chapter 3

The records on Snape, Severus, currently 39 years old, were highly detailed. His teenage years were intertwined with his later spy work. At the end of the war, when he was released from the hospital, he was charged with multiple offences, all of which were dropped. Primary charge, the murder of Albus Dumbledore, was ruled to be a suicide, with the accused being the weapon of choice. Suicide was a category not limited to a scenario where a depressed human jumped out the window. More so, if a child ran out onto the road right in front of a car and if an adult jumped in to push the child out of the way, resulting in the death of an adult, it was also considered a suicide, even if he had no intention of dying. In Snape's case it was clear that Dumbledore wanted to die, the accused did not wish to commit the act, and the great influence of the diseased wizard over the accused was proven. The Aurors kept an eye on the former Death Eater although Mr Snape's name was cleared of charges. He completely abandoned the teaching and made a living by running a private potions business. The copy of the license to run the shop was documented.

Lin considered these facts as she sliced through the crowd at Diagon Alley. The shop of the potions master was located at the end of the alley, where it crossed with another street. The crowd thinned rapidly as the signs, which attracted the customers, appeared less frequently in the glass windows. The last building was the most laconic. It had a dark brown door and heavy curtains. The open sign and the name of the place were set in the left window. The building number was the one Lin was looking for. How to speak with the potions master, who was recorded to have most uncooperative personality, Lin was going to decide when she saw him.

There was no doorbell. She knocked. No sound came where her knuckles collided with the wood. No prank calls to this door, Lin decided and tried the handle. The handle vanished under her touch. Lin cast a detection spell. The building was surrounded by a web of medium security wards. However, Lin knew that the owner was at work, meaning inside. Thus, she had absolutely no intention of leaving or postponing her visit to try and catch him at his home later. Lin considered her options. His fireplace was most likely disabled. She could blast down the door, which someone even with a sunny personality would not like. She could dismantle the wards, but she was no thief to try and sneak in. Since she could not get in, her Patronus would have to. A small, shimmering fox appeared from the tip of her wand. He circled Lin's feet and then hopped through the door. Lin could feel an invisible, silver thread connecting them. If anyone was inside, he would find out. The fox came back, pressed his nose into Lin's hair and melted away. No one came immediately. Lin decided that this was not an apothecary where everyone is encouraged to come in to buy a regular potion from flu. Mr Snape worked with a concrete group of customers, who made orders by owl. They would come to pick up the orders at this building, during the scheduled hours. Therefore, pretending to be a random customer to strike up a conversation to find out everything without confessing to being an Auror was impossible.

Standing outside in the middle of December was not a gratifying experience. After fifteen minutes even Lin began to feel minor pricks of cold. Certainly, she had patience, but she was not going to tolerate rudeness. She selected the ward responsible for the sound alarm and nudged it crudely without breaking it. Within seconds, the door opened.

According to the description, this was undoubtedly Mr Snape. As Lin was too close to the door, he appeared up close, towering above her. Lin had the urge to step back, this is why she stayed where she was and lifted her chin to look up at him. The wizard observed her with a completely blank face. Lin noticed stained fingers, so it was also a laboratory, and black, perfectly ironed robe, thrown over his work clothes. He must have been working on a potion. Too bad, but Lin's time was also valuable. She was not on a picnic either.

"Magical Law Enforcement, Investigation Department," Lin said. She decided direct approach was the best.

The wizard's lips twisted into a snarl, but he said nothing.

"I have questions, Mr Snape. May I come in?" He did not have to take her word for it that she truly represented the law. Lin pulled out of her pocket a brown case with her Auror identification. Surely, he did not think she was going to speak with him standing outside where everyone could overhear their conversation. He looked at her hand like it was something slimy, but stepped aside, opening the door wider. Lin accepted it as a silent invitation and went in.

"Shacklebolt's," the wizard summed up his opinion of her.

The combination of his voice and the door clicking shut gave Lin a feeling that someone brushed an index finger along her spine. She did not like it, and she certainly was not going to play Doctor Watson, from the old Muggle stories, although she wondered what made him think so.

"Please describe, hour by hour, what you were doing yesterday between 10:00am and 3:00pm." Lin went straight to the point, deciding there was no way she could ease him into conversation.

"Between 10:00 and 10:20am, Mr Clement was here to pick up his order; until eleven, I was in a bar located down this street; until three in the afternoon, I was in the company of Laurence Wartsmith and his secretary, negotiating an important contract. Does this satisfy you, foreign Auror?"

"Snedjnaya," Lin said, not about to dwell on her neglect of giving away her name. It was written on her card as well, and he could have read it.

Lin hired a pronunciation specialist in the same month as when she decided to stay in England. Due to her studies, her accent was hardly noticeable, and majority of the people did not detect it at all. Majority of English speakers also had great trouble pronouncing her name. This is why she usually introduced herself as Auror Snow, but she wanted to see this wizard fumble, if only for a moment.

He did not. "Auror Snedjnaya," he pronounced the word smoothly, "I am positive these wizards will guarantee that they have seen me; although, you will have to accept my word that I do not have a habit of leaving my name engraved in blood beside newly killed Aurors."

Damn the Daily Prophet. The wizard was baiting her again. The observation matched her earlier scepticism, rather ironically, but Lin did not smile, even if she had to give his logic some credit. Asking him which signs he does leave seemed petty. There was no need to insult his intelligence. "Bloody letters never made my search any less thorough or easier," Lin replied neutrally, not giving him a clue that he had guessed the reason for her arrival correctly. "I assume you have recorded both visits in your books." Judging by the perfect state of his robes, his records would be kept well organized.

"They are in the visitor's room," his reply came reluctantly with realization that she will invade his lab further. He gestured for her to go ahead, but Lin was not about to turn her back on him. The potions master went ahead. Lin cast a cleaning charm on her boots and followed.

"When was the last time you have met Kingsley Shacklebolt, and what other Aurors have you contacted recently?"

"I do not socialize with any Aurors." Mr Snape's expression might have been giving away nothing, but Lin noticed how his voice contained a spectrum of intonations which poured specific emotions and gave life to his every word. According to it, he was annoyed and had rather low opinion of magical law enforcers, but was uncertain what to make of Lin yet, just as she was uncertain yet about him. "As for Mr Shacklebolt, I have worked with him in the Order. He advocated patience and politeness when invading private property."

He was referring to the Order of the Phoenix and her way of contacting him, Lin realized, but could not tell whether he was telling her that she had the patience or the opposite. Once again, she was not going to confirm or deny that he understood correctly the reasoning on which her questions were based. "Do you have a complete list of the ingredients which are stored in your laboratory?" she asked to throw him off track. The Daily Prophet knew nothing about the Eqelse.

"Are there any questions I am allowed to ask which by law you are required to answer?"

"Yes. You will find the list in volume five of The Magical Law, Article 173. Also, you have the right to remain silent, but I encourage you to answer my questions."

Dead silence met her words. They stopped in a room, the center of which was dominated by a large table with an armchair on one side and three chairs along the opposite wall. Lin folded her arms and studied Snape again. He was looking at her with an identical posture. She noticed that his lips were no longer curled in a snarl. They formed a firm, straight line, making her aware that besides being a suspect, this was also a male of similar age, social status and even temperament as her. The color of his aura was similar to Lin's. She saw the same mistrust, practicality and unwillingness to tolerate foolishness.

These thoughts were unwanted, unprofessional and irrelevant, and Lin blamed them entirely on Jenni. Lin pushed them away. "Do you want me to find the files I need, or would you prefer to find them yourself?"

"And if I choose neither?"

"I will leave."

"And the Ministry will send someone here who will break down my door."

There it was again; the smile tried to creep to the corners of her mouth. Lin frowned. There was little humour in their conversation, in fact, none at all.

Snape brushed past her in a quiet rustle of robes. Within five minutes Lin had the necessary information. Although there was no outward hostility and the potions master was being agreeable, there was something in the atmosphere that made Lin's senses prickle, just as she would feel before a dangerous Auror operation. "Thank you, Mr Snape." Lin was not going to delay her stay. If she was still listening closely, she would have heard a new intonation entering his voice, as if it was contradicting their mutual desire to be in the company of each other no more than necessary.

"36 Prime Lane, Witchford."

Lin realized that what she had initially was the record of Mr Wartsmith's business address, in the warehouse section of London. Witchford was a different place where he lived. A small voice told Lin to stop, look at the potions master again and thank him. "Good day, Mr Snape," Lin said.

He did not answer.

Once she was outside, Lin realized that she had turned her back on him after all.