Holiday Cheer

The Malfoys hosted a dinner party to begin the Christmas party season. It would be a similar group of people as the summer's Quidditch match. Katherine decided to wear a dark green satin sheath.  Severus's diamonds and the rings he gave her were her only adornment.  At the last minute, she decided to wear long gloves over her hands and forearms, and the rings were covered. 

Severus was seized as soon as they passed into the drawing room.  Katherine smiled as he was taken from her by various wizards who were all captains of industry and the Ministry. Her smile became a bit stiff as she noticed that one or two of the men circling him were bringing forward daughters who had recently come of age. Didn't those fools know he was married?

Severus didn't think Katherine could get more beautiful to him, but he watched her tonight. Her loveliness and complete self-possession drew his every thought.  Yet, he couldn't escape some role he seemed to have stepped into.  There was some reason that these wizards wanted him to meet their daughters; perhaps he could learn what it was.  He forced himself to kiss the gloved hands within his own and to make insipid conversations with the children in front of him who had been his students.  When he looked up again, Narcissa was shepherding Katherine away.  Surely he would get a chance to speak to his wife at dinner.

He should have realized that it was not to be.  Narcissa had placed him close to her end of the table and Katherine near Lucius.  He realized that they were each in places of honor, but he would have preferred less honor and more time with his own wife. He hoped he was making the appropriate small talk since he couldn't stop looking up at the other end of the table.  She glanced at him from time to time as she spoke with her host.   

Severus watched closely as she answered the questions of her dinner partners, first on one hand and then the other.  Her eyes looked old and tired, as they had the night she told him of her forced first marriage.  Her smile was bright though, and the men around her never noticed how very unhappy she was. Finally Narcissa stood to lead the ladies out.  Thank all good things for that.  This evening would soon end. 

Katherine sat quietly in the drawing room.  Sometimes these gatherings were a bit uncomfortable.  The families who had used her services tended to view her as the hired help, especially the women.  There was such a matron standing in the corner and dominating the general conversation.  Katherine shut her eyes for just a moment.  Suddenly she felt unbelievably weary. Perhaps Severus would want to go home, soon.  Maybe he could explain what was going on with the Weatherfields and Morrells and others.

Someone sat beside her.  When she opened her eyes, Katherine beheld Audrey Weatherfield.  She was a lovely Squib, just on the brink of womanhood.  She was ripe and beautiful in a way Katherine had never achieved.  This girl might have been an embarrassment to her family, but she was pampered and loved from birth and had never known any of the harsh realities that seasoned Katherine's life from her earliest memories.  Her youthful beauty had not been flawed by any serious hardship.

"Hello," the girl said, "you have a sympathetic face.  That wizard...Severus Snape...do you know him?"

A strange sensation came over Katherine as she answered.  "Yes, I know him, a bit."

"I thought you must.  My parents wanted him to meet me, but he hasn't stopped looking at you all night.  I wonder, do you know about him?  Do you think he would be kind to a woman who's not magical?"

Katherine couldn't answer.  It didn't matter because the girl kept talking.

"I hear he has a wife, but she can't have children.  They haven't been married long, and my mum says that maybe he'll divorce her and marry me, and then all of his money will come to our family.  Do you think that's likely?  I wonder what his wife is like.  Have you met her?"  This time Audrey looked up at Katherine with searching green eyes.

Katherine twisted her wedding rings under the glove as she sought to reclaim her senses.  She was spared the necessity of answering by a horrified gasp from the other side of the room.  The men had joined the ladies, and Audrey's mother was rushing over to extract her daughter from the uncomfortable scene she had inadvertently caused.  Severus was walking toward Katherine when Lucius tugged his sleeve. 

The dancing was starting in the ballroom, and Severus was expected to lead off with his hostess.  It was an honor for him, and indirectly, for Katherine herself.  Nevertheless, it was hard to maintain the social smile she kept in public. She turned to discover her host holding his hand to her.  "It would be my honor," he said.  She allowed him to lead her into the ball room where she curtsied as he bowed and pulled her into a waltz.

"Well, Katherine, I know Severus isn't interested, but it appears Uncle Thad is going to leave us soon."

"Severus has told me, in your hearing, that Thaddeus Prince has never once acknowledged him. I'm not sure it's important news to him, really."

His eyes crinkled at the edges.  "Ah, but it is important. My dear uncle controls a great deal of money. He's named me his sole heir."

Katherine smiled. "I'm sure the pain of your loss will be aggravated then, by the new responsibilities you will bear?"

He laughed loudly enough that some other couples dancing turned to them. "I will miss Uncle Thad and his interesting commentary on our society. He could always be trusted to turn any conversation to the effects on those with pure blood. I won't deny, however, that I look forward to the new responsibilities. The Ministry salvaged its pride by taking a large chunk of our family fortune, and this will neatly replace that pound of flesh."

"I don't know whether to offer you my sympathy or congratulations," said Katherine quietly. She caught a glimpse of her husband and craned her neck to see him better. Her host couldn't help noticing.

"You know, Katherine, after six months, you're not supposed to be quite so much in love with your husband anymore," said Lucius, who smirked. "It might be considered rude to avoid looking at your dancing partner."

She turned her head back to him and smiled. "Really, Lucius? How long have you been married?" she responded. "My husband's dancing partner keeps looking over here, and I don't think she's interested in me."

A gleam came to his eye as he spun her around in order to get a look at his own spouse. A genuine smile crossed his face for an instant before he laughed at himself. "Touché."

The music changed and Lucius pretended to pull Katherine closer.  "Ah, isn't this the song you danced to at New Year's with Severus?  It caused quite a scene.  Will you dance again with me?"

"You're just being polite, Lucius. Surely you want to finish dancing with your guests so that you can get to your wife," she answered conspiratorially. The look in his face did not disagree.

"Yes, you really should look after your duties as host, Lucius. I'm afraid this dance is taken, isn't it, Katherine?"  She looked up to see her husband at her side.

She gratefully moved from one wizard to the other with a brief word of thanks to her host.  Her husband didn't speak but merely looked into her face.  Suddenly she felt a new energy and straightened her spine. They both smiled as he twirled her and pulled her close.  They danced a little more, and he gently lowered her in a dip.  Their eyes never parted. The tango became a fox trot and then a mambo and more waltzes. They never left each other's arms for the rest of the night, even though several wizards tried to break in. They stayed as long as necessary at the party to satisfy convention. Pleading weariness, they then made their apologies to Narcissa and Lucius, leaving early.

It was a mild night for early December, and they decided to Apparate several blocks from their flat and walk. They stood across a park from their building and tried to pick out the balcony of Severus's study. They stopped short of having a row over which one it was by laughing at themselves.

"I guess it proves your point," she admitted. "There's no way anyone would see us or know it was us up there."

"Shall we test that Warming Charm again?"

"I think that sounds marvelous," she answered.

They had just gotten across the road when the crackle of magic shot past them. Severus pushed Katherine into a doorway, only to find that she was trying to push him into the same doorway. Both had their wands out and looked at each other and then into the street.

"Did you see where it came from?" he asked.

"I believe over by that tree," she answered.

"Homenum revelio!" he cast as she tried a Binding Spell. The Shield Charm that returned reverberated almost to where they were standing.

They saw a single shadowy figure by the tree. It was either a short wizard or a witch. The last spell that came at them was lethal, but they both ducked it. An instant later the shadowy figure was gone. The crack of Disapparition hung in the air. Severus and Katherine looked at each other again.

"Let's get you upstairs," he said as she was saying, "We should investigate."

She started again. "How do you know that person was after me? Maybe it was just a mugging. Maybe it was an ex-Death Eater looking for you."

"After what happened in Paris? We're not going to risk that another one is somewhere around." He took a firm grip of her arm and turned.

In their sitting room, he took her cloak and handed both hers and his to Wilbur. "It would appear it was aimed at you."

She sat down. "Well, then, let's consider what was aimed at you tonight."

He handed her a glass of brandy and sat across from her. "What are you going on about?"

"It was hard to miss," she said, watching him carefully, "that there were a couple of papas there trying to get you to notice their daughters. Whatever did you say to them?"

He threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, I'm sure I was charming. I impressed the girls who were former students by reciting their O.W.L. marks in Potions to them and their fathers."

"Quelle romantic for their introduction to Severus Snape, Hero and Order of Merlin, First Class!"

"Indeed. In every case I told them that I believe my wife and I looked forward to the acquaintance of them and their future husbands."

Katherine stood and walked around the coffee table. "I knew you were a marvelous man." She slid one of her gloves off and dropped it to the table.

He reached a hand up and pulled her down into the chair with him so that she was half in his lap. "That was a ghastly evening, wasn't it? Narcissa would be horrified if she knew what her guests were attempting to do. If Lucius found out, he would call the dunderheads into his study to be disciplined like school children on the proper social graces. Lastly, someone tried to murder my wife on the way home."

"That last one was just a Body Bind, I think," she said.

"But the way it was cast..." He thought a minute as he watched her tug at the fingers of the other glove. "Didn't you say the wand used against you in Paris might be the one you're looking for? Whatever was used just now was stronger than it should have been."

"You're just trying to scare me."

"Good, because I'm rather scared."

She went back to the dinner party. "What do you suppose those wizards were about? They behaved as though you had the freedom to marry anyone you please, as though you weren't already married. There was one little girl who actually mentioned you divorcing me."

"It's not going to happen," he answered. "If there was the remotest possibility that I would want to divorce you, your uncle and the Minister of Magic between them would make sure I was unable to marry anyone after that."

"My uncle would do no such thing! How can you suggest that?"

"Oh, no?" Severus smiled indulgently. "What about one of his 'associates?' The whole thing does concern me, in light of the fact that someone has tried to kill you twice now. I would tend to suspect those families first."

"We don't know the person downstairs was after me."

"If it was the same wand, the evidence would be fairly strong."

She couldn't argue against that, although she wanted to. She opted to change the subject. "Well, then, all the more reason to finish up our business here and get out of England."

"You will get no argument from me." He took both of their glasses and placed them on the table.

She smiled and got up, holding his hand and leading the way to the bedroom. Later, when they were dozing off and she was lying on her side, his arm around her, she had time to think about it. Severus was such a catch that a few families would naturally turn to him the hopes of snaring his fortune and increasingly good name. Most of them had seen losses due to the war, after all. They were probably desperate. She knew she had nothing to fear from that corner. The more she thought of it, the more she assumed that what happened on the way home was simply an attempt at a mugging. When the wizard or witch realized the targets were magical, they had left quickly enough. She snuggled into her husband's body and went to sleep.