Travels with Severus

Travels with Severus; Severus does New Orleans

Book One

Chapter Two

"You been acting different
I've been told
Soothe me
I want some sugar in my bowl
I want some steam
on my clothes
Maybe I can fix things up so they'll go
Whatsa matter Daddy
Come on save my soul
I want some sugar in my bowl
I ain't foolin'
I want some - yeah - in my bowl."

The stage lights dimmed as she finished her song to thunderous applause. With a murmured "Thank You", she stepped down from the stage and walked past the table that a transfixed Severus sat at.

He was certain that she was a witch now. The songs she sang were like spells cast upon the room, the glamour getting thicker and thicker with each song. He shook his head slightly to clear it and rose from his chair, determined to talk to her. About what precisely he was unsure, but he had to talk to her.

The audience had apparently had the same idea, for many of them had clustered around her thus precluding him from reaching her. With a sigh, he sat back down and nursed his drink as he waited for the crowd of admirers to thin out. After a time, he glanced back at the bar only to discover that she had gone. He frowned at the table's surface, swallowed the remainder of his drink in one gulp and arose with the intention of returning to his hotel. It was late and he was tired and slightly drunk. 'Tease,' he thought as he walked out of the front doors and into the night.

As he strode past an alley he heard the unmistakable sound of a fight and the angry voice of a woman shouting "Stupefy!" He turned on his heel and ran in the direction of the commotion only to come to a dead stop at the sight before him and the blood-curdling scream that echoed through the night.

Genevieve De laVerne, the very same "sultry siren of jazz" who had been weaving a glamour not even an hour ago, now stood before his startled gaze, clutching one end of what appeared to be a silver spike. The other end was embedded in the chest of a screaming, writhing female. Oblivious to the fountain of blood that was gushing from the woman, Genevieve pushed the spike further into her then reached up under her skirt and withdrew a shiny, silver blade.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, his wand arcing up toward Genevieve. The blade flew from her hand as she turned toward him, hissing in anger. "Immobulous!" he exclaimed. Reaching her side in three fast strides, he managed to catch her before she hit the pavement.

"What the hell are you up to?" he growled at her, then turned and walked over the now still and silent woman slumped on the ground. He turned her over and looked closely at her prone figure. "Oh, fuck!" he whispered, running his fingers through his hair. He walked over to Genevieve and released her from the spell. "She's a vampire," he said, as he offered his hand to her.

"No shit!" she hissed at him as he pulled her up. "And now we need to get the hell out of here before we end up having to explain this to the police!" She grabbed his hand and disapperated them from the alley as sirens sounded in the near distance.

They were suddenly in a dark room, with only the light of the full moon shining through a lone window.

"Lumos," she said releasing his hand. She turned to him, her lips curling into a dangerous smile, and roughly shoved him down onto the couch behind him. "Immobulous!"

"I will release you Snape, if you promise to sit there and not move. I'm sure you have lots of questions, but then perhaps I won't answer them if you ask. I should just obliviate you here and now but with you being a war hero and all, perhaps you are entitled to an explanation. You did come all the way from Hogwarts to hear me sing." She stopped pacing, and walked out of his line of sight. In the background he heard the tinkling of ice against glass, followed by liquid as it was poured. The smell of bourbon filled the small room with its heady scent.

"No," she said reading the expression in his eyes "you won't. " She uttered a quick cleansing spell and the gore disappeared. "I would rather a shower, but this seems more pressing."

She was right of course, he was entirely too curious to know what in the name of Hell was going on here. Not to mention the fact that she had neatly hidden his wand under her skirt. 'Ah, that's better,' he thought as he felt the effects of the spell lifted from him. He thought about the feel of his hand around that slender neck of hers. So tempting that neck, so capable his hands, but he knew that she would not hesitate to hex him just as mercilessly as she had killed that vampire in the alley.

Instead, he made do with a growled, "Consider yourself lucky, Miss De LaVerne, that I haven't killed you. No one, but no one is allowed to behave towards me the way you have this evening."

"Oh yes Snape, I realized that as soon as I laid eyes on you. But, you must also realize that I can obliviate you back to your childhood, or feed you to the next vampire that crosses my path." She paused at his sharp intake of breath and took a sip from her glass. "Look," she finally said, "you happened to stumble on me while I was doing, well, my job. At least my part time occupation. I'm sorry you had to see it, but I wasn't expecting to have to kill one tonight. Nor was I expecting anyone to come running to my 'rescue'. Least of all you. You don't look like the rescuer type."

He sat there, staring at her through hooded eyes. All he had wanted was a simple vacation, but his damned 'heroic' side had betrayed the bastard façade he had constructed so well. It was her damn fault too, with that glamour she had cast, yes that was it, the glamour had weakened his inner bastard. He ticked his mouth into a sneer and met her eyes with an arched brow. She merely met his gaze and returned the stare. Intriguing. Damn her.

"Perhaps you would like that shower you spoke of?" he asked after a time.

She sipped her drink. "And I am supposed to trust you to stay put?"

The sneer relaxed into a slight smile. "I would never trust me, but under these circumstances, I am inclined to stay put. You have my wand. I want answers. " He rose from his seat and stood over her. Adopting his most imposing classroom tone, his voice like velvet over steel, he said, "Go. Take your shower, I can still smell blood on you. When you are finished, then we will talk."

A little while later, Genevieve emerged from her room and encountered the smell of cooking food. "Well, he certainly knows how to make himself at home,' she thought with a wry smile a she leaned against the door frame and silently watched him cross back and fourth in her kitchen. Her stomach rumbled in sudden anticipation. She was always consumed with hunger after a kill, and what ever he was cooking smelled wonderful. Not what she expected from this man at all. No, not after all she had heard of him.

He looked up, feeling her eyes on him. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "You cook? The one thing I would have never imagined about you, Severus Snape, ex-Death Eater, double agent, hero and Potions master. You're shattering all of my illusions."

" I doubt that, Miss De laVerne. You don't look as if you have any."

He walked over to her and with arms folded, appraised her. She looked different now, scrubbed of her stage makeup, out of her red dress and in jeans and a T-shirt. She hardly looked like the much-desired jazz singer, or for that matter a vampire hunter. She looked like an ordinary woman now, except for her eyes. They belied the experience she held.

As he had cooked dinner, he thought about what he had seen. In hindsight, he couldn't deny that the sight of her driving the stake further home into that vampire's heart had been, arousing. His darker side had appreciated the power he saw in her at that moment, the blood and gore dripping from her and the calmness with which she brought him here. She had looked magnificent, he thought to himself.

"True," she replied "I lost all of my illusions during my travels. And you? Honestly, what brings you here to New Orleans? You didn't really come all this way to hear me sing, did you?"

"Actually, I did. Imagine my surprise upon discovering your hidden side." He smirked at her surprised expression. "It seems that we are both full of them, this evening. My wand, if you please," he finished holding out his hand.

"I don't please, thank you," she replied as she stepped past him and into the living room "What's for dinner?"

"My wand, or I will take it from you."

His inner bastard was battling his heroic side again, he was itching to cast Expelliarmus,

"I'd like to see you try, Snape." She leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for cooking dinner. I'm starved. If you are a good little boy, I'll give you your wand back after dinner. Or should I say breakfast." She glanced at the clock over her fireplace mantle. "It's nearly one A.M. Lets eat, then talk. I need sleep."

A/N; the song featured in this chapter is called "Sugar in My Bowl", sung by Nina Simone.