Satan\'s Apple

Satan’s Apple



Chapter 1: Mandrake Roots



It was early May and the weather was still quite chilly. Severus Snape sat on the grass in a secluded garden on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was wearing only a black silk towel around his waist and was quite glad that the garden was enchanted to be much warmer than the weather actually was and also to repel nosey students. He looked down at the nude witch withering in his arms. Just a week ago she became his wife. She let out a soft moan and relaxed as the sensations she was feeling subsided, giving him time to reflect on the events that brought her into his life not even a year ago. . . .



The students had finally left for the summer; the exams marked and grades recorded, and the classrooms cleaned up and readied for next year. The professors only had to attend one more staff meeting then they, too, would be free for two months. Unfortunately, life never works that way when one expects it to. At the staff meeting, Albus Dumbledore insured that few of the professors would get much rest that summer – he announced his retirement. Voldemort had been defeated two years ago. With the healing nearly done, the venerable headmaster had decided it was time for him to move on; he had plans to open magical bowling lanes in an abandoned building in Diagon Alley. Not surprisingly, he announced Minerva McGonagall to be the new Headmistress. What did shock everyone was when she turned to Snape and asked if he would accept the position of Deputy Headmaster. Of course he politely accepted; although, he was curious why the invitation was not issued to Sprout or Flitwick, both of whom had more seniority on the staff than he did. He was positive none of them had seen some of his handiwork during the final battle; if they had, he would have been rotting in a cell in Azkaban instead of receiving a promotion. Not that he was complaining, mind you.

After the meeting, McGonagall requested to speak with him. And that is what set into motion the events that would change his life. It was her duty to plan the retirement dinner for Dumbledore. Since he was now her deputy, she expected him to help. She gave him a sack of galleons and a list of items she required him to get. He looked down at the list and smirked. A quick trip into Diagon Alley and his chore would be done. The dinner wouldn’t be until August First giving him almost a month to get the chore done. Normally he did not like to procrastinate, but if he got this task done too soon, he would be given another, and then another, wasting half of his holiday on the dinner.

For the first few weeks he took time to catch up on things he wanted to do: reading, research, and tinkering with some potion recipes and defensive spells. Whenever Minerva asked how he was doing on his list, he told her he was making progress on it, but had yet to actually collect the items and a few were proving difficult to procure. Finally, a week before the dinner he walked into the Leaky Cauldron, dropped the sack of galleons on the bar, handed the list to Tom, the proprietor, and asked him what he could provide on the list.

He expected Tom would not have a problem supplying him with everything on the list. Needless to say, he was quite disappointed when Tom told him that he would have to make another stop for one item. He scowled at Tom, who only gave him a funny, toothless smile in return. Then he was advised to visit a new shop that had just opened a few months ago down in Knockturn Alley. For what he was looking for, the young witch and wizard who ran the place produced the best he had tasted in years.

Snape stood outside the dingy looking shop. Over the door was a small, unobtrusive sign. The background was dark green and the elegant lettering was white with streaks of lavender. It read “Satan’s Apple.”

He walked into the shop and noticed that the inside was just as dark as the outside. However, it was impeccably clean. The first thing to really catch his eye was the young witch standing on a short ladder, dusting. She was of average height, but quite thin. Her right leg was covered in magical tattoos. Her calf was a collage of infant mandrake plants, mandrake leaves and blossoms, while her thigh was much the same except there where only two mandrakes, both adolescents. On her left arm were twelve alternating bands of mandrake blooms and poppy blossoms. Her back was bare exposing an adult mandrake plant complete with leaves and white and lavender blossoms. Her hair, which was cut in a Mohawk, was white with streaks of lavender through it. The only clothing she wore was a short opalescent sarong tied low around her waist. Severus Snape had never seen anything quite like her before. He sat there contemplating not only her body and the way she choose to expose it, but also her fascination with mandrakes. Considering what she sold, he expected some interest with the plant, but not this level of obsession.

A loud crash to the side of the room caught his attention. A young wizard, probably her partner had dropped something.

“Well, at least those were empty,” she said in a soft voice mixed with sympathy and annoyance. Then she turned that same voice toward him, “Like what you see, Professor Snape?”

In a rare moment he did not know how to respond. Yes, he very much liked what he saw, but how could he tell that to the witch he had yet to meet and how did she know who he was? For once sarcasm just did not fit the situation.

“I shall take your silence as a yes,” she said, her voice still soft and slightly raspy. She stepped of the ladder and turned to face him.



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A/N – I should mention that this is a response to challenge issued long ago, somewhere, by someone. The names and places escape me. But it involved tattooing and body piercing.