XXIV: A Caring Father

Chapter XXIV: A Caring Father

'I thought I told you not to wait for me?' Demeter pointed out, trying to scowl at the blond boy who was leaning against the stone wall opposite the Potions mistress' office door. She failed miserably at looking stern, but the tone in her voice was enough to make Melvin lower his head. He never saw the corners of Demeter's mouth twitch, nor did he see the mischievous twinkle in her blue eyes.

'I wasn't waiting for you,' he mumbled, sounding like a miserable five-year-old who had been caught with his hand in the biscuit tin. 'I was just on my way to my first class when you came out of the office.'

Demeter bit her lip. She had only meant to tease Melvin a little. Making him uncomfortable had been the last thing she had wanted to do. She had only known him for a couple of days, but she had already learnt that he was a sensitive boy and that he would blush for the silliest reasons. One well-worded, biting comment would certainly be enough to reduce him to tears, Demeter was quite sure of that. Not that she would ever want to make him cry. Already the fact that her playful chiding had made him uncomfortable made her feel very guilty in turn.

For some moments, both children stood silently in the corridor: one nervously shuffling his feet and the other gnawing at her lip; one feeling silly and the other not knowing how to apologise.

Gathering all her Gryffindor courage, Demeter gingerly nudged Melvin's shoulder. 'I wouldn't mind if you had been waiting for me,' she said quietly, lowering her head in order to catch Melvin's eyes.

When their eyes locked, they both smiled. And when Demeter added that she was actually very glad that he had been waiting for her, Melvin's face lit up as if someone had pointed a torch at his features. For the second time that morning, he looked as if he would do just about anything for the girl in front of him. But all she asked of him was to show her the way to the Transfiguration classroom.

As they started their ascent, chatting amicably and holding hands, the children had still not noticed the ghost that had been observing them ever since Demeter had stepped into the corridor. Lucky them. Had they seen Severus Snape's scowl, not even Demeter's Gryffindor bravery would have prevented them from fleeing the dungeons at the speed of a Firebolt.

Melvin Riverbed. Of all the boys in the castle, why did Demeter have to become friends with that one? And why, Severus wondered, did her choice annoy him so much?

His scowl turned a deeper shade of dark as he wasn't able to answer his own question. The boy was likeable enough, Severus had to admit that. He was well-mannered and friendly and had, as far as Severus knew, never been in trouble during his first year at Hogwarts. He didn't play Quidditch but was instead a member of the Gobstone Club. He also spent a great deal of time in the library. To sum it up, the boy was a polite, studious Slytherin with admirable social skills. What else could a father wish for in his daughter's first boyfriend? But the word boyfriend alone was enough to make Severus sneer.

'Why the dark face, Severus?'

He turned slowly to find Morgaine leaning against the door frame to his – her – study. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and the searching look in her eyes made it very clear that she would not let him off the hook before he had given her an answer.

'Are you aware of the fact that our daughter, a Gryffindor first-year, is socialising with a second-year Slytherin?' he asked in an icy tone.

Morgaine looked at him, a puzzled expression on her face. 'Yes, I am very much aware that Demeter is friends with Melvin Riverbed,' she declared. 'They had a very good time in Diagon Alley. And I have a feeling that Melvin took good care of Demeter on the Hogwarts Express as well.'

Severus flared his nostrils. So both Alek and Melvin Riverbed had had the opportunity to get to know his daughter before he had. Wasn't that just delightful?

'The boy is a coward,' he snapped before he could stop himself.

Morgaine frowned, either unable to make sense of his words or disagreeing with them.

'Do you not remember the boy's first night in the castle?' Severus continued. 'He let his cat escape from the common room and ran into Peeves. You found him sobbing behind a suit of armour.'

'Peeves had pelted him with chalk and locked the door to the common room,' Morgaine replied calmly. 'Melvin was hurting and scared. Sitting all alone in a dark dungeon corridor on your first night at Hogwarts, hiding from a poltergeist who is trying to bash your head in, would turn any first-year into a quivering bundle. In fact, I know a couple of seventh-years who would not only cry but probably become downright hysterical. I don't think calling the boy a coward for that is a fair assessment, Severus.'

'He blushes all the time,' Severus pointed out, growing more and more certain that he did not like that boy. And he did not want Morgaine to like him either.

'Melvin blushing does not make him a bad person, Severus,' Morgaine replied, her voice still annoyingly calm. 'He can't help it that he's sensitive.'

'Only fools carry their emotions on their sleeves,' Severus snarled.

'So I've heard.'

An uncomfortable silence settled over the corridor, and Severus saw a muscle twitch at Morgaine's jaw. He shouldn't have said anything about hiding one's emotions, not when he knew how much damage it could do. It had never done him any good and Morgaine ... He did not even want to think about how much grief Morgaine had hidden away over the years.

Just when the silence threatened to become overwhelming, Morgaine pushed herself away from the door frame. 'I find that it takes a special kind of bravery to dare show one's emotions,' she said quietly, not meeting Severus' eyes. 'And I for one admire people who possess that bravery. You are, of course, entitled to your own opinion.'

Her eyes were slightly narrowed and her jaw tight. Probably no one else would notice, but Severus knew Morgaine well enough to understand that his words had hurt her. He had not meant to. But as he reached out for her, he found her mental barriers were fortified. She would not let him in. He had gone too far.

'My NEWT class is arriving in ten minutes,' she declared and straightened up. 'I need to get ready.'

She was already about to close the door behind her when she spoke again. But she did not look back at him.

'Give the boy a chance, Severus. Demeter likes him, and as her parents we should be happy that she is making friends so quickly. And we should be grateful that she has befriended such a nice boy, no matter what his last name is.'

Severus stared for a while at the door Morgaine had closed behind her. Was she seriously implying that he had decided to dislike the boy because he loathed the boy's uncle? Now that was just the most ridiculous ...

He was about to float through the wall into his old study to tell confront Morgaine but heeded himself. What if she was right? What if he really was projecting his dislike of Alek Riverbed onto Melvin?

He had made that mistake before. He had decided to make Harry Potter's life miserable just because the boy had been the spitting image of his father. He had even gone as far as to deduct House points from Harry because he – supposedly – did something in the same way his father had. In hindsight, his behaviour was both juvenile and downright ridiculous.

So instead of following Morgaine, Severus dissolved into thin air and made his way up the stairs towards Professor Binns' classroom, where he knew that the second-year Slytherins were about to have their first lesson of the school year. Before he opened his mouth once more, Severus wanted to have a closer look at Melvin Riverbed.

~ ~ ~

'How was your first day at Hogwarts?'

Demeter looked up from her book, and her eyes locked immediately with a pair that was almost as blue as her own.

'It was absolutely ... magical!' she replied with a smile. 'I could not have imagined that there would be so much to learn. I've only had Transfiguration, Charms and Potions today, and still it feels as if I cannot fit anything else in my head.'

'And still I find you sitting you here at the edge of the lake with a book in your lap.' Melvin flopped down in the grass beside Demeter and curiously peered at the heavy book she was holding. 'You do know that you were not Sorted into Ravenclaw, right?'

Demeter closed the book and turned it around for Melvin to see its cover. It was her copy of Hogwarts – A Revised History. 'I'm not studying,' she explained. 'I'm reading up on Severus Sna... on my father.'

Melvin nodded pensively. 'You must have so many questions, never having met him and all. I know how you feel. When I was little, I had a long list of questions I wanted ask my father should I ever meet him. I never got the opportunity, though.' He shrugged and then fixed Demeter with his eyes. 'Have you met him yet? The ghost, um, your father, I mean.'

Demeter nodded and took a deep breath. At breakfast, she had not yet been ready to tell her friend about the meeting with her father. Now she was.

'I met him last night,' she started, 'in the Headmistress' office.'

'And?' Melvin asked curiously.

'I'm not sure he likes me.'

Melvin's mouth fell open, and for once it was Demeter who lowered her head. She had not meant to blurt out the truth like this. But the horrible feeling of having been a disappointment to her father had been gnawing at her all day, and now that the words had freed themselves, it suddenly felt to Demeter as if a huge stone had fallen from her chest.

'I ... What do ... Did you just say he didn't like you?' Melvin stammered, looking flabbergasted. 'You must be joking.'

Demeter sunk her teeth into her lower lip and vehemently shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut to will back the tears that were burning in her eyes. 'I'm not joking,' she brought forth. Her throat was suddenly feeling very tight.

'Why on earth would he not like you?' Melvin exclaimed. The shocked look on his face had given way to an annoyed frown.

'I was being cheeky,' Demeter explained, sounding defeated. 'I told him that he had been Sorted into the wrong House, that he should have been in Gryffindor because he had been such a brave man.'

To Demeter's surprise, Melvin looked relieved. He took Hogwarts – A Revised History out of her hands and leafed towards one of the last chapters. When he had found what he had been looking for, he put the book back into Demeter's lap. 'Second last paragraph,' he said. 'Read it.'

Demeter looked at the page and frowned. 'I know Harry Potter has said that Severus Snape had been a brave man,' she pointed out. 'I know this part of the interview by heart: "I would not be standing here today without the help of Severus Snape. He has sacrificed more for the Light than anyone of us will ever understand. He saved many lives with his wits and his Slytherin cunning, and he fought with the courage of a Gryffindor lion."'

Melvin nodded. 'What I am trying to say is that your father has heard this before, Demeter. Surely, he would not be mad at you just because you pointed out what the whole Wizarding world already knows.'

Demeter shrugged. She had been through this in her mind countless times already and come to the same conclusion. But she had not dared believe it, and now that Melvin pointed it out, she felt utterly silly.

'Tell me, um,' Melvin continued, suddenly seeming uncomfortable. 'When you told him, did he, um, ... How did he react?'

'He told me not to believe what people say but to make up my own mind about things,' Demeter explained.

'And then?'

'Then he told me that I should go back to Gryffindor Tower to get to know my classmates.'

'Was that all?'

Demeter nodded, not sure what Melvin was after.

'Well, um, don't take this the wrong way, Demeter.' Once again, Melvin's cheek were turning crimson. 'You know I'm Slytherin, and, um, well, we have been told certain things about Severus Snape by the older students. One thing is that he has never been very ... friendly. There is a story that he once managed to make a whole classroom full of Hufflepuffs cry before they had even lit the fires under their cauldrons. So, what I am trying to say is, um ... If he didn't hex you, I'd say he likes you.'

He had said the last sentence so fast that he was now all out of breath, and Demeter was staring at him as if he had just declared that the Forbidden Forest was full of fluffy bunnies.

'If he did not hex me, then he likes me?' Demeter repeated in an incredulous tone.

Melvin's face fell. 'Damn, that really did not come out right!'

'It most certainly did not!'

Then Demeter started to laugh. Whether she was laughing at 'If he didn't hex you, then he likes you' argument or at Melvin's crestfallen facial expression, she did not know. But once she had started laughing, she could not stop, and when Melvin joined in, she did not want to stop either. It was far too good a feeling.

'What I actually came down here for,' Melvin gasped after some minutes, wiping tears from his eyes, 'was to ask if you'd like to come and play Gobstones. There are a couple of us meeting for a game two or three times a week after dinner.'

'But I am rubbish at Gobstones,' Demeter pointed out. She, too, was wiping away tears of laughter. 'I've only played once, at the Leaky Cauldron. And I think your uncle let me win.'

'My uncle would never ...' Melvin started, trying to look shocked. But he soon began to grin. 'Yeah, alright, he might have. But you can come and play anyway. That way, you can practice and next time we play at the Leaky Cauldron, you can be gracious and let Uncle Alek win instead.'

He got up and reached out his hand for Demeter, and she took it with a smile. Of course she would go and play Gobstones with him. Who was she to resist his Slytherin logic?

~ ~ ~

'I told you I was rubbish,' Demeter sighed, once more wiping her face clean from the stinky liquid the Gobstones spat out every time a player lost a point. At the rate she was losing, she was amazed that the stones had any liquid left inside them.

'You're not that bad for a beginner,' Melvin tried to encourage her. 'Let's try again, shall we?'

Demeter shook her head. 'I'm sitting this one out,' she announced and pointed towards the stone bench on the other side of the court. 'I'll be watching you and figuring out a strategy.'

How bloody hard could it be, Demeter asked herself as she watched Melvin play against the Ravenclaw girl whose name she had already forgotten again. Jessica? Jennifer? She had wavy dark-blond hair, a cute smile and a very annoying laugh. She was Muggle-born and had claimed that she had never played Gobstones before. And still, she was winning.

Demeter kicked away a pebble that had been lying at her feet. She was feeling utterly disgruntled. They had been playing Gobstones for two evenings that week and now for half of the Saturday afternoon. And still she had not won a single game. However hard she tried, her stones were always the first to skip out of the rings. And there that little Muggle Ravenclaw was winning game after game, laughing ever so happily and batting her eyelashes at Melvin.

'Nursing our bruised ego, are we, Miss Snape?'

Demeter jumped at the whisper that seemed to come from out of nowhere. It was a deep baritone, smooth as velvet, strange yet familiar. It belonged to her father.

'Do not talk to me, or your peers will think that you have lost your mind. From where they are standing, they cannot see me.'

Demeter narrowed her eyes. The ghost might be right. She could hardly see him, and he was barely a foot away from her. The bright autumn sunlight was turning him almost invisible. All Demeter could see was his faint silvery outline.

'You do not like losing, do you?' Severus asked, his voice still barely a whisper.

Demeter shook her head almost imperceptibly.

'And you would do just about anything to beat the little Ravenclaw, would you not?'

Demeter swallowed. How could he know? Still, she gave a low sound of consent.

'Would you like me to give you some pointers?'

Demeter straightened, and suddenly there was a fire burning in her eyes. Being given tips to beat the Ravenclaw and being coached by her father? This was an opportunity too good to miss.

'Any means to achieve your goal, Miss Snape?' Severus asked.

'Hm hm,' Demeter replied.

'Fascinating. Maybe you should have been Sorted into Slytherin after all,' Severus pointed out. And had he been clearly visible, Demeter would have seen him smirk. 'But for now we will try to win fairly, shall we.'

Demeter felt a blush creep over her cheeks and quickly lowered her head, which made her dark hair shield her face from her father's eyes. She had, however, the feeling that he knew anyway that she was blushing.

'You will want to miss your first shot,' Severus explained and made a hushing sound as Demeter opened her mouth to object. 'It is almost impossible to score a point while taking a break shot,' he continued. 'If you miss your first shot, the Ravenclaw will have to take it. She will not score, and that will leave you with the opportunity to gain a point with your second shot.'

Demeter frowned, going over her father's words in her mind. But of course! The strategy was so logical and simple that Demeter could have slapped herself for not having figured it out on her own. She had been so eager to break the stones with her first shot that she had not even noticed that she never scored on that shot.

'Take advantage of your opponent's stones,' was Severus' second tip. 'Use them as shields to slow down your stone when you take a shot, and use them to hit into others.'

Demeter was taking mental notes, her eyes fixed on the game in front of her. Melvin was losing. Good, Demeter thought. That way, she would be able to challenge the winner.

By the time Melvin congratulated Jennifer to yet another win, Severus had provided Demeter with quite a few practical tips. She had listened carefully and was dying to try them out.

'May I challenge the winner?' she called across the court before getting up from the bench and giving her father a wink. Oh, she would show him that she was both a good listener and a quick learner.

She missed her first shot on purpose, just as he had told her, forcing Jennifer to break. And just as Severus had predicted, the Ravenclaw did not score. Demeter, however, scored with her next shot and was allowed to go on playing.

The game went well, and Demeter could not help but cast a quick glance towards the stone bench on the other side of the court every time she scored. She could not see the ghost anymore, but if he was still there, she was certain that she was making him proud.

The ghost was indeed still there, and had Demeter been able to see him, she would have witnessed something only a few people had ever seen: Severus Snape was smiling. And he was feeling proud. His daughter might have been Sorted into Gryffindor, but she certainly possessed the Slytherin spirit. And then and there, Severus decided that he would be right there by her side to promote it.