Halfway 'Round a Circle

Chapter One

"I know you are disappointed that Sirius Black escaped, but your slip at breakfast was unnecessarily vindictive." Dumbledore looked aggrieved. His face was lined and he sighed heavily as he took a chocolate frog from a tray of sweets.

Snape was unrepentant. "Not to mention expensive. I suppose you shall have to find a new Defence teacher now."

"Yes. The Daily Prophet's series on the curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position was most unhelpful in the discovery of new staff. That is not the point, however. Remus Lupin was the most competent Defence teacher we've had in quite some years. It is your fault he is gone, Severus, and just this morning I have received several angry letters in the post. "

Dumbledore paused to admire the card in his chocolate frog box. "Circe," he mused. "I've got three of her now."

"Lupin was a danger to the students," Snape spat, ignoring Dumbledore's babblings. "A forgetful werewolf has no place among children. And Potter! He and his friends allowed Black to escape, Black who killed Lily and James Potter!"

"I can tell you are upset, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly. "I believe it would be beneficial for you to go to Kent this summer, rather than to stay at Hogwarts. Among the others, I have received more than one frantic letter from you wife. She is quite worried about you."

Snape appeared sufficiently chastised at the mention of his wife, though he sneered as he said, "Alexandra never could distinguish sensationalism from facts, and she's been getting all her news from the Prophet, besides. I will return home as soon as the school-year has ended, Professor, but I will be back before the school-year begins."

"Excellent, I'm sure she will be most overjoyed," said Dumbledore. "Now, I believe you have a class. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff second years?"

As Severus left the Headmaster's office, he felt a square of paper in one of the pockets of his robe. He took it out and saw that it was Dumbledore's Circe card, a witch whose lover had turned into a wolf. Snape crumpled the paper and tossed it on the floor, striding grimly towards the dungeons.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was late July by the time Snape actually left the castle. He had refused to go home until his potions stores were inventoried and the Ministry had sent him fresh ingredients. It was not until the fourth aggravated letter from his wife that he relented, and Apparated home from Hogsmeade.

Snape pushed open the great oak door and deposited his trunk with a simpering house elf, who bowed and disappeared with a pop, his luggage going with it. He strode into the manor, tripping over what at first appeared to be many different dust bunnies, but upon closer inspection were identifiable as puffskeins, far more puffskeins than he remembered having seen when he left last September. He stepped over and around the rest of them, into the pandemonium that was the great hall.

A pale-faced girl of about thirteen with a hooked nose and black hair, tied into a pair of ridiculous buns on either side of her head, was charming a tiny replica of the Bulgarian Quidditch team to play a scrimmage match. Beside her a curly-haired boy was reading a book entitled Gana: La Historia de Manuel Sanchez y los Matadors de Madrid.

The girl looked up and flicked her wand, sending the Quidditch players towards Snape, the keeper mistaking his nostril for the hoop. She grinned at him, disentangling herself from a pile of packages as she stood.

"Mum'll want to know you're back," she said, directing the tiny Quaffle away from his face.

He glowered at her. "Put your toys away, Causica. Find your mother and let her know I'm home."

Causica stormed up the stairs, buns flopping wildly as she walked. The Bulgarians followed behind her, tinny shouts coming from the keeper. A few moments later, a dark-haired woman descended from the solar, a horde of House elves trailing behind her.

A puffskein rubbed up against Snape's leg; several of the animals had wandered into the hall and were sunning themselves on the dais under the family table. He nudged the puffskein with his boot and grimaced. The woman smiled at him, beaming.

"Severus! It seems that Stalin likes you!" She bent down and cuddled it, the belled sleeves of her long white robes trailing on the stone floor.

The boy put down his book and moved over to take the puffskein from his mother, and the animal lapped at his nose.

"Stalin, leave Dad alone," he admonished.

"Thank you, Octavian," Snape said dryly. He turned to his wife. "I am going to my rooms, Alexandra." He strode away without further comment.

"Welcome home, Severus!" she called after him, voice saturated with ironic good cheer.

~~~~~~~~~~

The infusion of meadow saffron, unicorn hair, and mandrake root turned the potion from sludgy brown to violet. He added the oleander at the last moment. He held the flower by the stem, submerging the bloom in the liquid. When it began to shimmer, he removed the white flower and disposed of it. Snape bottled the potion quickly and waved his wand at the workstation, banishing the poisonous plants to their proper shelves. He took a quill and scrawled on the bottle the words "Eye Restorer."

It was a difficult potion, dangerous because of the large chance for it to become toxic. Removed one second too late and the oleander would turn the substance into poison. He added the potion to the healing potions on the seventh year curriculum for the Gryffindor and Slytherin class and began to supplement his notes. The required textbook was useless, so he began to make copies of a page of Moste Potente Potions. While he was making the fifteenth copy, a popping noise distracted him.

"The mistress has announced dinner in the grand hall. It is being time for serving at six." The house elf stood between two clean cauldrons on Snape's desk, an expectant smile on its leathery face.

Snape tried to think of its name. "Boopy?"

The elf nodded happily, beaming. "Yes, Master?"

"Tell Alexandra that I will be there on time."

~~~~~~~~~~

When he entered the hall it was festooned in light blue Beauxbatons streamers. There were no puffskeins littering the floor, but Snape stepped across the wide room quickly, fearful that a fuzzy creature would wander across his path. Alexandra and Octavian stood on either side of his empty chair, and Causica was on Octavian's right.

They all were dressed in almost formal-looking robes. Alexandra wore white and dove gray, Octavian was in royal blue, and Causica's spring green robes didn't suit her in the least; they had a high ruffled neck that somehow made her nose look even bigger. Snape's own black robes reeked of oleander, as he had not taken the time to change.

His chair slid back for him as he neared the dais; he sat and clapped his hands once. Food appeared as his family seated themselves. Dishes of capons with herbs, a cominy, peas, loach in yellow sauce, and venison soup were spread across the wide mahogany table, and this was only the first course. Snape grimaced. It was going to be a long dinner.

Alexandra took a sip of her wine. "I'm glad you came home earlier this year, Severus, I was more than frantic with worry. The news from Hogwarts just kept becoming progressively worse! First Black had escaped from Azkaban, then he was at the school, and then at the end of the year, he mysteriously vanished with the aide of a werewolf! And to think you were working there... Severus, I was horrified."

"There is no need to worry. Black," he spat the name like a curse, "will be caught and killed, and the werewolf Lupin will not be returning to Hogwarts."

"To think that a Dark creature was teaching Defence," said Alexandra between spoonfuls of soup. "Such a thing would never have happened when we were in school."

"But isn't there a potion that makes them harmless?" Causica asked.

"How would you know?" her mother snapped. "With your Potions mark I'm surprised you can even differentiate a cauldron from a soup bowl." Alexandra looked at Snape meaningfully over her peas. "Your father is the Potions Master at Hogwarts and you might as well be at the bottom of your class at Beauxbatons. It's a disgrace!"

"I don't think 67 out of 200 is at the bottom," Causica said grumpily.

"It is merely mediocre," Snape cut in. "Perhaps simply using your head as more than a knob to hang hair on would improve your rank, but there is always the possibility that your mother overestimates you. Some people strive to understand Potions; others strive to be cognizant of them. I am unsure which you should set as your goal."

His daughter poked at her food with a fork and scowled.

"Mum," Octavian whined, "tell him about the World Cup."

"Oh! How could I forget?" She smiled at Octavian, then returned her attention to her husband. "Yes, Severus, my mother sent us wonderful tickets to the Quidditch World Cup."

"I'll remember to thank Lady Rosier for her generosity," Snape said dryly. "I hope you enjoy yourselves."

"Well, you're coming too, of course," she said. "After all, she sent us four tickets."

"I plan on remaining right here, Alexandra. I see quite my fill of Quidditch during school. Let Octavian take one of his friends; likely they will derive far more pleasure from it than I would."

The plates removed themselves from the table and the second course appeared. Snape stuffed his mouth full of roast beast, quelling further discussion.

~~~~~~~~~~

Snape recuperated from dinner with a pile of lesson plans that needed revision. The first years had been too chatty in groups, so he decided to assign partners to them from another House. He also cut down on group projects, adding to the early semesters more potions that could be done alone. Snape didn't think he could stand another year of the students' inane banter and utter lack of respect for Potions.

"Are you busy?" Alexandra's head appeared in the fireplace. Snape finished the sentence he was writing before he looked up and answered her.

"Not anymore," he said, shutting the thick portfolio of lesson plans. "I'll meet you in the parlour, as looking at your head in the fire is less than comfortable."

"I have a very pretty head, thank you," Alexandra said, pretending to be insulted. "But I'll just go to you, unless you have something hidden away up there that you don't want me to discover."

"What is so terribly wrong that you feel the sudden urge to converse?"

A letter appeared in front of Alexandra's face, sealed with two snakes intertwined around an M: the Malfoy crest. "This came today."

"Come here immediately," Snape said sharply, snatching his wand and casting a spell to let down the wards.

It only took her a few minutes to make her way to the room. She held the letter in one hand, a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey and two glasses were balanced in the other.

"Give me the letter," he said, impatient. Alexandra ignored him and sat down, pouring herself a glass of Firewhiskey and apparently feeling no pressing need to show him the missive.

Snape ground his teeth. "Libero!" The letter leapt out of the envelope and into his hand.

"Causica will not be able to pull this off!" Alexandra cried as he opened it. "She's going to fail the test and embarrass us both."

"Be silent till I've read the letter!" Snape snapped.

Mr. and Mrs. Snape:

Mr. Lucius Malfoy and Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy invite Miss Causica Snape to dine with them on the 31st of August in the gardens at Malfoy Manor.

Snape brandished the letter and glared at his wife. "This is hardly something to throw a fit about."

She took another drink of Firewhiskey. "It's the first test. They want to see her manners, her ability to make polite conversation, her pride. She isn't ready, she's too rebellious! What if she speaks in Russian the entire time?"

"You will instruct her on the proper etiquette, drill her on the importance of this meeting for her marriage, and try and foresee any problems that she may cause. It is your job to train her, Alexandra, so do it."

Alexandra wrung her hands. "It would be mortifying if she were not up to the contract's standard."

"What is mortifying is that you are guzzling Firewhiskey like a drunkard!" he snarled. "Now get Causica!"

Startled, Alexandra knocked over her glass and ran out of the room. A few moments, high-pitched shouts, and sounds of breaking glass later, Causica entered the room, followed by her mother.

"Well, she's here, now what do you want with her?" Alexandra asked Snape tersely.

Snape ignored her. "Read this letter, Causica," he said, handing it to her.

His daughter took it and read, then gave it back to him and played with the ribbon in her hair.

"You will behave when you go to Malfoy Manor," Snape instructed coldly. "You will display your charms and mask your faults. There will be no speaking in Russian, you will not refuse to eat meat, and no dramatics will be performed for the benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. You will under no circumstance cause them to reject you as their son's fiancée. Do you understand me?"

"Perfectly." Causica flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder. "Now that I've been briefed, I think I'm going to go sit in a corner and be seen and not heard."

"This is not a game, it is a contract, Causica!" Snape snarled. "Do not fool with me," he said, now deadly calm. "You will not like me when I am displeased."

"I'm not about to go give the Malfoys a reason to have a vendetta against me. I'll do what she wants." Causica gestured towards her mother. "It's cold in here. Can I go back to my room now?"

His daughter was wearing a nightdress, Snape realized. "If you didn't have on that ridiculous sheath it wouldn't be so cold. And yes, you may go. You may too, Alexandra."

"I'm ever so grateful for your permission," Alexandra said sardonically, ushering her daughter out the door. Her face softened, "Please don't treat our children like they're your students, Severus. They hardly ever get to see their father, and it just makes it worse if you're sniping at them every minute."

She left the room, closing the door gently behind her. Snape stared after her, then took the bottle of Firewhiskey and poured himself a glass.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Octavian, hola!"

"Hola Julio, que pasa?"

"Nada más, y tú?"

"Tengo mucho tarea para escuela, pero nada interestante."

Snape smiled humourlessly at the boys in the garden. The Quidditch World Cup was the next day, and Julio del Riohad arrived by Floo a few minutes ago, though it was only about five in the morning, and had burst upon Snape and Octavian while they were collecting herbs. Now Octavian had launched into rapid-fire Spanish and was ignoring his chores. Snape took another handful of asphodel and placed it in his basket.

"Conoces mi padre?" Octavian asked belatedly.

"No. Pero es el hombre con la hierba: mala hierba, no?" Julio replied.

Octavian nodded and turned to his father, reverting to English for the introductions. "Julio, this is my dad. Dad, this is Julio del Rio, he's coming with us to the World Cup."

"Hello, Mr. Snape. It's nice to meet you," Julio said, extending his hand.

Snape shook the boy's hand begrudgingly. "Yes, Mr. del Rio, it is a pleasure." He looked at Octavian. "The two of you may go off and do whatever it is that you enjoy doing, provided that it is not bothersome to either me or your mother--or- Causica," he added. "And stay away from the marigolds."

"Thanks!" Octavian grinned and ran off towards the manor.

Julio remained behind, a confused look on his face. "Marigolds?" he asked Snape.

"Julio, apúrate!" Octavian called from the doorway, and the boy caught up with him before Snape could issue another warning.

It was near seven in the morning when Snape came in from the garden. Alexandra was directing the house elves when he found her.

"You're to take the luggage to the field, but you're not to be seen. I'm Apparating in immediately, so I'll set up camp. You can go back to the manor once I'm there. Malsie, Finky, do you have that?"

The two house elves nodded and vanished with twin pops, the piles of luggage disappearing with them.

"Should I send in the children?" Snape asked mildly.

Alexandra spun around and smiled. She looked funny in the light blue sundress and Roman sandals she wore, but they had been instructed to wear Muggle clothing, and so she complied. "Just send Octavian and Julio into the great hall. Causica's waiting for them there already; she has the portkey I made. It's timed to leave later than Ministry ones." She was obviously proud that she had charmed the portkey herself, as it was a difficult spell and Snape recalled that she had not excelled in her Charms classes at Hogwarts.

"I'll get them," Snape promised.

"Thank you. Goodbye, Severus!" Alexandra Apparated away with a wave and a pop.

In the hall, Causica was playing with her miniature Bulgarian Quidditch tam. She sat at the table directing the snitch, giggling as she watched the seeker perform unlikely aerial feats in his attempts to grab it.

"Magic is restricted for underage wizards, you know."

She looked up, surprised, and the seeker clasped the snitch in his tiny fist and did a victory dance astride his broom.

"We have wards," his daughter pointed out.

It was not worth it to continue, so Snape changed the subject. "I'm going to send in your brother and Julio. It's almost time to go,"

"I don't have to pay for the campsite, do I?" Causica whined.

"Don't whine, and yes. Do you have the money?"

She sighed. "Yes, Dad." A wad of paper money was waved in his face. "Exact cost, no change. Do I look like a Muggle?" She gestured to her blue jeans and Bulgarian flag tee-shirt.

"Disgustingly accurate. I'm getting your brother," Snape said as he made his way to the first garden, from which shouts seemed to be emanating.

"Quita lo!" Julio screamed, jumping up and down frantically. A huge snaking vine had wrapped around his torso and was squeezing him slowly.

"Be still you stupid boy!" Snape yelled, rushing forward. "Stupefy!" The vine dropped and Julio leaped out of its grasp. Snape turned on him, eyes gleaming with rage. "Why are you playing in the marigolds? I specifically told you not to, and I meant it! Octavian, you of all people ought to know better! What were you thinking? Why did you let him get anywhere near the marigolds?"

Octavian, who previously had been yelling at the other boy, did not answer, and his father noted that he did not seem to have his wand.

"You're not mute, boy! What were you doing here?"

"Quidditch, we were playing Quidditch," Octavian blurted out, uneasy beneath his father's furious stare. "And the Quaffle, it fell into the marigolds, and Julio went to get it before I could stop him!"

Snape glared at him. "Get into the house. You'll be leaving soon. Expect to be punished when you return. And you!" Snape turned to Julio. "Next time you're here, listen!"

The two boys slumped away, shoulders hunched and hands shoved into the pockets of their Muggle jeans. Snape bent down to recast the illusion on his Man-Eating Tentacula. After a moment, the writhing vines turned back in a bed of placid orange marigolds. The Quaffle was nowhere to be seen.

~~~~~~~~~~

Acris, Alexandra's horned owl, swooped by and dropped the early edition of the Daily Prophet into his eggs. He scowled and fished the paper out of his plate, performed a banishing charm on the runny yoke and promptly dropped the paper back onto his plate in shock. The headline on the front page read, in large, flashing caps, DEATH EATERS ATTACK QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP.

Snape picked the greasy paper back up and pushed his eggs to the side, tossing a strip of bacon to Acris before reading the article. Poorly written and full of bombast, all he could glean from the four pages (with photographs) was that a group of Death Eaters had tortured the Muggles operating the campground where attendees at the World Cup were staying. Phrases like "unknown death count" and "horrible shock to the wizarding world" were not encouraging.

So the Death Eaters were back. This was most assuredly a disturbing turn of events that would likely have many, many consequences for him and... his fingers clenched around the paper. Alexandra. They were at the World Cup. Unknown death count...

"Acris!" he called, hastily scribbling a note to Dumbledore on a napkin and attaching it to the bird's leg. "Bring this to Dumbledore." The bird looked indignant as it flew out the westward window and towards Hogwarts.

Snape shoved his chair away from the table abruptly and stood. He walked quickly up to his lab, snatching various ingredients from his stores and adding them with shaking hands to a Shrinking Solution, one that he could not foul up if he tried. God knew he needed the mindlessness of monotony to keep his mind off of the possibilities for what had happened.

He was done the fourth bottle of the solution when he heard the doors opening below. For a moment he wanted to leave the laboratory a mess, but instinct forced him to put away the bottles of finished potions, and re-shelve the ingredients before he could venture into the hall.

Alexandra had become cross with Finky, and was yelling at an entourage of house elves to put the camping equipment away. Her hair was in a utilitarian braid, there were no cosmetic spells on her face, and she looked wan. Julio and Octavian were whispering animatedly in Spanish and Causica looked sullen. He suddenly doubted the Prophet's accuracy.

"Severus!" Alexandra cried and launched herself at him, burying her face in his shoulder.

Snape hugged her back awkwardly.

"Death Eaters at the World Cup?" he whispered in her ear.

"Yes." She stepped back and ran a hand through her hair, tangling it in the base of the braid. "I didn't see much; we were on the other side of the campground. But the Dark Mark appeared in the forest, and then the Ministry began sending out wizards to deal with it and they told me to stay inside. Marianne Fletcher was quite rude about it, actually."

A soft giggle caught his ears and Snape rounded on the children, glaring at Julio and Octavian. "Speak English! Just because he's taught you Spanish doesn't mean you can conspire in it. Entertaining as your tittering undoubtedly is, I need you to tell me what you saw last night."

Julio looked at Snape rather contemptuously, as if saying, "We handle our evil overlords in Spain so much better than you do." Then he shrugged. "After the game we went back to the tent, and Causica decided to try and find the Bulgarian Seeker, Krum." At this Causica flushed pink and studied the cuffs of her jeans very intently. "We followed her. Then..."

"I do not need a forty minute rendition of your weekend, Julio!" Snape snapped. "Octavian! Tell me what happened last night."

"We were playing Exploding Snap when we heard screaming and all sorts of bangs from outside." The boy stared at the wall behind his father's head. "Mum went out to look and saw some Muggles floating in the air far away. She came back inside and told us to go to bed. We didn't want to, but she threatened to turn us into puffskeins and breed us with Stalin and Mussolini. Then when she went out again later and started to--to scream..." he trailed off, still staring at the wall. His face was pale beneath his dark hair, and his hands were clenched tight at his sides.

"She was screaming and screaming," he said softly. "We ran outside to see what was the matter, and there was this huge green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth just floating over the woods on the other side of the camp. Then Mrs. Fletcher came and told us to go back into our tent... we had to give mum Pepper-Up and a Cheering Charm before she would calm down..."

"Is this what happened?" Snape asked quietly, glancing to where Alexandra stood, not looking directly at any of them.

Julio and Causica, who had been unnaturally silent, nodded.

"I want Mr. del Rio to go home tomorrow," Snape said. "His parents are likely to be worried." He made worried sound like an insult. "I'm returning directly to Hogwarts. Have Boopy send my trunk."

"Go have the house elves get you some food," Alexandra told the children. When they had left, she turned to her husband. "Severus, please--must you go?" She clung to him. "If the Dark Lord's come back--"

"The Dark Lord has not come back!" Snape growled, more harshly than he'd meant to. Alexandra stepped back, shaken, and Snape mentally cursed himself.

"I would know, Alexandra, remember?" he said, trying to be soothing. "You have nothing to be afraid of. When he was in power, was it so bad?"

"My brother died, Severus! I don't want the same thing to happen to you!"

The words he spoke were true, but that did not dismiss their callousness. "Evan died for what he believed in. It is better that he's dead than rotting away in Azkaban." Like the Lestranges are, and Black should be, were the unspoken additions. Bellatrix Lestrange (formerly Black) had been in Snape's year, Rudolphus two years above, and while he could not admit to actively regretting their imprisonment, he could not help but feel sympathy for them.

"That horrible place," Alexandra breathed, echoing her husband's thoughts. "You're right about Evan, but I'd rather you remained safe and alive!"

"You've made that quite clear," Snape said dryly.

"The Dark Lord is not returned, you said so yourself," her eyes strayed to his left forearm, "so promise me you won't be caught with them?"

"I have spent almost thirteen years studiously ignoring my former colleagues, and we all tried the best we could to slither back into respectable lives." Snape said. "Do you think now, when my position would be placed in jeopardy, that I would strike up fresh associations with any of the less savoury Death Eaters?"

"Malfoy was there, I know..."

"We will continue our affairs with the Malfoys! They are of the best wizarding blood; Fudge loves them!" He paused. "You have nothing to fear from Lucius Malfoy."

Alexandra's lip twitched into a smirk. "Nonetheless, Lucius Malfoy is not synonymous with anything approaching the kinder sort of noun. But you are right; we cannot avoid the Malfoys without incurring too much suspicion than can possibly be safe."

"Yes. Now, I have already sent Acris to Hogwarts," Snape said. "It's time for me to go."

"Don't go."

Alexandra hugged him tightly, pressing her lips against his neck. Her husband did not respond, and she stood on tiptoe to kiss his lips. Surprised, Snape did not react for a moment, then kissed her back. They stood, kissing in the hallway in a way that would have given their children nightmares for weeks, till Snape broke off the kiss abruptly.

"Alexandra, what are you doing?"

She continued to hold into him, her arms circling his waist. "I just miss you. Is that a crime?"

"I have other obligations."

"Are they more important than your obligations to your wife?"

"Yes," he said softly, stepping back, out of her arms. "I'm leaving now, Alexandra. I will try to be back for Christmas."

"But you won't," she said sadly. "You always try, but you've always something pressing keeping you at Hogwarts." Alexandra shook her head, turning away in disgust. "What will it be this year? Giants attacking? We've already been through werewolves, escaped convicts, rampaging Heirs of Slytherin, the Philosopher's Stone, and that psychotic Professor Quirrell!" She ticked them off on her fingers as she went along. "What excuse will you come up with this time? Sometimes I think you and Hera Sinistra have something going on!" she challenged angrily. "Else you wouldn't be so eager to stay away!"

Snape grabbed her wrists roughly and pulled her towards him. "Don't you ever dare insinuate against my faithfulness again!" he hissed. "You know that if I could be here I would, that I would like nothing more than getting out of that haven for snivelling brats!"

"Severus, please!" She tried to push away.

"Listen closely to me, Alexandra! I am not and have never been anything but faithful to you in all the time we've been married! Do I make insinuations about your faithfulness? Surely you have ample enough time for philandering during the school year, with both children at school and your husband away! But I do not make accusations such as the ones you have made." He glared at her and hissed, "Do not be a hypocrite."

He pushed her away and Alexandra stumbled back, rubbing her wrists. Her blue eyes threatened to let their tears spill over, and Snape saw his wife to be so much more vulnerable than she had appeared a few moments before. He pushed her away and Alexandra stumbled back, rubbing her wrists. Her blue eyes threatened to let their tears spill over, and Snape saw his wife to be so much more vulnerable than she had appeared a few moments before. "Don't snivel!" he said, but what was meant as a shout came out as a murmur.

His wife let out a choked sound that he supposed was a repressed sob. He looked at her for a moment and then reached out and touched her shoulder; she grasped onto him, burrowing her face in his robes and hugging him tightly.

For a moment longer he held her, then pushed her gently back. "Forgive me, Alexandra."

"Mm-hmm." She nodded, sniffing, and, childishly, rubbed at her nose with the back of her hand. "I do. You know I do. I'm just afraid for you, and I do miss you when you're gone..."

It would have been so easy to stay, and yet at the same time part of him yearned to go back to Hogwarts. "I'll be back for Christmas, a day or two before the sixth of January," he promised at length.

"Just a few days is more than in the past," she said. Then she stood taller, and straightened out her robes. "I suppose you do need to be getting on your way." Alexandra's voice shook slightly, concealing tears that Snape knew would likely be shed that night into a glass of Firewhiskey. "Boopy!"

The house elf appeared with its signature pop.

"Bring Master's trunk down. If there's anything that needs to be packed, see that it's done."

"Boopy knows what to do!" he nodded exuberantly, and disappeared. Within a minute he was back, the trunk with him.

"Thank you, Boopy," Snape said, taking the trunk. "Goodbye, Alexandra."

Alexandra sniffled. "Goodbye, Severus." Then, with a much-practiced smile of carefree mirth, "Have a good school year."

"Oh, without a doubt," he replied. And then he Disapparated.