Days of Wands and Roses

Rain is often a pleasant and comforting phenomenon, especially for a child who spends most of his time moping and mooning and in a general funk feeling sorry for himself and his horrible lot in life. However, no matter how melodramatic a boy is, rain somehow loses its charm when one is slogging down a cobblestone street in it without even a rain-be-gone covering charm to keep one dry.

Not that he needed it, his Aunt Pincilla was quick to chuckle in that vacant way of hers. His hair was as slick as a duck's back anyway. It could turn water on its own. Or at least, that's what she claimed. Severus was of an entirely different opinion and he had empirical evidence to back his opinion up – namely the water that was currently dripping down the back of his oversized dark blue robes.

My hadn't his aunt chosen a wonderful day to go shopping for his school supplies. The rain was so heavy that they could barely see a foot in front of them but Severus knew it was useless to ask his aunt to cast a heighten senses spell. She was what she called a "magical economist" which he had now clearly defined as being a person who refused to use even the simplest charms to make life easier because she labored under the delusion that by conserving magical power she was somehow doing a good deed. This was all rubbish in his opinion. He'd read a large number of magical theory books for a boy of eleven years of age and he'd never run across any call for conservation of magical energies among magical folk, even in the more ludicrous of the books his aunt kept in the house. Severus had long ago glumly assured himself that his aunt was entirely and completely off her rocker.

Which is probably why she had decided that today was as good a day as any to come spitting out of a floo fire in the fine establishment of Flourish and Blotts and collect what she had vaguely termed Severus's "school bits." She was keeping his supply list concealed somewhere on her person and had been ever since he'd ceremoniously slit open the thick parchment letter that had contained his acceptance letter to Hogwarts. He'd managed only a glimpse of the list before she'd swept it away for "safe keeping" claiming he'd lose it if she let him take care of it. Of course, it was in dubious hands at this point. He'd had to remind his flighty aunt to bring it with her no less than three times this very morning, since she'd whisked herself into four different sets of robes before she finally settled on a fifth one as being suitable. Like always she asked if the robe made her posterior look big and like always he responded drily that there was little that would not make it look big. She ignored his comment, as she always did. There were times when Severus thought that half the time she asked him something she didn't really expect an answer or listen for one, but was rather just pleasing herself because she really seemed to enjoy hearing herself talk. It was due to her complete lack of attention that he could manage such acidic and perfectly outrageous comments directly to her face.

Oh for someone to share polite conversation with. Well, scratch that, he wasn't really interested in polite conversation, no matter how much he might claim from time to time. He seriously doubted that he'd ever meet anyone who could keep up with him on the myriad of topics he was so well-versed in. As one might expect of a boy who'd grown up with no children his own age and only a batty old aunt, a venomous cat, and a library full of battered books to keep him company, Severus had long ago turned himself into his own misanthropic cheering section. He was quite sure that he would be the cleverest student that Hogwarts had ever had. Not that anyone would notice, of course. No one ever noticed how absolutely brilliant he was. That was why it was so important that he remind himself of it every few minutes by snappish comments at Pincilla's expense.

It didn't really matter. She never noticed, on any account. Severus doubted she was even aware of the fact that the English Channel itself seemed to be pouring out of the sky on top of them. She just marched resolutely down the street as if it were the most pleasant spring day and she were on her way to a picnic. As they passed in front of Gringott's Severus desperately hoped that wherever they were going next on this moronic oddesy it was close by. He knew for a fact that they weren't bound for the wizarding bank. Pincilla had some peculiar dislike of the establishment and kept what remained of the family money buried in a secret place somewhere on the grounds of their home. It was just another case where Severus felt the need to roll his eyes darkly and sigh heavily at his fate.

Apparently, the heavens had decided to smile upon him, because instead of being forced to slog what may well be a good half mile down the wizarding thoroughfare Pincilla moved almost immediately to cross the street, dragging Severus with her to the blessedly dry-spelled overhang of a shop that Severus had never been near before. He took a moment to shake the water from his hair, if only to provide direct evidence that it was not so slick that it turned water. His aunt apparently didn't notice that her previous assessment had just been soundly proven completely incorrect. Somehow he was not surprised.

He sullenly crossed his arms and turned to look at the hanging signboard which was also apparently bewitched with a water repelling spell. Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions? Well that certainly explained why he'd never been here. Pincilla never bought new robes, or at least she hadn't bought any new ones in the six years since Severus had been living with her, which explained why she was now wearing the horrible striped monstrosity she currently sported. As far as he knew she only had five sets of robes – the last and crowning glory of her collection being the set she was currently wearing, glittering Technicolor fringe and all.

The robes he was currently wearing were originally from some musty old trunk in the attic and they sized up whenever he grew. Unfortunately the spell on the robes was as worn as they were themselves and it no longer functioned perfectly, which is why he had to hitch up his robes to run. Well at least now he could get some decent clothing. Blue was certainly not his color, no matter how dark and mysterious that blue was. He needed black, or at the very best a dark, dark green. That would make him look best, he was sure. The blue only made his skin look positively green instead of its usual sallow candle wax color.

After making absolutely no attempts to wring herself out before going into the shop, Pincilla strode imperiously in and proceeded to drip all over the thick plush rug in the entry way. Severus was used to being embarrassed by his aunt and came in the door quietly behind her and edged off, attempting to stand a fair enough distance away so that the other people in the shop wouldn't automatically assume they were together, or at least wouldn't automatically assume that they were together by his choice.

A squat witch dressed sensibly in what he found to be a disgusting shade of mauve raised one eyebrow at the two newly arrived customers and put on what seemed to him to be a very forced smile. Oh just bloody wonderful. Pincilla had done it again. Why did everything in his life have to be so difficult?

The witch in mauve flounced over to them gracefully, despite her bulk and took another searching look at Pincilla before catching sight of Severus behind her. She seemed relieved. Severus didn't blame her. He couldn't imagine helping his aunt pick out a robe, especially if she had her heart set on another travesty like the one she was currently wearing.

"Ah, another one for Hogwarts?" she asked the two of them pleasantly, "First year is it?"

He nodded silently, folding his arms over one another so that his robe nearly swallowed him in navy folds. He was currently cultivating the stoic and darkly mysterious image and he wasn't about to endanger it by opening his mouth and chance his voice to betray him with a cracking warble. Unfortunately for Severus Snape his voice had taken it upon itself to change early, thus giving him no chance to establish himself in a proper manner among the students of Hogwarts. His only recourse, in his opinion, was to simply keep relatively silent until his voice settled down (no matter how long the blasted thing took) lest he risk sounding absolutely ridiculous.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, as the case may be) Pincilla took it upon herself to do all the talking in the situation, thus sparing Severus the horror of actually speaking in public.

"Oh yes. He simply has to have new robes. The supply list states that he has to have three sets of plain black work robes but I think that's criminal," here she leaned over to the plump witch and spoke confidentially, although her voice was still pitched so that the entire room could hear, "I personally wish that I could get something more light and cheery for Severus. Black is going to make him look positively ghastly. He already looks undead half the time. If I weren't used to him by now I would have cast a banish zombies spell on him a half a dozen times already. It's quite unsettling when I see him prowling around the house."

Severus was sure that the chubby witch would look positively pained by Pincilla's sudden confidence in her did she not hope to get at least a reasonable commission from the sale of a full priced set of student work robes. Once again, he was not all that surprised. Pincilla was in a habit of sharing random tidbits with the odd passerby, much to the chagrin of those self-same passersby.

"Which reminds me," his aunt said, putting one hand on her hip and another under her chin thoughtfully, "His prowling does distress me, always sneaking about. Do you think we could have some bells sewn into his robes so I could always know when he was out and about?"

Severus turned the sickly pale color of anemic plaster. Oh that was just what he needed to make a good impression on the other students. Jingle bells would certainly complement the image he was going for. Silently he desperately hoped that heaven would somehow intervene and spare him from ringing and jangling about the stone halls of Hogwarts all year.

Thankfully, apparently heaven decided to intervene because the plump witch shook her head crisply, "No, I'm afraid not, if they're to be school work robes. Hogwarts is very strict about the robes they allow their students to wear. Flat black and simple with either a golden clasp at the throat or a silver one. They're spelled so that when the student is sorted into a house the robes will automatically embroider themselves in the proper colors."

He breathed a silent sigh of relief. That at least was a tender mercy. But alas, the witch continued:

"However, if you do want a dress robe or a casual robe for him to wear at home hemmed and trimmed in bells, I'm sure that can be arranged."

Blasted woman. She was just trying to enlarge her commission at his expense. Thankfully his aunt was a galleon economist as well as being a magic economist and she shook her head at the prospect of buying him more than three robes.

The clerk nodded crisply, "Then just three sets of black work robes?"

Pincilla seemed consider for a moment before amending, "Three sets of used work robes, if you have them, dearie. The laddie is still growing after all. No use to buy him new robes and have him split their seams in six months. He's also very hard on robes, always mucking them up."

The clerk's face fell a bit. Well, her commission had just dropped off to almost nothing.

Severus rolled his eyes yet again. He never mucked his robes up. He was always very fastidious. The only places they got mucky were along the bottom hem where the surplus of robe dragged the floor because it was too big for him. Pincilla was just looking for an excuse to get him used robes. He remained stoic. Well, he supposed it had been too much to hope that he'd actually be getting new robes.

The clerk pleasantly took Severus by the arm while he was moaning and groaning about his fate silently to himself and by the time he'd finished she was standing him up on a short stool next to another young man who had his arms spread wide as another clerk busied herself pinning fabric on him. The other boy had dark brown hair that fell into his eyes and looked bored out of his skull with all the pinning and flurrying about him. When he noticed Severus being settled onto the stool next to him he grinned.

"First year for Hogwarts too? I'm Sirius Black," the other boy's grin turned impish and he brought his arms back to his sides purposefully upsetting several pins of fabric and throwing the witch attending him into a tizzy. He offered his hand over to Severus good-naturedly.

Severus raised one eyebrow at the offered hand. His attendant hadn't started pinning him yet so he was free to accept the gesture although he knew that if he did so he'd be forced introduce himself and thus risk sounding terribly silly. He hesitated for a moment, and then another, and then the other boy's brow clouded and he withdrew his hand.

"Well, if that's the way you're going to be about it, then . . ."

Severus crossed his arms and scowled back. Just who did this fellow think he was, getting cross at him? He would have shaken hands if the prat hadn't jerked his own back. He was just getting to it in his own time. There was no need for the other boy to get nasty.

"That's it, Severus."

Oh that's just what he needed, his dear auntie to intervene.

"You shouldn't ever shake hands with a wizard you don't know. There's no telling what his lineage is."

Wonderful. Now he was certainly off to a good start with this other fellow. Trust Pincilla to make an awful situation worse. Not that he cared. He certainly didn't want to be friends with that git anyway, not after he'd so rudely withdrawn his hand. Not one bit. Humph.

Sirius's scowl darkened and he crossed his own arms, further upsetting the pinning, "Oh, so you're that sort."

Severus turned his back on the other boy and stuck his hooked nose quite into the air. That sort indeed. Humph. Humph. Humph. Humph.

He would have likely continued huffing in a very sullen manner for quite some time had not a commotion from the direction of the dressing rooms distracted him. He was just about to turn and see the source of the ruckus when he was bowled off the stool by a sobbing shrieking ball of fury that flailed and wriggled. He let out a rather bloodcurdling shriek himself as he was thrown off the stool and into a basket of soiled student robes and would have likely fought the thing that had tackled him had someone not managed to pull it off of him rather quickly.

That someone turned out to be Sirius Black and the wailing thrashing thing turned out to be a rather short girl with a flurry of straight blonde hair. She was wearing a black work robe that was quite a bit too long for her and still flailing and crying in a deplorable manner. Severus noticed with some derision that while everyone seemed to be fawning over the hysterical girl, no one bothered to help him out of the basket.

He managed to extricate himself from the rather embarrassing position, although the basket did get momentarily stuck on his end, thankfully everyone's attention still seemed to be on the girl who was sobbing something about a ghost.

"Oh!" the plump witch in mauve seemed quite shocked, "Are you Muggle born, dearie? It completely slipped my mind to warn you about Captain Jack."

The girl, who had now been at least marginally calmed (although she was still clinging to Sirius for dear life), sniffled and then nodded, "I'm Hypolyta Crescent. It's my first time in Diagon Alley. Who's Captain Jack?"

"Why, Captain Jack is our resident ghost. He died in a terrible sewing accident in the fourteenth century and has been living at the store ever since. I always warn all the children when they go into the dressing rooms. Having him pop up beside you can be quite unsettling. I don't know how such a thing slipped my mind."

The clerk glanced around the store and was relieved to see that the only adult in sight was the outrageous witch in the striped Technicolor fringe. Aaaah, disaster averted. No bad press for Madam Malkin's.

"Well, no harm done," she smiled disarmingly as she finally manage to pry Hypolyta from Sirius. Hypolyta, having been reassured that the ghost was nothing out of the ordinary, charged right back in to see the ghost again, apparently to have a chat with him.

Severus plunged his hands deep into the pockets of his robe. If these were the people he was going to Hogwarts with, then there'd be no chance of him finding intelligent conversation there.

*