Black on black, scowling as usual. And his poor, abused hair...
"Yes, yes, Master Snape, I know that, but I am but one man and there is a limit to how many places I can be at once, you know. A good Apothecary owner must keep up with the times, after all..."
"Hmph."
It always amused Tom Riddle no end that none--to this very day, not even one--of his Loyal Servants seemed to manage to recognize him in his "Tom Riddle, upstanding citizen of not-quite-Knockturn and Apothecary owner extordinare" role.
And it wasn't like he was using anything like a high-powered glamorie or anything like that. Quite the opposite, in fact. Voldemort was the one with the multi-layered glamories and whatnot...It did come with the role, of course. His Loyal Servants did so love that kind of thing.
"Tom Riddle the Apothecarist", on the other hand, almost never used anything but the "I am a compentent shopkeeper and artistan!" aura required by shopkeepers and artistans everywhere.
It was odd...really.
Well, there weren't very many people who wore his Mark that had actually gone to school with him or anything any more, either (Thank you, Albus Dumbledore. The payback is in the mail. Though he really couldn't blame Dumbledore for all of that--mess--he supposed...), so that might have something to do with it, too.
But anyhow. Just what kind of finicky pickiness had Severus Snape come up with, this time?
Moonflowers and Heartsease. How anybody could get that incensed about which leaves were picked when and under which weather conditions...
Oh, those kind of things could be important, especially when one was trying to make certain kinds of fertility potions, for instance, but still. Really.
See Severus Snape, see him think. See the thoughts move and slide and jerk... it made him faintly nasuaus, frankly. Why couldn't he think like a normal human being, every once in a while...
Severus sometimes almost made him sorry he'd ever mastered Legimancy.
Almost.
There were times when he strongly suspected that the not-quite-human elements in the Snape bloodline had unluckily managed to emerge wholesale in the person of one Severus Snape...
Well and well, the haggling was done, at long last. And Severus seemed to like the new herbal tea he'd served him, a miracle in itself. It should sell well, if even Severus the gripe liked it...
Or maybe not.
"Ahh...Shopkeeper. There is one other thing..."
What now? Severus Snape could try the patience of a saint, as some of the nuns who'd tried to bring him up would have said...
"Are you interested in...something like this?"
It appeared to be a written invitation.
"Several prominent people will be attending...Including Albus Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic, whoever it's going to be by that time, I suppose. The noted Alchemist Linden Smith from the United States will also be attending, I believe."
Alchemists, eh? He'd known real Alchemists, once upon a time...
But what was this?
"You may bring a companion. Or several. ...If you choose to attend."
No strings attached, or as close to no strings attached as those things went.
And it wasn't a Death Eater recruitment drive, either. Not in the least.
Just why was Severus Snape doing this, anyway?
Severus glowered threw the hair over his eyes, as usual. Except...
Was there some kind of... fear? Hopefulness? What?
"I'll take it elsewhere, if you don't want it."
Where had that faint...pleading?...note in Severus' voice come from, anyway?
Tom Riddle suddenly realized something odd indeed.
Severus Snape was trying to...give him a present?
To Tom Riddle the Apothecary owner?
"I will be honored to attend the Malfoy's Autumn Ball, Master Snape. Thank you very much."
His brain was mush.
This would cause...so many complications...
But Severus Snape looked...strange. Very strange.
Oh.
So that's what a happy Snape looks like...
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(Posted Sat, 16 Apr 2005 08:44)
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