Chapter One Hundred-Four: Party Games

Chapter One Hundred-Four: Party Games

3 April 1999

Severus nodded as Aine asked him if he'd care to join her in Minerva's study for a few minutes. Poppy had left with Pomona on some errand to do with Hufflepuff House, and although they had finished the meal with fruit and soft cheese, Albus had reassured everyone that a marvellous dessert was to follow, but after their dinner had time to settle. Others were drinking a cognac that Quin had brought with him that evening, and a few were drinking an apple brandy from Minerva's grandmother's estate. Gareth had tried to persuade Severus to have a glass of it...it was from one of the barrels put up when Lydia had still lived and overseen its production...but Severus had declined. He might have a drink later, but he had abstained even from the wine with dinner, though with each course, a new glass of wine had appeared at his place. Too many strangers there, or scarce acquaintances, to be comfortable drinking.

"I'll come with you," Hafrena said. "You can give me an alignment."

Aine hesitated only a moment, then smiled and nodded.

In the small study, Hafrena sat in the swivelling desk chair, but Aine didn't sit in either of the other two straight-backed chairs, so Severus remained standing, now somewhat uncomfortable under the red-haired witch's scrutiny. He didn't feel her magic reaching out to him this time, though, so he simply stood there and waited for her to speak.

"You're the wizard who helped Melina find a cure for my father," Aine said after a moment.

Severus twitched one shoulder. "I did little. I only discovered the nature of the curse."

The corner of Aine's mouth twitched up. "I thought it had to be you, but Dad wouldn't say."

Severus waited for the uncomfortable moment when she would thank him, but she looked away and shook her head.

"You saw more than that, didn't you," Hafrena said.

Aine looked at her cousin. "Didn't see it . . . couldn't really feel it . . . it slipped from me, and I didn't pursue it. I promised only a glance, after all."

"Your aunt," Hafrena said softly. "Was it her presence?"

Aine's eyes moved back to Severus. "I felt that there was something you were hiding, something that you hide very completely from almost everyone. I could feel it, see it like a dark shadow in a corner behind you. I was about to look away when I suddenly knew that Aunt Gertrude was somewhere in that shadow." She swallowed. "I didn't look further, but . . . one event springs to my mind. That black shadow began in your past, fairly deeply past."

"Are you asking the boy a question?" Hafrena asked.

"I don't know." Aine looked down.

Hafrena looked up at Severus, who had taken a step back. "Gertrude and I are old friends, Professor Snape, and Aine is my...was my student. I believe that you should tell Aine what she is not asking."

Severus looked at Hafrena, trying not to shift his feet, trying to remain calm, his mind quiet and Occluded. What could she know of it?

"I do know," Hafrena said. "I was with Gertrude mere hours later."

Aine shook her head, looking back at Hafrena. "It's all right. I have my answer. He was there."

"Don't look at a Death Eater's soul if you wish to see a life of beauty and good works, Madam MacAirt," Severus said stiffly, stepping back. He tried to push all thoughts and emotions from his mind, but he was out of practice, and he could feel panic rise in him, his heart beating harder. She would tell. Poppy would know. She would hate him. He would lose her and be alone again. He relaxed his jaw just as he was about to clench his teeth, trying to avoid the thought that he should do something about this woman, this small witch who'd led the life of a Muggle for so long, snap her, break her . . . the impulsive thought filled him with revulsion, and he drove it completely from his mind.

"I did not expect to see only beauty, Professor," Aine said softly, "and I did not wish to gaze much at your time as . . . at those times, knowing that it would be unpleasant, and something, too, that you would not wish me to see. But this secret...if you were not holding this secret so close now, in the present, I would not have seen it at all."

"Party games," Severus said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Minerva told me some were planned. Very delightful."

Aine let out a breath, and as Severus took a step back, ready to leave the room, Aine raised her hand. "Does my father know?"

Severus shook his head.

"He was ill already," Hafrena said, "and he could not have been told, even if Gertrude had wanted to share it with him."

"He should know. But . . . he has to understand it." Aine looked up at Severus. "You cannot keep this secret much longer, Professor. It will come to loom over all you do."

"Right," Severus said briskly. "I'll take out a full page advert in the Prophet on Monday, then. Would you care for me to include anything else in the announcement? Any other mayhem from my youth?"

Aine frowned at him, her eyebrows drawing together. "I am trying to help you. And obviously I don't mean to confess to the world. Keep it private, but not secret. You are too close to people who would be hurt by that secret."

Severus snorted. "So the answer to that is to tell . . . to tell whom? I do not believe you know what you're talking about, Madam."

"Dad should know. He might find out somehow," Aine said, turning to her cousin.

"I agree, I suppose." Hafrena sighed. "I wish it were all behind us. But that is what we must convey to him," she said more briskly, "that it is behind us, that Gertrude has put it behind her. We will tell him together, with her, if she agrees."

"And whether I agree to this is irrelevant?" Severus asked stonily.

Hafrena looked up at him and nodded. "Not entirely. But if Gertrude agrees, then we will tell him."

Severus remembered what Gareth had said about Quin's ability for revenge...or for justice on his own terms. His body felt numb, except for the painful pounding of his heart. His revenge would only begin with telling everyone, Poppy, all his colleagues . . .

Aine stepped toward him and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Do not become so alarmed. We will handle it well. Better this than him stumbling across it on his own, either with you or with Aunt Gertrude. With so much time spent together, he could simply happen upon it one time when Aunt Gertrude's guard was down. And I do think that you should tell others . . . Gareth, your lilac lady of spring, those closest to you and to Gertrude, but I won't interfere there. But this is my da, Professor, and my aunt."

"Gareth knows," Hafrena said.

Aine looked surprised. "He does?"

Hafrena nodded. "For years."

Aine laughed lightly. "That is a relief!" She looked up at Severus. "He was one of my great concerns, and Po–, one other, as well. I presumed that Minerva and Albus have always known, or have known at least since you began teaching here."

Severus nodded curtly.

"You would be well-advised to do something about this secret between you and Poppy," Hafrena said bluntly. At Severus's look of surprise, she added, "Sometimes, especially when I am greatly fatigued, I simply See, and I know what I See before I can avert my gaze, if you can understand that. But don't worry, your 'lilac lady of spring,' as Aine so poetically named her, will hear nothing from me. You and she have great potential as a couple, Severus, though I didn't look deeply enough to see much more than that. Don't let a secret of this magnitude overshadow the ties between you."

"Professor, Aunt Gertrude is Gareth's mother,"Aine said. "If he is your friend now, and he very clearly has strong, warm feelings towards you, then surely you must see that the knowledge that you were there in that attack will not destroy your relationship with someone who cares about you already. If it's a secret, however, and the secret comes out in some way not under your control . . . it will be a shock, regardless, but you can see how easily a secret could seem a lie."

"Thank you for your advice," Severus said stiffly. The witch was echoing his own fears, and he did not like hearing them from another. "I will bear it in mind."

Hafrena nodded. "Very well."

Severus began to turn to leave, reaching for the door handle, but Aine stopped him.

"That was only the half of what I wished to say to you, Professor."

Severus stopped cold. "And you believe I should wish to listen?"

"I am sorry you are uncomfortable with the way I approached you, but put yourself in my shoes for a minute," Aine said. "Aunt Gertrude never spoke to me about what happened that night. All I learned was from Minerva, who told me only that Aunt Gertrude had been attacked by Death Eaters in her home and that . . . she was injured as she was. I meet you, and there you are. You know what happened because you were there. If I had wished, I could have woven my way through your past and seen what had happened so that I could witness it myself. You may be an Occlumens, Professor, but Divination and Legilimency are nothing alike. I see the past as it happened to you, not simply what is in your mind. And in the present, I saw that you were hiding it because you are hiding it, not because it is hidden in your mind, do you see?"

Severus glanced away. His eyes caught sight of a photo high up on a shelf. Albus, Minerva, Quin, a few others, including Malcolm and Gertrude. Minerva holding a baby. Gareth, perhaps. The good old days. "Your father . . ."

"He is very grateful to you for restoring his magic to him," Aine said. "As am I. Very grateful."

Severus shook his head. She had mistaken his meaning. "He's also . . . a seer."

Aine nodded. "Of sorts. His strongest gift lies in his empathy, though. It's harder for him to see the past or the future without some aid. He could still pick this up from Aunt Gertrude, though, perhaps not in detail, not seeing the past, but seeing her relationship to her injury now, in the present."

"But perhaps not."

Aine acknowledged that. "Perhaps not."

"Then why tell him?"

"It's up to Gertrude," Hafrena said. "It is her relationship with Quin that would make this something that he should know. She may already be planning to tell him at some time. There is much to share between them after such a long separation. Or she may think it is best not to tell him any details."

Severus thought back on his conversation with Gertrude a few days before, and then the curious one they had had earlier that evening. Whether Gertrude told Quin or not . . . it was her decision, and her right, Severus acknowledged to himself. And she had forgiven him.

"What else did you wish to say to me?" he asked.

"'T'isn't much," Aine said, "just something I thought you might like to know, but which you would not want spoken at the dinner table."

Severus snorted. As if he had wanted her to talk about him being "surrounded by love" right there in front of everyone.

"Well, if you aren't interested . . ."

"What is it?"

"Just that I saw your father leaving. He didn't leave willingly. Not happily."

"It seemed that way to me," Severus said. "You wouldn't know anything of it."

Aine shrugged. "He loved you. He wrote you a letter and said good-bye. Your mother came into your room and she took it. She never gave it to you. But she believed it was better for you. Your parents both tried to do what was best for you. They both felt . . . pain. It was difficult for them both."

"My father was a drunk. My mother was a depressive. Her father was abusive. That's the truth," Severus said. "My father was glad to be leaving us, and my mother was glad to be rid of him. You may have seen something accurately with regard to Professor Gamp, but the only accurate statement here is that my father left us. If he ever wrote a letter...no, I would have known. He barely spoke to me those last weeks he was with us."

"I wanted to tell you because you will read that letter soon. I thought you would like to know and be prepared."

Severus shook his head.

"I see you reading it in a room filled with books. Not a library, though. Brightly lit. And there is someone with you. Someone . . ." Her eyes grew unfocussed, and she unconsciously reached toward him, a whisper of magic at her fingertips, but Severus took a step back. "Sorry, Professor," she said, blinking and shaking her head quickly as if to clear it, dropping her hand to her side. "But it's very close, and won't be averted . . . at least, it's extremely likely that this event will happen, and soon. Something could intervene in the meantime, but I think that anything that intervenes would only delay the event, not prevent it."

"Hmm. Yes, if I receive a letter from the dead, I will inform you, Madam MacAirt," Severus said drily.

"From the dead?" Aine asked, puzzled. "Your father . . . he's dead?"

"Many years. Now if you will excuse me, I believe I will find some dessert. Perhaps Albus is ready for his games...they might prove more amusing than this one has." He sighed.

"Professor...I hope that you enjoy the book."

Severus turned and looked at Aine again. Her blue eyes seemed anxious to him, and she was offering her hand and a crooked smile. He breathed out and relaxed.

Just as Aine was dropping her hand, he reached out and shook it. "I am sure I will enjoy it. The author has not let me down yet." He was pleased to see Aine's smile warm at his words.

"We'll see you shortly, Severus," Hafrena said. "I'll see what my young cousin can do for my magic channels and my nerves!"

"Don't let them start any games without us!" Aine added.

Severus twitched a smile. "Never. I would not deprive you of the pleasure."

Aine laughed, and even Hafrena chuckled at that.

Severus rejoined the party to see that perhaps he would have been better off staying with the two NicAirt witches and watching Hafrena's channels get realigned. Poppy and Pomona hadn't yet returned, and Calum O'Donald had a small black and silver camera out, and he was taking photographs. At the moment, he was photographing Minerva, Albus, Gertrude, and Quin, Quin on Gertrude's right with his arm around her, Albus on her other side, and Minerva next to Albus, their arms around each other. Gertrude was smiling faintly, then Quin bent and whispered something in her ear and she brightened momentarily, giving a short, sharp laugh. Calum snapped another picture, his flash going off with a loud pop.

"Severus!" Albus called. "Come, my boy, come have your picture taken with us!"

Severus shook his head, a frown darting across his face.

"Come, Severus," Minerva said, beckoning him. "Indulge us! I would like to have one photograph with the two of us in it together where you're not scowling!"

Others laughed, and Severus gritted his teeth.

"How about one of Mum, me, and Quin together?" Gareth suggested, stepping around.

Calum, quite agreeable, adjusted his stance to focus on Quin and Gertrude as Albus stepped away and Gareth took his place beside his mother. Calum took the photograph, then Gareth said, "Another, one more...Helena, join us in this one?"

Helena smiled but shook her head. Filius gave her a little shove, and she shrugged and stepped up beside Gareth, who grinned and placed his hand on her shoulder. She seemed tiny beside him. As soon as the photograph was taken, she shook her head again and said something that Severus couldn't hear. Gareth just chuckled, patted her shoulder, and returned her to her conversation with Caspar and Flitwick.

"Okay, now your turn, Snape," Gareth called. "Come on over here...you, too, Aunt Minerva, Uncle Albus!"

Severus shook his head again and stepped back, bumping a small table containing nuts and a diversity of chocolates.

Minerva came over and picked up one of the chocolates. "Let's, Severus." She put an arm through his, then popped the chocolate into her mouth.

Severus let out a slow sigh. "Very well." Minerva squeezed his arm and dragged him over to Gareth.

Severus stood still for the photo, feeling wedged between Minerva and Albus, Gareth on Minerva's other side. Fortunately, though Albus stood close to him, he didn't put his arm around him, as Minerva did, and Quin and Gertrude had moved off to sit together on the sofa.

Poppy stepped into the room just as Calum's flashbulb was popping again, and Severus could feel his heart lighten. Pomona was just behind her, saying something, and Poppy was slightly turned back toward her, nodding, and Severus was struck by what a lovely profile Poppy had, and how pretty her dark honey-coloured hair was in the candlelight. She turned toward the room, saw him, and smiled. He felt the corners of his mouth tug upward.

"That's it, Professor, smile a bit," Calum said. "Aunt Minerva wants a good photograph with you!"

Severus looked down at Minerva as she gave him a squeeze, and he twitched an amused smile. He bent toward her and whispered in her ear. "You warned me about Albus's party games, but not about your camera-mad nephew."

Minerva laughed, and Albus, not hearing what Severus had said, but hearing Minerva's responding laughter, grinned and patted Severus on the back. The camera flashed again.

Severus nodded and stepped away. He had indulged Minerva and Gareth sufficiently for the time being.

Now that Pomona and Poppy had returned, Albus seemed eager to introduce his party games. They would form teams, he announced, and play charades. Severus didn't groan or frown at that, though standing in front of a group of colleagues and strangers and pantomiming like a fool was far from his idea of an enjoyable game; Poppy had come around beside him and was standing close, so close that the sleeves of her robe brushed his. He felt warmth flow through him, and a pleasant tightness in his groin. He wished he could get her alone.

Albus was just puzzling out loud about how to divide up the guests into teams, when Severus remembered Aine's words.

"Professor, Madam MacAirt and Professor MacAirt are still in the study. They wished to participate."

"I'll go peek in on them," Quin offered. "Let them know we're ready when they are."

"In the meantime, dessert, anyone?" Albus asked. He twitched his wand, and the dining table was now a buffet of various desserts.

Severus heard Pomona's ooo, and he presumed there was some chocolate cheesecake among the various treats. That reminded him of the Halloween party, when Poppy had so kindly taken his hand and led him from the dance floor to a quiet corner where they had each eaten a slice of chocolate cheesecake. He looked down at her with a smile. "Care for some dessert, Madam Pomfrey? Perhaps they have chocolate cheesecake. I remember that you enjoyed that at the Halloween party."

"You have a good memory, Severus," Poppy said. "If there is some, I wouldn't mind a piece."

"Please, sit. I will bring it to you."

"Thanks, Sev– erus!" Her bright smile lightened his heart even more, and he didn't even mind that she almost slipped and called him her pet name in public.

He returned to her side a few minutes later, carrying two plates and two forks. She had taken a seat on what might be termed a very large chair, or perhaps a very small loveseat. Too large for just one person, but very cozy for two. He bowed his head briefly to her, then held out the two plates.

"There is one piece with strawberries over it, and one with cherries. I was unsure which you would prefer."

"Which would you like, Severus? They both sound good, and I'll have whichever one you don't...if you wouldn't mind letting me have a taste of the other, that would be nice." She patted the cushion beside her as he handed her the slice with the cherries. "Have a seat. It's a bit small, but you could expand it, if you wish."

"I would not wish to pick up Dumbledore's habit of altering every chair I happen upon," Severus said with a slight snort, but he didn't sit.

Albus, who had come up behind him, chuckled. "Dear boy, if that's the worst of my bad habits you were to acquire, you would be fortunate!"

Poppy laughed. "I wouldn't call it a bad habit, Albus. Just a funny little quirk you have. It can be amusing to see what chairs you Transfigure or conjure up!"

"You are kind, Poppy! But Severus, do take a seat...I am sure it is most awkward for Poppy to have to look up at you so. I'm just going to go see where the MacAirt contingent is! Then we can begin!"

As Albus bustled off to Minerva's study, Poppy patted the chair again. "I saved the seat for you, Severus. I thought we could sit together for a bit and . . . catch up with each other."

Severus smirked. Catch up, as if they hadn't spent hours together that day already. He tried to make a display of reluctance, but it was difficult, as he was quite pleased to sit thigh-to-thigh with Poppy.

"Good," Poppy said as Severus slid back into the chair. "The cheesecake, I mean. Would you like a taste of my cherry?" she asked, straight-faced, but making Severus almost choke on the first bite of his own cheesecake. "I think you might like it."

Severus looked down at her plate, which she was raising, and then looked up and met her eyes. "Perhaps a small taste."

To his surprise, she offered him her own fork. He didn't know what to do. It was so . . . intimate. And there were people there. They might see . . . he could feel the heat begin to rise in his face. Not only eating from her fork, accepting it, but her . . . her cherry. There was a large red cherry, whole, in its sugar juice, resting in a bed of dark chocolate cheesecake. He swallowed.

"Here, try some. Then I can take a taste of yours," she said evenly, calmly, as if this were something quite usual between colleagues, on the order of borrowing a quill to jot a note during a staff meeting.

The fork approached his mouth, and he opened, then closed his mouth around the cherry, first tasting the sweet juice, then the dark chocolate, and then the cherry as she slid the fork from his mouth. He remembered to chew.

"Good?"

Severus nodded, swallowing. "Quite. Thank you."

"May I have a taste of the strawberry?" Her fork was poised.

"Wha– Oh, yes, certainly." Severus held out his plate to her, letting her take the tip of the slice and a halved strawberry with it.

"So, did I miss anything?" Poppy asked. She put her fork in her mouth, apparently savouring the strawberry.

Severus blinked. Miss anything . . . "While you were out with Professor Sprout, you mean?" At Poppy's nod, he shrugged. "I do not know. I spoke with Madam MacAirt in the Headmistress's study. O'Donald was taking photographs, though...and has not ceased, apparently," he added as a flashbulb went off across the room. This time, Calum was taking a picture of Gertrude, Quin, and Minerva sitting together on the couch, Quin with his arms around both witches' shoulders, and again, sitting on Gertrude's right. You almost couldn't tell that Gertrude was missing her arm . . . He stabbed his fork into his cheesecake.

"Calum was always a shutterbug," Poppy said, slicing her cheesecake with the edge of her fork. "Muggle and wizarding."

"You concluded your business with Professor Sprout satisfactorily?" Severus asked, looking away from Gertrude and trying not to think about what Aine had said regarding a secret becoming a lie, and his own fears of the same.

Poppy nodded, chewing and swallowing. "Orla Mitchell is on her own in Hufflepuff, the only first-year. Her uncle will be coming for her in a few days, but in the meantime, she's feeling very lonely and homesick. She's going to come spend Easter Sunday with my family. There will be a number of children about her age there, and I think she'll have fun."

"I see. It is good of you to offer," Severus said.

"She's a sweet girl. I'm happy to bring her along."

Albus emerged from Minerva's study, went over to Quin, and whispered something in his ear. Quin smiled and nodded. A moment later, Aine and Hafrena came out, Hafrena looking rosy-cheeked and quite well. It seemed to Severus that at the very least, Aine had given the old witch a bit of pep.

"Everyone ready for some games?" Albus asked, getting everyone's attention. He rubbed his hands together, his eyes sparkling in anticipation. "Shall we pick teams?"

Severus didn't hide his frown. He hated picking teams. He would be picked last, he was sure of it, and for good reason, as he would no doubt be abominable at charades. He didn't even want to play. He felt Poppy's arm move warmly against his side, and he tried to relax, remembering his promise to try to enjoy himself.

"Let's do it by Houses," Caspar suggested.

"Excellent idea!" Flitwick agreed.

"I think the Towers versus the dungeons," Caspar continued, "Ravenclaw and Gryffindor against Slytherin and Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff is not in the dungeons!" Pomona protested indignantly.

"It's below ground," Caspar said, smirking a bit. "And this is a castle, so . . ."

"Hmmpf." Pomona shifted in her chair, appeased only slightly by the pat on the knee that Filius gave her from his perch on the ottoman in front of her. When he leaned back against her legs and made himself comfortable, she smiled and forgot her little fit of pique.

"That's fine for some, but a few of us here don't have a House," Calum pointed out.

"We can fix that!" Albus said cheerfully, "Can't we my dear?" He turned to Minerva.

Minerva shrugged one shoulder, smiling, but then she nodded. "Yes, all right, if you like!" She grinned. "We'll get them Sorted."

"I've wondered what House I might be in!" Helena said with a laugh as Albus Summoned the Sorting Hat.

"Don't mean to be a wet blanket, Albus," Quin said, "but I'd just as soon do without the Sorting, meself. Just put me where I'm needed to even things out."

"As you wish," Albus said as the Sorting Hat flew into his hand. He looked around to find Severus seated beside Poppy. "Severus, would you like to do the honours?"

"You may have the pleasure, Professor," Severus said, not wanting to rise from his place beside Poppy, and glad that if he had to suffer through a game of charades, at least he would be on the same team as she. That was all right. He surreptitiously shifted so that his thigh was pressed more closely against Poppy's. He could put up with almost anything if Poppy were beside him. He hoped that Calum and Helena weren't both Sorted into Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. That would make the teams uneven, and Albus would probably put Gryffindor and Hufflepuff together, splitting him up from Poppy. He wished he could influence the Hat. Severus felt a scowl coming on. Instead, he poked his fork into Poppy's last cherry and stole it from her. She looked up at him and grinned.

Albus conjured a stool just like the one used at the Sorting every September, and he placed the Hat on it. "Helena Benetti."

Grinning, Helena approached the stool.

"You'll be in Gryffindor," Caspar said confidently.

"Shh," Minerva hushed him.

Helena looked uncertainly at the Sorting Hat. She'd attended only one Sorting, and Severus had held the Hat and placed it on each student's head.

"Just pick me up and put me on," the Sorting Hat said with a creaky chuckle.

Helena laughed and did as the Hat instructed. She sat there for quite some time, and Severus pulled out his pocket watch and tried to glance at it. Poppy reached out and clicked it shut before he could. He frowned at her, but she winked, and his frown vanished.

Finally, after almost five minutes, the Sorting Hat declared, "Ravenclaw!"

The four Ravenclaws in the room clapped, and Filius jumped down from his ottoman to shake her hand to welcome her to her honorary House. Gareth got up from his chair beside Pomona and offered it to Helena, and she took it with a smile.

"Calum Michael O'Donald," Albus announced.

Calum pretended to bound up to the Sorting Hat like an excited first-year, but Severus could see that he was actually shaking slightly as he picked up the Hat. This time, the Hat took no more than a half a minute to determine that Calum was a Hufflepuff. Severus suppressed a smile. Now, Dumbledore would put Quin with the dungeon contingent, and they'd be even teams.

"Are you sure you don't want to try the Hat, Quin?" Albus asked. "Aren't you even a little bit curious?"

"Come on, Da," Aine said. "Don't be shy!"

"Shy? When have I ever been shy?" Quin asked. Then he sighed. "All right, let that thing Sort me. But I'll not be believin' anythin' it says, anyway."

Gertrude laughed and Summoned the Hat. She stood from beside him and said, "Cormac Quinlivan MacAirt," then placed the Hat on Quin's head.

Minutes ticked by. Quin sat, looking alternately bemused and slightly bored. Severus wondered what the Hat was saying to the wizard. His hand crept back to his watch, and this time, Poppy let him open it, and she peeked at it herself. Five minutes later, a few guests were beginning to mill about quietly and help themselves to more drinks or desserts, though Gertrude, Aine, Albus, and Minerva maintained their attention.

Severus leaned over and whispered in Poppy's ear. "If this continues, there won't be any time for party games. We may be in luck!"

Poppy elbowed him, but he could feel her chuckle.

Gareth wandered over to them. "So, how about some of that apple brandy now, Snape?"

"You wish me to be inebriated so that you may gain an advantage in the games," Severus said.

"At this rate, I don't think it matters. What about you Poppy? Some of Aunt Lydia's apple brandy?"

"Sure! I haven't had that in a while," she replied. "You should try a little, Severus. It's quite good."

"All right," Severus said with a nod.

Gareth returned with their drinks and took a seat on the broad arm of the chair, just beside Poppy. "What do you think is taking so long? Think Quin's being difficult on purpose?"

Poppy shrugged. "I don't think that would make a difference to the Sorting Hat."

"How long did it take you to be Sorted?" Gareth asked.

"It took less than a minute for me," Poppy said. "It was a very long minute, though!"

"What about you, Snape?"

Severus shrugged. "I don't know. A few minutes. Not very long." He had just been grateful to have been Sorted into Slytherin, a true wizarding House. Now, he wished he had agreed with the Hat's suggestion that he might do well in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Even being stuck in Hufflepuff might have kept him from making the mistakes he'd made. Gryffindor would have been a disaster for him, with Potter and his crowd right there. And Black. Still, Ravenclaw might have been better for him.

"This is getting ridiculous," Gareth said, taking a swallow of apple brandy. "It's not even a real Sorting. It's for a party game!"

"What is the longest Sorting you've seen?" Severus asked Poppy.

"I've seen a few that took twenty or twenty-five minutes," the matron said, "but I think the longest one was probably Aurora Sinistra's. We were famished by the time the Hat finished with her. It was at least a half hour, I'd say."

"Sinistra might not have been in Slytherin House," Severus said, a peculiar feeling passing over him.

"The same could be said for any of us, I'm sure, mate," Gareth said.

"Yours was fast enough," Poppy said.

Gareth nodded. "It didn't even really consider any other House for me," he said with a shrug. "I'd sort of wanted to be in Gryffindor, because of Dad, you know, but it really didn't take much time to even look. Said something about my brain, and that was that. I heard that it holds long conversations with some kids."

Albus was now bending down and saying something to Gertrude, who had sat back down next to Quin. She shook her head. Albus looked out at his party, a look of consternation on his face.

Minerva stepped up behind Quin and said, "Excuse me, Hat, but a word with you, please." She plucked the Hat from Quin's head, causing the drowsy wizard to open his eyes, startled, and she placed the Hat on her own head. Whatever the Hat said, she smiled at it, then she shook her head. "Just get on with it!" she said loudly.

The Hat seemed to frown, but Minerva lifted it from her head and replaced it on Quin. About fifteen seconds later, it shouted, "Hogwarts!"

Albus laughed in disbelief. "What?"

Quin took the Hat off and handed it to Gertrude. "Blasted old Charmed bit of felt must be losing its edge, Albus. Kept going round and round, dithering on. It was very dull. Told you I didn't want to be Sorted into a House, but you all were so eager." He shrugged.

"But . . . there's only been one person in the history of the school who was Sorted that way," Albus said, "and he ended up being put in Ravenclaw as a compromise, since he needed to have a House for practical reasons."

"Well, put me in Slytherin, then, with Gertie here, and I'll be happy enough for the evenin'," Quin said. "The Hat probably would have put me in some House eventually, but we haven't time for it, and I don't fancy wearing the thing to bed tonight while it makes up its Charmed mind."

"All right, Slytherin it is!" Albus said.

"It's what Albus should have done in the first place," Poppy whispered.

Albus quickly gathered everyone's attention again, and instructed them to divide up, Slytherin and Hufflepuff on one side, and Ravenclaw and Gryffindor on the other. Severus was pleased that he and Poppy were already sitting on the proper side of the room, so they didn't have to get up and move. He supposed he should feel uncomfortable sitting so close to Poppy in the presence of everyone else, but no one seemed to notice or pay any attention. When Poppy's arm came to rest on his leg, however, he did feel less comfortable, but again, no one seemed to care. He supposed that as long as they weren't embracing, it didn't matter how closely they sat together. It was a party, after all.

"Think we'll beat the kids?" Quin asked as he settled the sofa kitty-corner to Severus and Poppy's over-sized chair.

"Our two Ravenclaws are very clever," Gertrude replied, sitting down at one end of the sofa, the one nearest Severus.

"But they haven't our experience of life," Hafrena said, sitting down on the other side of Quin, who had again taken up his position beside Gertrude, though this time on her left.

Colleen and Pomona each pulled up an armchair, Pomona on the other side of Poppy, and Colleen, beside Hafrena.

"I don't know as that matters in charades," Gertrude said. "But with four Slytherins...five, with our honorary member...we might be able to perform well."

"And what of Poppy and me?" Pomona sputtered.

"Or your honorary Hufflepuff," Calum said with a grin, squeezing in at the end of the sofa next to Hafrena.

Gertrude quirked a smile. "You're correct, of course. Hufflepuff might have a natural advantage in a game such as this."

"How so?" Hafrena asked.

"Fewer inhibitions," Gertrude said with a short laugh. When the others had ceased their chuckling or protests, she added, "It's not exactly a game of strategy, now, is it? If it were, then I have no doubt we would be quite formidable."

"They are a younger team, too," Hafrena observed. "Though perhaps Albus's presence does raise the average age."

"But he's probably got a more flexible mind...and fewer inhibitions...than most of us," Quin replied.

Everyone went quiet again as Albus stood and explained the rudiments of the game, that each team would have no more than three minutes to guess before the other team received a chance for a single guess, and he displayed the box of cards with both Muggle and magic world prompts on them.

"There are ninety-eight, and approximately half are the titles of books, plays, and poems from either the Muggle or the wizarding world," Albus said. "The others are common phrases and folk sayings."

"Objection," Severus said. "They are your cards, and yet you are on the Gryffindor team. I would never suggest that a Gryffindor would cheat..." Severus paused for a moment as people on both teams chuckled at that "...but you must remember many of the cards. You will have an advantage."

"No, no. I've not looked at them. A friend of mine put these together for me. Paul removed all of the ones that referred to Muggle films and television programmes, however. He thought it unlikely that many of us would be familiar with any but the most classic of Muggle films."

Calum moaned. "Not fair! There may be some of us who would be quite good at that...better than with some wizarding dramas!"

Albus chuckled. "Nonetheless, I thought it wise, as well. Now, do the Dungeons have a team captain?"

"Severus," Poppy blurted out. She looked at her teammates for affirmation.

"No..." Severus began.

"Professor Snape," Quin agreed with a nod.

"Yes, Professor Snape," Gertrude said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Good!" Albus smiled brightly. "I believe the Towers have already chosen Minerva, though she, too, attempted to decline!"

"What does the captain do?" Severus asked, hoping it would be nothing ridiculous.

"Choose, in whatever manner you see fit, which member is up for the next charade, and if a team fails to guess its charade within the allotted time, the team captain from the opposing side is allowed one guess, in consultation with his or her team."

Severus nodded.

"Any other questions about this evening's rules?" Albus asked, looking around at both teams.

"Are we allowed to make any sounds?" Caspar asked.

"No, no vocalisations," Albus said. "Not even if they're not words. No whistling, either. You may clap, however, or strike an object, snap your fingers, that sort of thing. You can also point to any object in the room."

Caspar frowned slightly, but nodded.

"Who will time each charade?" Helena asked.

"The team captains will each time for the other team...I believe you might trust Minerva with that task, Severus?" Albus asked with a grin.

Severus smirked and nodded.

"Which team goes first?" Minerva asked.

Albus pulled a Galleon from his pocket. "Heads, the Towers, tails, the Dungeons," he said. When there was no objection, he flipped the coin high into the air, caught it neatly, then slapped it onto the back of his left hand. "And it is tails! The Dungeons team goes first!"

"What's our strategy?" Colleen asked after Albus had returned to his team. She looked at Severus expectantly.

"Who has played charades before?" Severus asked. Every hand went up. He turned to Poppy. "Are you better at guessing or acting?"

"It depends . . . guessing, I suppose."

His eyes ran over the others. "MacAirt. You will be first. You seem to have some of the requisite skills."

Quin grinned. "Don't know as that's a compliment or not, but I'll give it a shot!"

As he got up and went to pick a card, Pomona leaned across Poppy and asked, "Who will go next?"

Severus looked at her. "I presume you enjoy charades?" At Pomona's eager nod, he said, "Very well. You will be next." He glanced at the others. "Anyone who wishes to be sure to have a turn, tell me. I will attempt to arrange it."

Gertrude shifted on the sofa. "I'd just as soon not," she said softly, "though if I am needed..."

"I am sure there will be sufficient enthusiastic actors that you will not be required to participate in that fashion," Severus said. If he had to, he would get up there himself, though the thought was not a happy one.

Quin plucked a card from the box, read it with a smile and raised eyebrow, then he looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. At Minerva's prompting, he put the card face down on the little table beside the box, and began. According to Minerva's watch, it took one minute and fifty-five seconds for a frustrated Quin to mime "make hay while the sun shines," which Poppy finally guessed.

Gryffindor/Ravenclaw made better time with Helena pantomiming "kick the cauldron," needing only thirty seconds before Caspar guessed it. Severus restrained his grumbling, and sent Pomona up for the next turn. He was not sanguine about their chances of getting this one, either, when he saw the puzzled look on her face. Fortunately, with all of them guessing, they were able to get far enough that at the fifty-second mark, Quin blurted out, "lie down with dogs, get up with fleas," and so they did respectably enough there.

As Caspar picked a card from the box, Severus settled back with his watch. He supposed that this wasn't the worst way to spend an evening. Caspar nodded, and he marked the time. He glanced at Gertrude out of the corner of his eye. Tomorrow evening, however, might be different . . .