An Unlikely Savior ~ (Edit) COMPLETED

Chapter 53 ~ The Punishing of Eileen Hermione Snape

Eileen sat in her bedroom, absently petting Raucous as she waited for her father to get home. She wondered what he was going to take away from her. Probably, her Firebolt to start with. Damn it.

She shouldn’t have gone after Mrs. Weasley while the wounds were so fresh. She should have been patient—just waited. But when she saw the Dodo, she couldn’t help herself. Well, now she was in for it.

She heard the front door open and close.

”Well, this is it, Raucous,” she said to the raven as she stood up.

Raucous lifted one of his wings in a raven salute, opening his beak slightly as she exited, ready to meet her doom. Then, he glided out behind her, not wanting to miss anything.

”Eileen!” Snape called.

”I’m coming,” she said dejectedly, and walked into the living room. Snape stood there, his arms folded and a scowl on his face. He watched her walk over to the sofa and sit down. She looked up at him as Raucous winged to the mantle over the fireplace and settled in to watch the show.

”I’m not going to even comment on just how idiotic what you did was, Eileen, or the apparent loss of brain capacity involved. You should have just left a trail of breadcrumbs leading back to the shop. It would have made it even easier for you to have been found out.”

Eileen winced a little. She hated when her father thought she had done something stupid. He despised stupidity

”Give me your wand,” Snape said, holding out his hand.

Eileen morosely stood up, fished her wand out of her robes pocket and handed it to her father.

”Now, go get your Firebolt,” he said.

”Dad, my Firebolt?”

”Yes.”

Eileen dragged herself through the house, walked into her bedroom, opened up her closet and retrieved her beloved Firebolt. She returned to the living room and handed it to her father, who reduced it and stuck it in his pocket. She sat back down on the sofa.

”You are forbidden to ride your broom until summer vacation,” he told her.

”Oh, dad!” she exclaimed. “That’s too long!”

”Would you like to go for longer?” he asked her pointedly.

Eileen flopped back on the sofa, folding her arms and pouting.

”I thought not. Also, you are hereby on lockdown until you return to Hogwarts. You will not leave this house for the rest of the holiday,” Snape continued.

“Not even to go see mum?” Eileen asked him, her eyes a bit cunning. “I need to talk to her, remember?”

That was one way to get out of the house. He couldn’t say no to her seeing her currently estranged mother.

Snape studied his daughter, knowing exactly what she was up to. She planned to go to Hermione and have a bit of freedom.

“I will make arrangements for you to visit your mother on the day you wish. I will also make it quite clear to her that you are to engage in no pleasurable activities, go anyplace and are to come directly home afterwards,” he replied.

Damn.

“I will be collecting your wizarding wireless as well.”

“What? What am I supposed to do around here, then?” she asked him. “I’ll have no wand, no broom, no music. What will I do? Twiddle my thumbs all day?”

”Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty to do,” Snape replied, his mouth quirking unpleasantly.

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”I can’t bloody believe this,” Eileen hissed the next morning as she sorted through the mountain of books she had to restore to the bookshelves in alphabetical order according to subject matter and authors’ last names. There had to be at least two thousand blasted books if not more. Her dad was a sadist.

If she had her wand, she could have quickly sorted them out, but this way, it was going to take forever. She heard a loud squawk outside and hurried to the door, letting Raucous in. He flew into the living room and perched on a pile of books, looking around and letting out a sympathetic caw. He lifted his leg, There was a parchment envelope attached to it.

”So you saw Alsop?” she asked the raven, removing the parchment eagerly and tearing it open. She had sent Raucous to him asking him to come over. But, his letter said he was on supreme lock down for illegally Disapparating from the Burrow and would probably never see his broom again until he was twenty-one.

”Oh—bother,” Eileen hissed. She had hoped Alsop would come and use his wand to help her sort the books. Neither Hugo or Lily knew where she lived, so she couldn’t call on them. Her mind briefly turned to Hermione. She’d come immediately if she owled or ravened her, but—no that wouldn’t be a good idea. Dad would be furious and that blasted contract stated that she wouldn’t play them off of each other that way. Her mother would probably gladly sort the books out for her in an attempt to make up. But the aftermath would be terrible. Her father would know magic had been used.

She started separating and stacking books again.

There was nothing else for it.

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Odessa waited for Severus to finish his morning brewing before she inquired about Eileen.

Snape was taking inventory when the witch cleared her throat and lightly said, “I hope Eileen isn’t manacled to a wall someplace without food or water.”

Snape looked up at her and frowned.

”Don’t be ridiculous,” he replied. “She’s perfectly fine. Besides, the cost of a good set of manacles is prohibitive.”

He looked back down at the clipboard. Odessa sidled a bit closer.

”So, what did you do to her? You didn’t spank her, did you?”

”Of course not. She’s much too old for spankings,” he said, frowning up at her again.

”That’s good to know,” Odessa replied. “So, how did you punish her?”

Snape sighed and put down his clipboard. Odessa obviously wasn’t going to let him continue until she knew everything.

He counted the punishments off on his fingers.

”I took away her wand. I took away her broom. I took away her wizarding wireless, and I placed her under house arrest,” he said to Odessa.

Odessa frowned.

”So what’s she supposed to do all day? Twiddle her thumbs?”

”Sort out my library,” Snape replied as Odessa’s green eyes rounded behind her glasses, giving her a kind of owl-like look of disbelief.

”Your library? Your living room is stacked floor to ceiling with books, Severus. Every wall is covered with shelves. There have to be thousands of them. You expect her to sort through every book?”

”No, but it will build character as well as keep her out of mischief,” he replied.

Odessa just shook her head.

”You’re a hard man, Severus Snape,” the witch said.

”Better a hard man that than a soft one in this world,” he responded, picking up his clipboard and starting to count potions again.

”Well, you have to admit, she was creative. A Dodo bird. That’s hilarious,” Odessa said with a smile.

”I don’t find anything funny about it,” the wizard lied.

”Sure you don’t,” Odessa snorted, picking up a clipboard and walking from around the counter to take inventory in the aisles. Snape watched her walk away a bit appreciatively. In addition to being attractive, Odessa was quite a good employee. She was always friendly to the customers, something both Snape and Eileen couldn’t claim to be. She was also good with the till, the money never being over or more importantly, under.

She didn’t need micromanaging either. If business was slow, Odessa found something to do. She’d even hung signs over each aisle that listed the items they held.

”That’ll save me some walking,” she told Snape as he looked at the signs.

”Good job,” he said shortly, and Odessa flushed with pleasure at the praise.

He watched her counting ingredients for a moment, then returned to his own work, reassured he had chosen the right person for the job.

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Hermione and Ron had already left for work by the time the owl from Ginny arrived. A tousled-haired, half-asleep Hugo answered the insistent tapping on the window. He rubbed his eyes and looked out at the owl, then opened the door and let it in.

”Why are you here so early?” Hugo complained, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

The owl hooted back at him and stuck out its leg imperiously. How did Hugo think it felt about it? It should be in bed like a proper owl, not flying about the wizarding world delivering blasted messages to ungrateful humans who sleep the night through.

Hugo removed the folded parchment, and the owl flew unceremoniously out of the open door, flipping up its tailfeathers at Hugo while passing.

He didn’t notice as he unfolded the parchment. His blue eyes shifted left to right several times, then his eyes widened, sleep immediately flushed from them.

”Rose!” he yelled, tearing for her bedroom. “Rose!”

Rose was vaguely aware something annoying was happening, trying to pull her out of her comfortable sleep. Suddenly, her door was flung open and Hugo landed full force on her bed, making her bounce and waking her up completely.

”Hugo! I told you about bouncing into my bed,” she groaned, pulling the covers over her head. “Now, go away. It’s too early.”

”Wake up, Rose. Aunt Ginny sent this note to mum, and you should see what it says,” Hugo said excitedly.

”You’re not supposed to read mum’s posts, Hugo. You know that,” Rose’s muffled voice said from beneath the covers.

”Well, I was sleepy and it wasn’t in an envelope, just folded over,” Hugo responded. “Rose, it says Eileen turned grandmum into a Dodo bird.”

Rose flung the covers off and sat up in the bed now.

”What?” she cried, snatching the parchment from Hugo and reading it for herself. “Oh, I can't believe she did that!”

”Well, she did,” Hugo said, shaking his head. “But grandmum’s all right. The Spell Breakers at St. Mungo’s removed the hex.”

Rose sat there. She was the one who suggested Hermione get Eileen a book about Transfiguration. Obviously, she was reading it. A Dodo bird?

”Mum’s going to have bugbears when she finds out about this,” she said to Hugo, who nodded, his eyes round. Then he smirked.

Then he started laughing.

”Hugo!” Rose said disapprovingly as he fell over in the bed, holding his stomach and laughing hysterically. “It’s not funny. It’s grandmum we’re talking about here.”

”I—I know Rose. That’s—that’s why it’s so funny. Can you imagine grandmum as a Dodo bird? Hahahahahahah! I bet she was so mad when she turned back into a witch she breathed fire!”

Rose tried not to react to the image in her mind of her grandmother as a Dodo bird, waddling about and squawking furiously. She failed and laughed too, albeit a bit guiltily.

”That’s terrible,” she chuckled, while frowning at Hugo, which normally would be difficult to do.

”I know,” he said, wiping his eyes, then falling back over.

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When Hermione came home for lunch and to check on her children, both Rose and Hugo met her soberly, standing side by side in the living room, Rose offering her a folded parchment.

“This came this morning, mum. It’s from Aunt Ginny,” she said.

”From Ginny—let me see that,” Hermione said, taking the parchment from Rose’s hand. Her brown eyes shifted left to right several times.

”Whatwhatwhatwhatwhat! Eileen! Noooo!” she cried, then ran out of the door. The crack of Apparition followed.

”I’m not sure if she had a bugbear or a whole battalion of dragons,” Hugo said to Rose, who just shook her head.

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Odessa had just gone to lunch, so Snape was behind the counter when Hermione flung the door open, storming in. Snape looked up at her calmly.

”I’m going to have to put some kind of cushioning on my shop door, the way you Weasleys keep flinging it open,” he said by way of greeting.

Hermione walked up to Snape, waving the parchment under his big nose.

”What’s this about Eileen turning Molly into a Dodo bird?” she asked him.

Snape blinked at her.

”You seem to have all the facts,” he replied.

”Why didn’t you tell me about this?” she demanded. “Where’s Eileen?”

”I didn’t tell you because I found out about it last night. I thought that the Weasley network would get the news to you quicker than I would. And Eileen is home, under punishment,” Snape replied.

”What kind of punishment?” Hermione wanted to know.

For the second time of the day, Snape counted off what he’d taken away from Eileen, and what she was doing to occupy her time.

Hermione blinked at him. He certainly gave Eileen what for. Hermione got a glimpse of all his books when she went to apologize days ago. There had to be hundreds of them.

She calmed a bit, satisfied that Eileen was paying for her actions, although—

“What could she have possibly been thinking?”

In answer, Snape reached under the counter, pulled out a book and placed it on top of the counter, turning it so Hermione could clearly read the title.

”I believe she got the idea from this,” he purred at her.

”Oh, no,” Hermione breathed as she looked at the Transfiguration book she’d given Eileen for Christmas. “Oh, no—I caused this—“

Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

”Please—please don’t do that, Hermione. My stomach can take it,” he said to her, his eyes narrowed.

”Do what?” she said, interrupted from her guilt-fest.

”Don’t do the ‘it’s all my fault’ Gryffindor monologue. I’m not up to watching the performance. It’s always nauseated me. Albus used to do it all the time. It’s no more appealing now than it was then. So, spare me, please.”

”What are you talking about,” Hermione demanded, distracted.

”What I am talking about is that you are in no way responsible for what Eileen did to Molly. Our daughter took it upon herself to go to the Burrow and do what she did. She made a clear decision and no one else is responsible for the decision she made. Your trying to claim the guilt for it is stupid, senseless and annoying. Eileen knew what she was doing. You had nothing to do with it.”

”But I took her to the Burrow in the first place,” Hermione argued.

Snape put the book back under the counter.

”Look, Hermione, I am not about to stand here and try and ease your erroneous conscience. What happened, happened. It is everyone’s reaction to the incident that matters here. Eileen already showed her disapproval by leaving the Burrow. There was no reason for further retaliation on her part. No valid reason at least, although I do understand the urge to exact revenge when one has been hurt. The truth of the matter is Eileen was caught in the wrong and has to pay for it. The fault is entirely hers.”

”How did they discover it was Eileen?” Hermione asked.

”Simple math. Transfiguration book plus angry daughter equals Dodo bird,” Snape replied, his dark eyes glinting. “Mrs. Weasley assumed I did it, of course.”

”You? Why would she think you did it?” Hermione asked him.

”You’d have to ask Mrs. Weasley about that. No doubt it was a natural if asinine deduction based on her very high opinion of me,” he said sarcastically.

Hermione stood there for a moment, absorbing this, but decided not to take it any further in the conversation. Now that she knew what happened, something else was on her mind.

”Did Eileen say anything about me?” she asked Snape.

”Yes,” he said shortly, pulling out a rag and wiping down the counter. Hermione stood there for a few seconds, then scowled at him.

”Well, what did she bloody say?” Hermione demanded, furious at his flippancy.

Snape couldn’t help his inclination to piss her off. Gryffindors were always so easy. He looked up at her, and saw that behind her anger, there was very real concern in her eyes. She cared about Eileen.

”She said,” he said softly, “that she is going to come talk to you before she returns to school. You’ll have the opportunity to smooth this over and start anew, Hermione.”

Hermione blinked at him, her eyes becoming watery.

”She said that?” she asked.

”Yes, she said that. So go home, or back to work, or wherever you popped in here from and don’t worry. Things are going to work themselves out. You and Eileen are just getting to know each other and both have strong personalities. There are going to be a few false starts. Just don’t be a doormat.”

”What? I’m not a doormat!” Hermione seethed.

”You will be if you don’t put your foot down with Eileen. Believe me, she is fully capable of using your desire to be close to her and your Gryffindor guilt gene to walk all over you. It is the Slytherin way, after all.”

”Yes, I forget that sometimes,” Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at him. “And you raised her to be a Slytherin.”

”Right in one,” Snape answered. “However, Eileen’s inclination to do idiotic acts without thinking them through is proof that she does have some Gryffindor tendencies, thanks to your DNA.”

Hermione reddened and looked as if she were about to swell up to twice her size. Snape ignored the danger signs.

”I’ll contact you as to when she’ll come. But, she’s not to engage in any pleasurable activities, go any place else and come directly home after you finish talking,” he told Hermione, who deflated at these arbitrary instructions. But, she had agreed in the contract that Snape was the primary disciplinarian, so she was stuck for it.

”I suppose you want me to feed her bread and water while she’s there,” Hermione muttered at him.

”If you have it,” Snape responded silkily.

Hermione let out an exasperated noise, spun on her heel and left the shop. Snape quirked his lip after her.

”That woman has a lot to learn,” he said to himself, putting the rag away and walking into the back of the shop to check on his brewing.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. ***