Mist and Vapors

Once the torture of Christmas was over, Severus breathed a sigh of relief. And found himself looking around the room when he entered the Hall at mealtimes. He did not, after all, know when she would come back.

It had come as a bit of a surprise to him how much he actually noticed her absence. So when he came up for breakfast two days later and saw her sitting at the table in animated conversation with Flitwick, the unbidden smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth didn't surprise him as much as it otherwise might have. After schooling his face back into its usual impassive expression, he greeted them with a nod and sat down.

Hannah smiled warmly as their eyes met. "Severus! How was Christmas?"

He just snorted. "And yours?"

"Wonderful! I never got to spend much time with my aunt, so it was great getting to know her better. And Tom, her husband, of course."

"Your mother's sister, I presume?"

She nodded. "Yes. But Aunt Karen's much younger than my mum; only three years older than I am. It almost feels strange calling her 'aunt'. They're expecting their first baby this summer."

Snape's nose wrinkled in distaste. "How terrific for them."

Hannah laughed. "Honestly, Severus, I have no idea why you are a teacher, as much as you love kids." She winked at him. "So, how are your crups?"

"I'll know in a day or two. So far, so good. They are still in the incubation period at the moment. I'm going to check on them after breakfast."

"Would you mind if I came along?"

He looked at her doubtfully. "There is very little of interest to observe at the moment."

"Well, if I get bored spitless, I can always go back to the castle, can't I? - Coffee?"

.-.-.-.

As the two left after breakfast half an hour later, Albus Dumbledore slid into the now-empty seat next to Flitwick.

"Those two seem to get along surprisingly well."

"They do, don't they?"

"Remus told me that Severus came to see him with Hannah when he was ill."

Flitwick nodded with a grin. "Interesting, isn't it?"

"So it seems things are going well."

"This is Severus Snape we're talking about. Things could go to hell in a handbasket before you can say 'bubotuber'." Flitwick ruefully shook his head.

"True, true. - But she likes him, doesn't she?"

"Oh yes." Flitwick grinned.

"Anything more than that?"

"Maybe." He cast a shrewd look up at the Headmaster.

"So, does he know?"

"I don't think so."

"It would be nice, wouldn't it? For both of them?"

"I quite agree..."

Two pairs of old blue eyes twinkled in unison.

.-.-.-.

Meanwhile, Severus and Hannah were met at the back gate by Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts' game keeper. He looked flustered when he saw that someone was with the Potions master.

"Beg yer pardon, ma'am. If I'd known yeh'd be along, I'd not 'ave bothered comin'. Professor Snape's not s'posed to be out on 'is own. Dumbledore's orders."

Looking up at the half-giant distastefully, Snape just motioned him on. "Let's just go, shall we?"

The gamekeeper swung his wooden leg - courtesy of a nasty spell during the last battle - around and headed back towards the bestiary. Hannah and Snape followed close behind.

He left them before a low, wooden building, barely more than a shack, which Hannah hadn't noticed before.

"Well, I'll leave yeh 'ere. If yeh need ter find me, yeh know where I'll be, Professor." He nodded at Hannah. "Good day, ma'am."

Before they entered the building, Snape pulled out his wand. "If you will permit me?"

"Permit what?" Hannah asked, looking a bit apprehensive.

"The Aeroscindus Charm. A distant relative of the Bubble-Head Charm, except that we will not look like complete idiots," he answered dryly. "I hope I do not need to remind you that dragon pox is extremely contagious. The charm will only last about an hour and a half, but we should be quite done by then."

"Be my guest."

A few muttered words, and Hannah felt a sudden coolness around her head. At the same time the ambient noise level dropped down several notches. When she reached up with her hand, it felt like touching an invisible, rubbery membrane, giving slightly to pressure.

"Isn't that a clever little charm?" she said admiringly. Snape scowled.

"Shall we go in then?"

When they entered, Hannah saw two large pens, each containing an even dozen crups in individual runs. Each animal was marked with a different colored tag on the ear.

Snape nodded towards the ones on the left. "Those have already been medicated with the potion. The other ones have been exposed to the infectious agent, and will be dosed as soon as first symptoms of the disease occur."

Hannah looked at the small dog-like creatures, all of which were yapping and jumping as close to the partition that separated them from the humans as they could, furiously wagging their bifurcated tails. "Can I pet them?" she asked timidly.

Severus looked at her with amused exasperation. "If you must. Just be sure to wash your hands well afterwards."

Leaning over the top of the panel, Hannah scratched one of the white and tan animals behind the floppy ears. "Aren't you the cutest thing?" She reached down, and scooped it up. "Look at him. Doesn't he have the cutest little face? I love that patch around the eye. How old are they? They don't look fully grown yet."

Severus meanwhile had walked over and unlocked a wooden cabinet against the back wall. Opening a large ledger, he looked down, then up.

"They are four months old at the present. And that one is, in fact, a female."

"What's her name?"

Severus looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "She is Group A, Number 7."

With a laugh, Hannah put the crup back in her pen. "So, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well, if you wish to make yourself useful you could write down the results of my examination." He handed her the ledger and a quill, and entered the first pen. "Group A, Number 1. Oral mucosa normal, sub-mandibular lymph node on the right slightly enlarged, no evidence of nausea, no evidence of lethargy, muscular coordination good, no evidence of erythema..."

By the time he got through examining the last crup, Hannah was starting to look slightly cross-eyed. Severus allowed himself a hidden grin. It wasn't as if he hadn't warned her.

She closed the ledger with a snap. "Well, that was terribly interesting, but I think I have had enough for today. Are you finished?"

He shook his head. "Not quite yet."

"I'll see you later then. How about coming up this evening for a glass of wine? You can bring a book if you want to. I just feel like being lazy. If you have time, of course."

"We'll see."

.-.-.-

He later was never quite sure why it had been so easy to slip into the habit of going up to her quarters for an hour or two, for a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Maybe it was because there was so little that was required of him. There was no need to keep up a constant stream of conversation - if they ran out of things to say, she would just get out her knitting or he would get out his book, and it was all right. After a few times, she told him to consider the invitation implied - just come.
"...As long as you don't get offended if I tell you to sod off if I am in the middle of something," she had added with a laugh. And a few times, she did just that. More often, she would just pour him a drink and tell him to make himself at home, and then join him in front of the fire when she was done with her work. Some days, Flitwick would show up as well, and on those days, the conversation and the wine would flow until late at night. Over all, it was quite a satisfactory arrangement. He tried to be careful about not being seen in public with her too often, but it wasn't too long until he found out that what he considered his private life was not as private as he had thought.

.-.-.-

One afternoon just before the start of the new term, Severus was on his way to McGonagall's office to pick up the new roll call sheets when Stella Sinistra, the Astronomy mistress, fell into step with him, apparently on a similar quest.

"Well, are you ready for all our darling pupils to return, Snape?" she asked with a wicked grin.

He just cast a frosty glare at the only other Slytherin on staff. There was no need to answer what had clearly been a rhetorical question.

"Severus, by the way..."

"What?"

"I've been meaning to ask... Well, it seems I've seen you with our Composition mistress off and on lately?"

"I fail to see how that is any of your concern."

"She is Frank Hannigan's daughter. And if I remember correctly, at the beginning of the year you were every bit as put off by the idea of having the daughter of... that man around as I was."

"She is not a danger to the school."

"Really? And you know that how?"

"That is between me and her. Suffice it to say that I am satisfied on that account."

"So you trust her?"

"Yes. I do," he answered with a half-smile, recognizing the words as truth even as he spoke them.

Sinistra sighed. "Well, if you say so...I suppose I shall have to take your word for it." She looked up at him with a sly grin. "So are you and she...well, you know...?"

The stare Severus gave her had gone from merely frosty to positively glacial. "Let me reiterate. This is absolute none of your concern whatsoever."

Just at that moment they arrived at McGonagall's office, which effectively ended the conversation. Thank heavens for small blessings.

After Sinistra had left with her paperwork, Severus stalled for a minute or two to make sure that the meddlesome witch was good and gone. McGonagall looked at him over the top of her square glasses.

"Is there anything else you wanted, Severus? "

"Nothing in particular."

"How are things going? Hear any more from Pettigrew?"

"Nothing at all."

She nodded, satisfied. "Oh, by the way, you have a big birthday coming up, aren't you? Do you have any plans?"

Snape looked at her through narrowed eyes. "I plan to ignore it. And I strongly suggest that everyone else follow the same course of action." With that, he scooped up his paperwork and swept out of the room.

If he had turned around in the doorway and seen the smirk on McGonagall's face, he might have been worried. But of course, he didn't...

.-.-.-.

January 9th, a Sunday, and Professor McGonagall had fire-called Hannah in the morning. "It's Severus' birthday today. His fortieth. We are going to have a surprise party for him in the Headmaster's study this afternoon. Be there at 3:45. Don't be late. The password's Curly Wurly."

Hannah snorted - well, how nice of them to give her so much advance warning. And a surprise party? For Severus? Why did that sound like such a terrible idea? She sighed. It is the thought that counts, she reminded herself.

So at a quarter till four she stood in front of the gargoyle, recited the password, and let the moving stairs carry her up. As she arrived, Dumbledore greeted her by handing her a blowout noisemaker, his eyes crinkling. "I told him to come up for a meeting regarding the misconduct of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Just line up over there - I've raised a concealment charm; he won't be able to see anyone until I lower it."

As she walked over, the air seemed to shimmer and waver for a moment, and then she could see her colleagues lined up against the curved wall. After politely greeting everyone, she stood next to Remus Lupin, who was clutching a noisemaker identical to her own. "Does this sound like a good idea to you?" she asked him in a whisper.

Remus just shook his head. "He is going to absolutely hate this," he whispered back with a chuckle.

Almost everyone was there already. The last two still missing - Professors Vector and Trelawney - showed up within the next couple of minutes, and then there was quiet, only occasionally interrupted by a muttered question or suppressed giggle.

At precisely four o'clock, there was a knock on the door. The room grew quiet as the proverbial church mouse. The headmaster walked over and opened the door. "Ah - Severus, there you are. Come on in, come on in."

The head of Slytherin house stopped right inside the door. His black eyes were glittering dangerously, and his face was set in stony lines that would have made lesser men quiver. "I will have you know that these allegations are absolute rubbish. I have attended every game and practice, and there has been absolutely nothing that..."

"We will get to that. Have a seat, will you?"

"I prefer to stand."

"Severus, have a seat." The tone of Dumbledore's voice left no doubt that this was an order.

Resentfully, the Potions master sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Now, if you would..."

"Just a second." He locked the door. "It's just that I have a little - Surprise!" He lowered the concealment charms, and immediately loud shouts of "Surprise" and "Happy Birthday, old chap" filled the room, while the noisemakers went off in a wide variety of jungle animal sounds. In a moment, Snape was surrounded by people shaking hands, clapping him on the back, and repeating birthday wishes, while the clouds of pink and purple glitter that had spewed from the noisemakers settled on his hair and shoulders. While Dumbledore beamed, Snape looked like he had developed a sudden, excruciating toothache. Hannah's heart clenched in sympathy - but gads, the look on his face...the corners of her mouth started to twitch treacherously.

At that point, Dumbledore clapped his hands, and a table loaded with assorted cakes, desserts, and punch appeared. "Let's first sing 'Happy Birthday' to our dear Severus, and then - let's celebrate!" As he started to sing off-key, a host of fairies appeared, arranged themselves to spell out '40' in two-foot tall numbers near the ceiling, and began sprinkling confetti over the assembled crowd. Hannah barely managed to suppress a grin - she was almost certain that this was Flitwick's contribution to the party. Fairies were his decorating specialty.

As attention shifted from Snape to the food, and people started to fill their plates and disburse into small groups, she walked over to him. She gently squeezed his upper arm in sympathy. "I am so sorry," she whispered. And then spoiled the whole effect by starting to giggle as she reached up and brushed pink sparkles off his shoulders. "Happy birthday, Severus."

He shot her an Icy Glare of Death, which only made her giggle more.

At that moment, Dumbledore clapped his hands again. "Let's open presents, shall we?"

Hannah stepped back, and Severus, his facial expression vacillating between rigid blandness and a grimacing smile that looked like it was starting to hurt, began unwrapping the presents, which, as he would have expected, mostly came from Flourish and Blotts. Besides the assorted books, there was a bottle of wine from Remus Lupin, a serpent-shaped paper weight from Minerva McGonagall, something from Argus Filch that Severus hastily stuck in a pocket without letting anyone see, home-made fudge of a dubious color from Hagrid, and finally, a pair of thick woolen socks in a violent shade of green from Albus Dumbledore.

When soon thereafter Sibyll Trelawney descended on him, informing him that she had brought her tarot cards and would be more than happy to do a birthday reading for her dear Severus, so as to inquire of the Fates what cards Destiny held for her dear Severus this coming year, he shot a venomous look at Hannah that could not have said 'help me, and be quick about it' any clearer if he had spelled it out in fairies on the ceiling. She moved over next to him, and cleared her throat.

"Dear Professor Trelawney, I am so sorry, but I will have to abscond with Professor Snape for just a minute. I'm afraid I have something to discuss with him that just can't wait. You will forgive me, won't you?"

Trelawney looked at her through her overly-large spectacles, tossed back her head and with a humph and a clinkety-clank of bangles twirled around and flitted off in Remus Lupin's direction.

Grabbing Hannah by the upper arm, Severus dragged her over towards Dumbledore.

"Don't say a word, or you'll be sorry," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Since you didn't have the decency to warn me, you can at least help me get out of here."

He straightened up to his full height as they approached the old wizard.

"Headmaster, as much as I... enjoyed this, I'm afraid I will have to leave now. Before the... lovely surprise, Miss Hannigan and I had made plans to mark essays, and since it is imperative to have them back to the students tomorrow, I am afraid we will have to go and leave everyone else to enjoy themselves without us."

When Dumbledore looked questioningly at her, Hannah did her best to just nod her head and look as innocent as possible. "I am afraid so," she said.

The Headmaster's face showed disappointment, and he opened his mouth - and then closed it again. Looking from one to the other, his eyes began to twinkle. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. You two youngsters go and have fun."

It may have been a sign of Severus' desperation that he didn't even bother with a retort, but simply nodded, grabbed her by the arm again, and steered her out the door.