The Headmaster

Chapter 25 The Headmaster

Minerva sat opposite Severus; an ornate chess game was situated between the two of them. Usually when the two played a rousing game of chess they would go for hours without a word being spoken but today both seemed more in the mood to talk than to concentrate on the game.

“I’ve been told by Alvin that you are doing much better,” Minerva said as she took down one of Severus’ rooks.

“Yes, I am pleased to inform you I can now walk to the loo and back and barely lose my breath.” The sarcasm was not lost on Minerva. “And how are you and Healer Montague getting along?” he inquired.

With a heavy sigh she placed the chess piece she was about to move back on the board and leaned back in her seat. “He has asked me to marry and travel the world with him.”

“That’s marvelous!” Severus said enthusiastically.

Minerva sat there with her arms crossed over her chess. The excitement that Severus was expecting to see in his friend was no were to be found.

“Minerva what’s wrong?” he asked.

“He asked me to marry him!” Minerva curled her lip in disgust.

“Why, may I ask, is that a bad thing?” Severus, still using the magical wheelchair when Harry wasn’t around to supervise his every move, maneuvered around the small table until he was side by side with his old dear friend. He took her hand in his, trying to return the support that she had always given him.

“Alvin is sixty-two,” she stated flatly.

“Yes and you’re…”

“Severus!” Minerva snapped. She looked about the small room to be sure no one was listening.

“Minerva, the age difference did not seem to bother you before the proposal. Why now?”

“I thought this was to be a lovely fling for the two of us and that one day he would tire of me and go on his merry way. I had no idea that we would fall in love with one another,” she whined. “Now what do I do?” She got up from her chair, the chess game totally forgotten.

“You should marry the bloke and live happily ever after,” Severus informed her.

Minerva looked at him as if he lost his frickin’ mind. “And leave Hogwarts, leave my friends? I’m too old to be gallivanting about the globe.”

“And if you never saw Alvin again how would you feel?” he asked.

“I would slowly dry up and die,” she whispered.

“I think you have your answer. Minerva if you only have sixty or seventy years left, wouldn’t it be better to spend that time with someone you love? I know that what ever time Harry deems me with, will be better than none at all.” He stood wobbly next to his old professor and friend and placed a hand upon her shoulder.

She patted his hand before helping him back down into his chair. She gave him a motherly kiss on top of his head. “Thank you Severus. I think I will grab as much happiness that I can while I’m alive.”

With a bright smile on her face she changed the subject. “Tomorrow is the big race, are you ready to lose the bet?”

“I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to practice as much as I should,” he answered innocently.

“Don‘t you dare give me that malarkey. I see you out on the Quidditch track every morning before the sunrise doing laps,” she scolded.

Severus smiled sheepishly. “Minerva you wound me.” He placed his hands over his heart. “Are you inferring that I would cheat?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter how much you practice, Albus is going to leave you standing at the starting line, so to speak.” Minerva went back to the chess game. She grinned as she took her knight and captured Severus’ queen. “Should we continue?” she asked gleefully.

“Crap,” Severus muttered as he resumed his position. The game would be lost in three moves. Looking up at Minerva’s joy filled face, he snarled, “Sometimes I hate you.”

“I know, I love you too.” She reached over and patted his friend’s hand.

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Alvin looked at the results for a third time, the result hadn’t changed. It was not a curse or stress that had rendered the ex-Death Eater impotent. He was suffering from an STD, one that could only be cured by the blood of the person who transmitted the disease to Severus in the first place. If untreated, the disease would start to eat away the body from the inside out. Healer Montague was worried that the man who had raped Severus may already dead.

Draco, and his small army of private investigators, had been looking for the man since Severus was released from prison, with no avail. Azkaban’s records were useless and the only information they had was that the man’s first name was Jake. The rest of the guards were interrogated about Jake’s whereabouts but all they found out was that he sometimes worked on the docks and would go out with the fishing boats every now and then.

“Just how important is it to find this Jake person… especially now?” Draco eyes narrowed and studied the Healer. He didn’t like what he saw.

“Very,” was Alvin’s distinct reply.

Draco swallowed hard. “How long does my godfather have?”

Alvin saw no reason to lie to Draco. “Six weeks, perhaps less.”

“Were you planning on telling Severus?” Draco pulled the curtain back and looked out upon the garden where he saw Harry reading to the man he loved more than his own father.

“This afternoon.” Alvin joined Draco at the window and watched Severus and Harry enjoying their time together.

“Don’t,” Draco ordered.

“I’m sorry?” Alvin couldn’t believe what he heard.

“Don’t say anything to either one of them.” Draco turned his attention to the Healer. “My godfather has had little happiness in his life.” Draco snickered sadly. “This is the happiest he has ever been. Don’t take the few weeks he may have and ruin them by having this hanging over his head. Let him enjoy being with Potter as long as possible.”

“He needs to know, to make plans…”

“When the time comes,” Draco chocked back a sob, “I will be sure everything is taken care of.”

“This goes against my better judgment,” Alvin looked outside and saw Severus laugh; not a giggle or a snicker, but a laugh that traveled up from below the solar plexus to explode out. “I won’t say anything for a couple of weeks, but once the symptoms start to reveal themselves I will have no other choice but to tell him.”

A very Slytherin Draco nodded. “That’s all I can ask. Until then I will be spending all of my time at the dock looking for this Jake fellow.” A smile crept over Draco’s depressed face. “A little bait might bring our rat out of hiding.”

Alvin had always admired the Slytherin’s mind and had no doubt, by the devious grin of the young man’s face, that if anyone could locate Jake it would be Draco.

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Draco pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the stool clean before sitting at the bar. He was about to place the filthy kerchief back into the pocket of his outlandish expensive suit when he thought better of it and tossed it carelessly to the floor.

“Brandy please,” Draco ordered when the bartender stepped in front of him.

“We have ale or whiskey,” the crimsoned face bartender stated flatly.

“Perhaps, a glass of white wine?” Draco asked.

“Ale or whiskey,” the bartender repeated brusquely.

“Ale then,” Draco responded pleasantly while all the while wanted to hex the man.

He took a sip or two of his drink before he started to put his plan into effect.

“I work for the law firm of Addison, Jones, Abercrombie, and Firth,” Draco lied. “One of our clients recently died and left a large fortune to a fellow named Jake.”

The bartender kept cleaning the glasses with a dirty dish towel, acting all the while as if he wasn’t listening to the young man.

“It seems that this fellow Jake did a great service one for our client, something small on Jake’s behalf but immensely important to my company’s client. Of course there will be a finder’s fee for anyone who helps us locate this person.” That seemed to get the bartender’s attention.

“How much?” the bartender finally spoke.

“10,000 galleons,” Draco offered.

“There are a lot of Jakes that come into the place, what can you tell me about the bloke?” The bartender had placed the dishtowel down and was leaning over the bar. Draco flinched but didn’t turn away when he smelled the man’s foul breath.

The trap had been sprung. Draco smiled slightly as he continued. “He had worked for Azkaban for up until about five months ago. It has been reported that he spends his free time on the docks and that he quite often goes out on the fishing boats as a deck hand.”

“A number of men fill that description.”

Draco thought of something else he could use. “He maybe very sick of late. A lot of vomiting, shakes… like a bad case of the flu.”

Recognition flashed in the bartender’s eyes, “That helps. How do I know you’re who you say you are?”

“You can call my office,” Draco handed a gold embossed card to the bartender. “If it is the right man he’ll have a friend called Derek. Have him fire call him. He’ll verify what I’ve been saying.”

The bartender slipped the card into his vest coat pocket. “I’ll see what I can come up with. I want the finder’s fee up front.”

“Half after Jake gets in touch with me, half after I meet him,” Draco snarled.

“Deal. Are you going to offer this deal to anyone else?” asked the greedy bartender.

“Every bar on the dock. So, if you want the finder fee you better hurry up,” Draco informed him.

“Give me twenty-four hours, okay?” the bartender almost pleaded with Draco. 10,000 galleons was probably twice what he made in a year. Draco gave a short nod of agreement.

“I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon to make my offer to the others in your community if I haven’t heard from you.” Draco stood to leave.

The bartender rubbed his hands over his half-apron and offered his hand to the young wizard. Draco looked at the beefy hand with a leer. Giving the bartender a sneer that would do Snape proud, the Slytherin turned on his heel and left the establishment.

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Snape was bored. Harry was gone for the day; without an explanation, which irked the bedridden Potions Master. Minerva was teaching, Draco was on some kind of hush-hush mission and Remus was busy planning his wedding to Hermione.

He picked up a potion journal for the umpteenth time and placed it again back down on the bed. Looking across the room he saw a couple of muggle books that Luna had brought to him the night before. He thought of calling a house elf to fetch them for him but thought it was silly since he had been able to walk for a few days now. He had little control over his magic and Healer Montague had ordered him to abstain for a while longer.

Throwing the blankets off, he threw his legs over the edge of the bed, all the while hearing Harry’s words in the back of his mind ordering him to stay put. Severus curled his lip as he pondered his dilemma. It was no more than six meters back and forth. It was a longer trip to the loo. He scratched his head. He could pick up the books and get back to bed and Harry would never be the wiser. What the Gryffindor didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Holding onto the bedpost Severus pulled himself up onto his unsteady legs. He waited a moment before he started his trek across the room. He was pleased when he reached the desk with little effort. Greedily, he hugged all three books to his chest. This seemed to throw him slightly off balance. He could put two of the books back down but what if he got bored with the one he chose? No, it made more sense to take the three books with him. He took an uncertain step; he could do this. Another step and he was satisfied that he could make it to his bed. What he didn’t plan on was the rug’s corner that was slightly upturned. His barefoot caught the corner, sending Severus forward onto his face.

He lay motionless for a moment, trying to catch his breath, until he felt strong arms pull him up and carry him to his bed. Only after Severus was checked over and tucked safely back into bed did Harry speak to the Slytherin.

“What were you doing?” Harry was cold, void of all emotions.

“I was… it was… I thought… crap!” Severus stuttered as he struggled for an explanation.

“You disobeyed me,” Harry stated flatly, “and nearly hurt yourself… again. I cannot ignore this willfulness that you have been showing me. You agreed to listen to me and yet you continually flout my orders. They have been simple orders, with your well-being only my concern.”

“Harry, there was no harm done,” Severus dismissed Harry’s concern.

“No… harm… done?” Harry said between clinched teeth. “Your antics pulled me from an important meeting with the trustees of Hogwarts. I was pleading for more teachers and money when the ward I placed upon you let me know you were in danger. This behavior is not acceptable.”

Severus stubbornness rose to the surface. “What do you plan on doing, spanking me? Send me to bed without my supper, giving me a time out? I’m a little to old for any of those things.” He crossed his arms.

“Yes you are. Even though a spanking is tempting but I fear you would enjoy it to much. No your punishment is much more Slytherin.”

Severus cocked his eyebrow, waiting to hear what Harry had planned for him.

“I will not be sharing your bed with you for the next two weeks, there will be no hugs or kisses or cuddling.”

Severus grimaced. He had begun to look forward to being in Harry’s arm at the end of the day.

“Harry…”

“No, Severus there is nothing you can say that will change my mind. When you truly wish to apologize to me and plan on listen to my instructions I will be willing to listen. But your punishment will not be shortened.”

“I’m sorry,” Severus whispered, hoping it would soften Harry’s heart.

“That won’t work Severus. I am leaving to try to explain to the trustees why I was pulled so abruptly away. I’ll be back around six; we can continue this talk then. Stay in bed until then,” Harry ordered as he apparated away.

A/N I need only 14 more reviews for 200 hundred on all of my stories...can I get it with this chapter? Please try. Thanks everyone who has reviewed my story.