Chapter Eighty-One: Lighting

Chapter Eighty-One: Lighting

Sunday, 28 March 1999

Gareth and Severus took their leave of the Tyree family, and then walked a short way down the path to the main drive.

"You can Disapparate on your own from here," Gareth said, "but let me go first...we are heading back to Hogwarts, aren't we?"

"I am returning to Hogwarts, yes," Severus said. He bit back a sigh and thought of Poppy and her concerns. It probably was prudent to have Gareth accompany him. "Your company is welcome, if you would like to come with me."

"Directly to the gates?"

Severus shook his head. As long as they were being cautious, they might as well take additional measures. "To . . . where the Shrieking Shack used to be. Then we can walk up from there."

"Good idea. Give me a minute or two, then follow." Gareth took out his wand, winked at Severus, and Disapparated.

Severus stood there, feeling awkward and conspicuous as he waited to Disapparate. It had been a very pleasant afternoon, far better than he'd anticipated. He had accompanied Johannes up to Eoghan's rooms to fetch Gareth and the boy for tea, and Eoghan had showed him his library, his schoolroom, and his nursery, which looked less like a playroom and more like a repository for found objects...driftwood, shells, birds' nests, unusually shaped stones, feathers, snake skins, animal bones, potsherds, anything a rambling, inquisitive boy might collect and bring home with him.

Eoghan clearly wanted to show his new-found cousin more, but Johannes said that tea was ready and Siofre was waiting for them in the family dining room.

"Can he come up after?" Eoghan asked as they started down the stairs. "I want to show him my Charmed Obsidian Seer's Glass."

"I do not believe that Professor Snape has the time today, but we shall see," Johannes replied. "Did you finish your essay for your grandmother?"

"Aye, Gareth said it was good, too." He pulled a parchment from his pocket.

"As far as I could tell," Gareth amended. "I'm not a complete heathen, but I'm not very well-versed in these kinds of things, Bible stories and ethics and such. It seemed good to me."

"Would you read it, Professor?" Eoghan asked, holding the parchment out to Severus.

"I know nothing about the Bible. It would be pointless for you to seek my opinion," Severus said. He knew the story of David and Goliath and a few other iconic stories from the Bible...including, of course, the Christmas story...but he'd never actually read any of it himself, and they meant no more to him than any of the other myths and legends he'd heard as a child. Severus saw Eoghan's face fall, and then he saw how the boy immediately masked his disappointment with a neutral expression, and Severus felt a sudden stab of empathy for him. "However, it would be educational for me. I would like to read it, if I may. And I can judge whether it is well written, up to Hogwarts standards."

Eoghan's face lit up and he handed Severus his essay.

"I cannot, however, read it here on the stairs," Severus said, accepting the parchment. "I will read it later, before I leave."

Eoghan nodded in agreement.

"Run along ahead and tell your grandmother that we're on our way," Johannes said.

The boy was off like a shot, clattering down the stairs to the next landing, then mounting the broad bannister and sliding down to the next level. They could hear him jumping down the next set of stairs, full of energy.

"That was good of you, Professor," Johannes said softly. "He misses Lydia. She would always read everything for him before he gave it to Siofre. He also sees you as a connection to her, I think, since you are a Prince, too. His grandmother didn't have contact with many of her Prince relatives, and the few that she did have contact with all predeceased her. She was something of a . . . a nonconformist when she was young, you see."

Severus nodded. A nonconformist would not fit in well with a traditional pureblood family, even if they didn't blast her off the family tree as the Blacks did with any of their family embarrassments.

The tea was excellent, and although Severus confined himself to the sandwiches, he thought that the various cakes and biscuits looked very good. Gareth declared himself famished and ate enough for an army. Severus didn't know where the wizard put it all.

After reading Eoghan's essay and telling him that it was more than acceptable and quite edifying, Severus had thanked Siofre and Johannes for their hospitality and for the flowers. Johannes confirmed that a couple house-elves would deliver the flowers to Twiskett in the Hogwarts kitchens, then Severus and Gareth left to Disapparate from the grounds, since only family could Disapparate from inside the house.

After waiting as long as he could manage, feeling like a conspicuous fool the entire time, Severus Disapparated, following Gareth to the Shrieking Shack.

"Coast seems clear," Gareth said when Severus arrived. His wand was out, and he scanned the line of trees across the road. "I'll walk you up to the gates."

Severus nodded. "Thank you. That is, thank you for introducing me to your grandmother and Professor Birnbaum."

"And Eoghan."

"Of course."

"He seemed happy to meet you."

"He is a boy," Severus said dismissively.

Gareth shrugged, used to Severus by now.

"I do see, however, where you got your attraction to older witches," Severus said.

"Hm?"

"Your grandmother must be at least a few decades older than Birnbaum."

"I'm not related to him."

"He gave you a role model, not a direct inheritance," Severus said.

Gareth twitched one shoulder. "I didn't spend as much time with them as I would have liked. I doubt that their relationship had much to do with forming any of my own preferences. I suppose it made it more . . . normal and acceptable to me."

"That is what I meant. They are an odd couple," Severus said. People would no doubt look at him and at Poppy and think the same thing. "It must have been strange when they married, as I understand that was quite some time ago and Johannes was much younger then."

"I don't know whether it was strange or not," Gareth replied. "I wasn't even born at the time. And besides, Uncle Albus is even older than Aunt Minerva. Uncle Honnie's older than my dad was, and Grandmother Siofre is younger than Dumbledore."

"Yes, and that's a bit strange, too," Severus admitted, "but it's more normal for an older man to find a younger woman attractive than the other way around."

"What about Poppy?"

"She's a lot younger than Madam Tyree."

"Grandmother was younger once, too, and Poppy will age," Gareth pointed out.

"It's not the same. And the age difference isn't as great, anyway." True or not, Severus was still uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. He'd meant to speak only of Gareth's apparent preference for older witches.

To Severus's relief, Gareth didn't pursue the topic further, and the two continued their walk up to the gates.

"We might have been able to take the tunnel," Severus said, "if I knew where the entrance was on that side, and if it's not blocked."

"It's well-blocked by debris, and the fire collapsed part of the tunnel, as well," Gareth said. "I think they've closed up or warded almost all of the tunnels. That would have been during the summer, when you were recuperating."

"Minerva mentioned something about that." That had been in August, however, and he had not been well at the time. He couldn't remember which tunnels had been filled and which ones had simply been warded. He would have to ask her.

"So, this injury of yours, practising for our duel next month?"

Severus shook his head. "For the one with Albus."

"What's the difference?" Gareth asked, looking puzzled.

Severus stopped and looked around. "A big difference," he said softly.

"What, I'm a powderpuff and he's not so easy to beat?" Gareth asked, still confused.

"No. Look, McGonagall . . . it's not definite yet, and we're not saying anything to anyone, but Flitwick had the idea that Dumbledore and I could have a different sort of duel."

Gareth waited. "And?"

"We may not do it, but I'm preparing for a wandless duel. That's why Flitwick's Mulcare hit me so hard. I'm trying new wandless spells. My wandless blocks aren't always as effective as they should be."

"A wandless duel? I don't know whether that would be the most boring sight in the world or the most exciting," Gareth said. "With the two of you, I'm leaning toward 'exciting.'"

Severus shrugged and began walking again. "I still haven't decided. It's up to me. I don't want to make a fool of myself."

"Unlikely. So that's why you and Flitwick are doing so much duelling. I didn't think it was just so that you could thoroughly humiliate me in front of my friends and family," Gareth said with a grin.

Severus glanced over at Gareth. "I wouldn't humiliate you. Not intentionally."

"I know, bad joke. I wasn't suggesting you actually would. So . . . after our duel, want to practise with me? Or even before."

"It might put me at an advantage during our scheduled duel if we were to practise together before," Severus pointed out.

"That's fine...and it might not, actually. It's not as though I'd cast the same spells that I would if you had a wand."

"I shall consider your offer."

"Excited about tonight, then? Big date with Poppy and all?"

"I am looking forward to it, although I have some slight concerns. I want it to go well."

"I hope it does. It sounds as though Johannes is doing some nice flowers for you."

Severus nodded. "It was generous of him. I feel I should pay him, but he would not accept, though I offered more than once."

"Do something nice for them, then. I know: take Eoghan up on his invitation and go for a visit after they get back from their Easter holiday. If you feel awkward about it, we could both go. He's a good lad, just a bit different."

"Accepting their hospitality a second time would put me in their debt again," Severus said.

"No, no. Don't look at it like that. Eoghan would like to get to know you, that was clear. Uncle Honnie and Grandmother Siofre would be happy to have Eoghan get to know you better. You'd be doing them a favour."

"Hmph. I doubt that, but I will consider it."

"Good. So . . . see you sometime this week for a drink?"

"I don't know . . . next week, perhaps, after Easter."

"Right. Or on Saturday. If you're going to Uncle Albus's dinner party. He said you were invited."

Severus nodded. He had almost forgotten, though Dumbledore would no doubt remind him of it. "Yes. I have said I will be there."

"Good. See you then, if not before. Have a good time tonight, and say 'hi' to Poppy for me!"

Gareth waited to Disapparate until Severus had opened the gate, stepped through, and closed it behind him again with a clank.

Severus hurried up the drive. He wanted to see Twiskett before dinner in the Great Hall. Not only would Twiskett have to be told about the flowers being delivered, but Severus wanted to go over the menu with the house-elf once more. It was simple, but Severus didn't want there to be any problems with the food. He also needed to check that Twiskett had delivered the candles as he'd requested. It was an unnecessary exercise, Severus recognised, since Twiskett could hardly have failed to have performed such an elementary task, but he also wanted to begin setting them up around the room.

An hour later, a grumpy Severus stalked into the Great Hall. Twiskett had not shirked his duties, and in addition, three beautiful flower arrangements and two bird-of-paradise plants had arrived, but Severus was still grumpy. The room just didn't look right. He had even had Twiskett bring table linens and lay the table in hopes that that would help. It hadn't.

He picked at his dinner. He wasn't particularly hungry after having had sandwiches so late in the afternoon, but he also wanted to be able to eat with Poppy when she arrived. Severus scowled. When she arrived to his gloomy sitting room. Perhaps the solution would be to use some lamps in addition to the candles, but he'd always thought that candles were supposed to be romantic. In his rooms, however, they seemed something other than romantic, and he didn't know why.

"Not hungry this evening, Severus?" Minerva asked.

"No."

"Did you have a bad day?"

"No."

"You were out."

"Mm."

Minerva shrugged and ate some of her stew, used to Severus's moods.

"I met your grandmother today," Severus said, feeling slightly guilty about his curtness, even though Minerva hadn't seemed offended by it.

"Really? How was that?" Minerva asked.

"I met Gareth in Edinburgh. He brought me with him." Severus took a swallow of water. "I also met . . . Eoghan." He didn't want to call the boy his cousin. The relationship was too distant...and too new...for him to think of him that way.

"Did Gareth tell you that your great-great-grandfather and Eoghan's great-great-grandmother were brother and sister?"

"He told me we were cousins of some sort, and Professor Birnbaum told me that Eoghan was Lydia Prince's great-great-grandson. He said we're also related through the Longbottoms." Severus tried to keep from grimacing at the thought that there was any Longbottom blood flowing through his veins.

"Oh yes, you are. Lydia's and Bertrand's sons married Longbottom sisters...Bertrand was Lydia's brother. Sally Longbottom was Eoghan's great-grandmother, and . . . what was her name . . ." Minerva thought a moment as she chewed a chunk of potato. "Louisa, I think. Yes, Louisa Longbottom was your great-grandmother, your grandfather's mother."

"I didn't know that she was a Longbottom."

"Yes, and then your grandfather, as you know, married Mabelle Black, who was Phineas Nigellus Black's granddaughter. Her father was Phineas Black, whom some Blacks did not approve of. I believe that his name was actually blasted from the family tree, as though that could have erased his existence," Minerva said, smiling wryly.

"Though my mother had mentioned them, I had never even met the Black sisters before I came to school."

"That's probably one reason why...although I believe that Mabelle was seen as having married the proper sort of wizard."

Severus snorted. "My grandfather was a mean son-of-a-Crup, if that's 'proper,'" he replied.

"I didn't say that he was popular or well-liked, just that he had the right background and held the right kinds of beliefs to be accepted amongst the pureblood racists. Of course, then his daughter does the unthinkable and marries a Muggle."

"My grandfather hated my father." Severus paused, thinking. "I don't think that he even liked my mother."

"I didn't know your mother well, but I had the impression that she didn't care much about the opinions of others. Or if she did care, she'd decided . . ."

"Yes? Decided what?"

"Decided she'd never fit in, so she stopped trying to. I actually had heard, though, that she was engaged to be married to some older cousin. It was a surprise to learn she'd married someone else."

"Did you ever meet my father?"

Minerva shook her head. "I don't know anyone who did. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything about him."

"I know all I need to know," Severus replied. He looked down the table and saw Flitwick leaving his seat. Flitwick had said he'd deliver the Charmed musical box after dinner. "Thank you for clarifying the way in which I am related to Eoghan. Have a good evening, Headmistress." He pushed back from the table.

"You, too, Severus...and when Poppy returns to the castle, you should have her check you over. Filius told me about your injuries."

"I am fine, but thank you for your concern." Severus nodded at Minerva, then turned and quickly strode from the table.

As soon as he entered his sitting room, Severus flicked a finger to light the floor lamp next to his favourite armchair. After lighting the candles he'd set out around the room and on the table, he waved his hand and extinguished the lamp. It was no better than it had seemed before he'd left for dinner, even with the birds-of-paradise set on either side of the fireplace and the bouquets on the table. He frowned. Perhaps it was . . . his aura. His ugly personality leached from him and into the shadows around the room. He smirked humourlessly.

There was a rap on the door. Flitwick, no doubt. He opened the door with a crook of his index finger.

"Good evening, Severus!" Filius's cheerful voice came from behind the large rosewood box that Levitated in front of him. It was massive, much larger than Severus had expected, anyway, almost as tall as Flitwick and equally wide as it was tall, though it was only about two feet deep. "Where would you like it?"

"Er . . . beside the sofa," Severus said, carefully moving one of the small end tables so that its candles didn't tip over. He set the table down beside the bedroom door. The candles cast even more strange shadows in their new location.

Filius directed the musical box to settle to the left of the sofa. "There! Now, I created a few sub-libraries for you so that you can easily select several musical pieces at once. I'll show you how to do that yourself...it's not terribly difficult, magically, but the process has several steps. I wrote them down for you." He pulled out some parchments from his robe pocket. "Here's a list of all the music on the box, and one with the individual play lists. I left on the ones I'd made for myself, years ago, and then did three others with some selections I thought you might enjoy. The first one I created for you has music that I know Poppy would like...that's the fifth list on that parchment."

Severus took the parchments and looked at them. Creating play lists looked complicated but not difficult.

"How do you add new music?" Severus asked.

"Well, this is an old musical box, as I mentioned." Filius caressed the inlaid surface of the box. "It's quite a good one and can create a very nice symphonic sound, but it is difficult to add new pieces to it, not like with the newer models. You can purchase specially Charmed discs to add to it, but that takes more space, and there's not a lot of space left in this one. The other method requires having a master Music Charmer place new charms on the existing discs. You could add hundreds more pieces that way."

Severus nodded, looking at the parchment with the lists of music. There was a lot of Baroque and Classical music, and a lot of music by Romantic composers, but there was quite a bit of music from the twentieth century, too. There was very little popular music, though, and none from any point after the late sixties. The play lists that Filius had created for him were acceptable, and Severus thought that it was appropriate for his date with Poppy.

"Thank you for loaning me the box, Professor."

"Well, I have a few . . . I do like this one, although it's a bit old-fashioned now. But I always liked the box itself."

"It is lovely wood," Severus said appreciatively.

"If you would like it, I would like to give it to you...I don't use it anymore," Filius said, cutting off Severus's protest, "not as a music box, just as a pretty piece of furniture, actually, but it does have very nice sound, and you don't have one. It was one of the better models back in the day . . . I got it in . . . my, in ninety-nine! One hundred years ago." He sighed. "It's hard to believe it's been that long. I bought it in Hannover whilst I was at the Steinhof Akademie. I would like you to enjoy it."

"Thank you, I am sure I will. It is beautiful."

Filius twitched his wand and the room filled with the sound of Ravel. Severus smiled. Filius twitched his wand again, and the music changed to Debussy; another twitch, and the music faded away.

"You have good acoustics," Filius remarked. He looked around him.

"Then that's about all that's good about this room," Severus said, slumping onto the couch. He gestured to the room. "I wanted to create a . . . a pleasant atmosphere. I wanted romantic, but this . . . it's not romantic, it's, it's..."

"Just a little creepy?" Filius suggested.

Severus frowned. "Yeah. Creepy. A funeral home would be a more romantic setting," he said with a moan.

Filius giggled at the apt description. "It's easy to fix, though, Severus." He looked around. "All the candles are white. Which could be good, but here, it just doesn't help with the basic atmosphere of . . . creepiness. And they're almost all on the same level, most of them very low...even for me. They're all evenly spaced, too. It gives the feeling of a mausoleum, and the resulting shadows all are . . . creepy."

"Thanks," Severus said morosely. He'd wanted romantic and had created creepy instead. Even a sweet little wizard like Flitwick recognised how ghastly the room looked. He couldn't manage anything good.

"May I help?"

Severus shrugged one shoulder. He'd wanted to do something special for Poppy. He'd spent the entire day, it seemed, finding flowers and preparing for his date. "I suppose."

Filius waved his wand, and all the candles turned different colours, deep burgundy, forest green, china blue, pale bronze, sage green . . . subtle colours, not the bright, Flitwickian, rainbow colours that Severus might have expected. Filius rearranged the candles so that they were on different levels, some at Severus's head level, then the Charms master waved his wand so that some of the simple candlesticks were now candelabra; one more wave of his wand, and one of the lavender bouquets settled on the coffee table and another floated over and landed on one of the end tables, leaving only the lilacs on the large table.

Filius smiled happily at Severus's expression of surprised pleasure. "I suggest you also get a chandelier. I would just Transfigure one, but I think that your house-elf could find a nice one somewhere and hang it over your table for you. Something that you could put some long white candles in."

"This is much better . . . thank you. I didn't know why it looked so utterly dismal. I thought I might just have to turn on the lamps and get rid of the shadows. I thought . . . I thought . . . maybe it was me. My darkness. My darkness in the shadows," Severus said, ending with a whisper.

"No, Severus." Filius stepped over to him and put his hand on his knee and patted it. "You have a lot of brightness in you, a lot of light. You just don't always let it out."

Severus barely nodded.

"Now, I'm sure you want to finish getting ready for your date," Filius said cheerfully. "Change clothes, that sort of thing."

Severus looked at Filius. Change clothes. He'd thought he might shave, but he hadn't considered changing clothes. "Yes, of course. Thank you for your help. I'll have Twiskett install a chandelier over the table as you suggest."

"Don't forget to have Poppy check your head wound! And your chest!" Filius said as he left.

Twenty minutes later, and Severus had showered, shaved, and put more salve on the yellowing bruise on his chest, and he was now standing in front of his dresser debating his tie. He looked at the narrow black bow tie in his left hand and at the slightly wider silvery grey bow tie in his right. He frowned slightly, then opened the shallow top drawer of the dresser. The green cloth caught his eye immediately, and he drew out the silk cravat that Minerva had given him before Christmas.

He did his best to recreate the tie that Twiskett had done for him the previous December, tucking the long ends into his silver-grey waistcoat. It took a few attempts before Severus was pleased, but when the cravat looked sophisticated to him, and not like a child's bib, he took out the garnet stick pin that Dumbledore had given him for his birthday, and he stuck it through the centre of the cravat.

As Severus shrugged on his jacket...a relatively traditional black suit jacket, but his newest one...he heard noises coming from the sitting room. He opened the door and saw Twiskett standing beside the table wiggling his fingers at the ceiling, installing a simple wrought-iron chandelier over the table. It had six slender arms, each ending in a flower-shaped candle holder.

It wasn't glittering gold and crystal, but it was appropriate for a stone sitting room in the dungeons. At some point, he'd have to think about other changes he could make to his rooms. He didn't want anything as lavish as Slughorn had had, but just a little redecorating might go a long way. Thinking about redecorating reminded him of Gareth. He hadn't even asked the other wizard what progress he'd made in the house at Spinner's End. Couldn't have got very far, though. He'd had less than a day...although he had mentioned house-elves. A couple house-elves could do a lot in very little time. McGonagall might be moving his computer in in just a few days. There was the matter of the telephone line, though. He didn't know how long it would take McGonagall to sort that out. There hadn't been a phone in the house since his father had left them.

After inspecting the various platters of food that Twiskett had Apparated in, Summoning it with house-elf magic, Severus thanked Twiskett, who nodded and smiled before Disapparating.

It was five minutes before eight. Severus could feel his heart beating faster. Although he didn't wish for the return of the days of the Dark Lord, it seemed to him that he had been less nervous before a meeting with him than he was now. The Dark Lord could only torture and murder him; Poppy . . . Poppy could break his heart. He shook his head. He wouldn't think about these things. Poppy cared about him; he had to believe that he had a chance with her, whether he deserved it or not.

He opened the bottle of wine, a cabernet from the Hogwarts cellars. It was nothing particularly special, but none of the wines in the school cellars were bad. If he had planned further ahead, he could have purchased something special, but this would do.

A moment later, there was a muted knock on his door. He set down the bottle, licked his lips, took a deep breath, and crossed over to the door. He opened the door to see Poppy waiting, smiling up at him.

His own smile froze on its way to his lips. Poppy was in her pinny, a grey robe, and carried her potions basket. It looked as though she was visiting him in her capacity as matron. He blinked, then stepped back to let her in.

"Hi, Severus! You look very nice!" She looked around her as she set her basket on the floor. "Oh, this is lovely!"

"Thank you . . . did Flitwick or the Headmistress say something to you?" he asked, looking at the potions basket.

"Hm? No, should they have?" She reached behind her and unbuttoned her pinny, then pulled it off over her head. Severus could now see that the grey robe was just a very loose, lightweight over-robe, and under it, she was wearing the lilac-coloured robes he liked so well. She saw his glance at her basket. "I thought that would be convenient for bringing your little present...not your surprise, that still has to wait. Go ahead, take a look." She shrugged off the robe and looked around for a place to put it, but Severus took the robe and pinny and sent them to hang on the hooks by the door.

Poppy bent over and opened the basket. "Wine . . . I don't know if we'll want it tonight, but my brother-in-law's cousin has a vineyard in Cornwall, and so Dylan and Violet always have some nice wines on hand. I filched a couple for you," she said with a wink. She handed him the two bottles.

"Thank you. I opened a bottle, but we could have one of these instead."

"No, let's wait. We can always open one of these later." She looked around her, smiling. "The room looks very nice. And so do you." She reached up and stroked his cheek, then ran her hand down his chest. "Very handsome."

"You are lovely...and I have something for you." Severus took her hand and brought her over to the table. "These are for you. Lilacs . . . and they match your robes."

Poppy's smile grew. "So they do!" She leaned in and inhaled deeply. "Oh, beautiful. They smell gorgeous."

"I saw them and thought they were perfect for you." He gazed into her eyes. "They are delicate and sweet, and yet strong. I also thought they were suitable in other respects. As the carnations were."

"Lilacs . . . I remember lilacs," she said softly, blushing slightly. The first emotions of love. She turned her head and looked at the flowers again. "Thank you. It looks as though there are a lot of lovely things to eat, too!"

"I hope you are hungry. I chose things you seemed to have enjoyed at Flitwick's party, and a few other things that I thought would go well. Spanakopita, stuffed vine leaves, falafel, a yoghurt sauce, and there's some individual moussakas, too."

"A nice salad, too, I see. Mm, it all does look delicious. I didn't have any dinner, either, so I'll certainly enjoy this."

"Then we will eat," Severus said. Remembering Filius's gift, he asked, "Would you like some music?"

"That would be nice."

Severus glanced at the parchment he'd placed on the sideboard, refreshing his memory on how to start the box playing the first play list. Poppy walked around to the musical box and ran her hand over the top.

"Isn't this Filius's?" Poppy asked.

"It was a gift. He gave it to me today, actually. I asked if he had one I could borrow, but I did not anticipate that he would give one to me." Severus drew his wand and waved it in a delicate gesture, imitating Filius's slight flick of his wand. When nothing happened, he tried again, this time making the gesture just a bit broader, and the music began with a bright piece by Vivaldi, perfect music for dining.

"What a lovely gift," Poppy said.

Severus nodded. "Would you like to eat now?"

"I would, but first, you asked me if Filius or Minerva had spoken to me. They didn't, but I did return to the infirmary to find a report of an injury to the Head of Slytherin. I'd like to take a minute to check you over before we eat."

"That's not necessary..."

"I will not be able to enjoy the evening if I'm thinking about it," Poppy said firmly. "So unless you've seen a Healer or something like that whilst you were out today, I'm going to check your injuries now. Flitwick's report mentioned your head and your chest."

Severus sighed and nodded. "I hit my head against a stone wall. The hex hit me here," he said, indicating the upper portion of the left side of his chest. "I've used a potion on it twice, though, and it feels better."

"Sit down here on the sofa and let me look at your head." Poppy moved her hand over his head, not touching it, but then her fingers gently tapped one spot. "Here?"

"Yes."

"Does it hurt when I touch it?" She pressed the spot lightly.

"No, not really . . . I feel it, but it's only slightly sore."

"Mm." She waved her wand. "It looks as though it should be fine. Let me just . . ." She waved her wand once more, and Severus felt a cooling sensation on the healing wound. Poppy pressed the spot again. "How's that?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't hurt at all now."

"Good. And your chest?"

"I just put more potion on it about a half hour ago. It's fine."

Poppy still pointed her wand at his chest and flicked, causing a purple glow followed by a stream of silver symbols. She flinched. "Ooo, that must have hurt! It is healing well, although I could give you another treatment and speed things up more."

"My head hurt more, so I didn't really notice. I really think we should eat now," Severus said. "May I pour you a glass of wine?" He stood up and went over to the table.

"I'd like that, thanks." She accepted the glass and waited for Severus to pour his own.

He raised his glass to her. "To you, Poppy." He touched his glass to hers.

"Thank you, Severus. You went to so much effort tonight...it's wonderful. It really is."

Severus set down his glass. "You are hungry, though." He pulled out her chair for her. "I am glad you like it. I was . . . I admit I was nervous"

"It all looks wonderful."

"If you had been here an hour ago, you would have met quite a different sight," Severus said candidly.

"Really?" Poppy bit into one of the dolmades. "Mm, this is delicious. So what would I have seen?"

Severus gave her a crooked smile. "It was creepy, to quote Flitwick."

"Creepy?" Poppy looked around her. "How? Did you have . . . spiders or something?"

Severus shook his head and swallowed some tomato and feta cheese. "I was trying to . . . I wanted to make this evening special for you. But these rooms . . . they are not naturally romantic. And I had a difficult time making it romantic, I'm afraid. I tried, but . . . my efforts had a peculiar effect. It looked like a mausoleum. Also according to Professor Flitwick."

Poppy had trouble swallowing her wine as she struggled to keep from laughing. Finally, she was able to let out a laugh. "A creepy mausoleum? Is that really what Filius said?"

Severus smiled. "I don't believe that he used the two words in the same sentence, but yes, he said that it was creepy...which I already knew...and that it looked like a mausoleum. It was partly all of the white candles." He choked out a laugh. "And they were all casting strange shadows. I was in despair!"

Poppy laughed again. "Well, it looks lovely now! And I appreciate it all even more knowing how hard you worked at it." She reached over and took Severus's free hand. "You are so very sweet. I am glad we have this time together."

"So am I. Thank you for accepting my invitation."

"I was happy to have a date with Severus S. Snape. Would that be Severus Salazar Snape?" Poppy asked.

Severus barked a laugh. "No."

Poppy shrugged. "I had to try the obvious one first. So now it's your turn."

"Poppy Pearl Pomfrey."

"No. Shall I guess again, or should we wait?" Poppy asked.

"If you have a guess, then guess," Severus said.

"Severus Silenus Snape."

Severus shook his head. "Poppy . . . Primrose Pomfrey."

Poppy tried to keep a straight face. "No. Let's see . . . Severus Septimus Snape?"

"No...how many is that?"

"Four, I think. At what point do we give up?"

"We don't...unless you want to quit."

"No, no. Want to try another? If you have another?"

Severus smirked. "Poppy Posy Pomfrey?"

Poppy couldn't help her giggle. "No, even my parents wouldn't pick that one. I'll go one more, and if I'm right, I win and get to pick my prize."

"All right...but if you're not, then we continue the competition later."

"Severus Silvester Snape," Poppy said firmly.

"And that's another 'no,'" Severus said. "Neither of us is doing very well."

"I'm not ready to win yet, anyway," Poppy replied. "I haven't completely settled on what my prize should be."

"I have . . . and I believe you would enjoy losing," Severus said in a low voice.

"I do prefer winning."

"I don't believe you would remember that you lost."

"Hmm . . . you intrigue me, Sev, but I still want to win."

Severus looked at Poppy's plate. "There's dessert, if you'd like some."

"Perhaps later."

"Would you like to dance? I think this is a waltz."

"I would love to." She stood as he gave her his hand.

Severus looked down into her eyes. "Do you remember when we danced at Halloween? I enjoyed it. Dancing with you. I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have, but I did enjoy it. And I remember thinking how lovely you were . . ." He gave a quick grin. "Apart from your costume, that is. You were the only witch there whom Minerva didn't have to coerce me to dance with, you know."

Poppy laughed. "I suppose that does say something! But I doubt that it was a burden to dance with Helena Benetti, at least."

"She is very kind."

"And beautiful."

"Yes. But I would prefer to look at you, to dance with you, to . . . hold you in my arms," Severus whispered.

"I was very glad when you asked me to dance, though it seemed to me that you weren't as glad."

Severus stroked her cheek. "I wish I hadn't been so blind for so long. I wish that I had asked you to dance again, had brought you to dinner sooner, had begun much earlier to show you the attention you deserve." He kissed her forehead and then her temple, his lips moving gently over her skin. "I wish that when you gave me my birthday present, I had asked you to come to lunch with me. I wish that we had already had many dates, and that I had truly appreciated you before I . . . before I flirted with you. Or that I had flirted sooner."

His lips met Poppy's, and he brought both arms around her, pulling her close. He held her and continued to kiss her, pleased with her warm response, the way her hands massaged his back and her lips moved against his. He remembered his resolve to demonstrate to her that he wanted more from their relationship than just a sexual fling. Gently and somewhat reluctantly, he broke their kiss and nuzzled her hair.

"Dessert?" he asked softly.

Poppy nodded.

"I thought I'd call for coffee...or tea if you would prefer."

"I don't want to be awake all night," Poppy said, sitting down on the couch.

"Decaffeinated coffee, then? Twiskett can have it ready in just a few minutes."

"All right."

Severus called Twiskett, and the house-elf nodded silently when Severus asked for the coffee, and then Disapparated with a short crack.

"Did you have a good day, Sev? Apart from the duelling practice?" Poppy asked as he sat down next to her.

"The duelling practice was fine, actually. Instructional. Later, I met McGonagall...he sends his greetings...and we went to the Tyree estate." He gestured toward the flowers. "That is where I obtained your flowers."

Poppy smiled. "How is Johannes? I haven't seen him in months...not since summer, at least. And Siofre?"

"They both seemed well. I had not met them before today, so I have no basis to compare, but they did seem well."

"Did you meet Eoghan, too?"

Severus nodded.

"You know, I think that he's related to you in some way, though I'm not sure how. He even looks a little bit like you did at his age."

"I made his acquaintance, yes, and he is a cousin. I do not know how to judge the degree of our relationship, since we are cousins two ways, but obviously we are not first cousins." He nodded grudgingly. "I do think there is a little family resemblance. It is superficial."

"Resemblances are that way. Did you have a good time?"

"It was fine. The grounds are impressive, as are the greenhouses. What about you? How was your visit to your sister's?"

"Oh, I enjoyed it. We didn't do very much, but we talked a lot, you know."

A tray with coffee, cream, sugar, and two coffee cups and saucers appeared on the low table in front of them.

"I'll fetch the dessert," Severus said.

Poppy poured their coffee. "What is it?"

"Baklava. Very sweet, but I thought you might like it." He set down two plates in front of them, each with a small square of the honey-laden pastry.

"It's lovely in small amounts, but it is rich. This has been a wonderful meal. Thank you, Severus."

"I want you to know how much I want to spend time with you, how much I enjoy it and appreciate it."

"I enjoy it, too. Very much," Poppy said softly. She reached over, caressed him, and ran her fingers through his hair, then she pulled him down into a gentle kiss. "Very much."

His arms went around her, and they both forgot the baklava.

Author's Note: It's been a little while since I updated this fic, but in the meantime, I posted a few new chapters of Charming the Scottish Garden, and I posted a new one-shot to the "Cheering Charms" set of flashfics, called, "It's not the heat."