At Any Moment II

A Chance Encounter

By OzRatbag2

Two and a half months later...

Severus had enrolled in a few different short courses, with no real idea of what he wanted to do. He’d learnt fairly quickly that Muggles had an appreciation for documentation that would have given the goblins at Gringotts a run for their money. After having suitably arranged his own scant documents and created the others necessary for his current life, he found that he’d thoroughly enjoyed the idea of studying for no other reason than he wanted to do so. He’d explored his new neighbourhood in the last two months, but until recently he had found himself unable to leave the security of the magical world completely behind. Tom had listened intently to his scattered talk of the Muggle world, all the while not offering any real support other than an ear to listen to, as Severus had tried to make sense of a new, completely alien world. But it hadn’t been enough in the end and Severus had learned gradually to spend less and less time at the Leaky Cauldron, due in part to Tom’s hesitant advice that maybe...just maybe Hogwarts really was his home and that it might not be too late to get his job back. Severus hadn’t been back to the Leaky Cauldron since that night a little over a month ago.

He had found a likeable Muggle pub called The Frog and Toad fairly close to the university campus a few scant weeks earlier, and it had become his ‘local’ as soon as he worked out that it was blissfully quiet, and that people left him alone so that he could just have his pint in peace before he Apparated home to his apartment. Tonight he’d decided to try their little restaurant; attached to the pub, figuring that it had to be infinitely better than his standard egg or baked beans on toast. No matter how much he convinced himself that this had been the right move for a multitude of reasons, the one thing he missed most was the sumptuous meals laid on by the house elves. However, when he considered that he’d be at present in the last mad dash down to the first of September, he also realised that his freedom was something that he wasn’t ready to give up just yet for a hot roast or a decent sticky date pudding.

With a sigh he pushed open the heavy door wondering if perhaps he might just find something worthwhile on the menu. First things first though as he had waited all day for the chance to relax after trying to cram his mind full of dates and other matters as he sorted out his enrolment for the next series of courses that commenced at the beginning of September. The one advantage was that he didn’t have to seriously consider looking for a job for at least a year. The greater percentage of his pay packets still sat quietly in his Gringotts vault gathering interest much to the disgust of the goblins. He’d rarely spent a significant portion of each month’s pay, except for a splurge on the occasional book or potions ingredient that couldn’t be argued onto the school ledger as a necessary addition to the potions curriculum. He wasn’t a Slytherin for nothing.

Taking his regular stool, or what Severus now saw as his regular stool, he waited patiently as the bar looked as though it was vacant. Looking around, there were a few other patrons all nursing their beers and talking quietly at their tables. Grabbing a packet of crisps from the basket on the side, he opened them noisily and hoped the sound of a patron eating unpaid for crisps would be sufficient warning of his presence. Waving his wand needlessly to acquire his pint seemed crass and an action guaranteed to have the Misuse of Magic officials breathing down his neck rather too soon after the event. With the Ministry’s appalling lack of timing, they’d be sure to arrive too soon for him to finish his ill gotten pint at any rate.

“Yes, sir, what can I get you?” came the disembodied female voice from under the counter.

“I’ll have a pint of your house pale ale, please,” Severus replied without looking to the bar from his side-on position.

Finishing the last of his crisps, Severus wondered if he could get away without paying for them, when the same female voice politely enquired if he wanted to pay for the crisps at the same time. Dropping three one pound coins on the counter top, Severus gratefully wrapped his hand around his pint and took a large mouthful.

“Your change sir,” came the voice just to the side of his left ear.

Severus remained sitting side-on to the bar and said tersely, “keep it.”

“Why, thank you, Professor Snape. You are most generous.”

For several long minutes the only sound above the dull buzz of surrounding conversations was the sound of Severus Snape attempting not to choke on the rather large mouthful of beer that he’d just taken into his mouth. Once he’d regained sufficient control of his breathing, he turned then to the young woman to his left, scowled at her dressed in her ‘black and whites’ and tried to cool his temper sufficiently so that the first words out of his mouth did not involve copious amounts of swearing followed by a few judicious hexes.

‘On second thought, I might hex first and swear second’, Severus thought to himself.

“Miss Granger, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

“Actually, I’ve been working here since the start of June, so technically that’s the question I should really be asking you,” she replied, all the while trying to keep the smirk off her face.

“Be that as it may, I asked first and so I would be quite glad of an answer,” Severus replied through gritted teeth.

“Well, Professor, I usually work in the restaurant, but the usual barmaid is off sick so they asked me if I could fill in before dinner. After a crash course of learning to pull a beer in about ten minutes, Barney set me loose on the customers.”

“Good old Barney,” Snape replied, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“Yes, it was, wasn’t it? To think, I’ve been wondering for the last couple of months how I’d get the chance to say hello to you...and whether or not you’d remember me.”

“How could I possibly forget the student fated to annoy me constantly for seven straight years? You do realise, Miss Granger that there are Muggle criminals who get less time for more serious crimes than putting up with a little bi...witch who simply does not know when to shut up!”

“Ah, such fond memories, Professor. I too recall Potions being the one class where you did everything short of hexing me to try and stop me wanting to learn. Why, I’d be awfully surprised if you hadn’t managed it at least once or twice?”

“Too many witnesses,” Severus mumbled to himself, taking another sip of his pint.

“True, but then I also remember a wizard writhing on the floor of that same classroom as Voldemort magically transformed the veins and arteries in his left arm into a single word. Forgive me, but I have the vaguest recollection that that was you? Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, Professor?”

“Old news, Miss Granger and hardly a topic for Muggle ears,” he said quietly all the while leaning slightly across the counter to try and intimidate the young woman in front of him. “I could of course find it necessary to use a Silencio to stop you twittering at me needlessly?”

“Perhaps so, but then I could just simply raise my voice slightly and back away from you a fraction and the three labourers at the table behind you would be here in an instant to see what sort of mischief you were causing to me,” Hermione pointed out quietly.

“Threats, Miss Granger? How crass and unimaginative of you.”

“Of course not, Professor! It was merely a reminder that I’m no longer your student, so intimidating me isn’t going to get you terribly far. Suppose we start again and I’ll try not to shock you into choking...deliberately?”

“You knew it was me asking for a pint?”

“Of course, Professor. Your voice is one I am unlikely to forget for a very long time. At least not without a Pensieve and a judiciously applied Obliviate to help me.”

“Was I really that bad to have scarred you so irreparably?”

“Yes and no. Yes because you were cruel, mean tempered and delighted in belittling those around you, and no, because I still remember the man who leapt in front of Professor McGonagall and myself once Lucius Malfoy had started to cast his Avada Kedavra at us.” Hermione finished quietly, almost in a whisper and then walked quickly to the other end of the bar to serve another patron who’d just stepped up for a refill.

Severus watched her out of the corner of his eye, twisting his glass slowly on the counter with his left hand and trying to work out just how he’d managed to find himself in the same pub as one of his ex-students, a student who knew rather more about him than he would have preferred. Unconsciously, his right hand strayed to his left forearm, massaging the area where his treachery had been emblazoned. He didn’t even realise he’d been quite so obvious about it until a quiet voice intruded on his thoughts.

“Does it still hurt, Sir?”

“Not as such, Miss Granger, but then it also belongs to another lifetime, and it really is no concern of yours.”

“True, but then as I’ve said, I was actually present when it was formed, so in some small way, I do have a right to ask about it.”

“No, you don’t. Yes, you were an unfortunate witness, but no more than that. You were not then, nor have you in the interim become my confidante, so your questions are galling to say the least.”

“Alright, Professor, suppose we start again? I’ll tell you a bit about what I’ve been doing then and you can pretend to ignore me and then blame me for any resultant indigestion you suffer afterwards.”

“If you must, Miss Granger, but I have no real interest so it could well be argued that you may as well save your breath for some unsuspecting sap who might be interested.”

“My, you really are a charmer, Professor. Minerva was quite right about you,” Hermione added, all the while taking note of the fact that though her former Potions professor had said he was uninterested in the minutiae of her life since she’d left Hogwarts, he hadn’t actually moved from his perch.

“And what tidbits could Minerva have possibly told you, Miss Granger?” Severus asked with an edge of irritation to his voice. He had no doubt that whatever illumination on his character Minerva McGonagall may have disclosed, he could in retrospect give some quite damning information about her in return.

“Oh, all sorts of things, Professor. If you’re very good, I may just tell you...after I’ve finished, that is.”

She was teasing him. The little witch had decided to up the ante and tease him, so the gloves were well and truly off in this instance. He knew he should just drain his pint and leave, but she had piqued his curiosity far more than he was willing to let on.

“Your Gryffindor mentality or lack thereof is showing plainly. None of you ever seems to be able to understand that any details of your personal life are of little interest to anyone else. It’s almost a pathological failing really, so if I must endure your boring little life, so be it,” Severus added smoothly and at barely more than a whisper.

“Pathological failing? My, that’s a big word, or have you been moonlighting with Muggle psychology perhaps? Should I take it to mean that your ‘pathological failing’ is that you haven’t moved as yet, professor Snape? Could it be that you might just be more interested than you claim to be, or is it merely that you’re wondering what on earth Minerva could have told me?” Hermione questioned him becoming more irritated by his arrogant dismissal.

“I am interested in nothing that two twittering females could possibly share with each other. I merely wish to finish my pint, have some dinner and then go home to my bed,” Severus finished tiredly, reaching again for his beer.

“You know, Professor Snape, it really was a surprise to find out you’d actually left Hogwarts,” Hermione said wistfully, ignoring the baited comment. “I never actually imagined that you would...leave, that is. Minerva was upset that you hadn’t even bothered to let her know where you were, or how you were going in the Muggle world. She misses you, I think, not that she’s said as much, but well, enough of that. I’ll leave you in peace to finish your pint and perhaps I might see you in the dining room later?”

“Giving up so easily, Miss Granger? Perhaps Hufflepuff might have been the better choice of houses?” Severus arched an eyebrow, an almost signature sign that he had up until that point been quite enjoying their tentative exchange.

“Not at all, Professor! Call it merely a tactical retreat if you will, or perhaps more correctly, a necessary move for me as I can see Barney out of the corner of my eye gesturing to the patrons already in the dining room. Do you know, I don’t think I can ever recall anyone suggesting that I was a quitter in quite such polite terms before? There really is a first time for everything, professor and I’m looking forward to our next...debate.”

“What makes you think they’ll be a next time, Miss Granger?”

“What makes you think there won’t be, professor? Besides which, once you try Olwyn’s homemade puddings, then I may just have to take your half finished dish away from you to get your attention.”  Hermione finished with a teasing grin. She then nodded to Barney, quickly wiped down the counter in front of Severus, and then left the main bar for the dining room to Severus’ right.

Severus watched her go, dressed neatly in a black skirt and white blouse, her hair tied back – he supposed to stop her adding something extra into the customers’ meals. It really was a wonder that he’d managed to stumble into a Muggle pub employing this particular Muggleborn student...ex-student. If he had not believed her there before he had happened upon the hotel, he might just have wondered if Albus Dumbledore hadn’t set the whole thing up as a way to keep an eye on him. He doubted Hermione Granger would have taken part in something like that simply for a chance to spy on her old teacher. And then she’d mentioned Minerva by name which seemed most surprising. Definitely something to follow-up at another time, but for now he was tired and hungry. It couldn’t hurt to have dinner here, and besides that, leaving without eating meant that he would have lost an advantage to their ‘chat’ and he had no intention of doing that.

With a sigh, Severus drained the last of his beer, stood up and made his way towards the dining room to his immediate right. It might just prove to be an interesting evening after all, and the idea of homemade pudding sounded almost too good to be true.

To everyone who has reviewed – a 1000 thanks for taking the chance on something a bit more unusual. There is more to come in this story, one that seems to have gained a life of its own. I blame Arcanus...the showoff!