Chapter Ninety: A Happy Decision

Chapter Ninety: A Happy Decision

Tuesday, 30 March 1999

Poppy shook her head and handed the letter back to Severus. "I can see why you found it cryptic. It seems he wrote that to make himself feel better, not to inform you about anything."

"Exactly. Malfoy always was a self-serving prick...sorry, but he really can be. Even when he's trying to turn over a new leaf, or whatever it is he thinks he's doing, he can't help it."

"Can you think of anything that happened back then that had anything to do with you?"

"There was the business with the Potters, but it sounds as though he's talking about something that happened before that." Severus sighed. He didn't think that Poppy knew of his role in the Potters' deaths, but he should tell her at some point. "And aside from the fact that it sounds like he's referring to an earlier event, there were only a very few people involved in that. The Dark Lord, Pettigrew, and only one other, as far as I know. I think Riddle even kept Bella in the dark about most of the details. Malfoy wasn't involved and wouldn't be likely to have known anything about it. He must be referring to some earlier event, but I can't think of any event that stands out as more significant than any other."

"My advice is to put it out of your mind, then. Keep the letter somewhere safe in case you ever do need to retrieve the other letter from Candace, but until that time, just don't think about it. I don't think it would be profitable."

"You're right . . . I could probably end up obsessing about everything that happened in the few years leading up to the Potters' deaths, and . . . I think it's important to focus on the future and on you."

"Exactly," Poppy said with a nod.

"I knew you'd have good advice," Severus said. He bent and kissed her lips, his kiss becoming warmer and more sensual as her arms went around him.

Poppy kissed him once more lightly on the lips before she pulled back, smiled up at him, and then leaned against him, resting her head on his chest. Severus slowly rubbed her back, relishing the sensation of holding her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, smelling her hair, which reminded him of flowers on a spring morning after a rain shower.

"Would you like to join me for a drink?" Severus asked softly.

Poppy nodded against him, then let him go and took his hand in one of hers. "Not too late tonight, though. I think we both need an early night tonight."

"Agreed. An early night, and you can use the Floo back to the Hospital Wing so that the walk doesn't wake you up too much."

"It is quite a long hike, especially when you're tired."

"Let's go now, then. I'm finished here for the night, and I think my sitting room would be far more comfortable than the classroom, especially to do . . . this." He leaned toward her, kissing her lips and caressing one of her breasts. He straightened, the corners of his mouth twitching upward when he saw that Poppy was flushed. "And to get that pinny off. I still say it's an obstruction."

Poppy laughed softly. "I don't ever want it to be an obstruction to you, Sev." Her hand rested on his face, slowly caressing his cheek. "I don't want anything to come between us."

Severus resisted the impulse to kiss her again, and he waved his wand to open the door for them.

They were walking at a respectably collegial distance from one another, at a respectably sedate pace, when Severus was particularly glad for that fact. Behind him, he heard the quick pace of a wizard whose step he recognised easily. He glanced over at Poppy just as she glanced up at him.

For a moment, they each seemed to contemplate picking up their pace and then simultaneously realise the futility of that course. Instead, they both slowed together and turned as one, just in time to see Albus come around a curve in the corridor.

Poppy smiled and greeted him cheerfully. Severus greeted him.

"Albus, is all well?" Severus asked.

"Yes, all is well, within this castle, anyway!" Albus said brightly. "I was coming down to see you, Severus." He looked over at Poppy. "You are looking lovely this evening, Poppy!"

Poppy looked down at her plain navy blue robe and her white pinny and shrugged. "Thank you, Albus."

"But she always does look lovely, wouldn't you agree, Severus, my boy?"

Severus, stone-faced, nodded. "As you say."

"We were just going to go over our notes about the new version of the Clages Refragor Syrup," Poppy said. "We need to combine our reports. We were hoping to make a relatively early night of it tonight."

"Yes, we have had a few late ones recently, haven't we?" Albus said. "Mine was not as late as yours last night, though, I'm sure."

"Was there a specific reason for your visit?" Severus asked, turning and starting back down the corridor again.

"I thought we might have a drink, but primarily, I wished to apologise if I caused you any difficulty with Minerva yesterday evening," Albus said, falling into step beside him.

"No. She asked if you had returned with me. She did not blame me for not escorting you directly your suite and holding your hand the entire way," Severus said.

"Ah, very good. I understand that Carleton and Stan were given something of a dressing-down, but I did explain to Minerva that it was entirely my fault," Albus replied. "I ought to have been clearer with Carleton about delivering a message for me."

They reached Severus's suite, and he placed his hand on the stone wall beside the door and cast his nonverbal password charm. When the door glowed and opened to them, Severus waved the others in.

Resigned to having his quiet, intimate drink with Poppy become a drink with Poppy and Albus, Severus crossed over to his cabinet and took out an open bottle of cognac and one of firewhisky and three short glasses. He set them out on the coffee table.

"Help yourselves to whatever you like. Call Twiskett if you'd prefer something different," Severus said. "I will only be a moment."

Severus went into the loo and cast an Imperturbable. He didn't swear, however, as he had thought he might; he simply leaned forward against the door, both hands pressed against it, and banged his head against it lightly a few times. Feeling a bit better, he decided to use the facilities since he was there.

He didn't know whether there was some unseen conspiracy keeping him from having an uninterrupted evening with Poppy, even that evening when they had only a little time to be together, or whether it was just his usual luck. On the other hand, perhaps this was typical of normal life and he was merely inexperienced . . .

When he stepped back out into the sitting room, he saw that Albus had Transfigured two of his glasses into proper brandy snifters and poured some cognac for himself and Poppy. Since he found that firewhisky seemed to burn a hole in his stomach, especially if he hadn't eaten recently, Severus drew his wand, Transfigured the third glass into a snifter, and poured himself a glass of cognac, as well, then sat in his favourite well-worn wingback chair.

"We were just discussing the upcoming holiday, my boy," Albus said. "I understand that you have no plans to go anywhere."

"Nothing specific," Severus said. "I believe I may go to the Tyree estate one day, and no doubt McGonagall will wish to do something together with me. It will be a busy holiday, however, since the staff training for the counselling programme begins during the second week."

"I am very glad that you two have worked so well together on that project," Albus replied enthusiastically. "It's been a wonderful opportunity for you both, I think."

Severus glanced at Poppy, who was taking a sip of brandy.

"It has had some points of compensation," Severus said. "We hope that the programme will be a success for the students. That is the primary consideration."

"Of course, my boy. And very good of you to think of it, too," Albus said. "We should have done something of this sort long ago."

"I think it will be well-received," Poppy said. "It seems as though most of the staff are interested in assisting, and they are all participating in some way."

"I hope that you have discussed it with Stan," Albus said.

"I have," Poppy replied. "He won't be actively assisting in the programme, but I have arranged a few private sessions with Gladys for him. I hope that he will continue beyond that. His experience had to have been very traumatic."

"Scrimgeour would have a lot to answer for if he were still alive," Severus said flatly. "Shunpike is not the only wholly innocent person to have been tossed into Azkaban during that time."

"After what happened with Sirius Black, you would think that the Ministry would have learned better than to throw people into prison indefinitely without even a hearing, let alone a trial," Poppy said. "It's frightening. They did it so easily, too, with so little opposition from anyone. I can understand why so many people don't have any faith in the Ministry and distrust the Aurors. It's hardly a wonder that Gareth was frightened for his mother."

"There have been overhauls since Kingsley became Minister," Albus said.

"Justice and rule of law should not depend upon the whims of individuals," Severus interrupted. "And I do not believe that if Shacklebolt found it expedient, he would not do something similar. Until British wizarding society refuses to tolerate such actions and puts in mechanisms to prevent abuses, it will continue to happen...and even with any preventive measures put in place, I'm not convinced that a wily and self-serving Minister with his own people in positions of power could not do whatever he wished and pretend that he was doing it in the interests of security for everyone. It's hardly any better than what the Dark...what Riddle wanted."

Poppy sighed. "This is not a cheerful conversation."

"Indeed not," Albus said. "Severus, I was intrigued to hear you may be visiting the Tyree estate over the holiday."

"You were right there when Professor Birnbaum suggested it," Severus said slightly irritably.

"Ah, yes, young Eoghan is keen to have you visit, I noticed. You have made quite a positive impression on the boy."

Severus snorted. "I have had little contact with him. Once he gets to Hogwarts, he will learn better."

"Don't say that!" Poppy exclaimed. "I think it's quite fine if he looks up to you, and I don't think that getting to know you better would diminish his regard...quite to the contrary!"

Albus smiled broadly. "Poppy, dear, you are exactly right!

"If I am here in the autumn. Otherwise, he will learn it by my reputation."

"I am sure that I am not alone when I say that I would miss you, and I hope you do stay on at Hogwarts," Albus said. "Don't you think so, Poppy?"

Poppy nodded and took a sip of cognac. "I would certainly miss you, Severus. But, Albus, we must let him do what he thinks best for himself." She glanced over at Severus. "I would definitely miss you if you were to leave, though."

"And I think you could be a good influence on the next generation of children to come through Hogwarts," Albus added. "You have so much more scope to act as you see fit now, too. Besides, I believe that Eoghan is an astute judge of character. If he didn't like you, he wouldn't waste any time with you, I'm sure."

"Hmph. He seems to be a bright boy," Severus admitted. "A bit small for his age, though, I thought."

"The Tyrees are often a bit short, although his father, Connor, was almost my height. His mother was a petite witch, though," Albus said. "She was in school with you, just a year behind you, I believe, Severus. Do you remember Judith Gold? She was one of the Ravenclaw prefects for her year. Petite, dark hair, brown eyes . . . very slight build."

"I do recall her," Severus acknowledged. "She was top of her class, I believe, wasn't she?"

"She was," Albus said. "A very bright girl."

Poppy looked over at Albus's empty glass after he took a final swallow of cognac, and saw him eying the bottle as if considering another glass.

"You know, Albus, Severus and I need to go over my portion of the report on the potion, and I am going to become quite sleepy after the cognac . . ."

"Of course, my dear!" Albus said, standing. He bent and kissed her cheek. "I won't keep you two from your work any longer. Good night, Severus."

Severus was already at the door. "Good night, Albus. Thank you for your visit." Ill-timed though the visit was, there was a part of Severus that appreciated the gesture.

"Of course. We will have to make some time to get together over the holiday...though you are coming to my dinner party, aren't you? Both of you?"

"I am," Severus said.

"Yes, of course, Albus," Poppy said. "I'm looking forward to it!"

"Good night!" Albus said one more time before he stepped out the door.

Severus closed his eyes and sighed as he shut the door. "I know it was not a long visit, but I could not wait for him to leave," he said.

Poppy chuckled. "I love Albus, but I would have liked it if he had paid a visit to you some other time." She stood and held out her arms to Severus, and he stepped into her embrace.

"I don't think we need to discuss your report now," Severus said.

Poppy shook her head and looked up at him. "No. If you have questions, let me know." She kissed him and pulled him back towards the couch with her.

Before she could pull him down onto the couch, however, Severus stopped her. "This pinny must go."

Poppy smirked as he unbuttoned the buttons at her shoulders, and she loosened the waist. Rather than pull it off over her head, Severus just pushed it down, and Poppy stepped out of it.

"Better," Severus said, his voice low and filled with desire.

Poppy took one more step back and pulled Severus down on top of her on the couch, running her hands under his jacket and rubbing his back. Severus kissed her deeply and held her closely. He moaned as one of Poppy's hands began to massage his buttocks and she parted her legs to pull him even closer to her.

"Mmm," Poppy moaned as Severus's lips moved on to tease her throat. "You have the most wonderful kisses . . . I swear I could almost live on those kisses. They are . . . mmm . . . practically orgasmic."

Severus's lips whispered their way back up to her cheek and then her lips. He kissed her sensually, eliciting another appreciative moan, then drew back to smile down at her, his dark eyes shining. "I know where I could kiss you that would make them truly orgasmic," he said. He moved his body against her, shifting his weight to press into her crux. "I promise you some of those special kisses on Thursday, if you would like . . ." He leaned forward and tickled her ear with the tip of his tongue, his breath warm in her ear.

"Oh, gods, Severus, you are such a tease!" Poppy protested.

"I am glad I'm appreciated," he murmured, still kissing and licking her ear as he moved against her, one of his hands gently caressing her breast through her robe.

"Mmm, very much," Poppy said, massaging his back and buttocks.

Severus continued to kiss and tease Poppy until finally, they just lay together, nuzzling each other and exchanging light kisses.

"I'm so happy, Severus," Poppy said, snuggling against him. "So happy . . ."

"You know, I am, too . . ." He kissed her temple and gave her a squeeze.

"Are you really still thinking of leaving Hogwarts?" Poppy asked tentatively.

"I don't know . . . I have not decided not to," Severus said. "I know that . . . I know that I don't want to leave you. It's hard enough to manage to see you when we are living and working in the same place. If I were to leave, it might be almost impossible."

"If you want to leave and pursue some other opportunity, please don't let me hold you back," Poppy said, "but I will be honest with you: I would miss you terribly." She was unsure whether she would want to be at Hogwarts any longer if he weren't. If he left, he might not want her to go with him, though . . . but if he would have her, she would rather do that than stay at Hogwarts, a Hogwarts empty of his presence. "It may be the wrong time to say this, a bit . . . premature in our relationship, but I want to be with you, Sev. The thought of you leaving Hogwarts without me leaves me feeling very sad."

"Don't be, Poppy. I haven't even thought very much about it lately." He kissed her and considered what she had said. "I think it would be hard for me to stay here if things didn't go well between us, though, if you broke up with me. It hurts just thinking about it."

"I'm going to cherish every minute with you," Poppy said resolutely, shifting to sit up slightly. "I think you should do the same. Let's not talk about this all right now."

"I suppose I should let Minerva know my decision soon, however, so that she may plan . . . and perhaps it might be interesting to spend another year or two here, see how Eoghan fares. Hope for our future together, too." He shrugged as though it wasn't a very big decision.

Poppy sat up straighter and looked down into his face, a hopeful expression in her eyes. "You think you'll stay?" When he nodded, a slight smile on his lips, happy to see Poppy's reaction, she said, "I'm so glad! I didn't want to influence you about it if you really wanted to leave, but ever since you mentioned it to me a few weeks ago, it's been pricking at me, and I've been rather desperately hoping that you would decide to stay." She leaned forward and kissed him enthusiastically. She hugged him tightly.

He returned her embrace. "If I had known how important this was to you, I would have made this decision sooner. It matters to me what you want, Poppy."

"But I didn't want you to stay if there were something else you would prefer doing...especially since for most of your life, you didn't have much choice about things like that."

Severus caressed her face and drew her down into a kiss. "I will admit that it makes me happy to know that you want me here as much as you do." He kissed her again.

Poppy rested against him for a while, then sighed and said, "It's later than I'd hoped to get to bed tonight."

"If Albus hadn't come down to socialise, we would have had more time," Severus said grumpily.

"Well, to be entirely fair to him, he did think he was only interrupting our work...after hours, too. He probably thought he was giving us a well-deserved break from our hard work," Poppy said generously.

"Hmph. I don't think that's all he was thinking," Severus grumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"He's been trying on and off this semester to set me up with someone, or at least encourage me to ask someone on a date, and in general to be more social with my colleagues. He did hear us say we were meeting at eight-thirty. I have a feeling that this visit was part of his campaign to make me a more sociable person."

Poppy giggled. "If he only knew how well you and I socialise, Severus!" She laughed again, and Severus smirked. "Whom was he trying to encourage you to go out with?" she asked curiously.

"He tried to persuade me that Duffy wasn't as bad as I think, he extolled the virtues of Sharon Carter's blonde good-looks, and he suggested Professor Vector, since he has noticed that we tolerate each other well. He even mentioned you at one point...after you had decided we should take a break, so I am afraid that I didn't respond well to that particular suggestion. He also mentioned your friend Gladys, and a few others, too. I was not receptive."

Poppy laughed again. "You could be easy on him and let him know about us."

"Then he'll be even more insufferable," Severus said, "and I really want us to have some time to ourselves with only a few people knowing . . . for us to have a chance to work out our relationship without the eyes of all our acquaintances on us. Do you understand that?"

"Yes...you don't mind that I told Violet about us, do you?"

"No, of course not. I don't want you to lie about us to your family...I'd be upset if I thought you were ashamed of our relationship..."

"I'm not, not at all," Poppy broke in, "but I do agree about our having some privacy for a while, as much as possible. And you did tell Filius."

"Because he'd guessed already. It was clear that I was preparing for a date, I suppose, and he'd noticed that we seemed . . . closer. Apparently, my drinking from your straw at his party was a big tip-off," he said with a smirk.

"All right...so unless it's someone with no business knowing our business, if someone asks about us or is curious about it, I won't deny it."

"I don't know if you realise this," Severus said hesitantly, "but Gareth knows, too."

"He does? I suppose I'm not surprised," Poppy said. "You two seem to have become close friends. But no, I didn't know."

Severus nodded. There was so much that she didn't know and that he couldn't explain, at least not at that moment. And not just about Gareth.

"I guess I should say good-night now."

"I would invite you to stay, but I'm looking forward to Thursday...and I admit that I could probably fall asleep right here right now."

"Mmhm, me too," Poppy agreed, sitting on the edge of the sofa and stretching before she stood.

Severus stood and walked over to the fireplace. He lit a small fire, then reached up and took the pot of Floo Powder down from the mantel for Poppy, who took a pinch. Severus bent and kissed her softly.

"Good night, my darling Poppy . . . Piety Pomfrey."

Poppy's kiss was interrupted by her laughter. "No, not 'Piety,' Severus . . . Scribonius Snape."

He smiled and shook his head. "No, not Scribonius."

"Still love all," Poppy said with a smile. "Zero score for us both."

"I don't think I mind the score when you put it that way . . . love," Severus said, a smile in his eyes.

He kissed her again, then Poppy tossed in her Floo Powder, stepped into the fireplace, only ducking slightly, and said, "Hospital Wing." Then she was gone.