Chapter 4 - Visitors

A/N – I am making no profit by the publication of this story, with the exception of profiting from the experience.

~~SSHG~~

Severus Snape led a solitary life in Spinner’s End. This was not the type of place frequented by magical folk, and even Muggles avoided its bleak poverty if possible. Therefore, when his wards alerted him of visitors approaching his door, he was wary.

“Mister Potter, Minister, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Snape’s cold welcome hung in the air.

Kingsley answered, “Severus, we’ve come to make a delivery. May we enter?”

Snape debated the irony of having Harry Potter enter his home and decided this was another piece of the purgatory pie he should suffer in grace. He stepped aside and motioned for the two men to come through his door.

Escorting them into his sitting room, he gestured for them to sit on the threadbare sofa, then followed suit and sat across from them in his reading chair. “So, Minister, what is of such importance that would necessitate your personal delivery to my home?”

“Severus, we missed your presence last week at the Order of Merlin ceremony. We’ve come to deliver your Order.” Kingsley wasn’t certain how he would convince Snape to accept the Order, seeing that Snape had replied to the event’s invitation with a curt NO.

“Your visit is unnecessary, Minister. I do not deserve this award; hence, I shall not accept it.”

“Sir,” Harry interjected, “if I may, you do deserve it, more so than any other recipient last week. None of us would be here today if it had not been for your sacrifices.”

Aggravated with his comment, Severus snapped at Harry. “Mister Potter, the Order of Merlin should be awarded to one who benefited our society in great ways. I did not do that. You did. My actions were criminal at least and morally repugnant at best. My intentions were never to help free society from Voldemort’s clutches. My motives were personal. I do not deserve the honor. Since I didn’t die from Nagini’s attack, I am happy to live my life paying for my crimes. The Wizengamot does not see fit to incarcerate me in Azkaban. Let me suffer in the best way I see fit.”

Kingsley then attempted a mercenary approach. “Severus, you do realize that your Order of Merlin, First Class, is accompanied by an initial stipend of 8,000 Galleons, with a 900 Galleon annuity until death?”

“Minister, you come to my home uninvited. Adding insult to injury, you bring Potter along. You attempt to convince me to accept an honor I don’t want. And when I do not accept it, you try to bribe me.” Snape started to rise, expecting his words and actions would incline both of his guests to leave.

“Snape, we didn’t come here to insult you or to disturb your peace. I’m sorry we’ve done so. Please understand that whatever your motives were, they resulted in the betterment of our society, and for that we are all extremely grateful.”

“You should choose your words more carefully, Minister. Now you’ve added prevarication to your transgressions. ‘We’ are not all extremely grateful — in fact, most of them shun and despise me. I’ve even lost my key apothecary supply contracts to French potioneers for fear I would poison my inventory. If I would kill Dumbledore, why wouldn’t I kill strangers? As far as ‘we’ are concerned, I’m still the rogue Death Eater.”

“Professor, I understand your need for privacy. But please, let me share your motives. Let me be interviewed by The Quibbler and explain your role. I don’t have to tell the entire story; I could leave my mum out altogether. But let me explain. Once people know...”

“No. I refuse to have my motives shared. Now please, I have things to attend to…”

“Mr. Snape, I need to let you knew that even if you don’t accept this medal, the monetary stipend is automatically transferred to your Gringotts account. It is there, whether you spend it or not. We’ll see ourselves out. Thank you for allowing us this visit.”

“Yes, sir, thank you. I am glad I got to see you again.”

Harrumph. As Shacklebolt and Potter walked around the corner to discreetly Apparate, Severus reflected on the visit. He had expected a personal visit from someone. It had been one week since the Order of Merlin Ceremony, and he refused the daily owls that had arrived since. And blast those bloody goblins. Of course they would be indifferent if Galleons were involved. Transfers of funds generated fees and reinvested fees generated interest. It seemed in this new order he still could not atone for his sins. Whenever he attempted self-flagellation with a leather strap, fate transfigured the strap to silk.

~~SSHG~~

The next day found Harry and Hermione catching up over pints at the Leaky Cauldron.

“So that was it, Harry? Kingsley still has the medal? I can’t imagine what he means by ‘suffer.’” Hermione did not want to believe his account of the visit with Snape.

Harry responded, “He never said it outright, but he acted as if he still wanted to be punished for being a Death Eater. It’s almost like the worse society treats him, the more satisfied he is."

“Yes, but, Harry, does he just plan to remove himself from society forever? The man can’t be forty years old yet. He’s not even middle aged. How will he make do?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about that myself. I don’t think he has a great need for the Galleons. His home is in a run-down area, and I bet he lives a meager lifestyle. But even considering that, he has to buy food and necessities eventually. Money will become an issue for him at some point.”

“But he can always produce potions. There’s always a need and demand for that.”

Harry sighed. “Already tried and failed. He claims nobody will order from him. He also said that some French potioneers have taken over his market.”

“That’s it, Harry!” Hermione smiled ecstatically. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re brilliant!”

“Of course I am. It sure would be nice, though, to know what I’m so brilliant at.”

“Marketing, Harry! Marketing! That’s all Professor Snape needs, some positive marketing!”

“I’m lost, Hermione. You mean a decent trip to the grocer will fix his problems?”

“No, silly. Don’t you remember? It’s a Muggle concept. Not marketing for food, marketing for publicity. Muggles do this all the time to promote people, businesses, anything! Severus Snape needs to have a positive public relations campaign, and that will set things straight. We can do this; it will be our way of ‘paying back’ Snape for all he sacrificed.”

“Good luck with that, Hermione. If I can help, I will. I think your biggest hurdle won’t be changing the way people feel about him, but it will be convincing him to let you do that.”