Adiunctus Severus Snape

Gringotts loomed tall and imposing at the end of the street. Wizards and witches in colorful robes swarmed in and out of shops, some trying to find the best deals for their sons and daughters school supplies and some trying to capitalize on the terror that had suddenly gripped their world once more. One man who looked remarkably like Mundungus Fletcher was waving a bottle in the air. He was giving his sales pitch to any wizards who happened to slow down long enough to hear. "Keep yourself and your family safe from flaming attacks with this amazing new concoction! Just a drop a day and you'll be granted complete immunity!" A small crowd was gathering around him. Judging by the grin on his face and the number of poor saps walking away with whatever he had bottled, he was doing quite well.

Snape and Pecco had flooed into a shop on one of the small side streets sprouting off the alley. Pecco sneezed tremendously several times as they walked out the door. Then pushing the scarf tied around her head back up, she blinked tearfully while rubbing the soot out of her eyes. Snape withdrew a small drawstring bag full of coins from his robe and looked down at Pecco. "Take this to Madame Malkins, and tell her you need three children's robes, black, with fire retardant charms on them. As soon as you get them, come straight back here and wait for me." He paused for a moment, considering his next words. "Do not purchase anything else." Pecco nodded in understanding and held out her hands for Snape to drop the money into.

As soon as the coins were in her grasp, she took off through the crowd at a fast lope. Snape pressed his fingers to his aching temples as he dripped a bit of headache relieving potion onto his tongue. He stood for a minute with his eyes closed, enjoying the peacefulness of the moment, ignoring the shoppers bustling by. Snape's nose wrinkled as the rosy potpourri flavor of the potion tickled his throat and made his eyes water. Then turning purposefully, he strode down to the entrance of Knockturn Alley.

The sun was obstinately shining on the gloomy alleyway. The underlying tension present in Diagon Alley could be felt here as well; along with an undercurrent of excitement. Most people shrank away from Snape as he passed. Even those who did not know him personally could tell he wasn't a wizard to be trifled with. One young boy dressed in tatty robes gaped at him stupidly as he walked by. He fixed a glare on the boy, whose eyes widened in panic and he inadvertently trod on his mother's heels. Snape could hear her berating the boy as he continued through the alley. He rounded a corner and walked down a narrow side alley where the entrance to the Diabolos Medicamentarius was located. It was a dusty humble looking door, with no signs to indicate there ever had been a shop there.

Pushing the door open and stepping inside, Snape found himself in the familiar darkness of the shop surrounded by all manner of pickled creatures, organs, dried herbs, and bones. Some things were still living, rattling the bars of their cages or floating goggle eyed in tanks of tepid water. An old cockatrice was perched behind the counter like some sort of demented parrot. It craned its neck straining to listen, the rims of its empty eye sockets catching the dim light as it moved.

The shopkeeper, a wrinkled old witch who looked as though she had more than one hag in her family tree, rubbed her waxy hands together greedily. "Ah, Severus, what are you looking for today? We do have some very unusual items in, very difficult to obtain." Her sunken eyes gleamed in the darkness as she said this.

"If you please Ursula, I am simply here for some venomous tentacula seeds, a fresh kelpie tongue, and the blood of a golden snidget," Snape replied smoothly.

"Certainly, certainly," she mumbled, while rifling around for some wrapping, "I will be back shortly." The old woman returned with a bundle containing the seeds and blood, then advanced on one of the tanks with a sharp knife. Grasping one of the creatures inside with a claw like hand, she extracted its tongue. All the while, it splashed and squealed, making sickening gurgling sounds. When she placed the creature back in its prison, the water slowly began to darken. The cockatrice began bobbing excitedly; making wretched squawking noises as he did so, "Shut your gob Methuselah!" shouted Ursula, banging on his perch impatiently. Methuselah grumpily obeyed, hunching his shoulders and tightly coiling his long slender body around the perch.

Ursula shook her head and sighed. "You know, it's a shame there are no children today who have the aptitude for potions you did at that age. I could really use another assistant."

Nodding in disgust, Snape drawled, "I have yet to meet a student who could be trusted in an establishment such as this. However, if one does catch my notice I will guide them in your direction." Nodding wearily, she mumbled to herself how nice that would be. He leaned forward conspiratorially as Ursula was meticulously tying up the package containing the tongue. "So Ursula, is it really true what I've heard about you and the others?"

"That would depend on who you heard it from," she answered with a wicked smile.

"One of the old crowd mentioned there was to be some 'hunting'," Snape said in a low voice. He allowed an eager gleam to creep into his eye. "When?" Smirking now, Ursula patted his forearm fondly.

"You never were one to sit by and let others have all the fun. There's a group of fellows meeting tonight, down at the Musty Manticore. From there they plan on going out into some muggle neighborhoods and stirring up trouble. Some of those boys have been practicing the killing curse on those wretched rats in the back room. I'm sure they'd be pleased to have one of His lot along." Snape let a disappointed look slip in for a fraction of a second.

"Regrettably, I have other business to attend to tonight."

"Pity, although there should be plenty of that going on in the near future," she clucked. "Severus dear, I have one more thing for you. It was in some old things I was going through." Ursula pulled a small box out from under the counter. "This was your grandmother's. She gave it to me ages ago hoping I could get it open. I'm ashamed to say I've never been able to. I think you ought to have it." She held out the delicate box in her gnarled hands. Snape, who was swallowing a rapidly forming lump in his throat, picked it up and stared at it. His grandmother's box; he hadn't seen her since he was four. He vividly remembered hearing his mother weeping behind closed doors for weeks after they had gotten news of her death.

"Thank you, I, just, thank you," he stammered. Ursula's mouth simply creased up into an incredibly wrinkled smile.

"Don't think on it, it's rightfully yours now anyway." Nodding, Snape pulled out his coin pouch and paid for the ingredients. Then he carefully gathered up his precious packages, and began walking towards the door. Just before he left, he glanced over his shoulder and left Ursula with what she could have sworn was the ghost of a smile.

He quickly retreated from Knockturn Alley and made a beeline to where Pecco was waiting. She was seated on a paper package, enthusiastically licking a large ice cream cone. Snape eyed her angrily. "You weren't to spend any more of that money," he snarled. Pecco looked up at him, affronted.

"But I didn't Master, you know I can't disobey you."

"Then where did you get the ice cream?"

"I nicked it from a little boy in the street."

He grimaced at the thought of what the boy's parents might say if they found the ice cream thief. "Get up, we're leaving now," he commanded. She obediently sprang to her feet and inhaled her ill-gotten treat in three large gulps. Moaning from the headache she suddenly acquired, she picked up the crinkled green package. Snape reached down, roughly grabbed the collar of her robe, and disapparated to an alleyway on the opposite side of London.