Chapter 1.26
Chapter 1.26
Lucius had long since gone and I was rapidly clawing my way out of my self induced pity session. I made my way over to the cashier, paid for my final few drinks, and headed on out. Immediately I could appreciate why Lucius liked the Seven Sisters so much. Its clientele were discrete enough to not poke and prod. The common folk out in the street however spotted me within an instant.
I'd only been in the papers a few times. So while I expected the parents of Hogwarts students to point and stare I didn't think my 'fame' had reached the point where the public at large did the same. They did and they were blatant about it. Some of them didn't even bothering whispering. A few of them even had the temerity to come up to me.
There are only so times you can be thanked by complete strangers before it loses its appeal. Not that it ever possessed any for me. Either way; the only ones I truly approved of were the ex-lycanthropes. A particularly scruffy looking middle aged lady in specific caught my attention. A handful of other equally scruffy looking ex-lycanthropes trailed her at some distance.
After she got through her own thanksgiving, "If you ever need anything, Mr. Snape. Call on us and we will all answer."
When they had come up to me my mind-voice asserted itself. Before I simply settled for a fake smile and a handshake for all the shameless gawkers. Now though my path had plans for these people. I gestured for the group to follow me back inside Seven Sisters. The proprietor gave me some odd looks but apparently my money was, even without Lucius, and these disheveled people trailing me.
When we sat down I was instructed to frown and softly ask her, "What's your name again, Ma'am?"
She smiled widely and replied, "Francine Roberts. Although I haven't been able to use the last name in quite a while. Please call me Francine!"
I bestowed a smile of my own upon her and asked, "In turn please call me Severus. I'm far too young to be called Mr. Snape." She nodded and I continued, "Francine, do you and yours have jobs?"
Her posse uniformly quirked their eyebrows while flicking their gazes over to each other. Francine however responded almost immediately.
"We are, or we were, day laborers in the muggle world. Why do you ask, Mr.- Severus."
I looked her straight in the eyes when I said, "I'm not asking this as a favor. Please remember that. While I appreciate your gratitude I need you to be fully committed to what I'm about to propose."
She looked curious but I charged on ahead, "I need people I can call on regularly to reliably perform certain jobs. They might seem nonsensical at the time but I assure you I have given them a great of though. Would you be up to this?"
She gave me a good long stare before she said, "Might I ask what these jobs would be?"
I smiled widely, "If you accept I'll need messages sent to certain people. Messages I cannot entrust to an owl, however clever they might be. Sometimes I'll need you drop off a package somewhere. Sometimes I'll require you keep an eye on a certain location and report back. Things like that. I won't ever ask anything illegal from you, of course."
I could tell she wanted me to elaborate so I did, "I'll be paying you a fair salary for your time, whether I require you that week or not. I will however need at least one of you on stand by at all times. You can arrange your schedule among yourself. All I care is that the instructions are followed perfectly and without any fuss."
They had more questions and I answered them all. After this thorough questioning they all agreed my terms were fair but Francine had a final query.
"May I ask why you picked us?"
She had a good point as I had no doubt she overheard many other people making similar offers. I looked towards the next step and spoke.
"Are you going to steal from me?"
She spluttered an incoherent denial.
"Will you lightly betray my confidence?"
This got a clearer denial from the entire group.
"I'd like think I'm a fairly good judge of character. Frankly, I think I would have hired you even if you were still werewolves."
Unlikely path. Unlikely.
I continued on, "Now, to finish this up." I withdrew my personal flask of Ambrosia and dropped a fairly insignificant amount in each of their glasses.
"You're all still suffering from a lifetime of painful transformation. This should fix it."
After that I was instructed to adopt a simpering smile and wait them out. Almost half a minute passed before Francine worked up the courage to drink. Before all our eyes her disposition improved greatly. Years of the damage suffering have inflicted upon her just fell off. Almost as if someone had removed her scar make-up by scourgifying it away.
The rest of the group wasn't nearly as hesitant after they saw that. I suffered through another bout of profuse thanks before an owl suddenly fluttered into the ale house. The proprietor seemed entirely displeased with its presence but was far too slow to do anything about it. The brown post owl flew over our table, dropped an engraved letter, and flew back out.
My heart was pumping as I read the letter from the Dark Lord. I was fascinated by the subject of it and considered its implications but then I reached the afterword. Someone might be coming after my mother. My mother whom I have not included in my safety path.
I was a fucking fool.
'How do I ensure the continued safety of my mother?'
Thirty three steps. A spark of ingenuity flashed through my mind as I considered the notion I might be able to look ahead to the steps. I had to admit that might be exceedingly useful.
I could.
I felt like kicking myself.
The path was a short one but from the last few steps I could tell it was one that would last her lifetime. Good! I got up, excused myself to Francine and her lot after asking her to consider my proposal.
"We don't need to consider. We're yours, Severus."
I smiled as I wiggled out of the booth, "I'll send you a letter with the details tomorrow. Please excuse me, something terribly urgent has come up."
Francine frowned and asked me, "Anything we could help with?"
I simply shook my head, "No, I'm afraid it's far too dangerous for you as I haven't trained you yet. I'm going to burn down a government and ferment rebellion."
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head but I didn't her any more mind. I apparated as soon as I left the wards over the Seven Sisters and found myself just outside Tirana, Albania. My mind-voice apparently concurred with Voldemort. This wasn't something I could allow and I had no doubt more groups would come after my family if I didn't dissuade them. Whether they'd be governments, Dark Lords, or even an overly obsessed fan. I didn't care.
I was going to send them a message. Nobody touches my Mother. Nobody.
Within moments I had made my way to the seat of Albania's government. They didn't have a Ministry here. They had a Council, much like the Wizengamot, that dealt with official governmental business. I knew very little about the country beyond their exceptionally lax laws on Dark Magic and they absolutely vicious 'process' to reducing their Muggleborn population.
They kidnapped children from their homes, obliviated their parents, and raised them as their expendable foot-soldiers. They truly needed them as unlike the vampire population in Britain...Albania had made no such deals with their bloodsuckers.
I was stewing with cold anger and the world was crystal clear to me. How fucking dare they threaten my Mother.
I pointed my wand at the building in front of me, slashed my wand, and an entire wall disappeared. Another slash and a jab later led to the slow sinking of the building into the ground. Chaos ensued but my path told me to wait.
They would notice me.
And then I'd threaten to end their fucking Council. Of course I'd need to chew through their troops first. The first ones appeared within minutes.
I dispatched them and stacked them on top of each other. Reinforcements arrived and once again I disarmed, knocked them out, and stuck them to the ever growing pile of bodies. A particularly sneaky group of soldiers tried to sneak up on me.
They too were stacked.
My path ordered me to apparate away and back. When I did just that I noticed the crater I'd suddenly found myself in. Another jab, twirl, and a raised wand up high later and the crater filled up under my feet.
More wizards harassed me. And then they didn't. They tried the explosions again but this time the path simply let me fly up. I came back down after I dispatched the latest group.
Finally people came out with empty hands asking to talk to me.
I said some words to them I didn't understand. They fell to their feet. I said some more words and bowed to them. Their eyes boggled but they rose up on shaking legs. They looked at each other, at me, and back at each other.
They turned as one to the sinking building behind them, pulled out their wands, and set it on fire. Afterward they turned back to me and bowed.
The active path was over and I went home.
AN: Wow. This chapter just got away from me. I don't know where my muse is taking me but I'll ride it out.
AN2: This was totally a 'somewhat' trap by Voldemort. Either he'd find out Severus is a lowly mortal as he got taken out or he'd push him into a more vicious public persona.
Lucius had long since gone and I was rapidly clawing my way out of my self induced pity session. I made my way over to the cashier, paid for my final few drinks, and headed on out. Immediately I could appreciate why Lucius liked the Seven Sisters so much. Its clientele were discrete enough to not poke and prod. The common folk out in the street however spotted me within an instant.
I'd only been in the papers a few times. So while I expected the parents of Hogwarts students to point and stare I didn't think my 'fame' had reached the point where the public at large did the same. They did and they were blatant about it. Some of them didn't even bothering whispering. A few of them even had the temerity to come up to me.
There are only so times you can be thanked by complete strangers before it loses its appeal. Not that it ever possessed any for me. Either way; the only ones I truly approved of were the ex-lycanthropes. A particularly scruffy looking middle aged lady in specific caught my attention. A handful of other equally scruffy looking ex-lycanthropes trailed her at some distance.
After she got through her own thanksgiving, "If you ever need anything, Mr. Snape. Call on us and we will all answer."
When they had come up to me my mind-voice asserted itself. Before I simply settled for a fake smile and a handshake for all the shameless gawkers. Now though my path had plans for these people. I gestured for the group to follow me back inside Seven Sisters. The proprietor gave me some odd looks but apparently my money was, even without Lucius, and these disheveled people trailing me.
When we sat down I was instructed to frown and softly ask her, "What's your name again, Ma'am?"
She smiled widely and replied, "Francine Roberts. Although I haven't been able to use the last name in quite a while. Please call me Francine!"
I bestowed a smile of my own upon her and asked, "In turn please call me Severus. I'm far too young to be called Mr. Snape." She nodded and I continued, "Francine, do you and yours have jobs?"
Her posse uniformly quirked their eyebrows while flicking their gazes over to each other. Francine however responded almost immediately.
"We are, or we were, day laborers in the muggle world. Why do you ask, Mr.- Severus."
I looked her straight in the eyes when I said, "I'm not asking this as a favor. Please remember that. While I appreciate your gratitude I need you to be fully committed to what I'm about to propose."
She looked curious but I charged on ahead, "I need people I can call on regularly to reliably perform certain jobs. They might seem nonsensical at the time but I assure you I have given them a great of though. Would you be up to this?"
She gave me a good long stare before she said, "Might I ask what these jobs would be?"
I smiled widely, "If you accept I'll need messages sent to certain people. Messages I cannot entrust to an owl, however clever they might be. Sometimes I'll need you drop off a package somewhere. Sometimes I'll require you keep an eye on a certain location and report back. Things like that. I won't ever ask anything illegal from you, of course."
I could tell she wanted me to elaborate so I did, "I'll be paying you a fair salary for your time, whether I require you that week or not. I will however need at least one of you on stand by at all times. You can arrange your schedule among yourself. All I care is that the instructions are followed perfectly and without any fuss."
They had more questions and I answered them all. After this thorough questioning they all agreed my terms were fair but Francine had a final query.
"May I ask why you picked us?"
She had a good point as I had no doubt she overheard many other people making similar offers. I looked towards the next step and spoke.
"Are you going to steal from me?"
She spluttered an incoherent denial.
"Will you lightly betray my confidence?"
This got a clearer denial from the entire group.
"I'd like think I'm a fairly good judge of character. Frankly, I think I would have hired you even if you were still werewolves."
Unlikely path. Unlikely.
I continued on, "Now, to finish this up." I withdrew my personal flask of Ambrosia and dropped a fairly insignificant amount in each of their glasses.
"You're all still suffering from a lifetime of painful transformation. This should fix it."
After that I was instructed to adopt a simpering smile and wait them out. Almost half a minute passed before Francine worked up the courage to drink. Before all our eyes her disposition improved greatly. Years of the damage suffering have inflicted upon her just fell off. Almost as if someone had removed her scar make-up by scourgifying it away.
The rest of the group wasn't nearly as hesitant after they saw that. I suffered through another bout of profuse thanks before an owl suddenly fluttered into the ale house. The proprietor seemed entirely displeased with its presence but was far too slow to do anything about it. The brown post owl flew over our table, dropped an engraved letter, and flew back out.
My heart was pumping as I read the letter from the Dark Lord. I was fascinated by the subject of it and considered its implications but then I reached the afterword. Someone might be coming after my mother. My mother whom I have not included in my safety path.
I was a fucking fool.
'How do I ensure the continued safety of my mother?'
Thirty three steps. A spark of ingenuity flashed through my mind as I considered the notion I might be able to look ahead to the steps. I had to admit that might be exceedingly useful.
I could.
I felt like kicking myself.
The path was a short one but from the last few steps I could tell it was one that would last her lifetime. Good! I got up, excused myself to Francine and her lot after asking her to consider my proposal.
"We don't need to consider. We're yours, Severus."
I smiled as I wiggled out of the booth, "I'll send you a letter with the details tomorrow. Please excuse me, something terribly urgent has come up."
Francine frowned and asked me, "Anything we could help with?"
I simply shook my head, "No, I'm afraid it's far too dangerous for you as I haven't trained you yet. I'm going to burn down a government and ferment rebellion."
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head but I didn't her any more mind. I apparated as soon as I left the wards over the Seven Sisters and found myself just outside Tirana, Albania. My mind-voice apparently concurred with Voldemort. This wasn't something I could allow and I had no doubt more groups would come after my family if I didn't dissuade them. Whether they'd be governments, Dark Lords, or even an overly obsessed fan. I didn't care.
I was going to send them a message. Nobody touches my Mother. Nobody.
Within moments I had made my way to the seat of Albania's government. They didn't have a Ministry here. They had a Council, much like the Wizengamot, that dealt with official governmental business. I knew very little about the country beyond their exceptionally lax laws on Dark Magic and they absolutely vicious 'process' to reducing their Muggleborn population.
They kidnapped children from their homes, obliviated their parents, and raised them as their expendable foot-soldiers. They truly needed them as unlike the vampire population in Britain...Albania had made no such deals with their bloodsuckers.
I was stewing with cold anger and the world was crystal clear to me. How fucking dare they threaten my Mother.
I pointed my wand at the building in front of me, slashed my wand, and an entire wall disappeared. Another slash and a jab later led to the slow sinking of the building into the ground. Chaos ensued but my path told me to wait.
They would notice me.
And then I'd threaten to end their fucking Council. Of course I'd need to chew through their troops first. The first ones appeared within minutes.
I dispatched them and stacked them on top of each other. Reinforcements arrived and once again I disarmed, knocked them out, and stuck them to the ever growing pile of bodies. A particularly sneaky group of soldiers tried to sneak up on me.
They too were stacked.
My path ordered me to apparate away and back. When I did just that I noticed the crater I'd suddenly found myself in. Another jab, twirl, and a raised wand up high later and the crater filled up under my feet.
More wizards harassed me. And then they didn't. They tried the explosions again but this time the path simply let me fly up. I came back down after I dispatched the latest group.
Finally people came out with empty hands asking to talk to me.
I said some words to them I didn't understand. They fell to their feet. I said some more words and bowed to them. Their eyes boggled but they rose up on shaking legs. They looked at each other, at me, and back at each other.
They turned as one to the sinking building behind them, pulled out their wands, and set it on fire. Afterward they turned back to me and bowed.
The active path was over and I went home.
AN: Wow. This chapter just got away from me. I don't know where my muse is taking me but I'll ride it out.
AN2: This was totally a 'somewhat' trap by Voldemort. Either he'd find out Severus is a lowly mortal as he got taken out or he'd push him into a more vicious public persona.
