For Our Parents Willed So

For Our Parents Willed So

*

Last-Minute Shopping

*

"Where do you want to go next?" asked James, turning towards Severus.

"Doesn't matter, really," his fiancé replied calmly. "I only have to visit Flourish & Blotts, Honeydukes, and the Apothecary."

"Couldn't have guessed," said James dryly. "Although I am a bit surprised that you want to buy sweets," he then added teasingly, a broad grin on his face.

"I thought it would be civil to buy something for Pettigrew," said Severus, "and I couldn't think of anything else but sweets." Then he huffed, "Besides, for your information, I actually do eat sweets at times, especially dark chocolate. I'm not as sour as you maybe think."

"Of course not," laughed the bespectacled boy, taking the Slytherin's hand gently into his own. "I was just teasing, Severus. Take it easy."

They'd arrived to the Diagon Alley that morning with James's parents for some last-minute shopping. After getting money from Gringrotts, they'd agreed to meet Luke and Cedric at the Leaky Cauldron after two hours. They'd already visited Quality Quidditch Supplies (of course, it'd been originally James's idea to go there) to buy presents to Remus and Sirius. Or, rather, James had bought to both other Quidditch players in their group of friends, while Severus had only purchased something for Sirius, saying he had something else in his mind for the werewolf. Of course, James had reminded him that he should not buy Remus a muzzle or a collar and a leash. And, of course, Severus had just smirked and thanked him for the good idea.

Therefore, when Severus soon wanted to visit the Magical Menagerie, alone, James got very worried. As Severus assured him that he hadn't bought anything for the werewolf, he thought for a moment that he should question his fiancé more about the topic, but then decided to let it be. It wouldn't be his fault if Remus sent a Howler or something even nastier to Severus.

Suddenly, Severus seemed to have heard something, as he stood on his footsteps and turned around. Seconds later James found himself hoping that he'd had time to reflect the Slytherin's actions, since he was lost in a whirl of arms, black hair, and giggles obviously belonging to his best friend.

"Sirius," he breathed as soon as he'd again achieved his balance after the surprise attack. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Greeting you properly," the other boy said with a goofy grin. "Snape! Should have known you'd cling to him even over the holidays."

"Black," said Severus, sounding actually happy about the Black Beater's sudden arrival. "Now, help me get around so I can buy something for this insufferable git without him clinging on my arm all the time."

"Oh, no, don't bother thanking me for my help," mumbled James. Then he flashed a broad grin to Sirius. "Be ware, though," he said jokingly. "I'm sure he's already bought at least one muzzle."

"Very funny, Jamie," huffed the Slytherin. "Seems that you can forget it, Black. I'm not buying anything for the brat."

Sirius, however, merely laughed. "Come on, Snape," he said, offering his arm to the Slytherin with ease. "He'll never leave you in peace if you do that. And I have to still buy his present, anyway."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" asked James then curiously. "I thought you went to the Malfoys?"

"You didn't know?" asked Sirius, sounding genuinely surprised. "Yeah, I'm spending most of the holidays with them - my Father would find out if I did otherwise. But, as I owled your parents, I'll stay with you until two days after Christmas."

"Really?" exclaimed James, excited. "That's wonderful! Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Because I didn't know until last evening," laughed his best friend in response. "It was Lucius's idea, he thought I'd prefer being with you to wasting my Christmas with him and his mother. Although I'm now beginning to regret it," he said in mock-disappointment, shooting a glance at Severus, who merely smirked at his words even though did not see the gaze.

It wasn't seemingly until now that he noticed - or registered - the change from Severus's previously black eyes to his now almost colourless orbs. Drawing a sharp breath, he gasped, "What the fuck happened to your eyes, Snape?"

"Thank my Father for it," Severus replied dryly. "He obviously decided that I'd lived too many years almost blind and finished his work at last."

Sirius's jaw dropped. Then he said, "You know, sometimes I think my parents are the worsts on the whole Earth. Then you say something like that and I thank Merlin for my loving and well-treating family."

"Don't make me laugh," the Slytherin merely snorted. Tugging the arm he'd laid his own arm on, he then asked, "Now, when will we go?"

Taking this as a sign to drop the topic, Sirius simply shook his head slowly. Then he flashed his most charming smile - which, of course, went completely on waste on the blind boy. "Sirry on your service, Misters Snape," he said in a high-pitched house-elf imitation. "Sirry shows you around the Alley, Misters Snape?"

James shook his head in half amusement, half disbelief as he watched the two of his closest people, his best friend and newly-found lover, walk away bickering and laughing. If he ever got to know what exactly went on with those two, he'd be ready to believe that Dumbledore used to be a porn star in his youth.

...Not that he wasn't ready to believe anything about their Headmaster, anyway.

*

"So it's 'Jamie' now, eh?" asked Sirius teasingly as soon as they were out of hearing. "Is there something I should know of?"

"Well, I and James have slipped from friends to further," said Severus with a dry tone. "Is that what you meant?"

"Excellent!" exclaimed the Animagus. "I'm so proud of you, Severus. You've finally come over your fears! Although I don't really know whether I should be glad about you getting together at last or afraid of the apocalypse. After all, if you and James are actually getting along in bed as well, then the world must be coming to its end." Ignoring the irritated huff from his friend, he then continued, "Now, tell me, did you really buy a muzzle?"

"Nah." Severus put his hand into the pocket of his robe, and then drew something out of it, showing it to him. "Instead, I bought this."

"A collar and a leash?" laughed Sirius. "I swear, Severus, only you could do that! Are they for me or for Moony?"

"Neither," replied the Slytherin with a smirk. "They're for Pettigrew, actually."

This time, Sirius almost doubled over laughing. At last, he got over the fit, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes with his free hand. "Have you been studying, by the way?" he asked with a grin. "And where are we going to, anyway?"

"Yes, I've indeed been studying," smiled the Slytherin. "Lupin would surely get my hide if I didn't study. And as for your other question, well, I was thinking about going to Eeylop's Owl Emporium. I spoke with Cedric, and he told me that James most probably would want an owl."

"And even if he doesn't, everybody else wants him to get one," murmured Sirius in slight amusement. "When he's not borrowing Cassidy from Remus and Pete, he's begging Lily to let him use Hercules. It's getting rather annoying. I can't understand why he doesn't use the school owls."

"Too much trouble, I'm sure," chuckled Severus. "Because Cassidy is black and Hercules is brown, at least from what I've heard, I'd like to give him a snowy owl."

"An excellent idea," said Sirius with a grin. "Hey, stop! We are there." He led his blind friend into the shop. Fluttering of winds and soft hoots echoed in the deep darkness of the owl store.

"Can I help you, young men?" asked suddenly a voice right from his shoulder. There was the shopkeeper, a tiny wizard much resembling Professor Flitwick.

Sirius was startled, but Severus did not seem so. Instead, he just said, "I'd like to buy a snowy owl for my friend."

"I see. A Christmas present, or is it not?" the wizard said with his sharp voice. Even in the darkness of the shop Sirius saw his colourless, misty eyes. A glance to his other side showed him the similar ones of Severus. It was quite obvious that the shopkeeper was just as blind as his friend.

"It is," replied Severus curtly. "So could you take us to the snowy owls?"

"Most certainly, my boy, most certainly," the wizard chuckled, then started to move about the dark shop with the experience of decades. Sirius led Severus after him even deeper into the dark shop.

"Now, we're there," the wizard said at last, stopping in front of a large shelf full of cages. "If you want, I can send the owl to the recipient tomorrow morning, and give you the cage to wrap into the packet."

"That sounds fine," said the Slytherin. "Could we maybe see them?" Sirius didn't miss the sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Most certainly, my boy," the shopkeeper said again. A quickly whispered, "Lumos," brought the white owls for Sirius to see. "Here they are," the wizard said. "Would your seeing friend now want to choose the owl you want to buy?"

Now, Sirius couldn't stay quiet any longer. "How did you know?" he blurted out.

The shopkeeper just let out a weird chuckle. "I may be blind, but I am not stupid," he said amusedly. "And most certainly I am not deaf. Your steps faltered in the darkness like most people's, while your companion walked as swiftly as I do."

"Now, just pick the owl," Severus said, sounding frustrated. "I still have presents to buy, we don't have time for dilly-dallying."

"Fine..." Sirius looked at the owls for some time. Then he made his pick. "That one, second from left on the top shelf," he said. "She resembles my great-aunt Hedwig."

"Hedwig, eh?" chuckled Severus. "Maybe her name should be that." Turning to the general direction of the shopkeeper, he asked, "Can you send her to the Potter Place tomorrow morning?"

"Of course, my boy, of course. What message shall I attach to her leg?"

"Make it read, 'Miss Hedwig brings the most Merry Christmas greetings from Messier Batty to Messier Prongs," suggested Sirius with a broad grin. He chose to ignore the look Severus sent to his direction, which was rather threatening despite his blindness.

"That'll be good, actually," said the Slytherin after a moment of thinking. "Except that make it 'Severus' instead of 'Batty.'"

"Why won't you be Batty?" asked Sirius, pouting childishly. "That'd be such a fine name for you!"

"I'm not one of your insufferable friends, Black," Severus huffed. "I'm not a Marauder - I'm not even an Animagus, am I?"

"Not yet!" Sirius said with a suggestive tone.

"Will you just bloody let it drop?" asked the Slytherin sharply, frowning. Then he said to the shopkeeper, "I'll take her. How much is she?"

The shopkeeper told him the price, and Severus paid him. Then they took the offered cage and shrunk it so Severus could carry it around in his pocket without James seeing it. "So, where now?" Sirius asked then, as they were again out in the sunlight.

"Flourish and Blotts," replied Severus. "I've ordered some books that should be there by now; they'll make a fine present for Lupin."

"Remus," corrected Sirius automatically, starting to lead their way to the right direction. "When are you going to let it to James that you're friends with me?"

"I think he suspects something already," the Slytherin said, shrugging in perfect seriousness. "I've been thinking about giving him a heart attack for a Christmas present."

"You'd better be kidding," chuckled Sirius. Their chatter continued this way until Sirius finally stopped in front of the bookshop. "Okay, we are there," he said, then led Severus into the shop.

"Ah, Mister Snape," the shopkeeper said as soon as they stepped into the store. "Came to pick your order, right?"

"Absolutely right," replied Severus calmly. "Now, may I have them?"

Without further ado the shopkeeper shoved him a small stack of books and told the price. Severus paid him - Sirius could only wonder how well he seemed to recognize the coins by their size only - and then shrank the books, too.

Sirius, who hadn't caught a glimpse of the books, was of course curious. "What were they?" he asked, unable to hold back the question.

"A book of wizarding family traditions for Evans, and Muggle horror books about werewolves," the Slytherin replied levelly. "I think Lupin will find them amusing."

"Are you mad?" exclaimed Sirius. "Werewolves are pictured as about the meanest creatures on Earth in those! The Muggle prejudices about werewolves are even worse than the ones in the Wizarding World!"

"I still think he'll find them funny," replied Severus, not rising to the bait. "At least he liked very much the ones I gave him on his birthday."

That silenced Sirius rather effectively. After a moment of silent shock, he managed to ask, "Then, what will we do now?"

"What about Honeydukes?" suggested Severus. "I've heard that their shop here sells even better chocolate than the one in Hogsmeade. I'd like to see whether that's true."

"Of course, whatever Mister Snape wants," Sirius said, rolling his eyes and being truly grateful that the other boy didn't see that. "I have presents to buy as well, don't you forget that."

"Of course I won't forget," replied Severus with a rare cheerful tone in his voice. "After Honeydukes, I only have to go to the Apothecary, and then I promise to come along wherever you want to go."

"Sure," murmured Sirius with a disbelieving tone, but obeyed all the same. After half an hour of searching through the seemingly endless shelves full of different kinds of sweets, they emerged from the shop, both armed with loads of candies stuffed into their pockets.

"So, how much money do you have for Christmas presents?" asked Severus. "I hardly think your parents gave you much to buy gifts to useless Gryffindors."

"They didn't," replied Sirius. "Instead, they gave me quite a lot to buy decent gifts to Lucius and you - they obviously wish I would hang around you more, you're at least a Slytherin, after all. When I told Lucius about that, he gave me twice as much, told me to buy something with that money to him and use the rest just as I please."

"What, and your Gryffindor pride let you take the money?" the other boy asked in mock-surprise. "I'm almost ashamed of you, Sirius."

"Hey, when we marry, the money will be mine as well anyway," said Sirius defensively. "Believe me, I wouldn't have taken a knut from anybody else. It doesn't matter if I take something from Lucius, however."

So, Severus again visited Quality Quidditch Supplies with his "guide dog," like he said amusedly at one point. After visiting Gambol and Japes - where Severus kept very near to Sirius in fear of becoming a victim of some of the joke supplies - and once again Flourish and Blotts when Sirius had realized he hadn't bought anything to Lily, they went to the Apothecary.

"You're the specialist in this," said Sirius with a slight frown. "What on Earth could I buy to Lucius?"

"Well, I'm going to buy him a new set of crystal test tubes," said Severus. "He only had two left a few weeks ago, and I bet he's already managed to break the rest. Not that he was bad, no, he's truly an as skilled Potions Master as they get, but he tends to be careless when handling the equipment. As for what you could buy him, well, they sell some good Potions books here, too. I probably could pick one that he doesn't have already, so you can buy that."

Sirius agreed to that. After making their purchases in the Apothecary - Severus also bought several Potions ingredients for himself - they decided to go to the Leaky Cauldron waiting for the others. As they sat in a table, both munching their sweets and discussing random things, somebody suddenly sat on one of the free seats around their table.

"James!" exclaimed Sirius, glancing at the intruder. "You're just in time. Now I can go and buy my present for this overgrown bat without him walking around, listening to my every breath." He flashed a grin at James, who grinned back. They both agreed that Severus did resemble a bat in his billowing black robes that never seemed to even get snowy.

"Go ahead," said James, waving his hand. "Just remember that you'll be in the same room as he opens his present, so don't make it anything too bad."

"I won't," promised Sirius with a goofy grin, and was already on his way.

Sirius was deep in thought as he walked through the crowded Alley. He hadn't before been quite sure about what to buy to Severus, but now, seeing that the boy was completely blind, it was easy to make his decision. He'd heard that Kneazles were perfect pets for blind people, being very loyal and able to guide their owners, but as a licence was required for their ownership, that was impossible. However, there was indeed one kind of creatures who were just as fiercely loyal, and while they looked like nothing Muggles were used to, they were very easy to hide.

So, he soon found himself standing in front of the commaroo cage in the Magical Menagerie. He watched in amazement at the tiny mouse-like creatures in every shade of blue running around the cage and watching him with curious eyes. Sirius wanted nothing as much as a pet - Peter maybe liked animals, but Sirius loved them all - but he knew for sure that his father would have killed the poor creature as soon as he got home. His parents thought that he didn't need any pets, not a cat, a toad, a rat, or even an owl, since he was too much of a bother all by himself. Well, only a year and a half more, and he would forever be free of his family.

After watching the commaroos for quite some time, he finally picked one that seemed even more friendly than its companions. Paying for it, he then tucked the thing into his pocket, where he was going to keep it until they got to the Potter's home and he could hide the creature until the next morning.

Just then, his eyes wandered to a large box in one corner of the shop. As he went to look into it, several little kittens watched back to him with their bright eyes.

Oh, to the Hell with it. If he couldn't have a pet of his own, he'd surely give as many to his friends as possible. He picked a pure white kitten that reminded him of Lucius's blond hair, and paid for her, too. He'd give it to his fiancé when he went to the Malfoy Manor for the rest of his holiday. Maybe it wouldn't be namely his, but at least he'd have it in the same rooms with himself. And maybe he could spend some of his summer holiday in the Manor, too, both away from his family and with the little cat?

Suddenly, irius was truly looking forward to talking with Lucius again. Whistling joyously, he started to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron.