A New Beginning (DH -COMPLIANT)

Chapter 45 ~ Lunch at the Three Broomsticks

Snape and Rod reappeared in Hogsmeade, a short distance from the Three Broomsticks. Again, Rod rubbed his neck and scowled at the hooded Professor.

”Er, Professor, would it be too much to ask that you catch me by my sleeve next time?” the young wizard inquired as they walked toward the inn.

”Yes,” Snape replied, “Hopefully I will inspire you to put a rush on getting your license.”

Rod fell silent as they walked side by side. Rose and Hermione were waiting outside of the Three Broomsticks, Rose holding a flowered shopping bag with pink tissue paper sticking out of it.

The witches both smiled as the wizards strode up.

”How did shopping go?” Hermione asked the Professor.

”Smoothly, as it usually does when witches aren’t about examining every blasted item in the shop,” the dark wizard replied, pulling the door to the inn open.

Hermione scowled at his comment and entered, followed by Rose. Rod attempted to follow Rose in but Snape held him back and entered next. He was not about to hold the door for him. Rod sighed, then followed.

Rosmerta was behind the bar. The innkeeper was older, but still quite pretty and shapely. She smiled when she saw Hermione, then looked a bit curious as her blue eyes washed over the tall hooded wizard behind her. She put down her bar rag, straightened her apron and walked around the bar.

”Hello Hermione. It is good to see you,” she smiled at the witch, then looked at the entourage. A pretty young witch and a young wizard with a shiner accompanied her. “A table for four?”

”A private booth if you please,” Snape said silkily from within the hood.

Rosmerta stiffened in shock. She knew that voice. She could never forget it. She moved closer, her voice dropping low as she looked into the hood. She couldn’t see a face.

“Professor Snape?” she whispered.

”The same, Rosmerta,” he replied.

She smiled at him brightly.

”Welcome back,” she said warmly, “Come this way, all of you.”

She led the group to the back of the inn and through a heavy blue curtain. A table with four chairs rested there. There were also four menus and a centerpiece of roses. Rosmerta quickly lifted them off and placed them on the window sill, remembering how much the Potions master despised the flowers.

They took their seats, Snape facing Hermione and Rose facing Rod. Snape lowered his hood.

”What would you like?” Rosmerta asked, pulling out a pad and a muggle pen.

She did her best not to stare at the Professor as she said this. It was good to see him after so many years. But this was not a social visit and she had to act professional.

Everyone picked up their menus and placed their orders. The two youngsters ordered fish and chips with flavored fizzy water. Hermione a large salad with meat and cheese and sparkling water and Snape ordered a rare steak with a side of fried potatoes and wine.

”Very good. Your meal will be out shortly,” Rosmerta said, smiling and leaving the room.

Hermione looked at Rod, who was looking down at the table studiously.

”So did you get your dress robes, Rod?” the witch asked him, trying to pull the shy young wizard into conversation.

”Yes, I did,” he replied shortly as Snape looked at him.

Rose looked curious.

”What color are they?” she asked.

Rod was about to answer her when Snape interrupted him.

”Don’t answer that, Mr. Dormers,” he snapped.

All three of them looked at the wizard.

”Why not?” Hermione asked the Potions master, surprised he would tell Rod to act so rudely. Well, not totally surprised, but still . . .

”Because, if he tells your daughter what color his robes are, he will ‘ruin his entrance,’” the wizard replied, arching an eyebrow at him.

”That’s ridiculous,” Hermione snapped at him.

”Is it?” Snape replied, then his black eyes shifted to Rod.

”Mr. Dormers, ask Miss Weasley what color her gown is,” he said to the young man.

Rod’s eyes shifted from the Potions master to Rose curiously.

”What color is your gown?” he asked the witch.

Rose stared at him, reddening slightly.

”I can’t tell you that. You’ll see the night of the dance,” she responded as Hermione sighed.

Rod blinked at her.

Snape smirked.

”What you have just witnessed, Mr. Dormers, is a witch-wide conspiracy to keep their garments secret at any and every cost. This happens on almost every formal occasion. I believe they all take a blood oath not to reveal anything about their clothing from the tender age of at least five years old,” the wizard said as Rose and Hermione both scowled at him.

”Why?” Rod asked, intrigued.

Snape shrugged.

”Just one of the strange and mysterious customs of the fairer sex. And I warn you, there are many of them. No man alive has ever managed to even skim the surface of the depths of their many idiosyncrasies and behaviors,” he replied as Rosmerta reappeared with their drinks and a bowl of pretzels.

“Oh really Professor,” Hermione said, frowning at him, “You act as if witches purposely do things to keep wizards off balance or something.”

”You do,” the wizard said, taking a sip of wine, “We are forever kept guessing what the hell we’ve done wrong, thus distracted from really seeing just what you are all up to. I personally believe all witches discuss wizard control tactics at clandestine coven meetings.”

Both Rod and Rose smirked at this. Hermione’s face went black.

”You are a Neanderthal, Severus Snape,” she snapped at him.

He arched an eyebrow at her, unable to resist his next response.

”Am I, Mrs. Weasley? And where do you suppose I keep my club?” he purred at her, his dark eyes sparkling mischievously.

Hermione blushed furiously.

Rose looked from her mother to the wizard and back again, her mouth dropping open. That was definitely a sexual innuendo. She didn’t know much, but she knew that much. What was going on here?

Rod suddenly realized his purpose as he looked from Hermione to Snape. The Potions master was using him to impress her with his kindness. Well, it seemed he needed all the help he could get. Professor Snape was really snarky.

“You keep it in your cave with your bats and bones,” Hermione retorted, trying to cover up the double meaning of his reply. She was still red however.

The Potions master smirked, but didn’t say anything.

Rose looked at him curiously, then her mother.

”Mum, did you know you were working for Professor Snape?” she asked her mother suddenly.

Hermione looked at her daughter, whose eyes were narrowed suspiciously. She rightly suspected her mother had been keeping a few secrets.

”Not at first,” Hermione admitted, “But I figured it out.”

”When?” Rose asked her, frowning slightly.

Snape interceded.

”Directly after you violated the Decree Against the Use of Underage Magic,” the wizard replied, “Though you’ve done it with such frequency, Miss Weasley I doubt if that will give you an adequate timeline. Suffice it to say when you removed the ward that allowed your younger brother to scale my mountain and nearly kill himself, I revealed myself when I saved him. She recognized my terminology when I scolded him,” the Professor said.

Rose flushed at this reference to her rule-breaking and almost costing Hugo his life. Professor Snape really knew how to turn something around on a person. But Rose still tried to take her mother to task.

”But you said, Mr. Vespers saved Hugo,” she said accusatorily.

”Professor Snape is Sean U. Vespers, Rose,” Hermione replied, “The name is an anagram for Severus Snape, as is Sparse Venues.”

Rose stared at her.

”An anagram?” she repeated.

Snape nodded.

“A perfectly acceptable and legal use of a name,” he replied as Rosmerta set Hermione’s salad and his steak on the table. “Rearrangement of the letters is not a falsification.”

”Cool,” Rod thought. So the Professor had hidden almost in plain sight all these years. He was a very smart man.

”So you’ve known he was alive for more than a year,” Rose said to her mother.

Hermione nodded.

”But I had to respect his privacy, Rose. He didn’t want anyone to know he was still alive at that point in time,” Hermione explained.

Rose looked at the pale wizard.

”So what changed, Professor? Why did you decide to make yourself known?” she asked him.

Snape looked down his nose at her.

”Miss Weasley, although your propensity for rule-breaking gave me a slight inkling of how much you were like your mother in nature, your inclination to ask entirely inappropriate and personal questions cinches it. I have my own reasons for returning to public life and they will remain my own,” he said a bit snarkily.

It was best to put his foot down with the young witch now. Familiarity would eventually breed contempt. In time he might tell her, depending on how his relationship with Hermione developed, but for now he’d keep his reasons to himself.

“He probably was tired of hiding out,” Rod offered, trying to ease the wizard’s sharpness toward Rose. Snape looked at him.

”Are you a mind-reader, Mr. Dormers?” he snapped at him.

Rod blanched slightly but didn’t back down.

”No. But twenty years is a long time to be by yourself, Professor. It was probably just time to come back,” he replied honestly.

Rosmerta appeared with Rose and Rod’s fish and chips with a side of salt and vinegar.

Snape scowled at the boy, but Rod met his gaze steadily. Finally the wizard cut into his steak and began eating.

Hermione listened to the exchange quietly. Rose had been a bit forward questioning the Potions master that way. His reply could have been even more scathing. She picked at her salad for a moment, then made an attempt to bring the conversation around to something more pleasant.

”Ok Rod, you can’t tell us the color of your dress robes, but are they nice?” she asked the wizard, who had just shoved a chip into his mouth.

He chewed, then swallowed, his blue eyes shifting to the Professor. They narrowed slightly before he looked back at Hermione with an exaggeratedly grateful expression on his face. So he wanted to make a good impression did he? Well, Rod would just help him along.

”Yes, they are the nicest robes I’ve ever seen. Professor Snape is very kind. Thank you sir,” he said, looking at the dark wizard.

Snape’s eyes cut to the boy, who was smirking slightly.

”You are welcome, Mr. Dormers,” he replied, knowing immediately the boy had figured out his game.

”He also bought me a few shirts and trousers. Mine were pretty shabby under my robes,” Rod added ingratiatingly.

Now Snape scowled. The Slytherin was overdoing it. And it seemed purposely so, the scamp.

”Mr. Dormers, you don’t wear a good set of robes over rags,” he snapped at the wizard, “It ruins the effect and nullifies the purpose of the garment. Purchasing suitable undergarments was a necessity, NOT a kindness. Otherwise the robes would have been a wasted investment.”

”He got me shoes too,” Rod added innocently, looking directly at Hermione, who beamed at the Potions master’s generosity.

”Enough, Mr. Dormers. I didn’t purchase those items so you can shout my praises to the world. They were necessary,” he said angrily. “Now I want to hear no more about them. Ever.”

Everyone at the table fell silent, both Rose and Hermione looking at Snape with soft “you’re really sweet” eyes. Rod sucked his lips in. At least he got the wizard back for squeezing his neck.

Snape glared at Rod. He’d fix him good.

”Mr. Dormers, you will be accompanying me home this evening, rather than returning to Hogwarts,” he said to the wizard, whose eyes widened.

Both Hermione and Rose stared at the Potions master, surprised at this.

”Why?” Hermione asked.

Snape focused on the shiner under Rod’s eye. It was a purplish-black crescent.

”In case none of you noticed, the young wizard who decorated Mr. Dormer’s features earlier today made it a point to say the altercation wasn’t over. Now I realize festive colors are normal for the season, but red and green are the usual shades, not black and blue. And in best case scenarios, the colors are hung from objects, and not plastered on the person countenance. You will not be able to dance at the ball, Mr. Dormers, if your eyes are too swollen shut to see. You need a bit of training so you can at least keep from being completely battered. So you will come with me and learn a few basic defensive and offensive moves,” Snape said imperiously.

He also wore a very unpleasant little smirk.

Rod swallowed.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to rub in the wizard’s kindness the way he did.

As he met Snape’s dark eyes, the young wizard suspected he had effectively drained the dark wizard’s store of benevolence.

He wasn’t looking forward to this.

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A/n: lol. Poor Rod. He stuck his foot in it this time, trying to be a little wise-ass at the Potions Master’s expense. I have a feeling his “lessons” will be very “hands-on.” Thanks for reading.