An Unlikely Savior ~ (Edit) COMPLETED

Chapter 38 ~ A Departure (Short Chapter)

Snape and Odessa spent a very hot and pleasant day together, taking breaks to shower and eat before returning to the business at hand. They even played a game or two of chess—naked—Raucous perched on the back of Odessa’s chair and eyeing the pieces as they hacked and chopped each other to bits, then reformed and moved off the board.

Snape did indeed find a bit of respite. Now he sat at the kitchen table in his boxers, watching as Odessa prepared a light supper. She was fully dressed.

The witch fixed their plates, brought them over and served Snape, then herself, sitting down at the table and giving him a smile as he lit into the food. It was another stew, thick and meaty, perfect for a cold winter’s day.

“You know, today’s been really nice, Severus. Different,” Odessa said to the wizard, who silently agreed. Spending the day shagging was quite different for him and very enjoyable. Odessa was a talented, uninhibited witch. Quite affectionate as well. Snape had never kissed so much in his life. Actually, this was the first time he’d ever kissed Odessa during an engagement. She usually didn’t allow it.

Standard hooker rules: Everything could be kissed but the mouth.

”Yes, it was, Odessa. Thank you,” he said to her, his face sober.

”Just doing my job,” she said lightly, although she had been very affected by her day with the wizard. He treated her like a real lover, not just a cockhole to get him off.

A thick silence followed that statement, the kind of silence that should be filled with some kind of admission, something important but not easily said. Both witch and wizard was aware of the beckoning void, but neither offered the words to fill it. Finally Odessa broke the silence.

”So, Eileen is going to the ball. That’s nice. Does she have a date?” Odessa inquired.

Snape scowled over his food, not looking up.

”Yes,” he hissed.

”Is he a nice boy?” the witch asked.

”There’s no such thing as a nice boy,” Snape growled. “Especially where young witches are involved.”

Odessa bit back a chuckle. The Suspicious Dad image really suited the Potions master.

”Maybe Eileen will get her first real kiss tonight,” Odessa said with a smile, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Snape’s head jerked up.

”Real kiss?” he asked her. Odessa puckered her full lips at him, then smacked them.

”First kiss,” she reiterated.

Snape looked as if fire could flare out of his nostrils any second now. He thought about the charming Alsop Potter. And he was a charming young man. Charming enough to steal a kiss from Eileen, he was sure.

When he told Alsop at the shop that he’d be watching him, it had just been an idle threat. But with Odessa saying that Eileen could be kissed and goodness knows what else by the young wizard, a Potter no less, Snape’s hackles rose straight up.

Thinking about his daughter in that fetching black gown and those gods-awful shag-me shoes didn’t help a bit. Eileen was for the most part a level-headed witch, but this had to do with hormones. No youngster could think clearly when those levels were high. A room full of adolescents grinding and bumping would be swarming with unchecked urges, pheremones flying about like angry bees.

Certainly there would be chaperones, but they couldn’t watch everyone. Snape knew for himself how the students stole away into the night, and how much Morning After potion was consumed before they headed home for the holidays, devoid of previous innocence.

First kiss? Kisses led to other things. Snape couldn’t imagine his daughter getting shagged, despite spending nearly the entire day freely dipping his own wick in Odessa. He didn’t want to imagine it. The very thought of it made his belly ache. He knew what he had to do, and that was what he’d always done.

Protect his daughter.

He looked at his dinner companion.

”Odessa, would you like to accompany me to Hogwarts? Parents have an open invitation to attend any function,” Snape said to her.

Odessa gave him a soft smile.

”Ah, no, Severus. This has been nice, but let’s not forget who and what I am. I’ve been at this for years. It could be embarrassing to Eileen if you attended her ball with a whore on your arm,” she said softly.

Snape studied Odessa. Personally, he wouldn’t care what anyone thought about his choice of escort. Odessa was a whore, but she was quite a woman in her own right. If not for her circumstances, she could hold her own in whatever situation she found herself in. But she had a point. Eileen probably wouldn’t appreciate her at the ball.

Neither would a few staff members and chaperones. Odessa had made the rounds.

”But there’s nothing wrong with going stag,” Odessa added. “As long as you stay out of her way. Maybe not let her see you at all.”

Lurking in the shadows was a talent Snape had never lost. He could easily attend the ball and stay out of his daughter’s way. Maybe he could even wear a glamour. That was an idea. Odessa could wear one as well.

Snape suggested it, but Odessa shook her head.

”It’s nothing personal, Severus,” she told him as she collected the dishes and washed them. “But, we’ve spent enough time together for one day. I'm a prostitute, not an escort. Besides, in my line of work it doesn’t pay to spend too much time with one wizard. Things can get—complicated.”

”Complicated? I don’t see how if I am paying you for your time,” Snape responded as she dried and put the dishes away, then turned toward him, giving him a sad little smile.

”Whether you are paying me or not doesn’t help how—how it feels. To be with just one man, spending time with him as if—as if—well, it can make a hooker go off her game, know what I mean? It makes her miserable because—“

Odessa stopped speaking as if the words were caught in her throat, then said in an irritated voice, “Because it just does. I’ve got to go.”

She callously stuck out her hand palm up, her eyes narrowed coldly.

”Pay me. Fifteen Galleons. Cash. No checks.”

Snape stared at her for a moment, then wordlessly stood up and went to retrieve the money. He returned with a small drawstring purse. He placed it gently in her palm.

”There you go, Odessa,” he said, watching as she opened the bag and counted the coins. She slowly looked up at him.

”There’s twenty Galleons here,” she said to him softly. “That’s five more than necessary.”

”Consider it payment for my therapy session,” he said to her quietly.

”Oh, I couldn’t possibly take money for just giving you advice, Severus. That wasn’t the reason I talked to you. I care about Eileen, too. She’s a sweet witch.”

She tried to give Snape the extra coins back, but he curled her fingers over them.

”Consider it a gift, then, Odessa. I’m sure you don’t get many gifts,” he said, meeting her eyes.

Odessa blinked up at him, her own eyes becoming wet.

She couldn’t do this anymore. Pretending she was more than a whore and Severus was more than a trick today had been mad and stupid enough. Cooking for him, talking with him, playing chess with him . . . it had been stupid to do. Stupid, stupid. She knew better than this. It was always supposed to be “bed and bounce.” No lingering. No “taking care” of a customer besides his sexual requirements.

It was just that Odessa knew Snape wasn’t the kind of man that engaged witches often, whores or not. Being with him made her feel special—

Something a common street whore should never, ever feel if she wanted to earn a living, and especially if she wanted to sleep at night on a dry pillow.

”I’ve—I’ve got to go,” Odessa said in a thick voice, pulling her hand out of his quickly and hurrying through the house. She snagged her traveling cloak, not even bothering to stop and put it on as she flew out the door.

Snape looked after her silently, not trying to stop her this time. He knew what it was to put up a wall of coldness to protect himself. And he knew what it was to feel unworthy of what was basic human connection. Odessa Divine was a lot like he had been so long ago, before Eileen. Damaged. He still was, in a sense. But for him, life was better because he had someone to love and cherish, who returned his love. Odessa had no one who loved her. Love was a part of other people’s vocabulary, other people’s lives.

”Goodbye, Odessa,” Snape said softly as the door closed.

He walked into the living room, followed by a fluttering Raucous, and sat before the fire deep in thought for a long time.

After an hour or two, he started and looked up at the time. He stood up and headed for his bedroom.

He’d better hurry and get dressed if he wanted to attend the Christmas ball.

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A/N: Short chapter. I’m off my game a bit and apologize for the wait. It’s been computer hell week. My Burning Pen website was hacked and now is down, and I had computer issues of my own that resulted in me having to reinstall windows xp. Just a terrible week. Sorry this chapter is so short but it was a real effort to focus. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. Thanks for reading.