister of Magic! He is fascinated with Muggles so much, it is a wonder that he has not taken down the barrier between the worlds and come out all smiles and handshakes!

Abi set her fork down gently. “Severus, the Muggle world is not all that bad. Yes, they have their villains, their short-comings. But in many ways they are no different than us.”

Severus never looked up from his plate, his knife stabbing into the resisting flesh of the carcass in front of him. “You would know. You seem to have disappeared soon after graduation and made yourself home here, as have many of the witches and wizards of our world.” He put the finely carved piece of lamb in his mouth, chewing thoroughly for a moment. “Why did you leave our world. To find your fortune on the other side of the fence? The so-called fabled fabulous Muggle sex-gods?”

Abi smiled ruefully and scratched behind her ear. Well, she had known this was going to be a difficult evening. What on earth had possessed her to respond to this man? She knew him, knew him well, and there was nothing from what little she had read about him and his exploits - few that they were - in the Daily Prophet, that gave any indication that he had changed any. Even her younger sister - the only one in the family that spoke to her - had said if anything, Severus Snape was surlier than ever.

“Muggle sex is no different that Wizard sex, Severus.” Abi said softly. “There are those who are really good at it and,” and with this, she looked at him pointedly, “there are those who are really pathetic.” She returned to the vegetables on her plate. “The fact is, Muggles have something Wizards do not and I was drawn to it.”

“And what would that be?” He was staring holes through her.

“Ancient Art.”

tbc