Dawn Breaking

Chapter 8 – The Black Bat and the Biddies

Severus Snape raised the newspaper again to keep his rather unmistakable face froing ing seen by the party of women. He was in Muggle mufti: black t-shirt, black jeans and a gray sports coat, but his nose stood out in a crowd regardless and he didn’t want the bouncing Auror to spot him. Explaining what he was up to in Muggle London and how he happened to be at the same café Tonks happened to be at would strain anyone’s credulity. He had followed her from work to a martial arts dojo, which had surprised him no end -- he hadn’t thought her dedicated enough to learn to defend herself the Muggle way -- and then to here.

Eavesdropping on the conversation had been easy, they were none of them trying to be quiet and he listened to their plans with eager interest. The fact that Tonks was intelligent enough to listen to the women’s advice pleased him; she had been a good Slytherin and he remembered her as a student, though she had been a menace in potio- ne- nearly a Longbottom in terms of accidents.

As soon as she was gone he folded the newspaper, dropped some money on the table and prepared to leave. A shadow fell over him and he looked up in alarm to find himself surrounded by the Muggle women, who were all looking at him with expressions of suspicion and distaste.

“May I help you ladies?” He asked, surreptitiously reaching for his wand.

“Why were you following our friend?” Demanded the skinny one, with a martial gleam in her eye.

“Because I am on the other side of the problem.” He decided honesty was the best policy with these women. “My friend, Ian, is interested in Miss Tonks and hasn’t a clue how to go about courting her. I promised him that I would find out her preferences and I honestly couldn’t think of a way to do so other than following her about and observing her habits.”

“She’s nae a nature show, laddie.” The plump Scotswoman scolded and settled down in one of the empty chairs.

“I’m a retired spy, Madam. Old habits die hard.” Again he gave them the truth, tim time with a shrug added.

“Men!” A brunette lady muttered. “I’m Vera, this is Regina, Tassie and Betty.” She continued and they all settled in and ordered more coffee.

“Severus.” He bowed in his seat and they grinned at him in response. It occurred to him that he had never been the source of so much feminine interest before. He found it quite enjoyable.

“Now, tell us about this Ian; Dora said he’s a teacher at a private school.” Betty gave him a sharp-eyed gaze and he foher her no-nonsense attitude rather refreshing.

“He’s a Professor yes, he teaches Defense courses there. I teach Chemistry at the same school.” Which wasn’t precisely a lie, Potions was the wizarding equivalent of chemistry.

“So you teach too, eh?” Tassie leaned forward displaying some rather attractive cleavage and Severus had a difficult time keeping his eyes on her face.

“Yes.” She was flirting with him he realized, as she leaned forward even farther and smirked. It was a novel experience as he wasn’t usually flirted with by beautiful women.

“We need to find out about this Ian fellow, remember, Tassie?” Betty prodded her friend and she leaned back with a sigh. “So, dish, Severus. What’s he like?”

“Quiet, polite, rather Victorian actually.” Severus mused, arms crossed and eyes un-focusing as he considered the question. “He is brave -- after all, he teaches grappling techniques to teenagers.” That got a laugh and Severus allowed a small smile. “He has gone through a great deal lately and still hasn’t recovered.”

“That’s why you are doing this, isn’t it? You don’t want him to get hurt again.” Vera was looking at him with big calf’s eyes and he shrugged.

“Actually, we both were damn near legless in the pub. He begged me to help and I was too drunk to know what I was agreeing to.” He had decided early o be be as honest as possible with these women and the roars of laughter he got in response to that particular truth made him smile a little more broadly. He had gone over to Ian with the intent of butting in just the littlest bit. He hadn’t intended to match the DADA teacher drink for drink and he certainly hadn’t intended to promise this much aid to the other man.

“You poor man!” Tassie was laughing and wiping her eyes. She sipped at her coffee. “I can’t imagine how you must have felt the next morning.” She added and he did grin just a bit at that.

“There is no point in being a Chemist if you can’t whip up a good hangover remedy.” He retorted and they all went off in whoops again. He had never known that he was a comedian. It felt good to make them laugh. It had been a very long time since he had felt good.

Betty, who was as rail thin as Minerva and had a similar quality of sharp-minded practicality, was watching him with more of a speculative look than the others.

“So quiet, Victorian; would you say he was shy?” She asked.

“Rather.” He confirmed. Betty was an intelligent woman and talking to her was almost like fencing; she probed his defenses with great skill. He wasn’t entirely sure that they were still talking about Quirrell at this point.

“Does he have your sarcastic wit?” She parried his reply and returned a riposte.

“No, I am afraid not. He is a sweet-tempered man.” Take that, he thought, and found another smile playing about his lips.

“Unlike yourself.” She sent his own blade back to him with a neat twist. Her own lips were twitching ever so slightly.

“Indeed, unlike us.” He muttered to her over the rim of his cup. Her eyes filled with amusement at that.

“Oh, what a horrible thing to say!” Vera laughed. “Though it’s true that Betty is not the most sweet-tempered of us.” She added as honesty compelled.

“I have never tried to be.” Betty admitted with a grimace. Severus laughed a short bark and he wastanttantly embarrassed. He had always hated the sound of his laugh, it always sounded like a pack of dogs to him.

“So ya can smile!” Regina grinned slyly at him and he looked around the table at a group of Muggle women whom Voldemort would have killed without a second thought.

“How do we get Ian and Dora together, ladies? I could very much use your advice.” Voldemort had missed so much in pursuing his blind hatred. Severus intended to learn from his mistakes, starting with getting the DADA job with the help of some unconventional allies.