III-A

Part III- Ending A

30 April 2028

Mrs Weasley,

I will be in London on Friday next and wondered if you would be able to meet me for lunch.

S

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 May 2028

S,

It’s not a habit of mine to make lunch dates with people when I don’t know who they are.

H Weasley

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2 May 2028

Mrs Weasley,

I didn’t think that it was necessary to divulge my identity. Perhaps I give you more credit than you deserve. After all, you said yourself that I am nothing more than a lonely hunchback.

S

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

3 May 2028

S,

And tell me exactly why I should even bother taking time out of my day to meet with you?

H Weasley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

4 May 2028

H,

I wish to speak with you about an anniversary which is approaching.

S

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

5 May 2028

S,

Friday at two o'clock. Meet me at Alfords of Farrington.

H

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

18 May 2028

Dear Hugo,

I hope that you’re enjoying your final few days of school. You have a lot to live up to when it comes to sitting for your N.E.W.T.s next month.

And don’t you try telling me that you’re going to work for Uncle George, you know that Mum wouldn’t sit for me just going to work there, she certainly won’t sit for you doing that either. She’s been so overprotective since Dad died. I wouldn’t mention your latest girlfriend to her either.

But that’s not why I was writing you. I’m sure that by the time you receive my letter you’ll have already seen the front page of the Daily Prophet. I just wanted to make sure that you were given an unbiased account of what happened. We wouldn’t want you to be so upset that you aren’t able to do well for your exams you know.

It is true, our mother walked into that room on the arm of a very un-dead Severus Snape. You remember the stories about him. The worst Headmaster that Hogwarts ever had, the most vile Potions professor to walk the halls, the bane of every Gryffindor student. They are the rumours that every first year student hears the moment they first board the Hogwarts’ Express.

Huey, I’ve never known Mum to be an attention seeker, but she put herself right in the middle of everything last night. It was unbelievable! The entire hall was in complete pandemonium when they arrived. Uncle Harry immediately took charge and he had Aurors keep the crowd of people back while he and Aunt Ginny pulled Mum and Snape out of the hall and off to a side room.

The newspaper said that Mum and Snape have been having a thirty year long love affair. Even going so far as to question our paternity. Don’t believe a word of it! Mum never would’ve cheated on Dad.

Not ever.

And there is no way that she has spent the last thirty years harbouring a criminal while pulling the wool over the entire Wizarding world population just so she could rise up in the ranks in her job with the hope of a bid for the next Minster of Magic.

Just remember what our parents always said, the Daily Prophet is full of wannabe fiction writers all clamouring for the next sensational headline.

I did get a chance to speak with her and apparently she knew what she was doing. Mum told me that she found Snape on one of our holidays, in one of those dusty old bookstores that she likes to visit. I don’t think that she ever told Dad about it. Hell, after talking with her, I don’t think that she ever told anyone. She said something about writing him letters, but she didn’t ever get a reply from him until a couple of weeks ago when he was ready to make his reappearance to the wizarding world.

God, Huey, she acted as if she truly likes the man. Mum never left his side the entire night. The pair of them sat there as Uncle Harry asked a barrage of questions and then Kingsley, followed by Minister Bones.

Mum kept saying that Snape deserved to be treated as a hero because everything he did had been for the Order and for Uncle Harry. (Though, every time she tried to say that about Uncle Harry, Snape would glare at her.)

Have I mentioned yet how glad I am that we never had him for a teacher? In some cases, I don’t think that the stories did him justice. I wonder if it’s true that he’s a bat, because he sure as hell looks like one and I swear that when he walks he has a charm that causes those robes of his to billow. I wonder what he did while he was living as a Muggle to avoid detection. Mum said that he first owned a used bookshop—hence how she came across him—and later, he was an antique book dealer, but the clothes he wore seemed so much a part of who he is. Maybe old bookstore proprietors are usually eccentric. I don’t know; I really never fell in love with those old, dusty books like Mum did. I prefer my novels to be fresh, crisp, clean and new.

Anyhow, after Mum and Snape were both questioned, Uncle Harry agreed with Mum and they decided to allow Snape to attend the celebration with them. I guess you can’t argue with the head of the Auror Department and the head of Magical Law Enforcement, especially once they have the backing of the Minister of Magic.

It was pretty obvious from the way she was acting that Mum trusts Snape, though I’m still at a loss for why. When I asked her, she told me that Snape was the one who allowed them to survive the war and that he had barely survived. I asked her about the body that they retrieved from the Shrieking Shack; she said something about how he’d been prepared for the attack and once Uncle Harry, she and Dad left, Snape got up and made his way out of the Shack to where some fighting was going on. He apparently found a nearly dead body then force fed it a concentrated dose of Polyjuice, applied a few long-lasting Glamour Charms and put it in his place in the Shack.

Mum didn’t say so, but I would bet that he waited in the Shack until he knew that someone was coming to retrieve his body and then dosed the body one final time. You remember the stories we heard about that day … the fallen people from the battle were gathered and buried very quickly. Services and the like weren’t held until well after the bodies were placed in the ground.

After she told me the stories—the entire time with that man sitting with her and saying nothing—I asked him why he had chosen now to return. He said the strangest thing to me, and I still don’t know what it means. He said, “Because I only recently realised that my evil masters have been dead and buried for a very long time and I was no longer forced to live in seclusion. Because it is high time that Quasimodo has a happy ending and is lucky enough to court his Esmeralda.”

I haven’t a clue what that means, but Mum smiled and wrapped her hand around his arm and I could almost swear that she had tears welling up in her eyes. God, you don’t think that he was comparing Mum to a gypsy, do you?

Well, brother, I believe that I should let you get back to your revision, but I wanted to put your mind at ease. You know, in case you were trying to use that as an excuse to not study for your exams.

Love,

Rosie

A/N: This is the first of two possible endings. Please click forward to the next chapter if you'd like to read that version as well.

I wrote alternate endings for this story as a tribute to Hayseed's wonderful story, "Getting the Hang of Thursdays".